# Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Carman Kringle Matter (EP4870)

An episode of [The Great Detectives Present Yours Truly Johnny Dollar (Old Time Radio)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/430244417), 19 Dec 2025, 36 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/47a49c/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/69081565/gd4870.mp3

Today's Mystery:Johnny is called to a small desert town where an old prospector is determined to change his life insurance beneficiary...to his burrow. Original Radio Broadcast Date: December 22, 1956 Originating from Hollywood Starring: Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar; Herb Vigran; Howard McNear; Jeanne Tatum; Junius Matthews; Lawrence Dobkin; Forrest Lewis; Jack Kruschen; Richard Crenna; Bill James When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com Become one of our Patreon Supporters at https://patreon.greatdetectives.net Thank you to our Patreon Supporter of the Day: Take the listener survey at http://survey.greatdetectives.net Give us a call at 208-991-4783 Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives

## Transcript

[0:28] Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
[0:36] Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
[0:39] Speaker 1: going to bring you this week's episode of yours truly
[0:43] Speaker 1: Johnny Dollar. But first I do want to encourage you.
[0:46] Speaker 1: If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your
[0:50] Speaker 1: favorite podcast software. And remember, as you're making your travel
[0:55] Speaker 1: plans for twenty twenty six to check out Johnny Dollar
[0:59] Speaker 1: Air doc. John Eadollar Air dot Com is our pross
[1:03] Speaker 1: line affiliate link, so if you make your purchase through there,
[1:06] Speaker 1: part of your purchase prices goes to support the Great
[1:10] Speaker 1: Detectives of Old Time Radio at no additional cost to you.
[1:14] Speaker 1: Remember to check john Eydollar Air dot com first. But
[1:19] Speaker 1: now from December twenty second, nineteen fifty seven, here is
[1:24] Speaker 1: the Carmen Kringle Matter.
[1:30] Speaker 2: Johnny Doller dot McCracken, Johnny, how's the.
[1:32] Speaker 3: Weather in bomb Spring?
[1:33] Speaker 2: A blonde and a MCKINNI just melted past my pool
[1:36] Speaker 2: side window. Goodbye.
[1:37] Speaker 3: Now, No, don't hang up, Johnny. This job just a
[1:40] Speaker 3: few miles north of where you. I will take maybe
[1:41] Speaker 3: a day to clear it up.
[1:43] Speaker 2: And you said that last Christmas. Matt and I got
[1:45] Speaker 2: tramped in a budget this season. I'm soak in the sun.
[1:47] Speaker 2: Happy New Year, John boy.
[1:48] Speaker 3: We have a bonus list in this office. Your name
[1:51] Speaker 3: could be on it.
[1:52] Speaker 2: Uh there where I am Huh.
[1:55] Speaker 3: It's a ghost down named Gatigo. No bron second named
[1:58] Speaker 3: Kringle is breathing his life.
[2:00] Speaker 2: I thought all prospectors never died.
[2:02] Speaker 3: He wants to change the beneficiary and a fifty downs
[2:04] Speaker 3: now policy. But a nephew, Net Kringle threatened suit and
[2:08] Speaker 3: we let him. So you contact our agent Jean Craig
[2:10] Speaker 3: and Barstow.
[2:11] Speaker 2: That was a new beneficiary, Carmen Kringle, Carmon a burrow,
[2:17] Speaker 2: A burrow.
[2:18] Speaker 3: Yeah, if I don't hear from you, Johnny Merry Christmas.
[2:29] Speaker 2: Bob Bailey and the Exciting Adventures of the Man with
[2:32] Speaker 2: the Action Tactic Spens the cous America's fabulous free Lance
[2:35] Speaker 2: Insurance Investigator. It's truly Johnny Dollar now Act one. No,
[2:45] Speaker 2: You're truly Johnny Dollars. Expense account submented by a special investigator,
[3:04] Speaker 2: Johnny Dollar. There's a home office Universal Adjustment Bureau, Hartford, Canadians.
[3:09] Speaker 2: Following is the account of expenses encourage during my investigation
[3:12] Speaker 2: of the Carmen Kringle matter expense account on a one
[3:18] Speaker 2: a dollar forty telegram to Jean Craig, and Barstall was
[3:21] Speaker 2: telling him where and when to meet me. I had
[3:23] Speaker 2: him two fifty dollars even a while sterner for his
[3:25] Speaker 2: chartered plane and the ghost down at Calico. The guys,
[3:31] Speaker 2: there's something about physic country that's good for the soul.
[3:33] Speaker 2: And in spite of the heir bumps, I got a
[3:35] Speaker 2: panoramic view of the great More Hobby that tipped my
[3:37] Speaker 2: breath away. The sun's setting rays hit the weird mineral
[3:40] Speaker 2: traders of the Calico range and turned them into a
[3:42] Speaker 2: patchwork of beauty. Night comes quickly in this country, and
[3:46] Speaker 2: I turned a well when a Christmas freet cluster of
[3:48] Speaker 2: blinking lights appeared under a wing. By way of answer,
[3:50] Speaker 2: he went the plane into a glide and set us
[3:52] Speaker 2: down on a spoolers with a dry like.
[3:54] Speaker 4: This, Johnny, you want me to wait around with your
[4:04] Speaker 4: friend Joseph.
[4:05] Speaker 5: I thank you.
