meanstreetspodcasts

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Episode 606 - Carnival of Crime (Boston Blackie, The Whistler, Sam Spade, & Superman)

Hurry, hurry, hurry - come to the midway for four radio mysteries set at the carnival. A fortune teller predicts her own murder in a syndicated adventure of Boston Blackie starring Richard Kollmar. Then, a carnival dancer marries a wealthy admirer and then schemes to get rid of him in "The Brass Ring" (originally aired on CBS on September 16, 1946). Sam Spade tries to save a carnival performer from marriage to an infamous widower - to be followed by a quick funeral - in "The Bluebeard Caper" (originally aired on CBS on August 8, 1948). And we take flight with Superman to save a carnival from an unscrupulous rival owner in "Death Rides the Roller Coaster" (originally aired on ABC on December 3, 1949).

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Episode 396 - Ruth Hussey

Ruth Hussey picked up an Oscar nomination for her performance as a cyncial photographer in The Philadelphia Story, and she had a long career on the big and small screens, as well as on the Broadway stage. We'll hear as the wife of a pilot who's moments away from a catastrophe in the sky in "Firing Run" (AFRS rebroadcast from November 3, 1957). Plus, she recreates her Philadelphia Story role with many of her co-stars in a special "Victory Theatre" war bond fundraiser from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1942).

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Episode 605 - Kid Stuff (Box 13, Philip Marlowe, & Johnny Dollar)

It's not just adults who need a good detective. Our heroes this week come to the aid of kids in trouble. First, Dan Holiday helps a boy find a lost astronomer in "Archimedes and the Roman" from Box 13. Next, Philip Marlowe is hired to find the missing uncle of a newsboy in "The Kid on the Corner" (originally aired on CBS on December 3, 1949). Finally, Johnny Dollar believes the life of a teenage girl is in danger when she stands to inherit a fortune in the five-part mystery "The Matter of Reasonable Doubt" (originally aired on CBS between May 28 and June 1, 1956).

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Episode 395 - Eve McVeagh

Character actress Eve McVeagh was a regular presence on the Broadway stage, the big screen, and on TV for over five decades, and during her career she starred in everything from High Noon to Petticoat Junction. We'll hear her as a woman whose auction purchase comes loaded with trouble in "Going, Going, Gone" (originally aired on CBS on May 10, 1955) and as part of a film crew who discovers real-life outlaws in a western ghost town in "Hollywood Hostages" (originally aired on CBS on February 21, 1956). Plus, we'll hear her as one of history's most infamous poisoners in "The Seven-Layered Cake of Madame Lafarge" from Crime Classics (originally aired on CBS on October 14, 1953).

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BONUS - Best of James Mason

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my favorite Suspense shows starring the great James Mason. The smooth, polished star of Lolita, North by Northwest, and The Veil plays crooks, cops, and a man whose guilt or innocence may never be known for sure. We'll hear "Where There's a Will" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1949), "Banquo's Chair" (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1950), "The Greatest Thief in the World" (originally aired on CBS on June 21, 1951), and "Odd Man Out" (originally aired on CBS on February 11, 1952).

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Episode 604 - Hypnotized for Homicide (Boston Blackie, Crime Club, Chandu the Magician, & Let George Do It)

Our heroes this week encounter hypnosis and meet those who have fallen under its spell and who have used it to try and conceal their crimes. First, Boston Blackie suspects a woman's murder confession was driven by hypnosis rather than guilt. Then, a woman is hypnotized to help solve a murder in "Cupid Can Be Deadly" from Crime Club (originally aired on Mutual on October 16, 1947). In "The Voice of Darkness," Chandu the Magician investigates a bombing where the eyewitness was hypnotized into losing her memory (originally aired on Mutual on April 14, 1949). And finally, Bob Bailey stars as George Valentine in "Eleven O'Clock" from Let George Do It, where a woman's recent odd behavior may be tied to the experiments of a psychology professor (originally aired on Mutual on July 17, 1950).

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Episode 394 - Herbert Marshall (Part 7)

Herbert Marshall returns to the podcast in two old time radio thrillers - a pair of shows where he plays a coward and a man unafraid of death who find their worldviews challenged in critical moments. He stars in an adaptation of Graham Greene's "The Man Within" (originally aired on CBS on April 27, 1953) and in "Action" (originally aired on CBS on October 5, 1953). Plus, we'll hear him as globe-trotting secret agent Ken Thurston, aka The Man Called X (originally aired on NBC on May 4, 1951).

