“…another transcribed drama of mystery and adventure with America’s number one detective…”

America’s number-one detective? Please—I doubt even Ripley would believe that one. But from 1951-55, Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator did do a credible journeyman’s job with respect to the “mystery and adventure” part, even though the series (this is an opinion I can get behind) “seldom rose above B-grade detective fare,” according to John Dunning.

Barry Craig starred William Gargan, an actor beloved by film buffs today for a formidable string of appearances in A- and B-pictures, specializing in playing detectives, sergeants and other tough-guy roles. His best-known performance is probably that in They Knew What They Wanted (1940), a movie that earned him an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Gargan had previously starred in Martin Kane, Private Eye—a series originally conceived for television but which also had a run over Mutual Radio from 1949-52. Gargan called it quits on the TV series in 1951, claiming the program had become “a vehicle for the meat parade”—but he soon found another role awaiting him on Barry Craig, which debuted over NBC Radio October 3, 1951. (Gargan later returned to TV in a syndicated series entitled The Return of Martin Kane.)

The role of Craig may have been just a little too tailor-made for Gargan. For starters, the series was originally titled Barry Crane, Confidential Investigator—but producers of Martin Kane emitted a yelp of protest, charging that “Kane” and “Crane” sounded a little too similar. So the character’s surname was changed to “Craig.” Gargan also brought a great deal of expertise to these roles, having previously worked in a detective’s office and as a credit investigator before getting into the acting business.

It’s been quite a while since I paid ol’ Bar a visit; I remember that Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator was one of the featured programs on Victor Ives’ Golden Age of Radio Theater back in the early 1980s. So I grabbed a pair of shows with me in order to reminisce, the first being “Hay is For Homicide,” originally broadcast August 31, 1954. While vacationing in Vermont, Barry and pal Jake (Parley Baer), the elevator operation in Craig’s building, stumble across a corpse in a hay wagon and encounter a woman (Joyce McClusky) firing at them. (CRAIG: “This time it’s not the farmer with the shotgun, it’s the farmer’s daughter.” JAKE: “Spoil a lot of stories that way…”) As our story unfolds, Barry learns that the corpse is an escaped convict who returned to the area to rescue a hidden cache of $30,000 obtained from a bank job, which is also being sought by a fellow con named Brady (Jack Moyles) and his moll Dina (Vivi Janiss). “Ghosts Don’t Die in Bed” (9/7/54) has Barry taking a midnight train to Dorning, NY, where an old friend needing help has asked him to come to a residence known as the Tower House. On the way, he encounters a pistol-packing woman named Ruth Adams (Virginia Gregg)—Craig gains her confidence and learns that she, too, has been summoned to the same house by her uncle, who in an amazing scripted coincidence, is Barry’s friend.

At the end of “Ghosts Don’t Die in Bed,” the listener can hear Gargan’s pre-recorded remarks talking about next week’s show (“The Corpse Who Couldn’t Swim”), but he is quickly cut off by announcer John Lang, who reads the program credits and then drops this little bombshell:

We regret that with the program you have just heard, we conclude the present Barry Craig series…we hope you have enjoyed them, and we look forward to bringing them to you again sometime in the not too distant future…

Less than a month later, “the not too distant future” has arrived—the program has been given a reprieve and resumes on October 3, 1954 (with “Corpse”). It then ran one more season before finally bowing out June 30, 1955.

Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator may not be the most inspired detective series of Radio’s Golden Age, but the two episodes I listened to had some snappy, funny Saint-like dialogue—penned by Louis Vittes. Veteran scribe Vittes (The Adventures of the Thin Man, Mr. & Mrs. North) had a talent for eccentric characters and offbeat dialogue, as illustrated in this exchange from “Hay is For Homicide”:

CRAIG: Hmm…I don’t like this much…but the only thing left for us to do now is…uh…sit down…
JAKE: Excuse me while I cheer…I…
BRADY: Well, what are ya waitin’ for? Go ahead, Grampa—cheer!
JAKE (to Barry): Company.
CRAIG: So I notice…kind of thing you’re liable to run into in old houses…they come out of the woodwork, I think…
BRADY: Uh yuh…don’t try to insult me, mister…
CRAIG: Why not?
BRADY: Anyt’ing you’re liable to say is liable to be true…
CRAIG: Don’t be foolish—I don’t use that kind of language…
BRADY: You also ain’t usin’ the kind of language I would like to hear…
CRAIG: What language would that be?
BRADY: The one tellin’ me where the baby’s buried…
JAKE: A boy or a girl baby?
BRADY: Oh, that Grampa’s a joker…Grampa could easy get his head knocked off…
JAKE: Put the gun down, son, and Grampa will be glad to tangle with you…

Parley Baer does an dead-on impersonation of Parker Fennelly in this episode, and while I won’t swear to this as gospel, it would appear that Jake made earlier appearances on the show, since Fennelly often appeared as a supporting player when Barry Craig was produced in New York from 1951-54. Many veterans of the New York radio series found work on this program, like Elspeth Eric, Santos Ortega and Ralph Bell (who did play a recurring character, Lt. Travis Rogers from 1951-53). In fact, while the series originated from the Big Apple the show's director was none other than Himan Brown of Inner Sanctum fame.

Approximately sixty episodes of Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator have survived for collectors today, and while the program’s plots are sometimes pretty standard stuff, Gargan has a nice way with a hard-boiled quip and the supporting cast of players rarely disappoints. That having been said, I’ll take a cue from Mr. Craig and close this post with a simple “Good night, folks…”