[4:07] Speaker 2: It seems pretty funny accompany, I asked you, Oh.
[4:10] Speaker 4: Coyote, don't stand too long or freeze is a spot. Okay,
[4:13] Speaker 4: good luck, call me when you want to be picked up.
[4:21] Speaker 2: I walked down plane until I was swallowed by the dark.
[4:27] Speaker 2: Then suddenly I got that feeling in the air on
[4:29] Speaker 2: the back of my neck, and I wasn't a longer.
[4:31] Speaker 2: The moon was up en up, and they got shadows
[4:33] Speaker 2: and silhouetted in a circle around me was a strained
[4:36] Speaker 2: collection of figures. One of the pack moves towards me,
[4:40] Speaker 2: and for a crazy second, I thought I bumped at
[4:42] Speaker 2: the Santa Clauses raindeer. Then a car without life brushing
[4:46] Speaker 2: at me. The headlights slammed on and I got a
[4:49] Speaker 2: glimpse of a donkey herd scattering into the knife. All right, mister,
[4:57] Speaker 2: walk toward me, slow with your hand. Fine, I've learned
[5:02] Speaker 2: never to wark in with a Winchester ninety fourth. Or
[5:04] Speaker 2: I followed orders. I sparted the weaving headlamps of another
[5:07] Speaker 2: car approaching him. Played it was the agent Jean Craig
[5:10] Speaker 2: Whost Enough, Sonny, I can pop the rappers off a
[5:13] Speaker 2: sideline at sixty yards, don't you make most sudden moves?
[5:16] Speaker 2: It was maybe sixty with gray sideburns and a frosty
[5:18] Speaker 2: go see a Marshall fads into his mother jackets.
[5:22] Speaker 4: All right now, mister, all right, that's the dollar I'm
[5:26] Speaker 4: first to.
[5:27] Speaker 2: Meet him earlier, I'm off the Sorry, mister Dollar, I'm
[5:30] Speaker 2: Jean Craig. I shouldn't get here until I grew Doc
[5:33] Speaker 2: Stanger up to Chris. He's got another step back, Marshall. Uh,
[5:37] Speaker 2: some darned fool let down a rail on his parral,
[5:39] Speaker 2: and Chris Kringle holds her God loose.
[5:41] Speaker 4: You don't give it.
[5:42] Speaker 2: Chuck for most of them, mosep Carmen now he's precking
[5:45] Speaker 2: because she's running wild. Almost had him tracked down, and
[5:48] Speaker 2: this year fella showed up. If you voucher him and Jean,
[5:53] Speaker 2: you are Johnny Dollar, aren't you well frozen in fact? Centaly,
[5:57] Speaker 2: Come on, I'll drive you into Calico. Chris Ado, have
[6:00] Speaker 2: his Carmen back in the corrella for the moon pool.
[6:03] Speaker 2: And Gene, you know, tell the old shower door and
[6:07] Speaker 2: stay alive. Would you we need him around here? Sorry
[6:11] Speaker 2: about mistaking un Dollar.
[6:23] Speaker 5: Geene Craig with a.
[6:24] Speaker 2: Jay knew her way around. She was strictly business and
[6:27] Speaker 2: killed me in the fast on the old prospected was
[6:29] Speaker 2: the odd name and his desire to change the beneficiary
[6:32] Speaker 2: of his policy. Everybody calls him Chris because every year
[6:35] Speaker 2: he loads up his bugs with Cays and Saisens for
[6:38] Speaker 2: the miners and their families.
[6:39] Speaker 3: Back in the hill.
[6:41] Speaker 2: The kids really think he is Santa Claus.
[6:43] Speaker 4: I'm afraid it will be a very.
[6:45] Speaker 5: Merry one for this year.
[6:46] Speaker 2: But what makes everyone so sure Chris Kringle is giving
[6:48] Speaker 2: him the ghost doax? Spangler says there's nothing exactly wrong
[6:52] Speaker 2: with him.
[6:54] Speaker 3: Well, I just giving up.
[6:55] Speaker 2: What's with a Scrooge character?
[6:57] Speaker 5: The nephew next king?
[6:58] Speaker 4: Those teams?
[6:59] Speaker 3: All right?
[7:00] Speaker 2: Then with him Willie Dagastino, he doesn't talking for ned.
[7:03] Speaker 5: Do you think he was going to inherit the money?
[7:05] Speaker 2: Well, maybe he's expecting to. You know, you're making a
[7:07] Speaker 2: good chase for Carmen. Canna Burrow be a beneficiary, Johnny.
[7:13] Speaker 2: Chris can leave it to a three mans at schooner
[7:14] Speaker 2: if he wants, providing a trust to set up. Could
[7:17] Speaker 2: the people of Kalico be that trust if they promise
[7:21] Speaker 2: to take.
[7:21] Speaker 3: Care of Carmen?
[7:22] Speaker 2: Yeah? I guess so.
[7:23] Speaker 5: Why that's the way, Chris Watson? That way, they'll always
[7:28] Speaker 5: be a.
[7:28] Speaker 2: Fishiness in calis what happens when Carmen goes to Donkey Heavens?
[7:33] Speaker 6: Or is it?
[7:33] Speaker 2: Burrows has never die They'll always be borrows in Calico, Johnny,
[7:39] Speaker 2: and one of them could always be named Carmen act too.
