RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE

In 1945, Dick Powell portrayed Phillip Marlowe in the movie "Murder My Sweet" based on Raymond Chandler's novel "Farewell My Lovely". This was a radical departure in character for Mr. Powell from a Hollywood song and dance man to a hard-boiled detective. On June 11,1945, the Lux Radio Theater brought "Murder My Sweet" to radio, again with Dick Powell in the lead. These two performances prompted his selection for the part of Richard Rogue, in Rogue’s Gallery after his role for Lux Radio Theater and Richard Diamond came four years later.

Richard Diamond, Private Detective came to NBC in 1949. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who needed it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart. Mr. Powell, a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role. He added an extra dimension to the 40's hokey private eye drama.

Diamond was a rough gumshoe that would often get knocked on the head with a revolver butt or other items. His counterpart on the police force was Lt. Levinson who often accepted Diamond's help reluctantly. Levinson would claim to get stomach trouble whenever Diamond would call him and would take bicarbonate to settle his aching stomach. Although they always seem at odds with each other, Diamond and Levinson were best friends.

The plot theme remained fairly constant throughout the entire run of the show, Diamond getting beat up and solving a tough murder case with the support of the police department. Remarkably, for all the gun fights, Diamond never got shot. And for all his bravado, he had a serious case of vertigo.

Helen Asher was portrayed by Virginia Gregg, who also played the part of Brooksie on Let George Do It and Betty Lewis on Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Blake Edwards wrote the early shows and also directed a few. Music was composed by David Baskerville and later by Frank Wirth.

In January of 1951, the series moved to ABC under the full sponsorship of Camel cigarettes. Then in May of 1953, the series moved to CBS but all shows were repeats from the 1950-51 Rexall sponsored season on NBC.

Richard Diamond was one of the radio shows which successfully moved to television with David Janssen, later of The Fugitive fame, in the title role of Richard Diamond. The opening scene of the television show often featured the long lovely legs of Mary Tyler Moore, who went on to fame in The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Mary was replaced on the Richard Diamond show when it became known that she owned the mystery legs.

NEW: Updated with Version 2 Files on 30-May-2007

From the Old Time Radio Researcher's Group. See "Note" Section below for more information on the OTRR.

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Notes

OLD TIME RADIO RESEARCHER'S GROUP

This is a production of the Old Time Radio Researchers Group located at Old Time Radio Researchers Website and the Old Time Radio Researchers Group.

It contains the most complete and accurate version of this series in the best sound possible at the time of creation. An updated version will be issued if more episodes or better sounding ones become available.

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This is the Single Episode Page. The Certified Set includes extras not found here. It is located at OTRR Certified Set. This page is provided in case you want to sample the shows.

Note that in many cases, file names have been modified from the original OTRR names to conform to archive.org naming requirements.


Relax, listen, and enjoy!

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Individual Files

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Reviewer: nighthouse66 - - October 26, 2012
Subject: HILARIOUS.
i am a huge dick powell fan- was there anything he COULDN'T do? great dancer, great singer, great actor. this is the audio equivalent of "murder my sweet"- lots of wisecracking that stands up to the test of time. listen to these and you WILL laugh out loud. probably the best gumshoe show i have heard apart from "night beat".

Reviewer: Max Reiner - - November 20, 2011
Subject: Richard Diamond Radio Program Production
Can anyone tell me was there a live orchestra on the show or just library cues? I surely loved this show. Dick Powell was absolutely perfect for the part. Where were the shows done? Were they edited on tape. I think tape came in 1948. So these showed had the capability to be edited on tape. Thanks it for now. Maxy.

Reviewer: TheModernaire - - October 7, 2011
Subject: Ahead of its time...
Where to begin? Voiceover work by the amazing actors breathes life into the imaginative, innovative, quick-witted and entertaining writing that was second to none in the era the show was broadcast. Personal favorites for newbies - 'The Gray Man' and 'Blue Serge Suit' among too many others to mention. Enjoy!

Reviewer: PollieM - - August 23, 2009
Subject: Richard Diamond
This program is one of the better Private Detective radio series. It is well worth downloading and listening too.

Reviewer: VickyK - - February 7, 2008
Subject: I love these shows!
These shows have everything you could want in a show. They are great detective stories with music and comdey mixed in. My favorites are the Van Dyke Seance Case, Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case, and Jerome J. Jerome. They are funny with a great detective story!