Golden Age of Radio

PAT NOVAK BROADCAST HISTORY   Ladies and Gentlemen, the American Broadcasting Company brings to its entire network one of radio's most unusual programs . . . The show was produced in 1946-47, ABC West; produced at KGO, San Francisco, and aired on the West Coast network only. Feb 13-June 18, 1949, ABC. 30m. Pat Novak  was  Jack Webb's  first significant radio crime drama. It was also the vanguard of radio crime drama, so hard-boiled as to be high camp in its own time. The show was rich with hilarious pessimism, rippling with ridiculous metaphors. In two separate stands as Pat Novak , Webb was propelled to national prominence. Novak operated out of "Pier 19," a small office where "I rent boats and tell a few white lies, if the price is right." Writer  Richard Breen  wrote the kind of dialogue that Webb delivered better than any one else: it was sassy, brassy, and full of pent-up anger. The series existed, in fact, simply to push one-liners. Each story wa...

Unit 99 is sometimes an overlooked but excellent old time radio police drama. There are some 40 plus circulating episodes that date from August 1957 through June 1958.  These old time radio shows feature Sacramento police Sgt Dan Meredith, who carried a tape recorder in his squad car, and provided tape recording coverage of actual Sacramento police call responses with his descriptive narration, witness interviews and the like.  In  Unit 99 , Long time Sacramento Police Chief James Hicks was billed as the host and radio station KFBK chief announcer and special events director Tony Koester directed the program. Although this was a locally produced show I believe that KFBK was the local ABC affiliate at the time.

One of my favorite old time radio shows is from the old time radio series, Favorite Story  which uses a theramin! "The Bet" was written by Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), a great playwright often referred to as the Russian Shakespeare . Chekhov was a master of the short story. He was a gentle soul with an unusual understanding of the heart of man and in this story you will find he proves himself  a great searcher after truth. This version has been expertly dramatized and directed by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee. Two friends are debating over which is better, to be executed by the state or to spend a lifetime in prison. Ivanoff says that it is not the right of the state to take away from a man that which he cannot return and that if he were offered a choice between capitol punishment and life imprisonment he would choose imprisonment for it is better than no life at all. His friend, a rich banker who has wealth beyond belief, and without it would feel like ...

Happy 77th Birthday, CBS World News Roundup !  CBS World News Roundup , an iconic CBS News Radio program, is the nation's longest-running news broadcast, first airing 77 years ago tonight. March 13, 1938 - just another slow news day? Not quite! As legendary CBS radio newsman Robert Trout reported that night, Hitler's forces were "driving with all their might to bring Austria under complete Nazi domination."  Based in New York, Trout quickly switched over to live reports from correspondents throughout Europe, including a stirring account of Austria's plight from 29 -year old Edward R. Murrow , making his debut as a broadcast journalist.  "Everything is quiet in Vienna tonight," Edward Murrow reported. "There is a certain air of expectancy about the city, everyone waiting and wondering where and at what time Her r Hitler will arrive." The impact and status of both WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP and Murrow would certainly blossom in the coming mo...

  Ronald Colman   and   Myrna Loy   in   The Devil to Pay!   (1930)     Director Jack Conway and Ronald Colman discussing the script for   A Tale of Two Cities       Colman sketching in   The Light that Failed .       Ronald Colman in   Lost Horizon .     Her Sister from Paris (1925)   Constance Talmadge & Ronald Colman     Fredric March & Ronald Colman   Colman chillin’ with the High Lama and Frank Capra .   Ronald Colman in   Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back   Ronald Colman and Rosalind Russell in   Under Two Flags   (1936).  this movie is so funny… It definitely is!   Ronald Colman with Joan Bennett in   The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo   (1935).   Smithy: Some people came to see me at the hospital, ...