Radio Soap Opera Discussion

[DRW50]

That's a fascinating part of history, especially with all the obstacles black talent have faced.

[jam6242]

A few synopses:

The townspeople to honor Joseph Jolly; however, before he is to speak at the meeting, Sam, his assistant, sadly reports to Jolly that their star boarder, Scotty MacDougal, is missing.

Mr. Jolly and his pets are involved in a local flood.  When they learn a cat is stranded on the roof of a nearby farmhouse, they go to her rescue and and Mr. Jolly is successful on removing her safely to the hotel.  The cat's owner, pleased at this rescue, presents Mr. Jolly with a large box containing a reward.

For Thanksgiving, Mr. Jolly tells the story of Strutter, the turkey, emphasizing a turkey's eye view of this particular season.

Farmer Cy Perkins warns Mr. Jolly that some of his pets are stealing chickens.

Little Art Welch, the runaway youth, urged by the pets, gives himself up in order to save Mr. Jolly from jail. 

Sam and Dusty stay at the hotel, while the Jollys, Agnes, and Willie, go to the circus, and Dusty forgets to close the kennel door for the night.

 

It is.  I had no idea.  @slick jones do you have Lloyd Richards on your soap hopper list?  If not, I'd like to request it.  He was in several radio soaps.  Thanks.

[slick jones]

I'll add him with Tom Arnold and a few updates tomorrow.

[Paul Raven]

Brenda Curtis:                            CBS:  Sept 11, 1939 to Jan 19, 1940  (19 Weeks)
Campbell Soup                            Totals: 19 Consecutive Weeks - 95 Episodes Broadcast

New Morning Story Presents 'Brenda Curtis' Program Tells of Human Drama in Conflict to Theatrical Drama "Brenda Curtis," story of a young actress who gave up show business to share her lot with her -husband, is being heard daily on WHP and a Columbia coast-to-coast network. Monday, through Friday, 11.15 to 11.30 a. m.

The dramatic serial, replete with cross-currents of human emotion, stars Vicki Vola, popular young Denverite, who in comparatively brief time has risen through the ranks of radio drama to top honors in this new story. "Brenda Curtis" and Jim (Michael Fitzmaurice) have been married five years and have a 4-year old daughter.

Their situation is somewhat intensified by the struggle to pay for a home in the face of conflicting business problems. Their love for each other is unquestionable, yet elements to stir petty suspicions and jealousies beset them. Jim dislikes Brenda's old associates of the theatre, one of whom, Myra Belden (Helen Choate), is a loyal friend. He is deep in the matter of a big legal battle, withal harboring a resentment for Stacey Gordon (Matt Crowley) Brenda's former admirer, sincerely interested in helping the Curtises. Into their lives, as the story unfolds, come Ziggy Bernstein (Charles Cantor), a theatrical agent; Judge Harmon (Parker Fennelly), family friend; Cleo the maid (Ann Elsner), and scheming, man-hunting Gloria Bennett (Kathleen Niday), who wants Jim.

The role of Patsy Curtis, 4-yearold daughter, is played by Margaret Lipper. "Brenda Curtis" is sponsored by Campbell Soups. 

[dc11786]

This afternoon, I was doing radio soap research and stumbled across nearly the complete run of Radio Playhouse. @Paul Raven posted an article in a thread many years back about it. 

Radio Playhouse ran from August 4, 1975-February 27, 1976. It ran for 30 consecutive weeks. The original run order was 26 weeks, but an additional 4 weeks were ordered in order to examine the ratings. When the ratings came back, the sponsor, Bristol-Meyer, immediately pulled sponsorship causing the series to be cancelled. 

