''The Adventures of Frank Race'' was an American radio adventure
serial syndicated by Bruce Eells Productions. The 30-minute program's first
East Coast
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broadcast was 1949, and the show ran 43 episodes. Because it was syndicated, it aired on different stations on different days. For instance, in
New York City
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, the first episode ran on
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on April 9, 1949.
[''The New York Times'', ”Programs on the Air”, April 9, 1949] It "began running in some markets May 1, 1949.
The series was broadcast on the West Coast from 1951–52.
Each episode opened with a one-minute organ theme and then the following from announcer
Art Gilmore
Arthur Wells Gilmore, known as Art Gilmore (March 18, 1912 – September 25, 2010) was an American actor and announcer heard on radio and television programs, children's records, movies, trailers, radio commercials, and documentary films. He also ...
:
:The war changed many things; the face of the earth and the people on it. Before the war, Frank Race worked as an attorney, but he traded his law books for the cloak-and-dagger of the OSS. And when it was over, his former life was over, too... ''adventure had become his business!''
Characters and story
Frank Race mainly investigated international insurance scams around the globe in various exotic locations, making him something of a cross between
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
and
Johnny Dollar Johnny Dollar may refer to:
* ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'', a radio drama
* Johnny Dollar (musician) (1933–1986), American country and rockabilly musician
* Johnny Dollar (blues musician) (1941–2006), American Chicago blues guitarist, singer ...
. After Tom Collins played the title role for the first 22 episodes,
Paul Dubov
Paul Dubov (October 10, 1918 – September 20, 1979) was an American radio, film and television actor as well as screenwriter. He frequently appeared in the works of Sam Fuller.
Among Dubov's radio credits include the 05/02/1953 episode of Gunsm ...
took over the lead role.
Tony Barrett
Tony Barrett (born Martin Lefkowitz; May 24, 1916 – November 16, 1974) was an American actor, writer, and producer. He was born on May 24, 1916 New York City. He worked as a radio and screen actor, screenwriter, and television writer and pro ...
portrayed Race's sidekick, Mark Donovan. Other actors included
Jack Kruschen
Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. ...
, Wilms Herbert, Lillian Buyeff, Frank Lovejoy and Harry Lang.
The series was written and directed by Joel Murcott and Buckley Angel.
[Sies, Luther F. (2014). ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920–1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 13.] Ivan Ditmars provided the background organ music.
Episodes
East Coast premiere broadcasts
References
Listen to
*{{InternetArchiveOTR, id=otr_frankrace, title=The Adventures of Frank Race
Radio Detective Story Hour: ''The Adventures of Frank Race''OTR Net Library, all 43 episodes of ''The Adventures of Frank Race''Zoot Radio, Free downloads of ''The Adventures of Frank Race'' radio show
Adventures of Frank Race, The
Adventures of Frank Race, The