Premier Collections:
Broadway's My Beat, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

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“…from Times Square to Columbus Circle…the gaudiest, the most violent…the lonesomest mile in the world…”

Author Jim Cox, in his invaluable OTR reference Radio Crime Fighters, describes a breed of detective series that became prevalent in the 1950s that “witnessed a forbidding side of law enforcement in the harsh realities of an urban backdrop.” Jack Webb’s groundbreaking Dragnet is considered to have been at the forefront of this new type of cop show (followed later by The Line-Up and Twenty-First Precinct), but it’s interesting to note that the series Broadway’s My Beat actually predated Dragnet by several months, debuting over CBS Radio February 27, 1949.

Broadway’s My Beat detailed the investigative exploits of plainclothes homicide detective Danny Clover of the N.Y.P.D. and, as an early CBS press release described him, “As a kid, Danny Clover sold papers and shined shoes along the Great White Way, and later pounded a beat as a policeman. He knows everyone along Broadway - from panhandler to operatic prima-donna - but he’s still sentimental about the street, forever a wonderland of glamour to him.” Stage veteran Anthony Ross played Clover in the show’s early run - which for the first four months on the air originated from CBS’ New York Studios, with producer Lester Gottlieb and director John Dietz at the helm.

Beginning July 7, 1949, Broadway moved to the West Coast, with radio’s “renaissance man” Elliott Lewis taking over as the show’s producer-director. It was his first effort in the producer-director’s chair, and he brought an expert familiarity to the program and its locale, having himself been born in Manhattan. He insisted on having three sound effects men - David Light, Ralph Cummings, and Ross Murray - assigned to the series since, according to Lewis, “you should hear the city constantly.” This talented sound patterns trio gave him precisely what he wanted: a cacophonous show where “even the people in New York are noisy.” The show’s scripts were penned by the veteran team of Morton Fine and David Friedkin (Bold Venture), whose exemplary efforts were once described by radio historian Fred MacDonald as “a striking example of a writing flair which was generally absent from radio.” Special attention must also be afforded to the program’s music score (the memorable opening/closing theme being “I’ll Take Manhattan”), which was composed and conducted by Alexander Courage (who later composed the classic theme for TV’s Star Trek).

Actor Anthony Ross did not make the trip west to continue in his role as Danny Clover, and so he was replaced by a veteran actor-announcer named Larry Thor who, upon joining CBS in 1948, had carved out a niche for himself as the mysterious voice opening both Suspense and Escape. Thor received solid support from the “usual suspects” of Hollywood’s Radio Row, including Charles Calvert (who played Sgt. Gino Tartaglia, the program’s comic relief) and Jack Kruschen (heard as both police physician Dr. Simsky and Detective Muggavan). Broadway’s My Beat soon developed a reputation for gritty, hard-hitting drama that explored topics previously unheard in crime dramas of that period, such as juvenile delinquency and anti-Semitism.

Broadway’s My Beat was a sustained program throughout its five-year run, though on occasion it did secure sponsorship from the likes of Wrigley’s Gum and Lux Soap. Like Escape, it was often bounced around on CBS’s schedule as both a regular and summer replacement series; from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954 it aired in at least fifteen different time slots. (For a brief period in 1954, Broadway was scheduled on Sunday nights, preceding On Stage and Crime Classics - all three of these series produced and directed by the multi-talented Lewis.) Of the 212 shows originally broadcast, nearly 100 are extant today, allowing OTR fans to revel in a truly splendid crime drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

The line-up for this ten-CD collection includes:

