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Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Episode 598 - Voices from The Shadow (Gang Busters, The Whistler, The Line-Up, Lives of Harry Lime, & Black Museum)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Mystery, Detectives, Old, Radio, Time, Tv & Film, Oldtimeradio

4.6982 Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2024

⏱️ 143 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Several great actors gave voice to The Shadow, but today we're shining a spotlight on those stars and their roles outside of the cloak of radio's invisible avenger. We'll hear Frank Readick as a crook in "The Case of the Cincinnati Narcotics Ring" from Gang Busters (originally aired on ABC on September 25, 1948). Then, Bill Johnstone is a newlywed with a secret in "Devoted Couple" from The Whistler (orignally aired on CBS on July 9, 1950) and Lt. Ben Guthrie in "The Cop Killer" from The Line-Up (originally aired on CBS on November 30, 1950). Finally, Orson Welles stars in "The Dead Enchantress" from The Lives of Harry Lime and narrates "The Bed Sheet" from The Black Museum.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Get this and get it straight.

0:02.0

Crime is a suckers road,

0:04.0

and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

0:07.0

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

0:18.0

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

0:22.0

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Price.

0:25.0

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account.

0:30.0

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

0:33.0

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. the Hello and welcome to down these mean streets and more old-time radio

1:00.0

detectives and

1:07.0

the crime fighters is the show that really got me into old-time radio

1:15.6

I think that and Sherlock Holmes are most people's gateways and as I listened to the shadow and learned more about the actors who voiced the character it made me curious to track down some of the

1:20.6

other shows they appeared in.

1:23.0

Of course it didn't hurt that its stars were extremely prolific,

1:27.8

and learning more about them helped me to discover

1:30.3

a ton of wonderful shows, which in turn led to more finds and more favorites.

1:37.1

So today I'm picking three of the actors who gave voice to the shadow and taking a dive into some of their other work in the mystery genre.

1:47.0

Now a very quick bit of shadow history.

1:51.0

The character was originally employed as a narrator, not unlike the Whistler or the mysterious

1:56.7

traveler. He served that role on the Street and Smith Detective Story Hour.

2:03.7

The Shadow would introduce that week's tale, but listeners were captivated by the mysterious

2:09.5

host, who was a

...

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