Episode 658 - Statues for the Sleuths: Frank Sinatra (Rocky Fortune)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2026
⏱️ 108 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In honor of the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, we're spotlighting a series of radio detective show stars who took home Oscars for their film work. First up is Frank Sinatra, who's best known for his singing but who showed off his dramatic chops in From Here to Eternity and took home the prize. We'll hear him as Rocky Fortune in four episodes of his short-lived radio mystery series: "Double Identity" (originally aired on NBC on October 13, 1953); "A Hepcat Killed the Canary" (originally aired on NBC on November 17, 1953); "Murder Among the Statues" (originally aired on NBC on December 1, 1953); and "Boarding House Doublecross" (originally aired on NBC on March 30, 1954).
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 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. |
| 1:02.1 | ... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hello and welcome to Down These Mean Streets and more old-time radio detectives and crime solvers. |
| 1:13.6 | In just a few weeks, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hand out Oscars to the best films, actors, and craftspeople of the year in movies. |
| 1:15.6 | To celebrate all this month, we're shining a spotlight on radio detective stars who took |
| 1:22.6 | home Oscars for their big screen work. |
| 1:25.6 | And today we're kicking off with a man who's better known for his |
| 1:29.7 | singing than his acting, but who was no slouch in the dramatic department. It's Frank Sinatra, |
| 1:36.6 | old blue eyes himself, who had a single-season stint as a sleuth on radio as Rocky Fortune. |
| 1:45.1 | The show was created for Sinatra by writer George Lefferts, who wrote most of the episodes |
| 1:51.0 | along with Ernest Kanoi. Those two men were also heavily involved with scripts for the NBC |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jack Mooney, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jack Mooney and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.