Audiobooks by A Hollywood 360 Collection

The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective, Vol. 1

Dashiell Hammett created the character Sam Spade for his crime story The Maltese Falcon. Spade was a hard-boiled detective with cold detachment, a keen eye for detail, and an unflinching determination to exact his own justice. For most people, Spade is most closely associated with actor Humphrey Bogart, who played him in the third and most famous film version of The Maltese Falcon. In 1946 one of radio’s top producers, William Spier, brought Sam Spade to the airwaves in a radio show starring newcomer Howard Duff, who took a considerably more tongue-in-cheek approach to the character. Duff remained Spade until 1951. Dashiell Hammett lent his name to the new series, and Lurene Tuttle (and occasionally Sandra Gould) played Spade’s secretary, Effie Perrine. In 1947 the program won scriptwriters Jason James and Bob Tallman an Edgar Award for Best Radio Drama from the Mystery Writers of America.

A Hollywood 360 Collection (Author), Full Cast, Full Cast, Howard Duff (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Cinnamon Bear: The Complete Series

The Cinnamon Bear is arguably the best holiday series ever developed for radio. First heard in 1937, this wonderful Christmas fantasy adventure was created and written by Glanville Heisch for children of all ages. It all starts with twins Judy and Jimmy Barton just before Christmas. Someone—or something—has taken the “Silver Star” for the top of their Christmas tree. The very Irish teddy bear, Paddy O’Cinnamon, comes to their rescue and tells them that the Crazy Quilt Dragon has taken the star to Maybeland. The three venture off to find the Silver Star and come face-to-face with many fantastical characters in Maybeland, including a dragon, a giant, a witch, a whale, a queen, a rhyming rabbit, a magician, cowboys, Indians, and even pirates. The adventure concludes with a trip to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus himself! Many well-known radio actors lent their voices to this popular series, including Howard McNear, Gale Gordon, Verna Felton, Frank Nelson, Elliott Lewis, Lou Merrill, and Joseph Kearns. Judy Barton was played by Barbara Jean Wong, Jimmy Barton by Tommy Carr, and Paddy O’Cinnamon by Buddy Duncan. Now, in collaboration with the Heisch estate, we bring you all twenty-six episodes of The Cinnamon Bear, recorded directly from the original masters for superb sound quality.

A Hollywood 360 Collection (Author), Buddy Duncan, Various Performers (Narrator)

Audiobook

Boston Blackie, Volume 1

Created by author Jack Boyle, Boston Blackie was a master safecracker and hardened criminal who served time in a California prison. Rehabilitated, he decided to use his knowledge of the underworld to fight crime as an amateur detective. Known as “an enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend,” Boston Blackie’s exploits were adapted to film, radio, and television. Chester Morris, who had played Boston Blackie in a series of B movies for Columbia, originated the character on radio in 1944. By 1945 Richard Kollmar had taken over the title role in a radio series syndicated by Frederic W. Ziv. Over two hundred radio episodes were produced between 1944 and 1950. While investigating the cases, Blackie would invariably encounter harebrained Police Inspector Faraday (Maurice Tarplin) and always solve the crime before Faraday could. The initial friction between Blackie and Faraday gave way as the series continued and Faraday came to recognize Blackie’s talents, occasionally even requesting his assistance. Blackie dated Mary Wesley (Jan Miner), and for the first half of the series, his best pal Shorty (Tony Barrett) was on hand. Boston Blackie transitioned to television in 1951.

A Hollywood 360 Collection, Hollywood 360 (Author), Jan Miner, Maurice Tarplin, Richard Kollmar (Narrator)

Audiobook

Gunsmoke, Vol. 1

“Around Dodge City and in the territory out West, there’s just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that’s with a US marshal and the smell of … Gunsmoke!” Radio Westerns were strictly for kids until 1952, when Gunsmoke hit the radio airwaves. The stories were grim, the deaths brutal, and life on the plains was harsh. Radio audiences had never heard anything like Gunsmoke, and they made it the number one Western on the radio. It soon made a successful transition to television, becoming the longest-running dramatic series in television history. Join William Conrad (Marshal Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Deputy Chester Proudfoot), Georgia Ellis (Kitty Russell), and Howard McNear (Doc Adams) in the continuing “story of the violence that moved west with young America and the story of a man who moved with it,” Matt Dillon, United States marshal.

