This happens a lot here. It lists 104 shows, but in reality it's only 52 shows played twice. Why?

Pretty well written and acted. But it gets wearing to listen to Dan complain and complain about Box 13 and then just keep doing it. Not a fan of the hugely ditzy secretary, especially as I can never figure out why she's needed besides to have things explained to her. She picks up mail and opens it so far as I can tell, nice work if you can get it.

Something recently reminded me of this old radio show, and I was glad to find it here on Internet Archive! Dan Holiday is a journalist turned mystery author, but he sometimes laments that he's low on inspiration for his stories since he left journalism. To get ideas for his books, he put an ad in the newspaper, asking for adventure. People write to his post office box, Box 13, with suggestions for adventures or pleas for help with their problems. He never charges them fees for helping them, just using the adventures that he has as inspiration for his fictional stories. His sidekick is a ditzy secretary named Suzy with a habit of mispronouncing words or using a wrong word in a conversation, but Suzy doesn't accompany him on his adventures, acting more as a device for providing background information, plot exposition, and usually a joke at the end of the episode. I don't care for Suzy's ditziness, and sometimes, Dan gets a little annoying at the way he keeps griping about the situations he gets himself into, but the general premise of the series is fun. Many of the episodes turn out to be murder mysteries, but not all of them, which makes for some nice surprises in the stories. Quite often, people who look innocent turn out to be the guilty parties, and people who look guilty are completely innocent.

Here are some descriptions I wrote of the episodes:

