Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Two of old time radio's crime solving couples are on hand to mix marriage and mayhem in a pair of mysteries. First, Richard Denning and Barbara Britton are Mr. and Mrs. North in "Too Late to Die" (an AFRS rebroadcast of a show originally aired on CBS on December 15, 1953). Then, Mandel Kramer is private eye Pat Abbott and Claudia Morgan is his wife Jean in "The Gentleman in the Nile Green Suit" from The Adventures of the Abbotts (an AFRS rebroadcast of a show originally aired on NBC on May 29, 1955).

We’re running a special edition to salute the radio crime fighters of the Fourth Estate. First, Staats Cotsworth is Casey, Crime Photographer in “The Blonde’s Lipstick” (originally aired on CBS on November 6, 1947). Then, editor Steve Wilson and reporter Lorelei Kilbourne fight the rackets of Big Town in “The Final Payment” (originally aired on NBC on September 21, 1948). Finally, Frank Lovejoy is Chicago reporter Randy Stone in “Byline for Frank” from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on

We tip our fedora to Howard Duff in honor of the star’s November 24th birthday. To celebrate, we’ll hear him in his signature role as Dashiell Hammett’s famous private detective Sam Spade. WWe’ll hear him in “The Bow Window Caper” (originally aired on CBS on November 9, 1947) and “The Stopped Watch Caper” (originally aired on CBS on April 10, 1949). Finally, Sam gets his craziest caper ever when he meets Gracie Allen in a comedy episode from February 10, 1949.

To keep you smiling on Thanksgiving, here’s a comedy side dish courtesy of Eve Arden as Our Miss Brooks. Jeff Chandler – radio’s Michael Shayne – co-stars alongside the amazing Ms. Arden in this Turkey Day story about a live turkey slated to be guest of honor at the Madison High feast. Co-starring Gale Gordon (The Casebook of Gregory Hood), this episode originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1950.

Don’t touch that dial – the thrilling conclusion of our Superman-Batman radio team-up is coming your way. The Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader are fighting to save Robin and Jimmy Olsen in the exciting final chapters of “The Monkey Burglar,” originally aired on The Adventures of Superman on the Mutual Network between February 19 and 25, 1947.

The Man of Steel and the Dynamic Duo are teaming up to keep the airwaves safe! Bud Collyer is Superman, Matt Crowley is Batman, and Ronald Liss is Robin in “The Monkey Burglar,” a story that finds Robin as a prime suspect for a series of daring robberies. We’ll hear the first five installments, originally aired on the Mutual Network between February 12 and February 18, 1947.

We're putting our little grey cells to work as Hercule Poirot solves two old time radio mysteries. First, Maurice Tarplin is Poirot in an adaptation of Christie's "The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor," originally aired on Murder Clinic on October 6, 1942. Then, Harold Huber steps in for "Murder is a Private Affair," an episode of Hercule Poirot (originally aired on Mutual on November 23, 1945).

Need a case closed and a tune carried? Dick Powell is your man. The crooner reinvented his career when he played Philip Marlowe on screen, and he starred in a pair of radio detective shows as glib but tough private investigators. In honor of Powell’s birthday, we’ll hear two of his mysteries: “The Impossible Murder” from Rogue’s Galley (originally aired on Mutual on May 16, 1946). Then, as Richard Diamond, Powell tackles “The Big Foot Grafton Case” (originally aired on NBC on August 30, 1950).

Herbert Marshall travels the globe as the dashing and debonair Man Called X. Dispatched on international adventures, the Man Called X is really secret agent Ken Thurston, enemy to spies, saboteurs, and insurgents wherever they may lurk. Marshall gave radio a suave super spy in one of the best espionage programs of the era. We’ll hear Ken Thurston in “Japanese Underground” (originally aired on NBC on January 20, 1951) and “A Ton of Dynamite” (originally aired on NBC on February 26, 1952).

It's alive...it's alive! It's the "Down These Mean Streets" Halloween special, presenting an old time radio chiller guaranteed to get you in the mood for trick or treating. We'll hear Herbert Marshall star in an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (originally aired on Suspense on November 3, 1952).

The game’s afoot as we join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in three of their old time radio adventures. John Stanley is the world’s most famous detective and Alfred Shirley plays his loyal companion and biographer. We’ll hear “The Case of the Dog that Changed Its Mind” (originally aired on Mutual on September 28, 1947); “The Case of the Cradle that Rocked Itself” (originally aired on Mutual on November 30, 1947); and “The Case of the Very Best Butter” (originally aired on Mutual on April 1

“Are you packing?” “Yes dear, I’m putting away this liquor.” William Powell and Myrna Loy are back as Dashiell Hammett’s husband and wife crime solvers Nick and Nora Charles as The Lux Radio Theatre presents After the Thin Man. The sequel to the smash hit comedy mystery hit the big screen in 1936, and four years later the stars reunited to recreate the film for the airwaves. Join Mr. and Mrs. Charles as they solve a New Year’s Eve murder in this episode originally aired on CBS on June 17, 1940

It's another case for Nick Carter, Master Detective - two of them, in fact - as Lon Clark stars as "that most famous of all manhunters." Carter sprang from the pages of pulp magazines and solved crimes on radio for twelve years. We'll hear him in "The Case of the Make Believe Murder" (originally aired on Mutual on July 22, 1945) and "The Case of the Dictaphone Murder" (originally aired on Mutual on June 4, 1946).

It’s Broadway – “the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.” Join Detective Danny Clover as he fights crime in the Big Apple in one of the all-time great radio detective shows Broadway is My Beat. Larry Thor stars as Clover in “The Secretarial School Triangle Murder” (originally aired on CBS on April 12, 1952) and “The Manipulative Magnate Murder” (originally aired on CBS on June 13, 1953).

Episode 244 - The Final Matters Matter (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar)