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

The voice of Bob Bailey conjured both the weariness of the world and all its kindness. You may know him best as Johnny Dollar or George Valentine, but he was so much more. Sample the breadth of Bob Bailey's talent in this tribute collection. Here are 10 hours of classic radio dramas, comedies, mysteries, and even a science fiction tale…all of which feature the talented thespian. You'll also hear wonderful performances by an array of outstanding co-stars, including Shelley Winters, Raymond Burr, Mercedes McCambridge, Burgess Meredith, John Dehner, and many more.

Starring Irene Dunne as Susan and Fred MacMurray as George, together in Bright Star, a gay new exciting comedy adventure! Bright Star chronicles the happenings at the offices of The Hillsdale Morning Star, a small town newspaper owned and edited by Susan Armstrong. Played by Irene Dunne as a no-nonsense professional, Susan nevertheless has a sweet spot for her star reporter. George Harvey, played by Fred MacMurray as an energetic and competitive journalist, challenges, bothers, and bewilders his boss at every turn.

He stood just three feet tall, but his wit was larger than life! Charlie McCarthy was made of wood, but to millions of radio listeners, he was as real as Edgar Bergen - and much, much funnier. Impudent, irreverent, and positively irrepressible, here are 16 rare and classic radio episodes featuring Charlie himself.

Catch the buzz - before the buzz catches you! Britt Reid, daring young publisher, masks up against organized crime and urban corruption as The Green Hornet! Join our hero and his stalwart valet Kato for another collection of 20 classic adventures from the 1948-49 seasons, including several previously uncirculated episodes not heard since their original broadcast.

Mr. and Mrs. Piper are at it again - navigating the ebb and flow of postwar suburbia in The Couple Next Door. The head of the household takes up a new hobby, navigates changes at work, and faces a few domestic dilemmas - all while his lovely wife stands by...and stands her ground! Peg Lynch and Alan Bunce star in 32 consecutive episodes from 1959, featuring Margaret Hamilton as Aunt Effie!

One of the definitive detectives of American crime fiction comes to radio - with a matchless mind, a relentless eye for detail, and just a bit of an attitude. That's Philo Vance - S.S. Van Dine's famous amateur criminologist of the 1920s and 1930s, ready for radio in the 1940s. Jackson Beck stars as Vance, with Joan Alexander as secretary Ellen Deering, and George Petrie as District Attorney Markham in 16 mind-challenging mysteries!

"If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me." Whatever your problem, he's the solution! George Valentine is sardonic yet sympathetic as he solves mysteries, unravels crises, and gets to the bottom of whatever's complicating the lives of his paid-up clients. Bob Bailey made his first big impression on radio audiences in this series of tightly-packed, thought-provoking thrillers! Here are 16 of his most fascinating exploits, with Virginia Gregg co-starring as Claire "Brooksie" Brooks.

Operatives for the Office of Strategic Services carried out pressing and perilous assignments during World War II. They were sent to Germany and Japan…to Casablanca and Tibet...to anywhere and everywhere that they were needed.

In 1946, Life Magazine declared, "Dashiell Hammett's Fat Man is suave, witty, hardboiled and provides better than average radio entertainment." By 1948, The Fat Man was one of the top 10 shows on Friday nights, with more than six million listeners every week. And, starring as Brad Runyon, the "Fat Man" of the title, was J. Scott Smart, a 270-pound actor who sounded every pound the part.

The unpredictable adventures of freelance troubleshooter George Valentine entertained West Coast audiences for nearly a decade. Bob Bailey delivers a definitive performance in the title role, with able support from Frances Robinson as Brooksie, Eddie Firestone as Sonny, Wally Maher as Lieutenant Riley, and Joe Kearns as Caleb the Elevator Man. Together, they gave radio one of its most distinctive private-eye programs. Come experience the exciting exploits of an intelligent investigator who'd rather think than throw down...but, who could certainly handle himself in a scrap!

