Damen Runyon Theater – What, No Butler? (491204 retro238)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:54 — 7.5MB)

Damen Runyon was a newspaper reporter, columnist, and short story writer. His characters featured gangsters and street people. His stories found their way into the movies, sometimes as just a few scenes in the bigger story, and sometimes as the entire feature. Many of his stories were adapted and made into a radio show. In the radio series, each episode centers around a character named Broadway. Broadway narrates, and takes part in the stories.

In today’s show he and his friend Ambrose get involved with a murder investigation. Broadway leans toward the cliche of the butler who did it. Ambrose holds out for a dame who did it. The cops let them think what they want, but do their own thing. A week goes by. Ambrose has some leads, and takes Broadway, and the listening audience along to track down this mystery. The man’s neck was broken. Surely a dame couldn’t have done that… right? In the world of Damen Runyon, the cops don’t always get their man, or figure it out, but crooks are curious and just have to know what happened. In the world of radio, justice has a way of making things right.

This may not be the classic type of comedy, with lots of jokes, The characters can be hardcases at times, but Damen Runyon writes them so we can see the softer side of these rough people, and their sense of humor as they go through life in the big city.

John Brown stars as Broadway. John Brown was also a voice actor on the Fred Allen show, he was the father on A Date with Judy. He played Al, the boyfriend of Irma on My Friend Irma, not to mention several other voices on that program. He was on the Mel Blanc show as several characters, and on so many other shows, I don’t have room to name them all.

Bonus Track:
The Five Dimarco Sisters. 1946. Did You Ever Feel That Way in the Moonlight?

PS: While you’re reading this, and listening to great old time radio, leave me a comment.