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Screen Directors'
Playhouse |
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"Meacham! É you're a blaggard, a liar, a
hypocrite and a stench in the nostrils of an honest man. If it were in my power, I'd hang you from the
nearest tree and leave your carcass for the buzzard. But as a representative of the United States
government, you are entitled to the protection of my command,
but that is all É good day, sir" (Ward Bond
as Colonel Thursday in the radio
dramatization of Fort Apache) Powerful words from a great
actor, Ward Bond (who had played
Sgt. O'Rourke in the film) took
the Henry Fonda role for the
radio adaptation. Further, John Wayne recreated his screen role (Capt. Kirby York) for the microphone and
with Ward Bond swapped stories
with the film director John "Pappy" Ford before and after the radio presentation of this
fabulous western story. Such was the quality of a
typical program from that much revered radio program: Screen Directors' Playhouse Screen Directors'
Playhouse (aka Screen Directors'
Guild Assignment) was NBC's counterpoint to CBS' Lux Radio Theatre, in that it dramatized popular films and managed to
entice the respective film stars to recreate their roles for the microphone. The difference with this program is that it
also added the participation of the film's director É The director would usually
introduce the radio adaptation and afterward, would reminisce with the stars
on the making of the film and what the stars and director had done in the
meantime. Like Lux, it was performed
in front of a live audience and the collection of stars and directors was
impressive: John Wayne, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, Lucille Ball,
Claire Trevor, Robert Montgomery, William Powell, Gregory Peck, Burt
Lancaster, Alan Ladd, Frederic Marsh, Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Olivia de
Havilland, Ray Milland, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Curtiz, Henry Hathaway,
Robert Siodmak, AndrŽ De Toth, John Ford & Henry King. Series creator Don
Sharpe ensured that the programs
were well written, with sophisticated sound effects and great musical scoring
(from leading conductors & orchestras) This wonderful radio series
was initially of 30 minutes duration but eventually moved to the full hour -
in both formats the results make for excellent listening. I have confined my
attention to a total of 39 programs: 26 half hour and 13 one hour entries. Each one has been chosen for the value of its
story, its stars and the "excitement" it brings to the radio waves.
All genres are represented, including a lot of films found in the Adventure,
Mystery & Noir section of my website, along with comedies and westerns. These 39 Screen
Directors' Playhouse programs in
this collection are listed below with their respective stars and directors
indicated alongside. Note that in a few programs,
whilst the star of the original film is missing, he/she has nevertheless been
replaced with an equally famous identity: á
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. replaced Tyrone Power in both
Prince of Foxes & The Captain from Castile á
Cary Grant replaced Joseph Cotten in Shadow of a
Doubt á
Edmund O'Brien replaced Montgomery Clift in The Big
Lift In some cases, directors, too
were unavailable: á
Alfred Hitchcock was absent for Shadow of a Doubt á
John Farrow was ill and could not attend the
presentation of Alias Nick Beal á
Producer Leo McCarey filled in for director, Garson
Kanin on My Favorite Wife á
Renown director King Vidor acted as Narrator for
Lucky Jordan, replacing that film's director, Frank Tuttle á
Well known director George Marshall replaced
Alexander Hall for The Great Lover á
Frank MacDonald replaced Rudolph MatŽ for D.O.A. á
Prominent director and President of the Screen
Directors Guild, George Sidney, was on board to replace both Henry King for
The Gunfighter & John Ford for The Fugitive. A Note from Trev: In the course of this restoration project, the commercials
have been removed - so too the "whats on next week" has been
excised - but, the chats between the host, the stars and directors at the end
of the program are included (and they are very enlightening!) As such the half hour
programs run for about 25 minutes, with the hour ones lasting around 50
minutes. All 39 programs are of
excellent audio quality and have (each & all) been re-recorded for
maximum fidelity (and to allow enthusiasts to move programs onto 80 minute
audio CDs, if they require it, without loss of sound quality) Want to check out one of
these programs? Why not download the 25
minute production of Stagecoach
starring John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Ward Bond with director John
"Pappy" Ford? It can be freely downloaded
to your computer - just right button click on any link below and chose
"Download Linked File" (or words to that effect). The file is on an
average about 24Mb - download time will depend on your (broadband) speed. These
2 MP3 CDs consist of 39 episodes of Screen Directors' Playhouse All
elements of this collection have been carefully restored - beautiful sound
with no hiss! Disc No. 1 (25 minute Programs) 1.
