Episode 660 - Statues for the Sleuths: Rex Harrison (Private Files of Rex Saunders)

Our month of Oscar-winning radio detectives continues with Rex Harrison, winner of the Best Actor prize for My Fair Lady and the debonair sleuth of The Private Files of Rex Saunders. We'll hear Rex as Rex in "When You Play a Game With Death" (audition recording from April 13, 1951), "A Shocking Still Life" (originally aired on NBC on May 9, 1951), "Diamonds Can Be Done to Death" (originally aired on NBC on May 16, 1951), and "A Murder Deep in A Killer's Mind" (originally aired on NBC on June 20, 1951).

Our series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars continues with Mercedes McCambridge, who took home the award as best supporting actress for her turn in All the King's Men. Among her many radio credits was Defense Attorney, where she starred as Martha Ellis Bryant - who worked in and out of the courtroom (much like Perry Mason) to clear her clients. The show was a rare example of a radio detective show fronted by a woman, and it's a highlight of the genre. We'll hear Ms. McCambridge in four episodes: the series' audition The Defense Rests from April 1951; "Mike Pelly" (originally aired on ABC on August 31, 1951); "Jimmy Leonard" (originally aired on ABC on September 14, 1951); and "Joshua Masters" (originally aired on ABC on April 10, 1952).

In honor of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, we're spotlighting a series of radio detective show stars who took home Oscars for their film work. First up is Frank Sinatra, who's best known for his singing but who showed off his dramatic chops in From Here to Eternity and took home the prize. We'll hear him as Rocky Fortune in four episodes of his short-lived radio mystery series: "Double Identity" (originally aired on NBC on October 13, 1953); "A Hepcat Killed the Canary" (originally aired on NBC on November 17, 1953); "Murder Among the Statues" (originally aired on NBC on December 1, 1953); and "Boarding House Doublecross" (originally aired on NBC on March 30, 1954).

We're serving up thick cuts of old time radio mystery with four stories involving butchers and their wares. First, Boston Blackie faces off against a black market meat ring in an adventure starring Chester Morris (originally aired on NBC on July 21, 1944). Kirk Douglas embarks on a dangerous affair in the grocery store aisles in "The Butcher's Wife" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1950). After a disappointing dinner, The Saint finds a dead body in his trunk in "The Horrible Hamburger" (originally aired on NBC on September 10, 1950). Finally, Dick Powell goes undercover to protect a butcher from a protection racket in Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on ABC on March 9, 1951).

As a belated Valentine's Day treat, we've got four radio mysteries where our detectives are entangled in matrimonial mishaps. As Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone investigates a black widow in "The Book of Tobit" (originally aired on Mutual on March 26, 1945). Philip Marlowe trails a missing wife in "The Persian Slippers" (originally aired on CBS on October 3, 1948), and Sam Spade is accused of eloping in "The Love Letter Caper" (an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast from March 27, 1949). Finally, a wife wants Richard Diamond to protect her husband in "The Simpson Case" (originally aired on ABC on January 18, 1952).

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and our old time radio mysteries this week all feature real-life husbands and wives at the microphone or behind the scenes. First, June Allyson - aka Mrs. Dick Powell - plays Richard Diamond's latest client (originally aired on NBC on June 21, 1950). Then, Cathy and Elliott Lewis star as a less than happily married couple in "Love, Honor, or Murder" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1950). Our third show features a couple that worked on and off mic - actress Virginia Gregg and director Jaime del Valle in "The Lapinish Lighter-Upper Case" from The Line-Up (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1951). And finally, Joan Banks pays a visit to Night Beat alongside her husband Frank Lovejoy in an episode that originally aired on NBC on September 4, 1952.

After a week of dealing with a thick coating of ice all over everything, I've got winter weather on the brain. So today, we have three old time radio mysteries where our sleuths have to solve their crimes in the snow. First, Bob Bailey hits the slopes to prevent a murder in "Snow Blind" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on December 26, 1949). Then, William Gargan suspects a fatal slip on the ice wasn't an accident in "The Girl on the Doorstep" from Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator (originally aired on NBC on February 16, 1953). Finally, John Lund is "the man with the action-packed expense account" in a snowbound mystery in the Windy City - "The Classified Killer Matter" from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (AFRS rebroadcast from February 23, 1954).

We wrap up our series of Hollywood stars who solved crimes on the air with Glenn Ford. The star of Gilda, The Big Heat, and 3:10 to Yuma appeared on radio as Christopher London, a globetrotting private eye created by Erle Stanley Gardner. We'll hear Ford as London in "The Missing Heiress" (originally aired on NBC on February 5, 1950). Then, he's a man on the run in a Studio One adaptation of "The 39 Steps" (originally aired on CBS on March 23, 1948).

This week's Hollywood leading man turned radio detective is Dana Andrews, who starred on screen in Laura, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Boomerang, and more. On the air, Andrews played Matt Cvetic, undercover agent, in the syndicated series I Was a Communist for the FBI. We'll hear a pair of his adventures in Red-bashing: "Pit Viper" and "Jump to the Whip." Plus, Andrews plays a reporter out to clear a wrongfully convicted man in a radio adaptation of Call Northside 777 from Hollywood Sound Stage (originally aired on CBS on December 27, 1951).

Take a walk down the Great White Way with Detective Danny Clover in my five favorite episodes of Broadway is My Beat. Larry Thor is the policeman with the soul of a poet in one of radio's finest dramas - detective or otherwise. We'll hear "The Suicide Pact Murders" (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1950), "The Garment District Murders" (originally aired on CBS on April 14, 1951), "The Case of Charles Crandall" (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 195), "The Tom Keeler Case" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1951), and "The Gridiron Hero Murders" (originally aired on CBS on November 22, 1952).