Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Five Down Matter 09/25/1960

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio

On a chaotic Sunday morning, freelance insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is bombarded with urgent calls from five key associates, prompting him to rush to Los Angeles expecting multiple

Key takeaways

• Johnny receives simultaneous urgent calls from Pat McCracken, George Reed, Harry Branson, Earl Poorman, and Alvin P. Cartwright on a single Sunday morning.
• Travel logistics force Johnny to coordinate with underworld contact Smokey Sullivan and Lieutenant Randy Singer while rushing to catch flights to California.

Main topics

• Insurance fraud investigation
• Radio broadcast anniversary celebration

Notable quotes

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Conclusion

The episode functions as a heartfelt meta-narrative that rewards long-time listeners with

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old-time radio shows. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, and thank you for donating at choiceclassicradio.com. Speaker 4 (0:30) Yeah, Speaker 5 (0:30) sure. I was going to call you, see if you'd like to be among those present. Speaker 4 (0:33) At least... Speaker 4 (0:35) Suits me fine. Maybe. Speaker 4 (0:45) Sure, Speaker 5 (0:45) why not? Speaker 4 (0:46) You mean it, Johnny? Sure, Speaker 5 (0:48) just let me put on my best bib and tecker and I'll... Whoa. Speaker 5 (0:52) Somewhere along the line. Did I hear you say something about getting married? Speaker 5 (0:59) Oh, look, honey, let's not get about that. Speaker 5 (1:02) Oh, honey, you know how I feel about you. And if it wasn't for this crazy, risky job of mine... Speaker 5 (1:10) Now, let's face it, it doesn't really make sense right now. Speaker 4 (1:15) Okay, Johnny. Speaker 5 (1:18) Oh, no, no way. Betty. Speaker 5 (1:26) you dope. You'd better drive on over and see that gal and try to... Oh, now, listen, honey, I... Well, what I meant to say back there... Yeah, Speaker 3 (1:34) what did you mean? Speaker 5 (1:37) Who's that? Speaker 5 (1:40) On a Sunday morning... On a Speaker 3 (1:41) Sunday... Speaker 5 (1:43) You mean for an assignment, some insurance investigation? I sure do. Now, listen. No, sorry, Pat. I can't. Not right now. Look, I'll Speaker 3 (1:48) run over there to your Speaker 5 (1:49) apartment. No, Pat, no. Now, wait just a Speaker 3 (1:51) minute, Scott. Speaker 5 (1:51) No, no, I won't be here. Will you... But I tell you... Speaker 5 (1:58) Pat realized that sometimes there are things more important than... Speaker 5 (2:03) Well, I suppose I shouldn't have barked at you. Maybe after I've kind of Speaker 3 (2:07) smoothed things over with Betty, I can... Speaker 5 (2:10) Okay, now Speaker 4 (2:10) let's... Instead Speaker 5 (2:11) of your coming over here, just give me a couple of hours to take care of something personal, and I'll drive over and see you, and you can tell me... Speaker 5 (2:26) I'm all tied up. Speaker 4 (2:28) I'm Speaker 5 (2:29) sorry, George. Speaker 5 (2:31) Huh? That old crackpot? Speaker 5 (2:35) All right, so what? It just happens that right now I've got... Speaker 5 (2:42) George, listen, I'm sorry, but nothing that involves Cartwright or anybody else can possibly be more important at the moment than something personal I have to do and right away. Speaker 4 (2:50) Nothing. Speaker 3 (3:05) And the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Speaker 5 (3:26) Expense account submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar. To the Universal. Now to Floyd's... Well, now, wait. Before this case was through, there were enough insurance companies involved to... Well, anyhow, it's an account of expenses incurred during my so-called investigation of the five down matter. Speaker 5 (3:44) Three phone calls, all within a couple of minutes, all demanding