Fat Man


(3.8 stars; 15 reviews)


This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

Reviews

ONE OF THE BEST !


(5 stars)

"The Fat Man" was always one of my favorites. J.Scott Smart was perfectly cast in the title role, and the "stock company" of actors that surrounded him were spot-on. If you're not familiar with the show, the American Version, with Smart, starts in this Archive at #23. The prior Episodes are from the Australian Version. (Sadly, the Aussie Episodes are not done well.) ALSO, here on the Internet Archives Site, make sure you see "The Fat Man" Movie ! Smart stars in it, as well as a young Rock Hudson. Plus, one of my all-time "Dream Girls": Julie London. This young version of Julie is delicious as always, Hudson does a good job, and, Smart handles himself well throughout. Enjoy !

Australian vs. American Episodes


(3 stars)

It should be noted that most of these episodes are from the Australian version. I find the American versions superior - the earliest episodes are said to have been written by Hammett, who created the character for radio. The Aussie shows are sometimes rather flat and talky, with native accents coming through, making their attempts at Americanisms a bit bizarre. The American shows are the last ones in the list here: Murder Wins the Draw, The Black Angel, An Unfamiliar Face, Rents a Flat/Crooked Horse (two episodes in one file), Order for Murder, 19th Pearl, and Nightmare Murder.

Many thanks


(4 stars)

My sincerest thanks to Mr. Szogy (sp?) and to the Internet Archive for making this and so many other old radio mysteries available. "The Fat Man" is before my time, like so many others but not all, so it is gratifying to hear these programs of which I've heard but, until now, have not been able to enjoy. The lead man has a maginficent radio voice, and the writing is superb. Now if you could only get "The Shadow" back ... . [4-25-09: Toward end of "Death Plays the Horses" recording is stuck, which prevents episode from reaching its end.]

fat man episodes missing opening


(3 stars)

In doing a quick check of the episodes you have available, many are missing the original opening and the Tums commercial "Tums for the Tummy." I recall the opening of a sultry woman's voice saying "There he goes..into that drugstore. He's stepping onto the scale. Weight 237 lbs. Fortune: Danger." Brad Runyon came to say "Who is it? The Fat Man." In case any youngsters read this, in the old days, many drugstores had penny scales where you could get weighed and your fortune told on a little card.

What a technical mess! Unlistenable so far!


(0.5 stars)

I haven't been able to listen to one of these radio shows yet, despite several tries. On a few, the sound is so muddy I can't follow the story. On one, there is a minute and a half of show, followed by a single phrase repeating for 26 minutes (!) as the record skips. They are almost all assigned one of two titles, regardless of what the proper episode title really is. This series sounded interesting, but this item is so non-user-friendly as to be user-hostile!

I did enjoy these


(3 stars)

Too bad there aren't more of the fat man shows. I really didn't think that the Australian shows were all that bad. I enjoyed the movie as well. Worth a listen. However, I have listened to these shows again (April 2018) and there are problems which were not there four years ago. endings and beginnings cutoff volume turned way down on two of the shows, and at least two of these shows have a repetitive loop which finished the episode and makes listening useless

A Good Detective, A Good Series


(4 stars)

The Fat Man never crossed the threshold of being one of my favorite OTR series; I always considered it second tier. But, the more I listen to episodes, the more I began to like the writing, and like the acting. The Fat Man, as a character, is kind of what I imagine Nero Wolfe would be like if Wolfe didn't have Archie Goodwin and had to hit the streets himself. A series well worth listening to. Several times.

The hero of the 200+ set


(5 stars)

Forget about all of those slim, handsome, suave, debonair types of detective. Here is a real MAN's detective... The ladies seem attracted to this 239 (or 249 depending on which episode you listen to) pound irresistible he-man too!