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

Cases of safe-cracking, gambling, kidnapping, car theft, and murder - police across the nation are tracking small-time crooks and big-time trouble. This landmark series of Philips H. Lord, arguably responsible for the entire idea of reality-based police dramas, featured true stories that played like fiction. A novel idea for the time, and one that is still powerful today. After the story was told, and the crooks were apprehended, listeners heard bulletin style updates of other criminals at large and helped bring hundreds of them to justice.

When Phillips H. Lord created his long running Gang Busters radio series in January of 1936, crime was rampant and criminals (both actual and fictional) were being glamorized in movies and newspapers. In response, Lord brought the public this police procedural series, dramatizing stories of real cops who kept real counterfeiters, safe crackers, and killers off the streets - and even broadcasting alerts for criminals known to be at large.

From start to finish, Dragnet brings you a real-life police drama of unprecedented realism. When the series hit the air in 1949, there was nothing else like it, anywhere. In this collection, Jack Webb and Barton Yarborough star in 20 broadcasts from the earliest months of radio's landmark police procedural.

Life goes on for The Couple Next Door - they are preparing for a family wedding, taking a trip, and planning the construction of a brand new house. Mr. and Mrs. Piper always manage to find a way to get things done, no matter what unpredictable obstacles pop up along the way. Here are 32 episodes of realistic scenarios tinged with a real sense of humor. This classic daytime radio favorite was created and written by Peg Lynch, who stars in these programs, along with Alan Bunce and Margaret Hamilton.

Let's play ball! Or hit the track! Or roam the links! Or lace on the gloves! You name the sport, Jack Benny's a fan...and maybe even a participant! Whether he's sitting in the stands or standing in the thick of the action, it all adds up to clutch classic radio comedy! Cheer on Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Phil Harris, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Kenny Baker, and Don Wilson in 16 half hour episodes filled with equal parts rah-rah-rah and ha-ha-ha!

The voice of Bob Bailey conjured both the weariness of the world and all its kindness. You may know him best as Johnny Dollar or George Valentine, but he was so much more. Sample the breadth of Bob Bailey's talent in this tribute collection. Here are 10 hours of classic radio dramas, comedies, mysteries, and even a science fiction tale…all of which feature the talented thespian. You'll also hear wonderful performances by an array of outstanding co-stars, including Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr, Mercedes McCambridge, Burgess Meredith, John Dehner, and many more.

Get out the vote! It's no-holds-barred, winner-take-all small town politics at its best as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve sets his sights on high office! But can Gildy's mayoral aspirations stand up against the competition? And can he balance his campaign against his developing romance with the local school principal? All's fair in love and at the polls in 16 fun-filled 1944 episodes starring Harold Peary as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve!

Multi-talented Irish tenor Dennis Day played a charmingly naïve young man (not at all unlike his character from The Jack Benny Show) in his very own series. Singing and working the soda fountain in the town of Weaverville, his lyrical voice and comical ways delighted listeners for five seasons (1946 - 1951). Although he bemoaned his humble position in life, his lack of funds, and his inability to impress the parents of his girlfriend, Mildred Anderson (Barbara Eiler), Dennis never gave up trying.

Father Peyton of the Holy Cross Fathers wanted to inspire his country with a radio program. Footing the expense of the show himself, he arranged for some of the biggest names in radio and film to donate their services, and for a network to provide the broadcast time. The series that resulted featured heartwarming stories for audiences nationwide. The commercial breaks were filled only with an earnest, non-sectarian appeal for family prayer, reminding listeners that "The family that prays together stays together."

Is Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary), Summerfield's most notorious "bachelor on the prowl," about to adopt a third child? That's how it seems when he finds an abandoned baby girl in the backseat of his car. Informed that the child could be taken away from him because of his bachelor status, The Great Man proposes to Adeline…and her cousin…Gildy's old flame, Leila Ransom!

