Shadow: Crime Does Not Pay (Old Time Radio) Audio CD – May 25, 2012

Radio Spirits continues to put out high-quality CD box sets with un-circulated episodes of THE SHADOW that have not been heard for more than 60 or 70 years. On top of new adventures there are a few that are now complete with commercials which existed in edited/syndicated format. Radio Spirits will continue to put out box sets of un-circulated radio shows as long as the sets sell. After all, it costs money for these shows and they are licensed and legal. So rather than support illegal downloading, consider supporting a good cause that will benefit everyone. Great liner notes.

I have enjoyed listening to various Shadow episodes for years. While the sound quality is a bit fuzzy on a few stories, most of the episodes on this compilation are quite clear. I enjoy listening to these old stories on long car rides on dark nights. They seem to fit somehow.

i like old shows

Excellent addition to collection!

Gift for my son. He loved it!

CRIME DOES NOT PAY, the latest release from Radio Spirits, features 18 half-hour episodes of the classic radio series THE SHADOW, including two "lost" episodes which haven't been heard in over seventy years. The episodes span the eras of both Bill Johnstone (who played The Shadow from 1938 - 1943) and Bret Morrison (1943-1944, 1945 - 1954), and include a healthy cross-section of plot types, which see The Shadow tangle with foreign agents, voodoo cults, mad scientists, murderous lunatics and scheming "black widows" who want to knock off their relatives for money.The episodes are:Gun Island - While on a sailing trip, The Shadow encounters vicious modern-day pirates whose murderous ways conceal a hidden military agenda.The Isle of Fear - On vacation in Haiti, The Shadow must stop a bloody voodoo cult which has kidnapped Margo.Black Rock - The Shadow tracks down an embezzler to the frozen wastes of the North Atlantic.Fountain of Death - The Shadow duels with a foreign spy who has stolen a miraculous secret formula.Murder By Rescue - Lamont and Margo attempt to foil a nefarious murder plot but to do so, need the aid of, well, you guessd it...The Plot That Failed - Two scientists enlist The Shadow's aid in their secret experiments, but one of them has a hidden agenda.The Isle of the Living Dead - The Shadow discovers zombies on a Carribbean island, but who is controlling them?The Leopard Strikes - The Shadow investigates what looks like a murderous animal cult, but all is not as it seems.Death Speaks Twice - When a convicted embezzeler escapes from prison and seems to commit murder, The Shadow wants to hunt him down, but is the man really guilty of either crime?Death Gives an Encore - Bizarre and grisly murders are the backdrop of a showdown between The Shadow and a mysterious opponent who can see him just fine.The Crystal Globe - When Margo comes under the influence of a local mystic, The Shadow investigates and finds a murderous racket at work.The Ghost Without a Face - Lamont is underwriting a local play, and discovers the theater may be haunted by the ghost of an actor who killed himself on opening night.Mind Over Murder - Lamont and Margo witness a suicide that might just have been murder.The Ghost Wore a Silver Slipper - Lamont and Margo encounter a woman walking by the roadside who reportedly died days before...and that's just the beginning of the mystery.The Gorilla Man - A zookeeper with an affinity for gorillas slowly goes mad, but is he responsible for the vicious murders happening at the zoo?The White Witchman of Lawaiki - The Shadow duels with a megalomaniac on a remote jungle island, one who knows the secret of his identity.The Bride Wore Black - Lamont and Margo head to the swamp country to aid a friend who thinks he is being driven mad.The Touch of Death - The brother of a man sent to the electric chair by The Shadow wants revenge, and has just the weapon to get it.There are definitely some good episodes here, so you may be wondering why I gave the collection only three stars. The answer is that while I agree with the other reviewer that Conde Nast, which owns the rights to THE SHADOW and sells them via Radio Spirits, has every right to make a profit on them, they are putting the listener over a barrel by parceling out the "newly discovered" shows one and two at a time with ones the hardcore SHADOW fan is already certain to own. In recent years about fifteen "lost" episodes have been found, but instead of releasing them as one large, expensive collection, they are parceling them out at long intervals. People go to illegal bootleg sites because they don't necessarily want to pay $30 - $40 for an 18-episode collection, 16 episodes of which they already own. I want Radio Spirits to stay in business, too, but I also don't want to pay huge sums for collections of material I already own. There must be a way for fans like myself to get these shows WITHOUT resorting to bootlegs, and I leave it to Radio Spirits to come up with a method.