I Love A Mystery
Various
The exploits of a trio of soldiers of fortune: Jack Packard, Doc Long and Reggie York. Created by Carlton E. Morse.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
Chapters
Reviews
I Love A Mystery
ILAM1
Thanks for the effort! Unfortuately the shows are about 50% mislabled and misdated. Probably people haven't actually heard the programs just copied them. Blood of the cat has been mislabled it is The Pirate Loot of the Island of Skulls Chapter 2 of 12 4-20-42 15/30 min. (last half of episode) I have been down this road so often and been disapointed. Note: There has been a lot of ILAM MP3 files mislabled and dated wrong. These MP3 files are dated wrong: 1. The Case of the Roxy Mob ep.2 390117 This is episode 3 390118 2. 50-07-28 ep.26 Snake With the Diamond Eyes This is The Tropics Don't Call It Murder Ep. 26 of 26 3-30-50 3. The Pirate Loot of the Island of Skulls ep.1, ep.2, ep.3, ep.4, ep.5, ep.6 this set should be The Pirate Loot of the Island of Skulls Chapter 2 of 12 4-20-42 15/30 min. (last half of episode), Ch. 7 of 12 5-25-42 30 min., Ch. 8 of 12 6-1-42 30 min., Ch.10 of 12 6-15-42 15/30 min. (last half of episode) 4. 51-11-00 The Killer of the Circle M ep. 1, ep.2 these should be The Killer of the Circle M Ep. 10 of 20 11-30-51 and Ep. 11 of 20 12-3-51 5. 51-12-00 Murder Is The Word For It ep.1, ep.2 these should be Murder Is The Word For It Ep. 4 of 15 12-20-51 and Ep. 15 of 15 1-4-52 6. Ep. 1 Snake With the Diamond Eyes This is The Snake With the Diamond Eyes ep. 25 of 26 7-27-50 7. Murder In Turquoise Pass ep.1, ep2 these should be Murder In Turquoise Pass Ep. 8 of15 8-30-50 and Ep. 9 of 15 8-31-50 8. The Graves of Wamperjaw, Texas 1,2 these should be The Graves of Wamperjaw, Texas Ep. 8 of 15 2-27-52 and Ep. 9 of 15 2-28-52 Plus manny more...
I Love a Mystery (and I always will).
Shadows_Girl
Yes, this was one of the great series. And it was the inspiration for such diverse TV shows as Scooby Doo, Tales of the Gold Monkey, and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. The Adventures of Jack, Doc, and Reggie thrilled at least three generations and, if they fail to thrill listeners now, their spiritual grandchildren (show-wise) are still effective. Let me straighten out a couple of confusions among the previous reviewers. "The Fear that Creeps Like a Cat" wasn't ghost-written by anybody. The scripts used were pure Carleton E. Morse. But the show is a re-creation (none of the episodes of the original serial remain)and it was recorded in 1996. Veteran radio and film actor, Les Tremayne, was brought in to play Jack Packard. But he was 83 at the time and he SOUNDS it. The rest of the cast were, let's be charitable, less than effective. There are few actors, today, who are equal to the unique challenge that radio presents. When the only trick you have for portraying a character is your VOICE you need to be GOOD. Of the shows still in existence there are only three that are complete. "The Thing That Cries in the Night" (The immediate sequel to "Fear" ) "Bury Your Dead, Arizona" (The next adventure after "Thing" and "Temple of Vampires" which follows the story variously entitled "Million Dollar Mystery" or "The Richards Curse" (which is the title I prefer). So judge the show on the complete stories. Not the fragmentary episodes of the lost shows.
I love I love a mystery ! And Shadowsgirl too!
Vivia
Delighted to find this series. Half of "Temple of Vampires" is all I've heard so far, but I am really impressed with the exciting pace, acting, and sound f/x. I feel for the original listeners, who had to wait a day or more to hear what happened next! On the other hand, they couldn't consume the good shows til there were scarcely any more to hear, like I have piggishly done over the short time since I, laid up at home for an extended period, have done. I am pretty hard to impress (e.g. can't bear CBSRMT, to my sorrow, since there are so many of them) I'm nback in hog heaven for a while having discovered these. Thanks to Shadowsgirl, whose reviews I search out ... your comments around archive.org are always interesting and informative. Thanks for giving of your time! You rock. The internet archives rock. So does the uploader and all the wonderful people who saved these shows for all of us and those to come. I will listen to the fragmentary stories and fill in the missing bits with my imagination, honed by otr. Cheers!! p.s.Temple of Vampires is incomplete after part 6, with pretty good recreations filling in.
Generally a decent franchise ...
gl1200phil
BUT some of the series really suffer from inconsistancy. Listened to "Fear creeps like a cat". This series really fell way short of other series by Carlton Morse. The way it was introduced, gives a clue as to maybe why it was not up to snuff, "Jim Harmon's presentation of the Carlton Morse etc..." Seems ghost writers were helping to cash in on popular writers' cache then, as they do now. Barton Yarborough's portrayal of Doc Long (he also played Lt Ben Romero on the Dragnet radio show, before his untimely death, at the age of 51, of a heart attack. Sadly, Barton died right after the second episode of the new Dragnet TV show had been made) has long been one of my favorite characters from radio. I also have always enjoyed Tony Randall's personification of Reggie. This series had different actors and I thought they were poor substitutes. I'd say most of the other series rated a strong three or four stars. However, the adventure, "Fear Creeps Like a Cat", IMHO, only deserves two stars.
ILAM
joey.wolfe@comcast.net
ILAM1 is correct about many of the shows being mislabeled. That is par for the course as these files have been traded back and forth for years on the internet with the errors perpetuated. I Love A Mystery is one of the most popular and sought after OTR shows for collectors but unfortunately many of the episodes (including most of the early series) no longer exist. There is always the possibility more transcription discs will turn up but I think that becomes less likely as time passes.
Scripts available
Calif Cropduster
Obviously not as good as the actor-performed OTR shows, the scripts are fun to read, especially so, when you audio-lize (word?) the characters as your read, knowing how they sounded on the original broadcasts. SPERDVAC has 31 scripts for 31 complete ILAM stories that you can get from them (in PDF form). I've read through about half of them and it's a great alternative to reading a book! Note: SPERDVAC requires membership, but that's no big deal because membership is VERY inexpensive!
Don't Understand This
smeiz99
Why is this show so popular? I know it is considered the ultimate OTR show but it is about my least favorite. If you like people talking about the obvious and getting the show cut off right as it starts to make scense this show is for you. If you want suspense try OTR Suspense series.
Where Are the Rest of Them???
solidgranite
I really enjoy Morse's shows. Unfortunately, the list above seems to be massively incomplete. Some of the shows are labeled "episode 15 of 26" without the other 25 episodes displayed! If anyone has a complete version of the above shows, please post it. I'd love to hear them!