On This Day, August 24: Judy Garland (Debut with Al Jolson) and Crime Doctor
Also featured: Quiet Please.
August 24 Exhaustive Update
This report documents the comprehensive provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, serial multi-part narrative arcs, and story synopses for historical broadcasts transmitting on August 24 across American network, variety galas, psychological crime deduction, and supernatural horror radio history (1935–1954):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Judy Garland's Singing Debut (Al Jolson — Shell Chateau)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1935-08-24 9:30 PM EDST |
Shell Oil Company Shell Super-Charged Gas |
Al Jolson (Host), Judy Garland (13-Year-Old Debut) | J. Walter Thompson, Bill Bacher, Jimmy Wallington | ["Music", "Variety", "Vocal", "Big Band", "Vaudeville"] |
World-famous entertainer Al Jolson hosts a star-studded gala at the Shell Chateau, introducing a 13-year-old singing sensation named Judy Garland in a breathtaking vocal debut alongside Victor Young's Orchestra for Shell Super-Charged Gasoline. |
| "The Case of the Forged Parole (Ray Collins as Dr. Ordway — Philip Morris)" | CBS (WABC) 1941-08-24 8:30 PM EDST |
Philip Morris & Co. Philip Morris Cigarettes |
Ray Collins (Dr. Ordway), Everett Sloane, Santos Ortega | Max Marcin (Creator), Jack Johnstone, Charles O'Connor | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Medical", "Psychological", "Crime"] |
Former criminal turned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Benjamin Ordway uses psychological profiling to investigate a forged prison parole petition, exposing a corrupt attorney orchestrating an armed jewel heist ring for Philip Morris. |
| "The Case of the Blind Witness (John McIntire as Dr. Ordway — Philip Morris)" | CBS (WCBS) 1947-08-24 8:30 PM EDT |
Philip Morris & Co. Philip Morris Cigarettes |
John McIntire (Dr. Ordway), Virginia Gregg, William Conrad | Max Marcin (Creator), Jack Johnstone, Ken Roberts | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Medical", "Psychological", "Crime"] |
Dr. Benjamin Ordway interrogates an apparently blind eyewitness whose sensory recollections of a suburban murder scene contain psychological inconsistencies that point to premeditated perjury. |
| "Blood Money (William Gargan as Barry Craig — NBC)" | NBC (WNBC) 1954-08-24 9:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Detective Noir Series |
William Gargan (Barry Craig), Ralph Bell, Joan Lazer | John Roeburt (Writer), Himan Brown, Don Pardo | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Noir", "Mystery", "Crime"] |
"My name is Barry Craig, confidential investigator..." Barry Craig is hired by an anxious heiress to deliver a suitcase containing fifty thousand dollars in ransom payoff money, only to uncover that the kidnapping was staged by the girl's degenerate gambler boyfriend. |
| "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (Wyllis Cooper — Ernest Chappell — Quiet, Please)" | Mutual (WOR) 1947-08-24 3:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Horror Anthology |
Ernest Chappell (Narrator / Lead), Claudia Morgan | Wyllis Cooper (Writer/Dir.), Gene Perazzo (Organ) | ["Horror", "Suspense", "Psychological", "Supernatural", "Audio Drama"] |
"Quiet, please... quietly, if you will..." A chilling tale written by Wyllis Cooper about a vain antique collector who purchases an ornate 16th-century Venetian looking-glass that gradually begins reflecting a sinister, malevolent entity living inside the glass instead of his own face. |
| "The Farmer's Wife (Eden Phillpotts — Frank Pettingell — BBC)" | BBC Home 1946-08-24 9:15 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Regional Drama |
Frank Pettingell, Gladys Young, Carleton Hobbs | Eden Phillpotts, Hugh Stewart, Val Gielgud | ["Comedy", "Drama", "British", "Regional", "Romance"] |
In Eden Phillpotts' beloved Devonshire rural romantic comedy, middle-aged widower Samuel Sweetland draws up a shortlist of eligible local spinsters to wed, blissfully unaware that true love and devotion have been quietly managing his household all along in the person of his loyal housekeeper Araminta. |