Radio Soap Opera Discussion

[adrnyc]

Hmmmm. Alright - I'll have to give that one a go once I finish Hearts In Harmony (or give up on Aunt Mary)

 

Thanks!

[Paul Raven]

We Love Soaps has just posted a summary of the July  17th ep of HIH

1946: On syndicated radio soap opera Hearts in Harmony, Steve Parker and his fiancee Penny took a drive through the countryside around Rossville just a few days before their wedding.  Meanwhile, Jed told Johnny the FBI may be investigating Parker Industries. Hearts in Harmony premiered in 1941, and was sponsored by the Kroger grocery store chain.

[adrnyc]

 

Thanks! I actually saw that last year when they posted it - it's what originally caused me to search for HiH. I can't believe I've been listening to it for a year - I listen every morning while I walk the dogs.

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[Paul Raven]

A summary of Right to Happiness from the book 'Tune in Yesterday'.If anyone would like to request a radio soap.I'll post the extract from the book.

 

The Right to Happiness, one of Irna Phillips' four major daytime serials, first heard on NBC Blue October 16, 1939, evolved from The Guiding Light when Miss Phillips transplanted Rose Kransky from Light into the new format. But The Right to Happiness soon became the story of Carolyn Allen, a magazine editor's daughter whose search for a "God-given right to happiness" led her through four husbands, a prison sentence, and hours of anguish at the hands of her rebellious RIN-TIN-TIN 513 son Skip.

Early in the run, Carolyn Allen became the wife of Bill Walker, a self-centered man who proved himself "capable of anything." She killed him with a pistol in an accident that police called murder, and endured four months of legal maneuvering and trial. Later, Carolyn Allen Walker married Dwight Kramer, a union foredoomed by the fickle nature of both. Son Skip, born while she was incarcerated in the state penitentiary, would become her greatest source of joy and pain, but that was still far in the future.

 

Carolyn Allen Walker Kramer was to marry again, this time Governor Miles Nelson, who brought political intrigue into the plot. That marriage too gradually trickled downhill. Finally Carolyn Allen Walker Kramer Nelson settled down with Lee MacDonald, a handsome, brilliant lawyer. With that marriage, her time was up. The serial expired November 25, 1960, before Carolyn could tire of Lee and move on to other marital pastures. It faded out with the two of them securely wrapped in each other's arms and Carolyn explaining her philosophy that "we are all born with the right to happiness."

 

For twenty-one years this show came packaged to the theme, "Song of the Soul." Miss Phillips sold The Right to Happiness to an agency in 1942; it was moved from Chicago to New York, and John M. Young was selected to write it after a writing contest had been conducted by the agency to find Miss Phillips' successor. Eloise Kummer was the original Carolyn in Chicago; Claudia Morgan took over in New York and finished the role. Gary Merrill and John Larkin played Miles Nelson. Dick Wells and David Gothard were among those who played Dwight Kramer. Reese Taylor was the ill-tempered, ill-fated Bill Walker. Ruth Bailey played Rose Kransky, as she had on The Guiding Light. Procter & Gamble was the longtime sponsor. For the bulk of its run, The Right to Happiness was an NBC show; it moved to CBS in its final days.

[Paul Raven]

Life Can Be Beautiful

Life Can Be Beautiful had a plot that couldn't fail. Carol Conrad was young, afraid, and alone; a product of the big -town slums and not yet out of her teens. Seeking shelter, she found it with one of the grand old philosophers of daytime radio. For on that day-September 5, 1938-Carol found Papa David Solomon, owner of the Slightly Read Bookshop, and began her new life as his ward. With the new life came a new name. Carol became the fiery, impetuous "Chichi," girl of the streets. Seeking a hiding place from Gyp Mendoza, the neighborhood bully, she was taken in by kindly old Papa David, who let her sleep on a pallet in the back room of his store. The pallet became a bed; the back room became Chichi's room, and for the next fifteen years she and Papa David shared their lives, troubles, and adventures.

 

