The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas

In this episode, we serve up four classic old-time radio snacks, featuring a special Family Theater presentation for Citizenship Day, an episode of Family Doctor, a New Year's drama from Guest Star, and a classic performance by Orson Welles.

Family Theater: Treasury of Homes

In honor of Citizenship Day, this episode features an excerpt from Family Theater, a dramatic anthology series that promoted family prayer and presented stories centered around American family life.

This excerpt, Treasury of Homes, celebrates the pioneers who settled the American West and the immigrants who came to the United States seeking a better life. The story follows the Simmons family as they search for a place to build their new home and dream of the community that will eventually grow around them.

The program also features a performance by John Charles Thomas singing The Homeland.

Original Air Date: February 14, 1951

Family Doctor: Error in Diagnosis

In this episode of Family Doctor, Dr. Grant Adams treats Griff Miller, an elderly man struggling to make the interest payment on the mortgage for his family boathouse.

When the mortgage holder, lawyer Ralph Bates, prepares to foreclose, Doc Adams comes up with an unusual solution. By convincing Bates that he has chicken pox and later poison oak, the country doctor buys Griff enough time to save his property.

The story offers a humorous look at the traditional image of the country doctor as a trusted community figure who cared for more than just his patients' physical health.

Original Air Date: 1937

Guest Star: Time is Sacred

Spend New Year's Eve with Bill Cooper and Louise Marston, two office workers who become trapped in an elevator when the power goes out.

As they realize that the elevator cable may not hold until help arrives, the two strangers discover that they have fallen in love. With midnight approaching, they face what may be their final moments together.

Starring Joan Leslie, this dramatic story combines romance, suspense, and a New Year's message about recognizing the importance of time.

Original Air Date: December 26, 1948

Mercury Theatre: I'm a Fool

Orson Welles stars in this adaptation of Sherwood Anderson's story I'm a Fool.

A young man attending a horse race attempts to impress a girl by pretending to be wealthy and claiming that his father owns one of the horses. 

His lies bring him closer to the girl, but as the evening comes to an end, he realizes the painful consequences of trying to be someone he isn't.

This experimental Mercury Theatre broadcast presented three short stories in a single episode, making it an ideal example of the snack-sized radio storytelling featured on the Old Time Radio Snack Wagon.

Original Air Date: August 8, 1938

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Today's Adventure: Counterspy David Harding and his agents are assigned to protect a foreign envoy visiting the United States to arrange the engraving of government bonds worth three million dollars. When the envoy’s secretary dies under suspicious circumstances and other details raise questions about the man’s identity, Harding begins investigating. The case grows more complicated as he uncovers signs of a scheme involving forged documents and a potentially dangerous financial plot.Original Radio Broadcast: October 6, 1949.Originating in New YorkCast:

• Don McLaughlin
• Mandel Kramer

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Today's Mystery: Johnny Dollar is asked to help recover a priceless Cellini medallion stolen from the Louvre and believed to be smuggled into the United States aboard a ship carrying French wine. After traveling from Paris to San Francisco, Johnny turns to his underworld contacts for information and learns that the medallion may be hidden somewhere along the Embarcadero. His investigation takes a dangerous turn when he and Smoky Sullivan discover a murdered watchman and must locate the stolen treasure before it falls into the hands of a professional fence.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 23, 1959.

Originating from HollywoodCast:

• Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
• Virginia Gregg as Smoky Sullivan

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Todays Mystery: Detective Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith are assigned to narcotics detail when a drug addict is arrested carrying a supply of high-grade heroin. The man refuses to reveal where he got the narcotics until the effects of withdrawal force him to talk. His information leads Friday and Smith to a bartender, a beer garden owner, and a larger narcotics operation that may be bringing European heroin into Los Angeles.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 19, 1952.