The First Letter – Dan Holiday is framed for murder.
Insurance Fraud – Dan Holiday searches for a doctor who disappeared in what might be insurance fraud.
Blackmail is Murder – A little old lady with a passion for mysteries finds a dead body in her hotel room and recruits Dan Holiday to move the body and help her figure out who killed him.
Actor’s Alibi – An actress in fear of her life contacts Dan Holiday for help, but someone threatens to kill him if he helps her.
Extra Extra – A boy hires Dan Holiday to help his father, who has been arrested for jewelry theft.
Shanghaied – Dan Holiday is kidnapped and taken on a very strange fishing trip.
Short Assignment – A private detective recruits Dan Holiday to take his place at a party where there might be a possible suicide that may actually be murder.
Double Mothers – Dan Holiday gets a mysterious message asking him to meet someone by a park bench at night, but when he gets there, all he finds is a little girl, who tells Holiday that one of her two mothers told her to wait for him. The child is in danger and two women claim to be her mother.
A Book of Poems - Someone sends Dan Holiday a book of poetry written by a man who died in a fire years before. The book exposes the true cause of the fire and a family tragedy.
The Great Torino – A magician’s assistant is afraid of the magician.
Suicide or Murder – A distraught mother asks Holiday to investigate the death of her son. The authorities say that he was killed in a drunken fight, but she thinks he was murdered.
Triple Cross – Holiday gets a letter inviting him to come to a hotel in Nevada for adventure but no information about why or who sent the letter. When he gets there, he gets instructions for gambling and what to do with the money.
Damsel in Distress – A young finishing school student asks Dan Holiday for help when she receives notes from someone threatening to kidnap her if she doesn’t get a thousand dollars before a certain date.
Diamond in the Sky – Dan Holiday is invited to travel Paris to transport a precious jewel and is later accused of stealing it.
Double Right Cross – Dan goes to see an old army buddy who is now a professional boxer, but someone is drugging him to sabotage his fight.
Look Pleasant, Please – A pretty young woman requests that Dan Holiday pose for a picture with her. That seems innocent enough … until the picture appears in the newspaper announcing their engagement. It turns out that the girl is in line for a fortune if she’s married by a specific date that’s coming soon, and two previous fiancés have been killed.
The Haunted Artist – An artist thinks that he’s being haunted because, every night, someone keeps painting a stone quarry into the background of his latest painting. He can’t figure out who keeps getting into his studio and why they would want to alter his painting.
The Sad Night – Someone mails an old copybook that once belonged to a child to Holiday at Box 13, but for some reason, people are desperate to get hold of the copybook.
The Hot Box – Someone recruits Holiday to go to an auction and bid on a certain box. However, someone else buys the box instead and is hit by a car as he leaves, and someone else grabs the box. What was in the box that was so important?
The Better Man – A disturbing old man wants to make people play a bizarre psychological treasure to win his money for his own amusement.
The Professor and the Puzzle – An old friend of Dan’s asks him to come and help him with a personal problem. His fiancé has sudden broken off her engagement with him to marry another man following the suicide of her uncle, and she won’t tell him why.
The Dowager and Dan Holiday – A wealthy old recluse asks Dan to pretend like they’ve become engaged to discourage her grandson’s relationship with a woman she thinks is fortune hunter. Then, the dowager accuses Dan of theft.
Three to Die – A foreman asks Day to investigate sabotage on his tunnel project. Includes some fascinating information about how tunnels are constructed.
The Philanthropist – A vagrant asks Dan Holiday to find a missing friend of his. The vagrant is later murdered, but Dan manages to save his friend and others from an evil scheme. Almost like a twisted version of The Adventure of the Red-Headed League.
Last Will and Nursery Rhyme – An old friend invites Dan to visit his old family home before he sells it. His friend is nearly broke because they can’t locate the money his uncle was supposed to have left him. The friend thinks that his uncle spent all his money or had less than he pretended, but Dan thinks there’s another explanation.
Delinquent’s Dilemma – A mother is worried about her son. When he was accused of breaking into a store, he denied it at first, but then he changed his story and started claiming that he did it. Why the change, and if he didn’t do it, why would he say he did?
Flash of Light – A young man is drugged, and when he wakes up, he’s in an unfamiliar place and can’t remember what happened over the last two days. Can Dan Holiday figure out what happened?
Hares and Hounds – A man who says that he leads a boring and lonely life invites Holiday to have dinner with him and tell him about his adventures, but after he leaves, Holiday realizes that the man stole one of the letters from Box 13 before he left. The dinner invitation was just an excuse, but since Holiday hadn’t actually read the letter, he doesn’t know who it was from or what it was about. When the letter writer contacts Holiday, Holiday goes to see him and finds him dead. Holiday is suspected of his murder, and he still doesn’t know what the letter was about.
Hunt and Peck - A man on death row appeals to Holiday to prove that he isn’t really guilty of murder.
Death is a Doll – A man thinks that he is dying because of a voodoo curse.
One One Three Point Five – A woman asks Holiday to help her find her brother, who she thinks might be in big trouble.
Dan and the Wonderful Lamp – Someone instructs Holiday to attend a charity bazaar and guess a certain number in the jellybean counting contest. It sounds like a harmless and inane thing to do, so Holiday does it and wins a particularly ugly lamp. At first, it seems like a rather pointless adventure, but someone wants that particularly ugly lamp badly.
Tempest in a Casserole – Someone is trying to sabotage a restaurant in a series of bizarre ways. Dan tries to help the restaurant owner and find the motive behind the sabotage. This one is another twist on The Adventure of the Red-Headed League.
Mexican Maze – Dan Holiday goes to Mexico to prevent a murder … maybe his own.
Sealed Instructions – A man asks Holiday to go to the Philippines and retrieve something that he left there. He gives Holiday a set of sealed instructions and warns him that there’s a person who might kill him if he knew that Holiday had the instructions.
Find Me, Find Death – Someone writes to Box 13, telling Holiday that they plan to learn his true identity and kill him in four days unless he can find the killer first.
Much Too Lucky – Lately, people have been getting way too lucky at the horse races. Some bookies contact Box 13 and ask Holiday to help them figure out how people can continually guess the winners of the races so accurately.
One of These Four – Dan Holiday is tricked to boarding a boat where three other people are also being held prisoner. The wealthy man who owns the boat says that one of the four people being held prisoner on board is a murderer, and he wants to watch the other three figure out which of them it is.
Daytime Nightmare – Dan is kidnapped and taken to an asylum. He’s been made up to look like someone else, and everyone insists that he’s someone named Edward Stokes, who turns out to be dead.
Death is No Joke – A friend of Dan’s asks him to come and help him with a personal problem. He’s staying with a cousin who had been estranged from the family for a long time but returned to claim his father’s estate. However, the visit has gotten weird because someone has been playing a series of practical jokes that have been getting increasingly vicious. Dan’s friend wants to know what’s behind the jokes and put a stop to them.
The Treasure of Hang Li – An ancient Chinese art object holds the key to a treasure and murder.
Design for Danger – A man escapes from murder with homicidal intentions.
The Dead Man Walks – A woman asks Holiday to find her father, who has disappeared. He’s an ex-convict, and she’s worried that he’s gotten into trouble. Holiday thinks that he’s found the man’s body, but the body disappears before he can tell anybody.
Killer at Large – A man hires someone to kill him because he can’t bring himself to commit suicide. Then, he changes his mind about wanting to die and needs Holiday to help prevent the murder that he arranged for himself.
Speed to Burn – A woman asks Holiday to investigate a garage where they deal in stolen cars because her brother got accidentally involved when he took a job as a mechanic.
House of Darkness – A blind man finds a message asking for help in braille on a library book. He knows that a blind person is in trouble, and he needs Dan’s help to find that person.
Double Trouble – Holiday is told to go to a certain address to prevent a murder, but when he gets there, a woman is already dead.
The Biter Bitten – A herpetologist asks Holiday to help him find an extremely poisonous snake that escaped in a hotel.
The Perfect Crime – A man tells Dan Holiday that he has planned the perfect crime and invites him to witness it.
Archimedes and The Roman – A young boy is worried about his friend, who is an astronomer. The astronomer didn’t show up when he should, and the boy is sure that something bad has happened to him.
The Clay Pigeon – Holiday is told to visit a psychic and give the name Matthew Carey and the message “The dead shall not stay dead.” It frightens the psychic, and Holiday wants to know why and why he was asked to do this.
Round Robin – Holiday is told to go to a hotel and register as “John Johnson.” It turns out that he’s expected to collect a blackmail payment from someone. Instead, he decides to find the blackmailer.

FYI:

Replaced files on this page from the Version 2 Release (01-Jan-2020).

For the full OTRR Release, see the OTRR Certified page:

OTRR Box 13

- Old Time Radio Researchers Group

Reviewer: VTDorch - favoritefavoritefavoritefavoritefavorite - May 14, 2019
Subject: The Haunted Artist

I, for one, enjoy actually reading the lines, the dialog, studying (if one is a writer or a noir fan) the way each comment adds either to the character, the plot, or the moment.
The moving drama is always (if you like it) involving, but style and command can be learned from the text.

I am not a great scholar, but I do enjoy reading Shakespeare as well as listening or watching either recorded or live the performance.
The creation of a moving work of performance art is (almost always) carefully composed/created to move. The moving scene of the performance is often lost in the blur of the moment.

Like driving through a landcape, or standing and seeing, or staying in place and experiencing a whole day or night.

Thank. you for this single and significant effort to appreicate and enlighten via words. On paper.
Great.
Thank you, VTDorch.
The scriptwriter(s) and lovers of OTR thank you.

Den NC USA

I have done my best to transcribe one episode, in an act of appreciation. If anyone wishes it to be taken down, I will happily comply. Thankyou.

