Showing results by narrator "Old Time Radio" in All Categories

He stood just three feet tall, but his wit was larger than life! Charlie McCarthy was made of wood, but to millions of radio listeners, he was as real as Edgar Bergen - and much, much funnier. Impudent, irreverent, and positively irrepressible, here are 16 rare and classic radio episodes featuring Charlie himself.

Widely acclaimed as the greatest writer-director-producer of the Golden Age of Radio, Norman Corwin perfected his own unique recipe for success: Begin with the human mind and knead gently; add a dash of poetry, wit and wonder; add a cup of raw passion and stir vigorously; garnish with sound effects, and marinate in a musical score. Season liberally with intelligence and digest slowly. Corwin’s works - musicals, fantasies, satires, and dramas - were presented on CBS in prestige series under his own direction.

Chester A. Riley: A husband. A father. A lovable, working-class bumbler with the proverbial heart of gold. William Bendix stars as this simple (and sometimes simple-minded) man who starts out with the best of intentions, and ends up making a big mess of things. Scaling the mountainous molehills alongside him are his patient wife Peg (Paula Winslowe), his typical American kids, and his eclectic aggregation of friends, including Gillis and Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker - both played by John Brown.

The unpredictable adventures of freelance troubleshooter George Valentine entertained West Coast audiences for nearly a decade. Bob Bailey delivers a definitive performance in the title role, with able support from Frances Robinson as Brooksie, Eddie Firestone as Sonny, Wally Maher as Lieutenant Riley, and Joe Kearns as Caleb the Elevator Man. Together, they gave radio one of its most distinctive private-eye programs. Come experience the exciting exploits of an intelligent investigator who'd rather think than throw down...but, who could certainly handle himself in a scrap!

They say the "Old Time Radio Era" ended in 1962, but radio drama carried right on...and here's the proof! Provocative, thoughtful, and up-to-the-minute in its treatment of life as it was lived, that was Theatre 5! This powerful anthology series featured an invigorating combination of veteran performers and rising young actors in sharp, concise stories with a message and an impact!

Some people collect coins, some people collect stamps, but Barton Drake collects murders! He's an author, a bon vivant, and an expert in the dark corners of the criminal mind. There's no homicide he won't investigate, no killing he can't solve! Glenn Langan stars as Barton Drake, with Norman Field as Inspector Danton. Together, they crack 16 classic cases of radio mystery from 1945 to 1946!

Multi-talented Irish tenor Dennis Day played a charmingly naïve young man (not at all unlike his character from The Jack Benny Show) in his very own series. Singing and working the soda fountain in the town of Weaverville, his lyrical voice and comical ways delighted listeners for five seasons (1946 - 1951). Although he bemoaned his humble position in life, his lack of funds, and his inability to impress the parents of his girlfriend, Mildred Anderson (Barbara Eiler), Dennis never gave up trying.

Dennis Day is a sweet-singing, well-meaning, constantly bumbling young man residing in the sleepy little town of Weaverville. The misadventures of this guileless innocent turned loose in the world are a comic delight, full of outlandish situations and genuine charm. Francis "Dink" Trout costars as his landlord Mr. Anderson, along with Paula Winslowe and Bea Benaderet as the outspoken Mrs. Anderson, Sharon Douglas and Barbara Eiler as girlfriend Mildred, and John Brown as boss Homer Willoughby in 16 laugh-packed episodes.

Is Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve (Harold Peary), Summerfield's most notorious "bachelor on the prowl," about to adopt a third child? That's how it seems when he finds an abandoned baby girl in the backseat of his car. Informed that the child could be taken away from him because of his bachelor status, The Great Man proposes to Adeline…and her cousin…Gildy's old flame, Leila Ransom!

Fanny Brice described Snooks as “my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She’s eager. She’s alive. With all her deviltry, she still is a good kid, never vicious nor mean”. Perhaps, but Daddy and Robespierre may beg to differ. Neither Daddy’s time, pet projects, nor peace of mind are safe from Snooks’ reliably relentless intrusions. As for how she treats her younger siblings and what she thinks of them...well, the fact that she tries to trade them for cats pretty much says it all!

There's nothing like The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, radio's best-written situation comedy - and here's 10 full hours to prove it! The show's sense of the absurd, its anything-goes anarchy, is as sharp and funny today as it was 70 years ago!

