Drama

The House of Squibb, manufacturing chemists to the medical profession since 1858, were the sponsors of Academy Award Theater. All of the plays on Academy Award Theater featured the pictures, players, techniques and skills which won or were nominated for the coveted awards granted each year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to each in his field for outstanding achievements. The opening show was Jezebel, with Bette Davis, and each and every subsequent play had one or more of the original film stars starring wherever possible. Unfortunately, this made the production very costly, and the series ended after less than a year. 

Broadcast History: 1952 to 1957

Broadcast History: 19 October 1937 to 2 July 1942, 5 October 1943 to 22 June 1947, 14 September 1948 to 25 December 1951 and 12 December 1951 to 25 June 1952

Big Town was perhaps the most famous series of reporter dramas. It featured the adventures of Steve Wilson, the crusading editor of The Illustrated Press. The show was written by Jerry McGill, an ex-newspaperman, and his reporters were diligent, sober champions of justice, zealously pushing freedom of the press, creating a memorable slogan; “Freedom of the press is a flaming sword! Use is justly … hold it high … guard it well.” The shows occasionally attacked juvenile delinquency, racism and drink driving amongst other soapbox related incidents.

Broadcast History: 9 December 1938 to 31 March 1940 and 29 November 1940 to 13 June 1941
Theme Tune: Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-Flat Minor

Broadcast History: 27 January 1956 to 22 September 1957

The CBS Radio Workshop was one of American network radio's last attempts to hold onto, and perhaps recapture, some of the demographics they had lost to television in the post-World War Two era.

The premiere broadcast was a two-part adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, introduced and narrated by Huxley. It took a unique approach to sound effects, as described in a Time (February 6, 1956) review that week:

Broadcast History: 18 July 1936 to 8 November 1942, 7 March 1944 to 15 August 1944, 2 February 1946 to 25 January 1947 and 27 January 1956 to 22 September 1957.

Columbia was the first to experiment with what radio drama was all about, introducing new techniques never before used in over the airwaves drama and because it received little encouragement from established writers, actors, etc., it was only by breaking new ground with new ideas and new techniques from writers who were not versed in the old ways that it was going to survive.

Unlike theater drama which required scenery to stage the settings of a play. Radio drama relied only on the imagination of the listener to interpret the scene. But without the right kind of writer the whole thing could fall flat on it’s face. It required a blend of words and music coupled with each listener’s imagination to make the whole thing work successfully. New techniques were required to combine all of these things in order that the listener could live within the story which was being told. Neither did it go unnoticed that at the same time as achieving all this, it was essential that the broadcasting company’s moral obligations to the listening public were not compromised.

William B. Lewis arrived at CBS in 1936 and quickly spotted the hidden talents of Irving Reis and it wasn’t long before he discovered that Reis had been lobbying for a workshop type show for some time, so it was no surprise when Lewis called him into the office and asked him if he would like to become the Director of the new drama production, Columbia Workshop. Needless to say, Reis jumped at the opportunity.

Not everything that was broadcast in the name of The Columbia Workshop was a hit and certainly it took time to find those who were willing to take part in it, but like all things slowly but surely the ends began to tie up and a successful formula was found.

By 1938 Irving Reis had moved on to Paramount Pictures and his place was taken by William N. Robson. The people who followed in their shoes are too numerous to include in this short historical account, as are the members of the casts of these productions. Suffice it to say that there were many famous faces, and voices, that passed through the portals of The Columbia Workshops and a wealth of writing talent which again are too numerous to mention for fear of missing someone out.

Broadcast History: 1948 to the mid 1950s

The stories of Damon Runyon, broadcast from 1948 into the fifties, brought to life all those lovable badies that are so common in the world of Damon Runyon. They were a complete relief from the all powerful Hollywood style dramas that made up most of Radio drama in those days. Not that the Hollywood stuff was bad, oh no, but these were dramas with a difference. Stories like All Horseplayers Die Broke, Butch Minds The Baby, Baseball Hattie and Hold ‘em Yale.

The central character, a guy by the name of Broadway, described everything in a language which suited the street wise dames and palookas of Runyons World.

Broadway, played by John Brown, was a sensitive guy who knew the streets of New York better than any cab driver. A man who brought to life the thugs and touts of Runyons world of guys and dolls and in so doing revealed the innermost feelings of these toughies of the underworld.

Other people who took part in these wonderful stories include Jeff Chandler, Ed Begley, William Conrad, Annie Whitfield, Gerald Mohr, Luis Van Rooten, Frank Lovejoy, Sheldon Leonard, Eddie Marr, Joe Duval, Willard Waterman, Hans Conried, Parley Baer and Sam Edwards.

The Producer was Verne Carstensen. Director Richard Sanville and the show Writer was Russell Hughes.

