Dangerous Assignment

"The Commissioner" sent US special agent Steve Mitchell to exotic locales all over the world, where he would encounter adventure and international intrigue in pursuit of some secret. Each show would always open with a brief teaser scene from the episode to follow. After the intro, Steve Mitchell would be summoned to the office of 'The Commissioner', the regional head of an unnamed US State Department agency created to address international unrest as it affected U.S. interests. "The Commissioner" would give background information, explain the current situation and tell Steve his assignment. Steve's cover identity, in almost all his adventures, was that of a suave debonair foreign correspondent for an unnamed print publication — his assignments invariably involved deceit, trickery, and violence, all tied together into a successful resolution by the end of the episode.

{{Infobox radio show

|show_name = Dangerous Assignment

|image =

|imagesize =

|caption =

|format = Spy

|runtime = 30 minutes

|country = United States

|language = English

|television = Dangerous Assignment

|starring = Brian Donlevy
Herb Butterfield

|creator = Brian Donlevy

|producer =

|first_aired = {{Start date|1949|07|09}}

|last_aired = {{End date|1953|07|08}}

|num_series = Four years with a weekly broadcast

|num_episodes = 167+

|audio_format = Monaural

}}

Dangerous Assignment started out as a replacement radio series broadcast in the US on the NBC radio network in the summer of 1949; it became a syndicated series (produced in Australia) in early 1954. Reportedly, star Brian Donlevy himself was the one who brought the show to NBC.

In the American radio shows, Donlevy was both the protagonist within the action and the narrator, giving the show "a suspenseful immediacy."{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Dangerous+Assignment+globetrotting%22&pg=PA190 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=190 |edition=Revised |access-date=2024-05-27}}Field, Stanley (1958) "Television and Radio Writing" Houghton Mifflin, page 186 The only other regular actor on the radio shows was Herb Butterfield, who played "The Commissioner." Many stage and screen actors appeared as guest-stars including, among many others, William Conrad, Raymond Burr, Paul Frees, Jim Davis, Dan O'Herlihy, Richard Boone, and Eddie Cantor.

The Australian series was begun as a result of the popularity of the American series—scripts from shows already broadcast in the US were re-done with Australian actors in 1954. The Australian producers re-created and broadcast thirty-nine episodes from 1954 on.

The radio show started out as a seven-week summer replacement series broadcast on NBC Saturdays 8:30–9 PM EST. It premiered July 9, 1949; the last episode was on August 20, 1949. A character portraying the Commissioner's secretary, 'Ruthie', was played by Betty Moran — it is hinted that there was some romantic history between Ruthie and Steve Mitchell.{{cite web|title=Dangerous Assignment|url=http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Dangerous-Assignment.html|website=The Digital Deli Too|accessdate=15 July 2015|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183529/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Dangerous-Assignment.html|url-status=dead}}

The seven episodes were each twenty-five minutes long:

• Thropp Foundation Stolen Relief Supplies, set in Messina, Sicily, was broadcast July 9, 1949.
• Investigate Malayan Star Line Sabotage, set in Saigon, French Indochina, was broadcast July 16, 1949.
• On Safari for Nigerian Manganese, set in Nigeria, West Africa, was broadcast July 23, 1949.
• --Title Unknown--, set in Mexico City, Mexico, was broadcast July 30, 1949.
• Investigate Millionaire Murder Conspiracy, set in Paris, France, was broadcast August 6, 1949.
• Smash Illegal Alien Smuggling Ring, set in Masimbra, Portugal, was broadcast August 13, 1949.
• Recover File No. 307, set in Zurich, Switzerland, was broadcast August 20, 1949.

The Summer 1949 series was very well-received, but NBC had no room for a new series in its Fall 1949 schedule. The radio show finally did return to the airwaves on February 6, 1950, in the 10:30 PM Monday timeslot formerly occupied by The Dave Garroway Show (originating from Chicago and syndicated nationwide), which was moved an hour later to 11:30 PM. The show moved over the next three years to Wednesday nights, then Saturday nights, then Tuesday nights, and then finally ended its run during its last few months in 1953 back on Wednesday nights. Some of the sponsors included the Ford Motor Company, Wheaties cereal, Anacin painkiller, Chesterfield cigarettes, and the RCA Victor record label, but the show, for the most part, was sustained solely by the NBC network for over half of its entire run with promos for other NBC shows. The series ran every week from its premiere date until the last show was broadcast in the US on July 8, 1953.

The second year of the radio series and the year of the television series were concurrent.

There are at least 160 episodes in the 1950–53 American radio series. Episode titles became fairly standardized, starting with a verb, and describing the assignment: Find Szabo and The Briefcase, Keep Chromite Mine Operating, Intercept Dr. Korvel Before Opposition, etc.

As the American radio series ended its last year, negotiation and production began for an Australian radio version. Produced by Grace Gibson Transcriptions, this version of Dangerous Assignment re-did 52 episodes of the full American run, with Lloyd Burrell playing Steve Mitchell — this radio series was broadcast in Australia in 1954 to 1956 and the following years.[http://www.australianotr.com.au/dangerous-assignment.html Dangerous Assignment] Ian Grieve. Australian Old Time Radio.

