Showing results by author "Original Radio Broadcasts" in All Categories

Phil Harris was brash, egotistical, and charming as hell. Alice Faye was regarded by George Gershwin and Cole Porter as the best female singer in Hollywood. Together, they starred in one of the most uninhibited and funny comedy series on radio. Benefiting from the likeability of its stars, a wonderfully cast group of supporting players, and one of the most prolific and clever writing teams of the mid-20th century (Ray Singer and Dick Chevillat), The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show is a complete delight. This collection features 20 digitally remastered programs.

Inner Sanctum Mysteries set the standard for what a radio horror show was all about. Equal parts wildly improbable scripting, stylized acting, and threatening organ music, the show took radio horror in a new direction - and cast an influence that would far outlast even radio drama itself. Pass through the squeal and groan of the iconic creaking door as your sinister host guides you through 12 digitally remastered episodes of the radio equivalent of a midnight ride through a carnival house of horrors…with an evil clown as your seatmate.

NYPD detective Danny Clover, poignantly portrayed by Larry Thor, patrols The Great White Way. With each block he bears witness to regret and redemption, to desperation and debauchery, to wealth and want. Each leaves its mark on this poetic policeman. At Clover’s side, and covering his back, are Sgt. Tartaglia (Charles Calvert) and Sgt. Muggavan (Jack Kruschen). The unhappy endings of hard luck stories drive Danny to search for justice - pounding the pavement to track down an eye witness, find that one scrap of evidence, or just to walk until it all makes sense.

Wherever he goes, whatever the assignment, you can count on Rocky Fortune to tackle the task with aplomb…and a wisecrack or two. Frank Sinatra stars as the versatile charmer who'll take on any job and emerge with distinction…and a gal on each arm. Whether acquiescing to assignments as an oyster shucker or short order cook, messenger or musician, tour guide or truck driver, this restless, footloose fellow follows his instincts and finds trouble. These stories, from a comparatively little-known corner of Sinatra's career, will be enjoyed by new fans and nostalgia-lovers alike.

"Hen-reeeeeeeee! Henry Aldrich!" "Coming, Mother!" Yes, here comes radio's favorite teenager, stumbling and bumbling his way through 16 classic episodes. Ezra Stone stars as Henry Aldrich, a likeable sort of kid who managed to turn everything he touched into catastrophe. With a constantly cracking voice, and a head full of absurdities, he confronts the awkwardness of adolescence…with hilarious results.

Carrol Naish stars as earnest Italian immigrant Luigi Basco - proud of the Old Country, yet eager to become an American. Attending night classes to prepare for his citizenship test, he mingles with a smorgasbord of funny fellows who teach him how quickly friendship can cross cultural boundaries. Alan Reed co-stars as the jolly, conniving restaurateur Pasquale - consistently capitalizing on his friend's confusion about American ways. He's wily, willful, and says he wants to do whatever he can to make Luigi's life better…as long as that means marrying him to his robust daughter Rosa!

Lum and Abner meet Buster V. Davenport of Toledo, Ohio…but, he sure looks a lot like our old friend Grandpappy Spears of Pine Ridge! And, that's just one of the problems facing the proprietors of the Jot 'Em Down Store in this collection. There's a war on! The town's truck line is in trouble, "little" Pearl is leaving town to become a nurse, and the boys' secret recipe for making synthetic rubber is lost. Can the Golden Era Discussion Club study up a way to get things back to normal? Here are 36 serialized episodes from the winter of 1943!

Simon Templar, played here by Vincent Price (with Barry Sullivan substituting in two episodes), was wealthy and refined. He was well dressed, well traveled, and well educated. He was also The Saint, the "Robin Hood of modern crime," who was not afraid to break the law if that's what had to be done to ensure that justice was served. Larry Dobkin co-stars as Louie the Cabbie in these digitally restored and remastered tales that find Templar sailing, skiing, and delving in to the disparate worlds of mining, baseball, prizefighting, mystery writing, and more. The Saint sets all manner of matters straight, all the while maintaining excellent form.

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar debuted in 1948 and endured for 14 years as one of the most popular programs of latter day radio drama. In fact, it became the last network drama when it ultimately signed off the air in 1962. An eminently appealing character, Dollar was pragmatic, flirtatious, and sympathetic (to a point) - better at reserving judgment than he was at restraining his impulses. This set brings you the voices of all eight men who took on the role of "America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator" - from the well-known to the obscure.

