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Broadcast 21 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
The run
- Network
- CBS
- Years active
- 1952–1954
- Surviving broadcasts
- 72
- Genre
- detective
Crime Classics came to CBS September 30, 1953 and was a neat little series of "true crime stories". The show introduced itself succinctly: "Crime Classics, a series of true crime stories from the records and newspapers of every land, from every time.
1954 · 51953 · 61952 · 1
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Clean transfer · 36 of 40Listenable · 1 of 40Rough but complete · 3 of 40
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Crime_Classics_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
11 dated broadcasts across 3 years on the air. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1952
1953
1954
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1952, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Crime of Bathsheba Spooner (Audition) · 3 Dec 1952
- 2. The Shrapnelled Body of Charles Drew, Sr · 6 Jul 1953
- 3. Crime Classics 1953-08-10 The Axe and the Droot Family, How They Fared · 10 Aug 1953
- 01
The Crime of Bathsheba Spooner (Audition)
3 Dec 1952 · 26 min
Broadcast 3 December 1952. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 02
The Shrapnelled Body of Charles Drew, Sr
6 Jul 1953 · 29 min
Broadcast 6 July 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 03
Crime Classics 1953-08-10 The Axe and the Droot Family, How They Fared
10 Aug 1953 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 10 August 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 04
Crime Classics 1953-08-31 Your Loving Son, Nero
31 Aug 1953 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 31 August 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 05
Crime Classics 1953-10-21 Billy Bonny Bloodletter, Also Known as 'The Kid'
21 Oct 1953 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 21 October 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 06
Crime Classics 1953-11-25 The Killing Story of William Corder and the Farmer's Daughter
25 Nov 1953 · 27 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 25 November 1953. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 07
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (AFRTS)
9 Dec 1953 · 29 min
Broadcast 9 December 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 08
Crime Classics 1954-01-13 How Supan Got the Hook Outside Bombay
13 Jan 1954 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on CBS, 13 January 1954. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same night on the air
21 Oct 1953
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 21 Oct 1953.
On Stage
Broadcast 21 October 1953. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Also on CBS
CBS in 1952–1954
Other series the network carried while Crime Classics was on the air.
Same seasons
detective on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The private eye at the microphone
First-person narration, a case that walks in the door, and a city that talks back. Marlowe, Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar turned detection into a listening form.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Crime Classics
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
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