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Dick Tracy | 1934- 1948 | Dick Tracy, sidekick Pat Patton, and Tracy's investigative team Junior Tracy and Tess Trueheart | Comic Page detective brought to radio | |
Did Justice Triumph | 1947 | True crime procedural show emphasizes the hard work and diligence of police. Many exciting twists and turns. | ||
Douglas of the World | 1953 | Brad Douglas, Foreign Correspondent | Jack Moyles | Roving reporter Brad Douglas gets involved in scrapes that involve the Cold War era United Nations. |
1948 | Dr. Tim combines medical knowledge and forensic science to help his friends and neighbors. | |||
Dragnet | 1949- 1957 | Sgt Joe Friday | Jack Webb | One of the original police procedural dramas, Dragnet brings us the drudgery and boredom of police work with the heroism and bravery. |
Epic Casebook | 1950- 1977 | Inspector Carr | Hugh Rouse | Long Running South African detective drama |
Falcon | 1943- 1953 | "The Falcon", Michael Waring | In each show The Falcon's office is called by a beautiful woman which leads the Hardboiled Detective into situations of danger, comedy, and romance. | |
Fat Man | 1946- 1951 | Brad Runyan | Jack Scott Smart | Based on a character created by |
FBI In War and Peace | 1944- 1955 | Field Agent Sheppard | Martin Blaine | The crime-busting series was not blessed with the actual bureau's approval like This Is Your FBI, but the unauthorized stories remained extremely |
Federal Agent | 1944 | Federal Agent features dramatization stories of federal crime fighting from around the world. | ||
Frank Merriwell | 1946- 1949 | Frank Merriwell | The series follows Frank Merriwell, the Yale-attending brainy-brawny all-American youth, on a series of crime-fighting adventures | |
Front Page Farrell | 1941- 1954 | David Farrell, and Sally Farrell, David's office-romance-turned-wife. | Richard Widmark, Carleton Young, Florence Williams, Virginia Dwyer | The Farrell's solve mysteries and get stories for a New York newspaper. During |
Gangbusters | 1935- 1957 | Phillips H. Lord (host, director) | Billed as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." | |
Ghost Corp | 1930s | K.C. Smith | Serial of international intrigue set in the Middle East filled with bazaars, mosques, and oriental palaces. Smith does |
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Green Hornet | 1936- 1952 | Britt Reid, "The Green Hornet" and his driver, Kato | Al Hodge, Raymond Toyo | A |
Green Lama | 1949 | Jethro Dumont, otherwise known as the Green Lama. | Paul Frees | Weathy American Jethro Dumont has studied in mysterious |
Hashknife Hartley and Sleepy Stevens | 1950 | A pair of wandering cowboys who end up solving mysteries on the ranches where they work. | ||
1945- 1947 | Hercule Poirot | Harold Huber | Based on the detective character created by Agatha Christie | |
Leonarde Keeler | Hart Mcguire | South African Drama based on the work of Leonard Keeler, inventor of the polygraph Lie Detector | ||
Honor the Law | 1938 | These are short stories of police work and bravery focusing on big cases and big busts, but also the interpersonal relationships between officers. | ||
I Deal in Crime | 1946 | Ross Dolan | William Gargan | Hardboiled detective returns from the Navy to his threadbare office with all the cliches the private eye business needs. Dolan finds plenty of |
I Love a Mystery | 1939- 1953 | A-1 Detective Agency Jack Packard, Doc Long, and Englishman Reggie Yorke, | Well done and |
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I Was a Communist for the FBI | 1952- 1954 | Matt Cvetic | Dana Andrews | A dramatization of |
In the Name of the Law | 1936 | Thrilling stories |
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Incredible But True | Ken Nordine (narrator) | A series of FourMinute Mystery Tales, all "Incredible but True!" | ||
Indictment | 1956- 1959 | Edward McCormick, ADA | Nat Polen | Courtroom Drama based on the files of former assistant District Attorney Eleazer Lipsky, |