That was the beginning of Life Can Be Beautiful, "an inspiring message of faith drawn from life, written by Carl Bixby and Don Becker and brought to you by Spic And Span." As she grew up, Chichi became a daughter to the old man. Her life, and the men in it, became the great concern of Papa David:s last years. That was why Papa David must have been particularly gratified when Chichi decided to marry Stephen Hamilton. Stephen was like a son to Papa David. A hopeless cripple, he too had been taken in by the kindly old book dealer. Papa David had given Stephen a job in the Slightly Read Bookstore when no one else would hire him. Chichi was impressed by Stephen's intellect, amazed that she could be loved by a man so much greater than she. A long -running romance was triggered; Stephen was partly cured of his paralysis through an amazing operation, then lost his legs in a later accident. Some listeners began clamoring for marriage. Bixby and Becker yielded to the outcry. Chichi and Stephen were married. Almost immediately, the writers realized their mistake. Stephen was like a millstone around her neck. So after involving him with another woman and getting him entangled in a jewel heist, they killed him off with a heart attack. Stephen, one of the great sympathy characters of daytime radio, turned blackheart at the end. Even Chichi's baby died, the result of pneumonia caught when Stephen foolishly took him out unprotected in the rain. Chichi, free again, became one of the most eligible singles of the matinee airwaves. The one consistent man in her life, her "chum from the streets" Toby Nelson, loved her passionately but without hope. Toby was just her pal (she was always "Cheech" to him), a shoulder to cry on when things got too tough. He was around for most of the run, disappearing to Korea a couple of years before the serial was dropped in 1954

 

. Life Can Be Beautiful was one of the best -loved of radio's soaps. To the actors who worked on it, the show became known by its first letters, LCBB, which translated over the years into the pet name "Elsie Beebe." Ralph Locke went all the way as Papa David, and died soon after the show left the air. Alice Reinheart played Chichi for the first eight years, and then the part was taken by Teri Keane, who finished it. Toby was Carl Eastman. Stephen Hamilton was first played by John Holbrook, later by Earl Larrimore. Becker and Bixby shared the writing duties, each taking over for several weeks at a time and working out their plots by telephone. They began each show with some piece of heavy philosophy: for example, "John Ruskin wrote this: 'Whenever money is the principal object of life, it is both got ill and spent ill, and does harm both in getting and spending. When getting and spending happiness is our aim, life can be beautiful.' " And "Longfellow expressed the opinion that the Sabbath is the golden clasp that binds together the volume of the week . . . By the way, how long has it been since you've been to church, where you'll find new assurances that life can be beautiful. . . ?" Despite the tearstained plots, Becker and Bixby thought of their serial as a beam of hope in a dark world. It proved-they told Time in 1953-that, "however dark the world, this too will pass."

Edited August 25, 2017 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Radio Mirror February 1949

 

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[Paul Raven]

So Helen Trent was on radio the same time Jo was going through her traumas on Search For Tomorrow on TV.

 

Wonder how many long time listeners defected to TV?

[DRW50]

 

Probably quite a few, although if radio hadn't been dumped wholesale in the late '50s I wonder if the soaps would have kept an audience, as The Archers has in the UK.

[Paul Raven]

Some summaries of soaps airing in 1949 

 

BACKSTAGE WIFE
CAST: Mary Noble, wife of Larry Noble, one of the most popular actors on Broadway; Rupert Barlow, backer of the new play in which Larry is starring; Beatrice Dunmore, beautiful press agent hired by Barlow to publicize the play.

 

BACKGROUND: As rehearsals for Larry's ploy go on, Mary becomes aware that Barlow seems anxious to spend as much time as he can with her. She finds him a pleasant and considerate companion, and is grateful for his activities on Larry's behalf, but does not suspect that he has fallen so deeply in love with her that he has hired Beatrice Dunmore to attract Larry,

 

RECENTLY: Determined and clever as Barlow is, he does not know much about the solid, enduring kind of love that exists between Mary and Larry. In spite of his efforts they have been drawn even closer together. Mary seems immune to all Barlow's plans to involve her with himself, and Larry remains cold to Beatrice Dunmore's charms. Blaming Beatrice for his failure as well as her own, Barlow dismisses her. But Beatrice herself is not yet ready to admit failure.

 

BIG SISTER

CAST: Ruth Wayne, wife of Dr. John Wayne; Dr. Reed Bannister, John's associate at the Glen Falls Health Centre; Valerie, Reed's wife; Dr. Kenneth Morgan, former protege of Reed's; Mary Winters, a widow with a farm just outside Glen Falls.

 

BACKGROUND: The friendship between Reed and John, in which there has always been an element of rivalry, is badly strained over John's cultivation of Parker, a power hungry millionaire distrusted by all the others. But when John angrily resigns from the Centre, Ruth persuades him to reconsider.

 

RECENTLY: Still in conflict with Reed, John resumes work at the Centre. The situation is not improved when Dr. Kenneth Morgan comes to town. This embittered young man, whose work Reed believes brilliant, arouses John's antagonism, and the tension increases when Reed gives Morgan a job at the Centre. It looks too as though Morgan it going to bring trouble to Mary Winters, who has already hod more than her share. At Ruth's suggestion the young doctor takes a room at the Winters form, and Mary finds herself falling in love with him.

 

BRIGHTER DAY

CAST: Liz Dennis, daughter of Reverend Richard Dennis of Three Oak:, who-though she's only twenty-six-mothers the rest of the family; Althea, now Mrs. Bruce Bigby; Patsy, the sharp-tongued teen -agar; Bobby, the baby; Grayling, the only boy.

