Retro Radio Podcast

Under the guise of a fishing trip, Blair gets hired to take on a missing persons case. Pressman has disappeared in broad daylight, and hasn’t been heard from since. Blair begins by learning all he can about Pressman’s past. Might there be motives stemming from a bad business deal? Trouble in a love affair? Blair gets what little is known of Pressman’s last sighting before the disappearance. With a few more details and clues at the baffling puzzle, Blair has learned all there is to know. Listen in, and you’ll know too. Blair has reached his conclusion. Have you?

Word has been put out for all the Hamstead heirs to meet, and discuss what to do with the formula that was written on the paper in the locked box. Nobody is nearly as interested as when the prospect of treasures were in mind. People also doubt that the formula is legitimate, and that Lum just made it all up. Lum tries to explain to the confused Abner how to read a chemical formula. Though Lum can’t interpret the code, he’s sure it’s something valuable. Will it help to have an expert read it? With all the gossip flying recently, Abner expresses his private doubts to Lum, that he is actually hiding the real treasure. Is he as loyal as he let on when he defended Lum in front of the folks in town? Grandpap and Ben Withers enter with a report from a meeting of the Hamstead heirs. Will Lum be arrested for fraud? Ben saves the day when he tells about the notorious criminal he just captured, and the reward that was on his head. It puts an end to all the claims from the town of heirs.

Kent Buckley is preoccupied by the thoughts of Leeora, a woman who is out of his reach. She’s the wife of another, and when her husband, Charles discovers the affair a fight ensues. Travelling arrangements had been made, and it lends itself to a way to dispose of the body, and let Kent pose as Charles as the couple sets sail. Panic is already lurking under the surface, but complications grow when details seem to conspire to ruin the plan. Will Kent be stopped by someone who knows the real Charles? Will there be trouble in finding the steamer trunk with Charles body in it? The hurdles of the plan seem to be going there way. Almost. There’s still the matter of disposing the body, now that the faked suicide went over. All that remains is the twist ending to this perfect plan. Will Kent and Leeora be caught? Will they befall a fate that brings poetic justice down on their heads? Panic explodes when the trunk with the body in it is gone. Note: Elliot Lewis is Kent. Luraine Tuttle is Leeora.

After sharing about some of the loudly colored fashions of the day, Richard shifts to a matter of Harry Baker becoming involved with his private secretary. Is Connie moving too fast, or pushing the issue with Harry too far? Dropping into the police station, Richard teases his cop friends, and enjoys a comedy of errors regarding a nonexistent corpse. On a shopping trip with his girlfriend Helen, Richard spots a petty kleptomaniac. Is the shoplifter something to worry about, or report? Mrs Baker is one of the stores better customers, an eccentric, and the store sends bills to her husband to cover for her. Meanwhile, a serious robbery has taken place, and Richard spots the scam.. though the crime has been stopped, Richard checks out the store for other signs of conspiracy. Is Mrs Baker involved somehow? Back in the police station, word of a suicide comes in, but Richard smells a rat with the death of Mrs Baker. Doing his own checking, Richard turns up another body. Dots are soon connected, and a confrontation is in store. With the details laid bare, the heat is turned up to expose the scheme of murder. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "retrootr-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Sam Spade on Amazon"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B00BDR8A9M,B006421JJY,1570196451,1932806229"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "d044d97d5e71edb0df9497c070c428e8";

Fibber goes to a barber shop run by Hal Peary for a haircut, and the usual socialization. Old Timer comes in to join the jokes about Fibber’s thinning hair. Even the notoriously hairless Billy Mills gets in a joke at Fibbers expense. Donald Novas sings, I Kiss Your Hand Madam. Abigail Uppington arrives to talk about the first signs of Spring, the birds, the bees, and the robin red boossom. Mel Blanc is a man who shares a springtime thought on hair. Zazu Pitts is a nurse at a clinic where Fibber goes to help with his hair loss. The laconic comic tells about her plan to catch a man in the clinic. The Four Notes sing, Lady O Lay. As they sing, the audio stops. Note: The doctor in the clinic makes a comment about a certain voice actor playing a polar bear on a certain radio program. That would be a reference to Mel Blanc, and his role as Carmichael the Polar bear on the Jack Benny show.

