F O R D T H E A T E R ------- ------------- 1947 - 1949 First Show: 10-05-47 Last Show: 07-01-49 Number Shows: 78 (39 on NBC, 39 on CBS) Audition Show: none known Series Description: The FORD THEATER, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, presented hour long dramas first on NBC for one only season. The series moved to CBS for its second and last season. There were 39 NBC and 39 CBS hour- long shows (not verified). The show initially received an unfavorable review from the New York Times for poor script adaptation but was still highly rated for the actors' performance and overall production. The show was supposed to feature only original scripts but had to forgo that plan due to lack of quality material. The first season on NBC used radio actors under the direction of George Zachary. Martin Gabel announced the first show but was soon replaced by Kenneth Banghart. The second season, on CBS, used Hollywood screen actors in the lead roles, supported by radio actors. Fletcher Markle, who previously produced CBS's STUDIO ONE series, was the producer for the second season. Although a short series, it still has some of radio's best dramas. Log Comments: This show is not carried by many vendors or clubs. Information was very sparse. This log was possible thanks to Radio Memories catalog, Jerry Haendiges's log abd information from J. David Goldin's web site. Shows in circulation are indicated by an asterisk in the "Available" ("A") column. Chronological Log: NBC: (Sundays 5:00 pm EST) Date Num Title Stars A -------- --- ------------------------------ ----------------------- - 10-05-47 1 "A Connecticut Yankee In King Karl Swenson, * Arthur's Court" Mason Adams by Mark Twain 10-12-47 2 "The Great McGinty" 10-19-47 3 "On Borrowed Time" 10-26-47 4 "A Coffin for Demetrics" Wendell Holmes 11-02-47 5 "Ah, Wilderness" * 11-09-47 6 "The Power and the Glory" Les Damon, Vicki Vola 11-16-47 7 "Carmen Jones" Muriel Smith * by Bizet 11-23-47 8 "George Washington Slept Here" Karl Swenson, Claudia Morgan 11-30-47 9 "Dangerous Corner" Staats Cotsworth, Anne Seymour, Vicki Vola 12-07-47 10 "We Hold These Truths" Mason Adams, Wendell Holmes 12-14-47 11 "Cimmarron" Gary Merrill, Barbara Weeks 12-21-47 12 "The Man Who Played God" Santos Ortega, * by Jules Eckerd Goodman Anne Seymour 12-28-47 13 "Father Dear Father" Edwin Jerome * Frances Carden 01-04-48 14 "The Adventure of the Bad Boy" Santos Ortega, * by Ellery Queen Hugh Marlowe 01-11-48 15 "Storm In A Tea Cup" Les Tremayne, * Wendell Holmes 01-13-48 -- "Girl Crazy" (Rehearsal) Larry Douglas, * Ted DeCorsia 01-18-48 16 "Girl Crazy" Larry Douglas, * Ted DeCorsia 01-25-48 17 "Arsenic and Old Lace" Josephine Hull, J. Adair 02-01-48 18 "The Green Pastures" Juano Hernabdez, * by Marc Connelly Maurice Ellis 02-08-48 19 "Abe Lincoln of Illinois" Karl Swenson, * Muriel Kirkland 02-15-48 20 "Abe Lincoln in Washington" Karl Swenson, Muriel Kirkland 02-22-48 21 "The Bishop Misbehaves" 02-29-48 22 "The Count of Monte Cristo" 03-07-48 23 "Twentieth Century" Arnold Moss, Barbara Weeks 03-14-48 24 "Autumn Crocus" 03-21-48 25 "It's A Gift" Cliff Carpenter, * by Lee Bloomgarten Carl Eastman, William Zuckert 03-28-48 26 "The Informer" Paul Douglas Una O'Conner 04-04-48 27 "The Goose Hangs High" 04-11-48 28 "The Murder of Roger Ackryod" Harold Huber by Agatha Christie 04-18-48 29 "The Silver Cord" Evelyn Varden, * Barbara Weeks, Les Tremayne, Elaine Rost 04-25-48 30 "Personal Appearance" Anne Francis, Gary Merrill 05-02-48 31 "Alice Adams" 05-09-48 32 "The Front Page" Everett Sloane, * Ed Begley 05-16-48 33 "Counselor At Law" Les Tremayne, * Lauren Gilbert 05-23-48 34 "A Star Is Born" Elaine Rost, * James Meighan 05-30-48 35 "Laura" Virginia Gilmore, * John J. Larkin 06-06-48 36 "Michael and Mary" Luther Adler * 06-13-48 37 "My Sister Eileen" Shirley Booth, * Virginia Gilmore 06-20-48 38 "The Late Christopher Bean" Barbara Weeks * 06-27-48 39 "Arrowsmith" Lauren Gilbert * by Sinclair Lewis CBS: (Fridays) Date Num Title Stars A -------- --- ------------------------------ ----------------------- - 10-08-48 1 "Madame Bovary" Claude Rains, * Marlene Dietrich, Van Heflin 10-15-48 2 "Double Indemnity" Burt Lancaster, * Joan Bennett 10-22-48 3 "Tom, Dick and Harry" Lucille Ball, Eddie Albert 10-29-48 4 "Of Human Bondage" Ray Milland, * Joan Loring 11-05-48 5 "The Damask Cheek" Dorothy McGuire 11-12-48 6 "Camille" Ingrid Bergman 11-19-48 7 "The Male Animal" Eddie Albert, B. Bel Geddes 11-26-48 8 "Secret Agent" Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. 12-03-48 9 "The Big Street" Lucille Ball, John Garfield 12-10-48 10 "Page Miss Glory" Joan Blondell, MacDonald Carey 12-17-48 11 "The Gentle People" Gene Kelly 12-24-48 12 "Pilgrim's Inn" Geraldine Fitzegerald 12-31-48 13 "Becky Sharp" Miriam Hopkins 01-07-49 14 "Talk of the Town" Ronald Colman, Jean Arthur 01-14-49 15 "Boomerang" Dana Andrews 01-21-49 16 "Anna Christie" Ingrid Bergman, * B. Crawford 01-28-49 17 "Woman in the Window" Edward G. Robinson, Linda Darnell 02-04-49 18 "No Time For Love" C. Colbert, E. Albert, Vincent Price 02-11-49 19 "The Awful Truth" Bob Hope 02-18-49 20 "Shadow of a Doubt" Ray Milland, Anne Blythe 02-25-49 21 "The Palm Beach Story" Anne Baxter, MacDonald Carey 03-04-49 22 "The Horn Blows At Midnight" Jack Benny * Claude Rains 03-11-49 23 "Welcome Stranger" Bing Crosby, Anne Blythe, B. Firzgerald 03-18-49 24 "Holy Matrimony" Charles Laughton 03-25-49 25 "The Show-Off" Dan Dailey 04-01-49 26 "Wuthering Heights" Montgomery Clift * by Emily Bronte Joan Lorring, Hester Sondergaard, Hedley Rennie, 04-08-49 27 "Lightnin'" Walter Huston 04-15-49 28 "Elmer the Great" Paul Douglas 04-22-49 29 "Skylark" Bette Davis 04-29-49 30 "Intermezzo" Fredric March 05-06-49 31 "Ladies in Retirement" Ida Lupino 05-13-49 32 "Alice Adams" Dorothy McGuire 05-20-49 33 "Crime Without Passion" Claude Rains, Margo 05-27-49 34 "To Mary With Love" Burgess Meredith 06-03-49 35 "Haunted Honeymoon" D. Fairbanks, Jr. 06-10-49 36 "Craig's Wife" Ruth Hussey 06-17-49 37 "Peg O' My Heart" Anne Blyth 06-24-49 38 "A Farewell to Arms" Helen Hayes * 07-01-49 39 "Cluny Brown" Alphabetical Listing: Title Date Net Num -------------------------------------------- -------- --- --- Abe Lincoln in Washington 48-02-15 NBC 20 Abe Lincoln of Illinois 48-02-08 NBC 19 Adventure of the Bad Boy, The 48-01-04 NBC 14 Ah, Wilderness 47-11-02 NBC 5 Alice Adams 48-05-02 NBC 31 Alice Adams 49-05-13 CBS 32 Anna Christie 49-01-21 CBS 16 Arrowsmith 48-06-27 NBC 39 Arsenic and Old Lace 48-01-25 NBC 17 Autumn Crocus 48-03-14 NBC 24 Awful Truth, The 49-02-11 CBS 19 Becky Sharp 48-12-31 CBS 13 Big Street, The 48-12-03 CBS 9 Bishop Misbehaves, The 48-02-22 NBC 21 Boomerang 49-01-14 CBS 15 Camille 48-11-12 CBS 6 Carmen Jones 47-11-16 NBC 7 Cimmarron 47-12-14 NBC 11 Cluny Brown 49-07-01 CBS 39 Coffin for Demetrics, A 47-10-26 NBC 4 Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, A 47-10-05 NBC 1 Counselor At Law 48-05-16 NBC 33 Count of Monte Cristo, The 48-02-29 NBC 22 Craig's Wife 49-06-10 CBS 36 Crime