Let George Do It - Single Episodes


(4.7 stars; 48 reviews)

LET GEORGE DO IT

Let George Do It was a radio drama series produced by Owen and Pauline Vinson from 1946 to 1954. It starred Bob Bailey as detective-for-hire George Valentine (with Olan Soule stepping into the role in 1954). Clients came to Valentine's office after reading a newspaper carrying his classified ad:
Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine.
The few earliest episodes were more sitcom than private eye shows, with a studio audience providing scattered laughter at the not-so-funny scripts. Soon the audience was banished, and George went from stumbling comedic hero to tough guy private eye and the music from wah-wah-wah to suspenseful. Valentine's secretary was Claire Brooks, aka Brooksie (Frances Robinson, Virginia Gregg, Lillian Buyeff). As Valentine made his rounds in search of the bad guys, he usually encountered Brooksie's kid brother, Sonny (Eddie Firestone), Lieutenant Riley (Wally Maher) and elevator man Caleb (Joseph Kearns). For the first few shows, Sonny was George's assistant, but he was soon relegated to an occasional character. Sponsored by Standard Oil, the program was broadcast on the West Cast Mutual Broadcasting System from October 18, 1946 to September 27, 1954, first on Friday evenings and then on Mondays. In its last season, transcriptions were aired in New York, Wednesdays at 9:30pm, from January 20, 1954 to January 12, 1955. John Hiestand was the program's announcer. Don Clark directed the scripts by David Victor and Jackson Gillis. The background music was supplied by Eddie Dunstedter, initially with a full orchestra. When television supplanted radio as the country's primary home entertainment, radio budgets got skimpier and skimpier and Dunstedter's orchestra was replaced by an organ. Information from WikiPedia From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. See "Note" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

