Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was a
radio dramaRadio Drama is a form of audio storytelling broadcast on radio. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the story....
about a "fabulous" freelance
insurance investigatorInsurance investigations are usually conducted to investigate matters pertaining to insurance claims that are suspicious or otherwise in doubt for some reason. Investigators in this field have differing specialities and backgrounds...
"with the action-packed expense account." The show aired on
CBS RadioCBS Radio Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, fourth behind main rival Clear Channel Communications , Cumulus Media and Citadel Broadcasting...
from January 14, 1949 to September 30, 1962. There were 811 episodes in the 12-year run, and more than 720 still exist today.
Format
Each story started with a phone call from an insurance executive, calling on Johnny to investigate an unusual claim. Each story required Johnny to travel to some distant locale, usually within the United States but sometimes abroad, where he was almost always threatened with personal danger in the course of his investigations. Johnny's file on each case was usually referenced as a "matter," as in "The Silver Blue Matter" or "The Forbes Matter." Later episodes were more fanciful, with titles like "The Wayward Trout Matter" and "The Price of Fame Matter" (the latter featuring a rare guest-star appearance:
Vincent PriceVincent Leonard Price II was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:...
).
Each story was recounted in flashback, as Johnny listed each line item from his expense account. Most of the items related to transportation and lodging, but no incidental expense was too small for Johnny to itemize, as in "Item nine, 10 cents. Aspirin. I needed them." Johnny usually stuck to business, but would engage in romantic dalliances with women he encountered in his travels; later episodes gave Johnny a steady girlfriend, Betty Lewis. Johnny's precious recreational time was usually spent fishing, and it was not uncommon for Johnny's clients to exploit this favorite pastime in convincing him to take on a job. The episodes generally finished with Johnny tallying up his account, making final remarks on the report, and traveling back to
Hartford, ConnecticutHartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts. Its 2006 population of 124,512 ranks Hartford as the state's second-largest city, after Bridgeport. New...
, where he was based.
Original run
As originally conceived, Johnny Dollar was a smart, tough, wisecracking detective who tossed silver-dollar tips to waiters and bellhops.
Dick PowellRichard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
starred in the audition show, recorded in 1948, but withdrew from the role in favor of other projects. The role went instead to Charles Russell. The show, for which Powell auditioned, was originally titled "Yours Truly, Lloyd London". Between the audition tape, of December 6, 1948, and the recording of the first episode, January 14, 1949, the name of the show and its lead character were changed.
With the first three actors to play Johnny Dollar -- radio actor Russell and movie tough-guy actors
Edmond O'BrienEdmond O'Brien was an American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A....
and
John LundJohn Lund was an American film actor of Norwegian ancestry who is probably best remembered for his role in the film A Foreign Affair , directed by Billy Wilder....
-- there was little to distinguish
Johnny Dollar from other detective series at the time (
Richard DiamondRichard Diamond, Private Detective is a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960.-Radio:Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his...
,
Philip Marlowe and
Sam SpadeThe Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951...
). While always a friend of the police, Johnny wasn't necessarily a stickler for the strictest interpretation of the law. He was willing to let some things slide to satisfy his own sense of justice, as long as the interests of his employer were also protected. The series ended in September 1954.
Revival
CBS Radio revived
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar in October 1955 with a new leading man, a new director, and a new format. The program changed from a 30-minute, one-episode-per-week affair to a 15-minute, five-nights-a-week serial [Monday through Friday, 8-8:15pm EST] produced and directed by radio veteran Jack Johnstone. The new Johnny Dollar was
Bob BaileyBob Bailey was an American actor who appeared mostly on radio.In the early 1940s Bailey was regularly featured on network radio programs emanating from Chicago...
, who had just come off another network detective series,
Let George Do ItLet George Do It is a 1940 wartime British comedy film starring George Formby and widely recognised as his best.-Plot:At the start of World War II, musician George Hepplewhite gets on a boat thinking he is on his way to Blackpool, but arrives in Bergen, Norway instead, where he is mistaken for...
. With a new lead and 75 minutes of air time in the week, it became possible to develop each storyline with more detail and with more characters. Almost all of the Johnny Dollar serials were presented by CBS Radio on a sustaining basis (unsponsored, with no commercials); only two of the 55 serials take time out for a sponsor's message.
