The magical and magnificent! MGM’s THE WIZARD OF OZ premiered today in 1939 in Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theater. To commemorate the occasion, here’s the Lux Radio Theater adaptation starring Judy Garland from 1950.
Category: Old Time Radio
Lucille Ball in Tales of Suspense
As a birthday tribute to Lucille Ball here is a collection of remarkable Tales of Suspense starring the famous redhead, radio veteran, Queen of the B’s and soon to be queen of television.
PLAYLIST:
“The Ten Grand” from June 22, 1944
“A Little Piece of Rope” from October 14, 1949
“A Shroud for Sarah” from October 24, 1945
“Dime a Dance” from January 13, 1944
“Life takes guts.” – Lucille Ball
Here’s to always loving Lucy.
Lux Radio Theater presentation: My Man Godfrey
A tribute to MY MAN GODFREY (1936) on old-time radio, a Lux Radio Theater presentation.
Reprising their roles from Gregory La Cava’s 1936 film version are William Powell, Carole Lombard and Gail Patrick. Mischa Auer and David Niven join the cast in this adaptation. Hosted and produced by Cecil B. DeMille.
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The stars…
Errol Flynn, The Perfect Specimen
Errol Flynn (1909-1959) would have celebrated a birthday this June 20th and I post this in tribute.
A Lux Radio Theater performance of “The Perfect Specimen,” which originally aired on January 2, 1939 with Errol Flynn and Joan Blondell reprising their roles from the Michael Curtiz-directed 1937 film of the same title.
If it’s images of Errol Flynn you enjoy most, visit a previous tribute I’d dedicated to the actor here – never a waste of time as far as I’m concerned.
“By instinct I’m an adventurer; by choice I’d like to be a writer; by pure, unadulterated luck, I’m an actor.”
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – RADIO
In honor of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930).
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The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was an old-time radio show which aired in the USA from October 2, 1939 to July 7, 1947. Originally, the show starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. Together, they starred in 220 episodes which aired weekly on Mondays from 8:30 to 9:00pm. Bromo Quinine sponsored some of the earlier programs on the NBC Blue Network and for a period Parker Pen was the sponsor. The show first aired on the Blue Network but later moved to the Mutual Broadcasting System.
Basil Rathbone’s last episode as the famous detective was “The Singular Affair of the Baconian Cipher.” He was eager to separate himself from the cast type of Holmes, and even though the show’s sponsor Petri Wine offered him generous pay to continue, he decided to move on. Once he did, the sponsor did as well, and Tom Conway took the starring role, though Nigel Bruce got top billing and was always announced first. The new sponsor was Kreml Hair Tonic for Men, and the new series only lasted 39 episodes.
With Rathbone and Bruce, the show exhibited an interesting introduction. The sponsor’s spokesman would show up weekly at Dr. Watson’s house (then retired and living in California), and share a story about Sherlock Holmes and his adventures over a glass of Petri wine. This offered them the chance to sometimes bring in other characters to contribute to the story, and also gave Watson a chance to summarize or add additional tidbits at the end. Another interesting thing about this radio shows introductions was Watson’s anecdotes and comments about his dogs usually referred to as the “Puppies”. (Old Radio World)
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Starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce
“The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”
“Murder By Midnight”
“The Missing Bloodstain”
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“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.” – Arthur Conan Doyle
Screen Guild Theater, THE MALTESE FALCON
Live radio performance by the original film cast reprising their film roles: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
Screen Guild Theater: High Sierra
Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino reprising their film roles in High Sierra based on the story by W. R. Burnett. This show was originally broadcast on April 17, 1944 on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and was Bogart’s second radio recording of his character, Roy Earle from the 1941 Raoul Walsh film adaptation, his breakout role. He’d voiced the character previously on January 4, 1942 co-starring with another actress.
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952.
Note that this recording also includes broadcasts of Screen Guild Theater radio adaptations of Disney’s, Snow White and another gem that stars Brian Donlevy and Lucille Ball, A Night to Remember. The focus here is High Sierra, however, in tribute to Ida Lupino on what would have been her 94th birthday.
Lux Radio Theater – THE THIN MAN
Greetings from Hollywood, Ladies And Gentleman…… “The Thin Man”
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy
Original Air Date: June 8, 1936
Episode Number: 84
Play Introduced by W. S. Van Dyke
This entry includes Powell and Loy in the Lux broadcast of “After the Thin Man” as well.
“His Girl Friday” Live Radio Performance
Starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, live on radio reprising their film roles, Walter Burns and Hildy Johnson.
Once upon a screen... 