Michael Shayne was a detective hero created by Brett Halliday (aka Davis Dresser) who debuted in 1939; his publication, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine ran 1956-1985 and the character had movies from 1940-1947 and a TV series from 1960-1961. And for our purposes, he was featured in three very different radio programs: The Adventures of Michael Shayne, Private Detective (Mutual, 1946-1947); The New Adventures of Michael Shayne (syndicated, 1948-1949); and The Adventures of Michael Shayne (ABC, 1952-1953).
I was surprised how difficult it was to find an explanation of where the different series came from and who was responsible for them. Even the normally-reliable RadioGoldIndex is shaky when it comes to the New Adventures of Michael Shayne, which only lists a few of the many circulating episodes. The best resource I found was the sadly-missed Digital Deli, whose article on every version of the Adventures of Michael Shayne can still be read via the Wayback Machine.
Mutual's The Adventures of Michael Shayne, Private Detective was apparently the version most faithful to the print version of the character. It starred Wally Maher as Michael Shayne and Cathy Lewis as his secretary Phyllis Knight. Although Phyllis originated in the print version, it seems the radio adaptation pushed her pretty hard as Shayne's sidekick, to the point that the series was always announced as starring "Wally Maher and Cathy Lewis." Mutual didn't seem to have the budget for big name stars so it does seem significant that they put a lot of promotion around Maher and Lewis, who at that time were very busy on all the networks but it was only on Michael Shayne that they were introduced as stars!
The show's resident friend on the force was Lt. Farraday (Joe Forte), no relation to the Farraday of Boston Blackie, one assumes. Farraday was about the chummiest of all radio police lieutenants as never quibbled with Shayne taking over his investigations. Phyllis was always present to assist Shayne, but she was portrayed as an extremely jealous woman who seemed to resent whenever Shayne's investigation involved another woman, despite the fact that Shayne's relationship to Phyllis was nothing more than professional (obviously she wanted more but boy, she comes off as a shrew).
The strangest aspect of The Adventures of Michael Shayne, Private Detective to me is the music; it's a very pleasant orchestral score that sounds like it could have been used on a sitcom or a soap opera; it clashes with the tone of the series to hear such light music play after a dead body has been discovered.
The New Adventures of Michael Shayne, starring Jeff Chandler, is the version I first heard and which has been circulated pretty freely among collectors (too freely, as some have tried to pass off identical programs under different titles). Each episode began with director Bill Rousseau declaring:
"Another transcribed episode with Michael Shayne, that reckless, redheaded Irishman back in his old haunts in New Orleans."
Since this was my first exposure to the character, I assumed the character's print exploits were normally set in New Orleans-- but no, apparently the earlier series' setting of Florida was closer to Shayne's usual stomping grounds. I suppose Rousseau (who was also director Pat Novak, for Hire, The Amazing Mr. Malone, Dr. Kildare and Richard Diamond, Private Detective) based his series in New Orleans because it was a colorful environment. Indeed, some episodes feature people attempting French accents (not very good French accents, mind) and there's a Mardi Gras episode, which is required by law for any fictional story set in New Orleans.
Jeff Chandler is best-remembered as the bashful biologist Philip Boynton on Our Miss Brooks; it's a testament to his range that he could manage one career as a tough guy, the other as a milquetoast. The opening of "The Case of the Generous Killer" (September 4, 1948) is typical of the gaudy narration Chandler would read:
"It wasn't a pretty picture: His throat had been slit not more than a minute ago! I started around the corner of the warehouse after the killer! All of a sudden, I spread-eagled in the air and my head splattered on the pier and a million stars exploded in front of my eyes-- and then, all the lights went out!"
The 1948 series didn't credit its supporting players but I recognized familiar voices including Paul Frees, Virginia Gregg, Hans Conreid and Larry Dobkin among the cast. But the biggest name in the cast was Jack Webb in the recurring role of Lt. LeFevre, Shayne's friend on the force (no, Webb did not attempt a French accent). This was a year before Webb broke out big with Dragnet; in some episodes he played additional characters - in one, I heard him as two other characters besides LeFevre, using a different voice style for each one. Back in 1948, Webb wasn't a recognizable voice and could get away with it; today, it's wicked obvious when he turns up as additional characters!
Supernaturalism abounded on the show; "The Case of Anthony Carrell" (July 15, 1948) concerned voodoo and "The Case of the Bayou Monster" featured a supposed werewolf.
The New Adventures of Michael Shayne was easily as over-the-top as Rousseau's Pat Novak, for Hire but not as deliberately funny or quippy. Still, Chandler's commitment to the lurid dialogue grants it a strength rarely found outside of Gerald Mohr's performance in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe.
ABC's The Adventures of Michael Shayne is yet another ABC program with precious little of its content preserved. Donald Curtis played Shayne for just a few weeks before being replaced by Robert Sterling. A few weeks later, Sterling left and Vinton Hayworth became Shayne for the remaining months. We have just one episode from this version of Michael Shayne: "The Case of the Queen of Narcotics" (April 3, 1953), which features Hayworth. This is actually a pretty interesting program - there's a scene where a heroin addict goes into a monologue about his addiction and it's a very striking scene, maybe the best performance to be found in any version of Michael Shayne.
You can hear 71 episodes of Michael Shayne at the Old Time Radio Researchers' Library.
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