Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

On Borrowed Time (Aired June 15, 1952) Best Plays presents theatrical paramounts of excellence. It's hosted by the drama critic of New York’s Daily News, John Chapman. Dramatic and comedic performances outshine other theater radio shows, greatly performed by such greats as Boris Karloff and Alfred Drake. In This Episode, On Borrowed Time a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how we cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway play, which was a smash hit. The play, based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin, has been revived twice on Broadway since its original run. Set in a more innocent time in small-town America, the film stars Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi and Cedric Hardwicke. THIS EPISODE: June 15, 1952. NBC network. "On Borrowed Time". Sustaining. A delightful story about an old man who gets the Devil up a tree...literally! Parker Fennelly, Mildred Natwick, David Anderson, Peter Capell, William Griffis, Agnes Young, Teri Keane, Luis Van Rooten, Karl Weber, John Chapman (host), Edward King (director), Fred Collins (announcer), Paul Osborn (author), George Lefferts (adaptor). 59:05. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Broadcast Of August 23, 1949 Contestants were chosen from the studio audience and were usually married couples, occasionally engaged, dating, or another familial relationship. Collyer would ask them general questions (usually including where they were from and how long they'd been married) and usually asked if they had children, their ages and genders. Sometimes the couple would bring some or all of their children with them on the show. Collyer would usually take some time out to talk to the children and ask them questions like what they wanted to be when they grew up, or if the kids were not at the show to have their parents wave to them at home. The husbands on the show usually wore a business suit. Collyer would often ask the husband to take off his coat for stunts to make it less cumbersome (there were a few hooks on the contestants' podium for this purpose, or Collyer would just hold the coat). Occasionally, if there was going to be a messy stunt, the husband would come out dressed in a plastic jumpsuit to keep his own clothes clean. Similarly, wives would sometimes play in their "street clothes", but sometimes the women would appear in a jumpsuit issued to them by the show due to the fact that their own clothing might be too cumbersome or perhaps fragile. The women's jumpsuits, unlike the men's, which were rather plain, were patterned to look like a pair of overalls with a collared blouse underneath. The women would also often be issued running shoes instead of their own high heels. One couple competed against the Clock to win a prize in stunts that could require one or both members of the couple. The first stunt was called the "$100 Clock". The stunt was described and the time limit was set on a giant onstage clock. The time limit was always a multiple of 5 seconds, usually at least 30 seconds. At one point Collyer said that a 55-second time limit was the maximum, but later on, stunts occasionally had 60-second limits.