BACKGROUND: Althea's marriage to young Bruce Bigby, student son of the very wealthy Bigby family, seemed like a real success story. So Liz believed when glamorous Althea, evidently prepared to be the perfect wife, went off with Bruce to the college town in the East where he was

 

RECENTLY: Now, however, Althea is back in town for a visit-a visit after which none of the Dennises will ever be the same. For it is shockingly apparent now that Althea married Bruce only for his money, and is so determined to get some that she finally provokes Bruce's father into ordering her out of his house. Undaunted, Althea starts using Bruce's love for her as a goad to make him fight for money. Even Liz, who believes ill of nobody, now sees her sister as the callous person she really is.

 

DOROTHY DIX AT HOME

CAST: Dorothy Dix is a name familiar to all of us-the name of a woman who has earned world-wide fame through her sensitive, yet forthright advice on personal relations. This new radio drama tells the story of the woman behind the name, the woman who, in a pleasant, rambling farmhouse near Greenfield, writes her thoughtful replies to the questions of bewildered people, and somehow finds time as well to consider the problems of her neighbors.

 

BACKGROUND: Dorothy's handsome nephew, John, hos been offered $10,000 by Roxanne Wallingford's banker to break up on affair between the headstrong young heiress and the gangster, Sherman Lane. Though Roxanne seems interested in John, Lanes influence over her is very strong. Dorothy suspects that the real basis for it lies in Roxonne's hatred for her mother, Lela.

 

RECENTLY: In on honest talk with Dorothy, Lane reveals that Roxanne is almost in- sanely determined to force her mother to leave their home. It's Dorothy's problem now: should she tell Lela how desperately her own daughter despises her?

 

DAVID HARUM

CAST: David Harum, leading citizen of HomeviIle; Aunt Polly Benson, his sister; Mrs. Elaine Dilling, an old Homeville resident whose recent return has started a mysterious series of events; "Dorothy," who is supposed to be Mrs. Dilling's daughter but isn't; Jack Wallace. "Dorothy's" fiance; Hilda Jockson, posing as Mrs. Bradshaw. mother of Elaine Dilling.

 

BACKGROUND: As president of the Horneville Bank. David is vitally concerned in Elaine Dilling's affairs, because she hos returned to HomeviIle to claim on inheritance belonging to her daughter.

 

RECENTLY: A secret in Elaine Dilling's life has placed her in the power of Jock Wallace and his accomplice, the girl who is posing as Dorothy. Meanwhile the real Dorothy Dilling is a prisoner in the old Dilling home, watched over by Hilda Jackson. Wily old Hilda successfully deceives David into accepting her as Elaine Dilling's mother, and-with Elaine powerless to help herself and her daughter Dorothy-it looks as if Jack, "Dorothy" and Hilda may succeed in acquiring Dorothy Dilling's money

 

FRONT PAGE FARRELL

CAST: David Farrell, star reporter for the New York Eagle; Sally, his wife.

 

BACKGROUND: When his city editor sends David out on o story, he is almost always sure of getting more than he asked for, because "Front Page" Farrell is never satisfied with mere facts. He wants to know and generally finds out-what's behind the facts. Sally, who used to be a reporter herself, hos the some keen -eyed curiosity as her husband, and though he sometimes tries to talk her out of coming along on his more dangerous missions, he invariably ends up being grateful that she is around to help.

 

RECENTLY: One of David's recent assignments centers around an authoress whose new book sensationally "exposes" a number of socially prominent people. Keeping an appointment to interview the woman, he arrives at her house just as a taxi pulls up before the door. In it, to David's horror, is the writer . . . murdered. The confused trail which leads David from this incident guides him finally to a society party at which a daring robbery fob's place, and to the capture of a gang of blackmailers.

 

GUIDING LIGHT

CAST :Charlotte and Ray Brandon, whose marriage begins to break up when their adopted child, Chuckie, is claimed by his real mother, Meta Bauer; Dr. Ross Boling, with whom both Meta and her sister Trudy are in love; Ted White, Chuckie's father. who wants to marry Meta; Mama and Papa Bauer, anxious about their daughters; Dr. Reginald Parker. brilliant, cynical surgeon who knows something about Ross Boling's past.

 

BACKGROUND: When Charlotte, over Ray's protests, agreed to give Chuckie up she thought she was doing the best thing for him. Nobody knew that the little boy would become the center of a struggle as Ted, determined to give his son a home and family, fries to force Meta to marry him.

 

RECENTLY: Finally persuaded that she owes it to Chuckie, Meta agrees to marry Ted. Trudy hopes th.s will give her a clear field with Ross, but the young doctor faces his real feelings and makes a fight for Meta. Meanwhile, Reginald Porker's enmity hangs like a two-edged sword over Ross's head- a personal. and professional, threat.

