Michael Shayne was a popular fictional private eye created by "Brett Halliday" (Davis Dresser, 1904-1977) in 1939. Dresser wrote fifty books about the character; sine 1958 another 27 novels were published in paperback ghost-written by a string of writers. Shayne was featured in twelve films from 1940 to 1947, seven starring Lloyd Nolan, with the remaining five starring Hugh Beaumont. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, a 2005 film, was based on a Shayne novel but did not featured the character. From 1944 to 1953, there were three separate radio programs about the character: Michael Shayne, Private Detective, starring Wally Maher; The New Adventures of Michael Shayne, with Jeff Chandler; and The Adventures of Michael Shayne, featuring at various times Donald Curtis, Robert Serling, and Vinton Hayworth. Prior to the Michael Shayne television program which began in 1960, there was a failed 1958 pilot featuring Mark Stevens. Michael Shayne lasted for 32 episodes (September 30, 1960 through May 19, 1961). It starred Richard Denning (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Flying Doctor, Hawaii Five-O, and both the CBS and NBC versions of Mr. and Mrs. North; Denning also played opposite Lucille Ball in radio's My Favorite Husband, the precursor to television's I Love Lucy. From 1956 to 1985, Michael Shayne Mystery Magazine (later retitled to Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine) was one of the more successful crime digests, lasting for 337 issues, each featuring an adventure of the character; the magazine used "Brett Halliday" as a house name, and the stories were written by Sam Merwin, Jr, Richard Deming, W. Ryerson Johnson, Robert Arthur, Robert Terrall, Michael Avallone, Dennis Lynds, Frank Belknap Long, Edward Y. Breese, Max Van Derveer, Bill Pronzini & Jeffrey M. Wallman, David Mazroff, George Warren, James M. Reasoner, Lyvia J. Washburn, Hal Blythe & Charles Sweet, and a number of thus far uncredited authors. From November 1961 to January 1962, Dell Comics released three issues of Mike Shayne Private Eye.
Blood on Biscayne Bay (1946) was the fourteenth book in the series and the basis of this episode, the ninth in the television program. "Shayne is hired to sell a valuable pearl necklace and use the proceeds to pay off a gambling debt. When Shayne opts to pressure the gambling club owner into turning the IOU over to him for free, he is surprised when his client reacts angrily. Mike learns that the gambling debt was only a ruse. His pretty client is up to her eyeballs in blackmail and murder with suspects that include her brother-in-law, the casino lawyer, a former boyfriend and a sleazy divorce attorney."
Also featuring Jerry Paris as Tim Rourke, Patricia Donahue as Lucy Hamilton, Herbert Rudley as Will Gentry, Gary Clarke as Dick Hamilton, with guests Mona Freeman, Gilbert Green, Burt Douglas, Harry Bartell, Robert Knapp, Tracey Roberts, Dinah Anne Rogers, Harry Cooper, Tipp McClure, Laurence Haddon, Maidie Norman, and Charlott [sic] Knight. Directed by Paul Stewart. IMDb lists the writers as William Levinson and Richard Link, while Wikipedia credits Ted Leighton -- turns out "Leighton" was a pseudonym used by the pair, sometimes when their work was substantially rewritten by other hands.
Enjoy this episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OByve8Yh4no
I was reading MIKE SHAYNE paperbacks in 1960. Still do!
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