On This Day, August 25: Gang Busters (3 Decades) and Dick Powell
Also featured: Dr. Sixgun.
August 25 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 25 across three decades of legendary true-crime Gang Busters cases, hardboiled detective comedy noir, Western frontier medicine, and late-night Appalachian storytelling (1937–1955):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Unwritten Story: The Appalachian Clockmaker (Frank Luther — NBC Blue)" | NBC Blue (WJZ) 1939-08-25 11:15 PM EDST |
Sustaining Folk Storytelling |
Frank Luther (Host / Raconteur / Guitarist) | NBC New York Program Unit | ["Talk", "Storytelling", "Folk", "Americana", "Acoustic"] |
Folklorist and troubadour Frank Luther spins a quiet, philosophical bedtime narrative accompanied by acoustic guitar, recounting an unwritten folklore tale about an eccentric Appalachian watchmaker who repaired broken community friendships. |
| "The Gunfighter's Epidemic (Karl Weber as Dr. Sixgun — NBC)" | NBC (WNBC) 1955-08-25 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Western Drama |
Karl Weber (Dr. Matson), Bill Griffis (Pablo) | Ernest Kinoy (Creator/Writer), Fred Weihe, Bob Warren | ["Western", "Drama", "Medical", "Action", "Frontier"] |
"Dr. Sixgun... the story of a traveling frontier doctor and his gypsy partner Pablo..." Dr. Ray Matson rides into a tense border settlement where an armed outlaw gang holds a typhoid-stricken frontier family hostage, using his scalpel and marksmanship to break the siege. |
| "The Case of Martin Durkin (Phillips H. Lord — Palmolive)" | CBS (WABC) 1937-08-25 10:00 PM EDST |
Colgate-Palmolive Palmolive Shave Cream |
Phillips H. Lord, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf | Phillips H. Lord, Ray Kelly, Alois Havrilla | ["Detective", "Procedural", "Docudrama", "Crime", "Action"] |
"Calling the police! Calling the G-men! Gang Busters!" Phillips H. Lord and Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf present the nationwide manhunt for notorious 1920s auto thief and cop killer Martin Durkin, culminating in his dramatic Chicago rail depot capture for Palmolive. |
| "The Case of Brooks & Williams (John Griggs — Waterman Fountain Pens)" | Blue (WJZ) 1944-08-25 9:00 PM EWT |
L.E. Waterman Co. Waterman's Fountain Pens |
John Griggs (Host), Larry Haines, Arthur Vinton | Phillips H. Lord, Frank Gallop | ["Detective", "Procedural", "Docudrama", "Crime", "Action"] |
Federal and state police detectives mount an interstate dragnet across three Midwestern states to intercept the violent armed bank robbery duo Brooks and Williams for Waterman's Fountain Pens. |
| "The Case of Martinelli, Cucco, O'Keefe & Greenburg (Don MacLaughlin — Tide)" | CBS (WCBS) 1951-08-25 9:00 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Tide — "Oceans of Suds!" |
Don MacLaughlin (Narrator), Ted Osborne | Phillips H. Lord, Leonard Bass, Art Hannes | ["Detective", "Procedural", "Docudrama", "Crime", "Action"] |
Police detectives crack a sophisticated armored car hijacking syndicate operated by four ruthless underworld conspirators in metropolitan New York for Tide Detergent. |
| "The Lady with the Poison Needle (Dick Powell as Richard Rogue — Fitch Shampoo)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1946-08-25 7:30 PM EDT |
F.W. Fitch Co. Dandruff Remover Shampoo |
Dick Powell (Richard Rogue), Lurene Tuttle | Ray Buffum (Creator/Writer), Dee Engelbach, Jim Doyle | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Noir", "Mystery", "Comedy"] |
"My name is Richard Rogue, private eye..." When a mysterious black-veiled woman hires Rogue to shadow her jealous millionaire husband, Rogue gets slugged unconscious into 'Cloud Eight' before uncovering a deadly poison blackmail plot for Fitch Shampoo. |