A Hollywood 360 Collection (Author), A Full Cast, William Conrad (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Amos ’n’ Andy Show, Vol. 1

Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll made their radio debut on January 12, 1926, as the comedic blackface characters Sam ’n’ Henry. On March 19, 1928, they introduced Amos ’n’ Andy, which went on to become one of the most popular and longest-running programs in radio history. During the height of its popularity, almost the entire country listened to the fifteen-minute, Monday-through-Friday adventures of Amos and Andy. Department stores open in the evening piped in the broadcasts so shoppers wouldn’t miss an episode; movie theaters scheduled their features to end just prior to the start of Amos ’n’ Andy so they too could pipe it in. The characters were members of the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge, of which George Stevens was “the Kingfish.” Amos and Andy ran the Fresh-Air Taxi Company, with the more stable, married Amos doing most of the work while Andy chased girls. One of the best-remembered sequences was the time Andy almost married Madame Queen. In 1943, after 4,091 quarter-hour episodes, it switched to a half-hour weekly comedy. While the five-a-week show often had a quiet, easygoing feeling, the new version was a brassy Hollywood-style production, complete with studio audience, full cast of supporting actors, and full orchestra. Many of the half-hour programs were written by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, later the writing team for Leave It to Beaver and The Munsters. In the new version, Amos became a minor character to the more dominant Andy and Kingfish duo. The new Amos ’n’ Andy Show endured for the next twelve years as one of the most popular weekly programs on radio.

A Hollywood 360 Collection, Hollywood 360 (Author), Charles Correll, Freeman Gosden (Narrator)

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Have Gun—Will Travel, Volume 1

Have Gun—Will Travel follows the adventures of Paladin, a soldier of fortune turned hired gunfighter, played by John Dehner. Paladin prefers to settle problems without violence, yet when forced to fight, he excels. He lives at the swanky Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dresses in formal wear, eats gourmet food, attends the opera, and enjoys the company of beautiful women. When working as a gun-for-hire, he dresses in all black, uses calling cards, and wears a holster decorated with a chess knight emblem. This symbol refers to his name and his occupation as a champion-for-hire. One of radio’s best-loved Westerns, Have Gun—Will Travel aired on the radio from 1958 until 1960 and was a successful offshoot of the highly rated television show.

A Hollywood 360 Collection (Author), A Full Cast, John Dehner (Narrator)

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Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Volume 1

First heard on network radio in 1948, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar chronicled the adventures of freelance insurance investigator Johnny Dollar, “the man with the action-packed expense account.” For fourteen years it was one of the most popular detective shows on the air, lasting until the final days of network radio drama in 1962. Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive calling on Johnny Dollar to investigate an unusual claim. His investigations usually required him to travel to distant locales and often involved murder. The stories were recounted in flashback, as Dollar listed each line item from his expense account: “Item one, $3.75 cab fare to the airport.” Over the years, many actors portrayed Johnny Dollar, including Charles Russell, John Lund, and Edmund O’Brien. But in 1955 Bob Bailey took over as the series was switching to a new dynamic format of seventy-five-minute storylines told in five fifteen-minute installments, Monday through Friday. While other radio shows were waning in the mid-1950s, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was at its peak. Experts place these adventures in with the best of the best of radio’s golden age.

A Hollywood 360 Collection, CBS Radio (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast, Bob Bailey (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Whistler, Volume 1

The Whistler was one of radio’s top mystery programs airing from May 16, 1942 until September 22, 1955. The Whistler was an ominous narrator who opened each episode with, “I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak.” The opening dialog was heard over the echo of footsteps and Wilbur Hatch’s haunting signature thirteen-note theme, whistled each week by Dorothy Roberts. The stories followed an effective formula in which a person’s criminal acts were typically undone by their own missteps. The Whistler narrated, often commenting directly on the action in the manner of a Greek chorus, taunting the criminal from an omniscient perspective. One of the show’s trademarks was the ironic twist endings that helped serve as a payoff for the listener. Bill Forman had the title role of host and narrator the longest. Others who portrayed the Whistler included Gale Gordon, Lucille Ball’s future television costar; Joseph Kearns, Mr. Wilson on the television series Dennis the Menace; Marvin Miller, soon to be television’s Michael Anthony on The Millionaire; Bill Johnstone, the Shadow on radio from 1938–1943; and Everett Clarke.

