Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Running time | 30 minutes |
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Country of origin | United States |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | |
Starring | Dick Powell |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Original release | April 24, 1949 – September 20, 1953 |
Opening theme | "Leave It to Love" |
Richard Diamond, Private Detective | |
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Crime drama | |
Written by | Blake Edwards |
Directed by |
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Starring | |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 77 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Producers |
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Production locations | |
Cinematography | George E. Diskant |
Editors |
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Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 24–25 minutes per episode |
Production company | Four Star Television |
Original release | |
Network |
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Release | July 1, 1957 September 6, 1960 | –
Richard Diamond, Private Detective is an American detective drama, created by Blake Edwards, which aired on radio from 1949 to 1953, and on television from 1957 to 1960.
Radio
Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a wisecracking former police officer turned private detective. Episodes typically open with a client visiting or calling cash-strapped Diamond's office and agreeing to his fee of $100 a day plus expenses, or Diamond taking on a case at the behest of his friend and former partner, Lt. Walter Levinson. Diamond often suffers a blow to the head in his sleuthing pursuits. Most episodes end with Diamond at the piano, singing a standard, popular song, or showtune from Powell's repertoire to Helen Asher (his girlfriend) in her penthouse at 975 Park Avenue.
Levinson was played variously by
Many of the shows were either written or directed by Edwards. Its theme, "Leave It to Love", was whistled by Powell at the beginning of each episode.
It began airing on
Television series
General Foods bought the program from Powell as a summer replacement for December Bride in 1957.[2]
The television debut of Richard Diamond occurred on November 22, 1956, when Don Taylor portrayed the character in the "Double Cross" episode on Chevron Hall of Stars.[3]
Powell's company, Four Star Television, produced the television version of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, which premiered in the summer of 1957 on CBS. It returned to CBS in January 1958 for the second season and in February 1959 for the third season, again on CBS. In the fall of 1959, the fourth and final season aired on NBC.[citation needed]
Following the second season, the setting was switched from
In the fourth season, which aired on NBC, the writers retained Los Angeles as the setting, but the Hefner-esque fantasy elements were considerably toned down. Now Diamond again operated from an office reminiscent of what he had known in New York, and his beautiful ranch house was replaced by an attractive—though more conventional—apartment. His car phone still connected him to Sam, but he now drove a 1959 Ford Galaxie convertible—absent the impressive tail fins of his DeSoto. Though the opening titles remained, Rugolo's score was replaced by a more sedate theme, "Nervous" by Richard Shores, later to be used during the highlight sequence that began every episode of The Dick Powell Show. The CBS Season 3 re-boot had aired on Sunday nights at 10 pm, but NBC moved the time slot to 7:30 pm Monday, and Season 4 began airing on October 5, 1959, with a 17-episode run that concluded late in January. Because its numbers were no longer strong, the season's nine additional episodes were delayed, resuming only as a summer replacement on Tuesday, July 5, 1960, and concluding in early September. Though the old noirish elements were more prominent, the look of the final season seems inspired more by cost-cutting than aesthetics, and the production values appear far less glamorous than Season 3.[citation needed]
