Guess who just turned 110 years old? That’s right – Dick Powell, as anyone tuned to Turner Classics on Friday would know. To celebrate, THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO will feature his transition from crooner to tough guy this Saturday morning Nov 15 at 11 am on yesterdayusa. But first, our serials! From 1939, we have two more chapters of our new serial from the Mutual Network revival of BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY. The dimwitted Black Barney and his young sidekick Willie test out the Gyrocosmic Relativator, but are waylaid by space villains Killer Kane and Ardala. And then there’s this device called the Psychic Restriction Ray – let’s see what this does… Next, from the early 1970s, we hear chapters 4 and 5 of “A Case of Interrogation” from the South African serial adaptation of the Brit TV series THE AVENGERS. Who’s spilling the beans? Mrs. Peel rescues a balloon seller who is also an operative, but is taken captive while Mother frets. Dick Powell was a Hollywood song-and-dance man, starring in such classics in the 1930s as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Dames, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell. But as he got older he wanted to branch out, and felt he could no longer play the romantic leading man. In 1944 he lost out to Fred MacMurray for the lead in Double Indemnity, but later that year was cast as Philip Marlowe in “Murder, My Sweet” and successfully changed his image. We’ll hear an adaptation of this film on HOLLYWOOD STAR TIME from June 08, 1946. Why did they wait so long to adapt this, I wonder? (actually LUX RADIO THEATER covered a year previous). By 1945 Powell was already starring on Mutual radio as Detective Richard Rogue on ROGUE’S GALLERY, which served as a training ground for his better-known series RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE that followed in 949. From Nov 29, 1945 #24 “The Lovely Little Old Lady” in which Rogue is invited to tea while on a case to retrieve love letters. Along with the earthly characters, Rogue gets a visit nearly every week from his alter ego Eugor, usually after a bop on the head, so be prepared for it.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 03:31:12 +0000
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