Old Radio Shows.org

Created by Carlton E. Morse, I Love a Mystery brought a new brand of action-adventure heroes into the homes of World War II era listeners. Debuting on January 16, 1939, on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) West Coast stations, the series united three unlikely heroes/friends. Although the show premiered prior to U.S. involvement in the war, the characters initially, meet each other while contracted as mercenaries hired to fight the Japanese in China.

After their mercenary stint, the trio reunites in San Francisco. There, they decide to form the A-1 Detective Agency. Jack Packard, the leader of the group is not only tough; he is also a borderline misogynist. Doc Long is the fighting Texan and Reggie is the strong, but timid Englishman. Together they embark on a series of adventures. These guys are not the conventional heroes of the day and their cases involve anything from mystery to the paranormal. In fact, these guys are more interested in making enough money to support their adventurist lifestyle than they are in solving serious crime cases.

The series was initially sponsored by Fleischmann’s Yeast airing every weekday at 3:15 p.m. By October 2, 1939, the series was moved to a 7:15 p.m. slot on the NBC national network. Its success continued and the serial expanded from its fifteen-minute format into a thirty-minute program on April 4, 1940. In 1943, the series moved to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) network, where it remained under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble until its last episode in December 1944.

During the 1942 season, actor Walter Paterson committed suicide. Close friend and creator, Carlton E. Morse could not bear the thought of hiring another actor to resume the role of Reggie and the character was ultimately written out of the series. In order to make up for the loss of the timid Englishman, Morse expanded the role of the agency’s secretary, Jerry Booker.

One of the most famous and memorable episodes was “Temple of Vampires,” broadcast in 1940. In the genre of radio mystery theater, The content of the storyline created quite a stir among parents, who responded with a letter writing campaign. The series was also revived in a film trilogy beginning in 1945. Unfortunately, few original broadcasts survived over the years, leaving only a handful of recordings available for the enjoyment of today’s listeners.

Enjoy this episode, Battle of the Century part I of I Love a Mystery: 

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In 1938, Captain Midnight debuted to a limited Midwest audience. Created by Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burn, the show was initially sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company. The products featured by the sponsor forced the series to focus on an adult listening audience. Hardly kid friendly, the sponsor promoted gasoline, oil and tires. In addition, the syntax used in the character dialogues was more adult in nature and was often lost on the younger listeners. Nevertheless, the serial proved to be a success.

In 1940, the Wander Company picked up sponsorship of the new series to promote its child friendly Ovaltine products and the serial began broadcasting nationwide on Mutual Radio Network. The move also brought a change in the scripts, which were designed to specifically target the young audience, who could influence the consumption patterns of their parents.

In September 1942, the series moved to the NBC Blue Network; however, the Wander Company moved the series back to Mutual Radio in 1945, where it would stay until the last broadcast. Also by this time, the serial had gone from fifteen minutes to a thirty-minute format. The sponsor also introduced various premiums and prizes, such as the code-o-graph, decoders, rings, telescopes and World War II paraphernalia, which appealed to the young listeners. Soon, listeners had the opportunity to interact with the show, by using the code-o-graph to decode secret messages at the end of the episode.

When the series originally aired in 1938, Captain Jim “Red” Albright was a veteran World War I veteran fighter pilot. Captain Jim became Captain Midnight after receiving the specially coded name from a general who sent him on missions that ended just before midnight. After his return to private life, Captain Midnight used his own plane and spent his time helping those in need of assistance. The Wander Company sponsorship transformed Captain Midnight into the crime fighting head of the Secret Squadron. The Secret Squadron fought against spies and espionage rings.

As World War II approached and U.S. involvement became imminent, Captain Midnight was once again transformed. Instead of fighting international espionage rings, the focus on the enemy became more specific. Writers turned the everyday villains into members of the Axis. Names like Baron von Karp and Admiral Himakito clearly stressed that Germany and Japan were the villains and enemies of the world. Captain Midnight scripts mirrored the U.S. involvement in the war effort. The popularity of the series also increased at this time, as servicemen and women stationed on U.S. military bases and depots became faithful listeners.

Captain Midnight also reflected the changing gender roles in U.S. society. Just as Rosy the Riveter came to symbolize the role of women in the war industry, so did the characters of the Captain Midnight series. Female villains were just as capable and ruthless as their male counterparts were. Heroines also worked under the same premise, as they were as brave and courageous as the heroes were. Unfortunately, to the dismay of many listeners the Captain Midnightseries ended in 1949. One of its lasting legacies is that it will forever be associated with decoder rings and Ovaltine.

Enjoy Captain Midnight episode 28 :

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A gong sounds and Gerald Mohr ominously intones “The Shadow…of Fooo ManChoo.”

There is a long period of eerie organ music at the beginning and end of each episode; this is because the show was recorded for Syndication. The long organ music is space for the local announcer to make his plug.

During the period following the Boxer Rebellion, the West was filled with fears of “the Yellow Peril.” The Rebellion had been pushed by a Secret Society, and there was a dread of these Societies gaining influence in the Chinatowns of American and European cities.

Author Sax Rohmer became familiar with the reputation of “Mr. King” in London’s Asian districts. Supposedly, Mr. King had a piece of the action in most illegal activities in the district; at the mention of King’s name, Chinese merchants became visibly terrified. Rohmer used Mr. King as the inspiration for his master villain, Fu Manchu.