In addition to Janssen, the series had other recurring characters. Mirroring Diamond's history with the New York Police Department, the radio version featured his friend, police Lt. Walt Levinson (often played by
Cast
- David Janssen as Richard Diamond
- Regis Toomey as Lt. Dennis "Mac" McGough (seasons 1–2)
- Russ Conway as Lt. Pete Kile (season 4)
- Barbara Bain as Karen Wells (season 3)
- Mary Tyler Moore as Sam (season 3)
- Roxane Brooks as Sam (seasons 3–4)
Television guest stars
- Nick Adams
- Philip Ahn
- Charles Aidman
- Claude Akins
- Frank Albertson
- Jack Albertson
- Chris Alcaide
- Merry Anders
- John Anderson
- Eleanor Audley
- Phyllis Avery
- Joanna Barnes
- Patricia Barry
- Harry Bartell
- Arthur Batanides
- Barbara Baxley
- Don Beddoe
- Ed Begley
- Harry Bellaver
- John Beradino
- James Best
- Edward Binns
- Joey Bishop
- Patricia Blair
- Whitney Blake
- Dan Blocker
- Willis Bouchey
- Lane Bradford
- Jocelyn Brando
- Steve Brodie
- Charles Bronson
- Hillary Brooke
- Geraldine Brooks
- Richard Carlyle
- Jack Cassidy
- Phyllis Coates
- Joe Conley
- Ellen Corby
- Jerome Cowan
- Christopher Dark
- Ted de Corsia
- Francis De Sales
- King Donovan
- Richard Devon
- Brad Dexter
- Lawrence Dobkin
- James Drury
- Don Durant
- Jack Elam
- Ross Elliott
- Tommy Farrell
- James Flavin
- Dick Foran
- Robert Foulk
- Douglas Fowley
- Robert Gist
- Ned Glass
- Barry Gordon
- Tom Greenway
- Dabbs Greer
- Virginia Gregg
- Don Haggerty
- Kipp Hamilton
- Peter Hansen
- Stacy Harris
- Irene Hervey
- Jonathan Hole
- James Hong
- Clegg Hoyt
- John Hoyt
- Robert Karnes
- Don Keefer
- DeForest Kelley
- Sandy Kenyon
- Gail Kobe
- Charles Lane
- Joi Lansing
- Harry Lauter
- Ruta Lee
- Peter Leeds
- Bethel Leslie
- Nan Leslie
- Lisa Lu
- Keye Luke
- John Lupton
- Ross Martin
- Sean McClory
- Howard McNear
- Carole Mathews
- Joyce Meadows
- Eve Miller
- John Mitchum
- Rita Moreno
- Vic Morrow
- Jeanette Nolan
- Jay Novello
- Alan Reed
- Richard Reeves
- Stafford Repp
- Addison Richards
- Mark Roberts
- Carlos Romero
- Hayden Rorke
- Mort Sahl
- Walter Sande
- Gloria Saunders
- William Schallert
- Jacqueline Scott
- Karen Sharpe
- Doris Singleton
- Lyle Talbot
- Gloria Talbott
- Vaughn Taylor
- Lee Van Cleef
- Herb Vigran
- June Vincent
- James Westerfield
- Jesse White
- Jean Willes
- Gloria Winters
Television episode list
Season 1: 1957
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
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1 | 1 | "The Mickey Farmer Case" | Roy Del Ruth | Richard Carr | July 1, 1957 |
2 | 2 | "Custody" | Tom Gries | Ellis Marcus | July 8, 1957 |
3 | 3 | "Escape from Oak Lane" | Tom Gries | Edmund Morris | July 15, 1957 |
4 | 4 | "The Homicide Habit" | Unknown | Unknown | July 22, 1957 |
5 | 5 | "Picture of Fear" | Oscar Rudolph | David T. Chandler | July 29, 1957 |
6 | 6 | "Hit and Run" | Oscar Rudolph | Ellis Arnold Kadison | August 5, 1957 |
7 | 7 | "The Big Score" | Oscar Rudolph | David T. Chandler | August 12, 1957 |
8 | 8 | "The Chess Player" | Mark Sandrich Jr. | Philip MacDonald | August 19, 1957 |
9 | 9 | "The Torch Carriers" | Bernard Kowalski | Gene Levitt | August 26, 1957 |
10 | 10 | "The Pete Rocco Case" | Bernard Kowalski | Richard Carr | September 9, 1957 |
11 | 11 | "Venus of Park Avenue" | Mark Sandrich Jr. | George Worthing Yates & David T. Chandler | September 16, 1957 |
12 | 12 | "Merry-Go-Round Case" | Roy Del Ruth | Richard Carr | September 23, 1957 |
Season 2: 1958
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
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13 | 1 | "The Space Society" | January 2, 1958 |
14 | 2 | "The Dark Horse" | January 9, 1958 |
15 | 3 | "The Payoff" | January 16, 1958 |
16 | 4 | "Double Jeopardy" | January 23, 1958 |
