Little-known treasure: Man From Homicide (Audition)

If you will recall, I really am not a fan of the Audition episode.  Normally, things are rough, the music is different and characters change.

Charles McGraw: there's no tougher cop

Man From Homicide is a little different. The Audition for the show starred B-movie extraordinaire Charles McGraw instead of Dan Duyea, who eventually got the part.

McGraw plays Lt. Dana and is tougher than any other two OTR policeman put together. He's like Luke Slaughter and Matt Dillon rolled into a 1940's Homicide dick.

McGraw's voice has always fascinated me - as good as he was in the movies he comes off even better on radio. His voice is a grimy gravel pit of I'm-gonna-get-you.

The other available Man From Homicide epsiodes feature Duryea as Lt. Dana, but his voice is smooth - it reminds me of Harry Bartell in a Petri Wine commercial.  While Duryea plays the tough guy, his toughness is diminished greatly upon hearing McGraw's wonderful performance.  The script for the audition, The Wintrhop Case, is also very good and fits McGraw perfectly.

I hope you will listen to the episode below or you can download it if you prefer.  This is not only the best audition ever, it's one of the finest episodes of anything out there.