Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Grab your costume and a pillowcase! We're going trick or treating through the golden age of radio in the annual Down These Mean Streets Halloween Special! It's a full-sized candy bar's worth of fun and frights featuring heroes, villains, comedy, and chills. Jack Benny opens the show as he joins his buddies in the Beverly Hills Beavers for Halloween hijinks (originally aired on CBS on November 2, 1952), and the Green Hornet shows up to stop thieves from ruining a costume party in "Halloween Adventure" (originally aired on the Blue Network on October 24, 1944). Then Ronald Colman stars in an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on November 1, 1945), and Frank Lovejoy faces a voodoo curse in Cornell Woolrich's "Papa Benjamin" from Escape (originally aired on CBS on January 21, 1948). Peter Lorre stars in "The Horla," an adaptation of the story by Guy de Maupassant from Lorre's anthology Mystery in the Air (originally aired on NBC on August 21, 1947), and a ghost complicates a murder case for Richard Kollmar in a syndicated Boston Blackie mystery. Boris Karloff has some frightful fun with Jack Carson and Dorothy Lamour on The Sealtest Variety Theatre (originally aired on NBC on October 28, 1948), and Robert Taylor should have checked Zillow before he rented "The House in Cypress Canyon" on (originally aired on CBS on December 5, 1946) on Suspense. Finally, Jack Benny returns to close out the show in the classic comedy horror story "Seven Keys to Baldpate" from The Lux Radio Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 26, 1938).

Halloween is only a few days away, and in honor of the spooky season we've got four radio detectives tangling with seemingly supernatural suspects. As Michael Shayne, Wally Maher goes ghost hunting in "The Ghost on Moccasin Hill" (originally aired on Mutual on April 9, 1945). Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "The Headless Monk," a mystery involving a haunted chapel (originally aired on Mutual on April 15, 1946). Bob Bailey may need a ghost's assistance to solve a murder in "The Spirit World" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on May 10, 1948). And when someone is trying to haunt a widow out of her home, she calls Dick Powell in "The House of Mystery" from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on December 10, 1949).

A miner's strike can yield silver, diamonds, or even gold…but those valuable finds can also lead to murder as our heroes discover this week. We'll hear a trio of radio detectives investigating cases that bring them to (and sometimes in) treacherous mines to hunt for clues instead of ore. Philip Marlowe hunts for a thief in a Mexican diamond mine in "The Unfair Lady" (originally aired on CBS on June 4, 1949); Simon Templar comes to the aid of a woman with a newly acquired silver mine in "The Saint Goes Underground" (originally aired on Mutual on July 31, 1949); and Johnny Dollar investigates whether a fatal mine cave-in was an accident or murder in the five-part mystery "The Midas Touch Matter" (originally aired on CBS between July 2 and July 6, 1956).

With Halloween fast approaching, enjoy this encore episode featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson tackling seemingly supernatural foes in four old time radio adventures! We'll hear Tom Conway as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson in "The Adventure of the Black Angus" (originally aired on ABC on October 19, 1946) and "The Adventure of the Carpathian Horror" (originally aired on ABC on April 14, 1947). Then, John Stanley and Alfred Shirley star in "The Case of the Sanguinary Spectre" (originally aired on Mutual on February 8, 1948) and "The Case of the Everblooming Roses" (originally aired on Mutual on May 16, 1948).

Before they starred (or sometimes while they were starring) in their own radio detective shows, some actors made guest appearances on other mystery programs. Today we'll hear four of them in the supporting cast instead of the lead role. Before Dragnet, Jack Webb joins a scavenger hunt with Alan Ladd in "The Better Man" from Box 13; Charles Russell takes a break from his work as Johnny Dollar for an appearance in "The Million Dollar Chopsticks" from The Green Lama (originally aired on CBS on June 26, 1949); Gerald Mohr hangs up his Philip Marlowe hat in "The Mike Burton Case" from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on July 5, 1950); and two detectives - Larry Thor of Broadway is My Beat and Stacy Harris of This is Your FBI - co-star with Bob Bailey in "The Big Scoop Matter" from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (originally aired on CBS on November 11, 1956).

On September 26, 1948, Gerald Mohr went on the air as Raymond Chandler's private eye in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. His debut adventure was an adaptation of Chandler's short story "Red Wind." Coincidentally, "Red Wind" was also adapted as the first episode of the 1947 series of Philip Marlowe mysteries starring Van Heflin. It's the only story to air with both Heflin and Mohr starring as Marlowe, and we'll compare their performances with both episodes. Plus, we'll hear Marlowe meet Marlowe as Gerald Mohr guest stars opposite Van Heflin in "The King in Yellow" (originally aired on CBS on July 8, 1947).

With a slight delay, we wrap up our celebration of Batman Day with the concluding chapters of "The Secret of Meteor Island." This Superman radio adventure brought in Batman and Robin to help the Man of Steel hunt for a smuggler whose cargo of radioactive diamonds is wreaking havoc on Metropolis. We'll hear the final installments, originally aired on Mutual between June 24 and July 6, 1948.

Holy team-up! To celebrate Batman Day, here's a radio adventure that unites the Caped Crusader and Robin, the Boy Wonder, with Superman. We'll hear the heroes join forces in the first eight chapters of "The Secret of Meteor Island" (originally aired on Mutual between June 14 and June 23, 1948). Stay tuned later this week for the final chapters of this thrilling super story!

As a new school year gets underway, we head to Yale for the exploits of star athlete and adventurer Frank Merriwell. The all-American hero first appeared in pulp novels and later came to radio and the big screen with stories of derring-do on and off the field. We'll hear some of his adventures with Lawson Zerbe starring as Frank: "The Clue of the Numbers" (originally aired on NBC on October 19, 1946); "The Stolen Masterpiece" (originally aired on NBC on June 5, 1948); "The Unwelcome Rescue" (originally aired on NBC on July 3, 1948); and "The Live Ghost" (originally aired on NBC on September 11, 1948).

Our series of radio detectives played by multiple actors takes us today to Baker Street and four men who donned the deerstalker cap of Sherlock Holmes. First, Basil Rathbone is the great detective in "The Tankerville Club" (originally aired on Mutual on April 22, 1946). Next, Tom Conway steps in as Holmes in "The Adventure of the Horseless Carriage" (originally aired on ABC on February 24, 1947). Then, John Stanley stars in "The Adventure of Lady Waverly's Imitation Pearls" (originally aired on Mutual on April 4, 1948). Finally, John Gielgud is Sherlock in the syndicated episode "The Speckled Band."