17 | 5 | "Arson" | January 30, 1958 |
18 | 6 | "The Ed Church Case" | February 6, 1958 |
19 | 7 | "Chinese Honeymoon" | February 13, 1958 |
20 | 8 | "Rodeo" | February 20, 1958 |
21 | 9 | "A Cup of Black Coffee" | February 27, 1958 |
22 | 10 | "The George Dale Case" | March 6, 1958 |
23 | 11 | "Juvenile Jacket" | March 13, 1958 |
24 | 12 | "Pension Plan" | March 27, 1958 |
25 | 13 | "Short Haul" | April 10, 1958 |
26 | 14 | "Another Man's Poison" | April 17, 1958 |
27 | 15 | "The Purple Penguin" | April 24, 1958 |
28 | 16 | "Lost Testament" | May 1, 1958 |
29 | 17 | "The Percentage Takers" | May 8, 1958 |
30 | 18 | "Widow's Walk" | May 22, 1958 |
31 | 19 | "Bungalow Murder" | May 29, 1958 |
32 | 20 | "One Foot in the Grave" | June 12, 1958 |
33 | 21 | "Snow Queen" | June 26, 1958 |
Season 3: 1959–60
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
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34 | 1 | "The Sport" | February 15, 1959 |
35 | 2 | "Pack Rat" | February 22, 1959 |
36 | 3 | "Body of the Crime" | March 1, 1959 |
37 | 4 | "Soft Touch" | March 8, 1959 |
38 | 5 | "Boomerang Bait" | March 15, 1959 |
39 | 6 | "Matador Murder" | March 22, 1959 |
40 | 7 | "Murder at the Mansion" | March 29, 1959 |
41 | 8 | "Marineland Mystery" | April 5, 1959 |
42 | 9 | "Charity Affair" | April 12, 1959 |
43 | 10 | "Two for Paradise" | April 19, 1959 |
44 | 11 | "Crown of Silla" | May 3, 1959 |
45 | 12 | "Jukebox" | May 10, 1959 |
46 | 13 | "Echo of Laughter" | May 17, 1959 |
47 | 14 | "The Limping Man" | May 24, 1959 |
48 | 15 | "Hideout" | May 31, 1959 |
49 | 16 | "Rough Cut" | June 7, 1959 |
50 | 17 | "Family Affair" | June 14, 1959 |
51 | 18 | "Design for Murder" | June 21, 1959 |
52 | 19 | "Hoodlum" | October 5, 1959 |
53 | 20 | "Act of Grace" | October 12, 1959 |
54 | 21 | "Bookie" | October 19, 1959 |
55 | 22 | "The Client" | October 26, 1959 |
56 | 23 | "The Runaway" | November 2, 1959 |
57 | 24 | "No Laughing Matter" | November 9, 1959 |
58 | 25 | "The Messenger" | November 16, 1959 |
59 | 26 | "The Counselor" | November 23, 1959 |
60 | 27 | "The Image" | November 30, 1959 |
61 | 28 | "The Adjuster" | December 7, 1959 |
62 | 29 | "Marked for Murder" | December 14, 1959 |
63 | 30 | "The Caller" | December 21, 1959 |
64 | 31 | "One Dead Cat" | December 28, 1959 |
65 | 32 | "Dead to the World" | January 11, 1960 |
66 | 33 | "Seven Swords" | January 18, 1960 |
67 | 34 | "The Fine Art of Murder" | January 25, 1960 |
Season 4: 1960
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
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68 | 1 | "The Popskull" | June 28, 1960 |
69 | 2 | "And Whose Little Baby Are You?" | July 5, 1960 |
70 | 3 | "Fallen Star" | July 19, 1960 |
71 | 4 | "Coat of Arms" | August 2, 1960 |
72 | 5 | "Double Trouble" | August 9, 1960 |
73 | 6 | "The Lovely Fraud" | August 16, 1960 |
74 | 7 | "Accent on Murder" | August 23, 1960 |
75 | 8 | "East of Danger" | August 30, 1960 |
76 | 9 | "Running Scared" | September 6, 1960 |
77 | 10 | "The Mouse" | September 13, 1960 |
Adaptations
In 1968, Four Star president David Charnay announced a feature film revival starring David Janssen, but nothing came of the plans. A pair of unauthorized Richard Diamond short stories set in 1948 were published in book form in 2016.
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
- ^ "'Dick Diamond' To Sub 'Dec. Bride'". Variety. January 30, 1957. p. 24. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-6747-8. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
External links
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective at IMDb
- Richard Diamond, Private Eye at epguides.com
- Richard Diamond, Private Eye at The Thrilling Detective web-site
- Richard Diamond Private Eye Podcast
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective in the Old-Time Radio Collection
- Richard Diamond, Private Eye theme by Pete Rugolo
- Richard Diamond on Old Time Radio Outlaws