Customer Reviews

Crime Classics

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Thomas Hyland, connoisseur of crime, hosts 18 real life murder stories, ranging from the assassination of Caesar to the Lizzie Borden case. The stories are well-told and entertaining, and usually done with period music. There is no mystery to the stories, and nothing to "figure out", but that didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying them.

There were, however, two sour notes: The first was "Thomas Hyland", the narrator/host. Hyland was a fictional character played by an actor. Why does a true crime series have a fictional host? I also found Hyland's breezy narration of the stories a little off-putting. In this regard "Crime Classics" stands in stark contrast to "The Black Museum", a true crime series featuring cases worked by Scotland Yard. "The Black Museum" had as its narrator/host a real-life person, Orson Welles, and Welles treated his cases with the dignity and decorum that the serious business of detecting murder deserves.

The second sour note is the titles of the shows. They can be downright corny. A sampling of the worst: "Old Six Toes, How He Stopped Construction on the BBC & I", "James Evans, Fireman, How He Extinguished a Human Torch", "The Hangman and William Palmer, Who Won?"

"Crime Classics" marks a high point in radio drama. The series centers around true crime from many time periods and countries. Lou Merrill is the host of this series from radio's "golden age." Each episode features some of radio's finest actors and sound effects, and each contain period music arranged and composed by the legendary Bernard Herrmann. These shows are hard-hitting, fast-paced, and are written with a biting sense of humor. I highly recommend one of radio's best shows, "Crime Classics," and invite you to take a dark journey into the "theater of the mind."