The Hollywood Star Playhouse Radio Program

Background

The 'playhouse' format was a popular staple of Radio Drama throughout the Golden Age of Radio. Given the 'theatre of the mind' that Radio had become almost from its first dramatic broadcasts, the notion of live theatre being brought to the living rooms and parlors of post-Depression America was both uplifting and entertaining for the exponentially growing Radio audiences of the 1930s and 1940s.

Even as other popular genres waxed and waned in popularity throughout the Golden Age of Radio, the 'playhouse drama,' usually starring one or two major Film or Stage stars of the era brought fine drama--and fine dramatic performances--to audiences who, for the most part, had never had the opportunity to enjoy such performances on Broadway or the larger, more prestigious drama venues of the era. And indeed, by the mid to late 1930s and early 1940s, the playhouse drama genre became a highly competitive programming vehicle among the three, then four major networks.

• 1930 Paramount Playhouse
• 1937 Your Parlor Playhouse
• 1938 Campbell Playhouse
• 1939 Gulf Musical Playhouse
• 1939 Hollywood Playhouse
• 1939 Knickerbocker Playhouse
• 1940 Listener’s Playhouse
• 1940 Wheatena Playhouse
• 1941 Author’s Playhouse
• 1941 People’s Playhouse
• 1941 Philip Morris Playhouse
• 1943 Dreft Star Playhouse
• 1944 NBC Star Playhouse
• 1946 Carrington Playhouse
• 1946 Spotlight Playhouse
• 1946 Summer Playhouse
• 1946 Your Playhouse of Favorites
• 1948 Hallmark Playhouse
• 1948 Manhattan Playhouse
• 1948 Radio City Playhouse
• 1949 Comedy Playhouse
• 1949 Four Star Playhouse
• 1949 Screen Director’s Playhouse
• 1950 Hollywood Star Playhouse
• 1950s Broadway Playhouse [AFRS]
• 1950s Playhouse 25 [AFRS]
• 1951 Philip Morris Playhouse On Broadway
• 1952 Jergens Hollywood Playhouse
• 1953 NBC Star Playhouse
• 1953 Radio Star Playhouse
• 1953 Philco Radio Playhouse
• 1955 Sunday Playhouse

Clearly, the 'playhouse format' appears to have been the vehicle of choice for both the two major networks--CBS and NBC--and an emerging favorite of both MBS and ABC. The format generally featured a single 'name' star from the Stage or Film and a supporting cast of Radio veterans.

Most 'playhouse' format programs aired as sponsored features and most proved to be fairly durable, often moving from network to network after a solid first season or two. Most sponsors of the playhouse format were seasoned Radio sponsors seeking a popular and well-produced dramatic feature to promote their products.

There were few 'poor' or 'mediocre' playhouse productions. Almost all such programming was well produced, well-funded, featured excellent music direction, and in most cases was performed before a live audience. Audience reaction was an almost integral feature of live, theatrical performances. Even those transcribed for either syndication or broadcasts in varying time zones were generally performed--or recorded--before live audiences. The playhouse format was usually broadcast from New York, with a few playhouse programs either originating or moving to the west coast during their run.

CBS had been a prolific producer of dramatic productions throughout the 1930s and 1940s. CBS aired such productions both sustained by the network and sponsored. CBS' legendary 'experimental' Radio productions Columbia Workshop and CBS Radio Workshop aired from 1936 through 1957. CBS' Mercury Theatre On the Air, first airing in 1938, featured Orson Welles and members of the Mercury Theatre, followed by three sponsored seasons of Campbell Playhouse featuring Orson Welles and Mercury Theatre.

Even as the era of The Golden Age of Radio began to wane, CBS continued to mount both critically acclaimed and commercially popular dramatic features. But the late 1940s and early 1950s were also a period of aggressive--and often ruthless--competition for popular network performers and features. CBS and NBC engaged in a particularly aggressive period of poaching each others' popular performers, programming and sponsor accounts during this period [see the 'Billboard article in 'Provenances', below]. And indeed the sponsors themselves were engaging in a great deal of jockeying for the best exposure of their products over network Radio--and the growing Television market. So much so that major ad agencies of the era began developing and promoting their own programming concepts, shopping them to the major networks for the best deal and exposure for their vehicles.

