Sep 7, 2025
Sometimes it’s good to be bad, or at least it’s good to hear it when radio detective stars switch sides and play some pretty dastardly villains. We’ll hear four of our favorite on-air heroes star as crooks for a change in episodes of radio’s great thriller anthologies. Howard Duff (Sam Spade) plans his wealthy aunt’s murder in “Backlash” (originally aired on CBS on April 21, 1947); Jeff Chandler (Michael Shayne) is a gangster on the run who coerces a doctor into assisting with his getaway in “Confession” (originally aired on CBS on August 21, 1949); and Gerald Mohr (Philip Marlowe) is a murderer who takes up blackmail in “Warm Reception” (originally aired on CBS on November 19, 1950) - all episodes of The Whistler. Then, Dick Powell (Richard Diamond) is a boxer who seeks deadly revenge against a rival in the ring in “Slow Burn” from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on February 23, 1950).