The FBI in Peace and War

The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book of the same name.^[1]

The FBI in Peace and War

Genre	Crime drama
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Syndicates	CBS
Starring	Martin Blaine Donald Briggs
Announcer	Andre Baruch Hugh Holder Dick Noel Len Sterling Warren Sweeney
Created by	Frederick L. Collins
Written by	Ed Adamson Fred Collins Jacques Finke Louis Pelletier
Directed by	Max Marcin Betty Mandeville
Produced by	Max Marcin Betty Mandeville
Original release	November 25, 1944 – September 28, 1958

The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins. It aired on CBS from November 25, 1944 to September 28, 1958, produced and directed by Max Marcin and Betty Mandeville. The show had a variety of sponsors over the years, including Lava Soap, Wildroot Cream-Oil, Lucky Strike, Nescafe and Wrigley's.^[2]

In 1955 it was the eighth most popular show on radio, as noted in Time:

The Nielsen ratings of the top ten radio shows seemed to indicate that not much has changed in radio: 1) Jack Benny Show (CBA), 2) Amos 'n' Andy (CBS), 3) People are Funny (NBC), 4) Our Miss Brooks (CBS) 5) Lux Radio Theater (NBC), 6) My Little Margie (CBS), 7) Dragnet (NBC), 8) FBI in Peace and War (CBS), 9) Bergen and McCarthy (CBS), 10) Groucho Marx (NBC).^[3]

Martin Blaine and Donald Briggs headed the cast. The theme was the March from Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, arranged for small symphony orchestra by Amedeo De Filippi, with Vladimir Selinksy conducting. The music was accompanied by a chant of "L-A-V-A," in reference to the show's sponsor being Lava soap.^[4]

Actress Lisa Loughlin also voiced for the show beginning in 1952.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. Cox, Jim (2002). Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age. McFarland. p. 109. ISBN 9781476612270. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
2. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-09-30. The FBI in Peace and War, crime drama.
3. . Time. February 7, 1955. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
4. Bergman, Elizabeth. "Sergei Prokofiev The FBI March". The Serge Prokofiev Foundation. Retrieved August 30, 2014.

Listen to

• , radiolovers.com (archive.org)
• Episodes of The FBI in Peace and War, archive.org

External links

• 1952 Scripts: The FBI in Peace and War was a summer replacement series sponsored by Lucky Strike. Scripts from the tobacco litigation begin with “Brass Knuckles” (1952-06-12) and include “The False Step” (1952-06-19), “Trouble Shooter” (1952-06-26), “The Big Yarn” (1952-07-03), “The Psycho Case” (1952-07-17), “The Entry Fee” (1952-07-31), “The Fence” (1952-08-07), “The Super Salesman” (1952-08-14), “The Bait” (1952-08-21), “The Carlson Plan” (1952-08-28), “The Serpent Ring” (1952-09-04), “The 12th Man” (1952-09-11).
• Jerry Haendiges, Vintage Radio Logs: The FBI in Peace and War
• Betty Mandeville production papers, 1947-58, nypl.org