30 minute police/mystery episodes
Mister District Attorney!
Champion of the People!
Guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!
This show was inspired by Thomas E. Dewey, New York's racket busting district attorney in the late 1930s. Dewey later went on to become Governor of New York and infamous in his presidential run for the “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline. Dewey had transformed the district attorney from the bumbling incompetent (the kind heard in many of our radio programs) to a hard working, tough as nails defender of justice.
Shortly after airing as a 15 minute serial it went to the full half hour format. Mr. District Attorney started as a replacement show when Bob Hope went on vacation, but when Bob came back, Mr. District Attorney stayed on, and stayed in the top 10 ratings for a few years, in fact it was the number 1 show during the summer (admittedly, it was when the big shows were on break, but still, #1 is #1.)
Ed Byron a down on his luck radio man (largely out of work) created and produced the series with head writer Robert Shaw. Byron and Shaw were known to hang out in bars and mingle with criminals to get good material, as well as interview cops and reporters. The result of their research was a show that was grounded in reality. At one point they wrote a script dealing with Nazi submarines that was so close to a real, and secret, event that the FBI gave Byron a real visit. Another time the show aired a story about a police raid on a sanitarium on the exact same day that a real raid on a sanitarium took place.
As well as crime/detective/police/adventure stories, the series was also not afraid to take on social issues like racism and poverty.
The cast was: Jay Jostyn became the District Attorney in 1940, Vicki Vola as Miss Miller, Len Doyle as Harrington the investigator. This cast went through the entire run to 1950, a revamp of the show occurred in 1951 with David Bryant in the lead role.
“and it shall be my duty as district attorny not only to prosecute to the limit of the law all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privileges of all its citizens.”
Text from Wikipedia
Purchase as a download, purchase as CD(s), or listen for free
All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but, by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
You may also like: Dragnet
Episode List Set 1
MR DA (48-01-01) Death By Adoption.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Hijack Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Labor Pirates.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Murder A La Carte.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) One Slip Meant Death.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Set-Up For Re-entry.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Spring Fever.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Supermarket Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Bank Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Blood Harvest.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Bullets Kane.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Cop Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Dead Reporter.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Deadly Devotion.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Desert Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Flying Pan Murders.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Hotrod Killing.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Hungry Hobo.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Illegal Meat Racket.mp3
Episode List Set 02
MR DA (48-01-01) The Lady Gamblers.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Lovers Lane Murder.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Man Who Confessed.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Man With The Gold Tooth.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Missing Corpse.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Money Machine.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Motorcycle Club Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Muderous Junkman.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Murder Syndicate.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Murdered Comic.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Murderous Good Samaritan.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Museum Mystery.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Stolen Slot Machines.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Surprise Party.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Unknown Source.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Vanishing Runner.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) The Wounded Killer.mp3
MR DA (48-01-01) Thieves Fall Out.mp3
MR DA (48-05-28) The Deadly Snowflake.mp3
