Theatre Guild on the Air is an American dramatic anthology radio series that was broadcast on ABC from September 9, 1945, until June 5, 1949, and on NBC from September 11, 1949, to June 7, 1953. The name was sometimes seen as Theater Guild on the Air. Comments accompanying the Peabody Award that the program received cited "the admirable casting, ... unerring choice of plays, and ... craftsmanship with which these plays are adapted". It was the only radio series whose episodes were adapted only from stage plays.
Background George Kondolf, an employee of the Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn advertising agency (BBDO), persuaded the board of directors of United States Steel to sponsor a radio program. The board's agreement for sponsorship was accompanied by a desire for the country's best performers to appear on the show. Kondolf and his long-time friend Homer Fickett, who also worked at BBDO and had directed some of radio's top programs, decided that the best access to such talent was through the Theatre Guild. Collaboration between the agency and the guild resulted in creation of Theatre Guild on the Air. U.S. Steel had not previously advertised on radio.
Overview Publicity for the series began three months prior to its debut. Newspaper articles published in early June 1945 contained statements such as "The Theatre Guild is coming to the radio." Reports said that the program would not be limited to the Guild's own productions; "the finest actors and actresses in America" would be featured (when possible, those who created each play's characters) in the entire theater's most popular productions. After the end of the first season, Radio Life magazine said, "It offered the finest in dramatic entertainment from the greatest plays in legitimate theatre."
Radio historian John Dunning described the program as "a 60-minute package of prestige drama aimed at putting 'unadulterated' theater on radio", although he acknowledged that sometimes accommodations had to be made in the adaptation process.
The premiere episode, "Wings over Europe", starred Burgess Meredith. Originally presented on stage by the Guild in 1928, the play had been considered "a prophetic story of the atomic bomb", and it "was called a fantasy". Use of atomic bombs in World War II prompted the Guild to revive the play for radio. Subsequent episodes were diversified, including comedies, dramas, melodramas, and musicals.
Lawrence Langner was the host. The announcer was George Hicks, and the "Voice of U. S. Steel" was Norman Brokenshire. Harold Levey and his orchestra provided music.
Production Personnel Armina Marshall was head of the Guild's radio department. Supervisory directors of the series were Theresa Helburn and Langner. The initial producer was Kondolf. Carol Irwin became the producer in 1946 to begin the second season. She resigned in June 1949. Fickett was the director. His technique for working with the well-known stars featured on the program included using "only a few well-chosen words" to ensure that "they must keep their temperament under control". Although the cast made a recording before the actual broadcast, he made actors wait until after the episode went off the air to listen to the recording. He felt that an actor's hearing his own performance was "the worst thing in the world".
In addition to Fickett's work as director, in September 1949 he became the person who introduced each play and gave a preview of the next week's production. A review in The New York Times said, "He speaks clearly and non-theatrically and avoids excessive verbiage, which makes him practically a model presiding officer."
Adaptations Radio's time constraints necessitated reduction of plays' contents from what was presented on stage. Fickett emphasized the importance of maintaining the gist of the original production. "We don't merely cut," he said. "We adapt. We eliminate secondary characters and incidents ... however, the story and the characterization are there." Prior to the beginning of the program's second season the Guild decided to use well-known playwrights to adapt plays for the broadcasts. Playwrights who were assigned adaptations included Robert Anderson, Erik Barnouw, Denis Johnston, Welbourne Kelly, John Latouche, Kenyon Nicholson, and Virginia Radcliffe. A tie-in anthology was published containing 12 radio scripts, followed by a bound collection of specially produced programs for 13 episodes: Theatre Guild on the Air (1947) edited by H. William Fitelson U.S. Steel Hour Theatre Guild on the Air Programs (1952)
Schedule The program debuted on ABC on Sundays from 10 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time, carried coast-to-coast on 194 stations. When its third season began on September 7, 1947, it was moved to 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. E. T. Its last broadcast on ABC was on June 5, 1949. Beginning on September 11, 1949, it was on NBC on Sundays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. E. T. The New York Times reported, "For some time United States Steel has been anxious to acquire an earlier evening spot" for the program. The series ended with the June 7, 1953, episode. U. S. Steel announced that decision in May 1953, saying that it would instead sponsor a new television dramatic series that was scheduled to begin in the fall of 1953. The cancellation ended the company's eight-year sponsorship of Theatre Guild on the Air.
Sites The premiere episode originated from the Ritz Theatre, but most of the broadcasts originated from the Vanderbilt Theatre in New York City with an invited audience present. The February 29, 1948, broadcast originated from Constitution Hall to coincide with the launching of the American Red Cross's 1948 drive. The intermission included an address by President Harry Truman. The April 10, 1949, episode was presented from the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Almost 4,000 teachers of English and drama in schools in and around Chicago were guests for the broadcast. Other venues that were used for the series included Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama.
