Old Time Radio Espionage

Orson Welles reprises his role of Harry Lime from the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel The Third Man. The radio series is a "prequel" to the film, and depicts the many misadventures of con-artist Lime in a somewhat lighter tone than the character's villainy in the film. The fourth episode of the series is "A Ticket to Tangier". Harry, down on his luck in Paris, reads a classified ad in a newspaper directing him to go to Tangier for an unspecified purpose. Broadcast August 24, 1951.

Herbert Marshall played the role of British intelligent Agent, Ken Thurston. Like their counter parts in the FBI, this sophisticated drama would not only touch on conspiracy, spying and danger, but just about anything if “the price was right”. Travel around the world with “The Man Called X.” In this episode, “Indian Quinine Contract”, Ken Thurston becomes involved in intrigue in the palace of a Maharajah in India. Broadcast September 30th, 1944.

"America's number one adventurer, K-7--former United States secret agent who operated in 22 countries, on land, on sea, and in the air--brings you a story today..." ”Secret Agent K-7 Returns” are fifteen minute episodes of mystery and espionage first broadcast in 1939. In the fourth episode, “Narcotics Peddlers”, Agent Z and others break up a gang smuggling cocaine into the country. Agent Z, one of K-7’s former associates, was investigating traffic in narcotics. His findings led him to a city about 100 miles inland.

Dangerous Assignment was a product of the Cold War, with mystery and intrigue cropping up across the globe. Steve Mitchell, an agent for an unnamed U.S. government agency, is dispatched to some exotic, faraway place at the beginning of each episode. The fifth show of the series, “Millionaire Murder Conspiracy”, Steve flies to Paris to investigate the murders of several millionaires. Starring Brian Donlevy as Steve, this episode was broadcast August 6th, 1949.

Cloak and Dagger opened over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. The series told fictional stories of OSS agents during World War II who took dangerous missions behind enemy lines, knowing they may never return alive. Are you ready to undertake a dangerous mission behind enemy lines? This week’s episode is titled "Direct Line to Bombers". Broadcast June 25th, 1950.

I Was a Communist for the FBI was an American espionage thriller radio series that ran from 1952 to 1954. Made without FBI cooperation, the series was adapted from the book by undercover agent Matt Cvetic, who was portrayed by Dana Andrews. In this episode, “Traitors for Hire”, Cvetic gets a job in the U.S. Employment Office, placing comrades in positions at war plants. Broadcast May 28th, 1952.

Spy Catcher was based on the memoirs of Lt. Col. Oreste Pinto, a Dutch intelligence agent who worked for the Allied Counterintelligence Services in England during WWII - described by Eisenhower as "the greatest living expert in security". It charted the exploits of Pinto and his team of investigators as they relentlessly tried to root out potential spies entering Britain. This week’s episode of Spy Catcher is titled “The VIP”.

Herbert Marshall played the role of British intelligent Agent, Ken Thurston. Like their counter parts in the FBI, this sophisticated drama would not only touch on conspiracy, spying and danger, but just about anything if “the price was right”. Travel around the world with “The Man Called X.” In this episode, “Acme Oil Refinery”, Ken Thurston investigates sabotage in the Middle East. Broadcast April 4th, 1947.

Suspense was one of radio's greatest series and its longest-running prime-time drama. "Radio's outstanding theater of thrills" was one of CBS' top-rated dramatic series and aired for two decades before ending its legendary run on September 30, 1962 -- the final evening of network radio drama. This week’s episode is “Strange Death of Charles Umberstein". Vincent Price stars as a spy in Nazi Germany desperately trying to avoid the Gestapo. This episode was broadcast November 23, 1943.

Escape was widely considered radio’s greatest series of high adventure. The opening was usually along the same lines of “Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of … romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you … Escape!” In this episode, “Operation Fleur-de-Lys”, a commando raid into Nazi-occupied France is endangered by a girl in the French resistance - a girl whose loyalties are suspect. This episode was broadcast July 14, 1947.

The CBS Radio Mystery Theater was created by Himan Brown and ran from January 6, 1974 till the final episode December 31, 1982. The creation of CBSRMT was an attempt in the 1970s to revive the great drama of old-time radio. In this episode,” Last Train Out”, an American film crew tries to film the last journey of a legendary train, The Orient Express, and falls into a communist espionage trap. They must comply with the wishes of these shady characters to get out of it alive. This episode was broadcast November 1, 1977.

Orson Welles reprises his role of Harry Lime from the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel The Third Man. The radio series is a "prequel" to the film, and depicts the many misadventures of con-artist Lime in a somewhat lighter tone than the character's villainy in the film. In this third episode of the series, "Clay Pigeon", New York Governor James Hadley offers Harry $15,000 to free him with a blackmail plot. The blackmailer is Kato, who wants to set up Organized Crime activity in the state with immunity. Broadcast August 17, 1951.

Cloak and Dagger opened over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. The series told fictional stories of OSS agents during World War II who took dangerous missions behind enemy lines, knowing they may never return alive. Are you ready to undertake a dangerous mission behind enemy lines? This week’s episode is titled "The Kachin Story". Broadcast June 18th, 1950.

I Was a Communist for the FBI was an American espionage thriller radio series that ran from 1952 to 1954. Made without FBI cooperation, the series was adapted from the book by undercover agent Matt Cvetic, who was portrayed by Dana Andrews. This episode, “Pit Viper”, was broadcast May 21, 1952.

Cloak and Dagger opened over the NBC network on May 7, 1950. It had a short run through the summer on Sundays, changing to Fridays after its summer run. The last show aired Oct. 22, 1950. The series told fictional stories of OSS agents during World War II who took dangerous missions behind enemy lines, knowing they may never return alive. Are you ready to undertake a dangerous mission behind enemy lines? This week’s episode is titled "The People in the Forest". Broadcast June 11th, 1950.

I Was a Communist for the FBI was an American espionage thriller radio series that ran from 1952 to 1954. Made without FBI cooperation, the series was adapted from the book by undercover agent Matt Cvetic, who was portrayed by Dana Andrews. In this episode, “Red Red Herring”, Cvetic frames a loyal party member to protect himself. Broadcast May 14, 1952.

Suspense was one of radio's greatest series and its longest-running prime-time drama. "Radio's outstanding theater of thrills" was one of CBS' top-rated dramatic series and aired for two decades before ending its legendary run on September 30, 1962 -- the final evening of network radio drama. This week’s episode, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", is a shocking story about a Confederate spy who was caught during the Civil War. This episode was broadcast December 15, 1957 and starred Joseph Cotten and Harry Bartell.

"America's number one adventurer, K-7--former United States secret agent who operated in 22 countries, on land, on sea, and in the air--brings you a story today..." ”Secret Agent K-7 Returns” are fifteen minute episodes of mystery and espionage first broadcast in 1939. Agent K-7 is actually a rather mild-mannered narrator of these stories. He doesn't sound or seem very heroic or interesting... which would make him all the more effective as a spy! The spy's best disguise is a perfectly ordinary and uninteresting demeanor. The radio actors who brought these stories of men and women operatives to the radio are as unknown today as most of the real spies of that time. Episode 3 of the series is titled “Information Peddler”.

Dangerous Assignment was a product of the Cold War, with mystery and intrigue cropping up across the globe. Steve Mitchell, an agent for an unnamed U.S. government agency, is dispatched to some exotic, faraway place at the beginning of each episode. The third show of the series. Steve's off to Nigeria to obtain rights to a new manganese discovery. A good adventure yarn in darkest Africa. Starring Brian Donlevy as Steve, this episode was first broadcast July 23, 1949.

Orson Welles reprised his role of Harry Lime from the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel The Third Man. The radio series is a "prequel" to the film, and depicts the many misadventures of con-artist Lime in a somewhat lighter tone than the character's villainy in the film. In the second episode of the series, "See Naples and Live" Harry plans to heist a beautiful emerald locket from a Neapolitan socialite. Broadcast August 10, 1951.