In one corner...we have John Bickerson (played by Don Ameche and Lew Parker), the undisputed snoring champion of the world! In the other corner...we have Blanche Bickerson (played by Frances Langford and Marsha Hunt), radio's most relentless battle ax! Love conquers all? Well, we'll see about that. Listen in as radio's most contentious couple goes to the mat. The sleep-deprived are about to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous matrimony in this cutting comedy.

Crusader against crime, foe of gangland, smasher of every corrupt and vicious racket - the underworld fears the wrath of Mr. District Attorney! He's not a costumed superhero - he's even mightier, using the forces of law and order to tear down the web of corruption and vice that has ensnared a major American city. Film star David Brian stars as District Attorney Paul Garrett in 16 high-powered episodes. Can he crack the case? Can he pin the crime on the right guy and ensure that justice is served? Listen in and find out!

Wherever there's intrigue…wherever there's a dollar, a pound, a mark, or a lira to be made…wherever zither music hauntingly insinuates itself in the foggy night air…it's there that you'll find Harry Lime! Scoundrel, con man, thief, and rogue, he trots the globe in eternal quest of the main chance—and he's brought to vivid life by none other than Orson Welles.

Radio's longest-running private detective wasn't a smart-mouthed, gun-toting wise guy. He was the gentle, dignified, soft-spoken Mr. Keen. Bennet Kilpack stars as the intelligent investigator in this 16-episode collection. The "kindly old tracer" didn't get into gunfights with thugs on foggy waterfront nights, he simply solved crimes…with a dogged determination. And he was always accompanied by his dense-but-loyal sidekick Mike Clancy (Jim Kelly). Join them as they uncover secrets and crack cases.

For gamblers, burlesque queens, murderers and innocents, comedy and tragedy were found in equal measure on the streets of Damon Runyon's Manhattan. Runyon, one of the most popular and widely-read figures of the Golden Age of the American Short Story, found his work was cut to measure for success in the most verbal medium of all: radio drama. John Brown stars as the glib Broadway, whose scene-setting brings a distinctive unifying touch to these fourteen digitally remastered episodes of the classic Damon Runyon Theatre radio series.

In the anything-goes world of post-Civil War California, there were some who went looking for trouble. And there was one who sat back and let trouble come to him. Stern-voiced John Dehner stars as Paladin in twenty exciting radio adventures. The black-clad troubleshooter was a thoughtful man, a figure of erudite sophistication who preferred not to use his gun unless pressed to do so by circumstance. But you really didn't want to press him.

Underground espionage - uncovered! Dana Andrews stars as a fictionalized version of real-life intelligence operative Matt Cvetic. This average citizen joined the Communist Party…and reported back to the FBI about their activities. Here are 16 adventures of double-dealing and intrigue set against the home front atmosphere of the early Cold War. First broadcast in 1953, these recordings feature radio regulars Lawrence Dobkin, Sheldon Leonard, Gerald Mohr, William Conrad, Parley Baer, Bill Johnstone, Virginia Gregg, and more.

Academy Award-winner Mercedes McCambridge stars as Martha Ellis Bryant, an experienced lawyer in private practice who has accepted the "challenge of defending the defenseless." Howard Culver plays her loving boyfriend, Jud Barnes, a reporter for the City Dispatch. In search of justice (and a good story), the two work both independently and together, checking records, talking to witnesses, and exchanging information with the police.

An orange glow peeks through the window on a crisp October night. Is it a jack-o'-lantern? Or, is it the radio dial? It's both! This collection of radio's happiest Halloween moments is replete with good old-fashioned haunted houses, costume parties, cemeteries, tricks and treats. Have fun with favorites like Jack Benny, Hal Peary, William Bendix, Ozzie and Harriet, Lucille Ball, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and Boris Karloff. This wholesome, family-oriented on-air All Hallows' Eve comedy celebration includes 12 digitally restored and remastered episodes.

International intrigue, crime, and mystery all converge around one man—attorney turned secret agent turned globetrotting investigator Frank Race! Tom Collins stars in sixteen classic radio thrillers from the late 1940s.