Premier Collections: Box Thirteen
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

Click to listen to a Microsoft WMA audio clip
Click to listen to a MP3 audio clip

"Adventure wanted. Will go anyplace, do anything..."

In 1948, motion-picture actor Alan Ladd teamed up with an old business associate named Bernie Joslin to form a radio syndication outfit dubbed Mayfair Productions - so named because the two men had previously operated a chain of restaurants with the same moniker. Mayfair's primary contribution to radio entertainment was "Box Thirteen," a mystery/adventure series that featured the popular Paramount Pictures matinee idol in the lead role. The series must have felt like old home week for Ladd; he had begun his acting career in 1935 at the Warner Brothers Studio-owned KFWB, working as many as 20 shows a week and, for a time, being heard as "The Richfield Reporter."

In "Box Thirteen," Ladd played Dan Holiday, a retired newspaper reporter who was now an author of mystery fiction. He apparently suffered from frequent bouts of writer's block, because he obtained material for his stories by inserting an ad in his local paper - the Star-Times - that read: "Adventure wanted. Will go anyplace, do anything. Box 13." Holiday was pretty well off as a result of his writing success, so he rarely charged a fee to any of the colorful clients that crossed his path, most of whom needed his assistance in one way or another. His correspondence was attended to by a gal Friday named Suzy (apparently she couldn't afford a last name), played by actress Sylvia Picker. Suzy was a slightly scatterbrained ditz that one contemporary reviewer described as "just a little too well-baked and the show's weakest link." For the most part, aside from sporadic appearances by Lieutenant Kling, the obligatory police contact played by Edmond McDonald, Dan and Suzy were the only two regulars heard on the show.

Though "Box Thirteen" was produced specifically for syndication to local stations, it received a network run on the West Coast Mutual network from March 15, 1948 thru March 7, 1949 and was then heard on the East Coast over New York's WOR from August 22, 1948 thru August 14, 1949. Mayfair produced a total of 52 episodes, mostly scripted by Russell Hughes, the individual at KFWB who was responsible for hiring Ladd back in 1935 at the princely sum of $19.00 a week. (It would seem that Ladd looked out for his old friends; actress Picker was also an old KFWB colleague.) The program's music was supplied by Rudy Schrager, with the announcing chores handled by Vern Carstensen, who also doubled as the show's director. Despite the fact that "Box Thirteen's" budget was skimpier than most network mystery/adventure shows, all in all it was a fairly high-quality program, with witty, interesting scripts and appearances from many of radio's acting professionals: Betty Lou Gerson, Lurene Tuttle, Alan Reed, Joseph Kearns, Frank Lovejoy, John Beal, etc.

In this author's opinion, Alan Ladd's movie career was more a case of being in the right place at the right time and not due to any great thespic talent. So it may seem odd that I consider "Box Thirteen" one of his best acting showcases - a well-written series that allowed the diminutive star to do what he did best: play his tough-guy persona to perfection in a novel program whose format guaranteed that its concept stood little chance of growing stale. All fifty-two installments of the series have been preserved for the listening pleasure of old time radio fans - particularly the twenty half-hour episodes in this brand new 10 CD Premier Collection, newly restored and remastered by Radio Archives.

The First Letter (#1)
"You can help a person out of great trouble and gain an adventure for yourself if you call CHester-8945 and ask for Carla Williams." So reads a letter from Dan Holiday's first client: a blackmail victim who soon has him framed for murder!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12504A.jpg

Insurance Fraud Scheme (#2)
An insurance investigator hires Dan to check into the matter of a policy taken out by renowned surgeon Max Alexander, who disappeared seven years ago after a botched operation. Under the law, the company will have to pay off on Alexander's premium...with the money going to Alexander's widow.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12505A.jpg

Blackmail is Murder (#3)
An eccentric old woman asks Dan for help, claiming to be in "terrible, terrible trouble." That's the understatement of the year - she's keeping the body of a murdered man in the closet of her hotel room!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12506A.jpg

Actor's Alibi (#4)
In this episode, Holiday has managed to spirit away Suzy from her former position at the Star-Times to become his personal gal Friday. He also investigates the murder of actress Jean Blake, star of the popular radio anthology series "Time for Drama."
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12507A.jpg

Extra! Extra! (#5)
A postcard from a young newsboy provides the catalyst for Dan's efforts to prove the boy's father innocent of participating in a jewelry company robbery. The matter is a bit complicated because the father is unable to account for the fact that a portion of the booty was found in his apartment.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12508A.jpg