[7:52] Speaker 2: If yours truly Johnny Dollar in a moment black too,
[7:56] Speaker 2: If yours truly Johnny Dollar and the Carmen Kringle matter, Well,
[8:13] Speaker 2: here we are, Johnny.
[8:15] Speaker 3: Calico once the richest silver city in the West.
[8:20] Speaker 2: It was unbelievable, like seeing a page from the past.
[8:25] Speaker 2: Well they or nuts, same creator of not Verry Farm
[8:28] Speaker 2: in Western historians had bought the old ghost town's battered
[8:31] Speaker 2: remnints and restored it to the way it must have
[8:33] Speaker 2: appeared in the wild and fever days of the silver loads.
[8:36] Speaker 2: I can think out signs Nail, the weathered bat and boards,
[8:39] Speaker 2: the total of a flourishing and colorful past Joe Saloon,
[8:43] Speaker 2: the Last Chance Hyena House, Hotel, Lane's Recantile, the Calico Prince.
[8:51] Speaker 2: High on a hill at the edge of town, people
[8:54] Speaker 2: were gathered at the entrance to a cave that was
[8:56] Speaker 2: illuminated by hundreds of minor slamps. And he gets you huh,
[9:03] Speaker 2: almost like it was planned the other hurt things for
[9:06] Speaker 2: the Christmas Eve pageant. Maybe you should spend Christmas Eve?
[9:10] Speaker 5: Hit is Johnny?
[9:12] Speaker 2: You don't have other plans. I have a day with
[9:15] Speaker 2: a steam hated swimming pool. Come on, let's meet the
[9:18] Speaker 2: old man. Expense account at him three one hundred bucks
[9:24] Speaker 2: for a quarter perfume, or I'll make scarf anything to
[9:27] Speaker 2: wipe the hurt look off of Jean Craig's face. She
[9:32] Speaker 2: led me up the steps to the rickety port. You,
[9:33] Speaker 2: Chris Kringles, wouldn't check. A tall figure carrying a black
[9:37] Speaker 2: bag stepped toward us out of the shadows.
[9:39] Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm glad she Will you gut me back to town? Why?
[9:42] Speaker 2: Certainly? Doc?
[9:43] Speaker 4: Oh, this is mister Dollar.
[9:45] Speaker 5: Hi, s Chris? Is he still our arms and it
[9:48] Speaker 5: couldn't shave?
[9:48] Speaker 2: And sitting out here waiting for you. You haven't seen
[9:51] Speaker 2: the patience a medical man.
[9:53] Speaker 4: Who's a duty and all that.
[9:54] Speaker 5: But I'm too old.
[9:55] Speaker 2: Talk back to a gun.
[9:57] Speaker 5: They wouldn't let you in tire.
[9:58] Speaker 2: Well, I'm not a medical plan.
[10:00] Speaker 3: Suppose please be careful, Johnny.
[10:02] Speaker 4: I told your star boats tayway and leave the old man.
[10:07] Speaker 5: Well, if I little Genie the policy pictures.
[10:11] Speaker 2: Who are you, mister Biddy Degasino.
[10:14] Speaker 5: This is Johnny Dollar.
[10:15] Speaker 2: He's in the insurance company to see about changing the police.
[10:18] Speaker 2: Who are you talking, Adam, give us some terrorist directions
[10:21] Speaker 2: back to barstove? Have you know policy changing at this
[10:25] Speaker 2: late date. Mister ned Kringle is very bereaved at the
[10:29] Speaker 2: imminence of his uncle's demid just family admitted this, said
[10:33] Speaker 2: Alice and most your long, folks, I don't leave. The
[10:35] Speaker 2: young man was great, your foot is in the door, mister.
[10:42] Speaker 2: I don't like your.
[10:43] Speaker 5: Foot, and I don't like you.
[10:47] Speaker 2: His hand moved to his shoulder holster. But Jean was
[10:49] Speaker 2: standing right beside me. It was Doc with suddenly shouldered
[10:52] Speaker 2: past Agasino and fled up the stairs. That gave him
[10:54] Speaker 2: my chance. I kicked the door wide, threw him off balance.
[10:57] Speaker 2: I shoved Genie aside, and that was a mistake, because
[11:01] Speaker 2: a million Christmas tree lights blazed up in my skull,
[11:13] Speaker 2: and slowly the tree lights faded away, and I saw
[11:16] Speaker 2: a Genie fussing over me and looking worried. A young,
[11:19] Speaker 2: nice looking fellow was seated next to a marbletown table.
[11:23] Speaker 2: Zegastina leaned against the stone fireplace and dangled his gun,
[11:27] Speaker 2: smiling like he had a sack deck. He's all right,
[11:31] Speaker 2: dark lasty cutch, but no fracture. I know how I'll
[11:34] Speaker 2: pull my budget dog the old man, how is he
[11:37] Speaker 2: no better, no worse?
[11:39] Speaker 5: Just lying up there staring to see you.
[11:41] Speaker 2: I want to see Crid.
[11:43] Speaker 5: I had a right to ned.
[11:44] Speaker 3: I'm an old Sam.
[11:45] Speaker 2: Wooly wouldn't be okay if Jean just want to let
[11:48] Speaker 2: them die and faces past Carrod, who season holy? These
[11:50] Speaker 2: people have no I get a hero boy in a speak,
[11:54] Speaker 2: shove off.