Inspector Hearthstone of the Death Squad | 1951- 1952 | Inspector Hearthstone | Alfred Shirley | Hearthstone is a Holmes- |
Inspector Thorne | 1951 | Inspector Thorne, Police Sgt. |
Karl Webber, Danny Ocko | Inspector Thorne is a young investigator in homicide bureau featuring crimes with murder Murder MURDER! |
Intrigue | 1946 | Joseph Schildkraut | "Tales of espionage, |
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1956 | Greg Collins, and his wife, Gail | Mandel Kramer, Gail Collins, Richard Denning | Greg Collins is a famous San Francisco Private Eye, the stories are narrated by his wife Gail Collins (played by Gail Collins) who describes them to Uncle Jack.The couple travels the world so he can solve mysteries and she can keep him out of trouble. | |
Jeff Regan Investigator | 1948- 1950 | Jeff Regan | Jack Webb | Jeff Regan was the |
Johnny Modero Pier 23 | 1947 | Johnny Modero | Jack Webb | Johnny Modero runs a boat shop on the San Francisco Waterfront, and will do |
Junior G-Men | 1936 | Melvin Purvis | Melvin Purvis | FBI man Melvin Purvis hosts this show of true FBI adventures for kids. His motto was "It's easier to build boys than to mend men." |
Kitty Keene | 1937- 1941 | Kitty Keene | Beverly Younger | Kitty Keene, a former Ziegfeld Follies' showgirl, solved crime with an equal amount of toughness and sex appeal. |
Leonidas Witherall (Adventures of) | 1944- 1945 | Leonidas Witherall | Walter Hampden | Leonidas Witherall is a school teacher who writes mysteries and solves mysteries in his spare time. |
Let George Do It | 1946- 1954 | George Valentine, and his secretary, Claire Brooks | Bob Bailey | George Valentine gets his jobs from an ad in the paper, and spends a good deal of time in romantic banter with his secretary Claire Brooks |
Life in Your Hands | 1949- 1952 | Jonathan Kegg | "Friend of the Court" Jonathon Kegg represents neither the defense nor the prosecution. He is just a man who is seeking the truth behind these shrouded cases. From the pen of Earl Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason. | |
Lineup | 1950- 1953 | Lt. Ben Guthrie, Sgt. Matt Grebb | Bill Johnstone, Joseph Kearns, Wally Maher | Very Realistic police procedural drama that rode the tails of Dragnet emphasizing reality. The writer and producer often rode with the cops to get story ideas. |
Man Called X | 1944- 1948, 1950- 1952 | Ken Thurston, Intelligence Agent and "sidekick" Pagon. | Herbert Marshall, Leon Belasco | Ken Thurston hops around the world in this early Cold War Spy drama |
Man from Homocide | early 1950s | Lieutenant Lou Dana | Dan Duryea and Charles McGraw. | Man from Homocide brought audiences gritty stories, seedy criminals, sordid crimes and an outline of police procedure infused with drama. |
Mandrake the Magician | 1940- 1942 | Mandrake, Tommy, Jimmy, Prince Lothar, the beautiful Cockaigne Princess Narda. | Mandrake the Magician and hero to all saves the day from Mobsters and evil villains named Barracuda | |
Manhunt | 1946 | Manhunt chronicles a murder and manhunt from the point of view of police officers, witnesses, and more in a quarter-hour format. | ||
Martin Kane Private Eye | 1949- 1952 | Martin Kane | William Gargan | Martin Kane is a smooth New York private eye with a nose for crime. The show went to NBC TV where Kane became TV's first Private Eye. |
Matthew Slade PI | Matthew Slade, and his secretary, Lorretta Jones | William Wintersol, Sylvia Wheeler | Broadcast on AFRS's "Starlight Mystery Theater", Matthew Slade is a San Francisco PI who drives a Continental and exchanges banter with Jonesy, his secretary. | |
Michael Shayne | 1944- 1953 | Mike Shayne | Wally Maher, Jeff Chandler | Michael Shayne blows into Miami after WWII, and loses himself in the gritty world of the Hard Boiled Detective after his wife is tragically murdered. |
Mr and Mrs North | 1942- 1954 | Pam and Jerry North | Alice Frost and Joseph Curtin, Richard Denning and Barbara Britton | The Norths are not professional Detectives, just an ordinary couple who seem to run across a murder every week or so... |