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

• Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday
• Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero

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Today's Mystery: Detective Danny Clover investigates a dangerous situation surrounding dancer Sylvia Douglas after she claims that Peter Ciuro wants to kill her. Ciuro insists that he loves Sylvia and points Clover toward another man, longshoreman Johnny Moore, whom he believes could be a threat to her. As Clover investigates the three people connected to Sylvia, the situation takes a deadly turn when Tony Blair, Sylvia's dancing teacher, is found murdered.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: September 20, 1952.

Originated in Hollywood

Cast:

• Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover
• Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia
• Jack Kruschen as McGovern
• Sammy Hill as Sylvia Douglas
• Sidney Miller as Peter Ciuro
• Sheldon Leonard as Johnny Moore
• Martha Wentworth as the landlady
• True de Marten as Mrs. Blair

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Today's Mystery: Pittsburgh newspaper reporter Joseph P. Brown receives a call about a woman who has been shot at an address in nearby Jeanette, Pennsylvania. Arriving at the scene, Brown finds a strangely uncooperative group of witnesses who refuse to give him the woman's name or explain what happened. As he begins investigating the shooting, Brown must uncover what happened to the woman and why the people at the scene are so reluctant to talk.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: September 30, 1953.

Originating from New York

Cast:

• Nelson Olmstead as Joseph P. Brown
• Mary Patton
• Cameron Prudhomme
• Madeline Sherwood
• Michael O'Day
• Bill Griffiths
• Carl Emery
• Bernie Grant

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Today's Mystery: Simon Templar becomes involved in a murder mystery after discovering a dead man named Marsh. When a photograph that could provide an important clue goes missing, the Saint sets out to discover who killed Marsh and why someone is so determined to keep the picture from being found. Simon's investigation leads him through a dangerous trail of deception as he searches for the missing photograph and the truth behind the murder.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: November 26, 1950.

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

• Vincent Price as Simon Templar
• Joan Banks as Valerie Marsh
• Lamont Johnson as Pete Bryan
• Helen Parrish as Sally Blair
• Ken Christie as Lieutenant Riley
• Anna Hurley as Graves, the butler
• Larry Dobkin as Louie

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Today's Adventure:After newspaper reporter Tom Fisher and a small-time grifter are murdered while investigating a fraudulent Mexican sweepstakes racket, David Harding sends Harry Peters to Gulfport, Texas, to follow the trail. A distinctive gold poker chip points Peters toward the offshore gambling ship El Toro, where he discovers that the gambling operation may conceal something far more dangerous below decks.Original Radio Broadcast: October 4, 1949Originating from New YorkCast:

• Don McLaughlin as David Harding
• Mandel Kramer as Harry Peters
• Maurice Tarplin as one of the criminals (probable identification)
• Leonard L. Bass, director
• Jesse Crawford, music
• Philip H. Lord, producer

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Today's Mystery: Johnny Dollar travels to Paris after his underworld contact Louis de Marsac claims to know the whereabouts of the Olney diamonds, a three-quarter-million-dollar necklace stolen during its owner's recent visit to the United States. But Johnny's arrival is greeted by a ransacked apartment and a sudden assault, suggesting that recovering the jewels will mean navigating some dangerous figures in the Paris underworld.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: August 16, 1959.

Originated from Hollywood

Cast:

• Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
• Virginia Gregg
• Forrest Lewis
• G. Stanley Jones
• Tony Barrett
• Bill James
• Gus Bay
• Jack Johnstone, writer, producer, and director

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Todays Mystery: Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Bill Lockwood investigate a group of confidence men posing as authorized solicitors for legitimate charities and pocketing the donations they collect. An early arrest appears promising until the suspect proves he merely copied the scheme, leaving Friday and Lockwood searching for the experienced bunco artists whose fraud is depriving charitable causes of badly needed funds.

Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 12, 1952

Originating from Hollywood

Cast:

• Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday
• Ken Peters as Bill Lockwood
• Virginia Gregg
• Vic Rodman
• Jim Moser, writer
• Walter Schumann, music
• Technical advice from the office of Chief W.H. Parker
• Captain Jack Donahoe, Sgt. Marty Wynn, and Sgt. Vance Brasher, technical advisors
• Hal Gibney, announcer

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