On This Day, August 23: Sam Spade and Philo Vance
Also featured: Gene Autry's Champion Serial.
August 23 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, serial multi-part narrative arcs, alternate circulating titles, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 23 across American network and syndication broadcasting history (1946–1956):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Mystery of the Lost Treasure (Chapter 2) — Superstition Mountain" | Mutual 1949-08-23 5:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Juvenile Western Series |
Gene Autry, Johnny Bond, Pat Buttram, Champion | Arthur Browne Jr. (Writer), Frank Bingham (Director) | ["Western", "Children", "Adventure", "Action", "Serial"] |
In Part 2 of The Mystery of the Lost Treasure, Gene Autry and his wonder horse Champion track outlaw claim-jumpers into Superstition Mountain, rescuing a young Navajo boy trapped on a crumbling canyon ledge. |
| "The Blue Penny Murder Case (Starring Jackson Beck)" | Ziv Syndication 1949-08-23 (WNBC / Syndicated) |
Local Commercials Co-op Advertisers |
Jackson Beck (Philo Vance), Joan Alexander, George Petrie | S.S. Van Dine (Author), Frederic W. Ziv (Director), Kenny Delmar | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Hardboiled", "Crime"] |
Aristocratic sleuth Philo Vance is called in when an eccentric stamp collector is found murdered inside his locked vault, discovering that a world-famous 1847 Mauritius 'Blue Penny' postage stamp was switched with an expert forgery. |
| "The Murder of the Night Watchman (Detective Lt. Dan Britton)" | Mutual (WOR) 1949-08-23 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Radio Drama |
Craig McDonnell (Lt. Dan Britton), Tom Tully, Mandel Kramer | William Sweets (Writer), Wynn Wright (Director), Carl Warren | ["Police", "Procedural", "Detective", "True Crime"] |
Detective Lieutenant Dan Britton investigates the bludgeoning of an elderly night watchman at a chemical plant, reconstructing tire tread impressions to trap a gang of industrial saboteurs. |
| "The Highway Turnpike Hijackers (Detective Lt. Dan Britton)" | Mutual (WOR) 1956-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mutual Radio Series |
Craig McDonnell (Lt. Dan Britton), Lawson Zerbe, Ralph Bell | William Sweets (Writer), Wynn Wright (Director), Carl Warren | ["Police", "Procedural", "Detective", "True Crime"] |
Lieutenant Dan Britton coordinates an interstate roadblock operation after a ruthless highway robbery crew hijacks an armored jewelry transport van along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. |
| "The Zig Zags of Treachery Caper (Wildroot Cream-Oil)" | ABC (WJZ) 1946-08-23 8:00 PM EDT |
Wildroot Co., Inc. Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic |
Howard Duff (Sam Spade), Lurene Tuttle (Effie), William Conrad | Bob Tallman & Jason James (Writers), William Spier (Director) | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Mystery", "Noir"] |
Private investigator Sam Spade is hired by an elusive femme fatale who claims her ex-husband is trying to kill her, leading Spade through a maze of double-crosses across San Francisco's fog-shrouded wharves to uncover a hidden bullion fortune. |
| "Albert Phones Long Distance from California (Peg Lynch & Alan Bunce)" | ABC (WJZ) 1946-08-23 2:15 PM EDT |
Sustaining ABC Daytime Sitcom |
Peg Lynch (Ethel Arbuckle), Alan Bunce (Albert Arbuckle) | Peg Lynch (Creator & Writer), Bob Brown (Director), Fred Cole | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Marriage"] |
While Albert is attending a business convention in Los Angeles, Ethel frantically prepares for his expensive long-distance phone call home to Sandy Harbor, only to spend three costly minutes debating the correct spelling of an aunt's recipe ingredient. |