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Rocky Jordan
Volume 1
 Flashing eyes and flashing knives...intrigue and mystery in the dusty, crowded streets of Cairo. That's what "Rocky Jordan" meant to faithful radio listeners between 1945 and 1951. It began as "A Man Named Jordan," a fifteen-minute daily serial on the CBS West Coast Network, and evolved into the weekly half-hour adventure that is best remembered today. Heard for the most part only on the west coast and unknown to most of the radio audience during its original airing, the series had national exposure only for the final two months of its run -- but has nonetheless captured the imagination of latter-day Old Time Radio enthusiasts as securely as if it had been a long-running coast-to-coast favorite.
"Rocky Jordan" is very reminiscent of the classic movie "Casablanca." You'll remember that, at the end of the 1942 movie, nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Police Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) walk off into the night, leaving Casablanca to join the Free French garrison across the desert. It would be very easy to think of them ending up in Cairo a few years later, with Blaine opening a new cafe and Renault returning to the challenges - and perks - of police work.
Jack Moyles plays Rocky Jordan, who is much like the Bogart character Rick Blaine. Jordan runs the Cafe Tambourine in Cairo, and Jay Novello plays Captain Sam Sabaaya, a policeman who relates to Jordan much as Captain Renault does to Rick: they like each other, they respect each other -- but they both maintain a certain skepticism.
The settings of both stories are nearly identical: the desert sands, the fez, the turbans, the robes, the underworld lowlifes who visit the cafe. In "Casablanca," 'everyone comes to Rick's'. Not so in "Rocky Jordan;" the Cafe Tambourine is a lower-class establishment. It's more a waterfront dive, filled with forgotten men. And, unlike "Casablanca," the war is over -- but not the mystery or the intrigue.
In this collection of twenty full-length shows, all taken from original CBS network master recordings, Rocky Jordan has encounters with a beautiful gypsy girl, escaped killers, desert raiders, ex-Nazis, diamond smugglers, black marketeers, gun runners, arsonists, racketeers and international thieves. And in them all, he hides a strong sentimentality behind his gruff exterior.
Yes, it's Bogart's Rick Blaine all over again -- but this time portrayed by Jack Moyles as Rocky Jordan. Casablanca or Cairo, it makes no difference. Close your eyes and feel the hot desert winds against your face. Listen to the babble of the crowds at the bazaar. Feel the adrenaline rush as a sharp Bedouin knife thunks into the woodwork inches from your ear. It's time for another adventure in Cairo with Rocky Jordan!
Up in Flames
Sunday, December 19, 1948 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
Red Stands for Blood
Sunday, February 13, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
The St. Louis Blues
Sunday, March 13, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
Consignment for Naples
Sunday, April 24, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
Lady in Disguise
Sunday, May 8, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
The Man They All Loved
Sunday, June 5, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
The Map of Murder
Sunday, July 3, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
The Race
Sunday, July 17, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
The Coward of Mutakhan
Sunday, July 24, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
Barlache
Sunday, July 31, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sustaining
Gold Fever
Sunday, August 7, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
Cairo Vendetta
Sunday, August 14, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
The Gum Queen
Sunday, August 21, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
A Stranger to the Desert
Sunday, September 4, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
Adventure with Andraya
Sunday, September 11, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
The Nile Runs High
Sunday, September 18, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
Momento from Adelaide
Sunday, September 25, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
Pattern for Revenge
Sunday, October 2, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
The Man with No Name
Sunday, October 9, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
Quest for Tornina
Sunday, October 16, 1949 - 30:00 - CBS, sponsored by Del Monte Foods
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