View source for Broadway Is My Beat

{{Short description|American radio crime drama}}
{{One source
| date = December 2019
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name     = Broadway Is My Beat
| image         = Image:Arossbroadway.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = [[Anthony Ross]] as Detective Danny Clover in ''Broadway Is My Beat''
| other_names   = 
| format        = 
| runtime       = 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| home_station  = 
| syndicates    = [[CBS]]
| television    = 
| presenter     = 
| starring      = [[Anthony Ross]]<br>[[Larry Thor]]
| announcer     = [[Bern Bennett]]<br>Bill Anders
| creator       = 
| writer        = [[Morton S. Fine]]<br>[[David Friedkin]]
| director      = [[Elliott Lewis (radio)|Elliott Lewis]]
| senior_editor = 
| editor        = 
| producer      = [[Elliott Lewis (radio)|Elliott Lewis]]
| exec_producer = 
| narrated      = 
| rec_location  = 
| rem_location  = 
| oth_location  = 
| first_aired   = February 27, 1949
| last_aired    = August 1, 1954
| num_series    = 
| num_episodes  = 
| audio_format  = 
| opentheme     = ''I'll Take Manhattan''
| othertheme    = 
| endtheme      = 
| sponsor       = 
| website       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| podcast       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
'''''Broadway Is My Beat''''', a [[radio drama|radio crime drama]], ran on [[CBS]] from February 27, 1949 to August 1, 1954.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=John |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Broadway+Is+My+Beat,+Crime+Drama%22&pg=PA120 |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |pages=120–121 |edition=Revised |accessdate=2019-08-07}}</ref>

==Characters and story==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}} 
The opening theme of "I'll Take Manhattan" introduced Detective Danny Clover, a hardened [[New York City]] cop who worked [[homicide]] "from [[Times Square]] to [[Columbus Circle]]—the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."

Danny Clover narrated the tales of the Great White Way to the accompaniment of music by [[Wilbur Hatch]] and [[Alexander Courage]], and the recreation of [[Manhattan]]'s aural tapestry required the talents of three sound effects technicians (David Light, Ralph Cummings, Ross Murray). Bill Anders was the show's announcer, as was Joe Walters.

The supporting cast included regulars Charles Calvert (as Sgt. Gino Tartaglia) and [[Jack Kruschen]] (as Sgt. Muggavan), [[John Forsythe]] (as Tom), with episodic roles filled by television, radio, and film stars such as [[Eve McVeagh]], and such radio actors as [[Irene Tedrow]], [[Barney Phillips]], [[Virginia Gregg]], Anthony Barrett, [[Herb Butterfield]], [[Lamont Johnson]], [[Herb Ellis]], [[Hy Averback]], [[Edgar Barrier]], [[Betty Lou Gerson]], [[Cathy Lewis]], [[Harry Bartell]], [[Sheldon Leonard]], [[Martha Wentworth]], [[Lawrence Dobkin]], [[Howard McNear]], and [[Mary Jane Croft]].

==Closing==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2023}} 
{{review|section|date=January 2016}}
Time was elastic, a fairly easy trick in the theater of the mind. Stories closed, more often than not on a pensive, melancholy note, quickly after the climax of the program. Rarely was the case reviewed; more likely Clover would philosophize, as in the show's opening, with a bit of prose that ran from purple to stunningly poignant, ending in a reprise of the show's setup, e.g.:
{{Blockquote|
Broadway is sleeping now... the furious avenues of the night are still... only the sleepwalkers are there... the seekers, the sodden... it's Broadway. The gaudiest. The most violent. The lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway... ''my'' beat!}}

== Production ==
With [[Anthony Ross]] portraying [[Times Square]] Detective Danny Clover, the show originated from New York City through May 29, 1949. Beginning on July 7, 1949, it originated from [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. [[Larry Thor]] began playing Clover with the program's move to the west coast.<ref name="rcf">{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=Jim |title=Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age |date=June 14, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-1227-0 |access-date=December 17, 2023 |pages=58–60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLzwCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Broadway+Is+My+Beat%22+CBS&pg=PA58 |language=en}}</ref>

The series featured music by Robert Stringer, and scripts by Peter Lyon. John Dietz directed for producer Lester Gottlieb<ref>{{cite news |title=New CBS Dramatic Series Debuts Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-broadway-is-my-beat/144915132/ |access-date=April 7, 2024 |work=The Shreveport Times |date=February 27, 1949 |page=A 13|via = [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref> (eventually succeeding him as producer). [[Bern Bennett]] was the original announcer.

When the series was broadcast from Hollywood, producer [[Elliott Lewis (radio)|Elliott Lewis]] directed a new cast in scripts by [[Morton S. Fine]] and [[David Friedkin]].

==Critical response==
A review in the trade publication ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the program "another whodunit with an incidental Gotham background that should appeal to the mystery fans."<ref name=v>{{cite magazine |date=March 2, 1949 |page=28 |title=Broadway's (sic) My Beat |magazine=Variety |url=https://archive.org/details/variety173-1949-03/page/n27/mode/1up?view=theater |accessdate=February 1, 2023}}</ref> The review also mentioned "smoothly meshing production gears, solid performances by an ace cast and some firstrate (sic) musical scoring by Robert Stringer."<ref name="v" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.genericradio.com/show.php?id=08d5c43b6801833a Script: ''Broadway Is My Beat'': "The Tom Keeler Murder Case" (8/22/51)]
*[http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Certified_Series_logs/Broadway_Is_My_Beat_aV01.htm ''Broadway Is My Beat'' series log (broadcast dates and titles for most episodes)]

===Listen===
*[http://www.otr.net/?p=bimb ''Broadway Is My Beat'' radio shows (96 episodes)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051023224050/http://www.radiolovers.com/pages/broadwayismybeat.htm RadioLovers: ''Broadway Is My Beat'': "John Rand"]

[[Category:American radio dramas]]
[[Category:1940s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1950s American radio programs]]
[[Category:CBS Radio programs]]
[[Category:Detective radio shows]]