Casey, Crime Photographer (aka Crime photographer; Flashgun Casey; Casey, Press Photographer; Stephen Bristol, Crime Photographer) was a media franchise, in the 1930s through the 1960s. Created by George Harmon Coxe, the photographer Casey was featured in radio, film, theater, novels, magazines and comic books.
Launched in a 1934 issue of the pulp magazine

Pulp magazine

Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...

 Black Mask, the character Jack "Flashgun" Casey, was a crime photographer for the newspaper The Morning Express. With the help of reporter Ann Williams (portrayed on radio and TV by Jan Miner

Jan Miner

Jan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....

), he solved crimes and recounted his stories to friends at The Blue Note, their favorite tavern.

George Harmon Coxe

Casey's creator, George Harmon Coxe

George Harmon Coxe

George Harmon Coxe was an American writer of crime fiction. Perhaps best known for his series Jack "Flashgun" Casey, which became a popular radio show airing through to the 1940s...

, was the 1964 recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's

Mystery Writers of America

Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....

 prestigious Grand Master Award representing the pinnacle of achievement in the mystery field. This award represents significant output of quality in mystery writing.

Black Mask

"Flashgun" Casey began in the March, 1934 issue of Black Mask, in the story Return Engagement. This story was later used in the film "Here's Flash Casey". Twenty more stories appeared in the magazine over the next decades, and collections of these stories were published in anthology form as well. Two of the subsequent novels were serialized in the magazine, in addition to the 21 short stories

Casey, Crime Photographer/List of Black Mask stories

The Casey franchise was started in 1934 by George Harmon Coxe in Black Mask . A total of 21 stories were published in the magazine, plus two serialized novels....

.

In 1941, three parts of the early novels; Silent are the Dead were published in Black Mask in September, October and November as Killers Are Camera Shy; and in 1943, Murder for Two was serialized in January, February and March as Blood on the Lens.

Novels

Coxe wrote five novels featuring Casey.

• Deadly Image (1964)
• Error of Judgement (1961)
• The Man Who Died Too Soon (1962)
• Murder For Two (1943)

serialized in Black Mask over three issues.

• Silent Are the Dead (1942)

serialized in Black Mask over three issues.

Paul Ayres (Pseudonym of Edward S. Aaron) wrote a novel starring Casey, based on the works of Coxe

• Dead Heat (1950)

Films

• Women Are Trouble (1936)
• Here's Flash Casey (1938)

Radio

Begun as stories in Black Mask, the stories were brought to radio under multiple names. The series aired on CBS for its entirety. 07/07/43 - 11/16/50 and 01/13/54 - 04/22/55.

Selected cast

• Matt Crowley, Casey
• Staats Cotsworth, Casey
• Jan Miner
  Jan Miner
  Jan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....
  
  , Ann Williams
• John Gibson,

Titles of show

• Flashgun Casey
• Casey, Press Photographer
• Crime Photographer

The radio show was sustained by the network, sponsored by Anchor Hocking, Toni home permanents, Toni Shampoo and Philip Morris

Philip Morris USA

Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. Philip Morris USA brands include Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Benson and Hedges, Merit, Parliament, Alpine, Basic, Cambridge, Bucks, Dave's, Chesterfield, Collector's Choice, Commander, English Ovals, Lark, L&M, Players and...

. The Blue Note was a jazz club; the Archie Bleyer

Archie Bleyer

Archie Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.-Early life:He was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. He began playing the piano when he was only seven years old...

 Orchestra and The Teddy Wilson Trio

Teddy Wilson

Theodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was an American jazz pianist whose sophisticated and elegant style was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.-Biography:Wilson was born in Austin, Texas in...

 were featured.

Television

In 1951 the popular series moved to television

• First Telecast: April 19, 1951
• Last Telecast: June 5, 1952

Cast

• Casey (June 1951-April 1952): Darren McGavin
  Darren McGavin
  Darren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
  
  
• Ann Williams: Jan Miner
  Jan Miner
  Jan Miner was an American actress best known for her iconic role as the manicurist Madge in a 27-year series of television commercials for Palmolive dish-washing detergent....
  
  (reprising her role on radio)

On Darrin McGavin's website, he is quoted as saying "The cast of Crime Photographer didn’t go down fighting. "They took off for the hills. It was so bad that it was never re-run, and that’s saying something when you recall the caliber of television programs in those days."