Episodes 1945-1946 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1945-1946 Date Episode Stars September 9, 1945 "Wings over Europe" Burgess Meredith October 7, 1945 "Ah, Wilderness!" Walter Huston October 21, 1945 "Sing Out, Sweet Land" Burl Ives, Josh White November 4, 1945 "Storm over Patsy" Martha Scott, Aline MacMahon, Richard Widmark December 2, 1945 "Elizabeth the Queen" Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne May 12, 1946 "Payment Deferred" Charles Laughton, Edward Marr, Elsa Lanchester, Franklyn Parker, Gale Gordon
1946-1947 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1946-1947 Date Episode Stars September 8, 1946 "Angel Street" Helen Hayes, Victor Jory, Leo G. Carroll November 24, 1946 "Burlesque" June Havoc, Bert Lahr, Tony Ross January 12, 1947 "The Male Animal" Elliott Nugent, Paul Douglas, Martha Scott January 19, 1947 "A Doll's House" Dorothy McGuire, Basil Rathbone, Roland Winters April 20, 1947 "The Age of Innocence" Gene Tierney, Arthur Kennedy May 4, 1947 "The Animal Kingdom" Fred Astaire, Wendy Barrie May 11, 1947 "Macbeth" Maurice Evans, Judith Anderson May 18, 1947 "Uncle Harry" Paul Henreid, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Mildred Dunnock May 25, 1947 "Ethan Frome" Raymond Massey, Pauline Lord, Mary Anderson June 8, 1947 "A Church Mouse" Basil Rathbone, Pamela Brown June 22, 1947 "Old Acquaintance" Ilka Chase, Dorothy Gish
1947-1948 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1947-1948 Date Episode Stars September 7, 1947 "One Sunday Afternoon" James Stewart, Haila Stoddard, Augusta Dabney, Leon Janney, Roger Pryor November 23, 1947 "The Straw" Mary Anderson, Robert Mitchum November 30, 1947 "Old English" Charles Laughton, Dorothy Hamilton December 7, 1947 "The Wisdom Tooth" Gene Kelly January 4, 1948 "The Little Foxes" Agnes Moorehead, Tallulah Bankhead, Thomas Mitchell, Zachary Scott February 29, 1948 "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" Madeleine Carroll, Brian Aherne
1948-1949 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1948-1949 Date Episode Stars October 17, 1948 "Laura" June Duprez, Burt Lancaster, George Coulouris December 5, 1948 "Lovers and Friends" Walter Pidgeon, Madeleine Carroll April 10, 1949 "The Taming of the Shrew" Burgess Meredith, Joyce Redman
1949-1950 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1949-1950 Date Episode Stars September 11, 1949 "Dream Girl" Betty Field, John Lund November 13, 1949 "Still Life" Helen Hayes, David Niven December 4, 1949 "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" Basil Rathbone, Madeleine Carroll December 18, 1949 "The Browning Version" Maurice Evans, Edna Best
1950-1951 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1950-1951 Date Episode Stars September 10, 1950 "Edward, My Son" Rosalind Russell, Charles Laughton January 28, 1951 "The Morning Glory" Anne Baxter, John Hodiak March 4, 1951 "Hamlet" John Gielgud, Dorothy McGuire, Pamela Brown
1951-1952 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1951-1952 Date Episode Stars September 9, 1951 "The Heiress" Basil Rathbone, Cornell Wilde, Betty Field September 16, 1951 "The Glass Menagerie" Helen Hayes, Montgomery Clift October 21, 1951 "Pygmalion" Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne January 6, 1952 "I Know My Love" Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne February 24, 1952 "Oliver Twist" Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff
1952-1953 + Partial List of Episodes of Theatre Guild on the Air in 1952-1953 Date Episode Stars November 2, 1952 "Lo and Behold" Basil Rathbone, Ann Blyth, Jeffrey Lynn November 23, 1952 "That Winslow Boy" Basil Rathbone, Alan Webb, Margaret Philips January 11, 1953 "Jane" Michael Redgrave, Edna Best
Critical response 1946 In a review in The New York Times, Jack Gould expressed disappointment at the play presented in the show's second-season debut. He wrote that "Angel Street" was produced "with the Guild's usual care", but the problem was "the curse of familiarity" (despite the quality of the episode's stars) because adaptations of that play and its film version had been presented so often on radio.
1947 A review of the Guild's production of "Macbeth" in the trade publication Billboard questioned whether radio was a suitable medium for Shakespeare's plays. Noting that he "wrote to be seen as well as heard", the review said that the adaptation "seemed curiously one dimensional". The review included compliments for the writer, actors, narration, and music but concluded by saying, "However, it seems to this reporter that Macbeth airs best as a noble experiment. It must be seen to be appreciated."
1948 The National Council of Teachers of English said in 1948 that Theatre Guild on the Air did the most "to further listeners' understanding and appreciation of our literary heritage and to awaken a greater love of good writing." The council also commended the Guild and the sponsor for the way plays were adapted for "the aural medium".
1949 Gould wrote in The New York Times that "Dream Girl", the debut episode for the season, suffered from technical difficulties related to adapting the play to radio. In particular, the review said that transitions between dreams and reality, which were evident on stage via lighting and setting, were difficult to perceive via radio. It commended Betty Field's performance in the title role while acknowledging that the adaptation to radio limited her abilities in comparison to her stage performance in that role.
1951 A review by Gould of the 1951 presentation of "Hamlet" called the 90-minute production "A refreshing departure from the dramatic norm on the airways and a commendably ambitious effort". However, the review also described the episode as more a spoken version of the play than a performed one. It noted the limitations imposed by radio as Hamlet's role frequently seemed to be diminished, players were often difficult to identify, and "The play within the play and the final death scene were lost in a babble of confusing voices."