Showing results by author "Original Radio Broadcasts" in All Categories

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar debuted in 1948 and endured for 14 years as one of the most popular programs of latter day radio drama. In fact, it became the last network drama when it ultimately signed off the air in 1962. An eminently appealing character, Dollar was pragmatic, flirtatious, and sympathetic (to a point) - better at reserving judgment than he was at restraining his impulses. This set brings you the voices of all eight men who took on the role of "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" - from the well-known to the obscure.

Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough star as Joe Friday and Ben Romero - just a couple of cops doing their job. Follow them step-by-step through 20 true-to-life cases, drawn from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department. Their dialogue was never clichéd or exaggerated, and their cases never relied on jumped-up action sequences to deliver impact. Whether they were on the trail of a car thief with violent tendencies, a fast-moving gang of safecrackers, a kidnapper, a mail thief, or a murderer, their job was the same: Get 'em.

Radio's longest-running private detective wasn't a smart-mouthed, gun-toting wise guy. He was the gentle, dignified, soft-spoken Mr. Keen. Bennet Kilpack stars as the intelligent investigator in this 16-episode collection. The "kindly old tracer" didn't get into gunfights with thugs on foggy waterfront nights, he simply solved crimes…with a dogged determination. And he was always accompanied by his dense-but-loyal sidekick Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly). Join them as they uncover secrets and crack cases.

Once again, the game's afoot! Out of the fog-shrouded night comes the world-renowned consulting detective and his ever-faithful amanuensis to battle the crimes, solve the mysteries, and reveal all that could ever possibly be known. Here are Holmes and Watson at their best. John Patrick Lowrie stars as Sherlock, with Lawrence Albert as the good doctor in 17 elegant adaptations of original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Produced by radio legend Jim French, these 19th-century tales are told in a 20th-century style, with 21st-century audio technique.

From out of the rain-fogged nights of 1940s Seattle strides the thinking-listener's private investigator on the trail of crime, intrigue and mystery! Tune in to The Adventures of Harry Nile, produced by modern radio legend Jim French. Larry Albert and Mary Anne Dorward star in eighteen radio tales produced in the classic style!

Here comes “This Week’s Play” with Jack Benny and all the gang! Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Dennis Day, and Don Wilson all play their parts in parodies of Hollywood movies, wild Westerns, murder mysteries, and more. Kick back with 16 satirical skits in this collection of classics from the 1940s and 1950s, featuring guest appearances by Barbara Stanwyck, Oscar Levant, Charles Farrell, Sam Goldwyn, Frank Sinatra, and George Jessel!

Come to 221B Baker Street for 15 incredible capers from the world's only consulting detective - presented in full-cast audio! Based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and dramatized by noted British writer M.J. Elliott, these absorbing adventures star John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Dr. Watson. Also heard in these sterling stories are Dennis Bateman, Rick May, David Natale, Jeffrey Hitchen, Rachel Glass, Hugh Hastings, Louise Moore, and Jim French himself!

Out of a rainy Seattle night comes crime, mystery, adventure...and Harry Nile! Here is Jim French's legendary private eye, investigating the dark corners of the 1940s Northwest. Larry Albert stars in this collection of 20 radio adventures - which include the first four episodes of the ongoing WWII story line "War Comes to Harry Nile"! It's new-time radio drama in the old-time tradition!

Harry Nile is a former Chicago cop, who quit the force after uncovering a vein of corruption. He stalks the rainy streets of pre-war Seattle on behalf of private clients with the help of his assistant, a lady named Murphy. Phil Harper stars as Nile, with Pat French as Murphy, in this exciting series that has been heard on radio stations coast to coast in the US and Canada, on satellite radio, and reached a worldwide audience online. After more than 25 years, it's the longest running private-eye show in American radio history.

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are back in action in all-new stories bringing 19th century thrills to 21st century audiences. Here are 22 classic radio adventures with an up-to-date touch produced by the legendary Jim French! The world's most famous consulting detective takes on adversaries who challenge his wits to the limit - including a serial killer who terrifies London's East End (but he isn't who you think he is)! John Patrick Lowrie stars as Holmes, with Lawrence Albert as Watson in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Romance is in the air down in Pine Ridge! Lum is distracted by the new schoolteacher, and Abner is desperate to retain the affections of his fed-up wife Elizabeth! And that's not all. In this collection of 36 consecutive serialized episodes, Pine Ridge pauses to celebrate a wartime Thanksgiving and rolls out the welcome mat for touring war bond spokesperson Barbara Stanwyck! Every day is a new laugh with Lum and Abner! Chester Lauck and Norris Goff star in these shows from the fall of 1944.

