Crime and Peter Chambers was a latter-day NBC program that aired April-September 1954. Unlike The Adventures of Christopher London, this is the sort of NBC show I usually whine about; a small New York cast of unfamiliar voice talent; limited audio effects; and the same recycled music used by NBC on Rocky Fortune, That Hammer Guy, Barrie Craig, The Chase, etc. - music that wasn’t always chosen to match the mood of the scenes but seemingly as sonic wallpaper.
I was surprised to learn Peter Chambers was adapted from a print series of novels by Henry Kane- I’d never heard of him before. He was portrayed by Dane Clark, who had to carry the bulk of each episode, narrating everything in an annoying second-person style (“You’re a private detective - that’s for money; anything else, that’s for laughs.”). The plots are fairly standard radio detective fare with femme fatales, tough guys and innocent men framed for murder. I perked up a little when Nelson Olmsted’s welcome voice appeared in one episode, but otherwise each episode sounds like the previous one.
I don’t dislike Crime and Peter Chambers but I think it’s at best, average. I can’t recommend anything so average, but if you’ve heard the best, here’s the rest on the Old-Time Radio Researchers playlist.
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