[11:55] Speaker 4: Go on, come on, Johnny, help me doe.
[12:01] Speaker 2: How's he gonna feel that sharing blood money with a
[12:04] Speaker 2: foodlo Your uncle paid for that policy with a pick
[12:08] Speaker 2: and a shovel. It took a lot of years, a
[12:10] Speaker 2: lot of sweat, and he's had your name on that
[12:13] Speaker 2: policy ever since you were f oh Man Kringle never
[12:16] Speaker 2: saw paid during his life. Maddy had to give him
[12:19] Speaker 2: money to live on, paid the pems and his policy.
[12:21] Speaker 2: Chris was always tapping the kid, claiming he had a
[12:23] Speaker 2: new find. He was gonna mind a million, oh Man, die,
[12:28] Speaker 2: tell him, man, tell him how the old phoney was
[12:30] Speaker 2: always taking the bars. Makeingle, Santa Claus, of the money
[12:32] Speaker 2: you give him, will he haven't you got a hold
[12:34] Speaker 2: of the money.
[12:36] Speaker 4: I know it's been waiting a long time.
[12:38] Speaker 2: For this me Lily di Agasino.
[12:41] Speaker 4: That's who.
[12:44] Speaker 7: Is that?
[12:44] Speaker 2: True man? Yeah, I thought my uncle would make a
[12:49] Speaker 2: strike someday.
[12:50] Speaker 5: I honestly thought he'd strike it rich.
[12:54] Speaker 4: I know he tried.
[12:56] Speaker 5: He did strike it rich ned.
[12:58] Speaker 2: When he dies, every man, woman and child in this
[13:00] Speaker 2: town will morn him.
[13:02] Speaker 4: You'll live in their hearts.
[13:05] Speaker 5: How do people remember about you, mister Dagostino.
[13:09] Speaker 2: All right, I'll get get out and stay off the part.
[13:13] Speaker 3: Really just rifle and make a hole.
[13:15] Speaker 2: And you're barely big enough.
[13:17] Speaker 5: To pass up bullax beam through, so you just drop
[13:19] Speaker 5: that gun.
[13:24] Speaker 2: I don't know what the shouting is about, but you're.
[13:26] Speaker 5: Jilly carrying side arms.
[13:27] Speaker 2: You're threatening violence, mister Dagostino, And ain't nobody does that
[13:31] Speaker 2: in Calaco as long as I'm the marshall.
[13:34] Speaker 5: Now you better get that all that.
[13:36] Speaker 6: I love you too.
[13:38] Speaker 2: Let gladys here there. Well, I'll Chris, uh, doc can
[13:43] Speaker 2: tell the old buzzard that I got his Carmen back
[13:45] Speaker 2: in the corral. Jingle bells and all.
[13:47] Speaker 4: Yeah, nice work.
[13:49] Speaker 5: I what hold you?
[13:50] Speaker 2: Mister?
[13:52] Speaker 4: Okay, okay, all right, let's go and let.
[13:56] Speaker 5: The square just have a round. Uh almost stay here, willing,
[14:00] Speaker 5: I want to be here when Chris, Hey.
[14:03] Speaker 2: That's a good idea.
[14:04] Speaker 3: That way, no food around at the wheel.
[14:06] Speaker 2: That's smart kid, that med see as the funeral.
[14:09] Speaker 6: And I.
[14:14] Speaker 5: I'll go up now.
[14:19] Speaker 2: You will run for Marshall, You too, Jenny, Oh yeah, sure,
[14:23] Speaker 2: I take a nice stock on my head.
[14:27] Speaker 3: Day.
[14:27] Speaker 4: You both better come up to Chris wants to say something.
[14:33] Speaker 5: I forget on this coral.
[14:35] Speaker 2: Come on, Zegastino must have had another gun in his car,
[14:49] Speaker 2: one of the bullets that's on the market intended well,
[14:52] Speaker 2: I boy, wasn't taking any chances that common Kringle would
[14:54] Speaker 2: inherit fifty thousand dollars. We found the borough lying on
[14:59] Speaker 2: her side quite dead. Jingle bells and all Act three
[15:12] Speaker 2: of yours, truly Johnny Dollar in a moment, Oh, Act
[15:15] Speaker 2: three of yours, truly Johnny Dollar, and the Carmen Kringle
[15:19] Speaker 2: matters Marshall, Johnny, how couldn't have been so cruel? Carmen dead?
[15:36] Speaker 3: Not right?
[15:37] Speaker 7: Yeah?
[15:38] Speaker 2: I figured Deckestino might be mean enough to try kill him.
[15:41] Speaker 2: Chris is pet bauro. We can't tell him about it
[15:44] Speaker 2: with kill him for sure.
[15:45] Speaker 3: You'll have to know the truth.
[15:46] Speaker 2: Gee, you'll have to decide about the world and truth
[15:49] Speaker 2: is always the best and easy this time? Easy huh yeah,
[15:55] Speaker 2: I'll just take these bells off miss, poor little fella,
[15:59] Speaker 2: and I'll put him to belong. Carmon what Carmon Mody
[16:03] Speaker 2: over here now?
[16:06] Speaker 5: Or you pulled a switch he put these bells on
[16:09] Speaker 5: another book. I didn't trust that easy character, and I
[16:13] Speaker 5: was right.
