Down These Mean Streets (old Time Radio Detectives)

Dick Powell lends his pipes to the role of Richard Diamond, radio’s singing detective. But don’t let his post-crime solving crooning fool you - he can throw a punch and wield a .38 with the best of them. Along the way, he’ll flirt with his girlfriend and frustrate the police a few times before the case is wrapped up. We’ll hear him star in “The Bloody Hat Case” (first aired on NBC on July 2, 1949) and “The Caspary Case” (first aired on ABC on February 2, 1951).

CBS wanted a “Philip Marlowe of the Old West,” and they got that and more in Gunsmoke. One of radio’s finest dramas, Gunsmoke helped to usher in the era of the “adult Western” with mature scripts, unflinching realism, and legendary performances from William Conrad and the rest of the cast. For nearly a decade on radio - and twenty years on television - US Marshal Matt Dillon faced down the violence of the West to keep the streets of Dodge City safe. We’ll hear Dillon fight for law and order in “Shakespeare,” first aired on CBS on August 23, 1952.

In honor of the late Stan Freberg, “Down These Mean Streets” presents a bonus episode showcasing some of the radio work of this legendary comedian. First, he presents “An Analysis of Satire” – featuring several of his signature routines – on The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on August 31, 1956). Then, Freberg takes a dramatic starring turn in “Alibi Me” from Suspense (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode from April 20, 1958).

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI agents captured headlines with their daring pursuits of bank robbers and enemy spies, and their exploits made for thrilling radio adventures. Several radio programs brought the cases of the Bureau to listeners and featured dramatizations of actual FBI case files. We’ll hear special agents on the job in “The Traveling Man” from The FBI in Peace and War (originally aired on CBS on June 10, 1953), and “The Hollywood Frame-Up” from This is Your FBI (originally aired on ABC on February 10, 1950).

Before he protected the innocent on Dragnet, Jack Webb made a name for himself in a pair of hard-boiled detective dramas. The characters he played were miles away from the straight arrow Sgt. Joe Friday. They were down-on-their-heels working stiffs out for a buck and usually getting cheated out of it, working their way through cases full of deceitful dames, angry gunsels, and impatient cops. We’ll hear Webb as Pat Novak For Hire in “Reuben Calloway’s Pictures” (originally aired on ABC on March 13, 1949) and as Jeff Regan, Investigator in “The Man with the Key” (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1948).

In 1944, Michael Shayne came to radio. Brett Halliday’s red-headed shamus had thrilled readers and moviegoers, and Wally Maher was tapped to bring the character to the airwaves. Maher starred as Shayne (with Cathy Lewis as Shayne’s secretary Phyllis Knight) for the next three years. Maher’s Shayne was cocky and glib, and he liked to use his brains instead of his brawn to crack a case. We’ll hear him in “The Return to Huxley College,” originally aired on Mutual on November 5, 1946.

The radio success of Mr. and Mrs. North convinced CBS to bring the adventures of the crime-solving couple to television. Richard Denning and Barbara Britton starred as Jerry and Pam and moved to take over the radio roles after a year on the small screen. Denning and Britton continued the program’s trademark balance of crime with light comedy simultaneously over radio and on television. We’ll hear the Norths in “The Comic,” an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of an episode originally aired on CBS on July 7, 1953.

Hercule Poirot, the diminutive, eccentric, and brilliant Belgian detective, has thrilled mystery fans since his first appearances in the novels of Agatha Christie. In 1945, he came to American radio in a series that boasted an introduction by Christie herself. Harold Huber starred as the mustachioed master of deduction in Agatha Christie’s Poirot, and he was perfect as the fastidious investigator. We’ll hear him in “The Case of the Careless Victim,” originally aired on Mutual on February 22, 1945.

We raise a glass to Mickey Spillane, the hard-boiled wordsmith born March 9, 1918. Spillane introduced the world to Mike Hammer, one of fiction’s toughest gumshoes, in 1947, and detective fiction was never the same. The unique blend of sex and violence, powered by Spillane’s terse prose, enthralled readers and led to adaptations on television, the big screen, and on radio. We’ll hear Larry Haines as Mike Hammer in That Hammer Guy in “There’s Something About a Dame” (first aired on Mutual on March 31, 1953) and “What You Don’t Know About Dames” (first aired on Mutual on April 28, 1953).

Craig Rice’s crafty criminal lawyer John J. Malone, a wisecracking counsellor at law, sprang from the pages of mystery novels to radio in The Amazing Mr. Malone. Malone takes tough cases in Chicago, where he does his own leg work to clear his wrongfully accused clients. He’s more of a Paul Drake than a Perry Mason in the way he tackles his cases. We’ll hear George Petrie star as Malone in “Hard Work Never Killed Anyone,” originally aired on NBC on June 1, 1951.