Bob Bailey was exceptionally good in this format, making Johnny more sensitive and thoughtful in addition to his other attributes. Vintage-radio enthusiasts often endorse Bailey as the best of the Johnny Dollars, and consider the 13-month run of five-part stories to be some of the greatest drama in radio history. The serial scripts were usually written by Jack Johnstone, "John Dawson" (a pseudonym for E. Jack Neuman), Les Crutchfield, or Robert Ryf,
Blake EdwardsWilliam Blake Crump , better known as Blake Edwards, is an Academy Award–winning American film director, screenwriter, and producer.-Career:...
also contributed several scripts and the show was always produced and directed by Johnstone. The show featured an excellent stock company of supporting actors, including
Virginia GreggVirginia Gregg Burket was an American actress best known for her many roles in radio dramas.Gregg was born in Harrisburg, Illinois, the daughter of musician Dewey Alphaleta and businessman Edward William Gregg. Gregg was a prolific radio actor, in addition to her work in film and television...
,
Harry BartellHarry Bartell was an American actor and announcer in radio, television and film. With his rather youthful sounding voice, Bartell was one of the busiest West Coast character actors from the early 1940s until the final end of network radio drama in the 1960s.Bartell was born in New Orleans,...
,
Vic PerrinVic Perrin was an American actor and voice artist. He is best remembered as the "Control Voice" in the original version of the TV series The Outer Limits ....
,
Parley BaerParley Baer was an American actor in film, television, and radio.-Radio:Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Baer had a circus background, but began his radio career at Utah station KSL...
,
Howard McNearHoward Terbell McNear was an American film, television and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as Floyd Lawson, the barber in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
,
John DehnerJohn Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain...
, Lillian Buyeff, Tony Barrett, Don Diamond, and Forrest Lewis. Movie character actors appeared occasionally, including
Jay NovelloJay Novello was an American character actor in radio, film, and television....
,
Hans ConriedHans Conried was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:Conried was born Hans Georg Conried, Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother, Edith Beyr , was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father, Hans Georg Conried, Sr., was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria...
, Frank Nelson, Leon Belasco,
William ConradWilliam Conrad was an American film and television director and an actor and narrator in radio, film, and television known for his baritone voice, as well as his sizable girth.-Early life:...
, Edgar Barrier, and
Billy HalopBilly Halop was an American actor born in New York City.Halop came from a theatrical family: his mother was a dancer, and his sister Florence Halop was a radio actress...
.
In late 1956 CBS Radio retooled the show, which reverted to a weekly half-hour drama, appearing on late Sunday afternoons. The scripts were obviously tighter than the daily serials had been, with much less recapitulation. Bob Bailey continued in the role until 1960 (and wrote one episode, "The Carmen Kringle Matter").
The constant pressure of coming up with new mysteries and settings every week posed a problem for the writers. They solved it by occasionally consulting old scripts from other detective series. In one such remake, Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar talks like
Jack WebbJohn Randolph "Jack" Webb was an American actor, television producer, director and author, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
as
Jeff Regan, Investigator.
Changes at CBS
In 1960 CBS Radio shut down production on the west coast and moved its radio drama unit to New York. Bob Bailey, unwilling to relocate, gave up the Johnny Dollar role. Bailey's last performance was in a script significantly titled "The Empty Threat Matter." This may have been writer Johnstone's editorial comment on CBS's threat to close the shop in California.
In New York, CBS staff producer Bruno Zirato, Jr. (who also directed TV game shows for CBS) took over
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, although Jack Johnstone continued to write the scripts. Former child actor Bob Readick took over the leading role in a manner reminiscent of the original Dollar, Charles Russell. After six months he was replaced by Mandel Kramer, who gave the role his own low-key interpretation. Many fans rank Kramer second only to Bailey as the most effective Johnny Dollar. Both Readick and Kramer were members of CBS's stock company in New York, and both appeared in other CBS dramas.
The end
The final episodes of
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and
SuspenseSuspense was a radio drama series broadcast on CBS from 1942 through 1962.One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
, airing on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
, are often cited as the end of the golden age of radio. The last episode of
Johnny Dollar, "The Tip-Off Matter", ended at 6:35 p.m.
Eastern TimeThe Eastern Time Zone of the Western Hemisphere falls mostly along the east coast of North America and the west coast of South America. Its time offset is −5 hrs GMT or UTC−5 during standard time and UTC−4 during daylight saving time...
on September 30, 1962, followed immediately by the final broadcast of
SuspenseSuspense is a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety about the outcome of certain actions, most often referring to an audience's perceptions in a dramatic work. Suspense is not exclusive to fiction, though. Suspense may operate in any situation where there is a lead up to a big event or dramatic...
.
