On This Day, August 23: Philip Marlowe and Perry Mason
Also featured: The Goldbergs.
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 network broadcasting history (1934–1954):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Heir for a G-String (Starring Gerald Mohr as Philip Marlowe)" | CBS (KNX) 1951-08-23 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining CBS Mystery Presentation |
Gerald Mohr (Philip Marlowe), Jeff Corey, Laurette Luez | Raymond Chandler (Creator), Norman Macdonnell, Roy Rowan | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Crime", "Noir"] |
Hardboiled Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by a glamorous burlesque dancer whose surprise inheritance makes her the prime target of a syndicate of murderous relatives. |
| "The Case of the Forged Will (Starring John Larkin as Perry Mason — Tide)" | CBS (WCBS) 1951-08-23 2:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Tide Detergent & Camay Soap |
John Larkin (Perry Mason), Joan Alexander, Matt Crowley | Erle Stanley Gardner (Author), Irving Vendig, Bob Dixon | ["Legal", "Courtroom", "Mystery", "Drama", "Soap Opera"] |
Defense attorney Perry Mason and confidential secretary Della Street uncover a hidden codicil to a disputed estate, discovering that an innocent family heir is being framed for murder by a predatory loan shark. |
| "The Case of Ed Beekman's Daughter (Starring John Larkin — Tide)" | CBS (WCBS) 1954-08-23 2:15 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Tide Detergent & Ivory Snow |
John Larkin (Perry Mason), Joan Alexander, Matt Crowley | Erle Stanley Gardner (Author), Irving Vendig, Bob Dixon | ["Legal", "Courtroom", "Mystery", "Drama", "Soap Opera"] |
Perry Mason travels to an upstate lakeside resort to protect the estranged daughter of his client Ed Beekman, unraveling an extortion plot involving forged real estate deeds and blackmail. |
| "Molly Visits the District Attorney (Post's 40% Bran Flakes)" | CBS (WABC) 1943-08-23 1:45 PM EWT |
General Foods Post's 40% Bran Flakes & Grape-Nuts |
Gertrude Berg (Molly Goldberg), James R. Waters, Roslyn Sitron | Gertrude Berg (Creator/Writer), Art Millett (Announcer) | ["Comedy", "Drama", "Domestic", "Family", "Immigrant"] |
Matriarch Molly Goldberg visits the District Attorney's office to resolve a tenement civic restitution fund, using her warm maternal philosophy and neighborhood wisdom to reconcile quarreling Bronx families. |
| "The Glass of Water (Starring John McIntire & Jeanette Nolan)" | Mutual (WOR) 1946-08-23 10:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Radio Theater |
John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Graham | Robert Arthur (Writer), William Spier, Frank Martin | ["Suspense", "Thriller", "Psychological", "Mystery"] |
An insomniac physician slowly realizes that the late-night telephone caller whispering sinister secrets is actually an escaped lunatic who has replaced his bedside glass of water with deadly colorless poison. |
| "Rudy Vallee with Ernest Truex as Casper Milquetoast 'The Timid Soul' (Fleischmann's Yeast)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1934-08-23 8:00 PM EDST |
Standard Brands Inc. Fleischmann's Yeast for Health |
Rudy Vallee & Connecticut Yankees, Ernest Truex | H.T. Webster (Creator), Graham McNamee (Announcer) | ["Variety", "Comedy", "Music", "Vaudeville"] |
Master of ceremonies Rudy Vallee welcomes acclaimed comic actor Ernest Truex, who stars in a hilarious dramatic sketch portraying H.T. Webster's legendary comic strip character Casper Milquetoast, 'The Timid Soul', struggling to assert himself against an overbearing headwaiter. |