Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives‪)‬ Mean Streets Podcasts

Lordy, Lordy - your host is turning 40. To mark the occasion, I'm looking back at the old time radio detective shows I've enjoyed the most over these many years. Join me as I revisit stories starring Philip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen, The Whistler, The Saint, Richard Diamond, Rocky Fortune, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, as well as why I love them. (Bear with me for the long intro...this old man tends to ramble on these days.)

We're off to the Caribbean with four old time radio mysteries full of island intrigue. An American professor finds murder on sabbatical in "A Passage to Benares" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on September 23, 1942). Joan Banks pulls Frank Lovejoy into a dangerous salvage operation in "Chain Reaction" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on May 12, 1948).  Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring their combined star power to tropical thrills in Bold Venture (a syndicated episode known as "Murder in the Yucatán Peninsula"). And finally, Johnny Dollar boards a yacht to act as a bodyguard in "The Time and Tide Matter" (AFRS rebroadcast from February 16, 1958).

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing my five favorite installments of Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. William Gargan sleuths with a sardonic smile in these radio mysteries, beginning with "The Lost Lady" (originally aired on NBC on June 14, 1953). A client behind bars hires Craig in "For Love of Murder" (originally aired on NBC on August 3, 1954), and Craig helps an old colleague close one last case in "Blood Money" (originally aired on NBC on August 24, 1954). A vacation is a new setting for murder in "Hay is for Homicide" (originally aired on NBC on August 31, 1954), and a visit to see a friend turns into a night at a haunted house in "Ghosts Don't Die in Bed" (originally aired on NBC on September 7, 1954).

Place your bets and ride along with four old time radio mysteries set in the stables and around the racetrack. Boston Blackie doubts a horse is guilty of murder in a syndicated mystery, and international investigator Frank Race tries to find out who's out to make sure a prize racehorse doesn't make it to the winner's circle in "The Adventure of the Vanishing Favorite." A jockey loses a race and his life in Crime and Peter Chambers (originally aired on NBC on August 3, 1954). And John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in an adaptation of "Silver Blaze."

We're riding the subway and walking the Great White Way with four radio gumshoes in New York. First, there's a dead body in Richard Diamond's office in "The Fred Sears Murder Case" (originally aired on NBC on June 5, 1949). A man is killed in Times Square by a man with only a month to live in "The Earl Lawson Murder Case" from Broadway is My Beat (originally aired on CBS on June 9, 1951). John Lund heads to the Big Apple in "The Independent Diamond Traders Matter" from Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (originally aired on CBS on November 24, 1953), and Captain Kennelly and his men keep the city safe in 21st Precinct (originally aired on CBS on January 13, 1954).

It's an Easter basket of radio comedies for you to enjoy! Jack Benny and his gang take a stroll in the Easter Parade (originally aired on CBS on April 17, 1949); Lucille Ball hunts for the perfect Easter dress in My Favorite Husband (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1951); and egg dying goes awry at the Harris house on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show (originally aired on NBC on April 5, 1953).