Episode 643 - Everyone Needs a Hobby (Leonidas Witherall, Gregory Hood, Box 13, & Mr. and Mrs. North)

Not all radio detectives carried a badge or a private eye's license. Some were amateur sleuths who dabbled in deduction in addition to their day jobs, and we'll hear a collection of those crimesolvers and their adventures. Walter Hampden stars as Leonidas Witherall - professor, author, dead ringer for Shakespeare, and amateur detective - in "Murder at the State Fair" (originally aired on Mutual on September 24, 1944). Gale Gordon is San Francisco importer and detective Gregory Hood in "The Forgetful Murderer" (originally aired on Mutual on July 29, 1946). Alan Ladd is mystery writer Dan Holiday, who seeks adventures to fuel the plots of his stories, in "Killer at Large," a syndicated episode of Box 13. And finally, Joseph Curtin and Alice Frost are book publisher Jerry North and his wife Pam, and their idea of a date night involves stumbling over a dead body. We'll hear "The Premature Corpse," an Armed Forces Radio Service rebroadcast of Mr. and Mrs. North (originally aired on CBS on February 12, 1952).

Many actors have brought Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe to life. Humphrey Bogart, Elliot Gould, Danny Glover, and Liam Neeson are just a few of the men to portray the legendary private eye on the big and small screens, but today we'll hear four actors who played Marlowe on radio. First, Van Heflin is Marlowe in a radio adaptation of Chandler's "Red Wind" (originally aired on NBC on June 17, 1947). Next, Robert Montgomery reprises the role of Marlowe as The Lux Radio Theatre adapts "Lady in the Lake" (originally aired on CBS on February 9, 1948). Dick Powell steps back into the gumshoe's shoes in a Hollywood Star Time presentation of "Murder, My Sweet" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1946). Finally, Gerald Mohr proves "crime is a sucker's road" in "The Uneasy Head" (originally aired on CBS on June 6, 1950).

Trick or treat! It's time for the annual Down These Mean Streets Halloween Special! In this king-sized bonus show, we'll hear a parade of stories - both spooky and silly - designed to get you in the spirit of the season. First, big screen horror legend Boris Karloff lends his voice to "The Corridor of Doom," a thriller from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (originally aired on CBS on October 23, 1945). The Great Gildersleeve attends a Halloween party (originally aired on NBC on October 29, 1947) and a Halloween prank backfires on Henry in The Aldrich Family (originally aired on NBC on October 30, 1940). Then, it's ghosts vs. gumshoes in a pair of old time radio mysteries. Michael Shayne finds a dead body in a haunted house in "The Ghost of Moccasin Hill" (originally aired on Mutual on April 9, 1945), and a ghost may be responsible for a murder in a syndicated adventure of Boston Blackie. The Origin of Superstition tells us the story of the Boogey Man in a syndicated show from 1935, and Favorite Story dramatizes Washington Irving's classic "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Dorothy McGuire reprises her screen role as The Screen Director's Playhouse adapts "The Spiral Staircase" (originally aired on NBC on November 20, 1949), and Herbert Marshall makes a monster in a Suspense production of "Frankenstein" (originally aired on CBS on November 3, 1953).

With Halloween right around the corner, we delve into the spooky side of sleuthing with mysteries involving voodoo, curses, and other hexes. Nick Carter's new client believes her physician practices black magic instead of medicine in "The Drums of Death, or Nick Carter and the White Witch Doctor" (originally aired on Mutual on March 25, 1944), and real-life master magician Blackstone explains how he faced down the living dead in "The Riddle of the Seven Zombies" (originally aired on Mutual on July 17, 1949). Michael Shayne falls into a case of supernatural revenge and a man who supposedly cannot be killed in the syndicated mystery "The Man Who Lived Forever," and Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall battle a voodoo murderess who kills with poisoned darts in a syndicated episode of Bold Venture. Finally, Dick Powell heads to Haiti to investigate an eerie death threat in "Little Chiva" from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on ABC on March 23, 1951).  

