[real-eyes] Lux Radio Theater
- From: "Andrea Breier" <abreier@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2007 08:49:10 -0600
Lux Radio Theater, one of the genuine
classic radio
anthology series
(NBC
Blue Network
(1934-1935);
CBS
(1935-1954);
NBC
(1954-1955)) adapted first
Broadway
stage works, and then (especially) films to hour-long live radio
presentations. It quickly became the most popular dramatic anthology series
on radio,
running more than twenty years. The program always began with an announcer
proclaiming, "Ladies and gentlemen, Lux presents Hollywood!"
Cecil B. DeMille
was the host of the series each Monday evening from
June 1,
1936
, until
January 22,
1945
. On one occasion, however, he was replaced by
Leslie Howard.
Lux Radio Theater strove to feature as many of the original stars of the
original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000
an
appearance to do the show. It was when
sponsor
Lever Brothers
(who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from
New York City
to
Hollywood
in 1936 that it eased back from adapting stage shows and toward adaptations
of films. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady,
with
Marlene Dietrich
and
Clark Gable
, based on the film
Morocco
. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of
The Thin Man
, featuring the movie's stars,
Myrna Loy
and
William Powell.
Many of the greatest names in film appeared in the series, most in the roles
they made famous on the screen, including
Abbott and Costello,
Lauren Bacall,
Lucille Ball,
Ingrid Bergman,
Humphrey Bogart,
Charles Boyer,
James Cagney,
Donald Cameron,
Leo Carrillo,
Leo G. Carroll,
Madeleine Carroll,
Helen Chandler,
Ruth Chatterton,
Ina Claire,
George M. Cohan,
Claudette Colbert,
Gary Cooper,
Joseph Cotton,
Bing Crosby,
Dan Duryea,
Ava Gardner,
Cary Grant,
Bob Hope,
Vivien Leigh,
Agnes Moorehead,
Vincent Price,
Donna Reed,
Frank Sinatra,
Ann Sothern,
Barbara Stanwyck,
James Stewart,
Gene Tierney,
John Wayne,
Jane Wyman,
Orson Welles
and
Loretta Young.
Among the men,
Don Ameche
-- eventually a radio star in
The Bickersons
-- appeared most often, with 18 Lux appearances, just ahead of
Fred MacMurray
's 17. Among the women, the honor went to
Barbara Stanwyck
with 15 Lux appearances, including her re-creation of her hit film
Sorry, Wrong Number
-- itself born of an earlier radio production, on CBS legend
Suspense
). Loretta Young's 14 appearances were the second most among the women.
Some classic radio regulars also made the occasional appearance on Lux Radio
Theater. Jim and Marian Jordan, better known as
Fibber McGee and Molly
, appeared on the show twice and also built an episode of their own radio
comedy series around one of those appearances. Bandleader
Phil Harris
and his singing actress wife,
Alice Faye
, who had become radio comedy stars with their own show beginning in 1948,
appeared in a Lux presentation.
Fred Allen,
Jack Benny
(with and without his wife,
Mary Livingstone
), and
George Burns
and
Gracie Allen
were among the other radio stars who were invited to do Lux presentations
as well. Lux Radio Theater even presented an adaptation of the film version
of
The Life of Riley
, featuring
William Bendix
as the Brooklyn-born, California-transplanted aircraft worker he already
made famous in the long-running radio series (and eventual television hit)
of
the same name.
Mercury Theatre on the Air
-- which eventually made Orson Welles a force to be reckoned with,
especially with the commotion his broadcast of
The War of the Worlds
(30 October 1938) provoked -- was initially a summer replacement series for
Lux Radio Theater.
It was a clash over closed shop
union
rulings favoured by the old American Federation of Radio Artists that ended
DeMille's term as Lux Radio Theater's host. AFRA assessed members a dollar
each to help back a campaign to enact closed-shop rulings in California.
DeMille, an AFRA member but a stern opponent of closed shops, refused to pay
because
he believed it would nullify his opposition vote. When AFRA ruled those not
paying faced suspension from the union, and thus a ban from appearing on the
air, DeMille was finished---because he also refused to let anyone else pay
the dollar for him. Lux Radio Theater auditioned, on the air, several hosts
over the next year, until they settled on
William Keighley
as the new permanent host, a post he held from late 1945 through mid-1955.
The
Lux Video Theatre
began as a live 30-minute Monday evening CBS series
October 2,
1950
, switching to Thursday nights during August, 1951. In September 1953, the
show relocated from New York to Hollywood. In August, 1954, it jumped to NBC
as an hour-long show on Thursday nights, telecast until
September 12,
1957.
James Mason
was the host in the 1954-55 season.
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Happy Holidays,
Andrea M. Breier
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