On This Day, August 24: The Man Called X and This Is Your FBI
Also featured: Hildegarde.
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, international espionage, and FBI docudrama radio history (1943–1970):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Murder Wears a Veil (Part 5 — Patrick Barr as Inspector West — BBC)" | BBC Radio 4 1970-08-24 7:30 PM BST |
Sustaining BBC Radio Drama |
Patrick Barr (Inspector West), Avril Angers, John Hollis | John Creasey (Author), Cynthia Pughe, John Browell | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Procedural", "British", "Crime"] |
Chief Inspector Roger 'Handsome' West and Scotland Yard detectives trace the poison-laced veil back to a Mayfair beauty salon, cornering the blackmail syndicate in a midnight London rooftop showdown. |
| "The Medical Penicillin Hijackers (Stacy Harris as Agent Jim Taylor — Equitable)" | Blue Net (WJZ) 1945-08-24 8:30 PM EWT |
Equitable Life Assurance Society USA |
Stacy Harris (Agent Jim Taylor), Karl Swenson | Jerry Devine (Producer/Dir.), Carl Caruso (Announcer) | ["Police", "Procedural", "Legal", "Docudrama", "Crime"] |
"This is your FBI, the official broadcast presented with the cooperation of J. Edgar Hoover..." Special Agent Jim Taylor leads a federal task force to break up a wartime black market penicillin hijacking ring diverting life-saving medical supplies from military hospitals. |
| "The Bad Samaritan (Stacy Harris as Special Agent Jim Taylor — Equitable)" | ABC (WJZ) 1951-08-24 8:30 PM EDT |
Equitable Life Assurance Society USA |
Stacy Harris (Jim Taylor), Herb Vigran, William Conrad | Jerry Devine (Writer/Dir.), Carl Caruso (Announcer) | ["Police", "Procedural", "Legal", "Docudrama", "Crime"] |
FBI Special Agent Jim Taylor pursues a confidence man who poses as a benevolent Good Samaritan offering financial rescue to distraught widows, swindling life insurance benefits before staging staged accidents. |
| "Sun in the West (Starring John Dehner & Lawrence Dobkin — High Adventure)" | Mutual (WOR) 1954-08-24 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Frontier Drama Showcase |
John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Parley Baer | George Bamber (Writer), William N. Robson, Jack McCoy | ["Adventure", "Western", "Action", "Historical", "Drama"] |
A gritty frontier tale of a rugged fur trapper guide leading an ill-prepared pioneer wagon train through treacherous Mojave desert canyons and hostile territory in a desperate race against starvation. |
| "Musical Riddles (Starring Hildegarde & Ted Weems with Perry Como — Kix)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1943-08-24 10:30 PM EWT |
General Mills, Inc. Kix Breakfast Cereal |
Hildegarde, Ted Weems Orchestra, Perry Como | Arthur Kurlan (Director), Tom Reddy (Announcer) | ["Music", "Quiz", "Game Show", "Comedy", "Big Band"] |
The Incomparable Hildegarde and bandleader Ted Weems test the musical knowledge of orchestra members with listener-submitted song riddles, featuring velvety crooning from young Perry Como and Elmo Tanner's whistling solos for Kix Cereal. |
| "The Cairo Arms Bazaar (Starring Herbert Marshall as Agent X — RCA Victor)" | NBC (WNBC) 1951-08-24 8:00 PM EDT |
RCA Victor Television & 45 Records |
Herbert Marshall (Ken Thurston), Leon Askin (Pagon) | Sydney Zelinka (Writer), Jack Johnstone, Wendell Niles | ["Espionage", "Action", "Adventure", "Cold War", "Thriller"] |
"Wherever there is danger, intrigue, and mystery... there you will find The Man Called X!" Secret intelligence operative Ken Thurston and his roguish sidekick Pagon jet into Cairo to infiltrate a black market munitions bazaar supplying weapons to Mediterranean insurgent groups. |