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Golden Radio Hour
A dark, sharply written San Francisco detective series starring Jack Webb as waterfront operator Pat Novak, whose jobs repeatedly lead into murder, corruption, and clashes with Inspector Hellman.
Profiles shown here are linked only where the Golden Radio Hour catalog supports the association.
Available dates and episode numbers come from the verified catalog; undated recordings remain in their validated sort order.
“for Hire (09) John St. John” is a cataloged installment of Pat Novak, for Hire. The recording is cataloged with a broadcast date of October 13, 1946.
Lee Underwood pays Pat Novak to frighten Dixie Gillian with an empty gun. The seemingly simple intimidation job turns into a murder case that leaves Novak dangerously entangled in the killing.
Bookie John Brown hires Pat Novak as a bodyguard for a drive to San Francisco. Brown disappears during the trip, and Novak is left with a dead woman hidden in the car and a case that…
After a man is found murdered in his apartment, someone offers Novak a large payment to recover an envelope from the dead man's safe. The search for the papers draws him deeper into the killing and…
Wealthy Lydia Reynolds hires Novak as a bodyguard, but while she is away from the car he is forced to drive off at gunpoint, knocked unconscious, and awakened to find himself in possession of a car…
Joe Adams hires Novak to watch his apartment while he supposedly leaves town. Police soon connect the apartment to an older murder, forcing Novak to discover why Adams wanted him there and what the case has…
Novak meets a frightened young woman suffering from amnesia who believes the police may be after her. She suddenly dies in a restaurant, and the next day's fatal accident involving her father gives Novak another mystery…
Jockey Jackie Gregg hires Novak to find the missing racehorse Fleet Lady before an important race. The search leads first to the horse's death and then to the jockey's, turning the racing problem into a murder…
Novak pulls the wounded Reuben Callaway from the harbor just before he dies. Callaway leaves him a locker key and a message for Alma Biggs, leading Novak to photographs hidden in the locker and the dangerous…
A woman offers Novak money to stay away from prizefighter Rory Malone, even though Novak has never met him. The warning draws him into a crooked prizefight scheme in which competing fixes and murder are tied…
Doreen Wilde hires Novak to pay off her brother's gambling debt and recover compromising photographs held by gambler Joe Candono. A corpse turns up in Novak's room, making him the obvious suspect in a blackmail-and-murder setup.
A priest asks Novak to meet escaped prisoner Joe Feldman after a break from Alcatraz. What begins as an errand of mercy leads to murder, a dead policeman, and another attempt to frame Novak for the…
Old friend Sam Tolliver asks Novak to lend him a boat and help collect a package. The favor goes wrong, and a mix-up involving clothing pulls Novak into murder and leaves him trying to understand what…
Lee Underwood hires Novak to frighten Dixie Gillian with what is supposed to be an unloaded gun. When the weapon turns out to contain live ammunition and Gillian is killed, Novak finds himself framed for murder.
An armed man forces Novak to lend out one of his boats. The boat returns carrying a corpse, and the trail soon leads to the death of Rita Malloy and the people behind the two killings.
Novak is hired to watch wealthy Wendy Morris after the return of the husband she has not seen since he went into the Army years earlier. Her lawyer suspects the returning man is an impostor, and…
A laundry mix-up gives Novak another man's shirts. When he tries to exchange them, several tough men are already hunting for one missing shirt, turning an ordinary mistake into a dangerous criminal case.
A woman pays Novak to pick up a geranium from a flower stand and deliver it to an address without explanation. Someone tries to run him down before he can complete the errand, revealing that the…
An elderly man struck by a car dies after paying Novak to deliver a sealed envelope to John St. John. Novak follows the dead man's last request and is pulled into the mystery of why the…
A stranger hires Novak to follow Agnes Bolton from a bowling alley to the harbor and identify the boat that receives a green leather bag from her. The surveillance job becomes dangerous as Novak tries to…
Georgie Lampson asks Novak to take her out by boat to meet the arriving S.S. Calcutta so she can intercept a package her stepmother plans to collect. The apparently easy waterfront job quickly turns into a…
Joe Dineen dies in Novak's apartment, leaving behind the mystery of a safe-deposit box and the people desperate to learn what it contains. Novak has to determine who killed Dineen and why the box matters.
Novak visits a priest and is talking with nine-year-old altar boy Jake when a gunman fires at Novak. Jake is struck instead, and Novak sets out to discover who wanted him dead and why the child…
“For Hire- Killing In A Church” is a cataloged installment of Pat Novak, for Hire.