Emerson Drug and CBS Debut Hollywood Star Playhouse

Emerson Drug had been a long-time sponsor of Radio programming, prominently highlighting their Bromo-Seltzer line. Emerson promoted Bromo-Seltzer with the following programs of the era:

• 1935 NTG [Nils Thor Granlund] and His Girls
• 1935 Pathe News of The Air
• 1935 The Intimate Revue with Bob Hope
• 1937 Hollywood News with Sid Sokolsky
• 1938 Hollywood News with Harriet Parsons
• 1940 Ben Bernie
• 1941 Vox Pop
• 1942 The Adventures of Ellery Queen
• 1942 Troman Harper, Rumor Detective
• 1945 The Saint
• 1946 Forever Ernest
• 1946 Inner Sanctum
• 1950 Hollywood Star Playhouse

Their--by the 1940s--ubiquitous "BRO-mo-Selt-zer, BRO-mo-Selt-zer, BRO-mo-Selt-zer," mantra was heard during most of the sponsor's commercial messages. Needless to say, by the 1950s, Emerson Drug had a strong relationship with the major networks--CBS, especially. So much so, that when it came time to hunt for a replacement for their abandoned sponsorship of Inner Sanctum, CBS understandably scrambled to find a suitable 'whodunit' dramatic vehicle for their mystery sponsor of long standing:

The Billboard item from March 18 1950 announcing Emerson Drug's intent to replace their Inner Sanctum promotional vehicle over CBS

That new promotional platform became Hollywood Star Playhouse, a playhouse format, mystery drama anthology featuring major--and emerging--Hollywood Film stars in original, 30-minute productions written, for the most part, for a specific star. Hollywood Star Playhouse's premiere presentation of April 24, 1950 featured James Stewart in 'Nor Gloom of Night,' adapted to a 30-minute format. And true to its charter, Hollywood Star Playhouse continued to provide major stars in mostly original mystery dramas for the following three years over three different networks:

• CBS (for Bromo-Seltzer) from April 1950 to July 1951
• ABC (sustaining) from July 1951 to January 1952
• NBC (for Bakers of America) from February 1952 to February 1953

The CBS, Bromo-Seltzer-sponsored run promised "tales of mystery, thrills and suspense," most of the productions written specifically for a particular performer by Milton Gieger or Maurice Zimm. The Hollywood Star Playhouse format also featured the star of the following production introducing that production, indicating that at several productions were probably performed and recorded in the same recording session. Herbert Rawlinson served as host of the CBS run, with the entire CBS run produced and directed by Jack Johnstone. Jeff Alexander composed and conducted the musical accompaniment for the CBS run.

The ABC-sustained run of Hollywood Star Playhouse continued the 'tales of suspense, thrills and adventure' format. The ABC run also continued under the direction of Jack Johnstone and continued to feature original dramatic productions penned specifically for the productions' stars, penned by Milton Geiger, Maurice Zimm and Leonard St Clair among others. Basil 'Buzz' Adlam served as the music director for the ABC [KECA] run. The ABC run also continued the practice of the stars of the following productions announcing their appearances with teasers of the script. It was the ABC run that also introduced credits for the supporting actors of each production, a practice that the production continued over the following NBC run.

The NBC run in particular--for the Bakers of America--was noteworthy for introducing James Stewart's characterization of The Six Shooter, which was ultimately spun-off into James Stewart's only recurring dramatic role over Radio. It's related elsewhere that Safari, starring Ray Milland, was also under consideration for a spin-off over Radio--one that never fully materialized.

That NBC season also saw the debuts of Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Charlton Heston in their first dramatic performances over Radio. The NBC run also presented Janet Leigh in one of her first Radio performances. The series continued to be directed by Jack Johnstone, but with Wendell Niles acting as the host and product spokesperson. The Bakers of America also included baking tips and recipes presented by Miss Helen Reed, Home Economist for the Bakers of America. The series continued its 'tales of suspense, thrills and adventure' format with scripts written specifically for the star of each performance.

The Bakers of America run over NBC represented yet another sponsor poached from CBS during the era. Bakers of America was a consortium made up of the American Bakers' Association, The Bakers of America, and Quality Bakers of America--the organization best known for the Sunbeam Bread brand. But as part of the deal, CBS mounted the Bakers Theatre of Stars for a limited, thirteen installment run following six days after the final 1953 Hollywood Star Playhouse installment over NBC. Bakers Theatre of Stars over CBS was another star-studded feature airing predominantly straight dramatic productions. Thus, Bakers of America was able to leverage its messaging throughout the 1953 period culminating in its major annual convention during June of 1953.