Box Thirteen - Episode 17 – The Haunted Artist

INTRO MUSIC

ANNOUNCER – Box Thirteen with the star of Paramount Pictures, Alan Ladd, as Dan Holiday.

MUSIC OVERLAP FADING OUT

FADE IN MICHAEL DAVIS - … Box 13, care of Star Times. I don’t know whether going after a ghost is your idea of an adventure but I think I may have one for you. I don’t believe in ghosts either. At least I … don’t think I do. However, if you’re interested my name is Michael Davis. I’m an artist and my studio is at 183 Lincoln Mews I’m there almost all day…

MUSIC

MUSIC OVERLAP FADE OUT

FADE IN DAN HOLIDAY - … Is at 183 Lincoln Mews. I’m there almost all day and any day. So if you’ll drop around, this may be interesting. Michael Davis. So Mr. Michael Davis didn’t believe in ghosts. Well, neither did I. Until I met Mr. Davis.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

AD SPACE

MUSIC

ANNOUNCER - And now back to Box Thirteen and Dan Holiday’s newest adventure, the haunted artist
SUZIE - Ghosts? Gee Mr. Holliday, are there such things?

HOLIDAY - Ever see a bank account after March the fifteenth?

SUZIE - Huh?

HOLIDAY - Skip it Suzie. Michael Davis.

SUZIE - He says he’s an artist.

HOLIDAY - Do you know anything about art, Suzie?

SUZIE – Well, I’ve been to the museum where they have that statue of the Venus B. De Mille.

HOLIDAY - That’s Venus de Milo.

SUZIE - The one without arms?

HOLIDAY - Uh huh.

SUZIE - Oh.

HOLIDAY - Well art is long and time is fading (?) and the same goes for Dan Holiday - and it looks like a trip to Mr. Michael Davis is in order. See ya later Suzie.

Musical interlude fade into…

HOLIDAY - A half hour later Michael Davis and I were introducing ourselves and shaking hands. I liked him. And he looked like an artist. Except when he grinned. Then he looked and seemed a lot younger then his - oh thirty-three or four . And he grinned as he said…

DAVIS - So you advertise for adventure just to get plots for your stories, huh?

HOLIDAY - Yes, that’s the general idea. Maybe I’ll be able to use yours.

DAVIS - Well, this sounds insane, but I think this studio is haunted. Or I am.

HOLIDAY - Why, do you hear the patter of cold little feet and the clank of chains at night?

DAVIS - I wish I did instead of… well, come and look. You see that easel in the corner?

HOLIDAY – Mhmm.

DAVIS - There’s a painting on it. I’ve got it covered now but…

HOLIDAY - But what?

DAVIS - Well, look. Take a good long look.

HOLIDAY - I did. What I saw was one of those surrealist things. It was a desert with queer figures raising their arms to a brassy sky and a vicious looking sun. Well, some how it gave me the shivers. I was staring at it when…

DAVIS - Well Holiday, what do you think of it?

HOLIDAY - What am I supposed to think of it?

DAVIS - Meaning you don’t like it.

HOLIDAY - Well I don’t know.

DAVIS - I hadn’t intended you to criticize it. Just look at it and see if you notice anything wrong. Go ahead, I’ll keep quiet.

HOLIDAY - I looked again and something did strike me as being a little odd. I moved in for a closer look, stood there for a moment.

DAVIS - Uh huh. You’ve got it Holiday. That stone quarry painted in the right-hand portion of the canvas.

HOLIDAY - Yes it doesn’t belong I mean, I mean, it’s out of place.

DAVIS - I didn’t paint it

HOLIDAY - Maybe we better go over the signals again Mr. Davis, I uh, lost the ball on that play.

DAVIS - I don’t blame you. But it’s the truth. I did not paint that quarry in there. Look at it, the technique is different.

HOLIDAY - Yes, the brushwork’s not like the rest.

DAVIS - Exactly and that painting has to be done in three days. I’ve been working at it for seven months and it has to be finished.

HOLIDAY - Why what’s the rush?

DAVIS - Well, I’ve been invited to hang a canvas in the Bernier Galleries.

HOLIDAY - Oh, which means you’ve arrived. Bernier’s being to art what the big leagues is to baseball.

DAVIS - Exactly. You see Holiday , I started the painting seven months ago, everything was fine for a time….

Fading into Musical interlude

Fade Out of musical interlude….

HOLIDAY - What Davis told me was this. He’d finish work in the evening, cover the painting and turn in. Then in the morning when he took the cover off the canvas, the quarry would be painted in. It happened six times. The last time was the night before he wrote his letter to Box Thirteen. He was sure no one had entered his studio during the night. He’d locked his window and doors, but still it happened.

DAVIS - It’s driving me crazy. I’ve lain awake at night trying to catch the person responsible, but nothing doing. He never shows up when I’m waiting for him.

HOLIDAY - Have you told the police?

DAVIS - Oh sure. They thought I was just two steps ahead of the man in the white coat.

HOLIDAY - You’re sure you’ve locked up every night.

DAVIS - Look at the door. New locks. Two of them. Even the window fasteners are brand new.

HOLIDAY - Those are the only entrances.

DAVIS - And exits. No Holliday, no one comes in through the doors or windows, I’ll swear to it

HOLIDAY - But someone has to Davis.

DAVIS – Unless, unless I am leaving the rails.

HOLIDAY - No I don’t think so.

DAVIS - Thanks. Even my best friends won’t tell me that.

HOLIDAY – Well…

BETTY HARPER - Michael darling, I brought dinner…oh.

DAVIS - Come on in Betty.

BETTY HARPER - Here Mike, here take some of these packages.

DAVIS - Betty this is Dan Holliday. Dan this is my fiancé Betty Harper.

