On This Day, August 23: Boston Blackie and Spy Catcher
Also featured: This Is Your FBI.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American, British, and South African broadcasting history (1945–1969):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Battle of Ward Twelve: Hospital Rehabilitation (U.S. Treasury)" | Syndication 1945-08-23 (Show #224) |
U.S. Treasury War Finance / Victory Bonds |
Martha Scott, Karl Swenson, John McIntire | Morton Wishengrad (Writer), Edward King, Larry Elliott | ["Docudrama", "War", "Historical", "Medical", "Morale"] |
A dramatized tribute honoring military nurses and restoring wounded GI veterans in a military hospital's orthopedic rehabilitation ward, highlighting the patient restoration courage funded by American Victory Bonds. |
| "The Case of the Nightclub Magician's Murder (Starring Richard Kollmar)" | Ziv Syndication 1950-08-23 (Transcribed) |
Local Commercials Frederic W. Ziv Regional Ads |
Richard Kollmar (Boston Blackie), Lesley Woods, Maurice Tarplin | Jack Boyle (Creator), Jeanne Harrison, Arthur Henley | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Crime", "Action"] |
Enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friends, Boston Blackie investigates the backstage robbery and murder of a nightclub magician, dodging Inspector Faraday's blundering accusations while cornering the real killer. |
| "Spy Catcher: Happy Landings (Series 2, Episode 4 — BBC)" | BBC Light 1961-08-23 8:00 PM |
Non-commercial BBC Radio Drama |
Bernard Archard (Lt. Col. Oreste Pinto), Geoffrey Keen, Jack May | Robert Barr (Writer), Michael Bakewell, Ronald Fletcher | ["Espionage", "Docudrama", "War", "British", "Thriller"] |
Counter-espionage interrogator Lt. Col. Oreste Pinto examines an ostensibly heroic Dutch fighter pilot who escaped occupied Europe, methodically breaking down his forged flight logs to reveal he is an undercover Nazi Abwehr infiltrator. |
| "The Careless Kidnapper (Equitable Life Assurance Society)" | ABC (WJZ) 1946-08-23 8:30 PM EDT |
Equitable Life Equitable Life Assurance Society |
Stacy Harris (Jim Taylor), Santos Ortega, Karl Swenson | Jerry Devine (Producer/Director), Larry Keating | ["Police Procedural", "Docudrama", "Crime", "Mystery", "Action"] |
Special Agent Jim Taylor and the Federal Bureau of Investigation launch an interstate manhunt for an amateur kidnapper whose sloppy getaway mistakes and ransom notes lead agents to a hidden mountain cabin hideout. |
| "Trapped in the Amazon Basin (George Lowther's High Adventure)" | Mutual (WOR) 1947-08-23 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Radio Theater |
George Matthews (Host), John McIntire, Elliott Lewis | George Lowther (Writer), Jock MacGregor, Carl Warren | ["Adventure", "Action", "Survival", "Anthology"] |
An expedition of rubber prospectors exploring the treacherous upper tributaries of the Amazon River fight for survival against piranha swarms, hostile headhunters, and tropical disease after their boat engine is wrecked on river rapids. |
| "High Adventure: River of Evil (SABC South Africa)" | SABC English 1969-08-23 8:00 PM |
Non-commercial South African Broadcasting Corp |
Patrick Mynhardt, Colin Fish, Diane Appleby | Tommy Read (Writer/Producer), David Gretton | ["Adventure", "Thriller", "Action", "African", "South African"] |
A daring diamond-smuggling courier traveling down the crocodile-infested Zambezi River in Mozambique faces a desperate battle of wits against corrupt mercenary trackers determined to seize his illicit uncut stones. |