Screen Directors' Playhouse
9th January 1949 was the debut of the Screen Directors' Playhouse.
It was a series of classic films of the time adapted for radio and created to honor the directors of the movies. The directors of the film would personally bring you their favorite film assignments along with the stars who created the original roles. The very first show of the series was the time-honored film Stagecoach, which was directed by John Ford who in his career won five academy awards.
Stagecoach is a fine example to begin the Screen Directors' Playhouse series. it's a superb thirty-minute radio adaptation by Milton Geiger, a regular writer for the series.
In Stagecoach John Wayne is the Ringo Kid and Claire Trevor stars as Dallas both reprising their 1939 film roles. Ward Bond plays the part of Doc Boone. Stagecoach is the story of a party of people who travelled from Tonto to Lordsburgh by stagecoach and had to travel through land where the notorious Chief Geronimo and his Indian apaches were on the warpath. The passengers on the coach include the drunken Doc Boone, good-hearted prostitute Dallas, Lucy Mallory a pregnant woman, a bank manager who has taken off with his client's money, and of course the famous outlaw Ringo Kid.
The films were adapted in to sixty minute and thirty minute shows, with many of Hollywood’s elite heard recreating their movie roles on the radio. The series differed from others such as The Screen Guild Theater due to the addition of director participation. The films’ directors introduced their work, often recalling how the pictures themselves were made and also what those involved had been doing since.
The series ran until September 28th, 1951 producing 123 episodes of which, 120 are extant. We currently have over 90 episodes available on RUSC and will be adding more, watch this space!
It's incredible to believe that Screen Directors' Playhouse produced the first show of the series 74 years ago! For fans of old-time-radio and old classic movies this is a series that won't disappoint!
Happy listening my friends,
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