Nov 15, 2023
In this bonus show, I'm sharing my five favorite episodes of Frank Sinatra trading crooning for crimesolving in Rocky Fortune. Ol' Blue Eyes starred in this short-lived series as a "footloose and fancy-free young gentleman" bouncing from job to job and finding mystery and murder wherever he landed. We'll hear Mr. Fortune as a cruise ship steward in "The Shipboard Jewel Robbery" (originally aired on NBC on October 20, 1953) and as the minder for a drunk theatre critic in "Murder on the Aisle" (originally aired on NBC on November 24, 1953). He tries not to get lassoed for a crime he didn't commit in "The Rodeo Murder" (originally aired on NBC on January 12, 1954) and he finds a fresh body in a sarcophagus in "The Museum Murder" (originally aired on NBC on January 19, 1954). Finally, Rocky is behind the wheel of a truck hauling nitro in "Hollywood or Boom" (originally aired on NBC on January 26, 1954).