{{infobox television

| image = Suzanne Dalbert-Brian Donlevy in Dangerous Assignment (The Key Story).jpg

| caption = Brian Donlevy & Suzanne Dalbert in the TV series Dangerous Assignment, episode "The Key Story"

| genre = Spy

| runtime = 30 minutes

| creator = Brian Donlevy

| developer = Brian Donlevy

| starring = Brian Donlevy
Herb Butterfield

| theme_music_composer = Basil George ("Buzz") Adlam
Von Dexter

| company = Donlevy Development Inc.

| executive_producer = Harold E. Knox

| director = Bill Karn

| editor = Maurice Wright
Edward Schroeder

| cinematography = Lester H. White, A.S.C.

| country = United States

| network = NBC

| first_aired = {{Start date|2020|09|01}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2020|06|01}}

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 39

| list_episodes =

}}

A syndicated television series named Dangerous Assignment was broadcast in the US in syndication (but mostly on the NBC television network) in the 1951–52 television season.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=%22Dangerous+Assignment+Foreign%22&pg=PA322 |first1=Tim |last1=Brooks |author-link1=Tim Brooks (historian) |first2=Earle |last2=Marsh |year=2007 |edition=9 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present |page=322 |publisher=Random House Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |access-date=2024-05-27 }} Donlevy formed a production company to convert the radio show to a television show — but, no TV network would invest in the series, so, instead, he produced thirty-nine episodes with his own cash and sold them to individual stations nationwide in First-Run Syndication (though NBC did aid in the distribution)[http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/dangerousAssignment.html Dangerous Assignment TV Show] Classic TV Themes — price per episode ranged from $75 to $2000, depending on the population and demographics in the buyer's region."Syndicated Fight between NBC, CBS" Billboard Magazine, February 23, 1952 (available online at [https://books.google.com/books?id=8h0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA7-IA2 Online Billboard magazine archive] at Google Books

Production credits:

• Assistant Director: William McGarry
• Production Supervisor: Frank Parmenter
• Assistant Director: William McGarry
• Production Designer: George Van Marter
• Set Decoration: George Milo
• Film Editor: Edward Schroeder, A.C.E.
• Wardrobe: Charles Keehne
• Sound: Earl Snyder
• Makeup: David Newell
• Casting: Harvey Clermont
• Production Assistant: Edward Denault
• Special Effects: Harry Redmond Jr.

All episodes starred Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell and Herb Butterfield as "The Commissioner." Robert Ryf wrote most of the scripts. Among the more famous guest stars were Hugh Beaumont, Paul Frees, Elena Verdugo, Harry Guardino, Lyle Talbot, John Dehner, Michael Ansara, Jim Davis, and Strother Martin, many of them appearing as different characters in different episodes.

The American radio show, perhaps due to the fact that it immediately preceded the blockbuster radio series The Man Called X, was extremely popular: "The program was clearly well received, was building a loyal audience for the full-hour block of foreign adventure drama it presented", although some radio fans found the American radio series "never quite overcoming the absolute predictability of the stories."

American television critics were not that much more enthusiastic: "...a television version of a pedestrian radio spy series."Erickson, Hal (2001) "Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years 1947-1987" McFarland Classics, {{ISBN|0-7864-1198-8}}, page 25

{{Portal|Radio|Television}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|tt0044257}}
• [http://ctva.biz/US/Spy/DangerousAssignment.htm Dangerous Assignment] at Classic Television Archive

• [http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Dangerous-Assignment.html Log (and other information) of Dangerous Assignment radio series episodes from The Digital Deli Too] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183529/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Dangerous-Assignment.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
• [http://www.otrsite.com/otrsite/logs/logd1035.htm Log of Dangerous Assignment radio series episodes from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs]
• [http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Logs_txt/Dangerous%20Assignment.txt Log of Dangerous Assignment radio series episodes from Old Time Radio Researchers Group]
• [http://www.radiogoldindex.com/cgi-local/p2.cgi?ProgramName=Dangerous+Assignment Log of Dangerous Assignment radio series episodes from RadioGOLDINdex]

• [http://www.genericradio.com/show.php?id=643E9CH2UI Script of "Sunken Ships" episode of Dangerous Assignment radio program (July 16, 1949) from Generic Radio Workshop Script Library]

• [https://archive.org/details/DangerousAssignment90Episodes Episodes of Dangerous Assignment radio series from Internet Archive]
• [http://zootradio.com/Dangerous_Assignment.php Episodes of Dangerous Assignment radio series from Zoot Radio]

• [https://archive.org/details/DangerousAssignmentTheArtTreasureStory "The Art Treasure Story" episode of Dangerous Assignment from Internet Archive]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkGjP_tUrmo "The Atomic Mine Story" episode of Dangerous Assignment from YouTube]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFd9aNbNtBA "The Bodyguard Story" episode of Dangerous Assignment from YouTube]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJWsWQAykvo "The Briefcase Story episode of Dangerous Assignment from YouTube]

Category:1949 establishments in the United States

Category:1949 radio programme debuts

Category:1953 disestablishments in the United States

Category:1953 radio programme endings

Category:NBC radio programs

Category:1940s American radio programs

Category:1950s American radio programs

Category:Radio programs adapted into television shows

Category:American radio dramas

Category:1951 American television series debuts

Category:1952 American television series endings

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States