Dr. Fu Manchu had an incredible intellect, and an incredible invisible empire. Dr. Fu had “all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources… of a wealthy government, which… has denied all knowledge of his existence… Dr. Fu Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man.”

Fu Manchu would become the model for many arch villains: Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, Lo-Pan from Big Trouble in Little China, Dr. Yen-Lo in The Manchurian Candidate, and James Bond’s adversary, Dr. No.

The Fu Manchu stories would be serialized in Collier’s Magazine in 1913. The first of several radio incarnations of the stories would be on The Collier Hour over the Blue Network starting in 1927. Probably the most popular incarnation was the syndicated The Shadow of Fu Manchu, recorded in the winter of 1938-39. Lou Marcelle, the uncredited narrator of the film Casablanca, played the evil Doctor. The actor’s identity was hidden for many years, until identified by radio historian Elizabeth McLeod in 2002. Two well known character actors took the roles of Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie: Hanley Stanford of Blondie and Baby Snooks; and Gale Gordon, Mayor LaTrivia of Fibber McGee and Molly and Principal Osgood in Our Miss Brooks. Paula Winslow played the lovely and seductive Karamaneh (one of Fu’s most dangerous agents, Karamaneh was sold as a slave to the Dr. as a child. She falls in love with Dr. Petrie and saves our heroes many times.) Gerald Mohr (The Adventures of Philip Marlowe) narrated and played several small roles.

Much of Fu Manchu seems less than politically correct, especially as China is becoming an important trading partner, and given the great contributions of Chinese-Americans. But the Fu Manchu stories are a product of their times.

In the end, The Shadow of Dr. Fu Manchu is diabolical fun in a grand criminal manner.

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Half of all the advertising revenue generated by daytime programming in the 30s and 40s came from programs created by Anne and Frank Hummert.

Anne’s father believed that it was a waste of money to educate a girl, so she finances her own education as a College Correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. After her graduation her journalistic career took her to Paris where she married John Ashenhurst, who would at one time be the youngest editor of a major US daily newspaper. When the couple returned to the US and settled in Chicago Anne was unable to find work in journalism, so she took a position as assistant to advertising executive Frank Hummert. Anne quickly rose through the ranks of the ad agency and was made a vice president, with a salary of nearly $100,000 at the age of 28. Together Frank and Anne would make their mark in the new genre being developed by pioneer Irna Phillips, the Soap Opera.

Their first success would be Just Plain Bill, the continuing story of a barber who marries well above his station. Other successes quickly followed, many of which had very long runs. Mary Noble,Backstage Wife told the story of a small town girl who moves to the big city, falls in love and marries a prominent actor who is “the matinee idol of a million other women.” Deceit, jealousy, avarice and amnesia all become part of Mary’s life as she is forced to compete with the jezebels and hussies that have designs on her husband. Beginning in 1933, Ma Perkins would have a run of 27 years. Ma lived in the small town of Rushville Center. There her family owned a small lumber yard, which supported Ma’s family, but was also the center of many deceits as relatives and towns people tried to take advantage of Ma’s simple kindness. Early in the drama Ma was combative and spiteful, but through the years she became a kind hearted sage and the conscience of the community.
After working with Frank for five years, Anne’s marriage ended in divorce about the time Frank’s wife passed away. In 1935 they were married, apparently happily for their many years together, although Frank was two decades her senior. After marrying the moved to New York and began Air Features Inc, which would become a kind of factory for radio drama. Anne would write the concepts for their many shows, then the ideas would be turned over to “dialoguers” who would fill out the scripts. Frank had a talent for finding and keeping happy clients for their shows. Anne maintained an incredible work load, outlining all of the plot developments for their various programs. Through the McCarthy years it was noted that Air Features Inc refused to fire good writers who had been blacklisted.

In addition to their Daytime Soap Operas, the Hummerts produced a number of musical programs and Crime/Mystery shows. At one point their output had 18 separate serials on the air, 90 episodes a week.

The Hummert shows include Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Judy and Jane, Little Orphan Annie, The American Album of Familiar Music, Young Widder Brown, Stella Dallas, Manhattan Merry Go Round, Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, Frontpage Farrell, Inspector Thorne, The Romance of Helen Trent, Hearthstone of the Death Squad, and The American Melody Hour.

The astute Chinese-American detective, Charlie Chan first hit the airwaves on the NBC Blue Network in 1932. Charlie Chan was the creation of Earl Derr Biggers, who based the Chan character on a real Chinese-American police detective in Honolulu. The composite character first appeared in his novel, “House without a Key,” in 1925. The popularity of a 1931 film adaption of Charlie Chan led to the development of a serial radio show that aired intermittently between 1932 and 1948. Every week, Chan captured the imagination of his listeners, as he used his wit and pseudo Confucianism to solve crimes from around the world.

Enjoy this episode titled “Case of the Marching Ants”:

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Today in 1936, the soap-opera serial Mary Noble, Backstage Wife made a move across the dial and switched networks (from the Mutual Broadcasting System to NBC.) The soap opera continued to air for the next 23 years.

Please enjoy this sample episode of the radio serial — in this episode #3916, Rupert Barlow is being blackmailed by Claudia Vincent after she shot at him twice!

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