''Box 13'' is a syndicated radio drama about the escapades of newspaperman-turned-mystery novelist Dan Holiday, played by film star

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

. Created by Ladd's company, Mayfair Productions, ''Box 13'' aired in different cities over different dates and times. It first aired in several United States radio markets in October 1947.

Synopsis

To seek out new ideas for his fiction, Holiday ran a classified ad in the ''Star-Times'' newspaper where he formerly worked: "Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything – write Box 13, Star-Times". The stories followed Holiday's adventures when he responded to the letters sent to him by such people as a psycho killer and various victims.

Cast and crew

Main cast

as Dan Holiday * Sylvia Picker as Holiday's scatterbrained secretary, Suzy. * Edmund MacDonald as police Lt. Kling, Holiday's foil. Guest cast members included

Betty Lou Gerson Betty Lou Gerson (April 20, 1914 – January 12, 1999) was an American actress, predominantly active in radio but also in film and television and as a voice actress. She is best known as the original voice of Cruella de Vil from the Disney anima ...

Frank Lovejoy Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir ''The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama ''Night Beat ...

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later to films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatil ...

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

, Luis Van Rooten, and John Beal. Vern Carstensen, who directed ''Box 13'' for producer Richard Sanville, was also the show's announcer.

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor who had a lengthy Hollywood film career and portrayed the title roles in the television dramas '' Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career inclu ...

appeared in some episodes.

Production

Richard Sanville was the producer. The series featured music by Rudy Schrager. Russell Hughes, who had previously hired Ladd as a radio actor in 1935 at a $19 weekly salary, wrote most of the scripts, sometimes in collaboration with Ladd. The partners in Mayfair Productions were Ladd and Bernie Joslin, who had previously run the chain of Mayfair Restaurants.

Adaptations

At least one attempt to convert the series for television was tried when Ladd appeared in an adaptation of "Daytime Nightmare" (retitled "Committed") on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

' ''

General Electric Theater ''General Electric Theater'' is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations. Radio After an audition show ...

'' (December 5, 1954). Russell Hughes, who was then working at Columbia, reworked the script for the small screen. The show was produced by Jaguar, Ladd's own company. The TV show did not result in a series. In 1956, Jaguar worked on another attempt to make a series, but Ladd was no longer cast as Holiday. Ladd's wife Sue Carol was reported as being involved in casting. In 1958, Jaguar hired Charles Bennett to adapt the series into a television series. In 1959, Ladd was working on scripts for TV series with

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the television series ''Family'' (1976–1980), ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977� ...

. Bill Leslie was to play the lead, opposite Ann McRae. Shortly before his death, Ladd announced plans to make a feature film version of the show. He said he would play the lead and the film would have featured 13 cameos from stars that Ladd had worked with in the past. Possible names included

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, known for his portrayals of rough, blue-collar characters. He gained significant recognition for his role in ''Wake Island'', for wh ...

Veronica Lake Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973), known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in films noir with Alan Ladd durin ...

Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are '' Beau Geste'' (1939), '' The Great ...

, and

Macdonald Carey Edward Macdonald Carey (March 15, 1913 – March 21, 1994) was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''. For almost three decades, he was the show's central cast membe ...

. ''Box 13'' was also re-imagined (rather than a straight adaptation or continuation) as a comic book series in 2010, by

David Gallaher David Matthew Gallaher (born June 5, 1975) is an American video game writer, comics writer, podcaster and editor, known primarily for his work in comics and video games: '' Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint'', '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', ''Yo ...

and Steve Ellis, and published by

ComiXology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), was a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . At its height it offered a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, g ...

. It is published digitally by ComiXology and published in print by Red 5 Comics.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{InternetArchiveOTR, id=OTRR_Box_13_Singles, title=Box 13
"Committed" for ''General Electric Theater''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Internet Archive: ''Box 13''

OTR Net Library – all 52 episodes of ''Box 13''

Zoot Radio, free ''Box 13'' old time radio show downloads, over 50 episodes
American radio dramas 1940s American radio programs Syndicated American radio programs