my services immediately. And I promised to call them right back. George Reed at Floyd's of England, Pat McCracken of Universal Adjustment Bureau, and frankly, more important to me, the best gal friend, Betty Lewis, on account of maybe I'd left the impression I was trying to give her a brush off or something. And as the people who listen to these reports know very well, that I would never, never do. Yeah, yeah, that's it. First I'd call Betty. But as I reach for the phone again... Huh? Uh, Johnny Dollar. John, Speaker 4 (4:16) thank goodness I found you in. Ah, who are you? It's vital that I see you at once, immediately. Yeah, I Speaker 5 (4:20) said, who are you? Speaker 4 (4:21) Who am I? Yes. Speaker 5 (4:28) Barry, look, if this call is about business... Well, Speaker 4 (4:30) of Speaker 5 (4:30) course Speaker 4 (4:30) it is. Speaker 5 (4:30) Well, I'm sorry. I'm all tied up. But if it's something that awaits... I'm Speaker 4 (4:34) afraid not. Because I have two Speaker 5 (4:35) or three other things that I have to attend to first. So what I will do, John, Speaker 4 (4:37) is this. I will give you the address of where you must call. Oh, sorry. And you can fly... Harry. Speaker 5 (4:43) Sorry, I'm really sorry. Speaker 4 (4:45) I know. Watch out! Look, I... Speaker 5 (4:47) Well, as soon as I can get these other things cleared away, I'll call you back, huh? Speaker 4 (4:50) Call me back? Speaker 5 (4:51) Yes. Speaker 4 (4:52) I'll call you back. Speaker 5 (4:53) John! Speaker 5 (4:55) What is this anyhow? You'd think the world was coming to us. I'll wait. I'll call back the brother. Speaker 5 (5:03) Come on, this is carrying things too far. Johnny Dollar. Speaker 4 (5:06) Earl Poorman, Speaker 5 (5:07) Johnny. Now look. Speaker 5 (5:10) It's nice to... But listen, I'm sorry I can't talk to you right now. Speaker 4 (5:13) But, Johnny, I want... But I can't. That is... Speaker 5 (5:18) I mean, at least not right away, Earl. Not right this minute, huh? This is Speaker 4 (5:21) very important. Speaker 5 (5:21) Well, something's come up. A lot of things have come up, and I can't even take time to talk to you until I listen. Hey, Earl. I'm Speaker 4 (5:27) listening. All right, let me Speaker 5 (5:28) call you back, huh? In a couple of minutes or maybe a couple of hours at the most, okay? Speaker 4 (5:31) Well... Speaker 4 (5:33) But I Speaker 5 (5:33) can't be... Speaker 4 (5:34) Oh, Speaker 2 (5:35) listen, Speaker 5 (5:35) I'll call you Speaker 2 (5:35) back. Speaker 5 (5:37) Another nice, peaceful, quiet Sunday, huh? After all these guys, they've all been pretty good to me over the years, so if any of them has got a real problem, I don't know. First, I've got to call Betty and Pat. Speaker 5 (5:51) Believe me, this is impossible. Speaker 4 (5:54) Yeah? Go Speaker 5 (5:54) ahead, ring. Ring your head off. Go ahead. When you decide there's no one here, I'll make the calls I promised and I'll... Speaker 5 (6:04) Johnny Dollar. Speaker 5 (6:06) Austin. Speaker 4 (6:07) That's right. Speaker 5 (6:23) Did I say anything about going to California? Speaker 3 (6:27) Buster, look, please, believe me. With the crazy Speaker 5 (6:29) way things are going around here, believe me, I'm sorry, but I can't talk to you right now. Speaker 5 (6:36) Just give me a few. Just give me a little while. I'll get back to you. Speaker 3 (6:41) Back to you. Speaker 5 (6:44) Help me if you ring once more. Speaker 5 (6:48) you are. This is... Johnny Dollar. Speaker 5 (7:00) Peabody Cartwright. Well, Speaker 4 (7:01) of course. Speaker 4 (7:04) Mr. Speaker 5 (7:05) Cartwright. Speaker 4 (7:05) Come in. Speaker 4 (7:08) Yeah, Speaker 5 (7:09) hardware. And listen, George Reed called me about you a few minutes ago. He said something about a murder. Speaker 4 (7:14) Me? Well, that was the impression I got. He was... Speaker 4 (7:19) Oh, no, Speaker 5 (7:19) listen, Mr. Cagriot, I... No, Speaker 4