This blog's posts have been updated and collected in one document, available for free at The Internet Archive. The links to the recordings in these blogposts are no longer active. See the bottom of this blogpost for permanent and easy access to the recordings.
There's More to Casey, Crime Photographer Than the Blue Note
FREE LISTENER'S GUIDE EXPLORES THE HISTORY, INSIDE JOKES, BACKROOM MANEUVERING AND QUIRKS OF A BELOVED RADIO SERIES
Most radio fans have made at least one visit to the Blue Note Cafe. That's where Casey, the Morning Express crime photographer, and young reporter Ann Williams met to commiserate about their latest assignment. Captain Logan of Homicide always seemed to arrest the wrong suspect, drawing Casey and Ann into a search for the truth, often at personal risk. In the epilogue, back at the Blue Note with jazz pianist Herman Chittison in the background, bartender Ethelbert mulled over the solution with some homespun wisdom from his sister Edna. It was a winning formula... but there was a lot of intrigue going on behind the shows.
The new e-book, Casey, Crime Photographer: A Listener's Guide, is a free download that digs into the history, the backstage fights with sponsors, and some of the strangest episodes in the run. Here are a few highlights:
There were three Caseys in eight weeks. CBS announced the 1943 summer test with Frank Lovejoy as Casey, but he chose a Broadway-bound play instead. When it finally opened, it closed after five performances! Matt Crowley took the premiere, then Jim Backus (yes, "Thurston Howell III") played Casey for four weeks. Staats Cotsworth arrived with the eighth episode and stayed eleven years. By 1946, even CBS's own publicists had forgotten Crowley and Backus.
The show was never officially called "Casey, Crime Photographer." On the air it was Flashgun Casey, Press Photographer, then Casey, Press Photographer, then simply Crime Photographer. But announcer Tony Marvin read "Casey, 'Crime Photographer'" as one phrase, and the name stuck with listeners and the press alike.
Critics hated it... vehemently... but listeners loved it! Casey ranked high among all network programs and was often one of the top shows of its night.
Cotsworth waited for the "coast to clear." The Anchor Hocking Anchor Hocking broadcasts, with their exuberant studio audiences, are the best known recordings. When Anchor Hocking dropped its sponsorship, the show continued without an audience. Only then did Staats Cotsworth take to the New York Times to argue against studio audiences and the distractions they caused for actors and listeners at home.
The guide covers each surviving recording in broadcast order, using writer Alonzo Deen Cole's own continuity and synopsis notes as a springboard. Each episode review includes a link to the recording and a QR code for easy listening on a smartphone or tablet. Inside, you'll find:
Timestamped episode notes that explain the period slang and the 1940s jokes a modern ear might miss, from "hawkshaw" to "doing a Brodie."
Dollar amounts converted to 2026 values, revealing how Cole used outrageous sums to make the audience gasp.
Historical events and everyday realities that shaped the plotlines and characters.
Blue Note Backroom special sections with backstories on the sponsors, casting changes, the show's unique studio sound, and the mid-1950s revival featuring pianist Teddy Wilson.
How a Shadow script about a coal mine killer, The Knocker of Tolliver Level, was turned down by sponsor Blue Coal and became one of Casey's best episodes, The Demon Miner.
How a sensational news story about a madman who shot a Catholic priest hearing confessions, and the Daily News photographer a witness wrongly picked out as the gunman, became a Casey episode. (No recording has been found, but the backstory was too good to leave out.)
Cast bios, sponsorship battles, and a look at why the critics just couldn't enjoy one of radio's most entertaining series.
Get the guide, and pass it on!
The Listener's Guide is a free, nearly 300-page PDF. Please spread it widely, to veteran fans and new listeners alike. Download it, link to it, and recommend it to your classic radio friends.
There's more news! The Casey, Crime Photographer Project has been designated as a Special Collection at the Internet Archive, with upgraded recordings in lossless FLAC or convenient MP3 for streaming or download. Many were newly transferred from the collections of pioneer collectors like Joe Hehn, Jerry Haendiges, John Dunning, Doug Hopkinson, and others. (Special thanks to the Old Time Radio Researchers for making these collections available.)
So let's head down to the Blue Note for the next adventure. As Ethelbert's sister Edna might say "Check out the links below!"
Where to find it.. the new series log, and much more!
Download the Listener's Guide PDF (4 MB):
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/caseylistenersguide
Get the freshly revised and expanded series log, too! (PDF, 22 pages):
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/caseylog
