Links and memories to come


http://www.oldradioworld.com/


These links have many online

old time radio shows that you can listen to now as you did when you were a kid in the 40's and 50's.

http://www.freeotrshows.com/otr/l/Lux_Radio_Theater.html

Here a a few of my old favourites that I listened to on the radio, where all us kids curled up in our bunks and wafted away to adventure on the radio waves.


THE DETECTIVES


While investigating mysteries, Blackie invariably encountered harebrained Police Inspector Farraday (Maurice Tarplin) and always solved the mystery to Farraday's amazement. Initially, friction surfaced in the relationship between Blackie and Farraday, but as the series continued, Farraday recognized Blackie's talents and requested assistance. Blackie dated Mary Wesley (Jan Miner), and for the first half of the series, his best pal Shorty was always on hand. The humorless Farraday was on the receiving end of Blackie's bad puns and word play.





The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was an old-time radio show which aired in the USA from October 2, 1939 to July 7, 1947. Originally, the show starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Together, they starred in 220 episodes which aired weekly on Mondays from 8:30 to 9:00pm.

.."The Shadow" - One of the most popular radio shows in history. The show went on the air in August of 1930.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

A figure never seen, only heard, the Shadow was an invincible crime fighter. He possessed many gifts which enabled him to overcome any enemy. Besides his tremendous strength, he could defy gravity, speak any language, unravel any code, and become invisible with his famous ability to "cloud men's minds."

Along with his team of operatives, the Shadow battled adversaries with chilling names like The Black Master, Kings of Crime, The Five Chameleons, and, of course, The Red Menace.

The Shadow's exploits were also avidly followed by readers in The Shadow magazine, which began in 1931 following the huge success of the old-time mystery radio program.






The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951. The series starred Howard Duff (and later, Steve Dunne) as Sam Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie, and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character than the novel or movie.


Inner Sanctum Mysteries featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned and the famous “creaking door” slowly began to open.
Every week, Inner Sanctum Mysteries told stories of ghosts, murderers and lunatics. Produced in New York, the cast usually consisted of veteran radio actors, with occasional guest appearances by such Hollywood stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains.
What made Inner Sanctum Mysteries unique among radio horror shows was its host, a slightly-sinister sounding man originally known as “Raymond.” The host had a droll sense of humor and an appetite for ghoulish puns,








MYSTERY

.Episodes of The Whistler began with the ominous narration:
I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak.
The stories followed an effective formula in which a person's criminal acts were typically undone by their own stupidity. Ironic twist endings were common.........

DRAMA

This series was broadcasted from June 3, 1949 to February 26, 1957 on NBC at various times and days, starring Dragnet starred Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. Various partners throughout the show's run were Sergeant Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips), and Officer Frank Smith (Ben Alexander). Webb was the creator/Director of the series and wanted everything to be as authentic as possible, down to the last sound effect. The stories were based on actual police files and "the names were changed to protect the innocent".

Dragnet broke a few radio taboos as well, such as dramatizing sex crimes. Children also were killed on occasion as in the episode "Twenty-Two Rifle For Christmas". The series eventually went to television and ran there for many years. The familiar DUM DE DUM DUM, the first four notes of the opening theme composed by Walter Schumann, became a pop culture legend and was forever associated with Dragnet.



Lux Radio Theater


Lux Radio Theater, one of the genuine classic radio anthology series (NBC Blue Network, 1934-1935; CBS 1935-1955, adapted first Broadway stage and then (and especially) films to hourlong live radio presentations.

Produced and hosted by film legend Cecil B. DeMille, Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance to do the show. Many of the greatest names in film appeared in the series, most in the roles they made famous on the screen, including Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Dan Duryea, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Vivien Leigh, Myrna Loy, Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Gene Tierney, John Wayne, and Orson Welles, to name just a few of the film legends who appeared on the show.

COMEDY

Fibber McGee and Molly was one of the longest-running comedies in the history of classic radio. We listened to this show after school.