This anthology of post-World War II crime radio drama presents fictionalized crime, dramatizations of actual crimes, and programs that presented on-the-spot recordings of real police investigations. Radio Spirits is proud to present 20 adventures from 15 of the best (and most unusual) programs broadcast in the last dozen or so years of commercial network dramatic radio. Series include Gang Busters, The Line Up, Broadway's My Beat, Man from Homicide, Night Watch, and more!

Carrol Naish stars as earnest Italian immigrant Luigi Basco - proud of the Old Country, yet eager to become an American. Attending night classes to prepare for his citizenship test, he mingles with a smorgasbord of funny fellows who teach him how quickly friendship can cross cultural boundaries. Alan Reed co-stars as the jolly, conniving restaurateur Pasquale - consistently capitalizing on his friend's confusion about American ways. He's wily, willful, and says he wants to do whatever he can to make Luigi's life better…as long as that means marrying him to his robust daughter Rosa!

Created and written by Philip Rapp, Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson were the first married couple on radio to have a truly adversarial relationship. Scathing, sarcastic and comical, John and Blanche would fight about anything. Although they often argued about Blanche’s good-for-nothing brother, she would certainly insist that the big troubles were caused by John’s snoring and her resulting insomnia. There was nothing sweet or tender about their pillow talk, but it sure was funny!

NYPD detective Danny Clover, poignantly portrayed by Larry Thor, patrols The Great White Way. With each block he bears witness to regret and redemption, to desperation and debauchery, to wealth and want. Each leaves its mark on this poetic policeman. At Clover’s side, and covering his back, are Sgt. Tartaglia (Charles Calvert) and Sgt. Muggavan (Jack Kruschen). The unhappy endings of hard luck stories drive Danny to search for justice - pounding the pavement to track down an eye witness, find that one scrap of evidence, or just to walk until it all makes sense.

The Green Hornet and Kato return in this exciting collection of digitally remastered and restored radio adventures, working outside the law to battle kidnappers, rackets, fraud, and other sinister and nefarious enterprises of the criminal underworld. Featured in these programs is Al Hodge, the first actor to play the role of millionaire newspaperman Britt Reid, alias The Green Hornet.

A favorite recurring feature of the Burns and Allen radio program involved George's fruitless efforts to defend himself against the schemes of the Beverly Hills Uplift Society, "an organization of women…for women…by women. This gathering of gossipy females embark on ill-advised escapades - from matchmaking to hijacking the show - all to George's dismay. The society sweethearts are played by Bea Benaderet and Elvia Allman, with jocular gentlemen Mel Blanc, Hans Conried, Elliott Lewis and Gale Gordon as part of an ensemble that set a benchmark for character acting in radio comedy.

Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be - at least not whenever Gracie's around! That means that things are always hopping down at the Burns house in this collection of 16 laugh-packed episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show! Pitchman Bill Goodwin is on hand, and so is a whole gang of famous guests (including Charles Laughton, Eddie Cantor, Herbert Marshall, Bob Burns, and Claudette Colbert). Join the stars, along with Elvia Allman as Tootsie Sagwell, Clarence Nash as Herman the Duck, and Mel Blanc as "The Happy Postman" for eight solid hours of logically-illogical fun!

Inner Sanctum Mysteries set the standard for what a radio horror show was all about. Equal parts wildly improbable scripting, stylized acting, and threatening organ music, the show took radio horror in a new direction - and cast an influence that would far outlast even radio drama itself. Pass through the squeal and groan of the iconic creaking door as your sinister host guides you through 12 digitally remastered episodes of the radio equivalent of a midnight ride through a carnival house of horrors…with an evil clown as your seatmate.

Mystery, adventure, and international intrigue surround Ken Thurston, The Man Called X! Radio's most enduring cloak-and-dagger drama presents suave stage and screen star Herbert Marshall in 16 tales of globetrotting espionage! Announcer John McIntire tells of the man "who crosses the ocean as readily as you or I cross town." Leon Belasco costars as Pegon Zellschmidt, with a supporting cast that includes Ge Ge Pearson, Steven Geray, Ted von Eltz, Frank Graham, Alan Reed, Cathy Lewis, William Conrad, and more.