Radio's Golden Days

Molle Mystery Theatre - Homicide for Hannah - 12-28-1943

NBC's Mystery Theatre began airing with much fanfare on September 7, 1943. The series promised stories from the greatest classical and contemporary mystery authors -- and production values to match. And it kept its promise. It was aided from the outset by the addition of an 'annotator'-- as it was described in the 1940s --named Geoffrey Barnes.

The Phil Harris - Alice Faye Show - 10/20/1946 - A Tutor For The Girls

Phil Harris was on the The Jack Benny Program since 1934, playing the jive-talking hipster bandleader of questionable repute. His band members were helpful in the sarcastic, fast-talking department, too. So when Phil Harris (in real life) married the glamorous and talented movie star Alice Faye, it seemed more like a match made in Hollywood than in Heaven. They knew each other from the old days of the Rudy Vallee Show, and were both radio veterans when they decided, in the Benny tradition, to work together professionally, using their own show-biz personas on Fitch Bandwagon. Hey, Ozzie and Harriett had done well with it!

This show isn't like Ozzie and Harriett. Beside fame and glamour, Phil and Alice had two big things in their life, their lovely daughters. Jeanine Roose played Alice Jr. and Anne Whitfield was little Phyllis. Both took after Phil in the wisecrack department. The big headache in their lives - Phil's Band! It was a congregation with enough wise guys to make sit up and start take notes.

The Aldrich Family - Henry's Blind Date 4/07/1939

"The Aldrich Family" is one of those really GREAT and TIMELESS Old Time Radio sitcoms that make you laugh every time you listen to it. The main characters (created by Clifford Goldsmith) never age. Henry Aldrich (portrayed by Ezra Stone, Vic Jones and Bobby Ellis) is one of those types of teenagers everyone has met at sometime during life, as is his best buddy, Homer Brown (Jackie Kelk, Jack Grimes, Johnny Fieldler).

Mr. Ace and Jane - 2/14/48 - Loan Company

Mr. Ace and Jane, an attempted but short-lived 1948 revival of Easy Aces starring Goodman and Jane Ace.

A Date with Judy - 08/11/1942 - Aunt Lilly Needs A Date

"A Date With Judy", summer replacement for the Bob Hope Show, aired on NBC (starring Ann Gillis) from June 24 to September 16, was a soap opera, mainly broadcasted to attract a larger teenage audience to the radio. Dellie Ellis portrayed Judy when the series returned the following summer (June 23 – September 15, 1942). Charles Boyer makes a guest appearance April 03/45.

This Is Your FBI - 4/20/45 - Kidnapping - Shotgun Hadley

This Is Your FBI was a radio crime drama which aired in the United States on ABC from April 6, 1945 to January 30, 1953 for a total of 409 shows. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover gave it his endorsement, calling it "the finest dramatic program on the air".

Night Beat - 2/06/1950 - Zero

Night Beat was a radio drama series that aired on NBC from February 6, 1950 until September 25, 1952, Frank Lovejoy starred as Randy (originally "Lucky") Stone, a reporter who covered the night beat for the Chicago Star, encountering criminals and troubled souls. Listeners were invited to join Stone as he "searches through the city for the strange stories waiting for him in the darkness."

Produced By Warren Lewis, Bill Karn, Don Diamond and Directed By Warren Lewis, editing by Warren Lewis, Larry Marcus, Mary Marcus, shows announcers William Lally, Lamont Johnson, Jimmy Wallington. Music by Frank Worth, Robert Armbruster, Musical Director, Robert Armbruster. It was hosted by Don Diamond and sponsored by Wheaties, Pabst Brewing Company

Lux Radio Theatre - 6/01/1936 - The Legionnaire and the Lady

The Lux Radio Theatre. June 1, 1936. "The Legionnaire and The Lady". Sponsored by: Lux. The first Lux broadcast from Hollywood. The first show hosted by Cecil B. DeMille. A love story between a Legionnaire in the desert and a night club singer. C. B. interviews Jesse Lasky about the good old days in Hollywood when they filmed "The Squaw Man" together. Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich are interviewed. Marlene sings "Falling In Love Again," accompanied by the composer. + Originally when this Blue Network Program was broadcast on Sunday afternoons from New York in 1934 it was presented by Antony Stanford and featured hour long adaptations of Broadway plays, usually starring Broadway actors. But Lever Brothers, the show sponsors decided to move the show to Hollywood and so it was that on Monday June 1st 1936, Cecil B. De Mille the famous film director stepped forward to the microphone to introduce for the first time “Lux Presents Hollywood” brought to you by “Lux Radio Theatre”. The format was similar, but different, in as much as the shows now became adaptations of films and sometimes featured the original stars, as did this first one, “The Legionnaire and the Lady” with Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich, adapted from the film, “Morocco”. This show has atmosphere, it will take you right back to the days when you regularly visited your favorite movie theatre and became so involved with the story which was unfolding on the silver screen. It makes you realize the changes which have taken place throughout the world in this last fifty or sixty years with regard to heroes, ladies and love. Incidentally make sure you settle down to listen with a coke or something cool, it’s thirsty work in the desert.

Yours Truly Johnny Dollar - 11/11/1956 - The Big Scoop Matter

The Whistler - 06/13/1942 - Shrunken Head

"The Shrunken Head". An heiress comes to live in the house of her crippled old uncle and his collection of shrunken heads! In the quickening darkness of a stormy fall evening a young girl paces the platform of a deserted old suburban railroad station. From her anxious attitude we know that she is waiting for someone, her uncle Peter but being confined to a wheelchair he has sent his secretary Clay Holden. Miss Marie Medford has come over 2000 miles to see the only living relative she has in the world and things are not quite as she expected.