[16:14] Speaker 2: And nice girl, carlis now you folks going up to
[16:18] Speaker 2: see you, old Chris. I'll keep an eye on this
[16:20] Speaker 2: year fifty thousand dollars jacket.
[16:23] Speaker 4: That's the way it's going to be, ain't.
[16:26] Speaker 2: It, Johnny, Yes, sir, that's the way it's going to be.
[16:35] Speaker 2: But I was wrong. The only pulling little old man
[16:38] Speaker 2: in the forepost of bed with his white whiskers resting
[16:40] Speaker 2: on the quilt changed his mind again. Even after hearing
[16:43] Speaker 2: about how the Marshall safe common, I wasn't.
[16:47] Speaker 5: Even gonna scratch nig's lean love for that insurance was done.
[16:51] Speaker 5: I tried to shake that guy is stina seeking. He's
[16:55] Speaker 5: taking hooks off a neck. If he's not my common,
[16:58] Speaker 5: he's gonna get the money.
[17:00] Speaker 6: Oh.
[17:00] Speaker 5: I was scared for a while that I just might
[17:02] Speaker 5: have to up and dive square and up his game
[17:06] Speaker 5: and debts.
[17:07] Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sorry, Chris.
[17:10] Speaker 3: I'll work my fingers for off paying every ting I know,
[17:12] Speaker 3: but I'll pay him.
[17:13] Speaker 6: Back with interest.
[17:16] Speaker 2: I want you around, James G.
[17:19] Speaker 5: Chris lifts the lid on that foot locker. The such
[17:23] Speaker 5: milling bags. Man, they're pretty heavy, but you look strong
[17:29] Speaker 5: for sure, heavy enough. I got him with silver. It
[17:33] Speaker 5: gets better than children over the Yeah, as you get.
[17:38] Speaker 2: Recognize that, man, maybe you'd better have a good sleep. Chris,
[17:44] Speaker 2: is here a plain old brown Yes, it's uranium. Guy.
[17:50] Speaker 5: The last back assay that nine hundred dollars.
[17:53] Speaker 2: To come, and I got a mountain of a staked
[17:55] Speaker 2: out in both our names dead.
[17:59] Speaker 5: Chris.
[18:00] Speaker 2: If you got it, If you and Genie checked with
[18:03] Speaker 2: a barscill bank, you find the days extend credit.
[18:06] Speaker 5: On the strength of that essay you reckon, you can spend.
[18:12] Speaker 2: Two days buying in the presences. We will disappoint the
[18:17] Speaker 2: folks who expense a count at of four sixty eight dollars.
[18:27] Speaker 2: Even telephone calls to five principal cities where I thought
[18:30] Speaker 2: Willie Degastino might be remembered. The police department had a
[18:35] Speaker 2: long list of reasons why they remembered Willie. That was
[18:38] Speaker 2: my Christmas present to them expense count aut of five,
[18:42] Speaker 2: another fifty truck rant on a hall of presents we
[18:44] Speaker 2: brought for Ned to give away come Christmas morning. And
[18:53] Speaker 2: then it was Christmas Eve. We sat on the Kringle's
[18:56] Speaker 2: porch and watched the procession up to the Maggie mind,
[19:00] Speaker 2: the flickering lights from the miners lamps reflecting on the
[19:02] Speaker 2: faces of the happy children. Oh, Chris was bundled up
[19:06] Speaker 2: in blanket, his little eyes twinkling, chuckling to himself like
[19:09] Speaker 2: he knew all the answers to the universe.
[19:13] Speaker 6: Jane was there to him tend and nice, isn't it Johnny.
[19:19] Speaker 2: Kind of nice? Marshall ed Nola was one of the
[19:23] Speaker 2: wise men in the procession. I recognized the Sidebury and
[19:26] Speaker 2: Duc Spangler couldn't hide his height. Oh he wore an
[19:29] Speaker 2: awful beer. Ned Kringle led the borough that carried the
[19:33] Speaker 2: blessed mother. Yeah, you guessed it. The borough was common Cranle.
[19:41] Speaker 2: Extent account total including return to Palm Springs and incidental
[19:44] Speaker 2: two hundred and twenty nine dollars and seventy five cents.
[19:47] Speaker 2: But forget it, pat, This is the best holiday I
[19:50] Speaker 2: ever had, and I was only cold at the start
[19:55] Speaker 2: from all of us to all of you. May this
[19:58] Speaker 2: be your very yes Christmas. Yep, you're silly, junny up.
[21:20] Speaker 1: Welcome back. A really good, sweet Christmas script with some
[21:24] Speaker 1: nice heartwarming touches that doesn't get too far away from
[21:29] Speaker 1: being true to the spirit of Johnny Dollar. It's not
[21:32] Speaker 1: the nickt Sher Matter, but it's a good, solid story,
[21:36] Speaker 1: really impressive because it unfolded in around twenty minutes of storytime.
[21:42] Speaker 1: I also understand why it'd rank higher in terms of
[21:47] Speaker 1: most enjoyable Christmas is for Johnny, as during the nixt
[21:51] Speaker 1: sher matter, he was shot at and nearly died in
[21:54] Speaker 1: a snow storm and had to kill a man in
[21:57] Speaker 1: self defense. So only getting knocked out and having a
[22:00] Speaker 1: minor concussion makes this a Christmas win. If there was
[22:06] Speaker 1: one complaint I had, it was the idea of her
[22:11] Speaker 1: being hurt by Johnny not expressing interest in spending the holiday.