Scream For Murder (Aired July, 1953) 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. As the promos went, he was "your man when you can't go to the cops. Confidentiality a speciality." Like Sam Spade, Craig narrated his stories, in addition to being the leading character in this 30 minute show. As an actor, William Gargan had played Ellery Queen in three movies, before being cast as Kane. After he left Martin Kane, Gargan landed on his feet. He signed a million dollar, seven year contract with MCA for the radio show Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator on NBC. THIS EPISODE: July 19, 1953. NBC network. "Scream For Murder". "A squabbling couple can always bury their differences. The question is, which of them doesn't mind an underground shelter? Marriages may be made in heaven, but they sometimes end up in the city morgue. William Gargan; John Roberts (writer); Don Pardo (announcer); Fran Carlon; Himan Brown (director);. 29:35 Episode Noyes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Department Of Death (Aired September 14, 1945) The Avenger is a fictional character whose original adventures appeared from 1939 to 1942 in The Avenger magazine, published by Street and Smith Publications. Five additional short stories were published in Clues Detective magazine from 1942 to 1943, and a sixth novelette in The Shadow magazine in 1943. Newly-written adventures were commissioned and published by Warner Brother's Paperback Library from 1973 to 1974. The Avenger was a pulp hero who combined elements of Doc Savage and The Shadow though he was never as popular as either of these characters. The authorship of the pulp series was credited by Street and Smith to Kenneth Robeson, the same byline that appeared on the Doc Savage stories. The "Kenneth Robeson" name was a house pseudonym used by a number of different Street & Smith writers. Most of the original Avenger stories were written by Paul Ernst. THIS EPISODE: September 14, 1945. Program #15. Michelson syndication. "The Department Of Death". Music fill for local commercial insert. The night watchman of a department store is found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft. Charles Michelson (producer), Walter Gibson (writer), Ruth Braun (writer), Gilbert Braun (writer), James Monks, Helen Adamson, Alyn Edwards (announcer), Doc Whipple (organist). 27:47. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Between Life & Death (Aired March 24, 1944) With the listening audience increasing in the spring and summer of 1928, the show's success prompted the Pepsodent Company to bring it to the NBC Blue Network on August 19, 1929. Amos was naïve but honest, hard-working and (after his 1933 marriage to Ruby Taylor) a dedicated family man. Andy was more blustering, with overinflated self-confidence. Andy, being a dreamer, tended to let Amos do most of the work. Their lodge leader, the Kingfish, was always trying to lure the two into get-rich-quick schemes. Other characters included John Augustus "Brother" Crawford, an industrious but long-suffering family man; Henry Van Porter, a social-climbing real estate and insurance salesman; Frederick Montgomery Gwindell, a hard-charging newspaperman; William Lewis Taylor, the well-spoken, college-educated father of Amos's fiancee; and "Lightning", a slow-moving Stepin Fetchit-type character. THIS EPISODE: March 24, 1944. "Between Life & Death" - NBC network. Commercials deleted. The Kingfish hires Andy to arbitrate a settlement between himself and the driver of the car that hit him. Special Guest is Victor Moore. The system cue has been deleted. Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll, Tobe Reed (announcer), Ernestine Wade, James Basquette, Victor Moore, Harlow Wilcox (announcer). 26:21. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Forever Walking Free (Aired April 23, 1945) Author's Playhouse was an anthology radio drama series, created by Wynn Wright, that aired on the NBC Blue Network from March 5, 1941 until October 1941. It then moved to the NBC Red Network where it was heard until June 4, 1945. Philip Morris was the sponsor in 1942-43. Premiering with "Elementals" by Stephen Vincent Benét, the series featured adaptations of stories by famous authors, such as “Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobbies” by Nelson Bond, "The Snow Goose" by Paul Gallico, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, "The Piano" by William Saroyan and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. Cast members included Curley Bradley, John Hodiak, Marvin Miller, Nelson Olmsted, Fern Persons, Olan Soule and Les Tremayne. Orchestra conductors for the program were Joseph Gallicchio, Rex Maupin and Roy Shield. Directors included Norman Felton, Homer Heck and Fred Weihe. THIS EPISODE: April 23, 1945. NBC network, Chicago origination. "Forever Walking Free". Sustaining. A story of love in England during the war, with a supernatural ending. Arthur Seltzer, Bob Dearenforth, Cheer Brenson (?), Dorothy Quinnan (adaptor), Elwyn Owen (organist), Haskell Coffin, Herb Butterfield, McKinley Cantor (author), Norman Felton (producer), William Pigley. 29:37. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Big Dance (Aired September 4, 1948) Archie Andrews, created in 1941 by Bob Montana, is a fictional character in an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, a long-run radio series, a syndicated comic strip and animation -- The Archie Show, a Saturday morning cartoon television series by Filmation, plus Archie's Weird Mysteries. Archie Andrews began on the Blue Network on May 31, 1943, switched to Mutual in 1944, and then continued on NBC from 1945 until September 5 1953. Archie was first played by Charles Mullen, Jack Grimes and Burt Boyar, with Bob Hastings as the title character during the NBC years.The sponsor was Swift Products. The Cast: Harlan Stone, Alice Yourman, Arthur Kohl, Gloria Mann, Rosemary Rice. THIS EPISODE: September 4, 1948. "The Big Dance" - NBC network. Sustaining. Archie is going to a dance and Dad is trying to take a bath, not at all as easy as it sounds. Bob Hastings, Harlan Stone, Alice Yourman, Ian Martin, Gloria Mann, Rosemary Rice. 29:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

INTRO: Bob Camardella Plays Barbra Streisand The Way We Were (1973) Mr. Ten Percent (Aired May 17, 1945) Arch Oboler's Plays was a radio drama series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939 to March 23, 1940 and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945 to October 11, 1945. Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Gale Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco. THIS EPISODE: May 17, 1945. Program #6. Mutual network. "Mr. Ten-Percent". Sustaining. A good story about a Hollywood agent who finally finds a movie star to manage...and how he contributed $1 million dollars to the war effort! Program #6 of a series of 26 broadcasts. Mary Jane Croft, Bob Bailey, Earle Ross, Harry Lang, Everett Allen, Arch Oboler (writer), Bruce Elliott, Roseanne Murray. Episode

