The Christopher London Radio Program

Background

Bringing big name Film and Stage actors to Radio was always a coup for the networks throughout the Golden Age of Radio-for independent programming syndicators as well.

Frederick Ziv successfully coaxed Adolph Menjou and Verree Teasdale, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Ronald Colman, Fred MacMurray and Irene Dunne into syndicated series' for him. Ronald Colman and Benita Hume also headlined their own The Halls of Ivy in 1950, for NBC. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. starred in a one-off over Radio--The Silent Men (1951). Jimmie Stewart made the solo Radio plunge in 1953 with The Six-Shooter. Van Heflin made his one-off over Radio as Philip Marlowe, Private Detective (1947). Rex Harrison aired his sole recurring Radio vehicle, The Private Files of Rex Saunders in 1951. Helen Hayes aired a series of her own headlining productions between 1935 and 1956. Herbert Marshall's starring solo vehicle, The Man Called X aired for eight years from 1944 to 1952. Victor Jory appeared in two years of Vicks-sponsored adventure dramas between 1940 and 1942 (Dangerously Yours and Matinee Theater). Alan Ladd and Vincent Price also solo'd successfully in Box Thirteen (1947) and The Saint (1947-1951), respectively.

We cite these isolated, mostly solo-outing, big-name Film and Stage star vehicles by comparison with the thousands of Film and Stage adaptation appearances of the era, such as Lux Radio Theatre, The Screen Guild Players series', and the numerous NBC Theater productions, among many others. Those productions found virtually every major Film and Stage star of the era in one--or several--roles throughout the Golden Age of Radio. But it was the one-off dramatic productions that gave Radio listeners a more intimate experience with some of their favorite Stage and Screen actors of the era.

Glenn Ford took the plunge in a solo Radio vehicle with 1950's Christopher London. Ford, known as much for his numerous memorable western Film appearances was just as fondly remembered for his many film noir portrayals.

NBC showcases Glenn Ford in an adventure drama anthology conceived by Erle Stanley Gardner

No Radio novice, Glenn Ford had not yet appeared in his own recurring dramatic Radio showcase. Christopher London gave millions of Glenn Ford fans an opportunity to hear him in a top-notch adventure anthology as Christopher London, a private investigator with an adventurous wanderlust reminiscent of Alan Ladd's Box Thirteen, Herbert Marshall's The Man Called X and Brian Donlevy's Dangerous Assignment--with a few elements of The Shadow and The Green Lama thrown in.

The timing wasn't surprising, given Radio's mounting desperation to retain its listening audience in the face of the exponentially growing Television audience of the era. Many of the one-offs we cited above arrived over Radio at about the same time as Christopher London. Without exception, the big name Stage and Screen actor Radio vehicles of this era were superbly mounted, with Radio's finest supporting actors, directors, producers, engineers and music directors. Christopher London was no exception. William N. Robson directed, Lyn Murray and Van Cleve scored and conducted the musical accompaniment, and West Coast Radio luminaries Joan Banks, Ben Wright, Will Wright, Charlie Lung, Ted deCorsia, Virginia Gregg, Peter Leeds, Barton Yarborough, Alan Reed, Jeanette Nolan, and Stacy Harris appeared in supporting roles throughout the production.

Last and by no means least, the series was created by Erle Stanley Gardner, of long-running Perry Mason fame in Film, Radio and Television, and the creator of the lesser known but thoroughly well conceived A Life In Your Hands (1949) series over Radio. Something of a departure for Gardner, Christopher London's script themes are not courtroom-centered, though two of the surviving exemplars of the series have legal elements contained within the scripts. Two of the circulating scripts were written by Mindret Lord with the season closer written by Bernard Shoenfeld. One of Lord's scripts, anecdotally referred to as The Missing Heiress episode, found its way to Television four years later in Louis Hayward's starring vehicle, The Lone Wolf, as The Emerald Ring epsiode of either 1954 or 1955. This was not an uncommon practice during the early days of Television. The novelty here is the use of essentially the same script in both an Erle Stanley Gardner-created vehicle and a Louis Joseph Vance-created vehicle, within a few years of each other. Mindret Lord penned nine of The Lone Wolf scripts for Television.

