Down These Mean Streets (old Time Radio Detectives)

For our annual Halloween special, we're spotlighting radio sleuths doing battle with the (seemingly) supernatural. First, it's "The Ghost on Bliss Terrace" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on August 16, 1948) with Bob Bailey and Frances Robinson. Then, Vincent Price is Simon Templar in "The Ghosts Who Came to Dinner" from The Saint (originally aired on NBC on April 8, 1951).

The game's afoot as we head back to 221B Baker Street for three old time radio adventures of Sherlock Holmes. John Stanley is the great detective and Alfred Shirley is Dr. Watson in "Professor Moriarty and the Diamond Jubilee" (originally aired on Mutual on December 7, 1947); "The Mazarin Stone" (originally aired on Mutual on January 4, 1948); and "The Adventure of the Wooden Claw" (originally aired on Mutual on February 22, 1948).

Armed with a camera and an insatiable appetite for the truth, Casey, Crime Photographer will get to the bottom of the baffling mysteries he covers for his big city paper. Staats Cotsworth stars as Casey, with Jan Miner as reporter Ann Williams and John Gibson as bantering bartender Ethelbert, in "Self-Made Hero" (originally aired on CBS on July 17, 1947) and "Fog" (originally aired on CBS on March 11, 1948).

It's the 350th episode of Down These Mean Streets, and to mark the occasion I'm celebrating with Gerald Mohr as Raymond Chandler's celebrated shamus Philip Marlowe. One of radio's best actors brings vibrant life to one of literature's greatest detectives in four old time radio mysteries: "Red Wind" (originally aired on CBS on September 26, 1948); "The Black Halo" (originally aired on CBS on January 15, 1949); "The Fatted Calf" (originally aired on CBS on September 24, 1949); and "The Open Window" (originally aired on CBS on October 8, 1949).

If all he did was revive Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Jack Johnstone would still be a radio legend. But the multi-talented Johnstone brought listeners everything from true crime tales to offbeat western adventures. We're saluting the man who wrote scripts for Buck Rogers and Superman and who directed James Stewart in the Hollywood legend's only regular series radio role with a block of his shows. First, he narrates "The Unsolved Murder Of Joseph P. Bohanak" from Somebody Knows (originally aired on CBS on July 28, 1950). Then, he writes, produces, and directs "The Curse of Kamashek Matter," a five-part Johnny Dollar adventure (originally aired between September 3 and September 7, 1956). Finally, Johnstone is in the director's chair for "Report on E.S.P." - an all-star exploration of the psychic world from The CBS Radio Workshop (originally aired on CBS on March 9, 1956).

Travel back in time with Thomas Hyland - connoisseur of crime, student of violence, and teller of murders - in Crime Classics. One of the all-time great radio dramas, Crime Classics was the brainchild of actor, producer, and director Elliott Lewis, and it colorfully dramatized some of history's most notorious murders. Each week, Hyland (played by Lou Merrill) related accounts of Lizzie Borden, Blackbeard, Trotsky, Billy the Kid, and more. We'll hear two tales of historical murder: "The Death of a Picture Hanger" (originally aired on CBS on July 20, 1953) and "Twenty-three Knives Against Caesar" (originally aired on CBS on February 10, 1954).

"Enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend" is how Boston Blackie was introduced to radio listeners, and the former jewel thief turned detective proved week after week that he was always ready to lend a hand to a friend or throw a punch at a criminal. Richard Kollmar stars as the charming rogue who uses all of the tricks of his trade to turn the tables on dangerous crooks in three syndicated old time radio mysteries: "The John Austin Murder," "The Armored Car Murder Case," and "The Bombing of Joe Ingalls."

Travel to Cairo and make sure to grab a drink at the Cafe Tambourine - the nightclub owned and operated by Rocky Jordan. Jack Moyles stars as the expat and adventurer cut from the Casablanca cloth, with Jay Novello as the ever-watchful Captain Sam Sabayya of the Cairo police. We'll hear "Up in Flames" (originally aired on CBS on December 19, 1948) and "Journey to Nashier" (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1949).

Dan Holiday will beat writer's block even if it kills him. The reporter turned author offers his services as an adventurer for hire, and his only payment is to get fuel for his novels. Alan Ladd stars as Holiday in Box 13, and we'll hear three of his syndicated radio mysteries: "Three to Die," "The Biter Bitten," and "The Clay Pigeon."

Released 70 years ago this week in the UK, The Third Man remains one of the greatest films ever made. It's an engrossing, morally ambiguous noir drama set in the ruins of postwar Vienna and it finds Joseph Cotten's Holly Martins searching for the truth behind the death (and alleged crimes) of his oldest friend. Cotten recreated his role in an adaptation from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on April 9, 1951) - a broadcast that retained the iconic and instantly recognizable zither score from Anton Karras.

