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December 22nd, 1940…. |
Your first experience with
radio theater was on Screen Guild Theater’s
production of “The Juggler of Notre Dame” with Ronald
Colman. |
| June
1st, 1942…. |
You did “I Married An Angel” with Jeanette
MacDonald. It must |
| March
25th, 1946…. |
Now it is back again with Jeanette for “Sweethearts” but there are no solos….no time. All the duets were included though. You will repeat the program on July 29th and repeat it again when Camel Cigarettes take over on December 15th, 1947 with some slight changes in the score. |
| June
27th, 1947…. |
The last show under the Lady Esther banner features you and Jeanette in “Rose Marie”. Jeanette does the narrating in this short version but the duets are all there and they are so beautiful. |
The Screen Guild Theatre Story
Hosted by Gulf Oil, it was first presented on CBS January 8th, 1939. Screen Guild theatre was a charity show donating all profits including star salaries to the Motion Picture relief Fund to build a home for aged or impoverished screen performers. ( this would become the Motion Picture Country Home where Jeanette’s sister Blossom Rock later resided). Stars literally rushed to do the shows but, up against the very popular Lux Radio Theatre, the new entry had a rough time of it. The original 90-minutes of variety, comedy and drama shows were finally pared down to just 30 minutes of comedy or drama spots. Actor Roger Pryor became the regular host (replacing George Murphy) while John Conte took over as announcer and Oscar Bradley did the music chores.
Besides Nelson and Jeanette, scores of stars appeared on Screen Guild Theatre the first year. Here are some of them….
 Ronald Colman |
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.jpg) Tyrone Power |
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 Mickey Rooney |
 Shirley Temple |
After turning down a single performance fee of $35, 000 for a radio guest spot, Shirley Temple’s parents allowed her to do “The Bluebird” for Screen Guild on Christmas Eve, 1939 for….nothing!
In 1942, Gulf Oil gave over sponsorship ( due to wartime restrictions on oil) to Lady Esther Cosmetics (gals needed lipstick even in wartime!). Bill Lawrence became the new producer and hired Bill Hampton to adapt 2 hour films and plays into 22 minute shows. Wilbur Hatch took over the orchestrations and Truman Bradley became the announcer.
The program remained in the 15th slot on the list of radio’s top shows until Lady Esther gave up the spot in the summer of 1947. Camel Cigarettes took over when the show resumed in the fall. It finally moved to NBC in 1948, then to ABC in 1950 where it became an outstanding 60-minute show and lasted until 1951.
Nelson
on Lux Radio Theatre…..
| September
13th, 1943…. |
You did “Phantom of the Opera” with Susanna Foster and Basil Rathbone in the role of the Phantom. Also supporting you are Edgar Edgar Barrier, Jane Farrar and Nicki Andre….and Cecil B. DeMille! |
.jpg) Susanna Foster |
 Basil Rathbone |
 Jane Farrar |
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Here you are with Jeanette in “Naughty
Marietta”. However, in this adaptation,
she falls to the lowly state of Countess, there are no pirates
to fight and she goes straight from the convent
to the house of Rudolfo. Hmmm. The music has different arrangements and some of it is missing but we love what’s left. |
| September
4th, 1944… |
You have Jeanette with you again in “Maytime” with Edgar Barrier as Naziroff. Jeanette narrates as Marcia in her old age. Your Maestro is now an Italian named Botino instead of Bing’s Archipenko, you sing “Marseillaise” instead of “Vive L’Opera”, and Jeanette sings a different aria at the opera but it is still great. |
The Lux Radio Theatre Story
The home of Lux Radio Theatre
Lux Radio Theatre debuted on NBC October 14th, 1934 originally as a Sunday afternoon show with dramas gleaned from films and Broadway plays. But it gained its greatest success on CBS after July 29th, 1935. When it began to lose its luster, the show was moved from New York City to Hollywood (June 1st, 1936).
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille was hired as host at a huge
salary but Lever Brothers (makers of Lux) felt the cost was worth
it. He would get up to $2,000 weekly just for hosting. A flat fee
of $5,000 was set for big name stars (Clark Gable got $1 more just
to keep his image as Hollywood’s highest paid
star) and every show was guaranteed two name stars. The first West
Coast program was “The Legionnaire and the Lady” on June
1st, 1936 with Clark and Marlene Dietrich, followed the next week
by “The Thin Man” with William Powell and Myrna Loy. It
was the beginning of a new era on radio and literally took over Monday
night.
 William Powell |
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 Gary Cooper |
 Jean Arthur |
One close call for this very live show came the night both stars of “The Plainsman” (Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur) came down with the flu bug. It meant that Frederic March, who was to replace Cooper, had to stay up all night practicing a Western dialect! At Robert Taylor’s first appearance, female fans crashed the theater through an open fire escape door, taking seats that belonged to ticket holders. And some of Hollywood’s biggest stars had mike fright..including Joan Crawford and Paul Muni.
After a fight with AFRA (American Federation of Radio Artists) and the court case that ensued, DeMille left the hosting job and it was turned over to guest hosts until director William Keighley took over as permanent host. The show, canceled by CBS on June 28th, 1954, ran on NBC until June 7th, 1955.