Broadcast History: 7 November 1937 to 6 January 1954
Theme Tune: Rainbow on the River

Specially created for Jean Hersholt, Dr. Christian was a massively popular character and show, holding audiences of 15-20 million after its first three years. It has even been described as the best light drama on the air. Set in a typical American town, complete with stores, church and a block for the “best people”, audiences can easily identify with such a place. The character of Dr. Christian is, however, the main attraction. He’s a philosopher, a philanthropist and rather romantic. At the start of the show’s run, scripts were put together by various different writers but in 1942 everything changed, and it was the audience who took the reins. Prizes were offered every week for listener’s scripts, ranging from $150 to $500 and the subject matter could include absolutely anything. The content did, however, always stay mellow because, as Radio Life said, “that’s what Dr. Christian is all about.”

Broadcast History: 13 February 1947 to 4 July 1956

Family Theater was a program created to promote family unity and each week saw a drama illustrating the importance of family life and prayer. The shows are not, however, as one might think, overtly religious and it is almost impossible to tell them apart from other dramas of the time. The main reason for the success of this series was undoubtedly due to the numerous Hollywood stars that participated. 

Broadcast History: 27 November 1930 to 27 September 1953
Theme Tune: Neapolitan Nights

At the show’s opening we hear the welcoming host, “Mr. First Nighter”, stroll along Broadway to “the little theater off Times Square” where the listener is then seated in the fourth row, center, just in time for the show. This elaborate start to the program allows the audience to become totally absorbed; it really is as though you are in bustling New York. As for the plays themselves, they are generally light romance with perhaps a hint of melodrama every so often.

Broadcast History: 1932 - 1958

From the early 1930's to the late 1950's this popular radio show format broadcast over fifteen years of entertainment to the nation with dramatized stories adapted from "The American Weekly Magazine."

Broadcast History: 26 January 1947 to 30 December 1956

Throughout the tumult of two thousand years a story has lived, a story of a man whose influence was widespread, whose life affected many people then and now.

Broadcast History: 10 June 1948 to 1 February 1953 and 8 February 1953 to 27 March 1955

In 1948, a new series called the Hallmark Playhouse was launched by Hallmark Cards, replacing the popular series, The Radio Reader's Digest, which had documented the true stories published in the Reader's Digest magazine.

Broadcast History: 23 July 1937 to 3 September 1937

This production of Victor Hugo's dramatic masterpiece was the radio equivalent of a TV mini-series today. In seven thirty-minute shows it followed the trials and tribulations of Jean Val Jean played by the rapidly rising star, Orson Welles, who also doubled up as the narrator for the passages that are read directly from the book.

Les Miserables is set at the end of the 18th century. It is a story populated with unforgettable characters like Javert, Fantine, Cosette, the Thenardiers, Marius, and Jean Val Jean, who spent nineteen years of his life in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. As the story progressed Val Jean transforms himself from a petty thief into an honest, resourceful, and valuable man who helps other victims of poverty and social injustice. 

Broadcast History: 13 October 1934 to 7 June 1955

This was one of few sixty-minute broadcasts and was the most important dramatic show in radio. The 931 episodes broadcast were all based on popular films with the biggest stars of Hollywood playing the parts and during its heyday the audience was estimated as high as forty million.

Broadcast History: 11 July 1938 to 13 September 1946

This radio series was probably more famed for its broadcast of “War of the Worlds”, perhaps the most famous program ever broadcast in the history of radio. The stories were simulated news broadcasts and on-the-spot reports. With “War of the Worlds” many people were deceived by the realistic news bulletins and the show caused a nationwide sensation. 6 million people had listened to the show: 1.7 million had believed it to be authentic news and 1.2 million had been genuinely frightened!

Broadcast History: 3 July 1948 to 1 January 1950

Radio City Playhouse features adaptations of the works of many major writers such as Ray Bradbury and John Galsworthy. The themes of the shows are varied but all are highly adventurous with powerful male and female roles.

Broadcast History: 13 September 1942 to 30 September 1945 and 13 January 1946 to 3 June 1948

The stories for this program were adapted from stories which had featured in the Reader's Digest magazine.

During the Hallmark Cards sponsorship period the show was often refered to as The Hallmark Program. The Hallmark Playhouse began its run in June 1948.

Broadcast History: 9 January 1949 to 28 September 1951

In this half-hour show, many of Hollywood’s elite can be heard recreating their movie roles on the radio. This series differs from others such as The Screen Guild Theater due to the addition of director participation. The films’ directors introduce their work, often recalling how the pictures themselves were made and also what those involved have been doing since. Condensing a full-length feature film into a thirty-minute slot is understandably a difficult task but the excellent scripts of Geiger and Simmons ensure that full justice is done to the original material.

Broadcast History: 8 January 1939 to 29 June 1952

Screen Guild Theater began as a charity with the stars that appeared on the show donating their wages from it to Motion Picture Relief Fund. All in all the stars raised more than $800,000 to help build the Motion Picture Country House.

This facility was created and maintained to house retired film stars who were elderly or impoverished and needed a comfortable place to live. The mission of the show to raise money for fellow actors surely fueled the desire of Hollywood’s biggest stars to appear.

Colgate Tooth Powder sponsored Theatre of Romance featuring each week your favorite stars and your favorite stories and plays especially adapted for radio.

Broadcast History: April 1942 to 1944

15-minute patriotic dramas transcribed by the Treasury department to encourage the sale of War bonds. Shows featured many of the top stars of the era who donated their talents to help the war effort.