Welcome to Down These Mean Streets, bringing you the best of detectives from the Golden Age of radio. Welcome back to down these mean streets. This week we'll hear from our first radio policeman. Up until now we've heard from

private eyes and amateur sloths, but our detective today carried a badge. He's Lieutenant

Danny Clover of Broadway is My Beat, one of the last great dramas of the Golden Age of Radio.

This legendary series had an inauspicious debut.

It premiered on CBS in September 1949 with actor

Anthony Ross starring as Clover, a former Shushine boy who grew up to patrol his old haunts of Broadway,

originating from New York, Broadway is My Beat ran for three months before CBS

moved the production to Hollywood. Once it moved west, the reins of the series were

turned over to writer, director, and actor Elliot Lewis. Lewis enjoyed success

on both sides of the microphone. He played Phil Harris's

side kick on the Phil Harris Alice Fay show and he directed several critically

acclaimed shows over CBS including suspense and crime classics.

Lewis set to work on retooling the series.

He sought to make the City of New York a character, and he used a team of three sound effects

artist to create the soundscape of the city.

Lewis explained his goal in an interview with radio life saying,

you should hear the city constantly.

Even the people in New York are noisy. Lewis

Tapped writers Morton Fine and David Friedkin to pen the scripts and they brought a

poetic quality to the inner monologue of Danny Clover, and they gave distinct voices and punchy dialogue to each of the suspects, civilians, and coworkers he encountered every week.

Stepping into the role of Clover was CBS announcer turned actor Larry Thor.

Thor's powerful voice was perfectly suited to the rich narration prepared for him,

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