[22:16] Speaker 1: I hate to point this out, but she was trying
[22:19] Speaker 1: to pick up a stranger in a friendly, not creepy way.
[22:23] Speaker 1: But you still can't reasonably get upset if this stranger
[22:27] Speaker 1: goes ahead and says no.
[22:28] Speaker 2: Now.
[22:29] Speaker 1: It's worth noting that the name of the writer of
[22:31] Speaker 1: the script was Robert Bainter, and that's actually a pen
[22:35] Speaker 1: name for Bob Bailey, with Bainter being his middle name
[22:41] Speaker 1: after his godmother early acting legend Fae Bainter. This was
[22:48] Speaker 1: something done during the Golden Age of radio because there
[22:51] Speaker 1: were rules about paying the same person for both writing
[22:54] Speaker 1: and acting. And you see something very similar are when
[23:01] Speaker 1: Betsy Drake wrote an episode of Mister and Missus Blanding's
[23:07] Speaker 1: she used a pen name for the same reason. Now,
[23:10] Speaker 1: this may have been the last script that Bob Bailey wrote,
[23:15] Speaker 1: but it wasn't the first. Bailey had sat out on
[23:19] Speaker 1: a writing career no later than nineteen fifty three, though
[23:23] Speaker 1: he may have started writing earlier. There are thirteen scripts
[23:28] Speaker 1: of Let George Do It where the writer is credited
[23:32] Speaker 1: as Lloyd London in nineteen fifty one, in nineteen fifty two, Okay,
[23:38] Speaker 1: Lloyd's of London. Given that's an obvious pseudonym and the
[23:43] Speaker 1: industry rules I just mentioned, and that Bailey would eventually
[23:47] Speaker 1: get the writing bug, it seems likely that Bailey first
[23:51] Speaker 1: tried writing on his own series, and that would make
[23:55] Speaker 1: sense budget wise because in nineteen fifty one and two
[24:00] Speaker 1: fifty two radio budgets were starting to contract, and so
[24:05] Speaker 1: the sponsors could have probably paid Bailey less to write
[24:08] Speaker 1: the script than they would have a normal professional writer,
[24:12] Speaker 1: particularly since he was also earning a salary as the star.
[24:15] Speaker 1: I can't prove it, but I would be very shocked
[24:18] Speaker 1: if someone else had been Lloyd London. Bailey had actually
[24:22] Speaker 1: quit Let George Do It in the fall of nineteen
[24:25] Speaker 1: fifty three to pursue a writing career. Now, as he
[24:29] Speaker 1: told Zuma Palmer of the Los Angeles Evening Citizen, he
[24:34] Speaker 1: was under no illusion that he was a great writer.
[24:37] Speaker 1: He viewed writing as a bridge to get to direct
[24:40] Speaker 1: motion picture or film. Perhaps he decided to take this
[24:44] Speaker 1: direction in his career after Let George Do It TV
[24:47] Speaker 1: series was shelved. The moment the production team saw him,
[24:52] Speaker 1: he may have concluded that television was the future and
[24:55] Speaker 1: that the way the industry worked, he'd never make it
[24:58] Speaker 1: in front of the camera. And certainly there are quite
[25:01] Speaker 1: a few examples of people who worked in radio and
[25:04] Speaker 1: then went into writing, directing, or producing behind the camera.
[25:08] Speaker 1: Examples include Sheldon Lennard, Tony Barrett, as well as his
[25:13] Speaker 1: predecessor as Johnny Doller, William Charles Russell William Conrad, who
[25:19] Speaker 1: was rejected as the on screen Matt Dillon produced and
[25:23] Speaker 1: directed throughout the late nineteen fifties into the sixties. It
[25:29] Speaker 1: just didn't end up working out for Bailey. He had
[25:33] Speaker 1: a promising start. You might even say he made a
[25:36] Speaker 1: splash and there's a pun it's coming up. He and
[25:41] Speaker 1: co writer Hugh King sold one, perhaps two stories for
[25:46] Speaker 1: movies to RKO. They also co wrote an episode of
[25:51] Speaker 1: the Ford Television Theater, which was a backdoor pilot for
[25:56] Speaker 1: a legal comedy series called The Legal Beagles. Unfortunately now
[26:01] Speaker 1: they're worked out. When it came to the stories that
[26:04] Speaker 1: were sold to RKO, one of them became the film Underwater.
[26:09] Speaker 1: And in fact, I found a news report that Bailey
[26:13] Speaker 1: took a vacation to Hawaii for his fortieth birthday in
[26:18] Speaker 1: June of nineteen fifty three, and it's likely he was
[26:22] Speaker 1: mixing a little business with pleasure, as Hawaii would be
[26:26] Speaker 1: one of the locations that the film was shot at.
