Episode 172 - More, More, Mohr (Nero Wolfe, The Whistler, & Philip Marlowe)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Tv & Film

4.5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2016

⏱️ 97 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With his powerful voice, Gerald Mohr was equally effective as both hero and heel on radio. Listeners may know him best as Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled shamus Philip Marlowe, but Mohr logged nearly five hundred performances during the Golden Age of Radio playing everything from slapstick comedy to high adventure. We'll hear him as Archie Goodwin – opposite Sydney Greenstreet's Nero Wolfe – in "The Case of the Phantom Fingers" (originally aired on NBC on January 26, 1951). Then, Mohr is a mob boss with a secret in "Caesar's Wife" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on June 2, 1947). Finally, Mohr is Marlowe in "The Grim Hunters" (originally aired on CBS on March 12, 1949).

Transcript

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0:00.0	The When it started the tide was high on the San Pedro waterfront and a hot-tempered
0:26.8	kid had murder on his mind but there was a knife at my throat of beating under
0:31.0	the piers and a corpse on the beach before the tide went out again the That's how I first encountered Gerald Moore, his voice kicking in the door to my ears without fanfare, without introduction.
0:54.0	A voice that didn't need an announcer to herald its arrival.
0:58.0	Yet a terse tough style that was both commanding and captivating.
1:04.2	One of radio's busiest and best actors, Gerald Moore left lasting impressions during his all-too-short
1:10.9	career.
1:11.9	Born June 11, 1914, Moore came to broadcasting by way of a sick bed.
1:18.0	His voice was heard during a hospital stay, and it was suggested that he pursue a career in radio. From there he moved into announcing
1:26.2	and acting with films not far off. Though he turned in performances in dozens of movies and TV shows, radio was always the greatest
1:35.6	showcase for his talents.
1:39.1	With his booming voice he could be
1:43.3	play a fearless hero or a conniving villain. The swagger of a dashing detective could be tweaked ever so slightly
1:48.0	to become the sneer of a mustache twirling
1:50.8	evil-doer.
1:51.8	About the only thing he couldn't play convincingly was a regular
1:55.2	guy. That voice was way too powerful to come out of an average Joe. More made several dozen appearances on the Whistler, usually as the criminal attempting to conceive and execute the perfect crime.
2:09.0	He also popped up his villains on Rogue's Gallery and Box box 13 and he had a recurring role on our Miss Brooks
2:16.6	where he tapped into his comedic side to play the love-struck French teacher Jacques Monet
2:22.4	Miss Books I'm French teacher Jacques Monet.
2:23.0	Miss Books, I've been shante.
2:26.0	That is, I've heard so much about you, but it is, how do you say, understatement.
	...

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