BETTY HARPER - Hello Dan, and my name is Betty.

HOLIDAY - Well thanks I’ll use it.

BETTY HARPER - Mike darling I invited Kit and Ann for dinner. Is that all right?

DAVIS – Sure, will you stay Dan?

HOLIDAY - Oh I’m afraid I can’t, beside I’m unexpected.

BETTY HARPER - Oh no we’ve got plenty, spaghetti, salad, wine. Be careful of that bottle Mike. Here let me have it bags bursting.

DAVIS - Please I’m not a child

HARPER - That’s a matter of opinion. You will stay wont you Dan?

HOLIDAY - Well I…

DAVIS - Oh please do we can talk some more about my problem.

HARPER – Problem… your problem Mike?

DAVIS - Why yes, Dan’s going to help about the painting.

SOUND EFFECT – BOTTLE SMASHING

HARPER – Oh!

DAVIS - And I’m a child huh? There goes the wine.

HARPER - That was clumsy wasn’t it.

HOLIDAY - Accidents will happen Betty, if I can put in that bromide.

HARPER - Oh Mike, I just remembered we’re to go to the Suttons after dinner.

DAVIS – Huh? Oh that wasn’t a promise.

HARPER - We can’t refuse them again.

DAVIS - But Dan’s going to…

HOLIDAY - As a matter of fact, I can’t stay anyway, I have an engagement too.

DAVIS - Well all right, but, you will return tomorrow, won’t you?

HOLIDAY - Sure I’ll be glad to. Good night.

MUSICAL TRANSITION

Holiday – Well, well I liked this. It looked good. Especially when Mike’s own girlfriend was anxious to deal me out. That Betty didn’t want me on the team. It was as easy to see as the brass button in a collection plate. She didn’t drop that bottle of wine, it jumped out of her hands when Mike said I was going to help. Why. I’d have to find that out. I got to my apartment after diner and sat down to think about it when…

SOUND EFFECT – RINGING PHONE

HOLIDAY – Hello?

MYSTERY CALLER - Is this Dan Holliday?

HOLIDAY – Yes it is, who’s this?

CALLER - Well never mind I …just a moment.

HOLIDAY – Hello? Hello?

CALLER – Holliday, you’re to keep away from Michael Davis, forget the whole thing understand?

HOLIDAY - Well frankly no. Am I supposed to?

CALLER - Well yes… I… I mean… look here Holiday, it’ll be awkward for you if you continue.

HOLIDAY - Go on, I’m interested.

CALLER - All right just remember what I said keep away from Michael Davis or you’ll be sorry.

HOLIDAY – [laughing]

CALLER - Now listen this is no joke.

HOLIDAY - But I’m laughing.

CALLER - I warn you good night.

SOUND EFFECT - PHONE HANGING UP

HOLIDAY – Brother, whoever you were, that was the worst imitation of a squeeze play I ever heard.

MUSICAL TRANSITION

DAVIS - Are you kidding Dan?

HOLIDAY - No, someone called me last night, wanted me to keep away from you.

DAVIS – Why, it must have been a joke

HOLIDAY - Does anyone want to keep this painting out of the Bernier Galleries for some reason?

DAVIS - I thought of that. You mean sabotage, sort of?

HOLIDAY - Yeah that’s it. Well who?

DAVIS - No one I know of.

HOLIDAY – You’re sure Mike.

DAVIS - Of course.

HOLIDAY - Have you done any work on the canvas today?

DAVIS - Yes I scrapped off the stone quarry and started my own work again.

HOLIDAY – Uh huh. Then I’ve got an idea. What time is it?

DAVIS - Four o clock, why?

HOLIDAY - Got any sealing wax?

DAVIS - Sealing wax? Well no, I haven’t.

HOLIDAY - Well can you get some?

DAVIS - Well yes there’s a store a block down the street but what do you want with sealing wax?

HOLIDAY - Well for one thing were going to prove there’s no ghost. Or uh…

DAVIS - Or what?

HOLIDAY - Or that there is one. Run down and get the wax.

DAVIS – All right, you’re the boss make yourself at home I’ll be back in a few minutes.

SOUND EFFECT – FOOTSTEPS - DOOR OPENS
AND CLOSES

HOLIDAY - I worked fast to get the thing done before Mike came back. I took every tube of paint, every brush, every pallet I could see, and wiped them clean. Then I put them back where they’d been, just in time. Mike came back handing me the sealing wax.

DAVIS - Will this be enough Dan?

HOLIDAY - Oh yes, I think so. Okay, now we’ll lock all the windows, and be sure they’re locked.

DAVIS - What are you up to?

HOLIDAY - You see, we can find out if someone gets in here while you’re asleep. We’ll seal the locks and bolts with this wax and…

DAVIS - Yes but, wax can be broken.

HOLIDAY - But if it is we’ll know someone came in the windows or the door.

DAVIS - Yeah but a person could reseal the locks sealing wax melts easily enough.

HOLIDAY – Sure, but he couldn’t put the imprint of my signet ring back in the wax without getting the ring from my first. And I’m very fond of this ring. Never take it off my finger. Okay Mike, lets go to work on the windows.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

HOLIDAY- All right that does it. Both windows sealed. If our ghost gets in now he’ll have to break the wax.

DAVIS - You know, there’s only one thing wrong.

HOLIDAY - What Mike?

DAVIS - I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

HOLIDAY - Oh. Well take something, you got to sleep because your visitor wont break in unless you do.

DAVIS - Dan suppose those seals aren’t broken in the morning, but the paintings been changed anyway. What then?

HOLIDAY – Uh… we both apply for an outside cell. Now don’t do anything more on your painting, and don’t touch a thing.

