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W.R. Burnett Collection

After working in Chicago as a seedy hotel night clerk, W.R. Burnett had the perfect characters for his stories.

WR Burnett

4 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 3 hours, 53 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
or
4 Audio CDs


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Play a sample episode from May 15, 1944:

"Lux: Action in the North Atlantic"



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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

WR Burnett
(1899 – 1982)

WR BurnettThe film based on William Riley Burnett's novel Little Caesar (1931) not only launched Edward G. Robinson to stardom, it invented the American Gangster Film genre. It would be far from the last time that W.R. Burnett's writing would be used as a star vehicle.

During the late Twenties, a 28 year old Burnett left a civil service job in his native Ohio to find his fortune in Chicago. At the time he had more than 100 unpublished short stories and novels, so he took a job as night clerk in a seedy hotel. Here he began associating with the prizefighters, hoods, hustlers and hobos who would populate Little Caesar.

The film's success launched Burnett onto a successful screenwriting career. Burnett's work was thematically related to hard boiled writers like Dashiell Hammett, Cornell Woolrich and Raymond Chandler, but Burnett's characters recognize that they are being pulled down by the corruption of the city. They may long for a pastoral paradise, but they are too deeply entrenched in the urban ways to escape.

W-R- Burnett Little CaesarIn Burnett's world of twilight morality, virtue can come from gangsters and crooks just as evil can come from guardians and protectors. His characters are invariably human, which is often their undoing. This Gun For Hire (1942) is the story of a cold blooded hit man who is convinced to do the right thing for patriotism (and a dame, of course). He does do the right thing, but he does it his way. Wake Island (1943) claimed to be "From the records of the United States Marine Corps", but it was in fact a highly fictionalized telling of the battle. More important than the history of the battle are the very American characters (again, fictional) who stood for their country just as the War was beginning.

Action In The North Atlantic (1943), starring Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey, continues the theme of fictionalized War tales, this time telling the little known story of the Merchant Mariners who carried vital supplies to the fighters abroad. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing. Nobody Lives Forever (1946) is a post War story of a conman who has gone to War and returns to the game. While setting up the big score, the grifter falls in love with the mark, which does not sit well with the rest of his gang.

Over the years, Burnett worked with a Who's Who of Hollywood greats on both sides of the camera, including Raoul Walsh, John Huston, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk, and Michael Cimino, John Wayne (The Dark Command), Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Paul Muni, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood.

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    4 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 3 hours, 53 min
    4 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 3 hours, 53 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 4 shows - total playtime 3 hours 53 minutes
    2. Lux 421026 Wake Island.mp3
    3. Lux 430125 380 This Gun For Hire.mp3
    4. Lux 440515 439 Action In North Atlantic.mp3
    5. Lux 471117 590 Nobody Lives Forever.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    4 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 3 hours, 53 min
    4 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    total playtime 3 hours, 53 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 4 shows - total playtime 3 hours 53 minutes
    2. Lux 421026 Wake Island.mp3
    3. Lux 430125 380 This Gun For Hire.mp3
    4. Lux 440515 439 Action In North Atlantic.mp3
    5. Lux 471117 590 Nobody Lives Forever.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    4 recordings on 4 Audio CDs. Total playtime 3 hours, 53 min
    4 recordings on 4 Audio CDs
    total playtime 3 hours, 53 min

    WR Burnett Disc A001

    1. Lux 421026 Wake Island

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    WR Burnett Disc A002

    1. Lux 430125 380 This Gun For Hire

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    WR Burnett Disc A003

    1. Lux 440515 439 Action In North Atlantic

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    WR Burnett Disc A004

    1. Lux 471117 590 Nobody Lives Forever

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00

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