 

MORE TO COME...

[Paul Raven]

HILLTOP HOUSE

CAST: Julie Paferno, assistant to Mrs. Grace Doll:on, supervisor of Glendale's orphanage, Hilltop House; Michael, Julie's lawyer husband; Kevin Burke, whom Julie once loved; Clementine, the six -year -old Hilltop girl who knew she would someday find her father.

 

BACKGROUND: To everyone's joy, Clementine's father is found. But Julie's efforts to bring them together change quickly into an anxious attempt to keep them apart, for Sgt. Clement Arnaud not only refuses to acknowledge the child but makes many bitter, frightening threats against her.

 

RECENTLY: Julie finally learns that Arnaud's hatred for Clementine is based on the lies about his wife, now dead, that were sent to him by his jealous sister while he was overseas. Working patiently, Julie convinces Arnaud that his suspicions are unwarranted, and is delighted when he completely accepts Clementine. But Mrs. Dolben's heart is set on having Clementine adopted by the Jessups, particularly since Arnaud is penniless. She resents what she considers interference or Julie's part.

 

JUST PLAIN BILL

CAST: Bill Davidson, barber of Hartville; Nancy, his daughter. wife of lawyer Kerry Donovan; Wesley Franklin, whose return to Hartville upsets the lives of John Ross and his daughter, Karen.

 

BACKGROUND: Karen Ross, knowing that Wesley Franklin is determined to get control of her father's factory. She tries to turn Franklin from his purpose by flirting with him. Bill warns her against trifling with a man like Franklin, but Karen goes on-till suddenly she realizes Bill's fears are justified. Franklin forces her to promise that she will marry him after he divorces his wife.

 

RECENTLY: John Ross furiously orders Franklin to leave Karen alone. In the midst of this explosive situation Franklin suddenly disappears. Ross, who made no secret of his hatred for the man, is suspected of knowing something about the disappearance, and when Franklin is later discovered. murdered. Ross is in a very dangerous position. But Bill Davidson, who has a habit of keeping his eyes and ears open. manages to save his friend and bring the real murderer to justice.

 

 

LIFE CAN BE BEAUTIFUL

CAST: Papa David, whose belief that life can be beautiful has helped many of his friends, particularly Chichi, the girl who is now like a daughter to him; Douglas Norman, engaged to Chichi; Alice Swanson, who helps Douglas run the East Side News.

 

BACKGROUND: After their brief quarrel over Chichi's interest in Chuck Lewis, the tough young gang -leader, Chichi and Douglas are closer than ever. Douglas now realizes that the attention Chichi was paying Chuck arose from her desire to help the boy outgrow his delinquent tendencies-in a way, she was spreading Papa David's philosophy to still another young person, knowing how it had helped her.

 

RECENTLY: Everyone is happy that Chichi and Douglas are reconciled, except, perhaps Alice Swanson. With one bitter marital experience behind her, Alice has been very much afraid to fall in love again. But Douglas Norman has come to represent everything she wants in a husband-and he, apparently, cares only for Chichi. Alice hasn't had much happiness lately. Will she try to win Douglas?

 

LORA LAWTON

CAST: Lora Lawton, who works in a dress shop and lives quietly with her friend, May Case, until millionaire Theodore Blaine enters her life; Rosalind Ray, star of the play Blain is backing; Sidney Markey, Rosalind's manager.

 

BACKGROUND: With Blaine's encouragement, Lora embarks on a cores, as a designer, planning the costumes for the play in which Rosalind Ray stars. Rosalind watches with catlike jealousy as Blaine's interest in Lora deepens into

 

RECENTLY: Undiscouraged by several failures to discredit Lora in Blaine's eyes, Rosalind and Markey work out a brutal plan for the out-of-town opening of the ploy. They mix up the costumes Lora has designed so carefully, and manage to create a clumsy effect for which, of course, Lora, as the designer, is blamed. But before the play opens on Broadway the mix-up is straightened out. Lora's costumes ore shown in their proper light and she is hailed as a success. However, Rosalind's determination to break up the affair between Lora and Blaine has reached o dangerous intensity

 

LORENZO JONES

CAST: Lorenzo Jones, a mechanic who'd rather be an inventor; Belle, his wife, who may question Lorenzo's ideas, but won't allow anyone else to do so; Marty Crandall, on old friend who comes back to town in a blaze of glory-a successful inventor.

 

BACKGROUND: Though at first he's happy to see Marty again, Lorenzo becomes suspicious of the invention about which Marty talks so mysteriously. The admiration which the whole town-Belle included-lavishes on Marty adds strength to Lorenzo's distrust of the man. What kind of machine is it, Lorenzo wonders, that keeps Marty so busy in the workroom that Lorenzo hos loaned him?

