Friday's Favorite OTR

 Crime Classics: "The Final Day of General Ketchum" 7/27/53

In 1871, General William Ketchum falls ill and needs medicine.  He would have been better off, though, if his landlady--in charge of giving him that medicine--wasn't likely to be a serial killer who likes to use poison.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: "The Shrapnelled Body of Charles Drew, Sr." 7/6/53

A young man murders his father before Dad can change the will and cut the son off from any inheritance. Coming up with a good alibi afterwards, though, proves problematical.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Friday's Favorite OTR

You Are There: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" 7/7/47
Crime Classics: "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" 12/9/53


The Civil War on Old-Time Radio (Parts 12 & 13 of 17)

The war was finally over, but the killing was not yet done. On April 14, 1865, a fanatical Southern actor named John Wilkes Booth would perform one last act of vengeance for the fallen Confederacy. Old Time Radio gives us two excellent perspectives on this event. One is a "news" report that abruptly switches from a fluffy story about Lincoln attending a play to a frantic account of an unfolding tragedy. The other is told from the point-of-view of Lincoln’s incompetent and alcoholic bodyguard.

These are the 12th and 13th of 17 episodes from various series that will take us through the Civil War and its immediate post-war legacy. I'll be posting another Civil War episode every three or four weeks.


Click HERE to listen or download You Are There.
Click HERE to listen or download Crime Classics.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: "Roger Nems: How He, Though Dead, Won the Game." 3/3/54

If Roger Nems dies without getting married, his cousin will inherit everything. Roger Nems is planning on getting married. This makes the game of croquet he plays with his cousin particularly dangerous.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: "The Alsop Family--How it Diminished and Grew Again" 8/24/53

A highwayman in 17th Century England allows his younger son to marry--but he's forbidden to ever tell her how the family earns its living. But the new bride soon proves to be both curious and persistent.



You can listen or download to this episode HERE.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: “Blackbeard’s Fourteenth Wife” (November 11, 1953)


Crime Classics is a unique show—an anthology that purports to dramatize some of the most memorable crimes in history. In reality, it didn’t worry all that much about historical accuracy—it just told stories really, really well.


Created and directed by Elliot Lewis, the show expertly weaved droll, informal narration together with the sound effects and actors’ dialogue, giving it a unique ambiance. In “Blackbeard’s Fourteenth Wife,” this makes for a fun half-hour as we learn why the famous pirate’s latest wife was bad for him.


Blackbeard is played by William Conrad, who really seems to be enjoying the role. In fact, everyone involved seems to be having fun, which is probably why the episode is so enjoyable. It manages to infuse a bloody and violent story with droll humor, but never comes across as mean-spirited or tasteless. Crime Classics isn’t one of old-time radio’s best-known shows, but it probably oughta be.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: "The Axe and the Droot Family: How They Fared" 8/10/53


A woman inherits a small amount from her father--she won't get the big bucks unless her two brothers happen to pass away. So she and her husband try to arrange for the brothers to pass away sooner rather than later.


The dialogue in this episode is really fun to listen to. The tale is set in the Dutch region of Pennsylvania in the 1790s and the rhythm and grammer of the various characters catch the time and place perfectly.


Like most Crime Classics episodes, there's a dark, dry humor running through the story, most of it provided by the narrator. There's also a hilarous sequence in which several unsuccessful attempts are made to do in the younger of the two brothers. He keeps surviving through sheer dumb luck while remaining completely oblivious to the fact that someone is trying to kill him.


It's too bad Crime Classics had such a short run--it had a wonderful grasp of the elasticity and variety of the English language--reflected in the dialogue and narration--that made it one of the best efforts of 1950s radio. And considering the number of quality shows that ran during the 1950s, that's really saying something.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Crime Classics: “The General’s Daughter, the Czar’s Lieutenant, and the Linen Closet: A Russian Tragedy” 4/7/1954



Crime Classics is at its best when it manages to smoothly meld tragedy and the worst of human nature together with a wry sense of humor. This episode—-so soaked in tragedy and irony that it couldn’t have been set anywhere but Russia--manages to do this perfectly


The story is about a young army lieutenant who falls in love with the general’s daughter. When the general refuses to agree to their marriage, they continue to see each other on the sly. But when a servant spills some soup on the young lady’s dress one night, it sets off a chain of events that leads to at least three deaths.


There’s a bizarre plot twist about halfway through the episode that I, at least, did not see coming.



Great production values and Lou Merrill’s usual superb job of narration help make this one of Crime Classics’ best episodes.


Click HERE to listen or download this episode.