Although network radio drama returned to the airwaves -- in ABC's
Theater Five (1964-65), and
CBS Radio Mystery TheaterCBS Radio Mystery Theater was an ambitious and sustained attempt during the 1970s to revive the type of audio drama familiar to listeners of old-time radio...
(1974-82) -- these were more experimental "drama workshop" shows, and did not adhere to a continuing format or leading character. Mainstream radio drama, as pioneered in the 1920s, died with
Johnny Dollar in 1962.
Remarkably, "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" was a popular weekly radio mystery play in the 1960s and early 1970s on Radio Iran (Iran) too. Each episode opened with the sound of a man running, followed by two gunshots and the victim's cry of pain. Next there were two telephone rings and then came the sentence "Eradatmand, Johnny Dollar" (Yours truly, Johnny Dollar) by the portrayer.
The story was translated into Farsi screenplays by Jalal Nematollahi. The lead role of Johnny Dollar was played by Heidar Saremi, a popular radio performer. But contrary to the original play, in Iran, Johnny Dollar was more of a criminal investigator who solved every case through a combination of wits and tactics. At the end of each episode, the narrater asked the radio audience how did Johnny find the perpetrators? Thus, the show was also a mystery quiz and those who guessed correctly were entered into a raffle for a prize.
Actors who portrayed Johnny Dollar
- Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.-Biography:...
(Audition show in 1948)
- Charles Russell (February 1949 - January 1950)
- Edmond O'Brien
Edmond O'Brien was an American film actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A....
(February 1950 - September 1952)
- John Lund
John Lund was an American film actor of Norwegian ancestry who is probably best remembered for his role in the film A Foreign Affair , directed by Billy Wilder....
(November 1952 - September 1954)
- Gerald Mohr
Gerald Mohr was an American radio, film and television character actor who appeared in over 500 radio plays, 73 films and over 100 television shows....
(Audition show in 1955)
- Bob Bailey
Bob Bailey was an American actor who appeared mostly on radio.In the early 1940s Bailey was regularly featured on network radio programs emanating from Chicago...
(October 1955 - November 1960)
- Bob Readick (December 1960 - June 1961)
- Mandel Kramer (June 1961 - September 1962)
Related
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was so familiar to CBS Radio's listeners that the network's resident comedians,
Bob and RayBob Elliott and Ray Goulding were an American comedy team whose career spanned five decades. Their format was typically to satirize the medium in which they were performing, such as conducting radio or television interviews, with off-the-wall dialogue presented in a generally deadpan style as...
, occasionally satirized it. Their version, "Ace Willoughby, International Detective," followed the
Johnny Dollar format of exotic locales, continental officials, cool villains, and tense confrontations, with Ray Goulding doing a letter-perfect imitation of Bob Bailey's delivery. In the comedy version, however, the detective usually gave up on the case after being beaten up incessantly.
A 1991 episode of
MathnetMathnet is a segment on the children's television show Square One in which five seasons were produced . This parody of Dragnet featured detectives at the Los Angeles Police Department who solved mysteries using their mathematical skills. There were two main characters: detectives Kate Monday and...
, "The Case of the Purloined Policies," featured John Moschitta Jr. as an insurance investigator named "Johnny Dollar." He often referred to himself as "Yours truly, Johnny Dollar!"
In recent years,
Moonstone BooksMoonstone Books is an American comic book, graphic novel, and prose fiction publisher based in Chicago focused on pulp fiction comic books and prose anthologies as well as horror and western tales....
has adapted the
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar radio program into a graphic novel series illustrated by
Éric ThériaultÉric Thériault is a Canadian comics artist and writer, illustrator and blogger living in Montréal in Québec .- Biography :...
and written by
David GallaherDavid Matthew Gallaher: is Honolulu-born, American writer, who spent most of his life operating out of Brooklyn, New York and Baltimore, Maryland.-Early Life:...
.
Later, the comedy group
The Firesign TheatreThe Firesign Theatre is an American comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor.-Formation:The troupe began as live radio performers in Los Angeles, California on radio stations KPPC-FM and KPFK during the mid-1960s.The group's name is an astrological...
released a number of satirical record albums; several featured spoofs of old-time radio featuring the character
Nick Danger, Third Eye, who was loosely based on Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar. The scripts included inside references to radio with lines such as "It had been snowing in Santa Barbara ever since the top of the page..." and riffs on radio sound effects.
Further reading
- Ohmart, Ben. It's That Time Again (2002) (Albany: BearManor Media) ISBN 0-9714570-2-6
External links