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

In the realm of unforgettable radio voices, there is one that stands head and shoulders above all others - one distinctive voice that could never be convincingly duplicated, one that brought its owner undreamed of success. It was a voice of sandpaper and gravel and rusty scrap iron, rasping over a nation's loudspeakers for more than 30 years.

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.

Fanny Brice described Snooks as “my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She’s eager. She’s alive. With all her deviltry, she still is a good kid, never vicious nor mean”. Perhaps, but Daddy and Robespierre may beg to differ. Neither Daddy’s time, pet projects, nor peace of mind are safe from Snooks’ reliably relentless intrusions. As for how she treats her younger siblings and what she thinks of them...well, the fact that she tries to trade them for cats pretty much says it all!

Phil Harris was brash, egotistical, and charming as hell. Alice Faye was regarded by George Gershwin and Cole Porter as the best female singer in Hollywood. Together, they starred in one of the most uninhibited and funny comedy series on radio. Benefiting from the likeability of its stars, a wonderfully cast group of supporting players, and one of the most prolific and clever writing teams of the mid-20th century (Ray Singer and Dick Chevillat), The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show is a complete delight. This collection features 20 digitally remastered programs.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries set the standard for what a radio horror show was all about. Equal parts wildly improbable scripting, stylized acting, and threatening organ music, the show took radio horror in a new direction - and cast an influence that would far outlast even radio drama itself. Pass through the squeal and groan of the iconic creaking door as your sinister host guides you through 12 digitally remastered episodes of the radio equivalent of a midnight ride through a carnival house of horrors…with an evil clown as your seatmate.

The Green Hornet and Kato return in this exciting collection of digitally remastered and restored radio adventures, working outside the law to battle kidnappers, rackets, fraud, and other sinister and nefarious enterprises of the criminal underworld. Featured in these programs is Al Hodge, the first actor to play the role of millionaire newspaperman Britt Reid, alias The Green Hornet.

NYPD detective Danny Clover, poignantly portrayed by Larry Thor, patrols The Great White Way. With each block he bears witness to regret and redemption, to desperation and debauchery, to wealth and want. Each leaves its mark on this poetic policeman. At Clover’s side, and covering his back, are Sgt. Tartaglia (Charles Calvert) and Sgt. Muggavan (Jack Kruschen). The unhappy endings of hard luck stories drive Danny to search for justice - pounding the pavement to track down an eye witness, find that one scrap of evidence, or just to walk until it all makes sense.

Eve Arden stars as the tart-tongued Constance Brooks, a dedicated English teacher at Madison High School. Before and after the bell rings, Miss Brooks turns her thoughts from language to love. Indulging in her perpetual pursuit of bashful biology teacher Philip Boynton (Jeff Chandler), Connie finds herself making his favorite stew, conspiring to make him sick, and pretending to be his mother! She even considers compromising her principles (and her principal)!

Wherever he goes, whatever the assignment, you can count on Rocky Fortune to tackle the task with aplomb…and a wisecrack or two. Frank Sinatra stars as the versatile charmer who'll take on any job and emerge with distinction…and a gal on each arm. Whether acquiescing to assignments as an oyster shucker or short order cook, messenger or musician, tour guide or truck driver, this restless, footloose fellow follows his instincts and finds trouble. These stories, from a comparatively little-known corner of Sinatra's career, will be enjoyed by new fans and nostalgia-lovers alike.

"Hen-reeeeeeeee! Henry Aldrich!" "Coming, Mother!" Yes, here comes radio's favorite teenager, stumbling and bumbling his way through 16 classic episodes. Ezra Stone stars as Henry Aldrich, a likeable sort of kid who managed to turn everything he touched into catastrophe. With a constantly cracking voice, and a head full of absurdities, he confronts the awkwardness of adolescence…with hilarious results.

Carrol Naish stars as earnest Italian immigrant Luigi Basco - proud of the Old Country, yet eager to become an American. Attending night classes to prepare for his citizenship test, he mingles with a smorgasbord of funny fellows who teach him how quickly friendship can cross cultural boundaries. Alan Reed co-stars as the jolly, conniving restaurateur Pasquale - consistently capitalizing on his friend's confusion about American ways. He's wily, willful, and says he wants to do whatever he can to make Luigi's life better…as long as that means marrying him to his robust daughter Rosa!

Lum and Abner meet Buster V. Davenport of Toledo, Ohio…but, he sure looks a lot like our old friend Grandpappy Spears of Pine Ridge! And, that's just one of the problems facing the proprietors of the Jot 'Em Down Store in this collection. There's a war on! The town's truck line is in trouble, "little" Pearl is leaving town to become a nurse, and the boys' secret recipe for making synthetic rubber is lost. Can the Golden Era Discussion Club study up a way to get things back to normal? Here are 36 serialized episodes from the winter of 1943!

Johnny Dollar was a freelance insurance investigator with an “action-packed expense account.” On radio each week from 1949 until 1962, he traveled the world for clients who would cover his expenses. From 1955 through 1956, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar ran as a popular five-a-week 15-minute serial starring Bob Bailey. Enjoy these six five-part programs.

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.

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.

Deck the halls and prop up the antenna - because Christmas is on the air! Here come all of your radio favorites in a holly-wreathed collection of priceless holiday moments. These classic episodes are accented with humor, tinged with adventure, and well-seasoned with all the good family feelings that fill our hearts during this season of the year! From Fibber McGee & Molly to Suspense, from Red Skelton to Marshal Matt Dillon, from Mr. Benny to St. Nick himself, tune in to 10 full hours of seasonal entertainment!

Artifacts of crime's darkest moments and souvenirs of sinister significance can be found on display in The Black Museum. Presented here are 16 stranger-than-fiction tales of depravity and detection from 1952, hosted and narrated by the incomparable Orson Welles.

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.

Follow wild cases of snowmen, dragons, and ghosts...loot, letters, and lyricism...revenge, curses, and clues. Here are 19 engrossing all-new dilemmas of deduction for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes....

Secrets, suspicions, and suspense rise up thick as the Seattle fog in seventeen post-war noirs set in the Pacific Northwest. Produced and directed by Jim French, these new-time radio episodes bring back the classic radio style.