Without Passion 49-05-20 CBS 33 Damask Cheek, The 48-11-05 CBS 5 Dangerous Corner 47-11-30 NBC 9 Double Indemnity 48-10-15 CBS 2 Elmer the Great 49-04-15 CBS 28 Farewell to Arms, A 49-06-24 CBS 38 Father Dear Father 47-12-28 NBC 13 Front Page, The 48-05-09 NBC 32 Gentle People, The 48-12-17 CBS 11 George Washington Slept Here 47-11-23 NBC 8 Girl Crazy 48-01-18 NBC 16 Girl Crazy (Rehearsal) 48-01-13 NBC -- Goose Hangs High, The 48-04-04 NBC 27 Great McGinty, The 47-10-12 NBC 2 Green Pastures, The 48-02-01 NBC 18 Haunted Honeymoon 49-06-03 CBS 35 Holy Matrimony 49-03-18 CBS 24 Horn Blows At Midnight, The 49-03-04 CBS 22 Informer, The 48-03-28 NBC 26 Intermezzo 49-04-29 CBS 30 It's A Gift 48-03-21 NBC 25 Ladies in Retirement 49-05-06 CBS 31 Late Christopher Bean, The 48-06-20 NBC 38 Laura 48-05-30 NBC 35 Lightnin' 49-04-08 CBS 27 Madame Bovary 48-10-08 CBS 1 Male Animal, The 48-11-19 CBS 7 Man Who Played God, The 47-12-21 NBC 12 Michael and Mary 48-06-06 NBC 36 Murder of Roger Ackryod, The 48-04-11 NBC 28 My Sister Eileen 48-06-13 NBC 37 No Time For Love 49-02-04 CBS 18 Of Human Bondage 48-10-29 CBS 4 On Borrowed Time 47-10-19 NBC 3 Page Miss Glory 48-12-10 CBS 10 Palm Beach Story, The 49-02-25 CBS 21 Peg O' My Heart 49-06-17 CBS 37 Personal Appearance 48-04-25 NBC 30 Pilgrim's Inn 48-12-24 CBS 12 Power and the Glory, The 47-11-09 NBC 6 Secret Agent 48-11-26 CBS 8 Shadow of a Doubt 49-02-18 CBS 20 Show-Off, The 49-03-25 CBS 25 Silver Cord, The 48-04-18 NBC 29 Skylark 49-04-22 CBS 29 Star Is Born, A 48-05-23 NBC 34 Storm In A Tea Cup 48-01-11 NBC 15 Talk of the Town 49-01-07 CBS 14 To Mary With Love 49-05-27 CBS 34 Tom, Dick and Harry 48-10-22 CBS 3 Twentieth Century 48-03-07 NBC 23 We Hold These Truths 47-12-07 NBC 10 Welcome Stranger 49-03-11 CBS 23 Woman in the Window 49-01-28 CBS 17 Wuthering Heights 49-04-01 CBS 26 References: * "The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide To All Circulating Shows", by Jay Hickerson, 27436 Desert Rose Ct., Leesburg, FL 34748 * GOLDINdex database, J. David Goldin, Box 542, Newtown, CT 06470 (http://www.radiogoldindex.com) * OTR club and vendor catalogs or web sites: * Radio Memories, Ted Davenport, 1600 Wewoka St., North Little Rock, AR 72116 * Edward J. Carr, 216 Shaner Street, Boyertown, PA 19512 * Radio Historical Association of Colorado, PO Box 1908, Englewood, CO 80150 * Radio Showcase, Steve Kelez, PO Box 4357, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 * Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety And Comedy, PO Box 7177, Van Nuys, CA 91409-7177 * University of Memphis Radio Program Archive, Microforms Dept., McWherter Library, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152 * North American Radio Archives, 134 Vincewood Dr., Nicolasville, KY 40356 * 'Hello Again, Radio', 10280 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 * Jerry Haendiges Productions, Jerry Haendiges, 13808 Sunset Dr., Whittier, CA 90602 Other Logs or Books: * FORD THEATER log, Jerry Haendiges Productions, 13808 Sunset Dr., Whittier, CA 90602 (http://www.otrsite.com) Last Update: Jul 25, 2007 This log is informational only. It does not imply that I or my references have these shows for trade or sale. The shows may still be protected under copyright law and should be obtained only from authorized dealers. The log may be freely reproduced and published on a no-profit basis. Please send error corrections or additional information to Frank M. Passage, 109 Elmwood Road, Verona, NJ 07044 (email: wb2ntp@arrl.net).