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Episode 603 - Green (Hornet) Party (Green Hornet & The Whistler)

As Americans head to the polls to pick a president, we'll hear some old time radio mysteries centering on the seedier side of the political process. Fortunately, The Green Hornet is on hand to keep things safe for democracy and to deliver a decisive blow against the crooked machines who try to get corrupt politicians elected. We'll hear the Hornet and his loyal sidekick Kato in "Votes for Sale" (originally aired on Mutual on October 9, 1940), "Ballots and Bluff" (originally aired on Mutual on November 1, 1945), and "Election Boomerang" (originally aired on Mutual October 15, 1952). Plus, we'll hear "Final Returns," a story from The Whistler about a politician who decides to vote his domineering wife out of his life permanently (originally aired on CBS on October 29, 1945).

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BONUS - Night of the Living Halloween Hoopla!

Get ready for thrills, chills, and spills with trick-or-treat tales both scary and silly in the annual Down These Mean Streets Halloween special! Ray Milland reprises his big screen role as The Screen Director's Playhouse presents "The Uninvited" (originally aired on NBC on November 18, 1949). Then, two radio gumshoes face off against things that go bump in the night: The Saint in "The Ghosts Who Came to Dinner" (originally aired on NBC on April 8, 1951) and Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator in "Ghosts Don't Die in Bed" (originally aired on NBC on September 7, 1954). J. Carrol Naish stars in a heartwarming and hilarious Halloween episode of Life with Luigi (originally aired on CBS on October 30, 1951), and William Conrad leads an expedition in the Himalayas to capture "The Abominable Snowman" on Escape (originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1953). Ozzie and Harriet have a haunted house adventure (originally aired on NBC on October 31, 1948), and Bob Hope recreates his horror-comedy classic in "The Ghost Breakers" from Screen Director's Playhouse (originally aired on NBC on June 14, 1951). Finally, the syndicated anthology The Weird Circle presents one of the classic horror stories - Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."

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BONUS - The Scariest Tales of "Suspense"

Just in time for trick-or-treating, here are my picks for the scariest stories to ever air on "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." Orson Welles takes a long drive with an uninvited guest in "The Hitch-hiker" (originally aired on CBS on September 2, 1942), and Robert Taylor soon regrets moving into "The House in Cypress Canyon" (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946). Ralph Edwards goes on a "Ghost Hunt" (originally aired on CBS on June 23, 1949) and Cary Grant picks a bad spot to run out of gas in "On a Country Road" (originally aired on CBS on November 16, 1950). Finally, Vincent Price faces off against an army of rats in "Three Skeleton Key" (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

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BONUS - Horror Headliners

With Halloween right around the corner, I'm sharing some classic episodes of Suspense featuring some of the biggest stars of classic Hollywood horror: Peter Lorre in "Till Death Do Us Part" (originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1942); Bela Lugosi in "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (originally aired on CBS on February 16, 1943); Boris Karloff in "Drury's Bones" (originally aired on CBS on January 25, 1945); Claude Rains and Vincent Price in "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" (originally aired on CBS on December 2, 1948); and Price again in "The Pit and the Pendulum" (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1957).

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Episode 602 - Which Witch is Which? (Nick Carter, Boston Blackie, Casey, Crime Photographer, & Sam Spade)

It's the witching hour - well, closer to two witching hours, to be precise - for old time radio detectives in this week's episode. We've got four mysteries involving witches just in time for Halloween. First, an author plagued by a witch's hexes seeks the help of Nick Carter in "The Witch of Donderberg Mountain" (originally aired on Mutual on April 22, 1945). Next, a witch at a Halloween party sees danger in Boston Blackie's future. Then, Casey, Crime Photographer investigates the murder of a male witch in "Witchcraft" (originally aired on CBS on February 19, 1948). And finally, Sam Spade is hired to act as security for a Halloween party in "The Fairley Bright Caper" (originally aired on CBS on October 31, 1948).

Want more spooky sleuthing for Halloween? Click here for a collection of mummy mysteries, and click here for some creepy cases starring Johnny Dollar. And... Click here for some of my original audio comedy, including old time radio parodies!

