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Actor's Alibi (Aired September 12, 1948)
Box 13 is highly expositional, as are most programs of the genre, and Ladd's grovelly, gritty voice lends itself well to the production. But by Episode #6 it seems apparent that Alan Ladd was beginning to hit his stride in the role. What seems to get in the way for many reviewers of this program is its somewhat implausible premise. Dan Holiday was purportedly a successful fiction writer for the Star-Times news magazine who becomes disenchanted with the utter, mind-numbing routine of it. Dan Holiday opts out. He posts an ad reading "Go anywhere, Do anything, Write Box 13". This had become a pretty well-worked theme by 1948. Perhaps a bit too reminiscent of George Valentine's "Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine," from 1946's Let George Do It. The gimmick certainly made for an open-ended range of potential adventures for Box 13's protagonist. And it resulted in some pretty outrageous assignments in the course of Holiday's fifty-two adventures. Show Notes From The Digital Deli. THIS EPISODE: September 12, 1948. Program #4. Mutual network origination, Mayfair syndication. "Actor's Alibi". Commercials added locally. The first episode in which "Suzy" works for Dan Holiday and not for the Star-Times. Murder in a radio studio, death by electrical transcription? Alan Ladd, Frank Hertosig (writer), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Sylvia Picker, Ted Hediger (director), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 26:16. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.