Mr Chameleon | 1948- 1953 | Mr. Chameleon and slow witted sidekick, Dave Arnold | Karl Swenson, Frank Butler | A winning combination of murder, millionaires, and mayhem. Mr. Chameleon, a master of disguise, changes his appearance every episode to track down the murderer. |
Mr District Attorney | 1939- 1952 | Mr DA, Voice of the Law, and Edith Miller, the district attorney's faithful secretary | The show was very realistic thanks to its creator, former attorney Ed Byron. Byron was a close student of criminology and friend to many underworld types. After 1944 Mr DA began chasing Nazi spies, and often found them before the real life FBI. | |
Mr Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons | 1937- 1955 | Mr. Keen, and working-class heavy, Mike Clancy. | Bennett Kilpack, Jim Kelly | Classic intellectual softboiled detective from the Hummert Radio Factory |
Mr Moto | early 1950s | I.A. Moto | James Monk | Much different from the Peter Lorre character in the 1930s movies, old time radio's Mr Moto was born in San Francisco and is an International Agent in these Cold War Stories. |
Murder at Midnight | 1946- 1950 | host was Raymond Morgan | Host Raymond Morgan | Thriller/Horror Anthology |
Murder By Experts | 1949- 1951 | Hosts: John Dickson Carr and Brett Halliday | Each week the host presents a famous mystery writer, an Expert, who gives us one of their favorite stories. | |
Murder Clinic | 1942- 1943 | "Murder Clinic. Stories of the world's greatest detectives and men against murder. Each week at this time, WOR-Mutual turns the spotlight on one of the world's greatest detectives of fiction and invites you to listen to the story of his most exciting case." | ||
Mystery is My Hobby | 1947- 1948 | Barton Drake | Glen Langan | Berton Drake is a successful Mystery Writer who makes a hobby of solving murders in real life. |
Nero Wolfe | 1943- 1951 | Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin | Sidney Greenstreet, Gerald Mohr, Others | Nero Wolfe is the fattest and laziest Detective on the radio, and also on of the most intelligent. His leg-man is the charming Archie Goodwin. |
Nick Carter | 1943- 1955 | Nick Carter, Nick's assistant, Patsy Bowen, Sgt. Masterson, reporter Scubby Wilson | Lon Clark, Helen Choate, Ed Latimer. John Kane | Nick Carter stories first appeared a year before Sherlock Holmes, making Carter the American Sherlock Holmes." Carter has a pretty assistant, Patsy, in place of Dr Watson. He was very popular in pulps and dime novels, as well as on radio. |
Nick Harris Detective | 1934- 1940's | Nick Harris | Based on the adventures of real life private eye turned police detective, Nick Harris | |
Night Editor | 1934- 1948 | The NightEditor | Hal Burdick | Master of voices, Burdick played all characters in the program, telling varied and interesting stories of war, adventure, crime, and an occasional ghost story. |
Nightbeat | Early 1950's | Randy Stone | Frank Lovejoy | Frank Lovejoy stars as Randy Stone, a toughened, street-wise Chicago Star reporter working the Nightbeat in the early 1950s. |
Nightwatch | 1954- 1955 | Donn Reed (police recorder) | Nightwatch follows a reporter and his pursuit to vivify the stories of the brave men of the Culver City (near Los Angeles) Police department as he rides along with them on their patrols | |
Official Detective | 1950s | Detective Lieutenant Dan Britt, Sergeant Al Bowen | Craig McDonnell, Tommy Evans | Realistic Police drama in the tradition of Dragnet |
Pat Novak for Hire | 1946- 1949 | Pat Novak, Inspector Hellman | Jack Webb, Raymond Burr | Jack Webb's earliest Crime Drama success, Pat Novak is a tough guy who works on the San Francisco waterfront. He throws hard-boiled remarks around like they were kleenex. |