 

RECENTLY: Gradually Lorenzo pieces together a fantastic idea, to which he clings despite Belle's scoffing. Astonishingly, it turns out to be correct! Marty is a counterfeiter, wanted by Treasury agents! When he is apprehended, Lorenzo, who has spread it around that he has known the truth all along, becomes the town hero. After basking in this for a while, he turns to new food for thought: a famous author, whom he somehow, instinctively, mistrusts.

 

MA PERKINS

CAST: Mo Perkins, Rushville Center's best - loved resident; Shuffle Shober, her associate in the lumber yard she runs; Joe, the young milkman of whom Ma is so fond.

 

BACKGROUND: Mr. Boswell, an old friend makes a surprising suggestion to Ma. A good lumber yard is for sale in Middleboro. and Boswell says he will finance its purchase if Ma will manage it. Ma likes the idea, but who con be enlisted to do the active work?

 

RECENTLY: Shuffle, of course, can't be spared; Willy Fitz, husband of Mo's daughter Evy, feels too much of home in Rushville Center to move to another town; and Joe claims he has no ambitions beyond driving his milk -wagon. It looks as if Boswell's offer may go begging .. . but all at once comes a letter from Cousin Bonito Hammmocker who, when lost heard from, was homesteading in Alaska with her family. But Alaska didn't turn out any better than their other ventures. They claim it's hard luck; Shuffle wonders if it mightn't be shiftlessness. Anyway, they ore once again looking for an "opportunity." Are the Hammockers the answer to Mr. Boswell's offer?

 

MARRIAGE FOR TWO

CAST: Vikki Adams, who marries Roger Hoyt believing he will outgrow his instability; Roger's Aunt Debbie and Vikki's parents, who are worried about the marriage- Pamela, Roger's former girl friend.

 

 

BACKGROUND: Vikki and Roger set up housekeeping in the lavish house Roger insisted on renting from Debbie. It forces them to live beyond their means; Roger even hires a maid to help with the house- work. But a series of ghastly noises which Vikki hears in the cellar are heard by tie maid too, and after that it seems no maid will stay in this Hoyt home.

 

RECENTLY: Pamela, working near Roger in town, makes opportunities to s him and remind him how wonderful he is. In contrast to his uneasy home and to Vikki, who is always over -tired and worried about money, there interludes seem increasingly pleasant to Roger. Meanwhile Vikki is drawn into the troubles of Loretta, her matron of honor, who can't decide whether to go back to Mike, from whom she's separated. Vikki is on the side of true love but is she giving Loretta the right advice?

[Paul Raven]

OUR GAL SUNDAY

CAST: Sunday and her husband, Lord Henry Brinthrope, who Iive at Black Swan Hall, in Fairbrooke, Virginia, Lewis Carter, his crippled daughter Hazel, and his brilliant ward, Joyce Irwin; Florence, Carter's wife, just released from a mental hospital; Roy Kingsley, the mysterious stranger who was kind to Hazel until he saw Joyce: Clifford Steele, an insistent suitor of Joyce's.

 

BACKGROUND: Everyone, including Joyce, is shocked when Lewis Carter's devotion to her is finally revealed as a romantic attachment, instead of the fatherly affection it seemed to be. It is particularly upsetting in view of Florence Carter's recent return to a normal life, full of hope that it will be a happy one.

 

RECENTLY: The tragedy which Sunday fears finally strikes. Joyce Irwin falls to her death from a hotel window in nearby Richmond. Everyone assumes she killed herself in remorse over coming between Carter and his wife . . . everyone but Sunday, whose firm conviction that Joyce was murdered is triumphantly vindicated when she helps to expose the murders-.

 

PEPPER YOUNG'S FAMILY

.CAST: Pepper Young, the red-headed boy who grew up to be Mayor of Elmwood; Linda, his wife; Peggy, his sister, wife of Carter Trent; Dad Young, who hopes Mother Young won't tell Carter's wealthy, strongwilled mother, Mrs. Ivy Trent, what she thinks of her; Edie, who firmly believes that Andy, her husband, is still alive though he's been missing over a year after a plane crash in South America.

 

BACKGROUND: When Mother Young sees Ivy Trent manouvre her secretary out of what might be a happy love affair with pilot Jerry Feldman, she explodes. Now things can never be the same.

 

RECENTLY: Ivy Trent persuades tough Gil and his long-suffering wife Min, to corn to Elmwood for a while. She gives Gil some money, feeling vaguely that it's wise to have him available for anything she might want him to do. Bored with Elmwood, Gil arranges for his extra-marital girl friend, Sadie, to come on from Chicago. What will happen when Min finally rebels? And what of the search for Andy, which is still going on down in South America?