A small group of pickpockets and petty thieves build up their crime spree to a house robbery. The robbery will be easy pickings, but one of the crooks develops a conscience when he is tasked to kill the little girl to keep her quiet. The plan goes well, except for one unexpected turn about of death. The black plague has made an appearance. Will the thieves be alright? Has their rush over greed brought death on their heads? A secret doublecross reveals a criminal who wants to go straight.

Abner is left alone in the store to explain where Lum has disappeared to. Grandpap thinks something suspicious might be going on. Gossipers in town think the let down at opening the trunk, and finding only an envelope with a paper inside is just a cover up to throw people off. Squire enters to share his own doubts about Lum’s honesty. What were all those random figures and numbers on that page? The belief is that Lum replaced the gibberish document, and hid the real treasure to keep for himself. Will they ever catch up to the fugitive Lum? Should a search party, or posse be formed? Abner defends his friend, though all the assumptions are against him. Squire gets the work done to put out a warrant for Lum’s arrest, but Lum enters at the last moment. What will he have to say for himself? What’s his side of the story?

The cast is buzzing about the move to the new studio. Sentiments run high with Jack. When the cast poke fun at Jack’s sentimental side, he gets defensive, and shares more things he is sentimental about. The movers come in to do their job, and get in on the wisecracking. Mary reads a poem about the move, then Phil plays that brand new tune, What Have You Got That Gets Me. Jack talks about his latest picture that’s coming out, but his bragging about his love scenes is interupted by the movers. Kenny Baker sings, I’ve Got a Date with a Dream. Andy Devine pops in, and is announced as the mayor of Van Neys. Not sure if he really was, or not. At any rate, Andy tells about his Summer vacation to Hawaii. Jack keeps trying to tell about the show next week, but is interupted by a call from Rochester, and more from the movers.

After going with Mr Boynton for 6 years now, Connie’s patience is running thin. She and Mrs Davis are worried and talk about Minirva the cat, who has been missing. Mrs Davis notices how Connie has been brooding, and suspects her attitude has to deal with Mr Boynton. Will she ever become Mrs Boynton? Mrs Davis has some words of advice to stop being a pal to him, and make him think of her as a woman instead. Maybe if Connie cries, it will be a tool to win him over. Given to her by Mrs Davis, Connie is armed with a bag of freshly peeled onions, and Walter arrives to pick her up, for the drive to school. Walter lets Connie know that Mr Conklin wants to see her as soon as she gets to school. When she digs into her purse, the onions have their affect on Walter who suddenly goes overboard to want to help her. At school, and in Conklins office, Connie finds that she is needed to help with a speech that he is to give. Conklin is relentless, and won’t let her out of helping to write it. When Connie opens her bag to wipe off a smudge, the onions go to work again. Even the hardnosed Conklin melts at the sign of tears. In the cafeteria, Walter talks with Mr Boynton about Connie’s crying fits this morning. Can Boynton take her mind off her troubles? They wonder what has been bothering her anyway. Walter leaves as Connie arrives, but will Connie get the chance to do her magic? Boynton tells a sob story of his own, designed to show her that he has troubles too. Will it lift her spirits to find a kindred spirit in the suffering department? Will his courageous story brace her up? Harriot stops by to draw Boynton away to see her dad, Mr Conklin. The two men talk about what might the reason be behind Connie’s crying. Due to a misunderstanding, they think it’s over the assumption that Mrs Davis is missing. The reality is that it’s Minirva the cat who has been missing. Just then a phone call comes in, it reinforces the misunderstanding about the belief over who exactly is missing, and the secret to Connie’s crying fits. Later at home, Connie is unaware of the deductions of Boynton and Conklin. As Connie waits for Mr Boynton to come over, Mrs Davis phones with the latest update on the missing Minirva. Mrs Davis also tells Connie that she has left a fruit bowl loaded with onions in case Connie needs a quick cry. Just then Boynton comes over to offer sympathy, but the slightly missalined assumptions lead to some hilarious word play. Connie tries to get dramatic, and with the help of onions, gets her tears flowing. Is it working? Will Boynton be putty in her hands? The moment is broken by the doorbell. It’s Mrs Davis who forgot her keys. Can Connie lose Mrs Davis and Minirva again? Well, maybe as far as the hall closet, but it’s not quite far enough.

