The Private Files of Rex Saunders
The Private Files of Rex Saunders gave Rex Harrison a brief radio detective vehicle built around sophistication rather than hard-boiled toughness. Harrison's Saunders works with his young assistant Alec, moving through murder plots and criminal schemes with the air of a man accustomed to thinking his way through trouble before resorting to force.
Program History
Short-lived NBC detective/adventure vehicle starring Rex Harrison as Rex Saunders with Leon Janney as assistant Alec. Frozen collection has thirteen regular broadcast recordings plus the April 13 Game With Death audition; the regular May 23 episode-4 slot lacks a distinct frozen network aircheck.
The run breaks into several distinct periods: Game With Death audition (April 13, 1951 to April 13, 1951) on NBC Radio Network and NBC/RCA Victor regular run (May 2, 1951 to August 1, 1951) on NBC Radio Network.
Names that turn up again and again in the surviving run include Edward Adamson (writer), Himan Brown (director), Leon Janney (performer), Rex Harrison (performer), Kenneth Banghart (announcer), Alice Frost (performer), and Amzie Strickland (performer).
The stories often return to murder and criminal plots, Rex Saunders and Alec partnership, private detective investigation, celebrity star vehicle, RCA Victor sponsored network radio, and edited/syndicated preservation copy.
The show also sits in a wider radio history that includes Rex Harrison radio star vehicle, Edited Rex Saunders preservation copies, 1951 NBC/RCA Victor Rex Saunders run, and April 1951 Game With Death audition.
All Episodes & Recordings
Search this program or browse in its validated catalog order.
Until Death Do Us Part
Rex reopens the unsolved murder of gambling boss Steve Farrow’s first wife when his new wife becomes the target of a nearly identical plot. A gun planted to frame Farrow…
Shallow Graves
Rex investigates the disappearance of Eddie Goodrich, a young man deep in gambling debt and tangled with blackmailers. Eddie’s body turns up hidden in an apartment, and the trail ultimately…
The Human Game
An armed stranger on a transcontinental train launches Rex into a murder involving a trucking company and feuding partners. The apparent case against Nick Gillman is manufactured: George Stone and…
Murderisa Silent Companion
On a train, a cryptic message from a woman pulls Rex into the aftermath of an old bank robbery and a supposed death. The stolen $25,000 has kept former partners…
Murder Deep in a Killers Mind
In New Orleans during Mardi Gras, an anonymous caller sends Rex toward Sid Bryce, only for Bryce and his wife to be murdered and the evidence arranged to point elsewhere.…
A Shockingstill Life
Rex is drawn into a series of deaths surrounding a haunting portrait of a scarred young woman and a French investigator’s search for a stolen Renoir. The portrait proves to…
Plan in the Killers Mind
A runaway horse introduces Rex to a case that soon centers on a stolen diamond necklace and a trail of murders. A man calling himself an insurance investigator appears to…
Worthmorethanits Weightin Murder
A woman asks Rex to help recover a rare Ming porcelain cat, and the search quickly produces a suspicious death and a chain of antique dealers and double-crosses. The figurine’s…
Lady with Hate in Her Heart
A mysterious blonde uses Rex to shake a pursuer, drawing him into what appears to be a Treasury investigation of a counterfeiting ring. The identities and loyalties keep shifting until…
Hidden Thoughtsina Feminine Mind
During a Caribbean voyage Rex’s encounter with a masked woman leads him into a network operating around Havana, where warnings and abductions conceal a larger smuggling plot. The conspirators have…
Gamewith Death
A quarrel aboard Tony Marco’s offshore gambling ship leads Rex to the disappearance of Jerry Connell, who has threatened Marco over his sister Helen. Evidence from the waterfront and a…
Namely Murder
Threats meant to drive Rex off the Stacey case instead lead him toward gambling debts, a missing man and the murder of Lucky Kramer. Rex uses a fingerprint trap on…
A Trip to the Death House
Rex is brought into a racketeering case when prosecutors need a frightened insider to testify before the grand jury. The gang moves to silence the witness and steal the affidavit…
Doneto Death
A mysterious woman at the docks draws Rex into the murder of diamond courier Stephen Allison. Clues involving cigarette butts, copper filings and an apparent accident lead to a counterfeit-currency…