Perry Mason | 1943- 1955 | Perry Mason, Della Street | Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega, Donald Briggs, and John Larkin | Based on the novels of Earl Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason was more physical on the radio than on TV |
Pete Kelly's Blues | summer of 1951 | Pete Kelley | Jack Webb | Pete Kelly is a jazz man who gets involved with all sorts of underworld low-lifes. All he wants to do is play his horn, but the scum has to be dealt with. Filled with Jack Webb tough-guy dialog. |
Philip Marlowe | 1947- 1951 | Philip Marlowe | Van Heflin, Gerald Mohr | Philip Marlowe was like many hardboiled detectives at the time, he could take a punch to the face and still have a stinging comeback. He was also morally upright, liked classical music and played chess. |
Philo Vance | 1945- 1950 | Philo Vance | John Emery, Jose Ferrer, Jackson Beck | Vance is "An aristocrat by birth and instinct, he held himself severely aloof from the common world of men. In his manner there was an indefinable contempt for inferiority of all kinds." |
Phyl Coe Mysteries | 1936 | Phyllis Coe, Tom Taylor | Bud Collyer, Peggy Allenby | Phyllis Coe and her companion, journalist Tom Taylor, solve mysteries under the sponsorship of Philco Radios |
Police Headquarter | 1932 | This is an very early syndicated production of 15 minute crime dramas | ||
Police Reporter | 1935 | True crime stories from through out history, up to modern times. | ||
Pursuit | 1949- 1951 | Inspector Peter Black of Scotland Yard | Ted De Corsica, John Dehner, Ben Wright | "PURSUIT! A criminal strikes and fades quickly back into the shadow of his own dark world... and then, the man from Scotland Yard, the famous Inspector Peter Black, and the relentless, dangerous pursuit... When man hunts man!" |
Raffles | 1942- 1943 | A. J. Raffles, London's man of mystery | Neil Hamilton | Raffles is a reformed "Cracksman", or safe cracker, who works with Scotland Yard |
Results Inc | 1944 | Johnny Strange | Lloyd Nolan | A funny farce, Results Inc. stars Lloyd Nolan as Johnny Strange in this rare series. |
Rex Saunders | 1951 | Rex Saunders, sidekick Alex | Rex Harrison | The weekly stories of "intrigue and adventure" are classic tales of thugs and questionable strangers, with Saunder's alert eyes and mind seeing ahead of the perfunctory Alex. |
Richard Diamond, Private Detective | 1949-1953 | Richard Diamond | Dick Powell | Richard Diamond, though humorous and fun detective show, dealt with tough issue like murder and mystery. The hero usually winds up singing to his girl friend at some point in the show. |
Ripleys Belive It or Not | 1930- 1948 | Robert Ripley | Robert Ripley | Globe trotting Robert Ripley brings back strange and unusual customs, facts, people, and events that you can belive, or not! |
Rocky Fortune | 1953- 1954 | Rocky Fortune but whose real name is Rocko Fortunato | Frank Sinatra | Old Blue Eyes plays a smart mouthed young man who is always getting into scrapes. Not a detective, but he often has to go up against bad men and gangsters to get what he needs. |
Rocky Jordan | 1945- 1953 | Rocky Jordan, Sam Sabaaya | Jack Moyles, George Raft, Jay Novello | Rocky Jordan owns a gin-joint in exotic Cairo, and runs across murderers, thieves, scoundrels, scallywags, ex-Nazis, and countless beautiful dames who got him into trouble. He generally gets along with the local law, Sam Sabaaya. |
Rogues Gallery | 1945 | Richard Rogue, Eugor | Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Paul Stewart | Rogue was everything a shamus should be, tough, strong, dashing, and funny, when he gets knocked out in each episode, his alter ego, Eugor, shows up. |
Saint | 1947- 1951 | Simon Templar, AKA "The Saint" | Vincent Price | The Saint's crime fighting is sophisticated. He's usually sharp enough to stick to slinging witty words like arrows, since he's the "Robin Hood of Modern Crime", but sometimes thugs want their slugs. |
Salute to Law | 1939- 1940 | Nick Harris | A crime and police drama a la Dragnet and Calling all Cars, A Salute to Law features Nick Harris catching those who are guilty of "the folly of committing crime."Slightly different in tone to the aforementioned series | |
