Personal Notice:

Do you have a crime that needs solving?
Do you have a dog that needs walking?
Do you have a wife that needs spanking?
Let George do it. Danger’s my stock-in-trade.
If the job’s too tough for you to handle,
you’ve got a job for me,
George Valentine.
Write FULL Details

Let George Do It (1946-54) aired “The Spirit World” on May 10, 1948 as the 87th of its 414 original episodes. This is but the fourth episode of the show we have offered, the third coming just over a year ago, so I felt it was time to reprise the initial introductory notes for newcomers to this popular program. The George of the title was an ex-GI now home and trying to find his place in civilian society after the war. Intentional or not, George Valentine, as an “everyman” character the common man could relate to, who exhibited no special abilities to speak of, found his calling as a freelance investigator, but not the usual hardboiled gumshoe in the mold of Mickey Spillane or Sam Spade. Like the character Dan Holiday of the radio program Box 13, who placed a classified ad in the newspaper soliciting his services, George used the same approach—see the Personal Notice above and in the ad below. While the first few lines of the ad would change from time to time the ad always ended with the lines:  “Danger’s my stock-in-trade. If the job’s too tough for you to handle, you’ve got a job for me, George Valentine. Write FULL Details.” George’s cases ran the gamut as did those of other private investigators or detectives:  theft, blackmail, abduction, scams, political malfeasance or worse, and of course murder. But there were also the oddball cases that provided a welcome freshness and change of pace to the program which would make George Valentine one of America’s more popular radio characters.

George Valentine was played by none other than Bob Bailey (1913-1983, photo top right), who would go on to be the star in one of radio’s most beloved programs, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (1949-62), where he would become the most famous of Dollar’s voices from 1955-60. Though he had been a supporting or bit actor in numerous shows before he hit it big as the star of Let George Do It, this was Bailey’s first starring role in a major program, and he made it his own, stepping down for only the final 37 shows (January through September of 1954).

George Valentine’s loyal assistant/secretary and love interest was Claire Brooks, affectionately known as “Brooksie,” who was perfectly played by Frances Robinson (1916-1971, photo at left), and then others including Virginia Gregg who would follow Bailey to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar as his secretary Nancy Turner. Both Robinson and Gregg would play Brooksie as “smart and sassie” as one source characterized their interpretation of the role, but it was Robinson’s little touches that made her Brooksie priceless, as when she made it clear on more than one occasion that “the case he was the most off base on was the ‘Case of the Missing Engagement Ring.’” The charming way she presented Brooksie to the program’s loyal listeners was evident, which led one critic to comment that “Frances Robinson’s Brooksie remains one of Radio’s most endearing and versatile sidekicks. Lilian Buyeff, Shirley Mitchell and Virginia Gregg would later replace Frances Robinson over the years, but despite their own considerable talents, could never completely erase the memory of Frances Robinson’s absolutely letter-perfect characterization of Brooksie.” Robinson also enjoyed a film and TV career, appearing in more than a dozen films, a couple of interest to science fiction fans include The Invisible Man Returns (1940) and 1941’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. She would die of an apparent heart attack at the much too early age of 55 on August 16, 1971.

“The Spirit World” at first blush seems to be one of the less serious cases George Valentine is asked to consider taking, even though it begins seriously enough with a desperate letter from a man whose life, in his own words, has been “touched by evil, pure, undiluted evil.” The usual type of case (if there is a usual sort) or an oddball outlier, George and Brooksie agree that a case is a case and if it pays it’s their kind of case and if nothing else would help keep the lights on. So off they go, hat and purse in hand, expecting no trouble and to be able to solve this outwardly uncomplicated case in no time, with cash in hand for a job well done. Soon enough, however, they would discover there was much more to this affair than they were at first led to believe, and they would more than earn George’s fee when the forces of stark reality crashed headlong into “The Spirit World.”

Play Time: 29:53

{Airing on a Monday evening in early May of 1948, the neighborhood gang was primed and ready to head for the corner newsstand the next afternoon after school for more such excitement as they experienced while listening to “The Spirit World.” They were in luck. Street & Smith’s Detective Story (1915-49) was the first pulp magazine to feature detective fiction. Needless to say, it sold like gangbuster’s, with over half of its decades of newsstand life as either a bi-weekly or weekly publication, slowing down to a mere monthly publication from 1936 forward. Though a monthly in 1948 it managed only 8 issues. Doc Savage (1933-49), along with a few other character pulp magazines, was begun mostly to cash in on the popularity of The Shadow Magazine in 1931. While quite popular with a devoted following and selling well for many years, its salad days were behind it. A bi-monthly in 1948, it failed to publish a full 6 issues and managed only 5. Shadow Mystery (1931-49) was of course The Shadow Magazine with a slightly tweaked title. The iconic character had become a national multi-media phenomenon by 1948, capturing the imaginations (and wallets) in magazine, radio, toys, and movie sales for years. But like Doc Savage, its salad days were behind it by 1948 and though a bi-monthly could manage but 5 of its 6 issues in 1948.}

[Left: S&S Detective Story, 5/48 – Center: Doc Savage, 5-6/48 – Right: Shadow Mystery, 4-5/48]

To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.