Episode 655 - Couples in the Cast (Richard Diamond, Suspense, The Line-Up, & Night Beat)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Tv & Film, Arts, Performing Arts

4.5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2026

⏱️ 128 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and our old time radio mysteries this week all feature real-life husbands and wives at the microphone or behind the scenes. First, June Allyson - aka Mrs. Dick Powell - plays Richard Diamond's latest client (originally aired on NBC on June 21, 1950). Then, Cathy and Elliott Lewis star as a less than happily married couple in "Love, Honor, or Murder" from Suspense (originally aired on CBS on June 29, 1950). Our third show features a couple that worked on and off mic - actress Virginia Gregg and director Jaime del Valle in "The Lapinish Lighter-Upper Case" from The Line-Up (originally aired on CBS on March 27, 1951). And finally, Joan Banks pays a visit to Night Beat alongside her husband Frank Lovejoy in an episode that originally aired on NBC on September 4, 1952.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get this and get it straight.
0:02.1	Crime is a sucker's road.
0:03.9	And those who travel
0:04.6	it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.
0:12.3	The story you were about to hear is true.
0:15.2	Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
0:18.6	The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective.
0:21.7	The Adventures of the Saint,
0:23.4	starring Vincent Price.
0:25.5	Bob Bailey, in the exciting adventures
0:27.7	of the man with the action-packed expense account.
0:30.6	America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator...
0:33.4	Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
1:05.1	... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hello. Hello and welcome to Down These Mean Streets with more old-time radio detectives and crime solvers.
1:15.3	This coming Saturday is February 14th, Valentine's Day. And since love is in the air, today our show consists of four old-time radio mysteries, each featuring a real-life couple. First up, we
1:23.4	have June Allison and Dick Powell in a tongue-in-cheek missing person mystery from Richard
1:29.9	Diamond Private Detective. This one originally aired on NBC on June 21st, 1950, and June Allison
1:37.8	plays a woman who hires Richard Diamond, played by her real-life husband, Dick Powell, to find the missing husband of her
1:46.3	character. Next, we'll hear two legends of radio, Kathy and Elliot Lewis. Kathy Lewis was one of
1:54.7	radio's best actresses. She co-starred on the sitcom My Friend Irma. she played secretary Phyllis Knight on the Adventures of Michael Shane, and she turned in supporting performances on everything from Sam Spade to the Whistler to Broadway as My Beat. And her husband, Elliot, was no slouch in the acting department himself. He played amateur detective Gregory Hood, and he was sidekick to Phil Harris on the Phil Harris Alice Faye show.
2:24.3	But Elliot Lewis may be best remembered today for his work as a radio director on shows like suspense,
2:31.3	Broadway is My Beat, and crime classics.
	...

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