In one corner: Connie Brooks (Eve Arden), the teacher who elevated education to a plateau never before realized from a transmitter! In the other corner: Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), the pompous principal of Madison High School who is the undisputed champion of the slow burn! On hand for the main event is a charismatic cast of characters, including squeaky-voiced student Walter Denton (Richard Crenna). As both the romantic interest of Conklin's daughter, and as one of Miss Brooks' leading co-conspirators, he was viewed with a jaundiced eye by the omnipresent principal.

Academy Award-winner Mercedes McCambridge stars as Martha Ellis Bryant, an experienced lawyer in private practice who has accepted the "challenge of defending the defenseless." Howard Culver plays her loving boyfriend, Jud Barnes, a reporter for the City Dispatch. In search of justice (and a good story), the two work both independently and together, checking records, talking to witnesses, and exchanging information with the police.

Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was one of the best loved of all radio shows, and often one of the most listened to programs on the airwaves. The public loved the caring, fatherly sleuth who could resolve any problem and knew just how to handle any situation. Bennett Kilpack and Philip Clarke star as "The Kindly Old Tracer," in 20 digitally remastered tales of the missing and the murdered. James Kelly co-stars as Mike Clancy, the Irish former cop who not only assists the sleuth, but considers himself the old gentleman's bodyguard.

Connie Brooks (Eve Arden) rewrote the textbook on how popular culture looked at teachers - with a fresh, funny, and always human take on the pedagogic profession. Come and study these 16 terrific episodes from 1954-1956. If you travel with her through the halls, you might encounter adolescent blunderer Walter Denton (Richard Crenna), the principal’s bobby-soxer daughter Harriet (Gloria McMillan), or the fumbling frog-obsessed science teacher Philip Boynton (Robert Rockwell). Principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon) was her outstanding comic foil.

Catch the buzz - before the buzz catches you! Britt Reid, daring young publisher, masks up against organized crime and urban corruption as The Green Hornet! Join our hero and his stalwart valet Kato for another collection of 20 classic adventures from the 1948-49 seasons, including several previously uncirculated episodes not heard since their original broadcast.

Based on the famous detective created by Rex Stout, The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe stars Sydney Greenstreet as “the balkiest, bulkiest, smartest, and most unpredictable detective in the world...that brilliant eccentric private detective, orchid fancier and gargantuan gourmet.” Nero Wolfe, armchair detective in the classic tradition, and Archie Goodwin, wisecracking hard-boiled investigator, shine in eight radio tales from this classic detective series first broadcast in 1950-1951.

Where there's trouble, you'll find him. Where there's mystery, there he is. And when there's romance, look out! He's Michael Waring to those who know him - and to those who fear him, he's The Falcon! Les Damon stars in this collection of 16 fast-moving adventures. With a little bit of a hard-boiled edge, a little bit sarcasm, and a whole lot of charm, The Falcon solves crimes, helps the helpless, and makes time with femmes-fatale all in equal measure.

"If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me." Whatever your problem, he's the solution! George Valentine is sardonic yet sympathetic as he solves mysteries, unravels crises, and gets to the bottom of whatever's complicating the lives of his paid-up clients. Bob Bailey made his first big impression on radio audiences in this series of tightly-packed, thought-provoking thrillers! Here are 16 of his most fascinating exploits, with Virginia Gregg co-starring as Claire "Brooksie" Brooks.

Radio's longest-running private detective wasn't a smart-mouthed, gun-toting wise guy. He was the gentle, dignified, soft-spoken Mr. Keen. Bennet Kilpack stars as the intelligent investigator in this 16-episode collection. The "kindly old tracer" didn't get into gunfights with thugs on foggy waterfront nights, he simply solved crimes…with a dogged determination. And he was always accompanied by his dense-but-loyal sidekick Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly). Join them as they uncover secrets and crack cases.

Natalie Park stars as Candy Matson, a San Francisco private investigator who is not only smart, sassy, and sexy, but tough, too! Candy's best friend and trusted assistant is photographer, and confirmed bachelor, Rembrandt Watson. Candy and her boyfriend, Police Detective Ray Mallard (Henry Leff), usually end up working the same case, but Candy always figures things out first. Known for its exceptional writing and sound effects, Candy Matson is popularly thought of as the best female detective show ever on radio. Includes eight digitally restored and remastered episodes.