# Top Secret

Networks named by its archives: NBC. Heard 1950. 26 episodes.

TOP SECRET Ryan Ellett It was announced in May 1950 that Ilona Massey had been signed for the NBC summer series Top Secret. Massey was a Hungarian-born actress who had appeared on Broadway in the 1943 Ziegfeld Follies and in a handful of Hollywood features including Rosalie (1937), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) and Holiday in Mexico (1947). Top Secret was slated to replace The Adventures of Christopher London in the Monday night 10:30 (EST) time slot. Both series featured tales of international intrigue, a genre quickly gaining favor in the post-War landscape. Top Secret was one of several summer replacement series on NBC that year, a number of which featured female leads. Others in this summer replacement class included Kitty Pepper (with Arlene Francis), The Penny Singleton Show, The Cass Daley Show, Sara’s Private Caper (with Sara Berner), and Tugboat Annie (with Betty Garde). Harry Junkin was tapped to direct Top Secret and Alan Sloane wrote the scripts. The series was the result of survey data done by NBC indicating listeners were getting tired of the private eye stories that were so prevalent during the 1940s and wanted something different with a bit more realism. Their research department reported back “a strong preference for naturalistic, hard-boiled action without fancy frills.” Wanted and Confidentially Yours also emerged from this corporate research. Top Secret aired from June 12 to October 26, 1950. It aired on various days and in different timeslots…

## Sets

- OTRR Top Secret Singles (Old Time Radio Researchers): the Internet Archive states no licence or rights for it. Source: https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles
- Top Secret - 17 Episodes of the Old Time Radio show (Old Time Radio): the Internet Archive states no licence or rights for it. Source: https://archive.org/details/top-secret-1950-09-18-14-confession

## Episodes, in broadcast order

1. [Night Train to Berlin](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/fc952a3808c8), aired 11 June 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/top-secret-1950-09-18-14-confession/Top%20Secret%201950-06-11%20%281%29%20Night%20Train%20to%20Berlin.mp3
1. [Night Train to Berlin](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/d9460725d75a), aired 12 June 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-06-12%20%28001%29%20Night%20Train%20to%20Berlin.mp3
1. [The Admiral's Strange Identity (Dramatic Portion only)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/be64d576ea33), aired 18 June 1950 (28 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-06-18%20%28002%29%20The%20Admiral%27s%20Strange%20Identity%20%28Dramatic%20Portion%20Only%29.mp3
1. [The Admiral's Strange Identity](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/e50cdc36516e), aired 19 June 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-06-19%20%28002%29%20The%20Admiral%27s%20Strange%20Identity.mp3
1. [A Package in Tangiers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/242b65c0fd38), aired 25 June 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/top-secret-1950-09-18-14-confession/Top%20Secret%201950-06-25%20%283%29%20A%20Package%20in%20Tangiers.mp3
1. [A Package in Tangiers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/1f3e10d1bc52), aired 26 June 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-06-26%20%28003%29%20A%20Package%20in%20Tangiers.mp3
1. [Escape](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/bea435a4d919), aired 2 July 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/top-secret-1950-09-18-14-confession/Top%20Secret%201950-07-02%20%284%29%20Escape.mp3
1. [Escape](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/27f445290785), aired 3 July 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-07-03%20%28004%29%20Escape.mp3
1. [Coming Disaster (Dramatic Portion Only)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/ec9c9f6a799d), aired 16 July 1950 (24 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-07-16%20%28006%29%20Coming%20Disaster%20%28Dramatic%20Portion%20Only%29.mp3
1. [Midnight for Danger](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/7f9ba6696f1e), aired 23 July 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-07-23%20%28007%29%20Midnight%20for%20Danger.mp3
1. [The Unknown Mission](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/43c844d01297), aired 30 July 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-07-30%20%28008%29%20The%20Unknown%20Mission.mp3
1. [Disaster in London](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/c632f02f6132), aired 6 August 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-08-06%20%28009%29%20Disaster%20in%20London.mp3
1. [The Case of the Tattooed Pigeon](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/abe81bfc55ca), aired 13 August 1950 (29 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-08-13%20%28010%29%20The%20Case%20of%20the%20Tattooed%20Pigeon.mp3
1. [The Church Without a Cross](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/4d07347fd159), aired 20 August 1950 (29 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-08-20%20%28011%29%20The%20Church%20Without%20a%20Cross.mp3
1. [Drug Of Death](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/c1f14c3bd51e), aired 1 September 1950 (28 min): https://archive.org/download/top-secret-1950-09-18-14-confession/Top%20Secret%201950-09-01%20%2812%29%20Drug%20Of%20Death.mp3
1. [Confession (Dramatic Portion Only)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/4cab608ee179), aired 17 September 1950 (28 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-09-17%20%28013%29%20Confession%20%28Dramatic%20Portion%20Only%29.mp3
1. [Confession](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/c323f082966d), aired 18 September 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-09-18%20%28013%29%20Confession.mp3
1. [The Poison Hand of Friendship](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/895e0654820d), aired 25 September 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-09-25%20%28014%29%20The%20Poison%20Hand%20of%20Friendship.mp3
1. [Disaster (Dramatic Portion Only)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/0c7f159e70c0), aired 4 October 1950 (16 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-10-04%20%28000%29%20Disaster%20%28Dramatic%20Portion%20Only%29.mp3
1. [The Document](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/2daccdadce1e), aired 12 October 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-10-12%20%28015%29%20The%20Document.mp3
1. [The Dream That Meant Death](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/52fb6f026ba6), aired 19 October 1950 (30 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-10-19%20%28016%29%20The%20Dream%20That%20Meant%20Death.mp3
1. [The Plan for Sabotage (Dramatic Portion Only)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/c9dffcf3293a), aired 25 October 1950 (27 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-10-25%20%28017%29%20The%20Plan%20for%20Sabotage%20%28Dramatic%20Portion%20Only%29.mp3
1. [The Plan for Sabotage](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/a68e44ed358b), aired 26 October 1950 (29 min): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/Top%20Secret%201950-10-26%20%28017%29%20The%20Plan%20for%20Sabotage.mp3
1. [Old Time Radio Researchers Introduction](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/4730493cd82e) (3:01): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/00%20OTRR%20Introduction.mp3
1. [Introduction](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/bf22177c468f) (1:54): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/01%20Top%20Secret%20Synopsis.mp3
1. [Ilona Massey Biography](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/radio-drama/series/top-secret/d33d114cb0eb) (3:19): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Top_Secret_Singles/02%20Ilona%20Massey%20Biography.mp3

A set by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group (otrr.org), at the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio collection.

Nothing here is called public domain on this site's say-so. In the United States, sound recordings first fixed before 15 February 1972 have federal protection under the Music Modernization Act of 2018, for most until 2067 at the latest, so most American radio of the 1930s to the 1950s is not in the public domain there. Each set shows the licence, mark or statement its archive gives, and says whose it is.