Top Secret 50-09-25 (ep14) The Poison Hand of Friendship

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).

The role played by Ilona Massey, was created in her likeness, which included her sultry voice and her heavy accent. As a government agent, Massey witnesses train murders, orders poisoned glasses of brandy and examines the tattoos on a rebellious pigeon. She travels to Tangiers, London, and discovers Nazi spy rings in Berlin. Pack your suitcase, slip into your designer incognito clothiers, and cut your tongue out because Ilona Massey is ready to take you on the top secret mission of a lifetime!

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 during that run.