Showing results by narrator "Old Time Radio" in All Categories

When last we left our pals from Pine Ridge, they were involved in considerable intrigue. They were receiving reports from the Masked Muskrat, threats from the Black Pelican, and a baby from a melancholy mother. The further adventures of Lum Edwards and Abner Peabody find them confounded by one commotion after another. At the Jot 'em Down Store, there is much bother about the baby, a mystery about a coat-of-arms, and mischief about ghosts, gunshots, and gold mines.

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.

Laughs come in twos with America's favorite comedy team! Here comes George Burns and Gracie Allen in 16 illogically logical half hours featuring a parade of guest stars, including Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, and Cary Grant! Bill Goodwin, Tobe Reed, and Meredith Willson are on hand as George and Gracie find themselves tangling with madcap matters of crime, competition, money, and matrimony. This collection features rare episodes and rare talent!

What's more entertaining than a witty, snappy-talking detective? How about two witty, snappy-talking detectives? Publisher Jerry North and his always inquisitive wife Pamela are sophisticated sleuthing spouses who solved cases everywhere from magazine fiction, to novels, the stage, movies, radio and television. In these eight digitally remastered episodes from their long running radio series, the Norths can't seem to avoid mysteries and murders. In spite of Jerry's best attempts to put aside corpses and confessions - even quiet evenings at home and romantic ocean cruises turns deadly!

Larry Thor, a staff announcer turned actor with an expressive and powerful voice, played the role of Detective Danny Clover. His beat was Broadway, and each week he narrated a new tale of nighttime drama along the Great White Way. Writers Morton Fine and David Friedkin delivered scripts of elegant intricacy that turned routine description into near poetry. Three soundmen worked in unison to create one of the densest soundscapes on radio - capturing the chaotic buzz of the New York night as a counterpoint to the music and dialogue. It was the most lyrical crime show on the air.

The boys from Pine Ridge get quite an education when the town finds itself in need of a new school teacher. The candidate they hire is eminently qualified - and not at all what president of the school board, Lum Edwards, had in mind! Professor Sloane, tireless in the pursuit of knowledge, spearheads ambitious plans for an observatory, a rocket ship, and a trip to Mars - manned by none other than Lum and Abner! With financial backing from the unscrupulous Squire Skimp, the duo declares themselves "scientifics" and set their sights on the stars.

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.

Created and written by Philip Rapp, Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson were the first married couple on radio to have a truly adversarial relationship. Scathing, sarcastic and comical, John and Blanche would fight about anything. Although they often argued about Blanche’s good-for-nothing brother, she would certainly insist that the big troubles were caused by John’s snoring and her resulting insomnia. There was nothing sweet or tender about their pillow talk, but it sure was funny!

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.

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.

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.