The Good Old Days of Radio Show
Legendary radio collector John Tefteller presents the best of mystery, comedy, horror, and adventure stories, produced by the greatest writers, directors, composers, and stars.
Episodes
Today Mickey Rooney stars as an expelled student who discovers the brutal murder of his stepmother and, assuming it was committed by his father, frames himself for the crime. However, he soon realizes his father is innocent, and he has taken the rap for the true perpetrator. This is the 10th and final tale by mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, and another incredible dramatization from the radio series "Suspense." Joining us one final...
Nightbeat was a noir-style suspenseful melodrama from the early 1950s, and a vehicle for the actor Frank Lovejoy. We featured Frank Lovejoy in last Thursday's episode, so we're showing you his showcase series, where he played a newspaper reporter searching the night for unusual human interest stories. This is the first episode of this series, which was created at a time when NBC was attempting to innovate to combat television and t...
Today's story is a grim departure from Cornell Woolrich's usual man-on-the-run suspenseful mystery, as we plunge into the gloomy world of New Orleans, voodoo, and jazz music. This is an extraordinary production of the Cornell Woolrich story, "Papa Benjamin," about a bandleader who steals an unholy rhythm, and gets a curse put upon him, which leads him to the edge of madness. Dr. Joe Webb is here with us again to discuss this story ...
Another East Coast vintage comedy program this week. Fred Allen was far, far more mainstream than the programs we featured for the preceding two weeks, and he is probably best known for his "Allen's Alley" segment. But like Henry Morgan and It Pays To Be Ignorant, many of these jokes tended toward topical and regional. Though this type of humor was considered bleeding-edge at the time, it unfortunately pushes Allen's shows more int...
It begins with a train wreck, and an unhappy woman who assumes the identity of a burn victim. But how long can she continue this charade? That's the premise of today's story by mystery writer Cornell Woolrich. Our very special guest researcher Dr. Joe Webb is with us again to discuss this episode of the radio series "Suspense" from 1946 which stars Susan Peters, whose own tragic backstory lends a dark undertone to this story.
Like last week's Henry Morgan Show, we are again featuring zany East Coast comedians. This week, a "lost" episode of It Pays To Be Ignorant from February 16, 1945. This one is another onslaught, machine-gun round of rapid-fire Dad jokes, some of them hitting so fast, by the time you get it you are halfway through the next one. We are happy to be able to save and resuscitate this weird brand of long-forgotten comedy.
Today on the podcast, a woman learns that her husband won a lottery. The only problem is, the ticket is in the pocket of his coat... buried with his body. So begins a story with a darkly comic bent from the pen of Cornell Woolrich, the king of the pulps all throughout the 1940s. Agnes Moorehead (best remembered for her intense performance on "Sorry Wrong Number") stars, and Dr. Joe Webb joins us for this divisive story from 1946.
Today, the second episode of the fully produced half-hour Henry Morgan Show. This episode is a non-stop barrage of wise-cracks, crazy voices, and weird musical interludes. Who cares if one bombed? It was on to the next so fast, it didn't matter. This is before Morgan got a sponsor for the show, so like the later Stan Freberg Show, he gets a chance to invent mock commercials for non-existing products that alone are worth the price o...
What would you do if you knew your spouse was a wanted criminal? To make matters worse, she was a fire starter and you were an insurance investigator? That's the dilemma of the protagonist in this story by the popular mystery writer we are featuring all this month on the podcast, Cornell Woolrich. We are pleased to be joined once again by radio researcher Dr. Joe Webb to discuss today's story from 1949, which stars Fredric March.
Today we are venturing into the world of 1957 sci-fi. The story is called "The Coffin Cure," by physician turned science fiction writer Alan E. Nourse. A cure for the common cold has been found, but it's pushed out to the public a little too quickly, with unpleasant side effects (sounds like something ripped out of modern day headlines). The whole tone of this story is tongue-in-cheek satire, and the performances push this one even...
Actor Jack Webb was best known for his persuasive portrayal of police Sergeant Joe Friday. Today we get to hear Jack Webb as a criminal. The story is another in our 10-week tribute to the prolific pulp mystery writer and novelist Cornell Woolrich. Joining us once again to discuss this story is researcher Dr. Joe Webb (no relation to Jack Webb or Joe Friday).
Joe Webb's Blog Post: https://suspenseproject.blogspot.com/2023/09/1947-03...
The following story is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. We bring you "Dragnet," the granddaddy of all true crime police procedurals. Jack Webb was the mastermind behind the series that showed the boys in blue in a heroic light after many years of media mockery. This is an early episode of the series, and the first to feature the famous Dragnet theme.
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Today we have another story of a person seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth. But this time her finance is having none of it! We continue with our 10 episode series devoted to mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, the author of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." His story "I Won't Take A Minute" is about a man trying desperately to find his sweetheart, who went into a building to run an errand and never comes back out. Joining u...
Today we present the classic of dystopian fiction, George Orwell's hopeless tale of the future, "1984." There are a few curious things about this adaptation, not least of which is the proximity of this broadcast to the release of the book just a few months prior. It's the story of "Big Brother is Watching You", TV screens with no on/off switches, "thought crimes," and "double-think." It was an edgy script for 1949. The star is also...
It's our annual Easter program, and those of you who have been with us from the start know we have presented some unusual selections for this episode. This year is no exception, with the little known story of Martin Niemöller, and an obscure little episode of "Cavalcade of America" about a German pastor who stood up against Hitler during the rise of the Nazi Party, and experienced persecution for his stance.
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The movie "Buck Privates," which launched Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into meteoric box office superstars, is one of the best fun flicks of the early 1940s. Months prior to the US entering WWII, "Buck Privates" has the added curiosity of the army as a "peacetime" operation, but with all the flair of a rah-rah America-at-war classic. We are presenting a one hour audio version of Buck Privates today with Abbott and Costello returning...
Cary Grant gives a powerful performance in the story of a man who wakes up in the street after an accident, not remembering the last few years of his life. The problem is, he is being pursued by the police for a crime he supposedly committed, and now must prove his innocence before he's caught. This is another exciting fast-paced thriller from the mystery writer, Cornell Woolrich, and joining us today to talk about this story from ...
Edgar Bergen and his wooden dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, though predominantly radio stars, briefly appeared in the Walt Disney film "Fun and Fancy Free.” This episode of the Bergen show will be a treat for Disneyphiles. Walt himself makes a rare guest appearance to promote the film, as well as Donald Duck (played by Clarence Nash), who joins the cast for a parody of the Jack and the Beanstalk segment.
If you prefer your murderous plots to be confined to the comfort of your podcast listening, you have come to the right place. Today a man is convinced he has been implicated in a crime while drugged, and he must find the killer. The only clue he has is the terrible dream in which he remembers only fleeting details. Our subject is Cornell Woolrich's tense thriller "The Singing Walls," and the star is the Hollywood megastar Van Johns...
It’s the 10th show of the Stan Freberg Show. This clever variety/comedy is a real slice of 1957, with its early Rock 'n' Roll, big band music, and Heartbreak Hotel parody. This episode includes a build-it-yourself knock-down grand piano, a tour through a Chinese fortune cookie factory, and another (and last) lecture on Hi Fi by Dr. Herman Horn.
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