Rocky Jordan (1948-1950) aired “Pharaoh’s Formula” on June 11, 1950 as the 84th of its 97 episodes. This is the 12th Rocky Jordan episode we have showcased since 2011 and the first since November of 2020.

Borrowed from a previous introduction for the benefit of new listeners unfamiliar with the Rocky Jordan program, here are the basics of the show’s background. Rocky Jordan ran from October 21, 1948 through September 5, 1950 and starred Jack Moyles as Rocky Jordan. There were several iterations of the show, the first of which aired in 1945 under the title A Man Named Jordan. Only two episodes of this early precursor are known to still exist. This version was set in Istanbul, Turkey but was otherwise the same as its successor. An attempt to revive the series with famed Hollywood actor George Raft aired for one season from 1950-51. A couple of half-hearted attempts were made at further revivals in 1955 and ’57, but none of these fifteen-minute episodes survives.

Rocky Jordan was modeled on the classic, much revered movie Casablanca, which premiered in New York on November 26, 1942 and then in general release on January 23, 1943. Casablanca starred Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, the American exile who ran Rick’s Cafe Americain in Casablanca, Morocco, an unallied country during world War II located in northwest Africa and bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Rocky Jordan is set in Cairo, Egypt, in northeast Africa, said country also bordering the Mediterranean. Rocky calls St. Louis home (but was chased abroad by his enemies), whereas Rick hailed from New York; both are intimated to have shady pasts. The counterpart to Rick’s Cafe Americain is Rocky Jordan’s Cafe Tambourine, not far from the “mosque Sultan Hassan,” (photo above left) where Rocky finds himself routinely involved with “crime, mystery, and beautiful women.” Much like Rick’s Cafe Americain which is set during WW II, Jordan’s Cafe Tambourine, while set a few short years following the war, is a magnet for all ethnicities and types, from the respectable to the rogue.

As you might imagine, Rocky seems always to find himself at the center of trouble. Egyptian-Muslim police Captain Sam Sabaaya (married with four children) plays it straight and by the book but helps Rocky when he can, while Sabaaya’s Sergeant Greco dislikes Jordan and attempts to pin every mishap and crime on the part-time detective and foreigner.

The writers always strove for authenticity in Rocky’s adventures, researching names of streets and places for accuracy, and the show’s producers even hired an Egyptian writer/consultant in later episodes for further accuracy of detail in regard to the locales and various cultures, Cairo being a centuries-long crossroads and melting pot of the Middle East.

Who doesn’t enjoy a beer or six on a hot summer day? With summer fast approaching, what better topic to get us in the mood than “Pharaoh’s Formula,” which reminds us that even several thousands of years ago the Egyptians liked their beer as much as we do. Though many credit the Egyptians for inventing the drink, it was actually the Sumerians. The Mesopotamian Sumerian “beer” was more like a thick porridge and because of the floating bits of malt floating about in it, the straw was invented specifically for the purpose of facilitating the imbibing of the crude but strong intoxicant. The Egyptians came along later and improved on the product, making it the smoother, lighter drink we are accustomed to today, a drink that could be sipped through a glass or cup. Like today in countries around the world, there were many ancient Egyptian breweries, evidence of which can still be found chiseled into stone with their unique formulas left to posterity. In fact, beer was ubiquitous in Egyptian society, women being the first to make it for home and family before state-run breweries went big-time and made it for many state functions, the more added sugar the higher the alcoholic content. Honeyed beer was especially top shelf stuff. Which brings us to “Pharaoh’s Formula,” in which an American entrepreneur has offered to cut Rocky in on his beer enterprise, beer he claims he has made from a recipe he has recently discovered in a crumbling old ruin and is of a uniquely high quality. Rocky refuses, but the entrepreneur is soon murdered just down the street from Rocky’s Cafe Tambourine, which in turn puts Captain Sabaaya at Rocky’s door as part of the investigation. One thing leads to another as one answer only points to yet another piece of the unfolding puzzle, until Rocky is knee deep in something larger than what it at first seemed, a mystery worth killing for, and not just for the “Pharaoh’s Formula.”