Black Mask Audio Magazine, Volume 1

Classic Hard-Boiled Tales from the Original Black Mask

By: Hugh B. Cave, Paul Cain, Frederick Nebel, Reuben J. Shay, Dashiell Hammett, William Cole

Narrated by: Hollywood Theater of the Ear

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Short Stories and Collections, 2010

In the1930s and '40s, Black Mask was the single most important magazine for the modern mystery field. Here, writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Earl Stanley Gardner reshaped the established view of mystery fiction, creating the "hard-boiled" private eye.

Now this series resurrects from those pages the toughest of tough detectives in sonic dramatizations from the award-winning Hollywood Theater of the Ear.

Stories included in this volume are "Lost and Found" by Hugh B. Cave, "Pigeon Blood" by Paul Cain, "Rough Justice" by Frederick Nebel, "Black" by Paul Cain, "The Missing Mr. Lee" by Hugh B. Cave, "Trouble Chaser" by Paul Cain, "Too Many Have Lived" by Dashiell Hammett, "Taking His Time" by Reuben J. Shay, and "Waiting for Rusty" by William Cole.

©2008 Keith Alan Deutsch (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"These shorts, highly acclaimed in the 1930s, are given new life by some of the best voices of our time." (AudioFile)

Not Bad

Overall, this was pretty entertaining. I’ve always enjoyed listening to these “old-tine” radio programs and this one did not disappoint me.

Old Radio Days

I truly enjoyed these black mask radio programs. I found the narration as if I was in the room with the actors. I really liked the variation of all the different mystery thrillers.

Enjoyable Murder Mystery Noir

What a great ride these few hours with the Hollywood Theater of the Ear was. Think of an old black and white movie mystery film noir for the ears. Fun, fun, fun. Interestingly, most of the short stories are written and take place in the early to mid 1930's, but could easily be revamped for today. Minus such tech advances as cell phones and internet, many could be about crime today. That said, I did get a big kick out of some of the period dialogue calling a gun a "roscoe" among other somewhat dated phrases.

Overall, a great listen available in the Audible Plus Catalogue. I honestly would not use my hard earned credits on a five hour audible book, but for free, this was a real winner.

Black Mask

Here you have 10 classic crime stories from the 30's and 40's...If you like hard boiled crime stories from yesteryear this should be right up your alley. These are radio drama's and the narration was top shape.

Not a fanboy of old-timey radio, but…

…these are actually very simply well-written, well-told, and well-performed stories!

I may or may not listen to more of these, we’ll see…

old fashioned fun

This was like stepping back in time to the old fashioned pulp detective novels. Includes a nice variety of authors. The recording is excellent.

Fun But Of Its Time

The production is great on this dramatized compilation of short stories, with campy but good acting and fun sound effects. It's "film noir" for the ears.

I'm not bothered by elements that were of their time and might be offensive today, but if you are you might want to give this a miss. Some of its attitudes toward ethnic groups and women are definitely dated.

Wonderful nostalgia.

It's hard to imagine anyone not enjoying this. Great stories and great acting. Well done.

The accompanying music is Phenomenal!!!!!

Love the music

The stories are good the acting is good. Recognition is given to those who perform in those who have written. Equal (If not greater) recognition should be given to those who composed, arranged, and performed the music that accompanies each performance. Fantastic all the way around.

Well adapted, acted and produced

Classic tales from Black Mask and American magazine adapted for the radio theater format — what more can be said? There are a lot of ways this could have gone horribly wrong, but with great actors, none of the now almost 80- to 90-year-old dialogue comes off as too hammy (and when it does, it's perfect). Volume 1 collects 10 stories, most by Paul Cain, with a weird live Dashiell Hammett Spade story thrown in for good measure. The foley work is superb and only rarely isn't leveled to the point where it overshadows the dialogue. Otherwise, great work all around!