1949-01-09 Stagecoach - John Wayne, Claire Trevor & Ward Bond with
John Ford (D) 2.
1949-01-23 The
Exile - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. with
Max Ophuls (D) 3.
1949-01-30 Mr And
Mrs Smith - Robert Montgomery with
Alfred Hitchcock (D) 4.
1949-02-20 The
Prisoner of Zenda - Ronald Colman
with John Cromwell 5.
1949-04-03 The
Ghost Breakers - Bob Hope with
George Marshall (D) 6.
1949-05-29 Trade
Winds - Fredric March with Tay
Garnett (D) 7.
1949-06-05 The
Killers - Burt Lancaster &
Shelley Winters with Robert Siodmak (D) 8.
1949-07-15 Yellow
Sky - Gregory Peck with William
Wellman (D) 9.
1949-07-29 Saigon - Alan Ladd with Leslie Fenton (D) 10.
1949-08-05 Fort
Apache - John Wayne & Ward Bond
with John Ford (D) 11.
1949-09-16 Whispering
Smith - Alan Ladd with Leslie
Fenton (D) 12.
1949-10-10 Criss
Cross - Burt Lancaster with Robert
Siodmak (D) 13.
1949-10-17 Pitfall - Dick Powell, Jane Wyatt & Raymond Burr with
AndrŽ De Toth (D) 14.
1949-11-18 The
Uninvited - Ray Milland with Lewis
Allen (D) 15.
1949-11-25 Spiral
Staircase - Dorothy McGuire with
Robert Siodmak (D) 16.
1949-12-09 Call
Northside 777 - James Stewart with
Henry Hathaway (D) 17.
1949-12-30 One Way
Passage - William Powell with Tay
Garnett (D) 18.
1950-01-20 Mr.
Lucky - Cary Grant with H. C.
Potter (D) 19.
1950-02-03 The Sea
Wolf - Edward G. Robinson with
Michael Curtiz (D) 20.
1950-03-03 The
Paleface - Bob Hope & Jane
Russell with Norman McLeod (D) 21.
1950-03-24 Chicago
Deadline - Alan Ladd with Lewis
Allen (D) 22.
1950-03-31 The Dark
Mirror - Olivia de Havilland with
Robert Siodmak (D) 23.
1950-04-07 The
Fighting O'Flynn - Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr. with Arthur Pierson (D) 24.
1950-04-14 It
Happens Every Spring - Ray Milland
with Lloyd Bacon (D) 25.
1950-04-28 Rope of
Sand - Burt Lancaster & Corinne
Calvert with William Dieterle (D) 26.
1950-06-09 Mr
Blandings Builds His Dream House -
Cary Grant with H. C. Potter (D) Disc No. 2 (50 minute Programs) 1.
1950-11-09 Shadow
of a Doubt - Cary Grant & Irene
Dunne 2.
1950-12-07 My
Favorite Wife - Cary Grant &
Irene Dunne with Leo McCarey (P) 3.
1950-12-28 Alias
Nick Beal - Ray Milland 4.
1951-01-04 Prince
of Foxes - Douglas Fairbanks with
Henry King (D) 5.
1951-01-18 The Big
Lift - Edmund O'Brien & Paul
Douglas with George Seaton (D) 6.
1951-02-08 Lucky
Jordan - Alan Ladd & Sheldon
Leonard with King Vidor (N) 7.
1951-03-22 The
Great Lover - Bob Hope & Rhonda
Fleming with George Marshall 8.
1951-05-03 The
Captain from Castile - Douglas
Fairbanks, Jr. with Henry King (D) 9.
1951-05-17 Rogues
Regiment - Dick Powell with Robert
Florey (D) 10.
1951-05-31 Beyond
Glory - Alan Ladd with John Farrow
(D) 11.
1951-06-07 The
Gunfighter - Gregory Peck with
George Sidney 12.
1951-06-21 D.O.A. - Edmund O'Brien with Frank MacDonald 13.
1951-07-12 The
Fugitive - Henry Fonda with George
Sidney |