On This Day, August 24: Sam Spade (Howard Duff) and Ethel
Also featured: Albert, Mark Tavener.
August 24 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 24 across American network, British BBC Radio 4/Light Programme, and educational broadcasting history (1940–1998):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Welcome to Slomzovakia, Home of the Aubergine (Mark Tavener — Man of Soup)" | BBC Radio 4 1998-08-24 11:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Radio 4 Comedy |
Robert Bathurst (Frank Bradley), Simon Greenall | Mark Tavener (Writer), Paul Schlesinger | ["Comedy", "Satire", "British", "Culinary", "Political"] |
Frank Bradley travels to the impoverished Eastern European republic of Slomzovakia to investigate their national aubergine soup industry, finding himself caught in a bizarre political coup orchestrated by rival vegetable oligarchs. |
| "Take It from Here: Ballin' the Jack (Jimmy Edwards & Dick Bentley)" | BBC Light Prog. 1948-08-24 8:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Light Programme |
Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley, Joy Nichols | Frank Muir & Denis Norden, Ronald Fletcher | ["Comedy", "Variety", "British", "Sketch", "Music"] |
Jimmy Edwards, Dick Bentley, and Joy Nichols trade rapid-fire British radio comedy sketches, satirical parodies of London dance hall crazes including 'Ballin' the Jack', and hilarious musical interruptions with Billy Ternent's Orchestra. |
| "The Murder at the Roadhouse (Starring Craig McDonnell as Dan Britton)" | Mutual (WOR) 1948-08-24 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Official Detective Stories |
Craig McDonnell (Dan Britton), Tom Tully | William Sweets (Writer), Frank Gallop | ["Police", "Procedural", "True Crime", "Detective", "Mystery"] |
Detective Lieutenant Dan Britton investigates the fatal shooting of a night watchman at an isolated highway roadhouse, using tire-tread casts and ballistics comparisons to shatter the alibi of a ruthless interstate robbery crew. |
| "The Jade Dragon Caper (Starring Howard Duff as Sam Spade — Wildroot)" | CBS (WCBS) 1947-08-24 8:00 PM EDT |
Wildroot Co. Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic |
Howard Duff (Sam Spade), Lurene Tuttle (Effie) | Dashiell Hammett, Bob Tallman, William Spier, Dick Joy | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Noir", "Mystery", "Crime"] |
Private investigator Sam Spade is hired by an elusive art collector to restore an ancient, supposedly cursed carved jade dragon stolen from an ocean liner stateroom, leading him into a lethal showdown with two rival underworld fences along the foggy San Francisco docks. |
| "Recipe Arithmetic & The Cookbook (Peg Lynch & Alan Bunce — NBC Monitor)" | NBC Monitor 1957-08-24 11:20 AM EDT |
Sustaining NBC Monitor Comedy |
Peg Lynch (Ethel), Alan Bunce (Albert) | Peg Lynch (Creator/Writer), Frank Blair | ["Comedy", "Domestic", "Sitcom", "Humor", "Marriage"] |
Ethel attempts to double a complex casserole recipe for a dinner party with the neighbors, leading to an uproarious domestic argument with Albert over fractional mathematics, cup measurements, and baking temperatures. |
| "The Story of Chicago: Frontier to Metropolis (University of Chicago Drama)" | Mutual (WGN) 1940-08-24 8:30 PM EDST |
Sustaining University of Chicago |
John McIntire (Narrator), Frank Readick | Mitchell Grayson & Sherman Dryer, Ken Nordine | ["Documentary", "Historical", "Educational", "Docudrama", "Urban"] |
Produced in cooperation with the University of Chicago, this sweeping historical docudrama traces Chicago's extraordinary rise from a remote frontier swamp settlement (Fort Dearborn) into a towering industrial metropolis following the Great Fire of 1871. |