DAVIS - Why not?

HOLIDAY - You want me to help you don’t you?

DAVIS – Certainly.

HOLIDAY - Then ask no questions and do as I say, and tomorrow morning we may have an answer.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY - It was eleven o clock that night before I left Mike’s studio. He had taken a sedative and was sleeping like a baby. I turned off the lights checked the seals in the windows. All okay. I let myself out, tried the door. Locked, but good. Then I took the sealing wax and melted a hunk of it to go over the key holes, and I pressed my signet ring against the wax. I even forced wax into the crack above the door, initialed that. Michael Davis was sealed in, and whoever or whatever was doing the dirty work was sealed out. I hoped. When I got home I set my alarm for five the next morning.

SOUND EFFECT – RINGING ALARM CLOCK

HOLIDAY – Yeah, it went off all right. I stumbled out of my bed, into my clothes, and drove to Davis’s studio. I wanted to get there before he woke up. I did, because when I listened at his door there wasn’t a sound. I looked carefully at the seals I put there the night before. Well, they were intact, I’ll swear to it. Then I rang his buzzer.

SOUND EFFECT – DOOR BELL BUZZING

HOLIDAY - He was quite a sleeper. Well he’d taken something and…

DAVIS - Who is it why don’t you come back in a week.

HOLIDAY - Its Dan, Mike, let me in.

DAVIS – Huh…oh sure. Do you always get up this early?

SOUND EFFECT – DOOR UNLOCKING

HOLIDAY – I have a contract with the park commissioners to wake up the birds.

DAVIS - Fine shouldn’t happen to a vulture.

SOUND EFFECT – DOOR CLOSING

HOLIDAY - Sleep all right?

DAVIS - Oh like a top.

HOLIDAY - Disturbed at all?

DAVIS – Nope.

HOLIDAY - Okay lets look at the seals.

SOUND EFFECT - FOOTSTEPS

DAVIS - You bet.

HOLIDAY – Well, this one’s all right. So’s this one. And the seals on your door were intact too. Now take the cover off the painting Mike.

SOUND EFFECT - FOOTSTEPS

DAVIS – Uh… what if its been changed again.

HOLIDAY - If it has I’ll buy you a new hat.

SOUND EFFECT – sound of fabric being moved

DAVIS – I…I wear a size seven and three eights. And make it a grey one.

MUSIC

AD SPACE

MUSIC

ANNOUNCER - And now back to The Haunted Artist another Box Thirteen adventure with Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday.

MUSIC

MUSIC FADING OUT…

HOLIDAY - Well the painting was changed. Davis swore he hadn’t done it and I believed him. But if he hadn’t… okay there had to be an answer. I took all the tubes of paint, brushes and pallets with me when I left Davis. Also the painting itself. I wouldn’t tell him why. Lieutenant Kling at police headquarters was more curious….

KLING - What are you doing, taking a home course on detective work?

HOLIDAY – Yes, I’m on my fourth lesson. It’s entitled, how to be a nosy cop.

KLING – What’s the gag Holiday.

HOLIDAY - Look its no gag. I just left a guy who was biting his nails so badly he was working on his elbow a few minutes ago. Kling, run fingerprint tests on those tubes and brushes and pallets. Then compare them with the prints on this glass, will you?

KLING - Whose glass is it?

HOLIDAY - Belongs to an artist friend of mine, I swiped it when he wasn’t looking.

KLING - What have you got in that big package?

HOLIDAY - A body.

KLING – Whose?

HOLIDAY - All right it’s a painting, and you don’t know anything about art.

KLING - I knew an artist model once. She wasn’t as bad as she was painted. [laughter]. Okay so I don’t slay you.

HOLIDAY - All right I’ll laugh at your joke. Ha ha. Now will you do me that favour?

KLING - Okay okay. Fingerprint tested tubes brushes and pallets, compare with prints on the glass right?

HOLIDAY - How soon can I have them?

KLING - For anyone else in half an hour, for you, three hours okay?

HOLIDAY – Great, be back in three hours.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

HOLIDAY - After leaving Kling I went to the Star Times and learned the name of an art expert.

EXPERT - Hmm that is quite good. Yours?

HOLIDAY - No it’s a friend of mines.

EXPERT - Good brush work, excellent composition, wonderful colour and… But this… this has no place in the picture.

HOLIDAY – Look, uh… I’ve got a lot of things to do. What I want you to do is look at the painting and tell me whatever you can about it. I’ll pay you, of course.

EXPERT – Oh… Very well. But it will take maybe two hours to do a good job, you understand I…

HOLIDAY - Oh yes sure… sure… sure. I’ll be back in two hours.

MUSIC FADING OUT…

HOLIDAY - Well it was a merry go round from Kling to the art expert from him back to Kling.

KLING - A little less then three hours Dan.

HOLIDAY - Haven’t you finished.

KLING - Sure there’s your stuff and here’s the report.

SOUND EFFECT – paper shuffling

KLING - What’s the matter with you?

HOLIDAY - Kling, there’s no mistake about this report is there?

KLING – Mistake? Look Dan our boy knows his business. Bet on it, anything you like.

HOLIDAY - Weren’t…weren’t there any other prints at all?

KLING – None, the prints on the paint tubes and the rest of that stuff were the same as on the glass. All from the same person.

HOLIDAY - But it can’t be.

HOLIDAY - I’ve got news for you. It is.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY – Well, the only person who could of touched those tubes and brushes was Davis himself. Yet why should he sabotage his own painting, when it meant so much to him? And yet he was asleep when it happened. Or was he? I stopped thinking about it then. I had to get back to the art expert and find out something. Well it was a day of surprises because when I saw him…

EXPERT – Ja, a fine thing they push me and they take the painting.

