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Welcome to Down These Mean Streets, a weekly trip back to the Golden Age of Radio where we rub elbows with the era's greatest private eyes, cops, and crime-fighters. Since 2013, I've been podcasting everything from cozy mysteries to police procedurals, spotlighting characters ranging from hard boiled gumshoes to amateur sleuths. 

Be sure to tune in each Sunday for adventures of a radio detective and the behind-the-scenes stories of their shows. Join me as we spend time with Sam Spade, Johnny Dollar, Sgt. Joe Friday, and more!

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  2. "And the Oscar goes to..."

"And the Oscar goes to..."

Mar 30, 2017

Academy Award, one of the more prestigious Hollywood radio programs, premiered on March 30, 1946. The series presented recreations of films that had been nominated for or won - you guessed it - the Academy Award. Humphrey Bogart, Ginger Rogers, Gregory Peck, and Lana Turner were just some of the stars who appeared at the microphone to recreate their screen roles in Jezebel, Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, and more.

Ultimately, that Oscar-prestige helped to spell a premature end for the series, as the cost for licensing the mentions of the Academy Awards (combined with the big salaries for the Hollywood stars) proved prohibitive for a long run. The program came to an end after only 39 episodes, despite being a hit with audiences.

We've heard a few big screen adaptations from Academy Award on the podcast: "The Maltese Falcon," featuring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet recreating their roles in Dashiell Hammett's detective drama; and a pair from Alfred Hitchcock - "Shadow of a Doubt" with Joseph Cotten in his screen role as "Uncle Charlie" and "Foreign Correspondent," with Cotten filling in for Joel McCrea as an American reporter who uncovers a deadly conspiracy in Europe.