Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Radio Recap: The Crime Files of Flamond

"Flamond! The most unusual detective in criminal history! Flamond, the famous psychologist and character analyst! Flamond, who looks beyond laughter and tears, jealousy and greed to discover their basic origins!"

You, like me up until a few weeks ago, may have never heard of the detective series the Crime Files of Flamond, despite a long run on the radio. It began as a syndicated program that ran 1944-1948, then was revived on Mutual in 1953 for a few months, then again for a year from 1956-1957.

The hero of this drama, Flamond, was portrayed by a few actors, including Arthur Wyatt, Myron Wallace and Everett Clarke. You might know Myron Wallace better as Mike Wallace, the name he adopted as a news broadcaster! Flamond was accompanied by his gal friday and secretary Sandra Lake, who was portrayed by Patricia Dunlap and Muriel Bremner.

There isn't much that makes the Crime Files of Flamond stand apart from other radio detectives except for the hero's profession. As a psychologist, his solutions to crimes would always be rooted in pscyhology. But otherwise, it followed the same beats as other detective shows. Typically, Flamond would identify the criminal and turn him over to the police, then explain to Sandra what tell-tale clue led him to his deduction; Sandra would then sum up the program and give it it's title ("the case of...").

Despite being on the air for about six years all told there's very little of the Crime Files of Flamond still in circulation. Here's a YouTube playlist created by a fan that contains 10 surviving broadcasts from the 1940s (mostly with Myron Wallace as Flamond). As the series was syndicated in the 40s it's always possible more from that era will emerge in years to come.

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