He's the man you call when you need it done—no matter what "it" is. Freelance troubleshooter George Valentine is likely to catch absolutely any kind case—from the silly to the sinister. Bob Bailey stars radio's jack-of-all-mysteries in sixteen exciting exploits from 1950. Virginia Gregg co-stars as Brooksie, along with Ken Christy as Lieutenant Johnson and Joseph Kearns as Caleb, the sardonic elevator attendant.

Racketeers beware! Ganglords watch out! That buzzing scourge of the underworld is on your case! Make way for The Green Hornet in twenty thrill-a-minute adventures from 1949—including many rare episodes! Jack McCarthy stars as Britt Reid—daring young publisher by day, masked avenger of crime by night! Leonore "Lee" Allman co-stars as Lenore "Casey" Case, with Gilbert Shea as Michael Axford, Michael Tolan as Kato, Jack Petruzzi as Ed Lowry, and Patricia Dunlap as "Clicker" Binney.

Radio's favorite couple is back with more neighborhood mix-ups, ill-starred schemes, and (as always) a whole closet full of laughs. Come spend twenty relaxing half-hours with warm, familiar old friends: Fibber McGee and Molly. Jim and Marian Jordan star, along with Gale Gordon, Arthur Q. Bryan, Cliff Arquette, Dick Le Grand, and Elvia Allman—plus salesman extraordinaire Harlow Wilcox. Listen in as Fibber suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous bureaucracy, do-it-yourself home repairs, locked doors, rummage sales, and rumors.

Life in the little town of Valley Springs isn't as quiet as you might think. Beneath the wholesome exterior roils an inner world of gossip and backbiting, crime and intrigue, and plenty of romantic frustration for the young widow Mary Foster Lord. From the golden age of the radio soap opera comes 32 consecutive episodes of this daytime favorite, featuring Kay Campbell as Mary. Parker Fennelly co-stars as her down-to-earth father, with Agnes Young, Kenneth Lynch, Elaine Rost, and William "Bill" Quinn filling out the cast.

Romance is in the air down in Pine Ridge! Lum is distracted by the new schoolteacher, and Abner is desperate to retain the affections of his fed-up wife Elizabeth! And that's not all. In this collection of 36 consecutive serialized episodes, Pine Ridge pauses to celebrate a wartime Thanksgiving and rolls out the welcome mat for touring war bond spokesperson Barbara Stanwyck! Every day is a new laugh with Lum and Abner! Chester Lauck and Norris Goff star in these shows from the fall of 1944.

Bell keeper, toll the bell! Here come stories of the mysterious, the uncanny, and the supernatural from the pens of literature's greatest authors! Between 1943-1945, The Weird Circle adapted works by Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Honoré de Balzac, Nathanial Hawthorne, and more to thrill wartime radio audiences. Here are sixteen classic tales of fantasy, terror and mystery brought to life by masters of the medium, including Eleanor Audley, Bret Morrison, Lesley Woods, Berry Kroeger, Elspeth Eric, Everett Sloane, Jan Miner, and Richard Gordon.

Crime is everywhere in postwar Los Angeles—and so is Sgt. Joe Friday. From robbery detail to the Bunco Squad, from narcotics to homicide, he's on the job in radio's definitive police procedural series.

Meet the people who live in the Burns House—and their many famous friends! George and Gracie are back with laugh-a-minute predicaments, which are both helped and hindered by celebrity guests Marlene Dietrich, Eddie Cantor, Jane Wyman, Kay Kyser, Robert Montgomery, and more!

On the violent frontier, "justice" was often carried out on the spot…with a gun or a rope. For those hoping to sort their situation without resorting to such methods, hard-riding attorney Chad Remington was the man to turn to for help. Rugged Jeff "Tex" Chandler stars as Remington in sixteen tales of western crime and punishment. Wade Crosby co-stars as side kick Cherokee O'Bannon, along with Earle Ross as Judge Fillmore. Listen in as they handle Colorado's cases of bank robberies, mine claim-jumpers, confidence schemes, and more.

Wherever there are spies…there are counter-spies! From wartime espionage to postwar intrigue, secret operative David Harding is on the job protecting our nation's secrets! In this suspenseful series, produced by radio legend Phillips H. Lord, the stories were works of fiction…but the plots were often based on actual events.

Tough as leather, hard as nails, and always ready for frontier danger—that's Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. This Civil War soldier turned Arizona range rider is never on the wrong end of a fist fight or a gun battle. Sam Buffington stars in sixteen rough-hewn radio adventures, produced and directed by William N. Robson. Junius Matthews co-stars as Luke's sidekick Wichita. Trouble awaits them around every bend in the trail. Watch out for sketchy lawmen, corrupt politicians, cowards, corpses, false accusations, and fierce fighting!