Box 13 | Old Time Radio

Box 13 presents “Short Assignment,” originally broadcast October 3, 1948. This is episode 7 of the series’ 52-episode run, starring Alan Ladd as mystery writer and adventurer Dan Holiday.When Holiday agrees to fill in for a diminutive private detective, a seemingly simple protective assignment draws him into an elegant gathering shadowed by family worries, suspicious guests, and concern for a troubled young heir. Also cataloged as “George Flit, Detective,” the episode was written by Russell Hughes and features Sylvia Picker as Suzi.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/ma...

Box 13 presents “Short Assignment,” listed as episode 7. This archival presentation is dated 2012; the original Box 13 radio drama is generally cataloged as having aired on October 3, 1948, and is also known as “George Flit, Detective.”Mystery writer Dan Holiday, played by Alan Ladd, agrees to fill in for uneasy private detective Walter Flit at an elegant gathering tied to a troubled young heir. What begins as a modest favor draws Holiday into a tense circle of wealthy guests, mounting suspicions, and possible murder.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gent...

Box 13 presents “Sealed Instructions,” episode 35 of the syndicated mystery-adventure series, originally broadcast April 17, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as writer-adventurer Dan Holiday, with Sylvia Picker as his secretary, Suzy.A frightened man sends Holiday to Manila with sealed instructions and a mysterious recovery assignment. When his intended contact cannot be found, Holiday is drawn into a dangerous case of murder, hidden stakes, and unanswered questions.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.Chapters:00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction<br...

Box 13 presents “Extra Extra,” originally broadcast September 19, 1948. In the fifth episode of the series, Alan Ladd stars as adventure-seeking writer Dan Holiday.A postcard from young newsboy Johnny Moran sends Dan looking into the accusation against Johnny’s jailed father, drawing him from a corner newsstand into a jewelry-robbery investigation. The episode also features Sylvia Picker as Suzi and was produced by Mayfair Productions.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.Chapters:00:00 Victor Sterling Introd...

Box 13 presents “Killer at Large,” episode 44 of the syndicated mystery series, originally broadcast June 19, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as novelist-adventurer Dan Holiday.A troubling letter brings Holiday to 756 South Marvin Boulevard, where Simon Andrews offers $50,000 for help stopping a murder he once set in motion. With time running short and the intended killer unknown, Holiday faces a dangerous search for answers.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.Chapters:00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction00:52 Original Broadcast<br...

Box 13 presents “Diamond in the Sky,” episode 14 of the classic mystery-adventure series, originally broadcast November 21, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as mystery writer and former newspaperman Dan Holiday.A request sends Holiday to Paris to escort the million-dollar Mirabulis diamond to New York, but suspicious strangers and uncertain loyalties make the transatlantic assignment anything but routine. Written by Charles Dore and Russell Hughes, this episode places Dan in a tense international adventure of air travel, intrigue, and trust.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for...

Box 13 presents “The Sad Night,” episode 18 of the classic mystery series, originally broadcast December 19, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as adventure-seeking writer Dan Holiday in this script by Russell Hughes.A child’s copybook arrives at Holiday’s Star-Times Box 13, bearing the name Marina Layton and an unsettling drawing titled “The Sad Night.” When Kyle Layton offers to buy it, Holiday begins to suspect that the ordinary-looking book carries a far more troubling history.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent l...

Box 13 presents “The Great Torino,” episode 10 of the classic radio series, originally broadcast October 24, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as writer-adventurer Dan Holiday in this Russell Hughes script.A desperate message leads Holiday to the Tivoli Theatre and behind the scenes of magician the Great Torino’s illusion show. There, assistant Maria fears her employer may be planning something deadly. Sylvia Picker co-stars as Suzy.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.Chapters:00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction0...

Box 13 presents “Archimedes and the Roman,” originally broadcast July 31, 1949. The 50th of the series’ 52 known programs stars Alan Ladd as mystery writer Dan Holiday.A worried letter from young Marty Kennedy draws Holiday to Collingwood and the remote Williams Observatory, where an absent astronomy mentor, a comet, and mysterious long-distance signals point to danger on the mountain.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.Chapters:00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction00:40 Original Broadcast27:11 ClosingB...

Box 13 presents “House of Darkness,” episode 46 of the classic mystery series, originally broadcast July 3, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as mystery novelist Dan Holiday, with Sylvia Picker as Suzy.A blind man discovers a plea for help embossed in Braille inside a library book, drawing Holiday into an unsettling investigation at a secluded doctor’s house. Written by Sam Walders, this locked-door mystery follows Holiday as he poses as an inspector to learn whether someone inside is in danger.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio...