Of the four series, two of them fall into the category of traditional soap operas. The first is the opening show, The Faces of Love, about a young widow who is trying to rebuild her life after the complicated death of her husband, Tom Wakefield, in the town of Bellhaven. Other characters in the story include Tom's well respected, wheel chair bound father, Arthur Wakefield, and Arthur's many times married/divorced sister Isabelle Wakefield. The main love interests for Kate (who in the early part of the run is played by Joan Lorring, and later by Morgan Fairchild) are reporter David Sloane (Mason Adams) and ne'er do well playboy Tony Cushing (Nat Polen). The story is structured (at least in the first week) around Arthur's plans to open a nature conservatory in the name of his late son, despite his son's colorful life, which has yet to be explained. 

The second series (and not traditional soap opera) is Author's Studio, which covers the serialization of the novel Vanity Fair. I haven't been able to listen to much because its just not something I'm interested in stylistically. 

The third series is very quaint comic anthology show The Little Things in Life around the Baxters, who are pretty average couple dealing with life events like being invited to pool parties and attending weddings with a slight twist. It's much more enjoyable than I feel it should be.  

The final show is from Richard and Suzanne Holland, To Have & To Hold, which is a sorta mix of General Hospital and Love of Life. The cast on this one is rather large (definitely influenced by the half-hour televised versions), but there are one notable standout is Charita Bauer as Virginia "Ginger" Foster, the ambitious neurotic married to Dr. Marshall Foster. The show opens with a lunch between two sisters, Angela Fairchild (a nurse) and Emily Carter (a psychology student) which dovetails into a medical mystery involving Emily. Emily is also married to a doctor, Jason Carter (Larry Haines). Their daughter is Susie Carter (probably Arianne Muenker) who is friendly with the Fosters "wild child" daughter, Betsy. (EDIT) There is also Robert Carter, Jason's father, who has remarried a woman that the sisters don't approve of, Caroline. At present, Caroline and Lynn Carter (Robert's younger daughter) are off skiing in Europe after Lynn's annulment which has left her feeling depressed. 

The main crux of conflict is Emily's medical crisis and Ginger's intense unfounded belief that Marshall and Angela are carrying on an affair. Angela and Marshall definitely have feelings for one another, but Angela isn't interested in pursuing an affair. Additionally, Susie seemed to have a flirtation with a new guy in town, Eric. 

The Faces of Love is all right, but To Have & To Hold is really fun. Unfortunately, the only episode that is missing is the final episode, so whether or not the story was resolved or left open may never be known, but given the quick cancellation, I would suggest it was all up in the air.  

Edited August 11, 2024 by dc11786
Clarifying the Carter family tree

[DRW50]

@dc11786 Thanks for the rundown. Nice to hear some actors who by that time were barely getting fresh material from their soaps (like Bauer or Polen) getting a chance at something new. I wonder if Ariana Munker could share any details about the show.

[slick jones]

 

A little more about Radio Playhouse

 

CURTAIN CALL FOR MUTUAL'S QUARTETTE
Radio Playhouse & The Faces of Love
By Jim Widner © 2009
(From Radio Recall, December 2009)

I began collecting in the early seventies just as there was a resurgence of dramatic radio at the start of that decade. While I have fond memories of listening to the last of radio drama in the early sixties, I was actually a child of television having grown up in the fifties, and most of my radio drama experience came from the programs that were broadcast as a result of the resurgence.

During that period, it seemed as if there was no end to radio drama as many stations began carrying the programs that gave many of today’s young collectors their spark of interest in the hobby. I was familiar with many of the programs being broadcast, but was surprised when Jack French, your editor, brought to my attention some episodes of a radio soap called The Faces of Love which the Old Time Radio Researchers organization released recently in one of their Distribution CDs. Neither Jack nor I had ever heard of the program and that sparked the two of us to want to find out more.

After its offering of the Zero Hour in 1973 and its subsequent demise of that series due to low response, the Mutual Broadcasting System decided to try again creating a series of four programs under an umbrella called Radio Playhouse.

