Ford Theater (radio series)

The creation of Ford Theater provided "a prestige hour dramatic show" for NBC after it tried to obtain Lux Radio Theatre from CBS or Theatre Guild on the Air from ABC. Plans for the program called for broadcasts of "adaptations of great plays, classic motion pictures, best-selling novels, prize-winning short stories, and an occasional musical". In another case, the program repeated an episode of Mr. District Attorney, which was purportedly the first time a commercial network series had dealt with antisemitism. The award-winning script was expanded to an hour for the Ford broadcast. Ford Theater competed with similar programs for programming as well as for audiences. Ford had planned to broadcast an adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street as its Christmas 1947 feature but had to air a different story after Lux obtained radio rights for the film. Confusion about the rights resulted from Ford's agency's negotiating with 20th Century-Fox's Eastern office while Lux's agency negotiated with the studio's West Coast office, neither aware of the other's activity. The fact that negotiations for Lux were concluded earlier resolved the problem. The following year Ford presented an adaption of Camille when Theatre Guild had announced plans to broadcast its own version but had not set a date for it. ==NBC version ==

The first version of the program debuted on October 5, 1947, replacing the NBC Symphony Orchestra's broadcast on Sundays from 5 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Howard Lindsay was the master of ceremonies and narrator. Actors Launching Ford Theater essentially meant "establishment of a genuine repertory theatre under commercial sponsorship" rather than using established stars. Producer George Zachary cited disadvantages of the star system: • Parts needed to be tailored to stars, thus disrupting characterization as well as proportions of other parts. Actors who appeared on the show included Ed Begley, Shirley Booth, Les Damon, Paul Douglas, Eric Dressler, Lauren Gilbert, Virginia Gilmore, Wendell Holmes, Muriel Kirkland, John Larkin, Gary Merrill, Claudia Morgan, Arnold Moss, Santos Ortega, Anne Seymour, Everett Sloane, Les Tremayne, Evelyn Varden, and Vicki Vola. By November 1947, original submissions had not matched the agency's hopes. The New York Times reported that the problem lay not in the number submitted but in their quality: "... several hundred have been submitted but only a very small fraction are suitable for broadcast and an infinitesimal number acceptable." The program met its quota of using two original scripts during its first 13 weeks, but only one was in store for use in the second 13 weeks. The report suggested that the money offered was not comparable to what a similar amount of effort might earn a writer for a work for a film or a play. The show's billings amounted to $2 million. The trade publication Billboard noted that putting Ford Theater in the 5-6 p.m. slot strengthened NBC's afternoon schedule and said that the move was likely to increase competition for other networks at that time. However, Ford's contract with NBC contained a provision that would move the show to an evening time slot if one became available. An article in the trade publication Sponsor noted the prestige value of Ford Theater to the company but added, "However, with a high-pressure, fast-moving vehicle (Fred Allen) on the same network on the same night delivering audiences within the top five in radio, the industry wonders just how long Henry Ford III will be willing to carry the class presentation ..." ==CBS version==

Ford Theater's premiere on CBS radio occurred on October 8, 1948. The change of networks occurred after NBC was unable to provide an evening time slot for the program. CBS broadcast it on Fridays from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The change in networks was accompanied by a change in format, with an increase in budget to $15,000 per episode and an emphasis on well-known stars. The programming also was revised with what Billboard described as "easing up on the artiness" in a way that would "combine the best features of Lux Radio Theatre and Theatre Guild of the Air". The move to CBS was accompanied by the end of that network's Studio One series, with its last episode broadcast on July 27, 1948. Billboard had reported prior to the move that the sustaining Studio One, which had a format similar to Ford Theater, would be unlikely to survive in light of Ford's funding advantage. Vincent McConnor was the script editor, and Ian Smith was the continuity editor. The show's competition included Break the Bank and Eddie Cantor's show. The program ended with the July 1, 1949, episode as the sponsor chose to focus on the video counterpart, The Ford Television Theatre. It was replaced by This Is Broadway. ==Episodes==

A review of the presentation of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" in The New York Times called it "the first disappointment of the season" and labeled the adaptation "a soap-opera rewrite" of the Mark Twain work. The review said that although some qualities of characters were lost in the adaptation, "As an adventure story, however, the production more than satisfied." He wrote that the script "was disconcertingly episodic", perhaps because of the limited time available. He also pointed out flaws in the performances of Swenson as Lincoln and Kirkland as his wife. The review concluded by saying that Lindsay's narration ending the episode had "excessive preciseness with condescending overemphasis on diction", missing the quality of the lines and breaking their mood "like a public address system blasting the peacefulness of a long winter's night in the country". Ford Theater "finally hit its stride" in its second-season premiere, according to a review in the trade publication Variety. The review said that the production of "Madame Bovary" was "an exciting hour of listening". While complimenting the stars' performances, the review gave higher praise to Markle for creating an distinctive animation for the episode. It said that his use of musical elements and background sounds approximated "something of a new dimensional quality for a strictly audio medium". ==References==