None of the network runs stinted on quality and name talent--not even the ABC-sustained run. With a budget averaging between $5,000 and $7,000 per production throughout the canon, the series continued to attract the finest stars and writers of the era. The west coast productions also showcased most of Radio's finer west coast character actors of the era: Lurene Tuttle, Virginia Gregg, Irene Tedrow, Bill Conrad, Gerald Mohr, Harry Bartell, Paul Frees, Alan Reed, Tony Barrett, and Joan Banks among many others.

The final Hollywood Star Playhouse production aired on February 15, 1953 with The Chase occupying that timelsot the following week over NBC. Wendell Niles teased another Bakers of America production [Bakers Theatre of Stars], to follow on another network [CBS] on the Sunday following--February 21, 1953. The Bakers of America were attempting to maintain interest in their message as the organization approached its major annual convention in June of 1953.

The eight repeated scripts during the Hollywood Star Playhouse canon were interpreted by different actors the second time around, so they're not repeat performances or rebroadcasts, but rather repeats of a script. Some of those repeated scripts would make for an interesting comparison between performances. Especially, one might well imagine, the two interpretations of "Statement In Full," the first performed by Joan Crawford and the second interpreted by Marilyn Monroe in her first ever Radio debut performance. Other potentially interesting 'mash-ups' were:

• James Stewart and Alan Young in respective interpretations of Nor Gloom of Night
• Barbara Stanwyck and Claire Trevor's interpretations of Father's Day
• BroderickCrawford and Paul Douglas' interpretations of Quiet, Hospital Zone
• Dan Dailey and Barry Sullivan's interpretations of Death Is A Right Hook
• Barbara Stanwyck and Mercedes Cambridge's interpretations of Not the Nervous Type
• Robert Ryan and Dennis O'Keefe's interpretations of The Reluctant Witness
• Robert Young and Richard Conte's interpretations of Blackout

Should any of the corresponding pairs of repeat script exemplars enter circulation, several of the above comparisons would make for very interesting studies of the actors' craft. In most of these instances, the stronger, more seasoned actor appeared in the first airing, and the less experienced actor in the subsequent airing, with the possible exceptions of Barbara Stanwyck and Claire Trevor, Barbara Stanwyck and Mercedes McCambridge, and Broderick Crawford and Paul Douglas.

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

The most helpful provenances were the log of the radioGOLDINdex and newspaper listings. The least helpful reference was Martin Grams' Radio Drama.

OTRisms:

While the newspaper listings of the era listed Hollywood Star Playhouse, variously, as 'Drama', 'Playhouse,' 'Star Playhouse,' 'Star Theatre,' or 'Hollywood Star Theatre,' the actual program name, Hollywood Star Playhouse, was never "referred to as Bakers Theatre of Stars," a derivative program airing over CBS for the thirteen weeks immediately following the final Hollywood Star Playhouse broadcast, sharing only its sponsor in common. OTR collectors in particular tend to deal in an overwhelming amount of wishful thinking in order to persuade themselves--and others--into believing that they possess more of a specific canon than actually exists--a regrettable situation but one not likely to change in the foreseeable future.

The European Stars and Stripes log [below] describes a title, A Study In Fear, starring John Lund, from the AFRS-denatured canon of Hollywood Star Playhouse that is nowhere else represented in newspaper listings for the commercial, network runs of Hollywood Star Playhouse. We can only surmise that the title entry is either a mistake by European Stars and Stripes or, more intriguingly, represents an unaired commercial episode of Hollywood Star Playhouse. Our commerical logs [below] address every possible installment for the three network runs of Hollywood Star Playhouse. The title, A Study In Fear, is neither announced in newspaper listings, nor teased during the credits of any other circulating exemplar. We can account for all of the other John Lund starring vehicles during the CBS, ABC and NBC runs of Hollywood Star Playhouse. The only John Lund vehicle in the commercially broadcast canon that could possibly represent the 'Stars and Stripes' entry might be Step Right Up and Die, which aired commercially on July 20, 1952. Given the title, one might well attribute an amusement park theme to the production.

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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.]