''Mr. Chameleon'' is a

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal investigation, investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around ...

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

created by Frank Hummert and produced by Frank and

Anne Hummert Anne Hummert (née Schumacher) (January 19, 1905 – July 5, 1996) was the leading co-creator of daytime radio serials or soap opera dramas during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen series. Biography She was born in Balt ...

. It ran on CBS Radio from July 14, 1948, to 1951 or 1953. The series starred

Karl Swenson Karl Swenson (July 23, 1908 – October 8, 1978) was an American theatre, radio, film, and television actor. Early in his career, he was credited as Peter Wayne.

as a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

who is a master of disguise, and who assumes a new identity in each episode in order to catch a criminal. The listening audience is always aware of who Mr. Chameleon is, no matter in which disguise he appears. According to the series' opening

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

, "Chameleon" is not a

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

but the character's actual surname, one which he has tried to live up to since childhood. His motto is, "The innocent must be protected and the guilty must be punished." The theme song is

John Jacob Loeb John Jacob Loeb (1910 – 2 March 1970) was an American composer. He wrote music and lyrics for many popular songs, such as "Rosie the Riveter" (1942), " Seems Like Old Times" (1945), "Masquerade", "Reflections in the Water", "Sweetie Pie", "Boo H ...

and

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United S ...

's "Masquerade". In addition to Swenson, Frank Butler was heard in the role of Dave Arnold (a sergeant who was Mr. Chameleon's assistant), and Richard Keith portrayed the police commissioner. The announcers were George Bryan, Howard Claney, and Roger Knapp. The program was directed by Richard Leonard and written by Marie Baumer. Victor Arden's orchestra provided music. Broadcast initially on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, ''Mr. Chameleon'' replaced ''

The American Melody Hour ''The American Melody Hour'' is an American old-time radio program. ''The American Melody Hour'' was designed as a musical variety show. The program showcased a half-hour playing and singing "the tunes of yesterday and tomorrow..." mostly sung by ...

''. Sponsors of the program included

Sterling Drug Sterling Drug was an American based global pharmaceutical company. It was also known as Sterling Winthrop, Inc., after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. which itself resulted from the merger of Winthrop Chemical Company Inc. and Frederick Ste ...

and

Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

. The July 26, 1950, episode was "The Mystery Room Murder Case".

Critical response

A review of the premiere episode in the trade publication ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that the cast "turns in graphic characterizations" and rated the quality of production as "Grade A throughout". The review said that the show had the ingredients to make it successful. A review in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' during the fourth year of ''Mr. Chameleon'' described it as "actually nothing but a night time soap opera in the camouflage of a weekly mystery series." It said that in the specific episode being reviewed, "Script, performance and production were all ridiculously melodramatic and devoid of any real character or animation." The reviewer also wrote that the title character used too many cliches, had too much self confidence, and was a "stuffy individual".

References

{{reflist Mr. Chameleon Mr. Chameleon 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs CBS Radio programs Detective radio shows