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

Come back to the tradition and warmth of Christmas in the Golden Age of Radio, with the great performers and shows of yesteryear. Go shopping with Jack Benny. Go to the snow covered woods with Johnny Dollar. Go to Bethlehem with Family Theater. The voices of Vincent Price, George and Gracie, Bergen and McCarthy, Abbott and Costello, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, and more are lifted in story and song. They celebrate the yuletide with equal parts hope and hokum, silliness and sacrifice, merriment and mystery....

Wherever there's a scheme afoot, radio's fabulous freelance insurance investigator is on the job to stop it! Bob Bailey stars as Johnny Dollar, picking up the ringing telephone to take on cases of double indemnity and double cross, foul weather and foul play. Bailey is the definitive Dollar - the character's wry sense of humor fits the actor like a tailor-made suit. He's a man of keen analytical skills and good nature, a man who can use his fists in a tight spot without being an obnoxious "tough guy".

Karen Heaven is back as the bold, brassy, British investigator Hilary Caine! Our girl detective is as adventurous as ever in scripts adapted from the works of British mystery novelist M. J. Elliot. She takes a holiday in the Bahamas and travels to the United States on assignment for the British War Department - but wherever she goes, murder follows.

The fog is thick, the atmosphere is heavy, and the game's afoot once again! World famous consulting detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusted aide Dr. Watson roam the streets of Victorian London in search of the vital clues that will bring malefactors to justice! Adapted from the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and produced by Jim French, The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is radio drama at its 21st-century best! John Patrick Lowrie stars as Holmes, with Lawrence Albert as Watson, in 16 immortal adventures in sparkling up-to-the-minute audio!

Dragnet was radio's most successful police procedural series, and by far its most influential, shaping an entire generation's view of law enforcement, and bringing police work to life in carefully-documented detail. Never sensationalistic, but always a gripping listening experience, Jack Webb's signature creation remains the standard against which crime dramas are judged. Webb, who produced and directed the series, stars as Sergeant Joe Friday in gritty dramas of unprecedented realism.

From start to finish, Dragnet brings you a real-life police drama of unprecedented realism. When the series hit the air in 1949, there was nothing else like it, anywhere. In this collection, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough star in 20 broadcasts from the earliest months of radio's landmark police procedural.

The ultra-realistic crime dramas of Dragnet were tight, tense, and always on target. Guided by Jack Webb from its radio premiere in 1949 right through to the series' end, the medium's most memorable police procedural never cut corners in its meticulous recreation of crime, investigation, and punishment. Follow LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday and his partners, Sgts. Ben Romero and Frank Smith, in 20 real-life cases from both the early weeks of the program's run and its later years!

Nero Wolfe is "a gourmet who never walks when he can sit and never sits when he can lie down." Join Rex Stout's reclusive, overweight, orchid-loving super-sleuth as masterfully portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet in this exciting radio series. Ever in search of a perfect meal and a cold bottle of beer, Wolfe often sends Archie Goodwin, his secretary and operative, in his stead. Learn the logic of this armchair detective extraordinaire as he presides over 18 digitally remastered cases of treasure maps and love triangles, carelessness and con artists, bad business and bad medicine.

Johnny has a way with the ladies, but will his last date be with death? For free trips and a fat fee, Johnny Dollar descends into cases of missing money and missing men. But, what can he do when the bodies are walled up, washed up, and fallen down? When the jewels and the paintings are fake? And, when everything from trucks to trout to widows are on the loose? He'd better bring his gun.

Simon Templar, played here by Vincent Price (with Barry Sullivan substituting in two episodes), was wealthy and refined. He was well dressed, well traveled, and well educated. He was also The Saint, the "Robin Hood of modern crime," who was not afraid to break the law if that's what had to be done to ensure that justice was served. Larry Dobkin co-stars as Louie the Cabbie in these digitally restored and remastered tales that find Templar sailing, skiing, and delving in to the disparate worlds of mining, baseball, prizefighting, mystery writing, and more. The Saint sets all manner of matters straight, all the while maintaining excellent form.

In the wildness of the territories, greed lurks behind the grin of a gambler, vulnerable families meet their fates, and range wars are brewing. Outsiders come to town to start over, to start some trouble, or to die. The creak of leather, the rattle of spurs, the dry wind whistling along the dusty streets of Dodge City - that’s the world of Marshal Matt Dillon (played by William Conrad). Join him for twenty journeys into the West, with Parley Baer as Chester, Howard MacNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.

You might think a small-town water commissioner leads a pretty dull life…but not when he's The Great Gildersleeve! This water commissioner is dealing with an unpredictable romantic life, his growing niece and nephew, and troublesome new neighbors. There's always something doing in Summerfield - and Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve is always right in the middle of it. Harold Peary stars as Gildy in these 16 classic radio episodes, along with Walter Tetley as Leroy, Louise Erickson as Marjorie, and Lillian Randolph as Birdie.

The world-weary private investigator Harry Nile is one step ahead of the mob, but one step behind the bill collectors. That's why he takes pretty much any case he can catch—from robbery to kidnapping to murder. Phil Harper stars as Harry in twenty-one mood-filled mysteries, aided and assisted by Pat French as Murphy, his secretary extraordinaire. This is classic radio noir for a new generation, created and produced by Jim French.

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.

For 20 years Suspense brought radio listeners incalculable sharp inhales, tingled spines, and shortened breaths. Every week brought a fresh slate, a fresh cast, and a fresh challenge with an attention to detail and consistent script quality that never lost ground. From beginning to end, Suspense stands as one of radio’s lasting achievements - and the creative peak of the broadcast anthology format. Suspense: Omnibus includes 20 of the best episodes from the series.

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.

From the darkest, foggiest, most rain-swept streets of your imagination come The Great Radio Private Eyes! Detectives, investigators, shamuses all - here's a legion of radio's best-remembered gumshoes taking on all comers in a wide-ranging collection of thrill-packed cases of crime. They're all here! From Bulldog Drummond to Candy Matson, from the urbane world of The Falcon to the grubby dockside world of Pat Novak - get set for classic radio drama at its most compelling!

Journey back to a time when turning on your cathedral radio transported you to a fog-swirled 221-B Baker Street...and you spent a most enjoyable half-hour as "the world's greatest detective" matched wits with the most challenging criminal elements in all of London. The brilliant Sherlock Holmes is more than equal to the baffling clues and confounding mysteries that he faces. John Stanley stars as the clever Consulting Detective, with Alfred Shirley as his loyal assistant Dr. Watson. The game's well and truly afoot in 16 exciting tales from 1947-48!

Fred Allen specialized in literate wordplay, lacerating satire, and a squinty-eyed critique of the passing scene. His style was entirely his own: the slate-pencil whine of his voice, the ludicrously-named supporting characters, and the small-town-cum-big-city rattle of his dialogue. Join him in a promenade through parody, along with co-stars Portland Hoffa, Alan Reed, Kenny Delmar, Minerva Pious, John Brown, Charlie Cantor, and Parker Fennelly. Even Fred’s guest stars jump into the jest!

Racketeers and robbers, crap-shooters and kidnappers, hit men and hard cases - watch out! Joe Friday's on the job, and he isn't here to fool around! Join Jack Webb for 20 gritty true-life tales of urban crime from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department. Ben Alexander, Martin Milner, Jack Kruschen, Virginia Gregg, June Whitley, Stacy Harris, and more co-star as the city's cops, concerned citizens, and cold criminals.