Radio Recap: The Amazing Mr. Malone

The Amazing Mr. Malone was a radio program that ran first on ABC from 1947-1951 then on NBC for just 8 episodes in May-July 1951. We have all 8 of the NBC shows but only a few of the ABC programs. Originally the lead character was portrayed by Frank Lovejoy, later Gene Raymond and finally George Petrie in the NBC shows. The series tagline was “a lawyer whose practice before every kind of bar is legendary.”

I had never heard of the character before listening to the series, but the Amazing Mr. Malone appeared in a series of novels written by Craig Rice (pseudonym of Georgiana Walker), was adapted into motion pictures (one, Having Wonderful Crime in 1945 starring Pat O’Brien) and later had a television series. Who knew? Not me, obviously.

Although a detective program, it’s different from the majority of its kind, especially what was being broadcast by its contemporaries. John J. Malone is not a private detective, but a lawyer - one who frequently serves as a criminal defense lawyer. The episodes have a different kind of rhythm than most radio detective shows as they usually begin by following the events of the criminals, going on for some time until Malone is brought into the case. Unusual for the genre, Malone sometimes defends clients who turn out to be guilty; in one episode he offers his services to a man he just implicated in a crime!

While most detective shows of the time featured antagonism between the sleuth and the police professionals, it seems more justified in Malone’s case since he was usually defending people the police were trying to put behind bars. And despite his “amazing” moniker, Malone was fallible, which is extremely unusual in the detective genre. In one episode the police lieutenant Sidney Brooks (ably played in the NBC shows by Larry Haines) notes that he turned out to be correct about the case while Malone was wrong; “that’ll never happen again,” Malone retorts. The lieutenant likewise notes there was never a point during the drama where Malone was knocked unconscious (an overused trope in radio): “that’ll never happen again either,” Malone insists.

The writing on the Amazing Mr. Malone could be incredibly self-aware, especially in the 8 NBC shows. Repeatedly, Malone’s 1st scene in an episode would feature him stumbling home from the bar singing “It Was Just One of Those Things” to himself, only to be interrupted mid-song by the police on his telephone. In the 2nd last episode, when Malone reaches the point where the phone normally rings, he pauses, confused that the telephone didn’t interrupt him. A second later, the phone rings and Malone tells Brooks he was late; Brooks insists that he already phoned Malone once, Malone is the one who was late getting back from the bar!

The series was loaded with radio professionals, including Raymond Burr. In one episode (“The Devil Finds Work for Idle Hands”) you can hear Jack Webb acting against Henry Morgan, who would be his 1960s television Dragnet partner. The show’s breezy pace and strong sense of humour makes the Amazing Mr. Malone a cut above your typical radio detective show and it’s a shame that so few are known to exist. But for what we do you have, you can listen at the Old-Time Radio Researchers Group YouTube playlist page.