On This Day, September 4: Jack Webb and Jean Arthur
Also featured: The Whistler.
September 4 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 September 4 across Jack Webb starring as hardboiled private eye Jeff Regan in The House by the Sea, Jean Arthur and Fred MacMurray in Somerset Maugham's matrimonial farce Too Many Husbands on The Screen Guild Theater for Lady Esther, Bill Forman narrating railroad track-switching sabotage on The Whistler for Signal Oil, Herbert Marshall in isolated jungle outpost drama on Hollywood Star Playhouse, Matt Crowley foiling international munitions cartels on The Adventures of Dick Tracy, and Marvin Miller's solo short story performances on Armchair Adventures, Jack Webb (1948), Jean Arthur & Fred MacMurray (1944), Bill Forman (1946), Herbert Marshall (1950), Matt Crowley (1944), and Marvin Miller (1944–1952):
1. Broadcasts
| Title | Network, Airdate & Showtime | Sponsor & Commercial Ads | Credited Cast & Performers | Director, Writers & Crew | Genres | Story Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The House by the Sea with Jack Webb as Jeff Regan" | CBS (KNX) 1948-09-04 9:00 PM EDT |
Sustaining Hardboiled Detective |
Jack Webb (Jeff Regan) | Wilms Herbert & Neuman | ["Detective", "Hardboiled", "Jeff Regan", "Jack Webb", "CBS"] |
Hardboiled investigator Jeff Regan is hired by an eccentric collector to restore stolen rare pearls from a cliffside Pacific beach house. |
| "Too Many Husbands with Jean Arthur and Fred MacMurray" | CBS (KNX) 1944-09-04 10:00 PM EWT |
Lady Esther Ltd. Lady Esther Cosmetics |
Jean Arthur & MacMurray | Frank Morgan & Bradley | ["Comedy", "Romance", "Screen Guild Theater", "Jean Arthur", "Fred MacMurray"] |
A fashionable woman whose first husband was presumed lost at sea finds herself comically married to two men when he reappears after she remarried. |
| "Where the Lines Cross with Bill Forman as The Whistler" | CBS Pacific (KNX) 1946-09-04 9:00 PM PST |
Signal Oil Co. Signal Gasoline |
Bill Forman (Whistler) | Joel Malone (Writer) | ["Mystery", "Thriller", "The Whistler", "Bill Forman", "Signal Oil"] |
A corrupt railroad dispatcher tampers with track signals to orchestrate a fatal train collision and collect on his business partner's life insurance. |
| "Outpost with Herbert Marshall" | CBS (KNX) 1950-09-04 8:00 PM EDT |
Emerson Drug Co. Bromo-Seltzer |
Herbert Marshall (Star) | Jack Johnstone (Dir.) | ["Drama", "Anthology", "Hollywood Star Playhouse", "Herbert Marshall", "Bromo-Seltzer"] |
A British colonial officer stationed at an isolated jungle outpost suspects his junior colleague is secretly collaborating with ivory smugglers. |
| "The Black Pearl of Singapore with Matt Crowley as Dick Tracy" | Blue Network 1944-09-04 5:15 PM EWT |
Sweets Co. of America Tootsie Rolls |
Matt Crowley (Tracy) | Howard Smith & Gould | ["Detective", "Adventure", "Dick Tracy", "Matt Crowley", "Tootsie Roll"] |
Dick Tracy and Junior pursue an undercover sabotage operative smuggling black pearls to finance an illegal munitions pipeline. |
| "Fisherman's Luck with Marvin Miller" | Syndication 1952-09-04 |
Sustaining Solo Storytelling |
Marvin Miller (All Voices) | Syndicated Audio Staff | ["Drama", "Anthology", "Armchair Adventures", "Marvin Miller", "Syndication"] |
An elderly coastal fisherman hooks an unexpected waterlogged strongbox containing clues to an unsolved harbor heist. |