CRIME ON THE WATERFRONT

Lou Cagell, a top detective in New York Police Department, worked the waterfront.  Crimes in, on, and about the water were his meat.  The radio series Crime on the Waterfront, however, was not the audience's meat.  Radio in 1949 was inundated with crime and detective programs.  With so much competition, this series -- along with Lou Cagell -- was washed up.

Here's the March 1, 1949 episode from this short-lived series:  "The Heiress Cruise."

http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/crimeonthewaterfront.htm

NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

Eddie Cochran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skx5qP65r2g

BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY

A priest was sent to a remote parish in Alaska.  One day the Bishop dropped in to see how he was doing.  The Bishop said, "I know it's very remote here.  How are you handling things?"

The priest said, "To tell you the truth, without my rosary and the two glasses of wine I drink every day I think I'd go crazy.  Speaking of which, would you like a glass of wine?"

"That would be very nice, thank you."

The priest called out, "Rosary, bring us two glasses of wine!"

GREEN FIELDS OF FRANCE

Also known as "The Flowers of the Forest" and "Willie McBride," this powerful song is my go-to song for Veteran's Day.

This version is by Liam Clancy.

Listen, and remember.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp-OlpffDWw

OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: ICE FROM SPACE

We shot a rocket into the air.
It picked up a hitchhiker; I know not where:
A block of ice
That was not nice,
Freezing things without a care.

On August 8, 1952, Tales of Tomorrow present this little yarn that happened to include a young actor in one of his first film roles, a guy named Paul Newman.  I guess acting didn't work out for him because I heard he eventually go into the salad dressing line.  (Out of the four credited actors in this episode, Newman came in fourth, so that salad dressing fallback was a pretty good idea.)

Edmon Ryan took the lead as Major Dozier. an air force base commander who must deal with a congressional appropriations investigation and that mysterious block of ice brought back by a space probe and that freezes everything around it.  Ryan has nearly a hundred credits on IMDb from1936 to 1970, concentrating mainly on television during the Fifties and Sixties.

Dozier's congressional nemesis, Congressman Burns, was played by Raymond Bailey, best known as Milton Drysdale, the banker on The Beverley Hillbillies.  Bailey also had regular roles on Margie, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, My Sister Eileen.  This episode was Bailey's first television appearance following 13 years of mostly uncredited work in the movies.

Also in the cast was Michael Gorrin.  This was his first television role under that name; as Michael Goldstein he appeared in two films in the late 1930s.

Don Medford directed this and 36 other episodes of Tales of Tomorrow.  Medford had a long career in television, directing multiple episodes of Baretta, Dynasty, The F.B.I., and many other popular shows.  The episode was written by E. H. Frank, who turns out to be a mystery.  This is the only credit Frank has on IMDb and TV.com, so it is possible that Frank was a pseudonym.  Unlike many episodes of Tales of Tomorrow, "Ice from Space" appears not to have been adapted from a previously published story.

Enjoy.