HOLIDAY - Huh who?

EXPERT - Well I standing here looking when they come in I have no time to see who they are when whump! they push me, they… grab the canvas and they’re gone.

HOLIDAY - Did you call the police?

EXPERT – Ja, ja, the police come but I can tell them nothing I… I…

HOLIDAY - Never mind, never mind. Were they men, the ones that took the painting?

EXPERT - One man, one woman.

HOLIDAY - You’re sure there was a woman.

EXPERT - Young man I’m an art expert but I also know other things. I know a woman when I see one, even for a second.

HOLIDAY – All right. Never mind them now. What did you find out about the painting?

EXPERT – Well… not much. I had not much time. But, I can tell you this, I think that the right side of the picture was painted by somebody other then the one who painted the rest.

HOLIDAY - You mean that stone quarry wasn’t painted by the same artist who did the rest of the picture?

EXPERT – Nah… I do not think so. There’s a different technique, one that is familiar, and I think I recognize it.

HOLIDAY - You do? Well what’s his name, the one who painted the quarry?

EXPERT - Well it’s a peculiar technique. Some years ago I handled some paintings by this man and…

HOLIDAY - All right all right, who is he?

EXPERT - Luigi Antonetti.

HOLIDAY – Oh… where can I get in touch with him?

EXPERT – Well… uh… What?

HOLIDAY - I want to see him, where can I reach him?

EXPERT – [laughter] You’re crazy young man. Luigi Antonetti is dead.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY - Oh that was great. One more twist like that and I’d need a corkscrew to take off my hat. Well there was one person who could answer a few questions for me. Betty Harper. I got her address from Davis, and told him to hold base until he heard from me. I guess Betty didn’t expect me.

HARPER - Why Mr. Holiday I …I was just getting ready to go out.

HOLIDAY – Correction, you just came in. Where’s that painting?

HARPER - Painting? What are you talking about?

SAYERS - Betty I… oh hello.

HOLIDAY – Hello.

HARPER - Kit this is Dan Holiday. Kit Sayers, Mr. Holiday

SAYERS - How are you Holiday?

HOLIDAY - Oh that voice, the voice of doom over the phone.

SAYERS - Well really, I uh…

HOLIDAY - Kit that was a bad job

SAYERS - Well I…

HARPER - Be quiet Kit.

HOLIDAY - Where’s that painting.

SAYERS - Now Mr. Holiday…

HOLIDAY - You know you’ve let yourself in for a vacation on the taxpayer’s money with that trick.

SAYERS - Now really it was a joke, wasn’t it Betty?

HARPER – Mr. Holiday Kit really thought he was helping out in a practical joke.

SAYERS - Well, wasn’t I?

HOLIDAY - Look will you go.

SAYERS - Now Holiday…

HOLIDAY – Boo!

SAYERS – All right. But I must say it all turned out very stupidly.

SOUND EFFECT – DOOR CLOSING

HOLIDAY - Ok Betty, so you’ve got the painting.

HARPER- Yes. Now will you please let me alone. Will you let Mike alone?

HOLIDAY - Not before I find out what’s going on.

HARPER - What if I told you his career would be ruined. His life ruined too. Would you still go on?

HOLIDAY - Maybe I don’t believe that.

HARPER - But you’ve got to. I love Mike, and I’m trying to help him.

HOLIDAY - Help him. Look, if Mike doesn’t finish that painting it wont hang in the Bernier Galleries. What becomes of his career then. You’re robbing him of his chance, not helping him.

HARPER - Then I’ll rob him of it. I’d rather do that, then…

HOLIDAY - Then what?

HARPER - I’ve said enough. Oh please please, you’ve got to believe me Dan. All I want is Mike to be happy.

HOLIDAY - And all I want to know is what’s going on, and what does Luigi Antonetti have to do with all of this?

HARPER - How did you find that out?

HOLIDAY - That doesn’t matter. Is Luigi Antonetti still alive?

HARPER - He’s dead.

HOLIDAY - Then how can he paint that quarry on Mike’s canvas?

HARPER - Get out of here. You get out!

HOLIDAY – All right, all right, but I’ll find out.

HARPER - If you do and any harm comes to Mike, I swear I’ll kill you. Now get out!

MUSIC!

HOLIDAY - That was all from Betty. I would have bet my last penny she was doing what she was doing for Mike, but why. Why? Then I got an idea. Find out about Luigi Antonetti. I looked him up. Found out he’d lived in a small town about… two hundred and fifty miles away. He’d painted there. Okay so I drove to the little town. Sure, I found out. He was dead all right. I was even shown his grave, and when I looked at it I… I wanted to reach back and chip the icicles off my spine. How could a dead man paint? There was only one answer, he couldn’t. Then I learned something else. Antonetti had a pupil. A pupil named… Michael Davis. More questions and finally I found an old school teacher who remembered.

TEACHER – Michael? Of course. Wonderful boy. Luigi Antonetti taught him painting, he said Michael had a brilliant career ahead of him.

HOLIDAY – I see. Well Mr. Evans do you know what became of Michael?

TEACHER EVANS - I think he went to the city although I haven’t heard.

HOLIDAY - When did he go?

EVANS - I believe shortly after he graduated from high school. that must be 16 years ago. Yes, it was right after his best friend was killed.

HOLIDAY - His what?!

EVANS – Yes, poor boy, he fell into the old quarry…

HOLIDAY – Quarry! Stone quarry?

EVANS - Why yes. It was one night after a senior party, I think… yes. Both lads Michael and Arthur were in love with the same girl, you see…

HOLIDAY - Would her name be Betty Harper?

