Rocky Jordan

Rocky Jordan was a radio series about an American restaurateur in Cairo who each week became involved in some kind of mystery or adventure. The show was broadcast on CBS from October 31st 1948 to September 10th 1950. and then again from June 27th 1951 to August 22nd 1951. The character of Rocky Jordan had been introduced to listeners in a similar show called A Man Named Jordan that was broadcast in 1945 but set in Istanbul rather than Cairo.

The two lead roles were those of Rocky Jordan and Captain Sam Sabaaya of the Cairo Police. For most of the show's history Jordan was played by veteran radio actor Jack Moyles, but he was replaced by a movie star, George Raft, for the brief 1951 run. Jay Novello played Sabaaya throughout the entire series. Other roles were played by members of Hollywood's Radio Row, and the announcer was Larry Thor.

A deliberately Eastern feel was created by careful use of music and sound effects, and the writers Larry Roman and Gomer Cool took care that the characters used the names of real streets in Cairo. Much of the information the writers used for this came from a book called the Pocket Guide to Egypt that the US Army had produced for servicemen sent there during the War. The Oriental-sounding music composed for the show by Richard Aurandt is considered to be of exceptional quality.