On This Day, August 25: Superman (Dr. Roebling) and Joseph Cotten
Also featured: George Raft.
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 American network, superhero audio adventures, psychological horror starring Joseph Cotten, rare 1955 CBS Hollywood audition pilots starring George Raft, police procedurals, Nashville vocal variety, and early Depression-era domestic humor (1930–1960):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Too Pretty to Live (Craig McDonnell as Inspector Britt — Mutual)" | Mutual (WOR) 1955-08-25 8:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Police Procedural |
Craig McDonnell (Dan Britt), Martin Blaine | Wynn Wright (Director), Carl Warren | ["Detective", "Procedural", "Police", "Crime", "Mystery"] |
"From the files of Official Detective Stories magazine..." Detective Inspector Dan Britt investigates the strangulation murder of a glamorous photographic model found in her locked apartment, piecing together clues from a torn lipstick-stained receipt. |
| "Occupation: Murder (Starring Joseph Cotten — NBC Transcription)" | NBC Synd. 1945-08-25 (Haunting Hour) |
Sustaining Psychological Horror |
Joseph Cotten (Lead), Berry Kroeger, Betty Garde | Walter McGraw (Director), Frank Gallup | ["Horror", "Psychological", "Suspense", "Macabre", "Noir"] |
"It is the Haunting Hour... when the clock strikes twelve!" Joseph Cotten stars as a cold-blooded criminologist who plots what he believes is the perfect untraceable homicide of his wealthy business partner, only to be driven mad by phantom typewriter keystrokes. |
| "The Spring of Moses (Audition Pilot Take 2 Starring George Raft — CBS)" | CBS (Audition) 1955-08-25 (Columbia Square) |
Audition Recording Proposed CBS Revival |
George Raft (Rocky Jordan), Jay Novello | Larry Roman, Cliff Howell, Roy Rowan | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Noir", "Exotic", "Mystery"] |
"Rocky Jordan, owner of the Café Tambourine in Cairo..." In this second 1955 CBS audition pilot take starring George Raft, Rocky Jordan navigates Cairo's deadly bazaars to protect an ancient biblical relic from a syndicate of ruthless antiquities smugglers. |
| "Live with The Anita Kerr Singers (Don McNeill — Toni Home Permanents)" | ABC (WLS) 1960-08-25 9:00 AM EDT |
The Toni Company Toni Home Permanents |
Don McNeill (Host), The Anita Kerr Singers | Cliff Petersen, Bob Murphy | ["Variety", "Talk", "Comedy", "Vocal", "Morning"] |
"Good morning, Breakfast Clubbers!" Don McNeill and Aunt Fanny lead morning March Around the Breakfast Table hijinks, welcoming Grammy-winning vocal group The Anita Kerr Singers to perform lush Nashville pop harmonies for Toni Home Permanents. |
| "Cecil Plans How to Spend Fifteen Dollars (Cecil and Sally — White King Soap)" | KPO San Fran. 1930-08-25 7:30 PM PST |
Los Angeles Soap Co. White King Granulated |
Johnny O'Brien (Cecil), Helen Troy (Sally) | Johnny O'Brien & Helen Troy, Al Pearce | ["Comedy", "Sitcom", "Domestic", "Early Radio", "Dialogue"] |
Young couple Cecil and Sally bicker over Cecil's ambitious plans to spend a surprise fifteen-dollar bonus on a secondhand phonograph instead of household groceries for White King Granulated Soap. |
| "Dr. Roebling & the Voice Machine (Part 1 — Bud Collyer as Superman — Kellogg's Pep)" | Mutual (WOR) 1941-08-25 5:15 PM EDST |
The Kellogg Co. Kellogg's Pep Cereal |
Bud Collyer (Clark Kent / Superman), Joan Alexander | Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Jackson Beck | ["Superhero", "Adventure", "Juvenile", "Action", "Science Fiction"] |
"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" In Part 1 of Dr. Roebling and the Voice Machine, Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigate a mad scientist whose ultrasonic soundwave invention can hypnotize entire city populations and shatter concrete skyscrapers for Kellogg's Pep Cereal. |