Paul Thomas (#3)
An ex-con pal of Danny’s is the main suspect in a $100,000 jewel theft - but Clover soon finds reason to scratch his friend off the list of suspects…when he discovers him dead.
Thursday, July 28, 1949 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Val Dane (#7)
How does a novelist - despised and loathed by his family and acquaintances - die of starvation while locked in a room filled with food?
Detective Danny Clover investigates.
Thursday, August 25, 1949 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Henry Baker (#14)
A charitable eccentric believes his brother is trying to kill him, all because he’s giving away his life’s fortune of $50,000. With Jerry Hausner, Rolfe Sedan, Byron Kane, Lou Merrill and Joan Banks.
Saturday, December 17, 1949 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Nick Norman, Santa Claus (#15)
A recently released safecracker gets a gig as St. Nick, thanks to Danny Clover. But while Danny must deal with a tight-fisted landlord who demands his back rent for the warehouse in which a children’s party is to be held, “Santa” turns up missing. With Howard McNear, Gil Stratton, Shepard Menken, Peggy Webber, Hal March, Bert Holland and Estelle Dodge.
Saturday, December 24, 1949 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Lt. Jimmy Hunt (#20)
A hospitalized soldier is assumed to have committed suicide, but Clover proves that it was murder. Could the man responsible be the father of the murdered man’s blind girlfriend? With Peggy Webber, Theodore Von Eltz, Mary Jane Croft, Georgia Ellis, Jerry Hausner and Jack Edwards.
Friday, February 3, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Julie Dixon (#21)
A young woman, dubbed “Cinderella Girl” by the newspapers, has turned up missing and Danny is puzzled over the lack of concern from her fiancé, a renowned criminal attorney. With Jay Novello, Junius Matthews, Lawrence Dobkin, Virginia Gregg, Vivi Janis and William Johnstone.
Friday, February 10, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Dion Hartley (#22)
A collector of antiquities informs Danny that he’s going to be murdered - but refuses to reveal the murder’s identity to the detective. Complications ensue when Clover falls for one of the suspects. With Anne Stone, Virginia Gregg, Elliott Reid, Ted Osborne, Bert Holland and Jack Kruschen.
Friday, February 17, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Hope Anderson (#28)
A young woman is found shot in a fountain outside her apartment building. Danny tracks down the chief suspect - her boyfriend - to a cabin in Montauk…where he ends up shot as well. With Herb Butterfield, Frances Chaney, Jody Gilbert, Don Orrick and Eda Reiss Merin.
Friday, March 31, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Morris Bernstein (#39)
Danny Clover and a patrolman find a bread deliveryman beaten to death, and further investigation reveals that it may be connected to a series of attacks perpetrated by a juvenile gang. With Harry Bartell, Barney Phillips, Maria Palmer, Howard McNear, Billy Halop and Jack Kruschen.
Friday, June 16, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Steve Courtney (#40)
Danny receives an anonymous call from a female informing him that the heart-related death of a wealthy gentleman was in actuality murder. As the investigation gets underway, the deceased’s faithful horse trainer also turns up…trampled to death. With Junius Matthews, Francis X. Bushman, Joan Banks, Mary Lansing, Elliott Reid and Florence Lake.
Friday, June 23, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Celia Jordan (#44)
A missing girl believed to have been murdered contacts Danny during his investigation - and dies from poison right in front of him. With Jack Kruschen, Irene Tedrow, Joyce McCluskey, Earle Ross, Jack Edwards and Tom Holland.
Monday, July 24, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sponsored by Wrigley’s Gum

Mary Demming (#47)
When the girl voted “Most Likely to Succeed” at her high school is found stabbed in her apartment, Danny must rely on her yearbook to locate her murderer. With Jack Kruschen, Jay Novello, Lou Merrill, Sammie Hill, Hy Averback and Peggy Webber.
Monday, August 14, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Tom & Alice Corey Suicide Pact (#48)
Danny gets an urgent phone call from a frantic woman telling him that she and her husband have entered into a suicide pact. Detective Clover investigates when it appears that one failed to fulfill their part of the bargain. With Herb Butterfield, Anne Stone, Byron Kane, Janet Logan and Junius Matthews.
Monday, August 21, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Helen Carrol (#49)
Danny meets an amnesiac looking for a pocketbook, the discovery of which reveals her identity…and a blood-covered letter opener. With Joyce McCluskey, Herb Butterfield, Peggy Webber, Lou Krugman, David Ellis and Jack Kruschen.
Friday, October 13, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Harold Clark (#51)
A tenant is killed when he knocks on his neighbor’s door in the building where they live. Danny gets a tip that an associate of the suspect is dining in a nearby eatery…and arrives in time to watch the man die from poison. With Cathy Lewis, Vivi Janis, Edwin Max, Leo Cleary and Tony Barrett.
Friday, October 27, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Laura Burton (#52)
A woman is found dead in a waterfront hotel room, strangled with half of the cord from a man’s bathrobe. Her financial status convinces Danny that her husband is the likely suspect - but soon a second woman is discovered strangled…with the other half of the cord. With Clayton Post, Jerry Hausner, Lawrence Dobkin, Betty Lou Gerson and Edwin Max.
Friday, November 3, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Joan Fuller (#54)
An identified stabbing victim, dressed to the nines, is fished out of a nearby lake. Clover uses the girl’s exquisite coat and gown to get a lead on the identity of the killer, and the garments soon reveal that she was a housemaid to a well-known advertising executive. With Irene Tedrow, Dick Crenna, Bob Bruce, Peggy Webber, Stan Waxman and Jack Kruschen.
Friday, November 17, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Ben Justin (#57)
A man is discovered in an alley, shot twice in the back. He expires en route to the hospital, and his wife remains unconcerned about the incident. Later, she is killed by a bomb! With Tony Barrett, Michael Ann Barrett, Sam Edwards, Virginia Gregg and Sidney Miller.
Friday, December 8, 1950 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Thomas Hart (#59)
A man is found dead in the garment district with a pair of scissors in his back. Soon after, a second victim is stabbed to death - and the culprit tries to make Clover a third candidate. With Irene Tedrow, Herb Butterfield, Sidney Miller, Sylvia Sims and Mary Shipp.
Saturday, April 14, 1951 – 30:00 – CBS, sustaining

Philip Hunt (#60)
A man is shot and killed while attending a Fifth Avenue party with his niece and a group of strangers. A fancy cigarette lighter found at the murder scene provides Danny with a vital lead. With Cathy Lewis, Peggy Webber, Lee Millar, Russell Simpson and Michael Ann Barrett.
Saturday, April 21, 1951 – 30:00 - CBS, sustaining

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