BULLDOG DRUMMOND “The Case of the Double Death.” 16 April 1945. Mutual, sustaining. Ned Wever as Bulldog Drummond.

   One of old time radio most famous introductory openings: Echoing footsteps, a foghorn, shots, and several blasts of a police whistle, then: “Out of the fog … out of the night … and into his American adventures … comes … Bulldog Drummond.”

   Other than Drummond himself, the only other recurring character is Denny, Drummond’s aide-de-camp, so to speak, first or last name not known, nor the actor who played him at this time of the run. I have possible names, but it’s been too long since I’ve been a regular OTR listener to hazard a guess.

   It is also not clear, based on this episode only, what official capacity Drummond has in this country, if any. I generally consider him a gentleman adventurer who consistently gets into trouble.

   He’s friends enough with the warden of a nearby penitentiary where a notorious gangster is to be executed, however, to be asked to witness the death, but Denny arrives too late, his hat and umbrella having been stolen while they were eating before hand, then falling asleep on a train while going back and getting another.

   When the two arrive back home together they find a dead man in the living room. Not knowing what else to do before figuring out a plan of action, they return the body to his hotel room, where they set up a trap for the killer with the dead body as bait, and … well, check the title, and a rather complicated story suddenly makes sense. Well, sort of. It’s the kind of story that’s a puzzler all the way through until the end, when, if you start to think about it, why did the killer make it all so complicated?

   It’s still fun to listen to, though.

   The series ran first from 1941 to 1949, then was picked up again for the 1953-54 season, with Cedric Hardwicke in the leading role. It ran first locally on WOR New York, then expanded nationwide to the Mutual network, sometimes with a sponsor, other years only sustaining.