EVANS - Well its amazing you should know that, yes.

HOLIDAY - How about this… Arthur

EVANS - Well it was quite dark. Arthur I believe went back to get something. The bridge across the quarry must have broken. Michael was upset for days, even though Arthur was his rival for Betty, he…

HOLIDAY - Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Evans. you’ll excuse me but I’ve got to hurry

HOLIDAY -…Had an idea but I had to put more pieces together so I went back to the city and back to the art expert

ART EXPERT – Ja, ja, its not only possible Mr. Holiday its quite probable. In his early years he would use his teacher’s technique.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY - Next stop, psychiatrist.

DOCTOR - Certainly Mr. Holiday, that’s quite possible. There are numerous case histories similar to it in general form.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY - Now things began to fit together. The different technique that of a dead man yet only Davis’s fingerprints on the tubes and brushes. Betty’s concern and her willingness to see his career stopped, rather then have me find out the reasons for everything that happened. But I had to bring the whole thing out in the open. So later in Mike’s studio…

DAVIS - Let me get this straight Dan. You say I’m doing that myself, ruining my own painting?

HOLIDAY - Yes you are Mike.

HARPER - Don’t listen to him Mike now please don’t.

DAVIS – What’s the matter with all of you?

HARPER - Mike you’ve got to listen to me.

HOLIDAY - And he’s got to listen to me and Dr. Rawlings.

DAVIS - Why did you bring a doctor?

DR. RAWLINGS - I’m not only a doctor Mr. Davis I’m a psychiatrist.

DAVIS - Psyc… are you trying to tell me I’m crazy?

RAWLINGS – No, no, of course you’re not, but you will be if you don’t let us help. Now listen you want your career, don’t you?

DAVIS – Certainly.

RAWLINGS – All right, you won’t have it if you don’t let us help.

HARPER - It won’t be helping. Oh Mike, send them away please!

HOLIDAY - Mike do you remember a person named Arthur Denning?

DAVIS – Denning? Denning… no I don’t.

HARPER - Now will you let him alone!

HOLIDAY - Betty believe me this is better for him. Ask Dr. Rawlings. Tell ‘em doctor.

RAWLINGS - I’m sure Mr. Davis has a guilt complex

HARPER – [crying]

RAWLINGS - unless we find out why, he’ll never finish this painting. Perhaps never finish any other.

HARPER - Why not, what would stop me?

RAWLINGS - Your own mind Mr. Davis

HOLIDAY - Mike you know as well as I that no one came into your studio the night we sealed it up. No one. You were the only person in here. Now do you see?

DAVIS - Not quite. What do you want me to do?

HOLIDAY – Dr. Rawlings told Mike what had to be done. Davis agreed. It took only a few seconds for Rawlings to inject a drug into Davis’s arm then we waited… waited until…

RAWLINGS – All right, he’s under. You ask the questions Mr. Holiday.

MUSIC

HOLIDAY – Mike… Mike can you hear me?

DAVIS – Yes.

HOLIDAY - Now listen Mike. It’s sixteen years ago. You’re in high school. A senior . There’s a senior party, its night. Remember?

DAVIS - Yes…yeah… its dark.

HOLIDAY - Who’s with you Mike.

DAVIS – Betty. Betty and Arthur.

HARPER - Oh no.

HOLIDAY – What…what happened that night Mike?

DAVIS – I… I killed Arthur.

HARPER – Mike, no… no.

HOLIDAY - Be quiet. How did you kill him Mike?

DAVIS – He… he had to go back for something. I told him take the shortcut, over the quarry.

HOLIDAY - Then? Then what happened?

DAVIS - I forgot, I forgot!

HOLIDAY - You forgot what?

DAVIS - The bridge. The bridge was broken. It was dangerous, but I forgot. I wouldn’t have sent him!

HOLIDAY – Yes I know. He was killed wasn’t he.

DAVIS - Yes. I loved Betty, so did he. Everyone would have said I killed him. But I didn’t, I didn’t! I just forgot about the bridge. I didn’t mean… I… I…

HOLIDAY - All right that’s all.

HARPER – But I thought he did it …deliberately.

RAWLINGS - You see Miss Harper, his conscious mind refused to admit his guilt. So he forgot completely. His conscious mind forgot, to protect him from the terrible feeling of guilt.

HOLIDAY - But ultimately it came out. He learned painting from Luigi Antonetti sixteen years ago. So, it was natural at first that he used Antonetti’s style, technique. Then sixteen years later his mind goes back, back into the past, controls his hand. And he paints as he did sixteen years ago. But he paints that quarry. The quarry which was associated in his mind with his guilt. Or what he thought was his guilt.

HARPER - And now, what about now?

RAWLINGS - Now when he wakes up we’ll tell him, and he’ll be all right, for good.

MUSIC

AD SPACE

MUSIC

SUZIE - … and out of the Bernier Galleries show, have come several new painters of distinction, not the least of them is Michael Davis, whose intensity of feeling, and whose brilliant…

HOLIDAY - That’s good enough Suzie. Well, looks like he’s all right doesn’t it.

SUZIE – Gee, isn’t the human mind wonderful.

HOLIDAY – Well, that depends on which way you look at it.

SUZIE - Uh huh. I was psychoanalysed once.

HOLIDAY – Oh? And what did you find out?

SUZIE - We’ve got a lot of mail to open Mr. Holiday.

HOLIDAY – Ohh… good night Suzie.

MUSIC

ANNOUNCER - Next week, same time, Alan Ladd stars as Dan Holiday in Box Thirteen.

