Box 13 (1948-1949) aired “Design for Danger” on June 5, 1949 as the 42nd of its 52 episodes. This is but the 9th episode of Box 13 we have showcased, and only the second since November of 2020 (the last episode being in August of 2021). It has proved a popular program so we happily present another episode this week, along with a reprise of the introductory material from previous shows for newcomers, or those wishing to refresh their memories.
Box 13 was a production of Mayfair Productions, a company begun by Alan Ladd and Richard Sandville, and was named after a restaurant of the same name owned by the pair. The shows were syndicated to various networks and radio stations who ran them on different days of the week and at different time slots to fit their individual programming needs. Thus, some shows have differing original air dates and are hard to pin down, especially since a limited block of shows (13 or 26 or more episodes of the 52 total run) might have been picked up years later. So we have the show appearing in a few scattered markets in late 1947, and then on its historically recognized nationwide run in 1948-49, cropping up again around 1954, and even into the early 1970s. It was well produced, written, and acted, with quite a few Big Name radio actors appearing in various episodes. It is also one of those shows veering away from the single-track, hard-boiled, noirish detective or P.I. radio shows so popular throughout the 1940s in film and on radio, in that while it kept the noirish element (usually at least one corpse a trademark feature) it also emphasized a strong element of adventure, so that Box 13 is probably best categorized as a noir-adventure series.
The premise of the show has film star Alan Ladd (1913-1964, most recognizable as the hero in the classic 1953 film Shane) as writer/adventurer Dan Holiday. Holiday has retired from his days of writing for a newspaper to write his own fiction, and now to gain ideas for his books has placed an ad in the paper that reads: “Adventure wanted – will go anywhere, do anything – Box 13.” Holiday’s personal secretary, Suzy (played by Sylvia Picker, photo at right with Ladd), is in charge of his mail drop, which Holiday checks regularly. While Suzy’s character is somewhat ditzy (a not uncommon character in film and radio of the time), she plays it to the hilt and adds a nice touch to the show.
This episode begins with a desperate plea for help from a young woman whose boyfriend has just been paroled from prison. She is hopelessly in love with him but is afraid he will go after those who framed him. She is convinced he will attempt to kill his former partners and will end up back in prison or dead and will do anything to save him, so has contacted Dan Holiday in the hope he will stop her boyfriend from doing something stupid. The rub is that her love has blinded her to the fact that prison has a bad habit of changing those inside of them, and even those who were once good of heart may not be so after spending a fair amount of time in the joint, and who are now consumed with nothing but single-minded vengeance. Can Holiday find the now-hardened parolee with naught but hatred and revenge on his mind before he finds and kills those who helped send him to prison for a crime he did not commit? Seemingly a straightforward tale with clear cut good guys and bad guys, it is not a foregone conclusion that all will turn out as we might wish. Listen to this emotion-filled adventure where not only the bad guys get in the way of a bullet.
(The linked CD at top includes this episode and 15 others.)
Play Time: 26:30
{“Design for Danger” aired on a Sunday in early June of 1949. Since summer vacation had just begun, the first order of business for the neighborhood gang the next morning was to head for the corner newsstand to search for more detective stories in some of their favorite detective pulps. As usual, they were in luck. All-Story Detective (1949-51) only lasted 15 issues (including a name change after its 6th issue) but was nevertheless noted for running stories by John D. MacDonald, and even one by SF author Cyril Kornbluth. The issue shown below was its 3rd among the 6 it would publish as bi-monthlies in 1949. New Detective (1941-55) ran pretty much standard crime and detective fare, but was able to keep its fans returning issue after issue for 14 years by attracting many of the top authors in the field. It was a bi-monthly in 1949. Popular Detective (1934-53) also published more or less basic detective fiction, but like New Detective was blessed to be able to showcase high quality stories from many of the most popular authors in the field. It was a bi-monthly in 1949.}
[Left: All-Story Detective, 6/49 – Center: New Detective, 7/49 – Right: Popular Detective, 5/49]
To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.