“Down These Mean Streets” marks its one hundredth episode with a king-sized, extra-large podcast starring four old time radio detectives. First, Alan Ladd is Dan Holiday in “Find Me, Find Death” from Box 13. Then, Dick Powell croons his way through a crime as Richard Diamond, Private Detective in “Lady in Distress” (originally aired on ABC on February 23, 1951). Howard Duff bats third as Sam Spade in “The Hot Hundred Grand Caper” (originally aired on CBS on September 19, 1948). Finally, Gerald Mohr is Philip Marlowe in “The Soft Spot” (originally aired on September 1, 1950). All that, plus find out who won our one hundredth episode contest!

For fourteen films and hundreds of radio episodes, Nigel Bruce brought the most famous sidekick in detective fiction to life. As Dr. John H. Watson, Bruce gave an avuncular charm and character to Sherlock Holmes’ friend and biographer. We’ll hear him co-starring with Basil Rathbone in “The Amateur Mendicant Society” (originally aired on Mutual on April 2, 1945); and with Tom Conway in “The Singular Affair of the Dying Schoolboys” (originally aired on ABC on November 9, 1946).

Charles Russell stars as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar in one of the earliest adventures of "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator." Russell, a 20th Century Fox contract player, portrayed Dollar in the show's first year on the air and introduced listeners to a glib, tough gumshoe who was a genius at closing cases and padding his expense account. We'll hear him in "The Robert Perry Case," originally aired on CBS on March 4, 1949.

Sixty-five years ago this week, radio listeners met Randy Stone, the intrepid Chicago reporter of Night Beat. Every night, Randy (played by Frank Lovejoy) wanders the streets of the Windy City in search of stories for his column, and he finds dangerous and desperate people and gets involved in their trials and tribulations. We'll hear "Zero," the show's premiere episode (originally aired on NBC on February 6, 1950); and "Tong War" (originally aired on NBC on April 17, 1950).

By day, Britt Reid is the crusading publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper. By night, he dons a mask and continues his battle against crime and corruption as The Green Hornet. Aided by his valet Kato, Reid wages a war against graft, even as the police think he's just as dangerous as the underworld he battles. The Green Hornet was one of radio's most popular masked crime-fighters, and his exploits came to the big and small screens. We'll hear Al Hodge as the Hornet in "The Corpse That Wasn't There," originally aired on the Blue Network on March 7, 1943.

Big screen villain Dan Duryea takes a heroic turn as Lt. Lou Dana, The Man from Homicide. Dana is a hard-boiled cop who shoots straight and throws a mean punch. His outlook on his job is summed up with his mantra: "I don't like killers." This short-lived series blends the two-fisted pulp persona of a private eye with the dogged cops of police procedurals. We'll hear Duryea as Dana in "The Franklin Kelso Case," originally aired on ABC on July 16, 1951.

Dana Andrews is undercover for Uncle Sam in I Was a Communist for the FBI. Based on the real-life exploits of Communist infiltrator Matt Cvetic, the syndicated series presented espionage dramas of Reds on the homefront and the efforts of the G-men to thwart their nefarious plans. Cvetic's story was adapted for the big screen in an Oscar-winning film and then on radio in this syndicated drama. We'll hear Matt Cvetic on the case in "Treason Comes in Cans."  

Sinners beware - The Saint is on the case! Vincent Price stars as Simon Templar, "the Robin Hood of modern crime" in two radio mysteries. Leslie Charteris' gentleman detective had thrilled fans in print and on the big screen by the time he came to radio in January 1946. We'll hear "The Corpse Said Ouch" (first aired on NBC on August 6, 1950) and "Simon Takes a Curtain Call" (first aired on NBC on January 14, 1951).

It’s time to deck the halls with three radio detectives in the “Down These Mean Streets” holiday special. First, Frank Sinatra is Rocky Fortune in “The Plot to Murder Santa Claus” (first aired on NBC on December 22, 1953). Then, Ranger Jayce Pearson (Joel McCrea) finds a “Christmas Present” on Tales of the Texas Rangers (first aired on NBC on December 24, 1950). Finally, Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) is on the hunt for “The Big Little Jesus” in Dragnet (first aired on NBC on December 22, 1953).

For nearly two decades and in almost 1,700 episodes on radio, kindly old Mr. Keen searched for the missing and pursued the guilty. The grandfatherly gumshoe (played by Bennett Kilpack) and his assistant Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly) are on another adventure of mystery and murder in “The Case of the Absent Minded Professor,” first aired on CBS on March 15, 1945.