On This Day, August 26: Al Jolson and Enola Gay Flight Crew
Also featured: Peter Lorre.
August 26 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 26 across American and British radio, Al Jolson headlining The Kraft Music Hall with Oscar Levant and guest Boris Karloff, Colonel Paul Tibbets and the flight crew of the Enola Gay interviewed on Your AAF, Peter Lorre starring in Robert Louis Stevenson's Markheim, Ray Collins in Crime Doctor for Philip Morris, Ralph Richardson in John Galsworthy's The Silver Box on the BBC, and Alexander Scourby in The Eternal Light (1944–1962):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Universal Public Education in Early America (Part 14 — Alexander Scourby — The Eternal Light)" | NBC (WNBC) 1962-08-26 12:30 PM EDT |
JTS of America NBC Public Affairs |
Alexander Scourby (Narrator), Dryden | Marc Siegel, Bill McCord | ["Historical", "Docudrama", "Religious", "Literary", "Anthology"] |
"The Jewish Theological Seminary of America presents The Eternal Light on NBC!" In Part 14 of 'Democracy and the Bible', the broadcast dramatizes the founding of universal public education in early America, illustrating how colonial schoolmasters drew upon Old Testament egalitarian principles to educate every child regardless of wealth or rank. Note: Multi-part serial narrative arc (Democracy and the Bible — Part 14). |
| "Al Jolson with Oscar Levant & Boris Karloff in Get Happy (Kraft Music Hall)" | NBC (WEAF/KFI) 1948-08-26 9:00 PM EDT |
Kraft Foods Co. Kraft Mayonnaise & Miracle Whip |
Al Jolson, Oscar Levant, Boris Karloff | Manny Manheim, Ken Carpenter | ["Variety", "Music", "Comedy", "Pop Standards", "Big Band"] |
"Kraft Foods presents The Kraft Music Hall, starring the world's greatest entertainer, Al Jolson!" Al Jolson belts out Harold Arlen's 'Get Happy', 'April Showers', and 'My Mammy', trading sardonic quips with Oscar Levant and staging a hilarious horror-spoof duet with master of macabre Boris Karloff for Kraft. |
| "Eyewitness Interview with the Flight Crew of the Enola Gay (Col. Paul Tibbets — Your AAF)" | ABC (WJZ) 1945-08-26 1:30 PM EWT |
US Army Air Forces AAF Special Feature |
Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., Maj. Ferebee | USAAF Radio, Capt. Riggs | ["Interview", "Historical", "Military", "Wartime", "Aviation"] |
"Your AAF! The official radio voice of the United States Army Air Forces!" Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., pilot of the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, and his flight crew describe their historic August 6 atomic mission over Hiroshima, recounting takeoff from Tinian, target sighting, and the shockwave in exclusive eyewitness interviews. |
| "The Case of the Deadly Diagnosis (Ray Collins as Dr. Ordway — Philip Morris)" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-26 8:30 PM EWT |
Philip Morris & Co. "Call for Philip Morris!" |
Ray Collins (Dr. Ordway), Santos Ortega | Max Marcin, Johnny Roventini | ["Detective", "Psychological", "Mystery", "Medical", "Crime"] |
"Call for Philip Morris! Philip Morris Cigarettes presents the Crime Doctor, starring Ray Collins as Dr. Benjamin Ordway!" Dr. Ordway uses criminal psychiatric profiling to unravel the apparent suicide of an elderly heiress whose attending physician forged her medical chart to mask chronic arsenic poisoning for Philip Morris. |
| "Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson (Peter Lorre — Hollywood's Open House)" | Syndicated 1948-08-26 (Hollywood Star) |
Local Sponsors Hollywood Star Theater |
Peter Lorre (Markheim), Jim Ameche | Ray Green, Ray Bloch | ["Psychological", "Horror", "Macabre", "Drama", "Literary"] |
"Hollywood's Open House, with your host Jim Ameche, starring Peter Lorre!" In Robert Louis Stevenson's psychological masterpiece 'Markheim', a desperate, destitute murderer (Peter Lorre) kills an antique dealer on Christmas Day, only to be confronted in the shuttered shop by a mysterious supernatural stranger forcing him to confront his moral conscience. |
| "The Silver Box by John Galsworthy (Ralph Richardson — BBC Saturday Night Theatre)" | BBC Home 1944-08-26 9:15 PM |
Sustaining Saturday Night Theatre |
Ralph Richardson, Gladys Young | Val Gielgud, Howard Rose | ["Drama", "Legal", "British", "Classics", "Social"] |
"BBC Home Service presents Saturday Night Theatre in John Galsworthy's celebrated social drama, The Silver Box!" When a wealthy Member of Parliament's drunken son steals a woman's purse and an impoverished unemployed laborer steals a silver cigarette box from the MP's house, the British judicial system reveals two vastly different standards of justice. |