On This Day, August 30: Orson Welles' Twelfth Night and Bulldog Drummond
Also featured: The Amazing Mr. Malone.
August 30 Update
This report documents the historical provenance, broadcast scheduling, commercial sponsorship, credited cast, production personnel, alternate circulating titles, and pure narrative synopses for broadcasts transmitting on August 30 across American network radio, Orson Welles and Tallulah Bankhead starring in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night on Columbia Presents Shakespeare (1937), Ned Wever and Luis Van Rooten in Bulldog Drummond (1943), Gene Raymond as Craig Rice's criminal defense lawyer on The Amazing Mr. Malone (1947), Frank and Anne Hummert's Backstage Wife for Camay (1950), the maritime enigma of the Mary Celeste on Strange As It Seems (1935), and postal inspectors busting financial fraud on Easy Money (1935–1950):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Oil Stock Swindle" | Mutual (WOR) 1946-08-30 8:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Financial Docudrama |
Dramatic Voice Cast | Willard Wiener (Creator) | ["True Crime", "Docudrama", "Fraud", "Swindles", "Investigation"] |
Postal inspectors track down a sophisticated confidence ring selling worthless shares in nonexistent Texas oil wells to elderly retirees. |
| "Twelfth Night with Orson Welles and Tallulah Bankhead" | CBS (WABC) 1937-08-30 8:00 PM EDST |
Sustaining Shakespearean Cycle |
Orson Welles, Bankhead | Meredith & Victor Bay | ["Drama", "Classics", "Shakespeare", "Comedy", "Adaptation"] |
Shipwrecked Viola disguises herself as a pageboy in Illyria and falls into a web of romantic confusion with Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia. |
| "The Case of the Dancing Skeletons" | Mutual (WOR) 1943-08-30 8:00 PM EWT |
Sustaining Detective Adventure |
Ned Wever, Van Rooten | H.C. McNeile (Author) | ["Detective", "Mystery", "Adventure", "British Sleuth", "Espionage"] |
Bulldog Drummond and Denny investigate ghostly luminous apparitions in an abandoned abbey used to mask an Axis espionage ring. |
| "Mary Invites Julia and Oliver to a Theatre Party" | NBC (WNBC) 1950-08-30 4:00 PM EDT |
Procter & Gamble Camay Soap / Crisco |
Claire Niesen, Meighan | Frank & Anne Hummert | ["Soap Opera", "Drama", "Serial", "Daytime", "Hummert"] |
Mary attempts to reconcile Broadway rivals by hosting an intimate post-performance gathering after Larry's opening night. |
| "The Case of the Murdered Bookmaker" | ABC (WJZ) 1947-08-30 9:30 PM EDT |
Sustaining Mystery Drama |
Gene Raymond (Malone) | Craig Rice (Creator) | ["Mystery", "Legal Drama", "Detective", "Hardboiled", "Craig Rice"] |
Criminal attorney John J. Malone defends a desperate gambler framed for the shooting death of a prominent Chicago bookmaker. |
| "The Mystery of the Mary Celeste" | CBS (KNX) 1935-08-30 9:00 PM PST |
Ex-Lax / Sust Laxative / Oddities |
John Hix (Host) | Strange As It Seems Staff | ["Docudrama", "Mystery", "Historical", "Maritime", "Anthology"] |
John Hix dramatizes bizarre historical oddities including the ghost ship Mary Celeste discovered floating abandoned with cargo untouched. |