A Hollywood 360 Collection, CBS Radio, Hollywood 360 (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Volume 1

Raymond Chandler’s celebrated hard-boiled private eye, Philip Marlowe, made his radio debut in 1945 on the Lux Radio Theatre with “Murder My Sweet,” starring Dick Powell. Two years later, NBC brought the character to the air in his own weekly series starring Van Heflin, The New Adventures of Philip Marlowe. A summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show, the series was short-lived, ending September 9, 1947. CBS revived it in 1948 with The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, starring Gerald Mohr. With producer/director Norman MacDonnell at the helm, the series captured the largest audience in radio by 1949. Scripts were by Gene Levitt, Robert Mitchell, Mel Dinelli, and Kathleen Hite. While Chandler’s distinctive similes were largely lacking, the strong, dry, sarcastic narration was there, and the way Mohr delivered his lines made you forget they weren’t written by Chandler. Supporting Mohr were radio’s best, including Howard McNear, Parley Baer, Lawrence Dobkin, Virginia Gregg, and Lou Krugman. One of the best detective shows on the air at the time, it lasted until 1951.

A Hollywood 360 Collection, CBS Radio, Hollywood 360 (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast, Gerald Mohr (Narrator)

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Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mysteries debuted over NBC’s Blue Network in January 1941. It featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned, and the famous “creaking door” slowly began to open. Every week, Inner Sanctum Mysteries told stories of ghosts, murderers, and lunatics. Produced in New York, the cast usually consisted of veteran radio actors, with occasional guest appearances by such Hollywood stars Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains. What made Inner Sanctum Mysteries unique among radio horror shows was its host, a slightly sinister sounding fellow originally known as “Raymond.” The host had a droll sense of humor and an appetite for ghoulish puns, and his influence can be seen among horror hosts everywhere, from the Crypt-Keeper to Elvira. Raymond Edward Johnson was the show’s host until 1945; Paul McGrath took over as host until the show left the air in 1952. Episodes include: “The Voice on the Wire” starring Lesley Woods, originally aired November 29, 1944 “Desert Death” starring Horace Braham, originally aired January 9, 1945 “Death Is an Artist” starring Lee Bowman, originally aired January 23, 1945 “Death in the Depths” starring Santos Ortega, originally aired February 6, 1945 “No Coffin for the Dead” starring Les Tremayne, originally aired February 20, 1945 “The Bog Oak Necklace” starring Miriam Hopkins, originally aired April 10, 1945 “The Black Art” starring Simone Simone, originally aired May 15, 1945 “Dead to Rights” starring Elspeth Eric, originally aired May 22, 1945 “Death across the Board” starring Raymond Massey, originally aired June 5, 1945 “Portrait of Death” starring Lesley Woods, originally aired June 12, 1945 “Dead Man’s Deal” starring Larry Haines, originally aired August 28, 1945 “The Murder Prophet” starring Wendy Barrie, originally aired September 4, 1945

A Hollywood 360 Collection, CBS Radio, Hollywood 360 (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast (Narrator)

Audiobook

Suspense, Volume 1

A thrilling collection of episodes from the classic radio show Suspense Conceived as a potential radio vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock to direct, Suspense was a radio series of epic proportion. It aired on CBS from 1942 to 1962 and is considered by many to be the best mystery series of the golden age. Often referred to as “Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills,” the show focused on suspenseful thrillers starring the biggest names in Hollywood. Early in the run, the episodes were hosted by the “Man in Black” who, from an omniscient perch, narrated stories of people thrown into dangerous or bizarre situations with plots that, at the very end, usually had an unseen twist or two. Hollywood’s finest actors jumped at the chance to appear on Suspense, including Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Alan Ladd, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Orson Welles. Scripts were by John Dickson Carr, Lucille Fletcher, James Poe, Ray Bradbury, and many others. Episodes include: “The Cave of Ali Baba,” “The Hitchhiker,” “The Kettler Method,” “A Passage to Benares,” “One Hundred in the Dark,” “The Lord of the Witch Doctors,” “Will You Make a Bet with Death?,” “Menace in Wax,” “The Body Snatchers,” “The Doctor Prescribed Death,” “In Fear and Trembling,” and “Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble.”

A Hollywood 360 Collection, CBS Radio, Hollywood 360 (Author), A Full Cast, A Full Cast (Narrator)

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