Cloak and Dagger

Are you willing to undertake a dangerous mission behind the enemy lines, knowing you may never return alive?

This was the question asked of men and women, ordinary citizens. Those who said yes became part of the Office of Strategic Services. They risked their lives in dangerous missions, and formed a powerful spy system throughout Europe and Asia which would be key to Allied success in World War II. During the War, the stories of their adventures – of their courage and their sacrifice – remained closely-guarded military secrets.

When the War came to its end, their story began to be told in the 1945 book Cloak and Dagger by Lt. Colonel Corey Ford and Major Alastir Macbain. That book inspired Cloak and Dagger, a radio series dramatizing cases from the OSS’s Washington, D.C. files. It aired from May to October 1950 on the NBC network. As the late old time radio historian John Dunning observed, the series opened a Sunday afternoon mystery block “of far inferior quality,” receiving little media attention and no sponsorship. On paper, it looked like another low-budget, network-sustained placeholder. It was an anthology program starring a solid group of New York radio regulars who reliably turned in great acting performances for union scale. The series disappeared from the air unlamented and unremembered.

However, according to Dunning, contemporary researchers discovered a nearly complete run of the series. What was discovered was a “gripping show with every story an unpredictable departure from formula.” The twenty circulating episodes live up to Dunning’s praise, and then some, while celebrating the vital clandestine work of the OSS.

Episode log:

• Frank Baker’s Story (Original Air Date: May 7, 1950)
• The Trojan Horse (Original Air Date: May 28, 1950)
• The Brenner Pass Story (Original Air Date: June 4, 1950)
• People of the Forest (Original Air Date: June 11, 1950)
• The Kachin Story (Original Air Date: June 18, 1950)
• The Eyes of Buddha (Original Air Date: July 2, 1950)
• The Trap (Original Air Date: July 9, 1950)
• The Secret Box (Original Air Date: July 23, 1950)
• Swastika on the Windmill (Original Air Date: July 30, 1950)
• A Recommendation from Rommel (Original Air Date: August 6, 1950)
• Roof of the World (Original Air Date: August 13, 1950)
• The Norwegian Incident (Original Air Date: August 20, 1950)
• The Black Radio (Original Air Date: August 27, 1950)
• War of Words (Original Air Date: September 1, 1950)
• Over Ground Railroad (Original Air Date: September 8, 1950)
• Seeds of Doubt (Original Air Date: September 15, 1950)
• Operation Sellout (Original Air Date: September 22, 1950)
• The Last Mission (Original Air Date: September 29, 1950)
• Delay on Route (Original Air Date: October 6, 1950)
• The Wine of Freedom (Original Air Date: October 15, 1950)

Episodes will be posted every Saturday