Originally broadcast on CBS, 23 May 1946. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
The run
- Network
- CBS
- Years active
- 1940–1955
- Surviving broadcasts
- 67
- Genre
- detective
When Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons first debuted over the Blue Network on October 12, 1937, the show’s title accurately described Keen’s stock-in-trade; the “kindly old investigator” tracked down individuals who had mysteriously vanished, leaving behind their families, homes, jobs and other day-to-day activities. Keen (he never had a first name, unless it was “Peachy”) was assisted in these duties by an Irishman named Mike Clancy. Mike wasn’t much of a brainiac (the quote that comprises the title of this post was a semi-catchphrase that he seemed to use on the show every week) but he could use…
1954 · 11952 · 11951 · 11950 · 31949 · 11946 · 11944 · 21940 · 1
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Mr_Keen_Tracer_Of_Lost_Persons_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
11 dated broadcasts across 16 years on the air, with 8 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1940, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Case of the Missing Doll (Pt. 4) · 9 May 1940
- 2. Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons (0968) 1944-01-20 · 20 Jan 1944
- 3. The Case of the Leaping Dog · 13 Apr 1944
The Case of the Missing Doll (Pt. 4)
9 May 1940 · 13 min
Broadcast 9 May 1940. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons (0968) 1944-01-20
20 Jan 1944 · 30 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Mr_Keen_Tracer_Of_Lost_Persons_Singles”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
The Case of the Leaping Dog
13 Apr 1944 · 29 min
Broadcast 13 April 1944. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
The Case of the Glamorous Widow
23 May 1946 · 29 min
Broadcast 23 May 1946. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons (1259) 1949-10-06
6 Oct 1949 · 28 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Mr_Keen_Tracer_Of_Lost_Persons_Singles”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
The Bride and Groom Murder Case (AFRS)
19 Jan 1950 · 25 min
Broadcast 19 January 1950. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
The Innocent Flirtation Murder Case
16 Mar 1950 · 29 min
Broadcast 16 March 1950. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
The Case of Murder and the Missing Car
11 May 1950 · 29 min
Broadcast 11 May 1950. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Same night on the air
23 May 1946
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 23 May 1946.
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
The Burns and Allen Show 1946-05-23 (36) Newlywed Advice
23 May 1946 · 29 min
Transferred from the Internet Archive item “the-burns-and-allen-show-1934-09-26-2-leaving-for-america”, part of the Old Time Radio Researchers public-domain collections.
Also on CBS
CBS in 1940–1955
Other series the network carried while Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons was on the air.
Same seasons
detective on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The private eye at the microphone
First-person narration, a case that walks in the door, and a city that talks back. Marlowe, Sam Spade and Johnny Dollar turned detection into a listening form.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
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