Radio Spirits is pleased to present 20 classic episodes of Suspense, one of radio's longest running and best mystery anthology series. This collection features programs from the early 1950s as produced and directed by Elliott Lewis. Suspense was well-known for its guest star performers and the shows presented here are no exception, featuring appearances by Dana Andrews, Joseph Cotton, Richard Widmark, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Alan Ladd, Dennis Day, Fred MacMurray, Agnes Moorehead, William Bendix, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Phil Harris and Alice Faye and more.

Crime, mystery, and just a touch of the supernatural - they're all on display in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills! Join your host, The Man in Black, for 20 gripping installments of Suspense (including the first ever broadcast of "Sorry, Wrong Number"). Legends like Cary Grant, Agnes Moorehead, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Orson Welles, and Gene Kelly star in stories by thriller greats like Agatha Christie, Lucille Fletcher, John Dickson Carr, and Cornell Woolrich. Enjoy these tales well calculated to keep you in…Suspense!

In early 1943, funnyman Jack Benny developed a serious case of pneumonia while traveling to entertain the troops. Someone would need to stand in for the sultan of Sunday night radio. But who? Orson Welles, the prestige-project prodigy, was an unlikely but inspired choice. Benny’s regular gang is on hand; Phil Harris returns from the military; and additional guests George Burns, Gracie Allen, Barbara Stanwyck, and Butterfly McQueen pop in for a visit. This is The Jack Benny Program like you’ve never heard it before.

With a quick mind and a quicker tongue (occasionally planted firmly in cheek), Dashiell Hammett's daring detective takes the case, takes a few punches, takes the dough (when there is any), and takes advantage of Effie's...good nature, in eight digitally restored and remastered capers.

Agonizing predicaments, stellar sound effects, and high wattage Hollywood star power combine in radio's top thriller. Myrna Loy, Joseph Cotten, Lucille Ball, Robert Taylor, Ronald Colman, and Agnes Moorehead give brilliant performances in blood-chilling stories. Twenty white-knuckled episodes (produced and directed by the legendary William Spier) feature a superior supporting cast, including John Dehner, Howard Duff, Elliott Lewis, William Johnstone, Joseph Kearns, and more. The tension and excitement of this Peabody Award-winning series are well calculated to keep you in...Suspense!

He'd rather use his head than his fists or a gun, but sometimes you can't be too choosy! Bob Bailey stars as freelance investigator George Valentine, roaming postwar California in search of adventure, mystery, and more! Wally Maher plays his contrary police contact, Lieutenant Riley, alongside many of radio's usual suspects: Joseph Kearns, Gloria Blondell, Howard McNear, Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Lurene Tuttle, and more.

Wherever there’s trouble - there’s Paladin. He is called on to find missing people, to find a way to protect those who have been targeted by the unscrupulous, to find criminals, and to find a resolution. John Dehner stars as the peripatetic champion of justice in twenty taut, thrilling tales of Western adventure from 1959. Ben Wright co-stars as Hey Boy, with Virginia Gregg as Miss Wong, in this series produced and directed by Norman Macdonnell.

Wherever there are spies…there are counter-spies! From wartime espionage to postwar intrigue, secret operative David Harding is on the job protecting our nation's secrets! In this suspenseful series, produced by radio legend Phillips H. Lord, the stories were works of fiction…but the plots were often based on actual events.

Lum and Abner meet Buster V. Davenport of Toledo, Ohio…but, he sure looks a lot like our old friend Grandpappy Spears of Pine Ridge! And, that's just one of the problems facing the proprietors of the Jot 'Em Down Store in this collection. There's a war on! The town's truck line is in trouble, "little" Pearl is leaving town to become a nurse, and the boys' secret recipe for making synthetic rubber is lost. Can the Golden Era Discussion Club study up a way to get things back to normal? Here are 36 serialized episodes from the winter of 1943!