[26:30] Speaker 1: But the film was a troubled production. A lot of
[26:33] Speaker 1: it can come back to the fact that Howard Hughes
[26:36] Speaker 1: was involved and he owned RKO at the time. It
[26:40] Speaker 1: was massively expensive to shoot and it took a very
[26:44] Speaker 1: long time, and there was all sorts of drama surrounding
[26:49] Speaker 1: the picture, including the fact that Howard Hughes was kind
[26:55] Speaker 1: of creepy towards Jane Russell. Film had a big premiere,
[27:00] Speaker 1: of course, as Howard Hughes was involved, he had it underwater,
[27:05] Speaker 1: but the film is not well remembered. It was in
[27:09] Speaker 1: fact in the book The Hollywood Hall of Shame The
[27:13] Speaker 1: Most Expensive Flops by Harry and Michael Medvet. This had
[27:19] Speaker 1: very little to do with Bailey and Hugh King, his
[27:24] Speaker 1: co writer, as they just wrote the story, but the
[27:28] Speaker 1: production did not go well. As for a potential second film,
[27:34] Speaker 1: in the interview that he gave to Zuma Palmer, he
[27:40] Speaker 1: stated that they had sold a story called Below the Timberline,
[27:45] Speaker 1: and this was never made. And given the fact that
[27:48] Speaker 1: RKO fell in the late nineteen fifties, it seems probable
[27:54] Speaker 1: that they bought the story but just never developed it.
[27:59] Speaker 1: As for the Lee Hicles, I've seen the episode of
[28:02] Speaker 1: the Ford Television Theater. It's not awful, but it's not
[28:06] Speaker 1: good either. It's about a husband and wife attorney team
[28:10] Speaker 1: who get a continuance in a legal case so that
[28:15] Speaker 1: they can have a second honeymoon. However, a demand for
[28:20] Speaker 1: justice up ends their plans. Now, it had two good
[28:25] Speaker 1: actors in the leads, in Richard Dinning and Lorraine Day.
[28:30] Speaker 1: It's the tope of series that could have worked. If
[28:33] Speaker 1: someone saw the potential and worked to smooth out the
[28:36] Speaker 1: rough edges, it really could have made it. But it's
[28:40] Speaker 1: not some cosmic injustice that it didn't. Bailey's writing career
[28:46] Speaker 1: stoleed out a bit. It was during these couple of
[28:49] Speaker 1: years between fifty three or fifty four and fifty five
[28:54] Speaker 1: he did quite a few radio guest appearances. He also
[28:58] Speaker 1: did some movie parts, and he actually they hadn't done
[29:01] Speaker 1: much of either of those during his time when he
[29:04] Speaker 1: was playing George Valentine on Let George Do It, and
[29:08] Speaker 1: the state of his writing career may have been why
[29:11] Speaker 1: he was available to do Johnny Dollar two years after
[29:16] Speaker 1: stepping aside on his last program. Now, after he landed
[29:20] Speaker 1: Johnny Dollar, he still continued to write. He co wrote
[29:25] Speaker 1: some episodes of Fury, which is the horse version of
[29:28] Speaker 1: Lassie or the horse version of Flipper, however you'd like
[29:31] Speaker 1: to look at it. He also co wrote a large
[29:34] Speaker 1: number of episodes of the syndicated series Hawkeye and the
[29:39] Speaker 1: Last of the Mohicans. He also stated in the Zuma
[29:43] Speaker 1: Palmer interview that he'd written episodes for a series called
[29:49] Speaker 1: The Phantom Pirate. However, I can't find any evidence of
[29:53] Speaker 1: that series actually being produced, though there was a pilot
[29:56] Speaker 1: for the series earlier in the nineteen fifties, and I
[29:59] Speaker 1: believe I found some whisperings of a revival on the
[30:04] Speaker 1: late fifties. Likely Bailey and King sold scripts or sold
[30:09] Speaker 1: storylines four series that just ended up not being produced.
[30:14] Speaker 1: None of this would get Bailey close to being behind
[30:19] Speaker 1: the camera. The last script he wrote that was produced
[30:22] Speaker 1: was a March nineteen fifty eight episode of Fury, though
[30:26] Speaker 1: given TV production timelines, it's likely that this episode was
[30:30] Speaker 1: written after that. Bailey may have made a practical decision,
[30:35] Speaker 1: or he may just have lost the mood to write,
[30:37] Speaker 1: which to him might have been fatal for him pursuing
[30:41] Speaker 1: this sort of career. Bailey described himself as someone who
[30:46] Speaker 1: liked to write when he had a compulsion, whether it
[30:49] Speaker 1: was early in the morning, or he might get started
[30:52] Speaker 1: at ten o'clock and pull an all nighter and stay
[30:55] Speaker 1: up till four am. And I think from the zoom
[30:59] Speaker 1: upon or peace in particularly with someone who oosed creativity.
[31:04] Speaker 1: He built and sold an early American furniture he painted,
[31:08] Speaker 1: and had even talked to a gallery owner about doing
[31:12] Speaker 1: some showings. He often read about a type of dish
[31:16] Speaker 1: and would spontaneously go home, take over the kitchen and
[31:20] Speaker 1: try to cook it. Babe Lee told Palmer, if I
[31:24] Speaker 1: would concentrate on one field, I would probably go further.
[31:28] Speaker 1: But being creative in several I feel enriches my life.
[31:33] Speaker 3: All right.
[31:33] Speaker 1: Well, listener comments and feedback now, and we start on
[31:37] Speaker 1: YouTube with a couple of comments regarding the two face matter,
[31:41] Speaker 1: kind of in the same vein. Listener comments, this has
[31:46] Speaker 1: to be the earliest depiction of an Amish community used
[31:49] Speaker 1: as a plot device that I've ever heard. An Unseen
[31:54] Speaker 1: Happiness says, this sounds like someone was trying to describe
[31:59] Speaker 1: or explain the Amish without having met any Amish people.