License

Chapters

1 27:18
2 2:43
Prairie Dog 27:13
4 27:18
The Eight Ball 20:03
Every Shot Counts 27:22
The Anthill 24:25
8 27:13
9 27:10
Uncle Harry's Bones 27:25
No Escape From The Jungle 27:14
12 27:22
Man Behind The Frame 27:26
14 16:21
15 26:42
16 27:20
17 27:13
18 27:12
19 27:00
20 28:00
#024 - 510618 - "The High Price of a Penny" 27:24
#025 - 510115 - "Tune On A Triangle" 4:20
23 27:45
#033 - 501127 - "Nothing But the Truth" 27:30
#034 - 510702 - "High Card" 27:40
#037 - 501130 - "Angel's Grotto" 26:22
27 23:42
28 27:11
#040 - 500925 - "Tag, You're It" 27:26
#041 - 500911 - "The White Elephant" 27:15
31 27:06
32 3:06
#044 - 510416 - "The Noose Hangs High" 27:22
#045 - 501002 - "The House That Jack Built" 27:21
35 27:19
#047 - "And Hope To Die" 27:20
#048 - 510625 - "The Treasure of Millie's Wharf" 27:18
38 26:57
39 27:16
40 21:27
41 22:26
42 29:35
43 29:34
44 29:57
45 29:44
46 29:49
47 29:47
48 29:44
49 29:49
50 29:55
51 29:49
52 29:51
53 29:36
54 28:57
55 29:38
56 29:36
57 29:52
Friendship Club [aka-Island in the Lake] 30:01
Have Some Excitement 30:01
A Piece Of Publicity [aka-Hired for a Bodyguard] 29:33
Problem Child [aka-The Unfit Mother] 29:57
Mr. Korawski - American [aka-The Racket] 30:01
Murder Me Twice [aka-The Man Who Was Murdered Twice] 29:55
A Close Call 29:27
Cry Murder [aka-A Deadman Who Was a Murderer] 29:36
The Seven Murder 29:35
The Money Maker 29:40
The Perfect Specimen 29:28
The Ghost on Bliss Terrace 29:27
The Corpse That Took a Powder 29:40
A Minor Case of Murder 29:33
The Impatient Redhead 29:30
The Father Who Had Nothing to Say 29:29
The Hearse That Was Painted Pink 29:39
The Little Man Who Was Everywhere 29:31
Death Wears a Gay Sports Jacket 2:22
The Seven Dead Years 29:25
The Flowers That Smelled of Murder 29:40
Murder - It's a Gift 29:36
Who Is Sylvia 28:10
Stand-In for Murder 29:33
The Malignant Heart 29:13
Death In Fancy Dress 29:33
Murder and One To Go 29:44
The Corpse on a Caper 29:46
The Payoff is Murder 29:43
Till Death Do Us Part 30:05
Mayhem By Experts 30:12
One Against a City 30:39
Destination - Dead End 29:50
Journey Into Hate 29:45
Your Money or Your Life 29:50
The Roundabout Murder 28:59
The Motif Is Murder 29:50
The Four-Sided Triangle 29:44
The Host of Casa Diablo 30:16
The Elusive Hundred Grand 29:38
Lady in Distress 29:45
Out of Mind 29:14
Vultures on the Wing 29:34
Come and Get Me 29:50
Stranger Than Fiction 29:02
A Matter of Doubt 29:29
Death in Blue Jeans 29:30
Serenade to the Southern Star 29:41
The Next to the Last Guest 28:30
Laura's House 29:34
Perfect Alibi 29:38
One Chance at the World 29:50
The Problem of Joe Martin 29:32
Empress of Fishfalls 29:28
End of Summer 29:38
Everything Is Nice 29:47
Valley Sunset 29:59
The Coward 29:50
The Man Under the Elm Trees 29:42
Double Death 29:52
The Rose Petal Staircase 29:49
Every Shot Counts 30:00
The Dark Chain 29:57
Run Until Dead 29:51
Sweet Poison 30:07
No Riders 29:49
Too Near the Sky 29:48
Partner in Panama 29:12
Follow That Train 28:14
Snow Blind 28:12
Needle In The Haystack 29:05
The Silent Waterfall 29:25
Juniper Lane 29:20
The Floaters 29:16
The Ugly Duckling 29:20
The Old Style 29:15
Go Jump in the Lake 29:14
The Tears of Sorrow 29:15
The Brothers Macintosh 29:17
Portrait by Priscilla 29:20
Mixup in La Cruza 29:20
Death Begins at 45 29:20
The Chair of Humanities 29:22
Picture with a Black Frame 29:10
The Ant Hill 29:19
Portugese Cove 29:06
Sudden Storm 28:45
The Witch of Mill Hollow 29:13
The Iron Cat 29:11
So Low in Whispers 29:09
Most Likely to Die 29:12
The Scream of the Eagle 28:58
Island in the Desert 29:18
Eleven O'Clock 29:20
The Golden Lizard 29:03
Voice of the Giant 29:00
Sweet Are the Uses of Publicity 29:39
The High Price of a Penny 29:26
The Treasure Of Millie's Wharf 29:00
High Card 30:02
Second Degree Affection 30:10
The White Elephant 0:37
Cover for an Hour 29:17
Tag, You're It 29:21
The House That Jack Built 28:31
The Spider and the Fly 29:22
It's A Mystery To Me 27:14
The Hand In The Coconut 27:11
Sedan From The City 27:11
A Visit from Merlin 29:50
Angel's Grotto 29:30
Cause for Thanksgiving 29:12
Nothing but the Truth 28:27
And Hope to Die 30:24
The Book Worm Turns 30:38
Opportunity Knocks Twice 30:34
Santa Claus in Glass 30:49
The Man Behind the Frame 30:21
Tune on a Triangle 30:42
Knock on Wood 30:49
Christmas in January 31:00
Tongalani 24:44
The Marauder 28:00
How Guilty Can You Get 29:59
See Me Once, You've Seen Me Twice 30:11
The Public Eye 30:01
The Prairie Dog 30:13
Murder for Two 29:58
No Escape from the Jungle 30:13
The Eight Ball 30:38
Uncle Harry's Bones 30:57
The Noose Hangs High 30:56
Sabotage 29:48
The Discovery of Ponce, the Lion 27:20
Big Brother 16:21
Sucker Stunt 27:00
The Man From Jaune Cache 27:12
Is Everybody Happy 26:39
What's Become of Terry Cable 26:42
Drop Dead 27:10
The Fearless Clown 27:13
Deal Me Out and I'll Deal You In 27:06
Murder On Vacation 27:22
Blue Plate Special 3:06
Framed for Hanging 30:18
No Way Out 30:08
A Crime Too Simple 29:47
The Woman in Black 30:19
Destination, Danger 29:33
The Meddler 29:51
Off the Record 28:39
The Last Payoff 29:55
Stolen Goods 29:32
Christmas Letter 28:40
A School Of Sharks 29:15
The Bad Little God 29:17
A Matter of Honor 29:41
The Common Denominator 29:08
Surprise, Surprise 29:58
Cortez Island 30:12
The Symbol Three 29:48
The Starlight Pier 29:48
The Deadly Pines 29:58
The Darkest Shadow 29:51
Three Times and Out 30:04
The Gray Stone Ghost 30:02
The Forgotten Murder 29:35
War Maneuver 29:51
Operation Europa 29:43
Come to the Casbah 29:22
The Iron Hat 29:27
It Happened on Friday 29:24
The Violent Van Pattons 29:31
The Mystic 29:29
Seed of Destruction 29:14
Sabotage 29:46
Human Nature 29:49
Once a Crook 28:58
Chance and Probability 29:32
The Four Seasons 29:52
The Dead of Night 29:13
Guy Reposo 29:30
Dead on Arrival 29:41
The Stand-In 29:01
The Ghost of Ireland Betty 30:16