Radio Playhouse was originally the name of the umbrella created by Mutual in 1953 through which it offered over 1 million dollars worth of transcribed series to its network. Using the same concept, the umbrella of four programs premiered over WOR Mutual on August 4th, 1975. The series was produced by a division of Young and Rubicom, one of the major advertising agencies of the time. Richard Cox was the creator and producer of the series and head of Young and Rubicam Ventures, a division of the advertising agency.

The four programs would run Monday through Friday, originating out of the WOR studios and available to Mutual Network subscribing stations. Each of the four programs would be fifteen minutes in length and run contiguously thus creating a single hour long program umbrella each day. The programs’ storylines all were themed to women and with a touch of feminist rebellion prevalent in the culture in the mid-seventies. The broadcast time was from three to four o’clock PM near the end of the Daytime serial broadcast period.

First off was: The Faces of Love, which Mutual described in publicity releases:

“Suddenly, a young woman is thrust, completely unprepared, into a life of complete freedom. Her traditional background conflicts with her new-found freedom to confront her with difficult decisions at every turn.”

Program two was Author’s Studio, which Mutual summarized in these words:

“Dramatizations of famous novels in serialized form, the first of which is William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. A romantic story featuring the bright and clever Becky Sharp, a liberated woman a century ahead of her time.”

The third program was The Little Things in Life, written by a name well-known to old time radio fans: Peg Lynch, creator of the probably better known Ethel and Albert. This Lynch creation was to be:

“A light-hearted and high-spirited program which takes a fond and good-natured look at the trivialities which serve to frustrate us in our daily lives. You’ll recognize and identify with the events in the series.”

Finally, the last quarter was To Have & To Hold:

which Mutual characterized as:

“The stresses and demands which face two families of doctors who are daily involved with life and death decisions is the setting for this highly-charged dramatic program. You’ll agonize and sympathize as the doctors mix the volatile combination of emotion and intellect in a contemporary society.”

When Radio Playhouse premiered in 1975, The Faces of Love in its initial offering starred Joan Lorring and Mason Adams with Jackson Beck announcing. I haven’t heard any episodes of that run, so I’m not sure about the storyline. The second run starred a young and upcoming Morgan Fairchild as Kate Wakefield. In an email exchange with Ms. Fairchild, she told me she was living in New York City at the time and working on the television drama, Search for Tomorrow as well as appearing occasionally on Kojak and doing commercials.

In addition she had appeared on some of the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre shows, created and directed by Himan Brown. She said she got the role of Kate Wakefield because of her appearances on Radio Mystery Theatre. “There were a lot of name actors doing them and we had so much fun!” she wrote. For her radio appearances she only got AFTRA scale of $44.00 an episode!

Yet Ms. Fairchild felt it well worth the low pay for an up and coming young actress: “I got to meet so many good actors and they [the radio programs] were a hoot to work on. Also, as a young actor, I loved being able to use only my voice to convey a scene. I thought it was good training for me.”

I originally had stated in my email to her that she had appeared occasionally on Search for Tomorrow but she corrected me: “I was not ‘appearing occasionally’ on Search at the time. I was one of the regulars on it [playing the paranoid murderess, Jennifer Pace Phillips]. Susan Lucci and I were emerging as the early ‘bitch goddesses’ of daytime, as the genre went through the transformation from ‘kitchen table discussion’ shows to more high style and upscale formats.”

The title of the program, The Faces of Love, apparently comes from its opening: “Love is gentle, faithful, swift, passionate, blind and wondrous. All these are ‘faces of love’.” The gist of the storyline, at least for the programs available, has the now-widowed Kate Wakefield working for a Real Estate company in a city in the U.S. Her late husband, Tom Wakefield, apparently had been involved in drug smuggling as well as being an addict himself.

His death apparently is a mystery, but he died near Glory Point in Jamaica the location of the one hundred year old estate, now-in-decline, and belonging to the Pomeroy family. Kate decides to visit the family seemingly in search of both her past life with Tom and looking for the real cause of Tom’s death.