 

PERRY MASON

CAST: Perry Mason, sharp-witted lawyer – detective, Della Street, his secretary; Martha and Don Smith, his clients, now standing trial for the murder of blackmailer Wilfred Palmer; Allyn Whitlock, a willful girl completely corrupted by her association with a peculiar man named Walter Bodt; Audrey Beekman, desperate with fear that her hard won happiness will be destroyed if her husband, Ed, learns she was involved with Palmer.

 

BACKGROUND: In spite of Perry and his colleague Paul Drake, Martha is indicted for Palmer's murder, with Don named as her accomplice. Th most hopeful clue Perry has so far is a glove . . . a glove which Audrey, from its picture in the newspapers, recognizes as her own.

 

RECENTLY: Hysterically, Audrey visits Martha in jail and extracts a promise that Martha will not reveal that Audrey, too, was being blackmailed by Palmer, and can testify to Martha's innocence unless there is no other way for Martha to save herself. But is anyone safe while Allyn Whitlock is still at large?

 

PORTIA FACES LIFE

CAST: Portia Manning, a lawyer, whose heart -breaking present assignment is the defense of her husband, Walter, who stands accused of the murder of Joan Ward; Clint Morley, the district attorney whose admiration for Portia leads him to press for Walter's conviction; Dickie, Portia's son, who was forced to reveal evidence which he knows helped build the case against Walter; Connie Abbott, a waitress who owes Portia a debt of gratitude, and pays it by trying to clear Wolter. BACKGROUND: As circumstantial evidence piles up around Walter, even Murray Lathrop, the lawyer with whom Portia is working, decides his client is guilty and withdraws from the case.

 

RECENTLY: Connie Abbott knows that if Nick Evans con be persuaded, or paid, to tell the truth Walter will be out of danger, for Nick's story can prove that Steve Ward, the dead woman's husband, hos no alibi for the time of the murder. But can Connie and Keith Baker raise the five hundred dollars without which Nick will not reveal what he knows?

 

RIGHT TO HAPPINESS

CAST: Carolyn Kramer, divorced from Dwight Kramer, who has been granted custody of their son, Skippy; lawyer Miles Nelson, Corolyn's fiance, who is running for Governor; Constance Wakefield, once Carolyn's good friend, now Dwight's wife, Dr. Dick Campbell, Carolyn's former suitor: Annette Thorpe, powerful head of the newspaper chain backing Miles's candidacy.

 

BACKGROUND: Miles, after beginning a brilliant fight on Carolyn's behalf in the custody battle over Skippy, was forced to turn it over to his partner when a crisis in his political party called him to the state capital .Though Carolyn knows his presence might have made no difference, she feels that he deserted her when she needed him.

 

RECENTLY: Carolyn's resentment and fears for the future are intensified when, on Miles's return, .he sees that Annette Thorpe's claims on him have become powerful. Losing hope that he will succeed in getting this custody decision reversed, Carolyn forms a plan to take Skippy and flee the court's jurisdiction. It's an unwise scheme, but Carolyn is too upset to see how foolishly she's acting.

 

ROAD OF LIFE

CAST: Dr. Jim Brent, who does not suspect that his wife, just returned to him and his daughter Janey after a year -long absence, is not the real "Carol Brent" but an imposter; Beth Lambert, the actress trained to pose as "Carol" by a gang that wants information about Jim's important work at Wheelock Hospital; Frank Dana, a newspaperman who is suspicious of the story Beth tells to explain Carol's absence.

 

BACKGROUND: Though Beth's mission gets off to a successful start, her own emotions interfere. Janey and Jim begin to mean too much to her ... so much that she starts faking the information she sends to Rockwell, head of the gang which employs her.

 

RECENTLY: Beth, now hoping she can prevent the ruin of Jim's work, doesn't know that Frank Dana has sent a man to Europe to investigate her background. His suspicions gain strength when he learns of a meeting between Beth and Rockwell, who is now pretty sure that he is being deceived and comes to check on Beth. Time is what Beth needs . . . time enough to g ain Jim's confidence and tell him the truth.

[Paul Raven]

ROMANCE OF HELEN TRENT

CAST: Helen Trent, Hollywood designer, fighting for her life against the charge that she murdered producer Rex Carroll; Gil Whitney, resourceful lawyer, working desperately for Helen because he believes her innocent-and loves her; Cynthia Swanson, always Helen's enemy; her maid Francine, whose association with the sinister Karl Dorn involves her in Carroll's murder.