For a contemporaneous take on the short-lived series, here's a John Crosby review of Christopher London from the March 15, 1950 edition of the Oakland Tribune:

     "Christopher London" KNBC 4 p.m. P.S.T. Sundays, is NBC's wistful answer to Jack Benny, the man who roosts opposite him on CBS.  As answers go, this is hardly a defiant one.  In fact, there is a distinct note of apology in it like those ads in the personal columns:  "Come home.  All is forgiven."
     Still, Christopher London isn't a bad show if you like adventure stuff.  It was "created by" — as they say on the show—Erle Stanley Gardner, "the world's most renowned mystery writer."  (Mystery writers don't write. They create, like dress designers.  Painters paint.  Sculptors sculpt.  Mystery writers, dress designers and concocters of perfume create.  Any other questions?)
     Christopher London, the wonder-working hero of the piece, is in private life Glenn Ford, the movie actor.  Ford's voice, a marvelous instrument, has apparently been given the full Hollywood treatment; his catarrhs and hesitations and glissandos and tone color are about as perfect as anything you can find outside a saxaphone.  The production, a word that covers a multitude of sound effects, is beyond Reproach (which is just the other side of East Bountiful).  And the creation, to get back to that word, of each episode sounds as if it took a full six days just like that other Creation.

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

The most helpful provenances were newspaper listings.

OTRisms:

We have no idea whatsover why the 'credentialed experts of the OTR community' have always referred to--and persist in referring to--Christopher London as The Adventures of Christopher London. As with much of the 'authoritative OTR history' in wide circulation, The Adventures of Chistopher London is a complete canard. No such program title ever aired over American airwaves--unless of course erroneously referred to as such in vintage Radio rebroadcasts of the series. But certainly never within any of the scripts for the series.

Of the three circulating exemplars--and their sequence and dates--only one comes close to the plot of the script:

• The episode anecdotally referred to as "The Missing Heiress" is an almost verbatim treatment of the Mindret Lord Television script for a The Lone Wolf episode referred to as The Emerald Ring. Both of Lord's script treatments--Radio and Television--focus on an emerald ring as the key to finding and identifying the supposed missing heiress at the heart of the plot. The date cited by the overwhelming number of 'otr sources' for this episode bears no resemblence to the only newspaper Radio listings that have surfaced for February 5, 1950 for Christopher London. Those listings refer to a question of suicide or murder, complicated by a large insurance policy at the heart of the plot. We have little faith in either the current dating or sequencing of the episode we refer to as The Adventure of The Emerald Ring at February 5, 1950. We've therefore coded it as such.
• The episode anecdotally referred to as "Price of Sugar" in circulation also seems to miss the mark. Without giving away the plot, the 'price' referred to in the script turns out to be a human price versus a monetary price. This episode is the closest anecdotally titled exemplar in current circulation.
• The episode anecdotally referred to as "Pattern for Murder" bears no resemblance to the script of the circulating exemplar. Again, without giving away the plot, there is no 'pattern' referenced anywhere in the script. The only thing close, without teasing too much of the plot should be "The System" or, as we've anecdotally titled it, 'The System' - A Code for Murder.

We pretend no omniscience in titling the recordings in our collection--nor do we posture as 'credentialed otr experts,' an appellation that frankly makes us groan. But we do actually listen to our recordings for more than two minutes. In the case of Christopher London, all three circulating exemplars are highly entertaining and we've listened to all three of ours from start to finish.

What you see here, is what you get. Complete transparency. We have no 'credentials' whatsoever--in any way, shape, or form--in the 'otr community'--none. But here's how we did it--for better or worse. Here's how you can build on it yourselves--hopefully for the better. Here are the breadcrumbs--just follow the trail a bit further if you wish. No hobbled downloads. No misdirection. No posturing about our 'credentials.' No misrepresentations. No strings attached. We point you in the right direction and you're free to expand on it, extend it, use it however it best advances your efforts.

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[Date, title, and episode column annotations in red refer to either details we have yet to fully provenance or other unverifiable information as of this writing. Red highlights in the text of the 'Notes' columns refer to information upon which we relied in citing dates, date or time changes, or titles.]