It's A Crime, Mr. Collins
Encyclopedia
It's a Crime, Mr. Collins was a half-hour mystery
/adventure
radio
program broadcast weekly from August, 1956 to February, 1957 by Mutual Broadcasting System
in the United States
that was a "flagrant rip-off of The Adventures of the Abbotts
in which only the names had been changed."
San Francisco private detective Greg Collins was played by Mandel Kramer (who had previously been heard as Lieutenant Tragg in the radio version of Perry Mason
) and his wife, Gail Collins, was played by namesake Gail Collins. Each week, Gail Collins, "the gumshoe's gorgeous spouse -- with green-eyed predilections emerging as curvaceous damsels in distress frequently petitioned her husband -- shared his investigative exploits with her Uncle Jack and thereby with the listeners at home." Uncle Jack was played by Richard Denning
, whom listeners had heard from 1952 to 1954 as amateur detective Jerry North in the radio version of Mr. and Mrs. North
. Mandel Kramer had also played on Mr. and Mrs. North in the comedic supporting role of Brooklyn taxi driver Mahatma McGloin.
Frances Crane
's detective pair, Pat and Jean Abbott ... "came to radio on Abbott Mysteries on Mutual in 1945 and then ran for three consecutive summers. The series was resurrected by NBC in 1955 under the new title of The Adventures of the Abbotts and this nudged Mutual into producing a copycat show under the title It's A Crime, Mr. Collins. "Many programs in the Golden Age of Radio were flattered by their competitors. ... The Abbotts
on NBC were copied exactly in Mutual's It's A Crime, Mr. Collins, including paraphrasing (the original author's) words." "Mutual even used ... the habit of putting a color in the title of every story."
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
/adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
radio
Old-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
program broadcast weekly from August, 1956 to February, 1957 by Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that was a "flagrant rip-off of The Adventures of the Abbotts
Abbott Mysteries
Abbott Mysteries was a comedy-mystery radio program adapted from the novels of Frances Crane . Initially a summer replacement for Quick As a Flash, the series was heard on Mutual and NBC between the years 1945 and 1955....
in which only the names had been changed."
San Francisco private detective Greg Collins was played by Mandel Kramer (who had previously been heard as Lieutenant Tragg in the radio version of Perry Mason
Perry Mason (radio)
The radio criminal serial Perry Mason, based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner, was broadcast on CBS Radio from 1943-1955. The series was adapted into Edge of Night which ran on television for an additional 30 years.-Adapting Perry Mason to other media:...
) and his wife, Gail Collins, was played by namesake Gail Collins. Each week, Gail Collins, "the gumshoe's gorgeous spouse -- with green-eyed predilections emerging as curvaceous damsels in distress frequently petitioned her husband -- shared his investigative exploits with her Uncle Jack and thereby with the listeners at home." Uncle Jack was played by Richard Denning
Richard Denning
Richard Denning , was an American actor who starred in such movies as Creature from the Black Lagoon and An Affair to Remember , and on radio with Lucille Ball as her husband George Cooper in My Favorite Husband , the forerunner of television's I Love Lucy, for which Denning was replaced by Ball's...
, whom listeners had heard from 1952 to 1954 as amateur detective Jerry North in the radio version of Mr. and Mrs. North
Mr. and Mrs. North
Mr. and Mrs. North are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple were featured in a series of 26 Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture and several radio and television series....
. Mandel Kramer had also played on Mr. and Mrs. North in the comedic supporting role of Brooklyn taxi driver Mahatma McGloin.
Frances Crane
Frances Crane
Frances Crane was an American mystery author, who introduced private investigator Pat Abbott and his future wife Jean in her first novel, The Turquoise Shop...
's detective pair, Pat and Jean Abbott ... "came to radio on Abbott Mysteries on Mutual in 1945 and then ran for three consecutive summers. The series was resurrected by NBC in 1955 under the new title of The Adventures of the Abbotts and this nudged Mutual into producing a copycat show under the title It's A Crime, Mr. Collins. "Many programs in the Golden Age of Radio were flattered by their competitors. ... The Abbotts
Abbott Mysteries
Abbott Mysteries was a comedy-mystery radio program adapted from the novels of Frances Crane . Initially a summer replacement for Quick As a Flash, the series was heard on Mutual and NBC between the years 1945 and 1955....
on NBC were copied exactly in Mutual's It's A Crime, Mr. Collins, including paraphrasing (the original author's) words." "Mutual even used ... the habit of putting a color in the title of every story."