Sam Spade | 1946- 1951 | Sam Spade, Effie Perrine | Howard Duff, Lurene Tuttle | Sam Spade first appeared in the novel The Maltese Falcon. He is considered the inspiration for all the Hard Boiled Detectives that followed. The Radio Character was generally lighter spirited than the novel or movie portrayals. |
Secret Agent K7 Returns | 1939 | K-7, Agent Z | Walter Pigeon | The stories are drawn from the headlines and fears of 1939 |
Secret Missions | 1949 | Vice Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias | Stories from the files of the office of Naval Intelligence. | |
Secrets of Scotland Yard | 1949- 1951 | Clive Brook | Interesting cases from the files of Scotland Yard | |
Shadow of Fu Manchu | 1939- 1940 | Colonial Commissioner Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. John Petrie. | Hanley Stanford, Gale Gordon | Colonial Commissioner Denis Nayland Smith and his assistant Dr. John Petrie do all they can to foil the plans of the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, one of the earliestYellow Peril Villains. |
Sherlock Holmes | 1930- 56 | Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson | Sherlock Holmes episodes on radio are often dismissed, as are the many films. Yet for his fans and all lovers of mystery, the swirling London fogs, murder most foul, odd villains and an upper class becoming modern as London's denizens struggle in pitiful poverty means "the game is afoot!" | |
Shorty Bell Cub Reporter | 1948 | Shorty Bell | Mickey Rooney | Shorty Bell was a boisterous cocky fellow who wanted to break into the newspaper game. |
Silent Men | 1951- 1952 | Douglas Fairbanks Jr. | Douglas Fairbanks Jr, who had been a commando during the WWII, stars in these stories about Special Agents of all branches of the Federal Government, who daily risk their lives to protect the lives of all of us. | |
Softboiled Detectives | ||||
Spy Catcher | Lieutenant Oreste Cornel Pinto | Bernard Archard | Working for Allied Counter Intelligence, Lt Pinto uses all his tricks to find Nazi Spies. | |
Squad Cars | South African Police Procedural Drama | |||
Standby for Crime | 1953 | Chuck Morgan and Carol Curtis (his secretary | Glenn Langan, Adele Jergens | Chuck Morgan is a news reporter for KOP Radio in LA, and winds up solving the crimes he reports. |
Strange Wills | 1946- 1947 | Probate Lawyer, John Francis O'Connell | Warren Williams | An investigation into the strange things that people write into their wills, and the search for their heirs. |
Suspense | 1940- 1962 | Suspense was dedicated to the excellent script in which a normal person becomes involved in a situation that becomes beyond control. As the intro said, "We invite you to enjoy stories that keep you in .... SUSPENSE! | ||
Suspicion | 1935 | Mysterious stories of murdered actresses, affairs, rumbles, traitors, and dead bodies found. Listen each week to this early mystery-drama for the hidden clue and see if you can solve the mystery before they do! | ||
T Man | 1950 | Gordon Glenwright | Follow the old time radio adventures of federal agents who protect the honest taxpayers from thugs, thieves, and "Mr Smartypants." | |
Tales of Fatima | 1949 | Basil Rathbone | Basil Rathbone solves Mysteries while plugging Fatima Cigarettes. | |
Tales of the Foreign Service | 1946 | Tales of the Foreign Service dramatizes true tales of those who have served in the foreign service. | ||
Tales of the Texas Rangers | 1950- 1952 | Texas Ranger Jayce Pearson | Joel McCrea | The Rangers use modern forensic science and frontier toughness to get the bad guys. |
That Hammer Guy, Mickey Spillane Mysteries | mid-1950's | Mike Hammer | Larry Haines | Mike Hammer-the ever entertaining handsome, violent, hard-boiled private eye. |
That Strong Guy | 1955 | Steve Strong | Mean streets have a way of bringing out the hard line and quick reaction, and Steve Strong is up to the challenge. | |
