On This Day, August 26: Notre-Dame Snipers and Red Skelton
Also featured: Studio One.
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 networks, BBC correspondent Robert Reid's historic live recording under sniper fire with General Charles de Gaulle at Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Liberation of Paris, Everett Sloane in Fletcher Markle's Studio One production of The Hunted, Red Skelton's wartime salvage drive on The Old Gold Show, U.S. Navy Seabees in action on Now Hear This, and Douglas Edwards on World News Today (1942–1951):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story-First Plot Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Seabees in Action (Sean McClory & Parley Baer — U.S. Navy)" | NBC (WNBC) 1951-08-26 8:30 PM EDT |
U.S. Navy Naval Recruitment Drama |
Sean McClory, Parley Baer, Herb Vigran | U.S. Navy, Anton M. Leader, Don Pardo | ["Military", "Docudrama", "Action", "Adventure", "Naval"] |
"Now Hear This! Stories of the fighting men of the United States Navy!" A detachment of Navy Seabees (Naval Construction Battalions) braves heavy enemy artillery fire during the Korean War to bulldoze an emergency airstrip and pontoon causeway under combat conditions to evacuate wounded Marines. |
| "The Hunted by Albert Guerard (Everett Sloane & Fletcher Markle — CBS Studio One)" | CBS (WCBS) 1947-08-26 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Prestige Drama Anthology |
Everett Sloane (The Professor), Mercedes McCambridge | Albert J. Guerard, Fletcher Markle, Alexander Semmler | ["Drama", "Classics", "Psychological", "Suspense", "Literary"] |
"Studio One, radio's distinguished theater of the air, written, directed, and produced by Fletcher Markle!" In Albert J. Guerard's psychological drama The Hunted, a paranoid English professor played by Everett Sloane descends into manic jealousy when he discovers an escaped criminal is hiding on the snowy grounds of an isolated New England women's college. |
| "Scrap Rubber & Tin Can Salvage (Red Skelton & Ozzie Nelson — Old Gold)" | NBC Red (WEAF) 1942-08-26 8:00 PM EWT |
P. Lorillard Co. Old Gold Cigarettes |
Red Skelton, Harriet Hilliard, Ozzie Nelson | Edna Skelton, Keith McLeod, Truman Bradley | ["Comedy", "Variety", "Music", "Vaudeville", "Wartime"] |
"The Old Gold Show, starring Red Skelton with Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard, brought to you by Old Gold Cigarettes!" Red Skelton's 'Mean Widdle Kid' wreaks havoc in the neighborhood organizing a chaotic wartime scrap rubber and tin salvage collection drive, backed by songs from Harriet Hilliard and the swinging Ozzie Nelson Orchestra for Old Gold. |
| "Naval Logistics in the Mediterranean (Paul Schubert — Mutual WWII News)" | Mutual (WOR) 1943-08-26 10:15 PM EWT |
Sustaining Naval Warfare Analysis |
Paul Schubert (Naval Analyst/Commentator) | Mutual News Special Events | ["News", "Historical", "Wartime", "Military", "Public Affairs"] |
"Mutual presents Paul Schubert, bringing you authoritative naval and military analysis of the global conflict!" Former naval officer Paul Schubert analyzes Allied supply lines and naval transport logistics in the Mediterranean following the conquest of Sicily and in anticipation of the upcoming amphibious invasion of mainland Italy. |
| "Snipers Fire at General de Gaulle at Notre-Dame (Robert Reid — BBC War Report)" | BBC (London/Paris) 1944-08-26 (Live Outside Broadcast) |
Sustaining Live Combat News Report |
Robert Reid (BBC Correspondent), Charles de Gaulle | BBC War Reporting Unit (Paris) | ["News", "Historical", "Wartime", "Documentary", "Action"] |
"This is the BBC War Reporting Unit, Robert Reid reporting from Paris!" In one of the most famous live combat recordings in radio history, BBC correspondent Robert Reid is inside Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Liberation of Paris when Vichy snipers suddenly open fire from the cathedral rafters directly at General Charles de Gaulle, capturing the gunfire, ricochets, and defiant calm of the French leader. |
| "Pre-Surrender Occupation of Japan (Douglas Edwards — CBS World News Today)" | CBS (WABC) 1945-08-26 2:00 PM EWT |
Sustaining Global News Roundup |
Douglas Edwards (Anchor), Webley Edwards | CBS News Special Events | ["News", "Historical", "Wartime", "Documentary", "Public Affairs"] |
"World News Today, Douglas Edwards reporting from New York!" CBS correspondents report on the imminent airborne landing of General Douglas MacArthur's occupation vanguard at Atsugi Airfield near Tokyo, detailing typhoon delays and the naval massing of Allied battleships in Sagami Bay ahead of the formal Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. |