The Welcome back to down these mean streets where today our old time radio

detective is Christopher London, a globe trotting private eye created for radio by

a best-selling author and played by one of

Hollywood's biggest stars. The author was Earl Stanley Gardner and the star was

Glenn Ford. Gardner is most famous as the creator of Perry Mason and he wrote over 80 novels

starring the defense attorney. Though he had no involvement in the series itself,

Gardner created the character of Christopher London, a freelance detective who traveled the world on all manner of cases for all manner of clients.

Of the detectives we've heard on the podcast, he's closest in spirit to Dan Holiday of Box 13.

During his travels, London had embraced Eastern philosophy and religion.

This Westerner with oriental influences is reminiscent of the

shadow, though London had no similar supernatural powers. Also in his travels London

picked up a valet, Assang played in the series by Charlie Long.

In the surviving shows from the run, London takes cases in both the US and Europe mixing international intrigue with his detecting.

Glenn Ford's star was on the rise when he starred in the series in 1950.

Following his would continue to flourish throughout the 1950s and 1960s with performances in Blackboard Jungle,

the Big Heat, and the original 310 to Yuma.

Ford may be best known to some generations of movie fans as Jonathan Kent and Richard Donner's Superman.

Landing a popular film star like Ford was a boon to NBC,

though his increased demand in Hollywood meant a short run for the series.

After 19 shows, Christopher London left the air.

Today, only three shows from the runs survive, but they boast a dynamic lead performance by Ford and he's backed up by the stable of West Coast radio players we've heard so often on the podcast.

A bit more about Earl Stanley Gardner. In addition to Christopher London, he also created the courtroom radio drama, A Life in Your

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