Johnny Fletcher is a fictional character created by

Frank Gruber Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer. He was a writer of stories for pulp fiction magazines. He also wrote dozens of novels, mostly Westerns and dete ...

. Fletcher is a con-man and reluctant amateur detective. The character was the protagonist of several mystery novels published between 1940 and 1964. Additionally, he was featured in a feature film adaptation scripted by Gruber, and a short lived radio series.

Overview

Fletcher and his sidekick Sam Cragg are small time scam artists. Fletcher is the brains, and the muscular Cragg the brawn. They often stumble upon crimes, and reluctantly end attempting to solve them. They often pose as private detectives.

List of stories

Novels

* ''The French Key aka Once Over Deadly'' (1940) * ''The Laughing Fox'' (1940) * ''The Hungry Dog'' aka ''Die Like a Dog'' (1941) * ''The Navy Colt'' (1941) * ''The Talking Clock'' (1941) * ''The Gift Horse'' aka ''Heir to Homicide'' (1942) * ''The Mighty Blockhead'' aka ''The Corpse Moved Upstairs'' (1942) * ''The Silver Tombstone'' aka ''The Silver Tombstone Mystery'' (1945) * ''The Honest Dealer'' aka ''Double Dealer'' (1947) * ''The Whispering Master'' (1947) * ''The Scarlet Feather'' aka ''The Gamecock Murder'' (1948) * ''The Leather Duke'' aka ''A Job of Murder'' (1949) * ''The Limping Goose'' (1954) * ''The Corpse Moved Upstairs'' (1964) * ''Swing Low Swing Dead'' (1964)

Short stories

* ''The Sad Serbian'' (1939) (features Sam Cragg only) * ''The Laughing Fox'' (1940)

Adaptations

Film

In 1946, Gruber adapted ''The French Key'' into a feature film, starring

Albert Dekker Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in '' Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), '' Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''. Early life and c ...

as Fletcher and

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

as Cragg.

Radio series

''Johnny Fletcher'' is an American

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

comedy-detective drama. It was broadcast weekly on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from May 30, 1948, until November 27, 1948. The program was also known as ''A Johnny Fletcher Mystery.'' Radio historian Jim Cox, in his book, ''Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age'', describes Fletcher as "inept" and "frequently drunk". The program's plots usually involved murder or other kinds of mayhem that Fletcher and his partner, Sam Cragg, tried to solve. As an example, "The Whispering Master" episode (previewed in a contemporary newspaper) began with an "unidentified but beautiful young woman" kissing Fletcher and suddenly departing, leaving behind a popular recording. As the plot unfolded, Fletcher had to solve the murder of the singer who recorded the song. Gruber originally sold the rights to his Fletcher novels to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

in 1946. An audition recording of ''Johnny Fletcher Mysteries'' featured

as Fletcher and

as Sam, reprising their roles from the film version of ''The French Key''. The pilot episode was an adaptation of the novel, ''The Navy Colt''. Two years later, ABC bought the rights to the program from NBC and produced ''Johnny Fletcher''. On the ABC version, Fletcher was portrayed by

Bill Goodwin William Nettles Goodwin (July 28, 1910 – May 9, 1958),Palm Spr ...

, while Sam was played by

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

. The announcers were Owen James and John Storm. Gruber wrote the scripts, and Buzz Adlam provided the music. Producers were Bill Rousseau and Hal Finberg. The February 20, 1961, issue of the trade magazine ''

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

'' included ''Johnny Fletcher'' in a list of pilots being prepared for the 1961-1962 season. Gruber was the producer of the episode, which starred Johnny Goddard and

Read Morgan Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series '' The Deputy''. Life and career Mor ...

Television

Gruber wrote an episode of the anthology series ''

Suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it ...

'' entitled ''1000 To One''. Paul Stewart appeared as the Sam Cragg character. Fletcher did not appear.

References

{{Reflist 1948 radio programme debuts 1948 radio programme endings ABC radio programs Detective radio shows Fletcher, Johnny Fletcher, Johnny