What do hardboiled newspapermen do on Christmas? For Randy Stone it’s never easy.
Listen along to the Night Beat episode 5 days off for Christmas. It’ll break your heart. That is if you still have one!
The pen is mightier than the sword, but is it mightier than the .45? That’s the dilemma faced by hard-nosed crime reporter Randy Stone each week in one of radio’s most memorable newspaper dramas: Night Beat.
While guns blaze and thugs prowl the back alleys of Stone’s Chicago, the solving crimes is almost incidental to the unraveling of compelling human problems. Frank Lovejoy stars as the enterprising Chicago newspaperman, whose stories focus not on the essential corruption of humanity, but on its basic decency.
Frank Lovejoy played Randy Stone “ a tough and streetwise reporter who worked the nightbeat for the Chicago Star, looking for human interest stories. He met an assortment of people, most of them with a problem, many of them scared, and sometimes he was able to help them, sometimes he wasn’t. It is generally regarded as a “quality” show, and it stands up extremely well. Frank Lovejoy (1914-1962) isn’t remembered today, but he was a powerful and believable actor with a strong delivery, and his portrayal of Randy Stone as tough guy with humanity was perfect. The scripts were excellent, given that they had to cover much in a short time. There was a good supporting cast, orchestra and sound effects.”(Paul Begg)
Night Beat ran from February 6, 1950 until September 25, 1952, sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and Wheaties.
Now, Christmas, that’s another story. It’s about a baby born in a manger. It’s about hope and new beginnings. It’s about getting a bum start in life and maybe making something of yourself. Or maybe it’s just a fairy tale. I don’t know but you do.
Enjoy…and don’t forget to listen to Don this Sunday at 5:00 PM on WIND AM 560. Listen for the Night Beat reference. And you’ll win a prize package.
NIGHTBEAT PODCAST
Very sweet.
I got really caught up in this radio broadcast. His whistling sounded so much like my step-father’s whistle….took me way back. And a “phony half a buck”? Very interesting. And the strange way women talked then.
I’m glad that you cleared up the Don Rickles business at the end.
This was most enjoyable. Thanks for posting it!
Thanks Lydia. I liked the twists and turns of the story. Pretty sentimental but it’s a Christmas story.