Revisit — or experience for the first time — the Golden Days of Radio, found in a series of rare vintage radio broadcasts on audio CD. Fans and would-be fans can hear some of Hollywood’s biggest stars as popular movies (many with the original cast) are dramatized.
The Radio’s Golden Age series is comprised of scores of exciting, dramatic and funny radio programs from the 1930s to the 1950s. Most of the programs run about 60 minutes and, in many cases, feature original commercials of the era. Many of these great old shows were originally broadcast on the “Lux Radio Theater,” sponsored by Lever Brothers’ popular Lux soap.
Each week, stars of the silver screen acted out movies before a live audience and was the premier drama series on radio.
There really was a theater with an actual studio audience. Broadcasts emanated from the Lux Radio Playhouse in a Howard Hughes-owned theater in Hollywood, located about a block from Hollywood and Vine. For those familiar with the neighborhood, the exact address was 1615 N. Vine Street and today is known as the Ricardo Montalban Theatre.
In several programs, the stars of the original movies were engaged to play the same role in their audio versions. So, we have Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert performing in a 1939 broadcast of It Happened One Night; Al Jolson in a 1947 version of the landmark sound film The Jazz Singer; Ginger Rogers repeating her Oscar-winning part as Kitty Foyle in 1941; and Cary Grant returning as Mr. Lucky in 1943 for radio listeners.
Originally, the Lux Radio Theater was broadcast in New York, hosted by a fictitious producer. But in 1936, when the show moved to Hollywood, the reins were held by master Hollywood showman Cecil B. DeMille, who hosted the series into the 1940s, often acting as soap pitchman as well.
In addition, different performers not associated with the original productions were often recruited for some of the radio programs and brought their own unique talents to famous roles.
Radio's Golden Age Box Covers
For example, Charlton Heston takes over the lead role Marlon Brando originated in a 1951 version of Viva Zapata!; Greer Garson steps into Katherine Hepburn’s shoes for The African Queen, opposite Humphrey Bogart, in 1952; and Alan Ladd and Hedy Lamarr perform the roles Bogart and Ingrid Bergman made famous in a 1944 broadcast of Casablanca.
Often capitalizing on the popularity of then-current on-air personalities, some of the movie re-enactments starred George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim and Marian Jordan), Jack Benny and Bob Hope, in shows tailored to their comedy talents. In 1950, in an interesting crossover, Lux Radio Theater presented William Bendix in a movie-type presentation of The Life of Riley, which at the time, was a very well-liked radio show.
Also offered in the series of CDs are classic radio series, not originated from feature films, many of which would later become hits on TV, such as Dragnet with Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday; William Conrad as Marshal Matt Dillon in Gunsmoke; and The Lone Ranger boasting Earle Graser as the masked hero.
And there’s even a CD made-to-measure for fans of just plain old-fashioned nostalgia. Old Tyme Radio Commercials will be of interest to those who can’t get enough ads — they can take a trip back in time and spend 52 minutes hearing pitches for the likes of Pepsi-Cola, Velveeta cheese, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, and Rinso laundry soap.