The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

Suspense presents “The Moonstone - Part Two,” originally broadcast on CBS on November 23, 1953. This is episode 527 and the conclusion of a two-part adaptation of Wilkie Collins’s landmark detective novel.

As Franklin Blake and Sergeant Cuff continue their search for a remarkable yellow diamond that vanished from the Verinder estate, suspicion shifts inward among the household’s family, guests, and servants. Peter Lawford stars as Franklin Blake in this Richard Chandlee adaptation, produced and directed by Elliott Lewis.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:53 Original Broadcast
30:48 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Gunsmoke presents “Cavalcade,” episode 396, broadcast on CBS Radio on November 8, 1959. This airing repeats the original January 31, 1953 broadcast, with William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon and Parley Baer as Chester Proudfoot.

A deputy sheriff arrives in Dodge City from Richmond, Virginia, carrying murder warrants for two fugitives. When the names and an old photograph raise troubling questions close to home, Dillon must carefully sort evidence, duty, and friendship. Written by Les Crutchfield and directed by Norman Macdonnell, the episode also features Lawrence Dobkin as Deputy Ed Hunter.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:56 Original Broadcast
27:35 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Inner Sanctum Mysteries presents “Murder Comes at Midnight,” originally broadcast on September 9, 1946. Episode 283 stars Mercedes McCambridge and was written by Emile C. Tepperman, with Himan Brown directing and producing.

On a dark summer night in a rented country house, Ethel Canning waits alone while her young daughter sleeps upstairs. When a wounded stranger arrives claiming car trouble, a police bulletin raises chilling questions about the man at her door. This taut CBS mystery turns an isolated home and a nearby radio into instruments of mounting suspense.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:48 Original Broadcast
26:01 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lux Radio Theatre presents “Mother Didn’t Tell Me AFRS,” originally broadcast November 16, 1954. This is episode 897, adapted from the 1950 Twentieth Century-Fox comedy-drama based on Mary Bard’s book The Doctor Wears Three Faces.

Dorothy McGuire reprises her film role as advertising-jingle writer Jane Morgan, opposite Frank Lovejoy as Dr. Bill Wright. After a rainstorm brings Jane to Bill’s office with a cold, their fast-moving romance encounters the everyday pressures of a doctor’s demanding career and the adjustments of young married life. The surviving AFRTS/Hollywood Radio Theater presentation is introduced by producer Irving Cummings.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:54 Original Broadcast
53:55 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dragnet presents “The Big Make,” episode 66, originally broadcast on NBC on September 14, 1950. Jack Webb stars as Los Angeles police sergeant Joe Friday, with Barton Yarborough as his partner, Sergeant Ben Romero.

Friday and Romero investigate a violent holdup at Stendahl’s Bakery Shop, where the proprietor and his daughter have been wounded. With only limited information from the neighborhood bakery crime scene, the detectives begin assembling the facts in this early, tightly focused Dragnet robbery-detail procedural. The broadcast was sponsored by Fatima Cigarettes.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:50 Original Broadcast
30:12 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Escape presents “A Shipment of Mute Fate,” originally broadcast on CBS on October 15, 1947. Episode 10 stars Jack Webb and was written by Les Crutchfield, from Martin Storm’s short story of the same name.

In the Venezuelan port of La Guaira, collector Chris Warner arranges to ship a crated bushmaster snake aboard the liner Chan Kay, bound for New York. With the captain wary of the cargo and a stewardess attempting to smuggle her cat aboard, the voyage begins under increasingly uneasy circumstances. William N. Robson directed and produced.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:54 Original Broadcast
25:25 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Suspense presents “Circumstantial Terror,” originally broadcast on CBS on March 8, 1954. Episode 542 stars Ronald Reagan as Frank Thompson and was written by Ross Murray, produced and directed by Elliott Lewis.

Months without work have left Frank desperate and on edge. After an angry confrontation with a liquor-store owner, he returns to make amends—only to find himself caught in a frightening chain of circumstances that makes him look like the police’s most obvious suspect.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:43 Original Broadcast
30:33 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Gunsmoke, “Spring Freshet” (episode 258), originally broadcast on CBS on March 17, 1957. William Conrad stars as Marshal Matt Dillon, with Parley Baer as Chester, Georgia Ellis as Kitty, and Howard McNear as Doc. Written by Les Crutchfield and produced by Norman Macdonnell, this circulating copy is identified as better sounding but less complete.

When two wanted robbers bring danger to Dodge City’s Long Branch Saloon, Kitty is caught in a hostage crisis close to home. Matt Dillon, Chester, and Doc face a tense standoff in a drama of pressure, strategy, and the risks of confronting armed men in a crowded town.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:48 Original Broadcast
18:39 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Dimension X presents “Destination Moon,” episode 12, originally broadcast on NBC on June 24, 1950. Adapted from George Pal’s 1950 film and credited to Robert A. Heinlein and George Pal, this unsponsored sustaining-program broadcast features Santos Ortega, Luis van Rooten, and Norman Rose as host/narrator.

At a Texas rocket project, a determined team races to send the first crewed expedition to the Moon before official intervention can halt the launch. Treating spaceflight as an urgent engineering and logistical challenge, the drama is also notable for a real NBC news bulletin interrupting the surviving broadcast with reports of North Korea’s invasion of South Korea.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:58 Original Broadcast
29:22 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

X Minus One presents “Death Wish,” episode 115, originally broadcast on NBC on October 10, 1957. This science-fiction drama was adapted for radio by William Welch from Robert Sheckley’s 1956 Galaxy Science Fiction story, published under the pseudonym Ned Lang.

Bound for Mars, Captain Summers and his two crewmates discover troubling flaws in their ship’s newly installed computer equipment. When the spacecraft is forced far beyond the Solar System with limited fuel, the crew faces an urgent and increasingly desperate fight for survival. The cast includes Ralph Camargo, Maurice Tarplin, Walter Black, and Joseph Bell.

The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:46 Original Broadcast
22:13 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-50-greatest-old-time-radio-shows-old-time-radio--7218119/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio