Brian Donlevy was famous for his roles playing dangerous touch guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. In this episode of the radio program "Dangerous Assignment" he plays such a character (Steve Mitchell) working for the American government. Intro audio gives details of the show and Donlevy as well as listing the other well-known actors that co-starred with him in this show. Backstory: Brian Donlevy (born 1901) lied about his age in 1916 (he was 14) so he could join the army. Gen. John Pershing sent him as part of a battalion of American troops to invade Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa. Mexican rebels under Villa's command had raided Columbus, NM and killed 16 soldiers and civilians. Donlevy served with that expedition and later in WW I was a pilot with the Lafayette Flying Corps, a unite of the French Air Force made up of American and Canadian pilots. He was wounded twice serving as a fighter pilot. He also spent 2 yrs at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, but gave up his military career for the stage... his first big film was "What Price Glory" , In 1950 he crashed a plane he was flying into a mountain side in California and survived. He died of cancer at the age of 69 on April 5, 1972

This track will be stored in the "Detective/Mystery" Playlist on this Soundcloud podcast.

Audio Introduction to the show fills in the information about Jack's career in radio and about this show. His birthday was on Valentine's Day and every year they did a show based on that fact. This show was broadcast on Feb 15th, 1942, one day late, but they set it up as a "flashback" to what happened the day before. Always funny. This will be in the "Valentine's" Playlist... there is a 1937 show there about his birthday as well.

Jack Benny was born on Valentine's Day in 1894 and from 1911 to 1974 he entertained on vaudeville, radio, television, and films. One of the leading entertainers of the 20th Century... In this 1937 episode, It is Jack's birthday and he plans to celebrate one way or the other!

This track will live in the Valentines Play list!

5 min Audio Introduction outlines the series "Quiet Please" and the creator, writer, director... Wyllis Cooper and the lead actor and narrator, Ernest Chappell. This series has gathered many accolades as one of the most creative and unique radio shows during the Golden Age of Radio. Listen carefully to this story... the ending is significant in the whole point of the story. This track will be in two playlists - "Valentine" and "Horror/Suspense"

Introduction to the track answers some often asked questions about Hopalong Cassidy and William Boyd, who portrayed the western here for 40 years on television, in motion pictures and on the radio. One sidenote, William Boyd was an accomplished business man. He licensed everything he could about Hopalong Cassidy. From cowboy hats, to toy pistols, gun belts, lunch boxes and thermos bottles and everything in between. He made a lot of money in a process that was really before its time. Think about how any new movie, especially if it is for children, markets the film through the release of toys... The movie "Toy Story" is a perfect example. Boyd truly was on top of the process and it paid off big for him. it was reported that his net worth was 12 million dollars when he died in 1977... that is 80.5 million in today's money. This track will of course be stored in the "Westerns" Playlist on Soundcloud.com.

Another program from the "Camel Caravan" featuring Benny Goodman and his Orchestra with their Swing School edition. Vocalist Martha Tilton (Photo) is heard in several songs in this upbeat program from 1937. Here is the Playlist: "Stardust" "If It's The Last Thing I Do" "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Heart" 'Laughing at Life" "Nagasaki" "Mama, The Moon is Here Again" and the show concludes with a great song featuring Gene Krupa on drums and Harry James on Trumpet in "Big John Special" This track will be stored in the "Big Bands/Jazz" Playlist on this Soundcloud.com podcast.

Brace Beemer played the Lone Ranger on station WXYZ in Detroit from 1941 to 1956. The series began on radio in 1933 and ran until 1956.

Surveys showed that over half of the listeners were adults.

Three main actors played the role of the Lone Ranger... George Seaton (1933), Earle Graser (1933-1941... he was killed in an auto accident on April 8, 1941 when he fell asleep on his way to WXYZ studio to record a Lone Ranger show. He was only 32.

Graser got the part of the Lone Ranger because of his voice and it took WXYZ awhile to find Brace Beemer to replace Graser... they wanted to match the voice and they did a good job. Most listeners could not tell the difference.

Beemer stayed with the series until it ended on radio in 1955-56. John Todd a veteran character actor played Tonto on the radio from start to finish. There were 2956 original radio episodes of the Lone Ranger.

Jay Silverheels played Tonto on the TV program that starred Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger. This episode will be in the "Westerns" Playlist on this Soundcloud.com podcast.

August 10, 1937 - The Camel Caravan featured Benny Goodman and his Orchestra ... in a Swingschool broadcast. Part of the Benny band featured Gene Krupa on drums and Harry James on trumpet... not too shabby! Here is the Playlist: "Remember" "Me Myself and I" "Mother Goose Marches On" "Shine" "Swing, Benny, Swing" "Sing Sing Sing Part II featuring Gene Krupa and Harry James. For a program 85 years old... the quality is good and the music is incredible. This track will live in the "Big Band/Jazz" Playlist on the Soundcloud.com Podcast.

History of Radio includes Public Service Announcements. Here are 3 more that, if I did not know better, could, with just a few words changed, be applicable today. First one is from 1940... About "Freedom" that Canada and America have, but must be vigilant to keep. Second one is from the United Nations in the early 1950's ...topic is "Peace"... how important it is to work toward keeping it both within and without our country. The third one is from approximately 1958... it is about the help that Polio victims need to be able to survive... "they were infected with Polio and the Jonas Salk vaccine came too late for them. Salk VACCINE was released to public in February of 1954. I remember as a young boy standing in a long line on the sidewalk of a city in NH waiting to get my vaccine. All during the summer my parents would not let me go swimming in any public pool or play with many of my friends... especially when the word was that 8 year old Steve who lived down the street had contracted polio and was in an iron lung... the vaccine came too late for Steve. He died after 2 years of "living" in an iron lung cylinder. The Salk vaccine stopped those tragedies for those of us who were lucky enough to be well when the vaccine was available to keep us that way. This track will be in the "History of Radio" Playlist

Audio Intro gives background on this remarkable series... this series began after the television Paladin starring Richard Boone aired. Generally TV shows were born on radio! John Dehner's Paladin is very different from Richard Boone's. It was in his contract that he could develop the character as he viewed him. He did not want to be a carbon copy of Boone's Paladin. He succeeded! This track will be in the "Westerns" Playlist on this Soundcloud.com Podcast.