Showing results by author "Black Eye Entertainment" in All Categories

Groucho Marx is your quizmaster and host to one of the funniest and most popular quiz shows from radio and television, You Bet Your Life! Enjoy 16 fun-filled comedy episodes from the long-running radio series! Contestant teams usually consisted of one male and one female, mostly selected from the studio audience. Groucho would engage in humorous conversations with the contestants and if they said the “secret word”, a toy duck resembling Groucho - with eyeglasses and a mustache - descended from the ceiling to bring a $100 prize. After the conversations, the actual game began.

In 1952, radio program creator Lawrence Klee brought The Chase to NBC radio. Developed as a psychological drama, the premise was that many life situations place their subjects in a chase of one type or another. A chase for fame. A chase from peril. A chase to beat the clock. A chase to escape death. The added twist was the question of, who is the hunter or the hunted in these situations? The scripts were fast-paced, starring top New York talent. The plots focused primarily on fear-inducing pursuits of one form or another.

The Lux Radio Theatre was one of the most prestigious and longest running shows from Radio’s Golden Age. It featured the greatest stars in Hollywood appearing in hour-long radio adaptations of their biggest motion pictures. Cecil B. DeMille was the host (from 1936-1945) for a lavish production of what was to become a veritable checklist of many of Hollywood’s best films from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. The stars of the movie usually appeared in their audio counterparts, although sometimes contracts or schedules meant that another actor took the part.

On March 19, 1928, Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll 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 15-minute, Monday-through-Friday adventures of Amos ‘n’ Andy. Department stores piped in the broadcasts so shoppers wouldn’t miss an episode, and movie theaters scheduled their features to end just prior to the start of Amos ‘n’ Andy so they too could pipe it in.

Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll made their radio debut 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 15-minute, Monday through Friday adventures of Amos 'n' Andy. Department stores open in the evening piped in the broadcasts, so shoppers wouldn't miss an episode.

This collection contains 12 of the greatest science-fiction shows ever broadcast during the Golden Age of Radio - including episodes of X Minus One, Suspense, The Lux Radio Theatre, Escape, Murder At Midnight, Dimension X, and many others. You’ll be entertained by master sci-fi writers: H. G. Wells, Frederic Brown, Henry Bates, Arch Oboler, H. Beam Piper and Robert Newman. Relive 12 of the best radio sci-fi shows from yesterday and the legendary stars that made them amazing in this incredible collection.

Night Beat followed Randy Stone, a hard-nosed Chicago Star newsman and his quest for the human-interest story behind the headlines. Hollywood actor Frank Lovejoy voiced the role of Randy Stone, who brought the character to vivid life thanks to expert scripts written by Russell Hughes, E. Jack Neumann, John Michael Hayes (who would later write the Hitchcock film classics "To Catch a Thief" and "Rear Window"), and Larry Marcus.

The golden age of radio had incredible western shows that kept Americans glued to their radio sets. Families gathered around their living room radios to hear western heroes catch the bad-guys and save ladies in distress. This collection includes John Wayne and Mel Ferrer starring in a radio adaptation of the John Ford film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” on The Lux Radio Theatre; William Conrad as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke; Joel McCrea in a true-crime story on Tales of the Texas Rangers and Curley Bradley starring in two episodes of Tom Mix.

Michael Shayne, “the reckless, red-headed Irishman” was a popular hard-boiled detective created by crime novelist Brett Halliday. Mike settled in Miami just after WWII, making crime pay by fighting it with a license and an attitude. Like Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, Shayne was a loner. The back-story on Mike is that he was happily married, but suddenly his wife is tragically murdered, which hit him hard. Grief-stricken, Shayne loses himself in his work as a private eye, prowling the dark streets of Miami seeking out his style of revenge on injustice.

