Danger Dr Danfield
Danger, Dr. Danfield
Danger, Dr. Danfield was a detective melodrama that consisted of 26 episodes broadcast from the 18th, August 1946 through 13th, April of 1947. All starred Michael Dunne (aka Steve Dunne) in the role of Dr. Danfield and JoAnne Johnson as his secretary, Rusty Fairfax.
Many critics considered Danger, Dr. Danfield as the worst detective show on the air because of the acting and writing. Ralph Wilkinson wrote the script and Wally Ramsey was the producer.
Danger, Dr. Danfield began with the host, Steve Dunne, introducing the show and then you heard the superfluous voice of Dr. Danfield say, “The human mind is like a cave. Beyond the light are dark passageways and mysterious recesses. I, Dr. Daniel Danfield, have explored those unknown retreats and know their secrets.”
The show had a tiresome formula. You could expect a crime to be committed in the first portion of the program, Dr. Danfield solving the crime during the middle portion and talking about it in the third portion – usually explaining the details to Rusty.
Dr. Danfield was definitely egocentric and misogynistic, speaking to Rusty in a condescending manner
. He taunted her continuously and while she occasionally flared up and fought back, she mostly just kept it to herself.
The crimes were usually committed by high society types and while law enforcement was on the scene, it took the expertise of Dr. Danfield, a crime psychologist who was also a private investigator to solve the case.
Episodes include The Professor, Cora Rogers – Suicide or Murder?, Manuel Abello and a Terrible Way to Die, and Norman Miles Found Strangled. The show was first broadcast in 1946 and then syndicated in 1950 and was usually heard on a Sunday afternoon.
The show might be compared to a mindless soap opera at the time, except that some of the soap operas had better plots and much smoother acting. There’s also the underlying tension of Dr. Danfield and his pretty secretary Rusty, but the writer keeps that under wraps.
Happy listening my friends,