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Episode 393 - Vic Perrin

Best known as the "Control Voice" that opened each episode of The Outer Limits, Vic Perrin was all over the dial during the golden age of radio. He was a regular resident of Dodge City on Gunsmoke, he frequently encountered Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet, and he co-starred with Raymond Burr on Fort Laramie. We'll hear him as a reporter who has a rendezvous with a killer in "The Lady in the Red Hat" (originally aired on CBS on August 30, 1955). Then, he's a trapeze artist with love and murder on his mind in "Gallardo" (originally aired on CBS on March 20, 1956). And he's a postmaster who has to intercept a time-bomb sent through the mail in "Fragile - Contents Death" (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1956). Plus, we'll hear him in "Sergeant Gorse's Baby," an episode of Fort Laramie (originally aired on CBS on May 29, 1956).

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Episode 601 - Cowboys and Crimesolvers (Suspense, Texas Rangers, Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke, & Dragnet)

Yippie-ki-yay, old time radio fans! We're heading west for some radio mysteries set in the wide open spaces of the American frontier. Alan Ladd is on the trail of his brother's murderer in "A Killing in Abilene" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on December 14, 1950), and Joel McCrea hunts for a cowboy's killer in "The Cactus Pear" from Tales of the Texas Rangers (originally aired on NBC on December 17, 1950). As Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Edmond O'Brien has to determine if - and why - a rancher's wife bumped off her husband in "The Jarvis Wilder Matter" (originally aired on CBS on February 24, 1951), and William Conrad has to clear his own name in "Matt for Murder" from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on July 26, 1954). Finally, Jack Webb stars in an urban western as the police face off against an armed and delusional man who believes he's defending a fort against the Indians in "The Big Cowboy" from Dragnet (originally aired on NBS on June 1, 1954).

Click here for some of my original audio comedy, including some old time radio show parodies!

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Episode 392 - John McIntire (Part 3)

Character actor John McIntire - who rode the range on Wagon Train and the mean streets of the city in a squad car on Naked City - returns to the podcast for his third starring appearance. McIntire plays a car enthusiast who takes his antique on a 500 mile tour in "The Big Day" (originally aired on CBS on May 26, 1957) and a convict who's crafted a seemingly perfect plan to escape from prison in "Rain Tonight" (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1958). Plus, he's the host and emcee of "Report on E.S.P." - a docudrama from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1956).

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Episode 600 - A Sherlockian Six Hundredth Show

Great Scott...600 episodes?! To mark the occasion, I'm on a trip to 221B Baker Street with my favorite radio adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this super-sized Sherlock special, we'll hear John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson in "A Scandal in Bohemia." Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce are Holmes and Watson in "The Notorious Canary Trainer" (originally aired on Mutual on April 23, 1945) and "The Speckled Band" (originally aired on Mutual on November 12, 1945), and then Bruce is joined by Tom Conway as Holmes in "The Adventure of the Tolling Bell" (originally aired on ABC on April 7, 1947). My personal favorite Holmes and Watson - John Stanley and Alfred Shirley - headline "The Laughing Lemur of Hightower Heath" (originally aired on Mutual on October 26, 1947), "The Cadaver in the Roman Toga" (originally aired on Mutual on November 9, 1947), "The Stolen Naval Treaty" (originally aired on Mutual on November 23, 1947), and "The Case of the Sudden Senility" (originally aired on Mutual on January 11, 1948). And finally, it's - appropriately enough - "The Final Problem," with Gielgud, Richardson, and special guest star Orson Welles as Professor Moriarty.

In the mood for more Holmes and Watson?

Click here for our spotlight show on Edith Meiser, the woman who brought Holmes to radio and penned his adventures for years.

And here's a collection of mysteries featuring Holmes and Watson battling seemingly supernatural foes.

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Episode 391 - Eva Le Gallienne

Eva Le Gallienne was a legend of the American stage - not only for her performances on Broadway but for her support of the development of off-Broadway and regional theatrical companies across the country. She made only one appearance on Suspense in "Phobia" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1947), where she played a wealthy wheelchair-bound woman with a fear of metal, a kleptomaniac sister, and a corpse in the house. Then she plays one of theatre's richest and most complex villainesses as Lady MacBeth in "MacBeth" from Great Plays (originally aired on NBC on July 12, 1953).

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