Showing results by author "original radio broadcast" in All Categories

Radio Spirits brings you classic tales of mystery, crime, and suspense featuring everyday individuals caught in a web of their own making and tripped up by a twist of fate in the end. And heard throughout each radio play, as the events become a tangled web of crime, is that shadowy voice-of-fate, your host, The Whistler! Dripping with sarcasm, The Whistler follows the murderers’ slow descent into destruction while cautioning listeners about the futility of the criminal act they just heard.

Classic thrills and unforgettable chills are drawn from the pages of literary mysteries. Draw the curtains, dim the lights, close your eyes, and enter The Weird Circle! With stories adapted from the works of unquestioned masters of the Gothic genre by top radio talent, you'll go from shiver to shake with every episode.

Whoever you are, wherever you go, whatever you do, he knows the nameless terrors of which you dare not speak! Tales of crime, intrigue, and grim fate are brought to you by The Whistler! We offer you 20 edge-of-your-seat journeys into the darkest realms of the human soul from radio's preeminent showcase for stories with an unexpected twist.

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.

Presented here are Western stories of unparalleled realism and uncompromising emotional complexity. Marshal Matt Dillon (William Conrad) doesn't revel in violence, but he uses it because he lives in a violent place at a violent time, where only the violent can survive.

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".

In the darkest reaches of the human psyche, there is no corner quite so dark as the fear of nameless, inevitable Fate. With its startling twists and its mocking laughter, Fate can take any of us at any time. We confront this fear by taking a grim satisfaction with the cruelties that Fate metes out to others. Because if it's happening to someone else, it isn't happening to us...right? The Whistler, the sneering narrator of each story, is the personification of Fate - bringing characters to their grim, well-deserved destinies with considerable panache.

It's the 1950s! And for all the decade's charm, petty racketeers, thugs of organized crime, and Communist spies were lurking in its dark alleys. Whether it was urban corruption or The Cold War splashed on the front page of the Sentinel, daring young publisher Britt Reid was keeping a close eye on the story.

Suave. Urbane. Cultured. And deadly. They call him Paladin, and this lean, quiet man in black brings his gun to bear for whoever can pay his fee (and meet his standards). His business card says it all: Have Gun, Will Travel! John Dehner brings Old San Francisco's righteous pistolero to life in this new collection of 20 classic radio adventures. Ben Wright co-stars as Hey Boy, with Virginia Gregg as Miss Wong.

Wherever there's intrigue…wherever there's a dollar, a pound, a mark, or a lira to be made…wherever zither music hauntingly insinuates itself in the foggy night air…it's there that you'll find Harry Lime! Scoundrel, con man, thief, and rogue, he trots the globe in eternal quest of the main chance—and he's brought to vivid life by none other than Orson Welles.

Head to distant worlds and alternate futures! Explore the limitless potential for twists and turns when stories are fueled by the infinite power of imagination! Here are twenty-four thought-provoking tales as up-to-date as tomorrow. It's new-time radio in the classic old-time-radio manner, from the mind of producer Jim French.

Do you relish the ridiculous? Get ready for realms of absurdity only possible with radio comedy! Here's a selection of some of Jack's best sketches, parodies, and far-fetched fables - with Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, and a few surprise guests (including Humphrey Bogart)! The play's the thing! Whether it's a lush romance, a leather-pounding Western drama, a hard-boiled detective thriller, or a tale of rip-roaring adventure, you can count on Jack Benny to turn it sideways and make it funny!

By the 1956-57 season, Gunsmoke had reached the peak of its dramatic power as radio’s foremost adult western, with its powerful scripts and careful characterizations. William Conrad leads the cast as Marshal Matt Dillon, along with Parley Baer as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty. The citizens of Dodge City, Kansas emerged as living, breathing embodiments of frontier America in radio dramas that represent the medium at its most potent. Experience 27 hard-hitting adventures from this landmark season in this collection!

Doctors and nurses exchanging tense, meaningful dialogue! A gurney rumbles down a corridor, surgical instruments clatter, and a rubber glove snaps at the end of a life-saving operation! Here is medical drama at its best - tense, taut, and intensely human! Lew Ayres stars as Dr. James Kildare, an intern at the start of his medical career, who takes on the hectic routine of a major metropolitan hospital. Lionel Barrymore co-stars as his gruff-but-kindly mentor Dr. Leonard Gillespie.

Molle Mystery Theatre, the program that brings you “the best in mystery and detective fiction”, is presented here in eight digitally restored and remastered episodes, including rare recordings. The brilliant Bernard Lenrow plays the role of your host “Geoffrey Barnes” - a connoisseur, criminologist, and expert on crime, suspense, and detective fiction - guiding listeners through superior adaptations of mystery classics and original stories by the best radio writers. These exciting episodes will keep you riveted and tense.

Spend your yuletide with the greatest stars of radio's Golden Age! Trim the tree, wrap the presents, and deck the halls as festive broadcast favorites like Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, and The Great Gildersleeve keep you entertained! Hark to the voices of Christmases past - including Frank Sinatra and Will Rogers, Jr. - as they bring you merry mysteries and endearing dramas.

He knows crime, and he knows criminals...because he was once on the wrong side of the law himself. That's Boston Blackie - a friend to those who have no friends, an enemy to those who make him an enemy! Broadway actor Richard Kollmar stars in his best-remembered radio role as the tough yet sympathetic ex-safecracker. Lesley Woods costars as his lady friend Mary Wesley, with Maurice Tarplin as Inspector Faraday. Join them for 16 exciting investigations of jewel heists, murder and more!

"Even when you know who's guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the final curtain." He knows who you are and he knows what you did! He's The Whistler—a mysterious figure of the night who knows the nameless terrors of which you dare not speak! Here's radio noir at its finest in twenty tales of crime, mystery, and fate starring Bill Forman as The Whistler. The plotters and the pawns are played by Jeff Chandler, Betty Lou Gerson, Frank Lovejoy, Gerald Mohr, Eleanor Audley, Joseph Kearns, Frances Robinson, and more.

Some people collect coins, some people collect stamps, but Barton Drake collects murders! He's an author, a bon vivant, and an expert in the dark corners of the criminal mind. There's no homicide he won't investigate, no killing he can't solve! Glenn Langan stars as Barton Drake, with Norman Field as Inspector Danton. Together, they crack 16 classic cases of radio mystery from 1945 to 1946!

Everyone has secrets...but some secrets are more sinister than others. And the more malevolent the secret, the more The Whistler knows! Wander the foreboding, shadow-filled streets of the imagination in tales that explore the "nameless terrors of which we dare not speak." Bill Forman stars as The Whistler, alongside the suspiciously skillful William Conrad, Gerald Mohr, Elliott and Cathy Lewis, Howard Duff, Doris Singleton, Betty Lou Gerson, and more. Hear them all in in 20 tense tales of crime, suspense, and fate!