The skies are unfriendly this week as three old time radio heroes face danger in the air. First, Boston Blackie is due in with evidence to send a notorious gangster to the chair…but his airplane disappears! Richard Kollmar stars as the gentleman thief turned gumshoe in this syndicated mystery. Then, Orson Welles recreates his Third Man role in "The Hard Way" from The Lives of Harry Lime, a syndicated story that finds Lime catching a flight to trouble in the charter airline business. Finally, Bob Bailey is Johnny Dollar in a five-part mystery that begins when a plane goes down. It's "The Flight Six Matter" (originally aired on CBS between January 30 and February 3, 1956).

The Maltese Falcon premiered in movie theaters eight eighty-four years ago this month, and we're celebrating the anniversary of one of Hollywood's best mystery pictures with a showcase for its stars - Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. We'll hear each of them headline a radio mystery, and all four of them together as they recreate their roles in a radio adaptation of the film. Lorre stars in a locked room mystery from the pen of John Dickson Carr - "The Moment of Darkness" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on April 20, 1943). Ms. Astor may be a murderess in "The Silent Hands" from Inner Sanctum Mysteries (originally aired on CBS on May 13, 1944). Greenstreet is Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe in "The Case of the Impolite Corpse" (originally aired on NBC on December 8, 1950). And Bogart co-stars with Lauren Bacall in an episode of their syndicated mystery drama Bold Venture (known as "Forged American Pasports"). Finally, all four stars reunite to present The Maltese Falcon on The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre (originally aired on CBS on September 20, 1943).

We're saluting the 105th anniversary of the birth of William Conrad - the radio acting legend who brought law and order to Dodge City as Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke and who racked up hundreds of credits on detective shows, thrillers, comedies, and dramas. Conrad stars as Philip Marlowe in "The Anniversary Gift" (originally aired on CBS on April 11, 1950) - subbing in for Gerald Mohr in a terrific mystery in the Chandler spirit. He co-stars with Frank Lovejoy in "The Football Player and the Syndicate" from Night Beat (originally aired on NBC on June 12, 1950) and Edmond O'Brien in "The Woodward, Manila Matter" from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (originally aired on CBS on November 25, 1950). Finally, Conrad stars in his signature role in "Matt Gets It" from Gunsmoke (originally aired on CBS on October 2, 1954).

With school back in session, we're visiting the faculty lounge at Madison High with three cast members from Our Miss Brooks in their roles as radio detectives. Gale Gordon sheds the stuffy suit of Principal Osgood Conklin as amateur sleuth Gregory Hood in "Murder in Celluloid" (originally aired on Mutual on July 2, 1946). Jeff Chandler leaves bashful biology teacher Mr. Boynton behind to travel to the Big Easy as Michael Shayne in "The Case of the Model Murder." And Gerald Mohr ditches the accent of French teacher Monsieur LeBlanche as Phillip Marlowe in "The Torch Carriers" (originally aired on CBS on January 7, 1950). Plus, we'll hear all three alongside Eve Arden in an episode of Our Miss Brooks (originally aired on CBS on February 20, 1949).

Sometimes it's good to be bad, or at least it's good to hear it when radio detective stars switch sides and play some pretty dastardly villains. We'll hear four of our favorite on-air heroes star as crooks for a change in episodes of radio's great thriller anthologies. Howard Duff (Sam Spade) plans his wealthy aunt's murder in "Backlash" (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1947); Jeff Chandler (Michael Shayne) is a gangster on the run who coerces a doctor into assisting with his getaway in "Confession" (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1949); and Gerald Mohr (Philip Marlowe) is a murderer who takes up blackmail in "Warm Reception" (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1950) - all episodes of The Whistler. Then, Dick Powell (Richard Diamond) is a boxer who seeks deadly revenge against a rival in the ring in "Slow Burn" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1950).

As summer draws to a close with Labor Day weekend, enjoy this encore broadcast featuring Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar in episodes where "the man with the action-packed expense account" tries to take some time off from insurance investigating...and finds mystery waiting for him wherever he goes. We'll hear him in "The Lamarr Matter," a five-part adventure (originally aired on CBS between March 26 and March 30, 1956) and "The Ideal Vacation Matter" (originally aired on CBS on September 22, 1957).