Radio Legends:
The Adventures of the Falcon, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Elizabeth McLeod

^{Item #RL25 - Ten CD Set $19.95}

Based on the novels and short stories of author Michael Arlen, the detective character best known as The Falcon went thru several transmutations before arriving in his definitive form on radio in 1943. In his first appearance in print in 1940, The Falcon was a freelance, freebooting adventurer with the unlikely full name of Gay Stanhope Falcon. Additional novels followed, and a film series began at RKO in 1941 -- with the character's name inexplicably changed to Gay Lawrence. Finally, with the premiere of the character on radio in 1943, the name changed once more, to Michael Waring -- and it's as Waring that The Falcon achieved his greatest success.

"The Falcon" originally owed much in both his methods and the tone of his adventures to Leslie Charteris's better-known character "The Saint" -- and in fact, RKO's "Falcon" films of the early 1940s were frankly intended to replace its "Saint" series after the studio's rights to the Charteris character expired in 1941. But on radio, the character moved in a new direction -- taking on more and more of the tone of the hardboiled private-eye characters who were then all the rage in American popular fiction -- and while he was never quite so hardboiled as the Sam Spade's or Michael Shayne's of the literary world, Michael Waring could more than hold his own in any tussle.

The episodes represented here span much of "The Falcon's" radio run, beginning with an early Mutual episode starring James Meighan in the title role, followed by two subsequent Mutual programs featuring Les Tremayne. The bulk of the collection represents the series' most popular version, presented on NBC for Kraft Foods, and featuring Les Damon as Waring.

Adventure, mystery, excitement and thrills -- all as near as your loudspeaker in this 10-CD Radio Legends collection. Here is the complete content:

Murder is a Family Affair
Tuesday, November 27, 1945 - 30:00 - Mutual
Sponsored by Gem Blades

Murder is a Bad Bluff
Monday, November 1, 1948 - 30:00 - Mutual
Sustaining, no commercials

Murder is a Knockout
Sunday, February 20, 1949 - 30:00 - Mutual
Sustaining, no commercials

The Case of the Amorous Bookkeeper
Sunday, May 14, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sustaining, no commercials

The Case of the Disappearing Doll
Sunday, August 20, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sustaining, no commercials

The Case of the Quarrelsome Quartet
Sunday, September 3, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Double Exposure
Sunday, October 29, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Rich Racketeer
Sunday, November 5, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Widow's Gorilla
Sunday, November 12, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Puzzling Pin-Up
Sunday, November 19, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Stooge's Errand
Sunday, November 26, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Errant Husband
Sunday, December 3, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Raw Deal
Sunday, December 10, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Baby Brother
Sunday, December 17, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Invisible Thug
Sunday, January 7, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Happy Hoodlum
Sunday, January 14, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Substitute Target
Sunday, January 21, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Bellicose Boxer
Sunday, January 28, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Neighbor's Nightmare
Sunday, February 4, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods

The Case of the Mighty Muscle
Sunday, February 11, 1951 - 30:00 - NBC
Sponsored by Kraft Foods
 

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