"Bagdad! Martinique! Singapore! And all the places of the world where danger and intrigue walk hand-in-hand! There you will find Steve Mitchell on another Dangerous Assignment!"
Dangerous Assignment was a half-hour espionage and adventure program that starred Brian Donlevy as the heroic Steve Mitchell, a government agent who would often pose as a journalist while journeying around the world. His boss was a commissioner portrayed by Herb Butterfield and Betty Moran played the commissioner's secretary (who was only heard in the earliest episodes). It was an NBC program and aired four years from July 9, 1949 until July 1, 1953. After the show wrapped up it was revived in Australia as a syndicated program with Lloyd Berrell as Steve Mitchell; the Aussie version ran 1954-1955.
Donlevy was supported by a number of familiar radio voices such as Paul Frees, Betty Lou Gerson, Stacy Harris, Peter Leeds, Virginia Gregg, Ben Wright and William Conrad.
Dangerous Assignment feels a bit similar to the Man Called X, another radio adventure series about a nation-jaunting secret agent duelling with communists but for my money, Dangerous Assignment has the edge thanks to Brian Donlevy's performance; he had a great tough guy voice but could also sound flummoxed and frustrated very well -- which Steve Mitchell so often was as he tried to solve each week's problem.
The Old Time Radio Researchers have about 100 episodes of Dangerous Assignment:
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