Reviews

West Coast Bias


(5 stars)

Let George Do It remains one of the great underrated gems of the golden age of radio. The character of Brooksie remains the best Girl Friday in all of old time radio and arguably the most useful detective sidekick ever. The mysteries are usually well-crafted with a nice mix of story lines. Early episodes also feature fantastic chemistry between our hero and his policeman foil Lt. Riley (played by the great Wally Maher.) To top it off we have George Valentine (played beautifully by Bob Bailey), a detective that alternates between brilliant deductions worthy of the soft boiled mastere, and delivering some two fisted action to the villains. The only downside to this eet is that the audio quality is only so-so (most of these 32kbps incomes with a few 64 kbps thrown in.) If you can get past the sound quality, do yourself a favor and enjoy the best detective show you've never heard.

A memorable show


(5 stars)

The show started as a comedy and was funny until after a few episodes I was shocked.... Asto what Happened but the show changed to be a great crime show George and Brooksie are great characters the show is well written and keeps you hooked each... I love episodes with ghosts and episodes with George Making a sucker out of him I love it when LT Riley goes... Valentine Valentine anyways... Bob Bailey as George delivers a brilliant performer and Virginia Gregg is my favorite Brooksie... So brilliant episode The forgotten murder (under a different title here), So Low in Whispers, Laura's House, spider and fly, rose petals staircase, The Silent Waterfall, The Witch of Mill Hollow, Double Death and so many more!!!!!!

Bob Bailey Did An Excellent Job As George Valentine


(5 stars)

The first time I heard "Let George Do It" was as a youngester in the Fall 1948. I enjoyed it then and I am very pleased to again be a listener. The plot was introduced at the beginning of the program and followed through in good fashion by George and his secretary. I did not recognize as a child the "close relationship" between George and Brooksy, which is so apparent as an adult listener. They both make an excellent team, which adds to the pleasure of listening. Bob Bailey was excellent as Johnny Dollar, but the latter role did not diminish the good work he did as George Valentine.

episode #101- wrong title


(5 stars)

This episode should be titled Solo in whispers. It relates to the show being about operas and the story line behind them. I don't know if y'all have an official title list for these shows, but since solo sounds like so low, I'm thinking that's how the mix-up occurred. So, that's why the title should be called Solo in whispers because a soloist is a title for an opera singer or a piece played by a musician. I just thought y'all should know. By the way, I really love Let George Do It, but I just wish there was more to listen too!

Has a herteronomative Eurocentric biase


(5 stars)

Sure this show was made 60 years ago. However that does not absolve authors of the essential hate crime commited when they did not include homosexual realtionships between the oppressed LatinX transgendered protagonists. Ignores the role of BIPOCs in solving crimes. Portrays white males in a positive light. Portraying white males as somethung other than weak bufoons who have somehow managed to enslave and oppress the entire world is exttemely problematic. Listening to thus likely makes u a member of the klucluckclan

How Well George Did It


(4 stars)

An earlier series before Johnny Dollar, it suffers a bit from intrusive organ cues and Bob Bailey more tuff guy than he later was as Johnny D. Drama is the emphasis here with the fine actress Frances Robinson the frustrated romantic. Scripts are good though the denouement is often rushed as Bob pushes the suspect to confess. In sum, a fine show, just not quite the Johnny Dollar series.

Good Audio Quality


(5 stars)

These shows have remarkably good audio quality. Much on the bright side without distorting, so I have to "tone it down" and up the bass. Some of the shows have very good story lines. And I enjoy hearing supporting cast voices like Harry Bartel and John Dehner form time to time. Thanks very much for sharing. Too bad half hour shows like this couldn't come back on the air.

Let George continue to do it!


(5 stars)

Indeed, the series started slowly. The listener's patience will be rewarded, however. George soon matures into a most capable private eye. And Brooksie? She adds immeasurably to the show! Their dynamic tension and playfulness is so endearing. The change to organ music was unfortunate, but I suppose budget constraints reared their ugly heads even in the "Golden Age." Stay with it, it's a great series!