The Lucky Stiff (1947) *The Exact Date Is Unknown. Very few writers have managed to combine the hard-boiled detective novel and comedy. Jonathan Latimer succeeded with Bill Crane and Craig Rice did it with John J. Malone, her ne'er-do-well bibulous attorney. Despite being billed as "Chicago's noisiest and most noted criminal lawyer," Malone acts more like a private eye than a member of the court. And a particularly hard-drinking private eye, at that. Despite a rep for courtroom pyrotechniques, he's far more likely to be found at Joe the Angel's City Hall Bar than in any court. Along with his boozing buddies, Jake and Helene Justus, an affable young couple, he drank his way through a whole slew of novels and short stories, not to mention later film, radio and television appearances. THIS EPISODE: 1947. NBC network. "The Lucky Stiff". Sustaining. Lucky at everything, or is he. George Petrie, Larry Haines, Craig Rice (creator), Eugene Wang (writer), Bernard L. Schubert (producer), Richard Lewis (director), Fred Collins (announcer). 29:38. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

On the Sunny Side of the Street (10-09-53) and Just to be With You (10-29-53) Alka-Seltzer Time (aka The Alka-Seltzer Show) was a 15-minute radio series broadcast weekdays on both CBS and Mutual. Baritone Curt Massey starred with Martha Tilton when the program, sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, began in 1949 as Curt Massey Time (sometimes advertised as Curt Massey Time with Martha Tilton) with a title change to highlight the sponsor's product by 1952. The announcer was Fort Pearson. By 1953, the series was heard simultaneously on Mutual (at noon) and later that same day on CBS (at 5:45pm). Ads described the show as "informal song sessions" by vocalists Massey and Tilton, who was often billed as "the liltin' Martha Tilton." The two singers, both Texas-born, performed with Country Washburne and His Orchestra, featuring Charles LaVere on piano. Songs included such tunes as "Honey, I'm in Love with You," "A Gambler's Guitar," "Just to Be with You," "Moonlight When Shadows Fall," "When Love Goes Wrong," "Choo Choo Train," "I've Got Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle," "Put on a Bonnet," "Collegiate," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Papaya Mama" and "Istanbul, Not Constantinople." There were some theme shows, such as "Go West", music from "Old Phonograph Records" and "Salute to Hawaii." The series ended November 6, 1953. However, Massey and Tilton continued to appear together during the late 1950s on such shows as Guest Star and Stars for Defense. They also teamed to record an album, We Sing the Old Songs (1957). CD collections of Alka-Seltzer Time usually identify shows by the first performed song of each program. Today, Curt Massey is best remembered as the composer (with Paul Henning) and singer of the Petticoat Junction theme song. Episode_Notes_From_Boxcars711_Old_Time_Radio.

Archie Bunker All In The Family TV Movie Video Flashback 1971M Mike Meets Archie CBS Rob Reiner Philip Mishkin (Writer) John Rich (Director) Carroll O'Connor Jean Stapleton Sally Struthers Comedy Funny Laugh 2013 Doctor's Visit Part_One & and Two Move To California