MORE MUSIC

ANNOUNCER - Alan Ladd appears through the courtesy of Paramount Pictures. Watch for him in his latest picture, Saigon .
Box Thirteen is directed by Richard Sanville, with an original story by Russel Hughes. And original music composed and conducted by Rudy Schrager. The part of Suzie is played by Sylvia Picker, that of Lieutenant Kling by Edmund MacDonald. Production is supervised by Vern Carstensen . This is a Mayfair production from Hollywood.

MUSIC

END

This is a very good program and stands up well over time.

Well I just finished all the episodes of Box 13.
I know I will miss Alan and his witty character.
Alan left us way to soon before his time.
I use to have a mailing address, R.R Box 13 years ago,
long before I ran across this fine gem of a series.
Thanks to all who keep old time radio alive for those
who enjoy the past.

"I'd put that guy Burgess and Peter Rabbit outta business'. lol

I'm writing this as appreciation for Box 13's lead actor, Alan Ladd. Great voice. He's not playing a cop, merely an amateur sleuth who happens to be a writer looking for new story inspirations. Ladd proved in his movies he was capable playing a hard-boiled detective, and it's his narratives that guide listeners through Box 13 scenarios he gets involved in. "Double Mothers" episode finds him caring for a child (probably an adult actress imitating a child), Ladd displays subtle compassion that later gave depth to his portrayal of movie gunfighter "Shane." If Ladd had not died so unexpectedly, he could have made a living as narrator, doing voice-over audio for media. At least we have this radio show. Judging by the success of his offspring, they learned-inherited a lot from him.

I have only just discovered this little gem. It appears that it was never known here in England. I like the incidental music, as it adds to the effect. It's a real period piece. This is not to detract from the plot and acting, which, when you place it in its time, really are very good.
Great stuff!

By the end of the era, most of the detective series had become so formulaic that it was difficult to tell one episode from another. Box 13 was a well produced break from the standard cliches. It was more sophisticated than most and had both dialog and sound effects that gave the stories a richness that was fading fast by the time the war ended. Alan Ladd was superb and his supporting cast was fun with complete characters and a marvelous sense of timing. The plots were usually not as hokey as the standard radio show of it's time and there was something about the banter that gives the show a flow. The actors never seemed bored or burned out. Perhaps that is just the benefit of only doing 52 shows, but I like to think not. I like to read the old pulp detective story collections from that time and Box 13 is far ahead of most of them. Johnny Dollar with Bob Bailey is another one that is never tiring. Let George Do It, also with Bob Bailey is probably my favorite, but the race between Let George Do It and Box 13 is too close to call. I want to thank who ever uploaded these. It is a treasure.

Reviewer: Man from Arles - - September 3, 2013
Subject: Superb Radio
Just "stumbled across" Box 13... What a fortuitous delight!
Great cast (Ladd) and production values.

With only 52 episodes, will have to ration them out slowly, for maximum enjoyment.

Far, far superior to Johnny Dollar, not to mention the disappointing nearly-slapstick Sam Spade.

I’m with Dangerman 44. I totally adore this show. It’s jam-packed with all the clichés of the pulp detective thrills of the 30s and 40s. They don’t make ‘em like they used to, THAT’s for sure!!! To me, Box 13 is like a warm cozy old blanket.

Always enjoy listening to Box 13; sorry Ladd never got to make it a weekly t.v. show.

To each his own, but I find this series poorly written, which in turn makes the acting sound amateurish. Some plot lines are improbable and some quite hokey. Plus, the fact that the lead character is willing to perform his services for free is really unbelievable.
If one were stuck on a long road trip, the programs might be somewhat tolerable.

Anyone who finds Suzy ‘offensive to women’ (last reviewer suggests some may) really wouldn’t be listening to OTR. As it happens, I find it quite offensive to common sense that people would criticise feminine-interest or ‘fluff’ roles merely because the female character is not kick-boxing, gun-toting or sword-wielding her way through a story. Why people feel the need to apologise for it is beyond me.

Easily my favorite radio show of all time. Alan Ladd and his Mayfair Productions company really made this show pop in a radio detective drama I had previously been unaware of: the classifieds detective. I don't have another title for it, but it fits in with "Let George Do It" and (somewhat)"Rocky Fortune" as an altruistic investigator who happens upon adventure through relative unintentional means. 52 episodes were not enough, but if you listen to this and are eager for more, check out both of the previously mentioned. "Let George Do It" is especially similar, started earlier and even has a much more independant female lead. There's something really fantastic about "Box 13", regardless.

A brief summary is Dan Holiday (even sharing a similar name to "George"'s George Valentine), a bored and uninspired fiction writer, takes out an add in the paper, offering his help in, well, anything, as long as it results in an interesting adventure. Being a classic radio hero, he often gripes about the situations he gets himself in, but always comes out the hero, regardless. His sounding board is Suzy, a flaky secretary who constantly misinterprets things. She can be seen as offensive to women, but I see her more as her own woman who is just silly for the sake of silliness. There are plenty of stong women in the show, otherwise. Dan also has his very own policeman foil who becomes a great character in his own right and really comes through as helpful, as the series goes on, rather than an obstacle, like many other shows (Boston Blackie, being an example). His role teeters off towards the end, which is really a shame, but I'm guessing the writers may've seen him as an ex machina, Dan's "get out of trouble" card, and in some ways, the episodes without him are the stronger for it. All in all, a great show for fans of the genre.

Looking for adventure, will go anywhere, will do anything... and oh brother, does Dan Holiday ever! From frame-ups, to murders, hold-ups and more, Box 13 and the tale of a writer looking for adventure will bring you on a journey worth repeating.

I enjoy listening to Box 13 while relaxing after work.The stories take my mind off of the days hassle. If you like adventure and the willingness of your mind to just go away and be elsewhere , then listen here to Box 13.