Casey, Crime Photographer

The Joe Hehn Memorial Collection

Casey, Crime Photographer was adapted from the pulp novels of George Harmon Coxe. The series began in July 1943 with the name Flashgun Casey, Press Photographer , then changed to Casey, Press Photographer , and for the balance of its run was Crime Photographer . Listeners, the press, and old time radio collectors almost always refer to it as Casey, Crime Photographer . The best years of the series were from August 1946 to March 1948 when it had a big budget from its sponsor, glassware manufacturer Anchor Hocking. The series was set in a city that was a hybrid of Boston and New York. A key location was the Blue Note Cafe, staffed by Ethelbert the bartender who could always be counted on for malapropisms, puns, or philosophical whimsy that would help Casey solve the week's crime, and be location for the show's epilogue. Highly regarded stage and radio actor Staats Cotsworth played the part of Casey starting in September 1943 and held the role through the conclusion of the series. Ethelbert was ably played by John Gibson, one of radio's busiest actors in many series in supporting and usually uncredited roles. Casey was assisted by young reporter Ann Williams most often portrayed by Jan Miner. Captain Logan was portrayed by Bernard Lenrow, who was usually uncredited. Scripts were written or supervised by Alonzo Deen Cole, who was a radio pioneer with his popular 1930s syndicated series The Witch's Tale . For much of the series, background music was supplied by jazz pianist Herman Chittison. Jazz fans and aspiring musicians would often tune in just to hear Chittison. The series was not well-liked by radio critics in newspapers. They felt it was not an accurate reflection of the daily life of their business. The listeners, however, loved the series, and it was always a top-rated program. It had appeal to a broad range of listeners who enjoyed the usual playful banter between Casey and Ann about how men and women did or did not get along, their occasional flirtatious dialogue, and the occasionally quirky characters in each week's story. * * * These recordings are part of the Joe Hehn Memorial Collection. Mr. Hehn (1931-2020) was a pioneering collector of radio recordings when the hobby emerged in the 1960s. Digitizing his collection of reel tapes and discs is the effort of a wide range of North American volunteers, and includes assistance of some international collectors. The groups supporting this effort with their funds, time, technology and skills are the Old Time Radio Researchers and a small group of transcription disc preservationists who refer to themselves as the "The Knights of the Turning Table."

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

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