X Marks the Spot

“Herbert Marshall as The Man Called X. Wherever there is mystery, intrigue, romance, in all the strange and dangerous places of the world, there you will find…The Man Called X!” Philip Marlowe walked the neon-tinged streets of Los Angeles. Danny Clover’s beat was Broadway. But some radio detectives patrolled more than a city, more than a state, sometimes even more than a country. One of those globe-trotting gumshoes, and radio’s answer to James Bond, was Ken Thurston - the dashing, debonair secret agent known and feared through the international underworld as The Man Called X. Debuting just as World War II drew to a close and leaving the air as the Cold War was heating up, The Man Called X stands as one of radio’s finest espionage mystery programs. The series was created by Jay Richard Kennedy, a businessman and writer who would later become singer Harry Belafonte’s business manager. It centered on Ken Thurston, agent for “the Bureau,” and his dangerous missions that took him all around the world. The early introductions for the show introduced Thurston as “the man who crosses the ocean as readily as you and I cross down.” Whether it was hunting down surviving Nazi plotters, assisting with defections, or thwarting sabotage, Thurston, aka Mr. X, could be counted on to get the job done “so that tomorrow’s peace will make the world a neighborhood for all of us.” The series found its Mr. X in an actor who had already demonstrated his heroics on the battlefield. Herbert Marshall took a sniper’s bullet in the knee during World War I where he served in the London Scottish Regiment. It may have been the war’s most star-studded brigade, as it also included future stars Ronald Colman, Claude Rains, and Basil Rathbone. Doctors were forced to amputate his right leg at the hip, but Marshall hid his prosthetic leg from audiences as he embarked on his stage and film career. Marshall was a romantic leading man in his early years, but he matured into a character actor. One of his most famous performances came in Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent as Stephen Fisher, the traitorous leader of the Universal Peace Party on the eve of World War II. Marshall was polished and urbane, but he could tap into a ruthlessness appropriate for a spy with the fate of the world resting on his shoulders. Marshall starred as Thurston for the series’ entire run except for three episodes he had to sit out due to a pulmonary embolism. For those shows (aired in May and June 1951), Van Heflin, John Lund, and Joseph Cotten filled in as other Bureau agents. Heflin had starred as Philip Marlowe on radio in 1947, and Lund was about a year away from starring as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Joseph Cotten was a regular radio presence with his turns on Suspense and the Lux Radio Theatre, and he too was a year away from his own radio detective series, The Private Files of Matthew Bell. Thurston was a lone wolf…or at least he wanted to be. Unfortunately for him, his track was dogged by international con man and small time crook Pegon Zellschmidt. Played by Leon Belasco, Pegon was always out for a quick buck and would offer his services to Thurston for a nominal fee. Pegon was a loyal sidekick, until the bullets started flying or the opposition came in with a more lucrative offer. The series traveled between networks as often as Ken Thurston circled the globe. The Man Called X premiered as a CBS summer series on July 10, 1944. In September, it moved to NBC, where it ran until March 1945 and then returned for summer runs in 1945 and 1946. From 1947 to 1948, it came back to CBS. Finally, it returned to NBC for a last run of 86 shows from 1950 to 1952. For nearly the entire run, the series was directed by Jack Johnstone. Johnstone was a radio veteran who helmed the Bob Bailey era of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, and he pulled talent from the very deep West Coast radio pool. Will Wright recurred as Thurston’s boss at the Bureau, “the Chief,” and supporting roles were filled by Harry Bartell, Gloria Blondell, Gerald Mohr, Peggy Webber, and more. The Man Called X came to television in 1956 as a syndicated series starring Barry Sullivan, but his Thurston didn’t log nearly as many frequent flier miles as Herbert Marshall. Unhindered by filming logistics and backed up by sharp scripts, Mr. X went everywhere from the Arctic to the Amazon and he kept audiences entertained every step of the way.