Candy Matson, Yukon 28209, Volume 1

By: Audio Archive

Narrated by: Natalie Parks, Bill Mills, Jean Marie Stine

Length: 1 hr and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Spotlighting the greatest shows of OTR (Old Time Radio)! Here are two complete radio adventures plus special commentary.

Radio's greatest and funniest female private detective!

Candy Matson, Yukon 2-8209, which ran from 1949-1952, is considered the best of radio's female private eyes. Bright, sparkling and witty, Candy Matson (whose home was "on Telegraph Hill overlooking Monterey Bay" in San Fransisco) features the sharpest dialogue this side of the William Powell-Myrna Loy "Thin Man" movies.

Candy was as dogged a man-hunter as any of her hard-boiled male counterparts, and just as quick with a wisecrack in the face of danger. As Jack French, author of Private Eyelashes: Radio's Lady Detectives, puts it, "Threats, assaults, and even bullets would usually produce a caustic, but clever, response from this blonde sleuth."

The show boasts one of the most unique crime fighting duos in radio history: Candy's sidekick is the cultured, flamboyant (and possibly 'light-in-the-loafers") Rembrandt Watson. Watson was a true friend dedicated to Candy and Candy was a true detective dedicated to fighting crime, solving mysteries, and collecting crisp cold cash from clients.

Natalie Parks played the sexy, sassy, fearless heroine, in a program created and helmed by her husband, veteran producer-writer Monty Masters.

This special audio double-feature showcases two classic episodes, "The Cable Car Case" and "The Fort Ord Story", complete and uncut, plus special commentary researched and written by old time radio fans Jean Marie Stine and Bill Mills, who describe the show's history and discuss the history of female sleuths on radio, biographical info on Parks and Masters, behind-the-scenes stories and even more about the making of radio's most delightful detective series!

This 'edu-tainment' book presentation is hosted by Audio Archive creator and producer, Bill Mills.

©2005 Renaissance eBooks Inc. (P)2005 Renaissance eBooks Inc.

Very good story.

Candy Matson is a real relief to the male detective stories. Very refreshing, funny, and entertaining. Great stories, great characters!

Charming with great wit!

I just loved trip back down to old time radio. Candy Matson is a charmer! Her ironic wit and the great dialogue is the best part. It's too bad they didn't make more of these. Also great fun if you know anything about San Francisco.

Good Old Radio

A couple of entertaining episodes from the golden age of the one-line zinger. I thought the dialogue was more interesting than the plot, but still an enjoyable listen. Plus a little education about the genre and the show.

Great fun and educational too!

I love old radio shows. They're full of humor and wit and timely dialogue which still rings true, even 65 years on (at one point in the first story it's mentioned that the economy is in a recession and Candy offers her friend Rembrandt Watson $50 and tells him to "go stimulate the economy" [sounds familiar ...]).

What's cool is having a female in a role which is usually limited to males, and she's every bit as capable, intelligent, tough and interesting as Sam Spade or any of the others of the era. And she has better dialogue!

What came as a delightful surprise with this recording was the interesting and informative history presented by Bill Mills who not only gives backgrounds on the players, but also gives us a frame from which to understand some of the, what are to us, historical tidbits which would have been recognizable references for the audience during the show's run. Sadly, according to Mr. Mills, only 14 recordings from show are still in existence and the rest are only in script format. Maybe someday, with the right group of people, they can be revived, because I would love to hear the entire series at some point.