Jim French, the producer-director of Imagination Theatre, kept the tradition of great radio drama alive for nearly 40 years. He combined old-time skills with new-time production values - and here are 17 thought-provoking thrillers to prove it! In this collection, you'll hear favorites from his stock company, actors from radio's "Golden Age", and performers better known for their television work. You'll even hear a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who guest stars as a writer of horror novels!

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.

"Sometimes the best stories a reporter gets are the ones he can't print..." The city after dark is a world of crime and corruption, of mystery and vice, of a thousand stories waiting to be told. And, Frank Lovejoy, as newshound Randy Stone, is just the man to tell them. Prowling the streets alongside Lovejoy are radio favorites William Conrad, Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, Lurene Tuttle, Larry Dobkin, Jeanette Nolan, Bill Johnstone, and more.

Raymond Chandler’s famous private eye, Philip Marlowe, comes to life in this 44-episode collection of season one of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe radio show, featuring the original cast recordings originally aired on the CBS Radio Network from 1948-1950. The Adventures of Philip Marlowe was a fan favorite for its no-nonsense, hard-boiled approach to crime solving and is presented here in 44 commercial-free episodes. 

For Detective Danny Clover, Broadway is more than just a street - it’s a living, breathing creature with a mood and a style all its own. Radio’s most lyrical crime drama comes to life in this collection, Broadway’s My Beat, featuring 16 unique tales of murder along the main stem. The series’ purple prose is counterbalanced by the gritty realism that was a specialty of the 16th Precinct and its endearingly eccentric characters. Larry Thor stars as Clover, with Charles Calvert as Sgt. Tartaglia and Jack Kruschen as Detective Muggavan.

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, several different radio programs brought in Hollywood stars to reprise their performances from popular films. Among them, Screen Directors' Playhouse offered something that no other show had: the directors. Imagine, if you will, listening to a radio play of A Foreign Affair and then hearing Marlene Dietrich and director Billy Wilder share their thoughts on the making of this classic film. In addition to Wilder, you'll hear directors like Tay Garnett, Robert Siodmak, and George Marshall in this set of 16 digitally remastered and restored episodes.

He might seem like just a regular guy, but don't let that fool you. Beneath the affable exterior he's tough as nails, smart as a whip, and ready for whatever crime wants to dish out! He's Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator - and he's on the track of 16 red-hot cases in this exciting eight-hour collection starring William Gargan! Cases cross the threshold of his Madison Avenue office, and he's got a crack team of supporting cast members to back him up.

It's a rainy night in postwar Seattle. There's a crime to be solved, and an investigator is needed. But it's a dangerous profession! Sometimes the source of a scream is elusive, sometimes a surveillance job goes south, and sometimes someone's got their gun sight set on you! From out of the Pacific Northwest come 24 more adventures produced by Jim French. Phil Harper stars as Harry Nile, with Pat French as his all-knowing assistant Murphy. It's new-time radio drama produced in the classic style.

The Saint - the hero of 100 thrilling yarns of breathless adventure and mystery. The Robin Hood of modern crime, the 20th century's gayest buccaneer. Vincent Price, Tom Conway and Denis Green, in a rare never-before-available audition recording, star as the suave Simon Templar - poised in the presence of ladies, cool when confronted with danger. Well-known to both the criminals and the common man, his services are frequently sought, his involvement quickly detected, and his cases promptly solved.

The late 1950s were the golden age of the radio western, and Gunsmoke stood at the top of the mesa, proudly overlooking the terrain! These searing dramas of frontier life - told with honesty, sensitivity, and nail-biting tension - feature William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon. Here are 24 unforgettable adventures of the Old West, originally broadcast between 1956 and 1958. Parley Baer co-stars as Chester, with Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.

When Howard Duff, radio’s regular Sam Spade, was dropped from the show, Steven Dunne donned the trench coat. Finding his own brash and boyish style with the role, Dunne’s Spade was much like creator Dashiell Hammett himself - a grown-up teenager who loved a put-on, but could be depended on to be loyal and true despite his own troubles. In these digitally remastered capers, Hammett’s hard-boiled hero delves in to the domains of daytime serials, journalism, the waterfront, and international intrigue.

William Conrad stars as Dillon, with Parley Baer as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty. Step inside the Long Branch Saloon for 20 digitally restored and remastered Gunsmoke episodes from 1954.

There are no black hats or white hats in Dodge City, Kansas. Gunsmoke gives you Western stories for grown-ups, with hard-hitting tales set against the rugged majesty of the American frontier. Producer/director Norman Macdonnell and writer/editor John Meston bring you gripping accounts of folks who have come to Dodge to leave the past behind…and those who come to Dodge because they can’t. William Conrad stars as US Marshal Matt Dillon, with Parley Baer as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty in 20 half-hours of radio drama at its best.   

Created in 1934 by American mystery author Rex Stout, Nero Wolfe is one of the most iconic private investigators in crime fiction. As Watson did for Holmes, Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's confidential assistant, narrates the cases of the detective genius. Wolfe was an armchair detective who rarely left his luxurious brownstone in New York, so Archie would collect the facts and report back. Wolfe would probably not have taken on many cases had he not needed his client's money to pay for his two true passions: fine food and his orchid collection.

Tough crimes in a tough world call for a tough man to solve them! That man is Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler's king of the hard-boiled detectives - and you'll hear him in 20 radio-noir adventures produced by Norman Macdonnell and starring Gerald Mohr! Jeff Corey co-stars as Detective Lieutenant Ybarra, and Larry Dobkin is heard as Detective Lieutenant Matthews, in these action-packed tales of bullets, broads, and the good old fashioned double-cross.