RADIO WESTERNS
Suspense 'The Spencer Brothers'
Riding clear across Kansas becomes hell for three outlaw brothers too stupid,
or too much of a family, to split up in order to avoid the posse chasing them.
Richard Widmark stars. William Conrad does a nifty bit as a terrified bank clerk;
but later, in a second role as a posse member,
he doesn't enunciate well and swallows a few essential words.
You'll recognize some Gunsmoke/CBS incidental music,
although the orchestration seems different.
Sam Edwards' dying sounds are good and beyond what was done in Gunsmoke.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Branded'
Craggy monument Charles Bickford plays his movie role,
but Burt Lancaster and Nancy Gates take over the Alan Ladd and Mona Freeman parts.
This radio adaptation has heart.
Suspense 'Ordeal In Donner Pass'
Families suffer the consequences of taking the Hastings shortcut to California.
Family Theater 'The Legend Of High Chin Bob'
A grandpa tells his grandson a yarn about a cowhand who stuck to what he was doing.
Family Theater 'Out of the Wilderness'
Feels like a lightweight story rambling and meandering pointlessly,
until you get the point from the name mentioned in the very last lines.
Family Theater 'Joaquin Murietta'
Ricardo Montalban is dashing in voice, and even without swordplay,
this tale of early California is more enjoyable and romantic than many versions of Zorro.
Hollywood Star Time 'The Mark Of Zorro'
Why quibble over Tyrone Power's absence and whether or not Zorro is a western?
Cornel Wilde does fine in this surprisingly good production,
with Joseph Kearns and Lurene Tuttle.
Family Theater 'Tennessee's Partner'
This being a Bret Harte story, it's about miners and not cowboys.
Walter Brennan plays a good friend and loyal partner,
before it was called being a codependent.
Family Theater 'The Last Battle'
Lamont Johnson in an excellent dramatization of the difficulty
of putting Civil War resentment to rest.
Family Theater 'A Point of Law'
Aw shucks dialogue for MacDonald Carey,
who does a cowboy drawl detrimental to this already contrived story.
Suspense 'A Killing in Abilene'
Alan Ladd plays an outsider at odds with a town
trying to lynch the man who killed his brother.
Suspense 'A Killing in Abilene'
In this second production,
Parley Baer has the unenviable job of filling Alan Ladd's shoes.
The Hallmark Hall Of Fame 'Tom Mix'
Tribute story to Tom Mix as a deputy U.S. Marshal.
Mix apprehends the Champs brothers, but has to stay awake until the posse arrives.
Escape 'The Notebook'
Runaway packmules, voracious wolves, murderous claim jumpers--
sounds like the typical elements of a 12-barrel blunderbuss Escape episode,
but this one actually has a deceptive subtlety.
OTHERS
Hollywood Star Time 'The Return Of Frank James'
Henry Fonda, Lurene Tuttle, Joseph Kearns, Burl Ives.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Shane'
Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Ruth Hussey, Ted de Corsia, Bill Bouchey, Parley Baer, Howard McNear.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Red River"
John Wayne, Jeff Chandler, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'She Wore A Yellow Ribbon'
John Wayne, Mel Ferrer, Mala Powers, Barton Yarborough, William Johnstone.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Destry Rides Again'
James Stewart, Joan Blondell.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Broken Arrow'
Burt Lancaster, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget, William Conrad, William Johnstone, Tom Tully.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Branded'
Burt Lancaster, Charles Bickford, Nancy Gates.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Northwest Mounted Police'
Gary Cooper, Preston Foster, Paulette Goddard, Howard McNear.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'The Westerner'
Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Forrest Tucker.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Virginia City'
Errol Flynn, Martha Scott.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'The Plainsman'
Fredric March, Jean Arthur, Joan Fontaine.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'The Lady From Cheyenne'
Edward Arnold, Loretta Young, Robert Preston.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Ticket To Tomahawk'
Dan Dailey, Anne Baxter, Lawrence Dobkin, Howard McNear, Bill Bouchey.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'The Virginian'
Gary Cooper, Charles Bickford.
Hallmark Playhouse 'The Virginian'
Macdonald Carey, Sam Edwards.
Hallmark Playhouse 'Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal'
Richard Conte, Gerald Mohr, Lurene Tuttle.
Hallmark Playhouse 'Cimarron'
Irene Dunne.
The Cavalcade of America 'Cimarron'
Irene Dunne.
Screen Directors' Playhouse 'The Gunfighter'
Gregory Peck, Ted de Corsia, Sam Edwards, Betty Lou Gerson.
The NBC University Theatre 'The Big Sky'
Robert Hutton, Parley Baer, Ralph Moody.
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre 'Along Came Jones'
Gary Cooper, William Demarest.
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre 'The Cowboy and The Lady'
Gregory Peck, Olivia De Havilland.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'The Cowboy and The Lady'
Gene Autry, Merle Oberon.
The Lux Radio Theatre 'Ruggles Of Red Gap'
Charles Laughton, Charles Ruggles, ZaSu Pitts.
Copyright © 2011-2014 E. A. Villafranca, Jr.
All Rights Reserved