Radio Recap: The Adventures of Christopher London

The Adventures of Christopher London was a very short-lived NBC radio series that ran only January-June 1950. You may recall I usually complain about the quality of NBC’s 1950s dramatic programming as inferior to that of CBS but The Adventures of Christopher London is different - it was produced and directed by William N. Robson, whom you’ll certainly recall was producer-director of Escape (among many other fine programs). The presence of Robson’s able hand is no doubt why I find The Adventures of Christopher London is well above average for NBC programs.

Added to that, the titular character was created by Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) especially for radio and portrayed by the terrific actor Glenn Ford. And although this was just one among dozens of private detective shows, the character of London had an actual… character. Having spent time in China during the war, London would philosophize using adages he learned from the Chinese (represented as well by London’s servant Ah Song, played by Charlie Lung). Other performers heard in episodes included Ben Wright, Barton Yarborough and Ted de Corsia - a lot of familiar voices from Escape.

The Adventures of Christopher London had more going for it than most private eye shows, yet it only lasted 19 weeks - it seems even with the wonders of transcription, Ford didn’t have time in his busy schedule to continue in the role - so the series ended swiftly. It was replaced by the show Top Secret, which I recapped here. Only three of the nineteen episodes are known to exist today:

1. ”The Missing Heiress” (February 5, 1950): London pursues a missing woman; does she have amnesia or is she someone’s prisoner?
2. ”The Price of Sugar” (February 26, 1950): London investigates sugar racketeers.
3. ”Pattern for Murder” (May 29, 1950): After a deadly redhead kills a man in front of him, London pursues her.

You can hear them on the Internet Archive. As I said, The Adventures of Christopher London is better than average; if you want to hear some different voices and enjoy quality production and story values, this is a fine one to seek out.