Showing results by author "Hollywood 360" in All Categories

The Whistler was one of radio's top mystery programs airing from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955, sponsored by the Signal Oil Company. The Whistler was an ominous narrator who opened each episode with: "I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak."

Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery drama series of the golden age. Often referred to as "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills", it focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood.

Sam Spade was a hard-boiled detective with cold detachment, a keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. The character of Sam Spade was created by writer Dashiell Hammett in 1930 for his crime story The Maltese Falcon, and for most people, the character is closely associated with actor Humphrey Bogart, who played Sam Spade in the third and most famous film version of the story. In 1946, William Spier, one of radio's top producers, brought Sam Spade to the airwaves.

The Falcon radio series aired from 1943 until 1954. "The Falcon" was an alternate identity for detective Michael Waring. Like the Falcon movies, the radio plots mixed danger, romance, and comedy in equal parts. Each show began with a telephone ringing and Michael Waring, the Falcon, answering the phone. Speaking with a woman whose voice was never heard, Waring would explain that he had an urgent situation he had to deal with.

Michael Shayne, "the reckless, redheaded Irishman", was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. In the novels, Michael Shayne settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The backstory on Mike is that he was happily married, but it hit him hard when his wife was tragically murdered. Grief stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of the city.

A thrilling collection of episodes from the classic radio show Suspense.

Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery series of the golden age. Often referred to as "Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills," the show focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood.

This collection contains twelve of the greatest comedy shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio. You'll hear Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos 'n' Andy, Robert Young in Father Knows Best, Jim and Marian Jordan as Fibber McGee and Molly, William Bendix as Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley, Lucille Ball in My Favorite Husband, and more.

This collection spotlights the iconic Orson Welles in nine of his works from the golden age of radio. These radio dramas, airing from 1938 through 1951, are among his very best and can be enjoyed for years to come. Armed with the nickname the "Boy Genius", Orson Welles graduated from the New York stage to expand his creative talents in the radio industry, hoping to use the audio medium to promote his stage ventures.

Dimension X was one of old-time radio's first adult science-fiction shows. Though it ran for only a short time, the show made its mark by adapting short stories written by some of the best-known masters of the genre - Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Kurt Vonnegut, and others. Writers Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts adapted the stories, occasionally contributing original scripts of their own.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest mystery shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio, featuring the legendary stars that made them great. You will hear Orson Welles, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, Joan Fontaine, and other stars in classic radio episodes from such radio shows as Suspense, Escape, The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, The Screen Directors Playhouse, and The Weird Circle, among others.

Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mysteries debuted over NBC's Blue Network in January 1941. It featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned, and the famous "creaking door" slowly began to open. Every week Inner Sanctum Mysteries told stories of ghosts, murderers, and lunatics.

Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll made their radio debut January 12, 1926, as the comedic, blackface characters Sam 'n' Henry. On March 19, 1928, they introduced Amos 'n' Andy, which went on to become one of the most popular and longest-running programs in radio history. During the height of the show's popularity, almost the entire country listened to the 15-minute adventures of Amos and Andy that aired Monday through Friday.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest radio shows ever broadcast during the golden age of radio! You'll hear Freeman Gosden and Charlezas Correll as Amos and Andy, Howard Duff as Detective Sam Spade, Tom Conway as the immortal Sherlock Holmes, Jim and Marian Jordon as Fibber McGee and Molly, Willard Waterman as the Great Gildersleeve, Eve Arden as Connie Brooks of Our Miss Brooks, William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, Charles Laughton in a terrifying episode of Suspense, plus many more!

The Aldrich Family was a popular situation comedy that was heard on radio and seen in films, on television, and in comic books. Teenager Henry Aldrich, the creation of playwright Clifford Goldsmith, was an endearingly bumbling kid growing awkwardly into adolescence. Episodes revolved around Henry's misadventures with girls, his family, and his friends.

Created by author Jack Boyle, Boston Blackie was a master safecracker and hardened criminal who served time in a California prison. Rehabilitated, he decided to use his knowledge of the underworld to fight crime as an amateur detective. Known as "an enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend", Boston Blackie's exploits were adapted to film, radio, and television.

Jack Webb (1920 - 1982) was a popular American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter. He started out in the entertainment industry in comedy, but achieved his first success playing the title character in the radio show Pat Novak, for Hire. His greater success came from his role as Los Angeles Police Department sergeant Joe Friday in the show Dragnet, which he created based on actual LAPD criminal case files and which ran for many years on both radio and television.

The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman, who is best known for his Oscar-winning performance as Professor Charles Kingsfield in the The Paper Chase. After a series of acclaimed stage productions, Welles and his Mercury Theatre were offered theirown weekly hour-long radio program over the CBS radio network.

Hosted by Cecil B. DeMille and starring numerous icons of the screen, this collection of old-time radio classics includes six episodes of The Lux Radio Theatre - one of the longest running, most extravagant shows from radio's golden age. The show featured the greatest stars in Hollywood appearing in hour-long radio adaptations of their biggest motion pictures, making this lavish production a veritable checklist of many of Hollywood's best films from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s.

Here are 12 episodes of the horror and mystery series written and produced by radio announcers beginning in 1946. There were several series under the Hall of Fantasy banner, all produced by Richard Thorne. The first originated from radio station KALL in Salt Lake City. Richard Thorne and Carl Greyson were announcers for the station and coproduced the bare-bones horror series beginning in 1946. Written or adapted by Robert Olson and directed by Thorne, the stories were mostly murder mysteries with traditional endings.

Created by Blake Edwards of The Pink Panther fame, Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC radio in 1949 starring film actor and singer Dick Powell. Powell had recently played Philip Marlowe in the popular RKO film Murder, My Sweet and jumped at the chance to play a suave detective on radio.