The moment arrives to open the box belonging to the Hamstead heirs. With the family trees drawn up by Professor Krenshaw, documenting that the whole town is related, and part of the Hamstead family, a raging crowd is gathered at the Jot ‘Em Down store. Rumors of the great treasure in the box has gon to everybody’s head. Will there be enough to go around though? Squire begins to doubt the legitimacy of professor Krenshaw. Is he cranking out the fake family trees just to get his fee for doing them? Lum has second thoughts about opening the box, if all the geneologies are incorrect. The angry crowd beats on the door, wanting to witness the opening. Just when Lum decides he ought to open the box, he gets a little scare of his own. Will he have a good word for the roaring crowd? Have all the rightful heirs been found? What could be in the envelope that contains the wealth, and life ork of Winston Hamstead?

If high adventure, stealth an intrigue, blood and thunder are all for you, then you’ve come to the right place. Following on the heells of their adventure in Cambodia, Captain Friday and Skip Turner start down the trail to another mystery. On their way to Austrailia, they were forced to land their airplane on an island, Friday and Skip take a survey of their situation on the island. All they find is layers of jungle canopy. Will they ever reach the high ground? What’s that girl doing, and how did she get on the island? She’s definitely no native. Is she shipwrecked? Suddenly rifle shots crack from behind them. Taking to the tall jungle grass, our heros inch closer to that fresh water stream. Other men soon make their appearance. Are they pirates? Calptain Friday and Skip piece together the strange happenings they’ve seen thus far. Were those gunshots meant for them? Does anybody know that they’re on the island? Finally they encounter the girl face to face, along with her parrot,, and a pirate named Manuel. Note: Our heros ought to know that despite being a fresh water streamm, it is likely full of parasites. Have fun with the worms that are sure to be hatching under your skin. Hey, that’s life in the jungle, and land of unfiltered, unprocessed water sources.

A professor of geneology has come to town to get everybody mixed up on their family trees. We join Lum and Abner as they talk about the jumbled, intertwined families in town. Who is related to who? Lum thinks Professor Krenshaw is doing a world of good in town, but he’s more concerned in getting rid of the locked box he found. It can only be opened by an heir of the Hamstead clan. Abner lets his imagination run a little wild, as he wants to put up little statues of all the newly discovered Hamsteads. Lum is relieved to hear that widow Abernathy is actually his aunt. Now he won’t have to worry about her chasing after him to get married any more. Lum realizes that it’s impossible for the widow to be his aunt. Is he onto the fake geneologist? The professor is a nice fellow, so what is he up to? Why does he want to tell Lum how to run the Jot ‘Em Down store?Will grandpap, or Squire Skimp know anything? They have concerns of their own.

Deciding that his memory needs improvement, Fibber enrolls in a course offered by the Gildersleeve Memory company. Iris Dalrimple is the instructor, played by Hal Peary. Otherwise known in most other episodes as Fibber’s neighbor with the big voice, Gildersleeve. Though through the series Fibber may be lots of things, his poor memory isn’t very prominent. However, Today Memory jokes explode on the scene. Abigail Uppington visits to complain about her relationship to Horatio K Boomer. She wants Fibber to keep a diamond safe for her. Don Novas sings, Penny Serenade. Old Timer enters and Fibber brags about being Forget Me Not McGee. Old Timer jokes about a Nude Ranch. Yes, a nude ranch. That’s not a typo. Fibbers memory lesson is interupted by a crashing sound. Mel Blanc is discovered to be a hiccupping burglar. Billy Mills plays and the Four Notes sing, Blue Skies. Fibber checks and he still has Uppington’s diamond, but the audio stops right there, and we don’t quite learn how things end. There may be a more complete version of this episode, and if anybody has it, be sure to let me know. I’d love to hear the final few moments of the show.

Title:Shadows from the Grave (‘Wilkie Collins classic’) Plot:A photographer and his wife move into his uncle’s house upon his death. When the local priest denies his blessing, the estate grounds soon become haunted by evil spirits. Episode:958 Air Dates: First Run – February 28, 1979 Repeat – August 21, 1979 Read more at: CBS Radio Mystery Theater | Episode 958 | Shadows from the Grave.

Lum isn’t convinced at all about the revelations of his friends being part of the Hamstead family, especially when more relatives come crawling out of the woodwork. Professor Crenshaw seems to be making out all the phoney documents. Cousin grandpap enters, and his discussion with cousin Abner drives Lum nuts. Where is Lum storming off to? Examining the family trees side by side, Abner and grandpap try to find out how exactly they’re related. What will it prove? Besides being Lum’s granddson, Cedric is uncle to grandpap and Abner. Lum is back after talking to Professor Crenshaw. How much more convoluted will the family ties become?