George and Gracie were very funny and it was so sad when Gracie died....but George carred on with the same old funny gags.

So did Jack Benny....the tight-wad gag lasted a lifetime....the format of the Jack Benny Program never wavered. The show would usually open with a song by the orchestra or banter between Benny and Don Wilson. There would then be banter between Benny and the regulars about the news of the day or a old gagon such as Benny's age, Day's stupidity or Mary's letters from her mother. There would then be a song by the tenor followed by situation comedy involving an event of the week, a mini-play, or a satire of a current movie.

Eddie Anderson's Rochester uses the word "boss" when addressing Benny, but his attitudes were unusually sardonic for such a role, and Benny treats him as an equal, not as a servant. In many routines, Rochester gets the better of Benny, often pricking his boss' ego, or simply outwitting him. The show's portrayal of black characters could be seen as advanced for its time.


CHARLIE MCCARTHY

Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was a radio performer, best known as a
ventriloquist. It was Bergen's skill as an entertainer and vocal performer, and especially his characterization of Charlie, that carried the show. Charlie was always presented as a highly precocious child - a debonair, girl-crazy, child-about-town. As a child, and a wooden one at that, Charlie could get away racy jokes.


Charlie: "May I have a kiss good-bye?"

Dale Evans: "Well, I can't see any harm in that!"

Cha

rlie: "Oh. I wish you could. A harmless kiss doesn't sound very thrilling."






BOB HOPE lasted a lifetime with his silly jokes.....

I was out in the garden all day yesterday.. I ironed the lawn... smoothed out the grass... put every blade in it's place... and I still missed the putt anyway. (ca. 1948) I bought a horse with four other guys... I don't know which of it belongs to me... but I think it's the part you don't put the two dollars on. (4/24/1941) Well, we're coming up on June, the month of weddings. You know marriage is making a big comeback. I know personally that in Hollywood people are marrying people they never married before. (5/25/1982) Hear Bob tell some more! AMOS AND ANDY

The adventures of Amos 'n Andy presented the antics of Amos Jones, an Uncle Tom-like, conservative; Andy Brown, his zany business associate; Kingfish Stevens, a scheming smoothie; Lawyer Calhoun, an underhanded crook that no one trusted; Lightnin,' a slow-moving janitor; Sapphire Stevens, a nosey, loud-mouth; Mama, a domineering mother-in-law, and the infamous Madame Queen. The basis for these characters was derived largely from the stereotypic caricatures of African-Americans that had been communicated through several decades of popular American culture.
As kids we just enjoyed it because it was funny.



The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet was one of the most enduring family-based situation comedies. Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and their sons David and Ricky (16 and 13 respectively at the time of the program's debut) portrayed fictional versions of themselves on the program. The Nelsons embodied wholesome, "normal" American existence so conscientiously (if blandly) that their name epitomized upright, happy family life for decades.

Then there was Wayne and Shuster on radio and later on television.
Long before television there was Wayne & Shuster. Or rather, Schuster & Wayne, as they used to be known before an advertising executive suggested they change it. Their names are synonymous with Canadian entertainment. Over the years the styles and the material may have changed but their comedy pioneering gave at least three generations of new comedians the confidence to do the same. After a highly successful run on CBC Radio, they warily switched to television in 1954. Their legendary international success came in 1958 when they were asked to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York. Over the next seven years, they appeared an unprecedented 67 times. There were constant attempts to lure them to the U.S. but they chose to remain in Canada, continuing to work at the CBC. The Red Skelton Show hit the airwaves on NBC, giving Red just the forum he needed for Clem Kadiddlehopper, Willy Lump-Lump and others. The Red Skelton Show ran on the radio for 12 years (minus 23 months beginning in 1944 when Red was drafted).


Cowboys on Radio



Hop-along Cassidy, Gene Autry, Red Ryder, Roy Rogers, the Texas Rangers, The Lone Ranger
and many more
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