Episode 187 - Edmond's Expenses (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2016
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Edmond O'Brien puts the "action" in the "action-packed expense account" of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. The Academy Award-winning actor starred as the freelance insurance investigator from 1950 until 1952. O'Brien's tough style – honed in film noir performances – brought a hard edge to Dollar, a character that had been decidedly lighter in the hands of Charles Russell. His run as Johnny Dollar has cemented Edmond O'Brien as a fan favorite of the many actors to play the gumshoe. We'll hear O'Brien as Dollar in "The Caligio Diamond Matter" (originally aired on CBS on June 8, 1950) and "The Calgary Matter" (originally aired on CBS on July 13, 1950).
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Welcome back to down these mean streets and more detectives and crime fighters from the |
| 0:28.5 | golden age of radio. Today we've got some itemizing to do two expense accounts submitted by America's fabulous freelance |
| 0:36.4 | insurance investigator Johnny Dollar. |
| 0:40.0 | In his 13 years on radio, Dollar was played by several actors, but one of the best is the man |
| 0:45.4 | will hear today. |
| 0:47.2 | Edmund O'Brien, who starred his Dollar from 1950 to 1952 in 103 episodes. |
| 0:55.0 | Old-time radio fans, this one included, |
| 0:58.0 | generally consider Bob Bailey to be the absolute best Johnny Dollar. |
| 1:02.0 | But for me, Edmund O'Brien is a close second. to be the absolute best Johnny Dollar. |
| 1:02.6 | But for me, Edmund O'Brien is a close second. |
| 1:05.6 | Not only that, but I think he was the best all-around actor |
| 1:08.8 | to ever play the part. |
| 1:10.7 | He was certainly the most accomplished, with a career that continued throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, |
| 1:17.4 | with an Academy Award win in 1954. |
| 1:21.0 | O'Brien succeeded Charles Russell, who starred his dollar for 33 shows in the program's first year. |
| 1:27.0 | The initial incarnation of Johnny Dollar was closer and tone to Richard Diamond or let George do it. |
| 1:34.0 | Dollar was a glib happy-go-lucky gumshoo, |
| 1:37.0 | with the habits of creatively patting his expense account |
| 1:41.0 | and tossing out $1 tips to every cab driver he met. |
| 1:45.0 | Not that there weren't some serious moments in the Charles Russell shows, |
| 1:49.0 | but the whole affair was pretty light-hearted. |
| 1:52.0 | Edmund O'Brien's runs Johnny Dollar came at a point. affair was pretty light-hearted. |
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