Episode 76 - Saintly Sherlock (Sherlock Holmes & The Saint)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Tv & Film

4.5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2014

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Russian-born British actor Tom Conway thrilled audiences on screen as The Falcon, and his crime-solving career extended to radio as star of two popular radio detective series. In this episode, we'll hear him take center stage as Sherlock Holmes (with Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson) in "The Strange Death of Mrs. Abernetty" (originally aired on ABC on November 30, 1946) and as The Saint in "Satan's Angels" (originally aired on July 8, 1951).

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Few actors captured the character and spirit of the gentleman detective better than our star this week, Tom Conway.
0:30.0	During his relatively short career in Hollywood, Conway played a number of debonair crime solvers on the big and small screens, as well as on radio, where he starred as two of the airwaves most popular sloths.
0:44.3	Conway was born Thomas Charles Sanders
0:47.8	to English parents in St. Petersburg, Russia on September 15th, 1904.
0:54.6	His father was a wealthy businessman, but he was forced to leave his holdings behind at the
0:59.5	outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917.
1:03.0	Fleeing the country to return to England were Tom, his parents, his sister, and his younger brother George.
1:10.0	George Sanders, who would go on to his own career in Hollywood, including performances
1:15.8	as The Saint, Films with Alfred Hitchcock, and an Academy Award for his role in All About Eve.
1:23.0	Tom followed George into Hollywood, and he became a contract player for MGM.
1:28.0	Conway made a number of films from 1940 to 1942, including the Nick Carter movie, Sky Murder.
1:35.9	But it was Brother George who gave Tom his big break. George Sanders had starred in
1:41.6	three films as The Falcon, but after years of toiling as a B-movie detective, he was ready to move on to bigger things.
1:49.0	In 1942's The Falcon's Brother, Sanders' character met his maker, and audiences were introduced to
1:56.6	Conway, playing cinematic kin to his real life brother. Conway went on to star in 10 Falcon movies and the portrayal of the
2:05.4	suave sophisticated detective helped Conway cement his cinematic image.
2:10.4	The Falcon film series was winding down when Conway was tapped to Don the Deerstalker
2:15.9	Cap of Sherlock Holmes.
2:18.8	In 1946, Basil Rathbone quit both the Universal Holmes film series and the new
2:25.2	Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio program leaving producers in a bind.
2:30.0	They selected Conway to co-star with Nigel Bruce on radio, and they entertained the thought of continuing the film series with Conway in the lead.
2:40.0	While those plans never came to fruition, Conway played Holmes for 39 episodes in the 1946 to
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