Ford Theater (radio series)
[3] 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".
[4] 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.
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.
[6] 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.
[9] Media critic John Crosby wrote, "While radio actors have consistently proved more capable in their own medium than movie stars, the public remains apathetic toward them.
"[10] 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.
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.
[14] 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.
[19] Actors heard on the CBS version included Jean Arthur, Lucille Ball, Joan Bennett, Jack Benny, Ronald Colman, Bing Crosby, Marlene Dietrich, Bob Hope, Burt Lancaster, Ray Milland, and Claude Rains.
[24] The program ended with the July 1, 1949, episode as the sponsor chose to focus on the video counterpart, The Ford Television Theatre.
[26] 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.
[27] He also pointed out production problems, including "a noticeable lack of contrasting voice levels" of actors and hesitancy in the way the orchestra supported moods of the story.
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".
[33] While complimenting the stars' performances, the review gave higher praise to Markle for creating an distinctive animation for the episode.
