Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

We continue our spotlight series of Hollywood heavy hitters who put in time as radio detectives. This week, it's a legend of classic cinema - Humphrey Bogart, star of Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, and so many more iconic films. Bogart headlined Bold Venture, a syndicated mystery-adventure series set in the tropics. His co-star was no less than his real-life wife, Lauren Bacall. We'll hear a pair of syndicated Bold Venture mysteries - "The Tears of Siva," "The Mystery of the Mary K." Plus, Bogie stars in the audition for what would have been his own anthology drama Humphrey Bogart Presents. In this audition recording, Bogart hosts and appears in an adaptation of James M. Cain's story "Dead Man."

We kick off 2026 with a month-long series of big screen stars who lent their voices to radio detectives. First up is Alan Ladd, the steely star of classic noir dramas like This Gun for Hire and The Blue Dahlia and westerns like the iconic Shane. We'll hear him in his signature radio role of mystery writer and amateur sleuth Dan Holiday in a pair of syndicated episodes of Box 13 - "Treasure of Hang Li" and "Sealed Instructions." Plus, he recreates his big screen role as an old west detective as The Screen Director's Playhouse presents "Whispering Smith" (originally aired on NBC on September 16, 1949).  

We bid a fond farewell to 2025 with an encore of our New Year's Eve special from 2018. Jack Webb and Gerald Mohr star in New Year's Eve mysteries from Dragnet and The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. We'll hear "The Big New Year's" (originally aired on NBC on March 8, 1951) and "The Old Acquaintance" (originally aired on CBS on December 26, 1948).

Our bonus series of holiday mysteries wraps up on Christmas Eve with two more tales of seasonal sleuthing. John Stanley and Alfred Shirley are Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in "The Adventure of the Christmas Bride" (originally aired on Mutual on December 21, 1947). And Jack Webb stars in a heartwarming case from Dragnet - "The Big Little Jesus" (originally aired on NBC on December 22, 1953).

Christmas is only a few days away, and we're celebrating with a trio of holiday tales from Broadway - not the world of footlights, chorus lines, and matinee performances, but the seedier side of the street. Our first two tales come from the pen of Damon Runyon. A man is marked for death on Christmas Eve in "Dancing Dan's Christmas" from The Damon Runyon Theatre, and a trio of crooks hunting for lost loot finds a lot more in "Three Wise Guys" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on December 24, 1950). Then we'll hear a holiday mystery starring Detective Danny Clover in Broadway is My Beat (originally aired on CBS on December 24, 1949).