Box 13 presents “Death Is No Joke,” episode 40 of the syndicated mystery series, originally broadcast May 22, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as adventure-seeking mystery writer Dan Holiday.When Dan answers a plea from his friend Alex, he finds a tense family gathering at the Trendler country estate, where a long-missing heir has returned and a string of practical jokes is turning dangerous. Amid simmering resentment over a sizable inheritance, Dan watches for clues before the household’s uneasy games become something worse.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleane...

Box 13 presents “The Dowager and Dan Holiday,” episode 22 of the syndicated mystery series, originally broadcast January 16, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as former newspaperman and mystery writer Dan Holiday.When Holiday answers a letter addressed to his Star-Times Box 13 advertisement, wealthy recluse Mathilda Courtland draws him into an unusual high-society charade by introducing him as her fiancé. As he plays along, Holiday tries to uncover the reason behind her request—and its connection to a troubling family marriage plan.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio f...

Box 13 presents “Much Too Lucky,” episode 37 of the series, originally broadcast on May 1, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as adventure writer Dan Holiday, with Sylvia Picker as Suzy.When off-track betting operator Bert Hendricks is battered by a string of uncannily timed winning wagers, Dan Holiday investigates the race-broadcast and betting world to find out how the bettors seem to know the results before anyone else. Written by Robert Light, this suspenseful installment turns on horse-racing odds, last-minute slips, and an apparently impossible streak of luck.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a shor...

Box 13 presents “The Dead Man Walks,” episode 43 of the classic mystery-adventure series, originally broadcast on June 12, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as novelist-adventurer Dan Holiday.When a woman asks Dan to find her missing father, an ex-convict, his search leads from a pawnshop to troubling parole records—and a mystery involving a man who may not be as dead as he seems. William Conrad appears in the supporting cast, in a script by Russell Hughes.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more c...

Box 13 presents “Diamond in the Sky,” episode 14 of the syndicated mystery-adventure series, originally broadcast November 21, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as mystery writer and former newspaperman Dan Holiday.A plea to transport the million-dollar Mirabulis diamond from Paris to New York sends Holiday into an international game of nerves. With suspicious strangers, air travel, and uncertain allies complicating the assignment, Dan must decide whom he can trust. Written by Charles Dore and Russell Hughes, the episode also features series regular Sylvia Picker as Suzy.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing anno...

Box 13 presents “House of Darkness,” episode 46 of the syndicated radio mystery series, originally broadcast July 3, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as mystery novelist Dan Holiday.When a blind man discovers a plea for help embossed in Braille inside a library book, Holiday follows its trail to a doctor’s secluded house and a woman who may be in danger. Posing as a building inspector, he investigates a troubling locked-door mystery in this tense episode produced by Richard Sanville.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a...

Box 13 presents “Death Is a Doll,” episode 30, originally broadcast March 13, 1949. Alan Ladd stars as mystery writer Dan Holiday in this Mayfair Productions mystery, distributed on the Mutual Broadcasting System and in syndication.Dan answers a plea from Bart LeFay, a healthy-looking young man confined to his deathbed in remote Ballou, Louisiana. LeFay believes a curse is killing him, sending Dan into bayou country to determine whether the danger is supernatural—or something far more earthly.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more...

Box 13 presents “Blackmail Is Murder,” episode 3 of the classic mystery series, originally broadcast September 5, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as novelist-adventurer Dan Holiday in this Mayfair Productions series, originally heard via the Mutual Broadcasting System.An urgent letter summons Holiday to room 718 of the Bradford Hotel, where eccentric guest Agatha Marsh needs discreet help after a troubling discovery. With Lieutenant Kling unconvinced and the trail extending beyond the hotel, Holiday is drawn into a brisk mystery of mistaken rooms, dangerous connections, and mounting pressure.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing anno...

Box 13 presents “Damsel in Distress,” episode 13 of the classic mystery series, originally broadcast November 14, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as Dan Holiday, the former newspaperman and mystery writer who finds adventures through his Box 13 newspaper advertisement.A desperate finishing-school student named Constance writes to Dan after receiving threatening notes demanding $1,000 and warning of kidnapping. Afraid to involve the police, she turns to Holiday for help. Written by Russell Hughes, this Mutual-originated/Mayfair-produced adventure also features Sylvia Picker as Suzy.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mast...

Box 13 presents “Double Mothers,” episode 8 of the series, originally broadcast October 10, 1948. Alan Ladd stars as newspaperman and mystery writer Dan Holiday in this Mayfair Transcription Company syndicated mystery.An unsigned message sends Holiday to North Park at 10 p.m., where he finds a young girl alone on a bench with a note asking him to protect her. Her puzzling references to two mothers soon draw Dan into a dangerous domestic mystery, with Lieutenant Kling and the police close at hand.Box 13 presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gent...