''The FBI in Peace and War'' was an American

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book of the same name.

Overview

The idea for the show came from

Louis Pelletier Louis Pelletier (March 7, 1906 – February 11, 2000) was an American writer of radio dramas and screenplays for motion pictures and television. Pelletier was born in New York City, New York. He graduated from Dartmouth College. He co-wrote the ...

who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins. It aired 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 ...

from November 25, 1944, to September 28, 1958, produced and directed by

Max Marcin Max Marcin (5 May 1879 – 30 March 1948) was a Polish-born American playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and film director. He wrote for 47 films between 1916 and 1949. He also directed six films between 1931 and 1936. His stage work inclu ...

and Betty Mandeville. The show had a variety of sponsors over the years, including Lava Soap, Wildroot Cream-Oil,

Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Name Lucky Strike was introduced as a brand of plug tobacco (chew ...

, Nescafe and

Wrigley's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, also known as Wrigley Company or simply Wrigley's, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is a subsidiary ...

. In 1955, it was the eighth most popular show on radio, as noted in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. Martin Blaine and Donald Briggs headed the cast. Episodes included "The Marriage Mart" on December 16, 1944.

Production

The theme was the March from Prokofiev's ''

The Love for Three Oranges ', Op. 33, is a 1921 satirical French-language opera by Sergei Prokofiev. He wrote his own libretto, basing it on the Italian play '' L'amore delle tre melarance'', or ''The Love for Three Oranges'' ( ''Lyubov k tryom apyelsinam'') by Carlo Goz ...

'', arranged for small symphony orchestra by Amedeo De Filippi, with Vladimir Selinksy conducting. The music was accompanied by a chant of "L-A-V-A," in reference to the show's sponsor being Lava soap. In November 1947 the program was moved from Fridays at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time to Thursdays at 8 p.m. E. T. In the summer of 1948 it took an eight-week hiatus, replaced by ''The Doctor Says Murder''.

References

Listen to

''The FBI in Peace and War''
radiolovers.com (archive.org)
Episodes of ''The FBI in Peace and War''
archive.org

External links

1952 Scripts: ''The FBI in Peace and War'' was a summer replacement series sponsored by Lucky Strike. Scripts from the tobacco litigation begin with “Brass Knuckles” (1952-06-12) and include “The False Step” (1952-06-19), “Trouble Shooter” (1952-06-26), “The Big Yarn” (1952-07-03), “The Psycho Case” (1952-07-17), “The Entry Fee” (1952-07-31), “The Fence” (1952-08-07), “The Super Salesman” (1952-08-14), “The Bait” (1952-08-21), “The Carlson Plan” (1952-08-28), “The Serpent Ring” (1952-09-04), “The 12th Man” (1952-09-11).
*Jerry Haendiges
Betty Mandeville production papers, 1947-58
nypl.org {{DEFAULTSORT:FBI in Peace and War, The American radio dramas 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs CBS Radio programs