Rocky Fortune, Vol. 1

Here are twelve adventure-packed episodes of the radio drama Rocky Fortune.

This 1953 radio adventure series stars Frank Sinatra as Rocco Fortunato, a.k.a. Rocky Fortune, a footloose and fancy-free young man of several talents. In constant need of employment, Rocky accepts odd jobs from the Gridley Employment Agency—jobs that typically lead him into situations where he tracks down criminals and ends up rescuing people in trouble—especially women. The job done, Rocky ultimately needs to find more work.

In a wink to his own career, Sinatra infused his role with a witty, tongue-in-cheek quality. The one other recurring role was that of Hamilton J. Finger, a not very bright but solid and dependable police sergeant voiced by Barney Phillips.

The show’s creator, George Lefferts, was also one of its primary scriptwriters, along with Ernest Kinoy. The final episode of Rocky Fortune aired March 30, 1954, less than a week after Sinatra won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity.

Episodes included are: “Oyster Shucker at Fifty Fathoms,” “Steven in a Rest Home,” “The Rodeo Murder Mystery,” “The Museum Murder,” “The Football Fix,” “The Catskills Cover-Up,” “One Husband Too Many,” “A Sitting Duck for Death,” “Honor among Thieves,” “The Twice Murdered Man,” “Psychological Murder,” and “Rocket Racket.”