Another Playlist of Movies For Your Ears!

Hey let's wrap up the weekend with more episodes of movies for your ears. Playing some of my favorite radio treatments of my favorite movies from the 1940's and 50's.

The Lux Radio Theatre.  Aired January 12, 1948. CBS net. "Kiss Of Death". Sponsored by: Lux, Pepsodent. A good cops-and-robbers story about a gangster-gone-straight turning stoolie to protect his little girls. Coleen Gray, Richard Widmark, Victor Mature, William Keighley (host), John Milton Kennedy (announcer). This is  a film noir classic! This was Richard Widmarks breakout movie. Sends chills down my spine when I picture him pushing that old lady down the stairs!

The Lux Radio Theatre.  Aired March 12, 1951. CBS net. "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon". Sponsored by: Lux. Captain Nathan Brittles, on the eve of retirement, takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled. John Wayne, Mel Ferrer, Mala Powers, Barton Yarborough, William Johnstone, George Neise, Wally Maher, Norman Field, Dan Riss, Paul Dubov, Edward Marr. What can I say about John Wayne? This radio play is actually better than the movie!

Screen Directors' Playhouse.  Aired August 5, 1949. NBC net. "Fort Apache". Sponsored by: Pabst Beer. A classic western about Cochise battling the cavalry, with a group of travelers caught in the middle.  John Wayne, Ward Bond, Paul McVey, Lou Merrill, Tony Barrett, Jimmy Wallington (announcer), John Ford (guest screen director).  More John Wayne for your listening pleasure!

The Mercury Theatre.  Aired July 18, 1938. CBS net,  "Treasure Island". Sustaining. Second show of the series. An excellent adaptation of the classic adventure tale. Agnes Moorehead, Arthur Anderson, Dan Seymour, George Coulouris, Orson Welles (host), Ray Collins (narrator), Robert Louis Stevenson (author), Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor). Orson Welles and company was creating movies for your ears long before Lux, Screen Directors, and Screen Guild Theater. In my opinion the greatest storyteller in radio!

Screen Directors' Playhouse.  Aired September 7, 1951. NBC net. "Broken Arrow". Sponsored by: Anacin, RCA Victor. Tom Jeffords comes across a wounded, 14-year-old Apache boy dying from buckshot wounds in his back. Jeffords gives the boy water and heals his wounds. The boy's tribesmen appear and are at first hostile, but decide to let Jeffords go free. Jimmy Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget, Delmer Daves (guest screen director), Ralph Moody, Jerry Farber, Byron Kane, Rye Billsbury, Paul Dubov, Herb Butterfield, Tom Holland, John Stevenson. Another favorite movie for your ears!

Movies For Your Ears!

One genre of old time radio that I really enjoy, is movies for your ears! At least that's what I call them. These are radio play treatments from movies of the period. Not to be confused with sound tracks from movies. But full scale reproductions, and scripts of popular period movies, often times staring the actors reprising their role from the film. Sometimes the radio plays are better than the movie! At least in my humble opinion. Below is a brief description of some of what's playing.

The Lux Radio Theatre.   Aired December 3, 1951. CBS net. "Strangers On A Train". Sponsored by: Lux.  A man comes up with a plan of murder! Ray Milland, Ruth Roman, Frank Lovejoy, Patricia Hitchcock (daughter of Alfred Hitchcock, who directed the film).

The Lux Radio Theatre.  Aired January 4, 1954. CBS net. "The Day The Earth Stood Still". A alien from space gives mankind a final chance to achieve world peace. Director Earl Ebi has been quoted as saying that this is "one of the most interesting and unusual shows we've done in a long time." Michael Rennie, Jean Peters, Irving Cummings (host), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Rudy Schrager (music director), Paul Frees (narrator).

The NBC University Theatre.  Aired January 9, 1949. NBC net. "The Grapes Of Wrath". Sustaining. The classic drama of the Depression, the Okies and their search for the promised land in California.  Jane Darwell, Jerry Farber, John Dehner.

Screen Directors' Playhouse.  Aired December 9, 1949. NBC net. "Call Northside 777". Sustaining. A crusading reporter frees a man in jail for eleven years who was convicted of killing a cop. Jimmy Stewart, William Conrad, Stacy Harris, Paul Frees.

The Screen Guild Theatre.  Aired September 7, 1950. ABC net. "Twelve O'Clock High". Sustaining. The start of the show's fourteenth year on the air. Gregory Peck, Ward Bond, Reed Hadley, Millard Mitchell, John Kellogg, Hugh Marlowe.

The Lux Radio Theatre.  Aired December 25, 1950. CBS net. "The Wizard Of Oz". Sponsored by: Lux. The adventures of Dorothy in the land of Oz. William Keighley (host), John Milton Kennedy (announcer), Judy Garland, Hans Conried, Herb Vigran, Edwin Max, Herb Butterfield, Betty Lou Gerson, Noreen Gammill, William Johnstone, Ruth Perrott, Gil Stratton, Charles Smith, Charles Woolf, Jay Novello, Marion Richman, Edward Marr, Norman Field, David Light (as a dog).

Screen Directors' Playhouse.  Aired November 16, 1950. NBC net. "Lifeboat". Sponsored by: Anacin, RCA, Chesterfield. A well-done radio adaptation of the superb movie. Sheldon Leonard does fine in the role made famous by William Bendix. Guest screen director Alfred Hitchcock introduces the story and speaks with the stars after the drama. Alfred Hitchcock, Anne Diamond, Barbara Eiler, Roy Glenn, Sheldon Leonard, Tallulah Bankhead.