Showing results by author "Hollywood 360" in All Categories

X Minus One, widely regarded as one of the finest science fiction dramas ever produced for radio, was broadcast on NBC from 1955 until 1958. It began as a revival of NBC's Dimension X, which ran for just a year and a half, from 1950 to 1951.

The Cisco Kid was a popular film, radio, television, and comic-book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his short story, "The Caballero's Way," published in 1907 in the collection Heart of the West. Films and television depicted the Cisco Kid as a heroic Mexican caballero, a more honorable character than in O. Henry's original story.

Sam Spade was a hard-boiled detective with cold detachment, a keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. The character of Sam Spade was created by writer Dashiell Hammett in 1930 for his crime story The Maltese Falcon, and for most people, the character is closely associated with actor Humphrey Bogart, who played Sam Spade in the third and most famous film version of the story. In 1946, William Spier, one of radio's top producers, brought Sam Spade to the airwaves.

The Lux Radio Theatre was one of the longest running - and most extravagant - shows from radio's golden age. The show featured the greatest stars in Hollywood appearing in hour-long radio adaptations of their biggest motion pictures. Cecil B. DeMille was the host for the lavish production of what was to become a veritable checklist of many of Hollywood's best films from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s.

Our Miss Brooks was a situation comedy show heard on radio and seen on television and in films starring Oscar winner Eve Arden. Her skill with the wicked one-liner and acid aside had begun to lead to typecasting, so, to find a new image, Arden signed on for the lead in radio's Our Miss Brooks. The series centered on Connie Brooks, a smart, sharp-witted, lovable English teacher at fictional Madison High School.

Set in Los Angeles and starring Jack Webb as the stoic Sergeant Joe Friday, Dragnet is perhaps the most famous and influential police procedural drama of all time, having made extensive runs on both radio and television. Webb, also the producer of the show, took the series to new highs, insisting on realism in every facet of the program. The dialogue was clipped and sparse, taking its cue from hard-boiled crime fiction à la Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.

In the March 1934 issue of the legendary pulp magazine Black Mask, Jack "Flashgun" Casey, crime photographer, made his debut. His creator was former newspaper and advertising executive George Harmon Coxe Jr., who wrote more than 60 crime fiction novels in his lifetime. Casey's keen eye for detail served him well on the job, helping him to solve the crimes he was assigned to photograph for the newspapers.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest Western shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio, including many first episodes from their series. You'll hear William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, John Dehner as the man called Paladin on Have Gun - Will Travel, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans on The Roy Rogers Show, Gene Autry on Gene Autry's Melody Ranch, Raymond Burr as Captain Lee Quince on Fort Laramie, and Jack Mather in The Cisco Kid.

The Whistler was one of radio's top mystery programs, airing from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. The Whistler was an ominous narrator who opened each episode with, "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."

Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery drama series of the golden age. Often referred to as "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills", it focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood.

This collection showcases Lucille Ball's amazing spectrum of radio work, from comedy to mystery and everything in between. As Lucy Ricardo, Lucille Ball brought a tomboy's enthusiasm and a scatterbrained quality to the long-running television program I Love Lucy. She was the wacky wife making life difficult for her loving but exasperated husband, Ricky Ricardo, played by Ball's real-life husband, Desi Arnaz.

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC Radio in 1949, starring film actor and crooner Dick Powell. Powell had recently played Philip Marlowe in the popular RKO film Murder, My Sweet and jumped at the chance to play a suave detective on the radio. Diamond was a lighthearted, New York - based private eye who enjoyed ribbing the cops and singing songs to his millionaire girlfriend, Helen Asher.

Mr. District Attorney came to radio in 1939 and focused on a crusading DA named Paul Garrett. Created, written, and directed by former law student Ed Byron, the series was inspired by the early years of New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. It was Dewey's public war against racketeering that led to his election as governor and enabled him to run for the presidency of the United States.

Created by Irving Brecher, The Life of Riley starred William Bendix as Brooklyn-born Chester A. Riley, a family man who worked as a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. The stories were usually set at home, where Riley would cheerfully disrupt life with his malapropisms and ill-timed intervention into minor problems. His stock answer to every turn of fate became a popular catchphrase: "What a revoltin' development this is!"

Michael Shayne, "the reckless, redheaded Irishman", was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. In the novels, Michael Shayne settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The backstory on Mike is that he was happily married, but it hit him hard when his wife was tragically murdered. Grief stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of the city.

Damon Runyon was a newspaperman and writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of New York City's Broadway that grew out of the Prohibition era. He created a little world of characters that live on even today in such classic movies as Little Miss Marker and Guys and Dolls, both based on Runyon's stories. Actor Alan Ladd's Mayfair Productions brought Runyon's short stories to radio in the early 1950s.

Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne is a loner. Once happily married, Mike is devastated when his wife is suddenly and tragically murdered. Grief stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of New Orleans, seeking out his style of revenge on injustice.

Like its predecessor, Dragnet, Tales of the Texas Rangers adapted actual police cases for its broadcasts. Leading each week's investigation was Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson, portrayed by movie star Joel McCrea. Because the stories were set in the present, Pearson used the latest scientific techniques to identify criminals. Unlike Joe Friday, Pearson didn't have a regular partner, typically working with the local sheriff instead.

This collection contains twelve of the greatest comedy shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio. You'll hear Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos 'n' Andy, Robert Young in Father Knows Best, Jim and Marian Jordan as Fibber McGee and Molly, William Bendix as Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley, Lucille Ball in My Favorite Husband, and more.

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