Radio
Legends:
Nightbeat, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Harlan Zinck
"Hi, this is Randy Stone. I cover the nightbeat for the Chicago Star..."
In
the postwar years, a new style of filmmaking began to emerge. Inspired in part
by the moody and avant-garde expressionistic school that the Germans brought to
the medium in the last days of the silent era, American mystery and detective
films began adopting a dark and shadowy look, as well as an air of anxiety,
pessimism, and suspicion in both plot and characterization. To critics, it
became known as "film noir" -- literally "black film" or "black cinema" -- a
style that would also quickly make its way to radio in such hard-bitten,
downbeat series as "The Adventures of Philip Marlowe" and "Broadway's My Beat."
One of the top proponents of this style - and arguably the best of radio's
various newspaper-based dramas - was "Nightbeat," the story of hard-nosed
Chicago Star newsman Randy Stone and his quest for the human news behind the
headlines. Starring Frank Lovejoy in the leading role, Stone came to vivid life
thanks to expert scripts by experienced scribes like Russell Hughes (who would
also write similar stories for "Box 13" and "Richard Diamond"), E. Jack Neumann,
John Michael Hayes (who would later go on to write the Hitchcock film classics
"To Catch a Thief" and "Rear Window"), and Larry Marcus. Lovejoy's distinctive
voice and manner, combined with performances by veteran radio performers like
Lurene Tuttle, Peter Leeds, Jeff Corey, and Jerry Hausner, gave "Nightbeat" an
unusual and engrossing style - literally film noir for the mind. One week the
story would be lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek, the next an emotional tragedy
with a downbeat ending; there would be suspenseful races for time and quiet
reflections on everyday life among the masses. Through it all, Randy Stone, in a
hard-boiled yet sensitive portrayal by Frank Lovejoy, would narrate the story
and comment on it from beginning to end -- often with a hard-edged cynicism that
long-time fans knew was a cover for Stone's personal sense of fairness and
morality.
Though generally popular with listeners, "Nightbeat" spent most of its two-year
run bouncing around the NBC schedule -- usually without a sponsor and sustained
by the network. Fans of the series often complained that they didn't know from
week to week when (or if) it would be on at all. As a result, radio enthusiasts
of today have probably heard more "Nightbeat" programs that most listeners heard
when it was first broadcast over fifty years ago. But you'll never have a
problem knowing when you can hear "Nightbeat" with this new Radio Legends
collection, which features twenty full-length NBC broadcasts from 1950 -
including both the audition program and the first show of the series.
Here is the complete content of this 10-CD set:
The Elevator Caper (Audition)
Recorded Friday, January 13, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC
Zero (First Show of the Series)
Monday, February 6, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
The Night is a Weapon
Monday, February 13, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
A World All His Own
Monday, February 20, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
The Girl in the Park
Monday, February 27, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Number 13
Monday, March 6, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Monday, March 13, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
The Man Who Claimed to Be Dead
Monday, March 20, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Flowers on the Water
Monday, March 27, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
The Night is a Weapon (Special Rebroadcast)
Sunday, April 9, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
I Know Your Secret
Monday, April 10, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
A World All His Own (Special Rebroadcast)
Sunday, April 16, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Tong War
Monday, April 17, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
The Girl in the Park (Special Rebroadcast)
Sunday, April 23, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Am I My Brother's Keeper? (Special Rebroadcast)
Sunday, April 30, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sustaining
Mentallo, the Mental Marvel
Monday, May 1, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Wheaties
The Elevator Caper
Monday, May 8, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Wheaties and Crust-Quik
The Night Watchman
Monday, May 15, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Wheaties and Crust-Quik
I Wish You Were Dead
Monday, May 22, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Wheaties and Crust-Quik
Harlan Matthews, Stamp Dealer
Monday, May 29, 1950 - 30:00 - NBC, sponsored by Wheaties and Crust-Quik
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