Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

The Ape Song (Aired March 31, 1947)
The Murder at Midnight series was a thirty-minute broadcast featuring tales of the supernatural. The actors included Mercedes McCambridge and Lawson Zerbe and the show was narrated using the spooky, creepy voice of Raymond Morgan and always opened using the same gripping signature; “the witching hour, when night is darkest, our fears are the strongest, our strength at its lowest ebb… Midnight! … when graves gape open and death strikes!” THIS EPISODE: March 31, 1947. Mutual network origination, syndicated. "The Ape Song". Commercials added locally. A big game hunter uses a captured ape to kill his wife. He then starts turning into an ape! The first broadcast of the series on Mutual. Raymond Edward Johnson, Brad Barker (as the ape), Alfred Shirley, Ruth Yorke, Anton M. Leader (director), Louis G. Cowan (producer). 26:55. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Death Buys A Bedroom (Aired July 27, 1954)
Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator is one of the few detective radio series that had separate versions of it broadcast from both coasts. Even the spelling changed over the years. It was first "Barry Crane" and then "Barrie Craig". NBC produced it in New York from 1951 to 1954 and then moved it to Hollywood where it aired from 1954 to 1955. It attracted only occasional sponsors so it was usually a sustainer.William Gargan, who also played the better known television (and radio) detective Martin Kane, was the voice of New York eye Barry Craig while Ralph Bell portrayed his associate, Lt. Travis Rogers. Craig's office was on Madison Avenue and his adventures were fairly standard PI fare. He worked alone, solved cases efficiently, and feared no man. THIS EPISODE: July 27, 1954. NBC network. "Death Buys A Bedroom". Sustaining. Enroute to a vacation in the mountains, Barrie meets a beautiful girl, a mysterious body and a dead man aboard the train. Byron Kane, William Gargan, Betty Lou Gerson, Jack Moyles, Lou Krugman, Victor Rodman, John Roeburt (writer), Arthur Jacobson (director), Edward King (announcer). 29:29. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Plastic Mouse Trap Business (Aired September 24, 1944)
The Great Gildersleeve (1941-1957) was the arguable founding father of the spin-off program, as well as one of the first true situation comedies (as opposed to sketch programs) in broadcast history. Hooked around a character who had been a staple on the classic radio hit Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest period in the 1940s, when Harold Peary graduated the character from the earlier show into the sitcom and in a quartet of likeable feature films at the height of the show's popularity. THIS EPISIODE: September 24, 1944. "Plastic Mouse Trap Business" - NBC network. Sponsored by: Kraft Parkay, Kraft Mustards. Gildy gets Marjorie to cultivate a romance with Everett, the banker's son. Gildersleeve wants to borrow $10,000 to start a mousetrap factory. This is a network, sponsored version. Claude Sweeten (music), Earle Ross, Harold Peary, John Whedon (writer), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Lillian Randolph, Louise Erickson, Richard LeGrand, Sam Moore (writer), Walter Tetley. 29:49. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The House In The Garden (Aired December 4, 1961)
The series is filled with horror and suspense and will bring FEN listeners a new type of thriller program with an unusual approach. Forming the basis for the stories to be dramatized will be a procession of diabolically clever maniacs and over-zealous adventurers who tamper with supernatural powers, ultimately involving both themselves and those around them in horrifying consequences. This original series was created by FEN's assistant director for production, William Verdier. Parts are filled locally, mainly by FEN staff members supplemented by local talent from various organizations in the Kanto area. The first program, titled "Final Resting Place," is the strange tale of what happens to a honeymooning couple when they stop in a small town for the night and visit a carnival. Macabre was produced in-house by the Tokyo studios of the Far East Network of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. THIS EPISODE: December 4, 1961. Program #4. AFRTS-FEN origination. "The House In The Garden". In a variation of a classic story, a man bets his mortal enemy that he cannot remain in a small house alone for ten years. The story is set in 1910 in "a land of voodoo." John Buey, William Verdier (performer, writer, director), Larry Clemons (technical supervisor), Al Lepage (announcer), Walt Sheldon, Shirley Ashley, James Conley, Bob Eddy (sound patterns), Newell Stewart (sound patterns). 26:12. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Crash Landing (Aired February 7, 1953)
The success of the TV show spawned a radio version, which ran for 129 episodes from October 1952 to March 1955. The same cast of actors performed on both shows. The writers, scripts, adventures and director were quite different in radio versus TV incarnations. Naturally, the series lacked the adult sophistication of such shows as X Minus One, which focused on adapting short fiction by notable genre names as Robert A. Heinlein and Ray Bradbury. But as a throwback to the sort of Golden Age space opera popularized in the 1930s, the days of science fiction's infancy, by pioneering magazine editor Hugo Gernsback, Space Patrol is prized by OTR collectors today as one of radio's most enjoyable adventures. THIS EPISODE: February 7, 1953. ABC network. "Crash Landing". Sponsored by: Ralston cereals (Space Binoculars premium). Carol Karlyle, the daughter of the Secretary General of the United Planets, has been kidnapped by an arch criminal who not only gets all the evidence against him, but steals a "stim-u-tron" as well! This is a network, sponsored version. Bela Kovacs, Dick Tufeld (announcer), Ed Kemmer, Ken Mayer, Larry Robertson (producer, director), Lou Houston (writer), Lyn Osborn, Mike Mosser (creator), Steven Robertson, Virginia Hewitt. 28:38. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Ex-Convict (Aired October 26, 1950)
Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison,who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction. From the first, MGM wanted Ann Sothern to play Maisie. She began in Hollywood as an extra in 1927. "Maisie and I were just together - I just understood her," Sothern, born Harriette Arlene Lake, said after several of the films made her a star. Throughout the 1930s and '40s, Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball, like many performers in Hollywood, had not one but two careers - one in motion pictures and one on radio. MGM Studios had created the series of ten motion pictures based on a brash blonde with a heart "of spun gold." Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison, who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction. THIS EPISODE: October 26, 1950. "The Ex-Convict" - Program #37. MGM syndication. Commercials added locally. Maisie takes time out from her taxi-dancing job to help a robber go straight. The program has also been identified as program #41. Ann Sothern, Gerald Mohr, Elvia Allman, Peter Leeds, Frank Nelson, Jack McCoy (announcer), Lurene Tuttle, Arthur Phillips (writer), Harry Zimmerman (composer, conductor). 27:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Double Trouble (Aired July 10, 1949)
The production values throughout all 52 episodes were absolutely superb. The review at left refers to a somewhat 'inscrutable' quality to Alan Ladd's big and little screen performances. But in the world of radio noir, less is usually more. In the gritty, dark alleys and dives that the radio noir detectives habituated there was as much to be observed in the shadows as in the light. Perhaps we're just 'glass half full' types, but we've always enjoyed Box 13 immensely. Alan Ladd's early portrayals of Dan Holiday did tend to be a bit pat, somewhat sparse in depth, and even wooden in the beginning. Ladd hired some excellent voice talent for his project, and these superb, veteran Radio professionals set a pretty high bar for Ladd, himself. THIS EPISODE: July 10, 1949. Program #47. Mutual net origination, Mayfair syndication. "Double Trouble". Commercials added locally. A typed letter from a "Pat Kennedy" puts Dan Holiday in a frame for murder. This is one case where Dan has to call the cops! Alan Ladd, Sylvia Picker, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor), Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Russell Hughes (writer). 26:50. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Big Impossible (Aired March 15, 1953)
When Dragnet hit its stride, it became one of radio’s top-rated shows. While most radio shows used one or two sound effects experts, Dragnet needed five; a script clocking in at just under 30 minutes could require up to 300 separate effects. Accuracy was underlined: The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were imitated, and when a telephone rang at Friday’s desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters. THIS EPISODE: March 15, 1953. NBC network. "The Big Impossible". Sponsored by: Chesterfield. Bernie Hanson has been identified as the head of a team robbing markets, but Hanson has a good alibi. He is hospitalized and cannot leave his bed! The Chesterfield commercials make health claims for the product. Ben Alexander, George Fenneman (announcer), Hal Gibney (host), Herb Ellis, Jack Webb, John Robinson (writer), Victor Rodman, Walter Schumann (conductor). 29:50. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Secret Word Is Foot (Aired May 17, 1950)
Groucho Marx matches wits with the American public in four episodes of this classic game show. Starting on the radio in 1947, You Bet Your Life made its television debut in 1950 and aired for 11 years with Groucho as host and emcee. Sponsored rather conspicuously by the Dodge DeSoto car manufacturers, the show featured two contestants working as a team to answer questions for cash prizes. Another mainstay of these question and answer segments was the paper mache duck that would descend from the ceiling with one hundred dollars in tow whenever a player uttered the "secret word." The quiz show aspect of "You Bet Your Life" was always secondary, to the clever back-and-forth between host and contestant, which found Groucho at his funniest. It's in these interview segments that "You Bet Your Life" truly makes its mark as one of early television's greatest programs. Directed by: Robert Dwan. It was one of many non-rigged quiz shows of the 1950's which suffered in the ratings due to the scandals surrounding "Twenty One", "The $64,000 Question" and "Dotto".

Finding Mary Meyer (Aired February 17, 1943)
An NBC offering. Aired on Sundays from 7:00PM to 7:30PM, starring Lional Barrymore and Agnes Moorehead. The creator and writer was Jean Holloway, the announcer Harlow Wilcox, music by Gordon Jenkins and sponsored by Rinso detergent. The show was a perfect vehicle for Lionel Barrymore: rich with warmhearted humor, and good-natured grumbling, its "mayor" had a fierce bark but a mushy heart when confronted with the plight of an orphan or a stray dog. The mayor cared little about political advantage: he even found time, once a year, to turn the town of Springdale into a special theater, to give his traditional performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. THE CAST: Lionel Barrymore as the mayor of the town of Springdale. Agnes Moorehead as Marilly, his housekeeper. Conrad Binyon as the mayor's ward, Butch. Gloria McMillan as Sharlee Bronson, Butch's best girl. Priscilla Lyon as Holly-Ann, the mayor's granddaughter. THIS EPISODE: February 17, 1943. "Finding Mary Meyer" - CBS network. Sponsored by: Rinso, Vimms. The mayor searches for Mary Meyer, in hiding and suspected of murder. Agnes Moorehead, Beulah Bondi, Harlow Wilcox, Jean Holloway (writer), Lionel Barrymore, Stanley Farrar. 28:09. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.