https://archive.org/details/TalesOfTomorrow-IceFromSpace

GOT MY MIND SET ON YOU

George Harrison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZGYYDvZnpg

INCOMING -- AND A GIVEAWAY

• Forrest J. Ackerman, editor, Expanded Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J. Ackerman & Friends PLUS.  SF anthology with 31 stories/articles/whatnots.
• Alice & Claude Askew, Aylmer Vance, Ghost-Seer.  Horror collection with eight stories from the Edwardian era about a supernatural detective.
• Linwood Barclay, A Tap on the Window.  Thriller.
• Ben Bova, Moonrise.  SF, the first book in the Moonwar series.
• Jack L, Chalker, The Messiah Choice.  SF/fantasy mash-up.
• Judd Cole, Wild Bill #7:  Point Rider.  Western.
• Groff Conklin, editor, Elsewhere and Elsewhen and Seven Come Infinity.  SF anthologies with nine and (who knew?) seven stories, respectively.
• David Drake, Loose Cannon:  The Tom Kelly Novels.  SF omnibus containing Skyripper and Fortress.
• Barry Eisler, The Last Assassin.  A John Rain thriller.
• Linda Fairstein, Hell Gate.  An Alexandra Cooper mystery.
• Leo Frankowski & Dave Grossman, The War with Earth.  SF.
• Jackson Gregory, Powder Smoke.  Western.
• Lee Harding, The Fallen Spaceman.  SF novella.  Published as a Weekly Reader Book with Illustrations by John and Ian Schoenherr.
• Alfred Hitchcock, editor, 14 Suspense Stories to Play Russian Roulette By.  Mystery anthology with 14 stories.  This one is a reprint of 1945's Suspense with one story removed and one story added.
• Hugh Holton, Presumed Dead.  The acclaimed first novel by a writer who was a Commander in the Chicago Police Department.
• William W. Johnstone & J. A. Johnstone, The Last Gunfighter:  Killing Ground.  Western.  Johnstone's character continues beyond the author's death by "a carefully selected writer."
• D, F, Jones, Colossus and the Crab.  SF, the final volume in the Colossus trilogy,
• Cameron Judd, The Overmountain Men.  Frontier novel.  Kentucky from 1757-1777.
• Tom Kratman, A State of Disobedience.  Military SF.
• Victoria Laurie, What a Ghoul Wants.  A Ghost Hunter mystery.
• R. Stephen Lemler, The Elocutioner's Tale.  SF collection of 25 linked tales told by members of a group therapy program, all of whom believe they've been abducted by aliens.  SIGNED.
• Bliss Lomax, Stranger with a Gun.  Western.
• Brian Lumley, Maze of Worlds.  Horror.
• Henning Mankell, Faceless Killers.  The first Kurt Wallander mystery.  
• Jeff Mariotte, Witchseason: Winter.  YA fantasy novel, the third in the series.
• Val McDermid, Killing the Shadows.  Mystery.
• R. M. Meluch, Tour of the Merrimack #1:  The Myriad.  Military SF.
• Earl Murray, South of Eden.  Western marketed as Americana; based on a true story.
• Ann Parker, Leaden Skies:  A Silver Rush Mystery.  Historical mystery, the third in a series.  Colorado in 1880.
• Jason Pinter, The Mark.  A Henry Parker thriller, the author's debut novel.
• Mack Reynolds & Dean Ing, Trojan Orbit.  SF.  Reynolds did the first draft before he died; Ing polished it.
• "James Rollins" (Jim Czajkowski), The Devil Colony.  A Sigma Force thriller.
• "Dana Fuller Ross" (James Reasoner), Expedition!  Volume 2 in the Wagons West Frontier Trilogy.
• Fred Saberhagen, Berserker Blue Death.  SF novel in the  Berserker series.
• [Sabrina the Teenage Witch], Millennium Madness.  Television tie-in YA anthology with twelve stories.
• William Sleator, The Beasties.  YA horror.
• Wallace Stroby, The Heartbreak Lounge.  A State Trooper Henry Rane mystery.
• Sheri S. Tepper, The Gate to Women's Country.  SF.
• Sean Williams & Shane Dix, Emergence:  The Dying Light.  SF, the second in the Emergence series.

GIVEAWAY:

• John Brunner, The Great Steamboat Race.  Historical novel.  Brunner was best known for his science fiction, including the Hugo-winning Stand on Zanzibar.  He also wrote fantasies, mysteries, thrillers, poetry, and songs.  Despite major acclaim within the SF field, he never really broke out of the SF "ghetto."  A major (still-unpublished) novel was tanked due to the ineptitude of its prospective publisher.  The Great Steamboat Race was Brunner's second try at a major mainstream novel.  Based on the well-known 1870 race between the Mississippi steamboats Natchez and the Rob't E. Lee, the novel is one of the best books Brunner wrote and he sure wrote a lot of great books.  For reasons beyond my understanding, this was not the break-out book that Brunner had hoped for.  This 1983 568-page Ballantine trade paperback was never reprinted to my knowledge; it never made it to hardcover.  So when I came across a copy for 50 cents at a thrift store, I scooped it up, figuring that someone out there might be interested.  The first one who lets me know in the comments that he/she wants it will get it.