The golden age of radio had incredible spine-chilling mystery shows that kept Americans glued to their radio sets. In this collection of 16 episodes, you’ll hear Lights Out! with Arch Oboler; three episodes of Suspense starring Agnes Moorehead, Howard Duff, and Paul Henreid; The Black Museum starring Orson Welles; The Mysterious Traveler starring Maurice Tarplin; Quiet Please starring Ernest Chappell; two episodes of Escape starring William Conrad and John Dehner; and many more!

Created by S.S. Van Dine, Philo Vance was quite popular in books, movies, and on radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, very intelligent, and cultured private detective - an Americanized Sherlock Holmes - working out of New York. Not that Vance needed any help solving a crime, he did work closely with his secretary and right-hand woman Ellen Deering and his pal John Markham, New York County District Attorney. First heard for a brief time on NBC radio in 1945-46, it enjoyed success in syndication beginning in 1948 starring Jackson Beck.

America’s Favorite Cowboy, Roy Rogers, stars in 16 rip-roaring Western radio adventures from the early 1950s.

As Lucy Ricardo, Lucille Ball brought a tomboy’s enthusiasm and a scatterbrained quality to the long-running I Love Lucy (1951-61) television program. She was the wacky wife making life difficult for her loving but perpetually irritated husband, Ricky Ricardo (played by Ball’s real-life husband, Desi Arnaz). Long before I Love Lucy, Ball worked her way up Hollywood’s ladder with appearances in films and in many radio shows, including dramatic roles where she could really show her acting chops.

From the pens of the world’s best-known and respected supernatural fiction authors comes The Weird Circle - tales of mystery, suspense, horror, and the macabre! Now, enjoy sixteen of the greatest mysteries of all time! The Weird Circle was an anthology of classic thrillers from the pens of the world’s best-known and respected fiction authors of the 19th century. The focus was horror and suspense stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Mary Shelley (among others), with the occasional drama by Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot.

Initially launched as Barrie Crane, Confidential Investigator on NBC in 1951, the series soon made a name change to Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. It starred movie and film veteran William Gargan as hard-boiled New York-based private eye Barry Craig. Gargan had been playing Martin Kane, Private Detective on both radio and TV. In the summer of 1951, Gargan cleared the decks for his role as Barrie Craig. Gruff, blunt and sardonic but with a good sense of humor, Gargan was perfect for the genre and in the role of Barrie Craig.

Detective series Let George Do It came to radio in 1946. It starred Bob Bailey as ex-GI and detective-for-hire George Valentine. Clients came to Valentine’s office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad: Personal notice: Danger’s my stock in trade. If the job’s too tough for you to handle, you’ve got a job for me. George Valentine.

When real life husband and wife George Burns and Gracie Allen worked together in vaudeville, George was the comic and his wife Gracie had the straight lines. They switched their roles upon discovering that Gracie's delivery got a bigger laugh than George's punch lines. The duo became a big hit on Vaudeville and in films so when radio beckoned, they delivered. Their first regular radio work was as supporting players on CBS's The Guy Lombardo Show in the 1930s.

For over half a century, Jack Benny was one of the great comics of stage, screen, radio, and television. On his long-running radio and television programs, Benny was depicted as a miser who hoarded every penny he made. Year after year he denied he was older than 39 while honing his persona of a vain and devious penny-pincher in stark contrast to the warm and generous human being he was in real life. Benny knew he could be funny by following one simple rule: let others deliver the punch lines.

Created by author Jack Boyle, Boston Blackie was a reformed jewel thief and safecracker, constantly suspected of crimes he did not commit and forced to play the role of detective to clear his name. His girlfriend, Mary Wesley, assisted Blackie from time to time, as did his pal Shorty. Forced to defend himself against the accusations of New York Police Inspector Faraday, Blackie always managed to stay one step ahead of the cops in solving a crime.

Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve was a popular character appearing regularly on The Fibber McGee & Molly Show. On August 31, 1941, the character landed his own situation comedy show, The Great Gildersleeve, becoming radio’s first spin-off. Harold Peary stars as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Summerfield’s loveable water commissioner and most eligible bachelor, in these 16 fun-filled comedy episodes.