 

BACKGROUND: Found in Carroll's apartment alone with his dead body, Helen's explanation that he was dead when she arrived makes no impression on the police. Gil, working his way through tangled evidence, finally collects enough material to persuade the District Attorney to issue warrants for the arrest of Dorn and Francine

 

RECENTLY: The bewildered Francine, who was hypnotized by Dorn at the time of Carroll's murder, does not know how deeply she's involved. But she agrees to run away with Dorn when he orders her to do so. In his anxiety to leave no witness who can testify to his frequent visits, Dorn tries to kill the doorman of Carroll's building. This is a mistake . perhaps his last.

 

ROSEMARY

CAST: Rosemary, wife of Bill Roberts, who joins him in New York where he has accepted a promising new job in an advertising firm; Lefty Higgins, gangster, whose relationship with Bill's first wife keeps him on the fringes of the Roberts' lives.

 

BACKGROUND: Bill's trip to New York makes history in Springdale, for at the last minute his assistant, Jane Springham, decides to go along. Some time later Jane returns, and frankly tells Rosemary that she loves Bill. However, when she told him so when they were alone in New York, he insisted that she go bock to Springdale.

 

RECENTLY: Completely convinced of Bill's love, Rosemary joyfully wires him she is on her way to join him. But there is no Bill to meet her, and since she can't seem to contact his office, she spends a frantic time searching for him before he finally finds her. Sent off at the last minute on on urgent outof-town deal, he made arrangements to have her met, which misfired. But now they are together in the luxurious apartment Bill's boss found for them, and eagerly embark on an exciting new phase of their marriage.

 

SECOND MRS BURTON

CAST: Terry Burton, whose husband Stan is a merchant in Dickston; Barbara Wright, who is hurt in a railway crash on her way to the Burton's; the strange traveling -companion who steals her purse, and her identity, and whose real name is Helene Gruner.

 

BACKGROUND: Having made room in their home for Barbara at the request of Terry's father, the Burtons welcome Helene .. unaware that the real Barbara is fighting amnesia in a nearby town. But almost at once Helene behaves oddly; she is tough, evasive, and steals jewelry from Terry and merchandise from the store.

 

RECENTLY: Still without a memory, Barbara finds the Burton address in her coat pocket and impulsively goes to it. When she sees Helene, she starts remembering, and Helene knowing that if Barbara succeeds in regaining her memory she will be in danger of imprisonment, frantically tries to kill Barbara. But Jerry and Stan, their suspicions thoroughly aroused, pick up the trail Helene has left and manage to arrive in time to rescue Barbara. Meanwhile . who is the mysterious stronger trailing Stan'?

 

STELLA DALLAS

CAST: Stella Dallas, who believes that her simple, homely personality hos no place in her daughter's life now that Laurel is married to wealthy Richard Grosvenor; Mrs. Grosvenor, Dick's widowed mother; Gordon and Mercedes Crale, who gain Mrs. Grosvenor's confidence, and whom Stella instinctively distrusts.

 

BACKGROUND: Seeing Laurel's happiness threatened, Stella sacrifices her own principles against interfering, and tries to warn Mrs. Grosvenor against Gordon. But the deluded woman goes ahead with pla s to marry the smooth gentleman who-as Stella fears-is merely after the Grosvenor money.

 

RECENTLY: Though Stella can't destroy Mrs. Grosvenor's faith in Crabs, she can work to save Laurel's marriage from Mer- cedes Crale's obvious determination to break it up. Then one of Crale's associates double-crosses him, stealing some securities which Mrs. Grosvenor planned to give to Crole to invest for her. Stella sees that the Crale plot is even worse than she suspected. Fortunately, Dick is now on her side-but, even together, can they save his mother?

 

THIS IS NORA DRAKE

CAST: Nora Drake, a nurse, who is frying to help lawyer Charles Dobbs save his career from the after-effects of the death of Big John Morley; Tom, Morley's vindictive son; Suzanne, the sensitive young refugee befriended by Nora, in love with Charles. but persuaded by Tom to become his ally; George Stewart, Charles's brother, who makes it possible for Torn to fulfill his threat against Charles; Dorothy, George's wife.

 

BACKGROUND: Believing his father killed himself to avoid a case Charles was building against him, Tom is delighted when he finds evidence that enables him to bring suit against George ,or forgery. Charles and Dorothy pool all their cash for George's bail ... which makes it grim for them when he disappears.

 

RECENTLY: In a characteristic reversal of feeling, George decides he has injured his brother and must make some restitution. He broods over what it shall be, and finally appears one day in Tom s hotel room, determined to make him pay for Charles's suffering. Shocked, Tom recites that he is facing on enemy intent on murder.

 

WENDY WARREN

CAST: Wendy Warren, newspaperwomon; Mark Douglas, who hoped to marry Wendy when his estranged wife Nona divorced him: Aunt Dorrie, who kept house for Wendy's father until he went to a sanitarium to recuperate from a heart attack; Don Smith, new managing editor on Wendy's paper.