The Black Book & The Man in Black | 1951-1952 | Paul Frees | Thrilling tales featuring Paul Frees, "The Man with a Thousand Voices", playing all the roles. | |
The Chase | 1952-1953 | When the detective figures out whodunit, the bad guy isn't always waiting for the cops to take him away. The Chase is all about pursuit. | ||
Thin Man | 1941- 1950 | Nick and Nora Charles | Claudia Morgan; Les Daman, Les Tremayne and David Gothard | Former Detective Nick Charles would rather spend his days drinking with his socialite wit]fe Nora, but mystery manages to find the couple every week. |
This Is Your FBI | 1945- 53 | Agent Jim Taylor, others | These were fact-based dramas that told the story of FBI cases from the agent's point of view. | |
Thrills of the Highway Patrol | Early 1930s | Listen to stories of the California Highway Patrol and their adventures | ||
Top Secret | Summer 1950 | Baroness Karen Gazer | Ilona Massey | Transcribed dramas of International intrigue and espionage before and during World War II. |
Topper | 1945 | Cosmo Topper | Roland Young | Cosmo Topper is haunted by two fun-loving-past-friends-now-spirits, George and Marion. |
True Detective Mysteries | 1929- 30 | True Detective Mysteries were truly audience participation shows - each show provided descriptions of the true-story criminal and encouraged audiences to provide information leading to their capture. | ||
Twenty First Precinct | 1953- 1956 | Captain Frank Kennelly | Everett Sloane | Set in New York, 21st Precinct focuses on a specific police unit. It is action packed from the start of the show. |
Unexpected | 1948 | Anthology of 15 minute weird stories which have an ending twist. | ||
Unit 99 | 1957- 1958 | Sergeant Dan Meredith | Sacramento Police Sergeant carries a tape recorder in his patrol car and into the station to make this police show. | |
Unsolved Mysteries | 1949 | Stanley Peyton | Unsolved Mysteries tell stories of unexplained true happenings, voodoo, witch doctors of Africa, double murders that could never occur in a thousand years, dead men telling tales, and supernatural forces. | |
Up for Parole | 1950 | This program is based on authentic cases heard by our parole boys in state prisons. Cases are pleaded before you, the listener, and the parole board. | ||
Walk Softly Peter Troy | 1963- 1964 | Tom Meehan, John Simpson, and Merle Wayne. | Hard Boiled, Noir type London Detective stories produced in South Africa. | |
Wanted | 1950 | The program gives a history of the crime and a description of the criminal. Included in this program are some of the FBI Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. | ||
Whitehall 1212 | 1951- 1952 | Chief Inspector John Davison, | Wylis Cooper drama based on the artifacts found in Scotland Yard's Black Museum | |
You Are the Jury | In each episode the listener is asked to be the jury and guess the verdict in a murder trail. All evidence is presented in dramatic fashion and the verdict is withheld until the next episode. | |||
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar | 1948- 1962 | Johnny Dollar | Dick Powell, Charles Russell, Edmond O'Brien, John Lund, Gerald Mohr, Bob Bailey, Bob Readick, Mandel Kramer | Johnny Dollar is an insurance investigator for claims against several large insurance companies. The stories are based on his expense accounts, which leaves out no entertaining details. |
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COMMENTS
Dennis tivel
RE: compilation with individual episodes of Detectives shows, the DETECTIVE COLLECTION may be what you had in mind which has a single episodes from all different detective radio shows.
RE: Printing, The website is formatted with a PRINT button on the top right of any collection so you can print any synopsis or episode list (or you can also always visit the website 24 hours a day which is fully searchable and read about the recordings).
OTRCAT
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