Straight Arrow

The thrilling opening of Straight Arrow will send chills down the spines of any kids who were lucky enough to hear it "live." The special sound of the arrow shooting toward its target was made by the organist Milton Charles, who used his Hammond B-2 with its whirring speakers to great effect. "A strong bow bent almost to the breaking point! And then…" and that sound of the arrow whizzing through the air…"STRAIGHT ARROW!"

The story was that a mild-mannered rancher, Steve Adams, had been a Comanche Indian who was taken in by ranchers very early in life. He learned as a teenager that there was a Comanche legend telling of a great warrior who would come to right wrongs and do good, riding like the wind and relentless in his aim. Steve became that warrior, known as Straight Arrow! He had a secret cave where he kept his beautiful and swift palomino Fury, and unknown to any save his trusty whiteman sidekick Packy McCloud, he would ride out of the empty horizon to become Straight Arrow. Packy was played by Fred Howard. Gwen Delano was the tough but sweet Mesquite Molly. Don Lee productions got the show to a gallop in the late 40's, and then it went to Mutual and settled into a Tuesday and Thursday 5 PM slot.

The dialogue was great, with many Indian phrases and ideas, and the actor Howard Culver did the part with a perfect balance of essentially two roles, that of Steve Adams and that of Straight Arrow. The show was "brought to you by" Nabisco Shredded Wheat.

Of course, everything about the show was tried and true, but the wonder of the show was that a teenager (or so it seemed to all the kids) could be such a hero, and an Indian, too, was just so much cooler than the Masked Man. Straight Arrow had fans that to this day, love to hear that thrilling sound of….WHHHHOOOSH. "Straight Arrow."

For more western adventure that kids loved, see Cisco Kid, Roy Rogers, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Sky King and Wild Bill Hickok. Of course, there were a bunch of great radio serials aimed at the kids. Some kids classics are Superman, The Green Hornet, Captain Midnight, Space Patrol, Hop Harrigan and Speed Gibson.