 

BACKGROUND: The Douglas divorce is almost under way when Nona seeks a meeting with Wendy, to tell her that she has discovered she is going to have a baby and has decided, in spite of their past troubles, to try to make a go of her marriage to Mark. Convinced by Nona's sincerity, Wendy agrees not only to give Mark up but to help Nona work things out with him.

 

RECENTLY: Though gossip still couples Wendy with Mark, she tries firmly to put him out of her mind. Concentrating on her work is easy right now, because of the dynamic new editor whose keen ideas and criticism keep Wendy on her toes. At first their interviews together are rather barbed, out Wendy soon begins to suspect that Don is not only a brilliant editor but could be a very attractive man . . if he wanted to.

 

WHEN A GIRL MARRIES

CAST: Joan Davis, who learns that her husband, Harry, has not really recovered from a recent loss of memory; Terry McDonough, who knew Harry while he was ill in New York, and comes to Beachwood to warn him that Angie, the woman to whom he became engaged during his spell of amnesia, has not given him up; Anne Dunn, who hates Joan, and hopes to make her suffer by hiring Angie to work at her hotel.

 

BACKGROUND: Though Joan now knows that Harry's love for her is all he actually recalls from his past life, she hopes the future will bring complete memory back to him. She has not been fold about Angie's appearance in town.

 

RECENTLY: Knowing that Angie is obsessed with the desire to get Harry back, and that Anne Dunn will help her, Terry thinks perhaps Joan should be told, so that she will be prepared for whatever shocking scenes she must go through. Harry, almost desperate from his efforts to keep Angie's presence from Joan, decides to fell her, but before he can do it, Joan-who has been strangely ill lately-collapses.

 

YOUNG DOCTOR MALONE

CAST: Anne Malone, superintendent of the Dineen Clinic in Three Oaks, who is separated from her husband, Dr. Jerry Malone; Sam Williams, an industrialist, and Gene, his son, both attracted to Anne; Lucia Standish, under whose influence Jerry has swiftly become director of a medical re- search institute in New York; Dr. Browne, Jerry's friend, who tries to warn him against Lucia.

 

BACKGROUND: The separation between Anne and Jerry, at first considered a temporary one, stretches on and on until Anne, realizing that their marriage is hanging by a thread, makes a pride -destroying trip to New York to attempt reconciliation.

 

RECENTLY: One thing is plain when Anne and Jerry meet. They still love each other. But over plans for the future they clash. Knowing that Lucia Standish's influence will be fatal. Anne insists that Jerry resign from the Institute and return to Three Oaks. But Jerry cannot underhand her reason. Blinded by the glamor of his big job, he refuses to leave, not realizing that more and more Lucia Standish is running his life.

 

YOUNG WIDDER BROWN

CAST: Widow Ellen Brown, who loves Dr. Anthony Loring, but will not marry him until her teen-age children. Mork and Joney, are willing to welcome him as a stepfather; Angela McBride, who works out a vicious scheme to win Anthony away from Ellen; David Campbell, whose neurotic sister, Amanda Cathcart, was working with Angela to ruin his future; Bruce Weldon. Angela's former fiance.

 

BACKGROUND: Having tried many methods, both obvious and subtle, fo catch Anthony's attention, Angela resolves to simply get Ellen out of his life. The whole town is shocked when Amanda Cathcart is killed by a car which apparently was being driven by Ellen Brown.

 

RECENTLY: Ellen's position is indeed dangerous, until Bruce Weldon suddenly comes forward. Unfortunately for Angela, Bruce says he saw the accident, and is able to swear that she, not Ellen. is guilty. Ellen feels under great obligation to Bruce, but her gratitude is supplanted by confusion when he tells her he has fallen in love with her.

[danfling]

One of my favorite television producers was Luci Rittenberg Ferri, longtime producer of The Guiding Light.   I am seeking any information that I can find about her.   There is nothing printed about her anywhere that I have looked.

 

I am wondering if, perhaps, she also produced radio soap operas? 

[DRW50]

I'd never heard this. It's a late episode of Right to Happiness, with Lynn Loring (not that long before she left Search, I think).

 

 

[dc11786]

Great find! Thanks. 

 

I forgot the show was down to only 10 minutes in the last year or two. Still you get two very interesting scenes. The Braden storyline is very compelling. When Anne starts telling Victor and Kitty she heard Dick's music coming up the walk, I really began to feel for her. Kitty's comment about not wanting her parents to fight was something I don't feel like we would get today. Anne's decision to leave Victor also seemed pretty surprising. I also liked that there was some nice build to all this by having Carolyn share with Lee about the trip that Grace and Anne had taken from the prison. 

 

I still think this one could have easily transitioned to television.