Using stories from the files of Scotland Yard, writer-director Wyllis Cooper crafted an outstanding and authentically British crime drama with Whitehall 1212. Each episode followed the dedicated detectives of Scotland Yard as they tracked down and apprehended the guilty. We'll hear a pair of episodes: "The Case of Dr. Duncan Allen" (originally aired on NBC on March 9, 1952) and "The Case of Maggie Rawlinson" (originally aired on May 25, 1952).

No matter how baffling the crime appears, no matter how stumped the police may be, master detective Philo Vance will unmask the culprit. Jackson Beck - the man whose booming voice introduced Superman to a generation of radio listeners - stars as S.S. Van Dine's brilliant sleuth in three syndicated radio mysteries: "The Movie Murder Case," "The Birdcage Murder Case," and "The Golden Key Murder Case."

Over the course of two radio shows, Brett Halliday's Michael Shayne shifted from a happy-go-lucky gumshoe with a lovely secretary and a good rapport with the cops to a burned-out loner who regularly found himself short on money and up to his neck in trouble. Both were great, and this week we'll hear episodes from both of the shows. First, Wally Maher is Mike, with Cathy Lewis as Phyllis Knight, in "The Body in the Trunk" (originally aired on Mutual on April 23, 1945) and "Murder, RSVP" (originally aired on Mutual on May 28, 1945). Then, Jeff Chandler stars as Shayne in the syndicated mystery "The Case of the Left-Handed Fan."

When people find themselves in trouble, it only makes sense that they'd ask a Saint for help. Vincent Price starred on radio as Leslie Charteris' "Robin Hood of modern crime" and lent an air of sophistication to crimesolving. We'll Simon Templar in a pair of old time radio mysteries: "Tuba or Not Tuba - That Is the Question" (originally aired on NBC on January 21, 1951) and "The Birds and Bees of East Orange" (originally aired on NBC on March 18, 1951).

There was no shortage of private eyes during the Golden Age of Radio, but only one could carry a tune as well as he could crack a case. Dick Powell starred as Richard Diamond, Private Detective - the gumshoe who cracked wise, packed a punch, and crooned a song to his girlfriend every week. We'll hear Powell in three radio mysteries: "The Private Eye Test" (originally aired on NBC on March 19, 1950); "The Hatpin Murder Case" (aka "The Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case" - originally aired on NBC on September 27, 1950); and "The Red Rose" (originally aired on ABC on March 2, 1951).

It's time to match wits with Ellery Queen! The brilliant amateur sleuth takes a break in the program to give you - and a special guest armchair detective - a chance to solve the crime before he reveals the solution to the mystery. We'll hear three old time radio mysteries starring Sydney Smith as Ellery: "The Adventure of the Vanishing Magician" (originally aired on NBC on November 6, 1943); "The Adventure of Dead Man's Cavern," and "The Adventure of Nick the Knife" (AFRS Rebroadcasts).

There's murder and mystery on the waterfront in San Francisco - "where the best trouble always looks good from the outside" - and Pat Novak is at the center of the storm. Jack Webb stars as the hard-boiled gumshoe in a pair of mysteries: "Find John St. John" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 22, 1949) and "Joe Dineen" (originally aired on ABC on June 19, 1949).

It's time to revisit "the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world" with Detective Danny Clover. Larry Thor stars as the cop with the heart of a poet in Broadway is My Beat - the police procedural drama with lyrical dialogue and Runyonesque characters. We'll hear two of his cases from the Great White Way - "The Joe Gruber Murders" (originally aired on CBS on July 8, 1951) and "The Alice Mayo Murder" (AFRS rebroadcast from May 24, 1952).

Whether he was thwarted by Rocky and Bullwinkle or leading visitors on a tour of the Haunted Mansion, Paul Frees' rich voice has been a part of pop culture for generations. But before all of that, he was a versatile voice actor on radio - one of the era's men of a thousand voices. We'll hear him starring as Jethro Dumont in "The Man Who Never Existed" from The Green Lama (originally aired on CBS on June 5, 1949). Then he's an impressionist roped into a scheme in "Fatal Fraud" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on May 22, 1949).

He dueled on screen with Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, and Danny Kaye, he was twice nominated for Oscars, and for 14 films and hundreds of radio episodes, Basil Rathbone brought Sherlock Holmes to life. We'll celebrate one of the best actors to wear the deerstalker cap with two of his radio mysteries: "Murder Beyond the Mountains" (originally aired on Mutual on January 14, 1946) and "The Waltz of Death" (originally aired on Mutual on April 29, 1946). Plus, Rathbone teams up with Fred Allen to solve a comedy mystery in an episode of The Fred Allen Show (originally aired on NBC on April 11, 1948).