Parent's Day (Aired October 26, 1952) The Aldrich Family as a separate radio show was born as a summer replacement for Jack Benny in NBC's Sunday night lineup, July 2, 1939, and it stayed there until October 1, 1939, when it moved to Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., sponsored by General Foods's popular gelatin dessert Jell-O---which also sponsored Jack Benny at the time. The Aldriches ran in that slot from October 10, 1939 until May 28, 1940, moving to Thursdays, from July 4, 1940 until July 20, 1944. After a brief hiatus, the show moved to CBS, running on Fridays from September 1, 1944 until August 30, 1946 with sponsors Grape Nuts and Jell-O,.before moving back to NBC from September 05, 1946 to June 28, 1951 on Thursdays and, then, its final run of September 21, 1952 to April 19, 1953 on Sundays. THIS EPISODE: October 26, 1952. "Parent's Day" - NBC network. Sustaining. It's Parent's Day at school. Confusion runs rampant...and then there's the spelling bee! Bobby Ellis, Jack Grimes, Clifford Goldsmith (writer), Dick Dudley (announcer), House Jameson, Katharine Raht. 29:23. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Old Love Letters (Aired April 3, 1945) Alan Young Show (born November 19, 1919) is an actor best known for his television role opposite a talking horse, Mister Ed. Born in North Shields,Tyne and Wear, England, with the given name Angus Young, he was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland and in Canada. He grew to love radio when bedbound as a child because of severe asthma and became a radio broadcaster on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1944, he made the leap to American radio with The Alan Young Show, NBC's summer replacement for Eddie Cantor. Following a move to ABC in the fall (1944-46), he returned to NBC (1946-49). THIS EPISODE: April 3, 1945. "Old Love Letters" - ABC Blue network. Sponsored by: Sal Hepatica, Mum. Carlotta Bullfinch, Alan's old sweetheart, wants Alan to be the best man at her wedding. Carlotta thinks Alan's going to be the groom! Possibly dated September 3, 1945. Alan Young, Kenny Delmar (announcer), The Tune Twisters, Peter Van Steeden and His Orchestra, Minerva Pious, Jean Gillespie. 30:02. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Crab Louis Caper (Aired March 2, 1951) The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951. The series starred Howard Duff (and later, Steve Dunne) as Sam Spade and Lurene Tuttle as his secretary Effie, and took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character than the novel or movie. In 1947, scriptwriters Jason James and Bob Tallman received an Edgar Award for Best Radio Drama from the Mystery Writers of America. Before the series, Sam Spade had been played in radio adaptations of The Maltese Falcon by both Edward G. Robinson (in a 1943 Lux Radio Theater production) and by Bogart himself (in a 1946 Academy Award Theater production), both on CBS. THIS EPISODE: March 2, 1951. NBC network. "The Crab Louis Caper". Sustaining. Sam is hired to find out how an Italian crab- fisher was killed. Was it an accident or murder? The story title is also known as, "View Of Fisherman's Wharf From The Water." Steve Dunne, Lurene Tuttle, William Spier (producer, editor, director), Lud Gluskin (composer), Robert Armbruster (conductor), Harold Swanton (writer), Dashiell Hammett (creator). 28:36. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Case Dismissed - Criminal Liability Aired January 30, 1954 As a local presentation, WMAQ's production of Case Dismissed acquitted itself very well indeed. With few exceptions, the enacted legal issues were realistically depicted, thoroughly explored, and informatively resolved. The exposition for and resolution of these programs was never preachy, overly complicated, nor left unresolved. Each story had an arc that was resolved for that particular combination of legal issues and choices. The listener was never left hanging. Mindful of the fact that Case Dismissed was being heard in many other states besides Illinois, the program regularly reminded its listeners that the problems presented and legal remedies offered were based only on then current Illinois Law. But it's also clear that because they were mindful of a larger audience, the producers and writers very helpfully selected a broad range of legal topics that were general enough in nature to present useful choices and information to residents in virtually any state that might be listening in. All told, a fascinating, useful, and well mounted series of legal dramas that accomplished precisely what they set out to do for thirteen weeks. So effectively, in fact that the basic legal tenets put forth within most of these thirteen episodes remain almost universally applicable today. THIS EPISODE: January 30, 1954. NBC network, WMAQ, Chicago origination. Sustaining. The program is produced in co-operation with the Chicago Bar Association. A man listens to bad advice and ignores a summons, which winds up costing him $25,000! The moral: see a lawyer. A program about criminal liability. Fern Persons, Patricia Crain, Jack Lester, John Galvaro, Betty Ross (producer), Herbert Latow (director), Phillip Lord, Tom Evans (sound), Harry Elders. 29:12.