Shanghaied (#6)
Holiday receives a letter asking him to show up for an appointment down at the docks to board a boat known as the "Ruthie J." Our hero soon gets a blackjack to the back of the head and a bit of high seas adventure for his trouble.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12509A.jpg

Short Assignment (#7)
After picking up his mail, a terrified Suzy is followed back to Dan's apartment. Her "stalker" turns out to be a milquetoast named George Flit, an amateur detective who seeks Holiday's help in preventing a suicide.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12510A.jpg

Double Mothers (#8)
An anonymous note left for Dan requests that he show up for a 10:00 PM rendezvous in a city park. Arriving at the appointed hour, Holiday finds a little girl on a bench, fast asleep - and she soon becomes his personal responsibility, despite the fact that she has two mothers!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12511A.jpg

Book of Poems (#9)
Holiday's mail contains no letters, just a book of poems written by Sir Walter Scott. The tome appears to have been procured from the library of one Robert N. Chase, a man who's been dead for a number of years...or has he?
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12512A.jpg

The Great Torino (#10)
Dan picks up a ticket left for him at a theatre. He has been asked to attend the evening performance of a renowned magician whose act features an amazing trick involving a rifle and a female assistant who catches bullets in her teeth. It's all fun and games...until someone gets hurt...
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12513A.jpg

Suicide or Murder? (#11)
Catherine Dailey beseeches Dan to look into the death of her son Arthur, the accidental victim of a raucous barroom brawl. Mrs. Dailey is convinced that Arthur, an ambitious reporter who was anxious to make a name for himself, was murdered.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12514A.jpg

Triple Cross (#12)
Dan receives an anonymous response to his ad containing a plane ticket to a small Nevada town, where he's been ensconced in a room at a swanky hotel. He wins $126,000.000 by being lucky - maybe too lucky - at roulette, but loses it to a beautiful blonde before he can spend it all in one place.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12515A.jpg

Damsel in Distress (#13)
A wealthy girl attending private school asks for Dan's protection from a blackmailer, making Holiday a regular "knight irritant," in Suzy's words. No sooner has Dan gotten acquainted with his client than she promptly disappears!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12516A.jpg

Diamond in the Sky (#14)
Ah, Paris in the spring... Dan is asked by William Martin, assistant to a wealthy diamond merchant, to travel to the city of love and retrieve the notorious Mirablis Diamond on behalf of his boss. Had Holiday known that he would soon be arrested for diamond theft, he might have passed on the free vacation.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12517A.jpg

Double Right-Cross (#15)
Boxer Johnny Capelli, an old war buddy of Holiday's, is a contender for the middleweight crown. When he's accused of throwing a bout, Dan puts his investigative skills to use in order to prove his pal's innocence.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12518A.jpg

Look Pleasant, Please (#16)
A client hires Dan and immediately asks him to have his picture taken with her. Before he knows what is happening, this little Kodak moment results in Holiday's engagement to an heiress who is due to inherit a fortune worth fifteen million dollars!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12519A.jpg

The Haunted Artist (#17)
Dan's belief in the supernatural is tested when he is contacted by an artist who claims that his latest painting is haunted. Staring at the work, one can make out a stone quarry that keeps appearing and reappearing on one side of the canvas.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12520A.jpg

The Sad Night (#18)
Dan receives a child's copybook, with an accompanying letter asking him to bring it back to an address in one of the swankier neighborhoods in town. Holiday soon learns that the book provides the key to a hidden fortune that is centuries old...as well as to both death and destruction.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12521A.jpg

Hot Box (#19)
Dan receives an anonymous letter authorizing him to purchase an ancient Chinese teakwood box at an auction. He shows up too late to buy the item, but decides to follow the man who did - just in time to see the man become a victim of a hit-and-run and to give chase to a red-headed dame who's taken possession!
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12522A.jpg

The Better Man (#20)
It's dinner at eight for Holiday. He's been invited to sup with millionaire Charles Winthrop, a rich man who has an insatiable appetite for excitement. His latest craving involves Dan and a hidden packet of cash totaling $100,000.00.
1948 - 30:00 - Mayfair Transcription Company Syndication
http://www.radioarchives.org/scans/12523A.jpg

The complete content of this website, including all text, illustrations, and audio content © 2008 First Generation Radio Archives. All Rights Reserved. The contents of this website may not be duplicated or reproduced in any way, in whole or in part, without the express written permission of the copyright holder.