David Harding, Counter-Spy (1942-57) aired “The Case of the Border Invaders” on June 22, 1942 as the 6th episode of its estimated 850 broadcasts, of which only approximately 75 still exist.

The creative genius behind Counter-Spy (retitled in 1946 to David Harding, Counter-Spy at the insistence of a new sponsor) was Phillips H. Lord (1902-1975, photo below left). Lord was highly respected in radio circles, having produced such popular programs as Gang Busters (1935-57), Mr. District Attorney (1939-53), and the patriotic series We, the People. When the United States entered world War II following the December 7, 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Lord took notice that there were few true espionage programs on the air and decided to rectify the situation by creating Counter-Spy. Many of the stories were based on factual cases Lord had been given access to for use in his previous crime programs, but whose stories were of course dramatized, fictionalized accounts that proved popular with an anxious audience starved and ready for such Good Guys vs. Bad Guys espionage stories with the war at the forefront of their minds. Lord himself was no stranger to spy work, having been a confidential but official agent in secret counter intelligence work for four years before the war broke out.

One aspect that brought the war closer to home was that Counter-Spy stories took place in, or close to the United States rather than abroad, with the first few years before the war ended devoted to tales with Lord’s fictional counter-spy, David Harding, and his assistant counter-spy Harry Peters (played by Mandel Kramer) dealing with Germany’s Gestapo and Japan’s Black Dragon spy agencies working clandestinely within the United States. Harding was special in that he was pretty much his own boss, with free-reign over what and how he handled sensitive cases while working with various government departments when his cases happened to cross into their individual jurisdictions. Don MacLaughlin (1906-86, photo top right) was cast as David Harding, his title being loosely interpreted as the head of the United States Counterspies Unit; one might legitimately say he was the Chief Counterspy of this “imaginary” unit. Like Lord, MacLaughlin was no newcomer to radio, having proved himself with his versatility in a number of prior action and dramatic productions. In truth, MacLaughlin had performed in, according to one source, “some 300 roles” since his radio debut in 1935. MacLaughlin secured the permanent role of Harding after the third episode, beating out some 20 others for the top spot. The Lord and MacLaughlin team turned out to be a match made in heaven, for MacLaughlin kept the role for the next 12 years. After the show ended in 1957, MacLaughlin began a new stage in his acting career as, for 30 years, he played attorney Chris Hughes on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns, until his death in 1986. Much interesting background could be added to this necessarily brief introduction to this one of a kind patriotic war time program, but suffice to say it became so popular so quickly that within a year it was so well-received that it took no summer hiatus, and for some of its future programming would be nominated for a Peabody Award and receive “numerous citations from local and civic groups throughout the 1940s.” Aside from a brief period of time (January 1949-August 1950) when it aired twice a week with Pepsi-Cola as the sponsor, David Harding, Counter-Spy was a weekly broadcast throughout its run.

“The Case of the Border Invaders” aired on a Monday evening at 9 PM Eastern time, and reminds us once again what an important role our southern border with Mexico has played, and still plays in terms of our national security. In this case, it is German Gestapo agents using it for a jumping off point into secret hideouts in the US from which they can plot their schemes in the very heart of our country. It is Harding’s job to ferret them out and destroy them which he discovers is no easy task, but makes for an exciting adventure in the annals of David Harding, Counter-Spy.

(The linked CD above contains this week’s OTR episode. The CD is brand new, and radio historian and friend to this weekly feature, Karl Schadow has written the Program Guide from which a number of facts and figures in this introduction have been used, with thanks.)

Play Time: 29:07

{With this relatively new espionage program fresh in their minds with this new episode, when even the neighborhood gang’s thoughts had turned to America’s 7-month old involvement in World War II and temporarily away from their science fiction obsession, they found themselves at the corner newsstand early on a Tuesday morning looking for more crime, detective, and g-men stories to stoke their patriotism. They were in luck. Black Mask (1920-53) was the gold standard of crime magazines and never disappointed. It was a monthly in 1942. Flynn’s Detective Fiction (1924-51) looked promising, especially with the word “Nazi” on the cover, and so became an easy purchase as well. It, too, was a monthly publication in 1942. G-Men Detective (1935-53) was an on-again, off-again choice of the gang, depending on what they were in the mood for, but with the Nazi threat become a reality they were all in for stories where it looked like the Germans would get their comeuppance. G-Men Detective was a bi-monthly in 1942.}

[Left: Black Mask, 6/42 – Center: Flynn’s Detective, 6/42 – Right: G-Men Detective, 7/42]

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