The Devil In The Deep Freeze (Aired November 10, 1949) Candy Matson was the private eye star of Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8208, an NBC West Coast show which first aired in March 1949 and was created by Monty Masters. He cast his wife, Natalie Parks, in the title role of this sassy, sexy PI. Her understated love interest, Lt. Ray Mallard, was played by Henry Leff while her assistant and best pal, aptly named Rembrandt Watson, was the voice of Jack Thomas. Every show opened with a ringing telephone and our lady PI answering it with "Candy Matson, YU 2-8209" and then the organ swung into the theme song, "Candy". Each job took Candy from her apartment on Telegraph Hill into some actual location in San Francisco. The writers, overseen by Monty, worked plenty of real Bay Area locations into every plot. Candy was bright, tough, and fearless. THIS EPISODE: November 10, 1949. NBC network, San Francisco origination. "The Devil In The Deep Freeze". Sustaining. A restaurant owner asks Candy to get rid of a body in his meat refrigerator, and he's dressed like the devil! Guest Dorothy Warenskjold (famous opera singer) helps Candy to solve this operatic murder. The title is subject to correction. Dorothy Warenskjold, Dudley Manlove (announcer), Harry Bechtel, Henry Left, Jack Thomas, Jerry Walter, Monte Masters (writer, producer), Natalie Masters. 29:25. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Can You Top This was one of those programs that was tailor made for radio. Four people sat around telling jokes, each one trying to outdo the other. Can you imagine the same format on television? In the movies? Broadway? In magazines or newspapers? Only on radio could such a format survive and thrive. And thrive it did, for 14 years. In 1943 an estimated ten million people listened to the weekly program and Time magazine said "There is nothing quite like it on the U.S. air." Can You Top This was the brain child of Senator Edward Hastings Ford. The "Senator", like most of his jokes, was made up. The program itself was simply an outgrowth of a regular meeting at which Ford and the other participants would spend countless hours telling stories at New York's famous Lamb's Club. From the outset of the program in December of 1940, Ford owned the rights to the program and was a regular participant. The lynch pin for the program was actor Peter Donald who would begin each round of jokes by telling a joke submitted by a listener. Donald was born in Bristol, England into a theatrical family. By the time he was nine years old, he had traveled around the world twice. At the age of ten he began acting in radio. Later he played Ajax Cassidy on the Fred Allen Show, and dramatized the voices of Winston Churchill, Field Marshall Montgomery, King George VI and the Duke of Windsor on the March of Time.

CALTEX RADIO THEATER - OLD TIME RADIO Caltex Theater was an Australian show similar to the American Lux Radio Theater. It was sponsored by the Caltex Oil Company. Mostly the radio shows were adapted from top movies from the time period. The show aired from 1950 - 1959 with somewhere around 490 shows. Some episodes are thought to be specials and no dates are in the log. SHOWS LIST ****Caltex Theater - 55-12-11 290 Detectives Are Not Always Right ****Caltex Theater - 59-02-15 454 Bad Day At Black Rock ****Caltex Theater - 59-04-26 463 There Was A Crooked Man ****Caltex Theater - 59-09-06 482 Forbidden Planet ****Caltex Theater - xx-xx-xx x Scrooge The Miser ****Caltex Theater - xx-xx-xx x The Big Smoke Return To Tenderness ****Caltex Theater - xx-xx-xx x You Only Die Once

After his father was killed by a gangster's bullet, young Dan Garrett joined the New York Police Department, but soon tired of the slow pace and red tape of police work. With the help of his friend and mentor, pharmacist and drug-store proprietor Dr. Franz, Dan acquired a costume of bullet-proof chain-mail-like cellulose material, and began a second life, fighting crime as The Blue Beetle. His calling card was a small beetle-shaped marker that he left in conspicuous places to alert criminals to his presence, using their fear of his crime fighting reputation as a weapon against them. For this purpose he also used a "Beetle Signal" flashlight. Show Notes From The Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. TODAY'S SHOW: July 3, 1940. Program #27. Fox Features syndication. "Crime Incorporated" Part One. Commercials added locally. The Overlords Of Crime are planning to form a syndicate. The Blue Beetle infiltrates the gang and is hired by them to imitate...the Blue Beetle! 12:14. July 5, 1940. Program #28. Fox Features syndication. "Crime Incorporated" Part Two. Commercials added locally. The Blue Beetle is unmasked and shot, but it's only a flesh wound. The "Magic Ray" helps the Blue Beetle break up the gang. 12:20. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Please Not C.O.D. (Aired April 12, 1943) The success of the comic strip led to the long-running Blondie film series (1938-1950) and the popular Blondie radio program (1939-1950). Chic Young drew Blondie until his death in 1973, when the control of the strip passed to his son Dean Young, who continues to write the strip. Young has collaborated with a number of artists on Blondie, including Jim Raymond, Mike Gersher, Stan Drake, Denis Lebrun and currently, John Marshall. Through these changes, Blondie has remained popular, appearing in more than 2000 newspapers in 47 countries and translated into 35 languages, as of 2010[update]. THIS EPISODE: April 12, 1943. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "Please Not C.O.D." AKA "Blondie Demands A Refund". AFRS program name: "Front Line Theatre." A C.O.D. package arrives for someone else. Blondie and Dagwood try to return a bridge table. The date is subject to correction. Chic Young (creator), Arthur Lake, Penny Singleton, Jerry Wald and His Orchestra (AFRS music fill), Hans Conried. 29:46. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.