[32:03] Speaker 1: I definitely feel like the show was maybe a little
[32:08] Speaker 1: bit evocative of the Amish. Yet the series didn't describe
[32:13] Speaker 1: them as particularly religious or tied to any ethnic group,
[32:19] Speaker 1: which may have reflected a sensitivity they've shown in other
[32:23] Speaker 1: areas to going after minority religious or ethnic groups. Instead,
[32:28] Speaker 1: the episode treats them as just a group of eccentrics,
[32:33] Speaker 1: which can make it seem a bit shallow, particularly if
[32:38] Speaker 1: you catch what Johnstone might have been going for. And
[32:41] Speaker 1: then Harrison comments regarding the wayward Killer matter, gotta hate
[32:48] Speaker 1: it when you toss yourself out a second floor last
[32:51] Speaker 1: window to throw off the cops, only to make yourself
[32:55] Speaker 1: look even guiltier. Thanks so much, appreciate the comment, Harrison.
[32:59] Speaker 1: Now now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of
[33:02] Speaker 1: the day, and I want to thank Debbie, Patreon supporter
[33:05] Speaker 1: since October twenty fifteen, currently supporting the podcast at the
[33:09] Speaker 1: Detective Sergeant level of seven dollars and fourteen cents or
[33:13] Speaker 1: more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Debbie,
[33:16] Speaker 1: and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying
[33:18] Speaker 1: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software.
[33:23] Speaker 1: And if you're enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure
[33:27] Speaker 1: to lock the video, subscribe to the channel, and mark
[33:30] Speaker 1: the notification bell all those great things that help YouTube
[33:33] Speaker 1: channels to grow. Please note that today we do have
[33:38] Speaker 1: an episode Christmas episode on the Amazing World of Radio
[33:42] Speaker 1: at Amazing Great Detectives dot net. We'll be back next
[33:47] Speaker 1: Friday with another episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Tomorrow
[33:52] Speaker 1: we turn things over to the great adventurers of Old
[33:55] Speaker 1: time Radio with an encore presentation from the war. We
[34:00] Speaker 1: will be back on Sunday with a special episode where.
[34:05] Speaker 6: You ashamed of your friendship with a private detective? Or
[34:09] Speaker 6: do you consider my features more acceptable when buried beneath
[34:12] Speaker 6: the depths of a snowy beer?
[34:14] Speaker 7: Oh, my dear homes, do take me seriously. I'm not joking.
[34:16] Speaker 7: I assure your.
[34:17] Speaker 6: Cause not a cause?
[34:18] Speaker 2: Right?
[34:18] Speaker 3: You?
[34:19] Speaker 6: You want me to attend your party in disguise? Why
[34:22] Speaker 6: I'm giving you some very valuable.
[34:24] Speaker 7: Presents diamond and onyx cuff links in platinum and ruby earrings,
[34:28] Speaker 7: and then such like. And I've wrapped each of the
[34:30] Speaker 7: presents in banknotes.
[34:32] Speaker 6: Jure, where aren't these presents now in a.
[34:35] Speaker 7: Sack in charge of my butler. I am going to
[34:38] Speaker 7: dress up a Santa Clause and give him out myself
[34:40] Speaker 7: until I got the warning letter. That's why I've come
[34:43] Speaker 7: to you.
[34:45] Speaker 6: Warning letter.
[34:45] Speaker 7: Eh, yes, I received it by this evening's post. Listen
[34:48] Speaker 7: to this, my dear lord whittickumb, Your generosity with Christmas
[34:53] Speaker 7: presents borders on ostentation.
[34:56] Speaker 6: We do not approve either.
[34:58] Speaker 7: We receive five thousand pounds in sovereigns at post rest
[35:01] Speaker 7: Ont Box three seven nine by six o'clock on Christmas Eve,
[35:05] Speaker 7: or I'm afraid to Christmas party will be conspicuous by
[35:08] Speaker 7: its absence of presence.
[35:10] Speaker 6: You see that note wig, will you he is here?
[35:12] Speaker 6: Thanks m H. Clean paper from a penny notebook. Writing
[35:18] Speaker 6: is obviously disguised it Why, George, Yes, whitting Comb, I
[35:23] Speaker 6: accept the case. I'll come with you to your party
[35:26] Speaker 6: at once, and furthermore, I shall follow your suggestion regarding
[35:29] Speaker 6: the disguise rested as Santa Claus, I shall be less
[35:32] Speaker 6: likely to attract suspicion and delighted homes. But what made
[35:36] Speaker 6: you decide so suddenly? This writing, my dear fellow, is writing.
[35:40] Speaker 6: It's in a false hand. I'd know that characteristic m
[35:44] Speaker 6: in my dear Whittickum. I've seen it too often at
[35:48] Speaker 6: the beginning of a signature.
[35:49] Speaker 1: If you'll be with us, then in the meantime, send
[35:52] Speaker 1: your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net,
[35:56] Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter Radio Detectors, and check us out
[35:59] Speaker 1: on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash Great detectives from Boise, Idaho.
[36:05] Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. Sign and off.

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