The series was written by Margaret Lewerth, a veteran radio writer with roots in the late thirties. Her credentials include the Columbia Workshop (adaptation of Stephen Crane’s Red Badge of Courage and others), Cavalcade of America, Ford Theater, Powder Box Theater, and Americans at Work. Her work in the soap genre includes a stint in the Frank & Anne Hummert radio factory where she penned a soap called Helpmate (1941-1944).

Besides Morgan Fairchild, the other primary star was Clement Fowler (as Lewis Pomeroy), who had an extensive stage acting career as well as film and television. In later life Fowler had an extensive career in daytime television serials based out of New York City. The veteran actor just recently passed away in August 2009 at the age of 84.

The rest of the cast was filled out by oft-appearing radio acting veterans based in the New York City area including Bryna Raeburn, Staats Cotsworth, Teri Keane, Mason Adams, Joan Shea and many others. Mel Brandt was the regular announcer.

In her email to me, Ms. Fairchild stated she loved the training the radio series gave her in using her voice to convey a scene. This is somewhat surprising because, quite frankly, she is very, very good in the role of Kate Wakefield. Considering this was early in her career, she is amazingly adept at emoting with her voice, sounding very natural in the role. The series is actually very well written and fun to listen to though the existing copies in the OTRR library have no dates. It is easy enough to put them in order even if the dates are missing.

In creating the hour long series, Radio Playhouse, Richard Cox explained that its genesis was somewhat fortuitous. At a lunch with one of his clients, Bristol Myers, the company officials were complaining about the costs of television sponsorship. Cox, a self-described radio fan, suggested radio as a medium for sponsoring a program.

During the course of that lunch, the ad exec had mapped out an hour long umbrella consisting of “two soaps, the adaptation of a famous novel or play, and the comedy.” The show was offered to stations on a barter basis in which Bristol Myers got six minutes of commercial time and local stations would get 12 minutes to fill with their own sponsors.

At the time, and ultimately what occurred, the idea of a new dramatic program was considered “an uphill fight.” By 1975 when this series debuted, Mutual had already pulled its free offerings to local stations including Zero Hour because of disappointing response. Others had also failed. Though he was hopeful at the time, so too, Radio Playhouse including The Faces of Love would end its run and leave the air by summer’s end in 1976 after 26 weeks.

@dc11786 @DRW50 @Paul Raven@jam6242@Matt

[dc11786]

Thanks @slick jones. Paul Raven posted that article back in 2020. I probably should have replied to it when I found the series. 

Here's the article talking about the extension of the series as well as the cancellation. 

Cast list for "To Have and To Hold" as of week 1:

Joyce Gordon as Emily Carter 
William Redfield as Dr. Marshall Foster
Patricia Wheel as Angela Fairchild. R.N.
Larry Haines as Dr. Jason Carter
Charita Bauer as Ginger Foster
Arianne Munker as Susie Carter
Ian Martin as Robert Carter
Carin Greene as Betsy Foster

Fran Allison (I suspect she is playing Caroline Carter, but Caroline hasn't appeared yet and Fran hasn't been credited). 
 

[slick jones]

Cool. I read so many articles doing research, I could have seen that yesterday and barely remember, so apologies for the re-post.

[DRW50]

Thanks for the article. I liked Morgan pointing out just how important her character was on Search. And liked hearing more about these shows. I wonder if any of Helpmates is available.

[Paul Raven]

The Chicago Star Nov 1 1947

People living in real world distinguish new radio serial

Without fuss and fanfare, a minor revolution among the radio “soap opera” families is going on over at Marshall Field's 50,000 Watt WJJD. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m. every standard soap-opera gimmick and character is buried while a new-type serial goes through fifteen minutes of some of the hardest hitting social dramatizations ever heard on the air. It’s “Here Comes Tomorrow,” a ; skillfully written and well-enacted drama about the “Redmond” family, recently from Claybank Alabama, now of Chicago, Illinois. 

THE STRIKING DIFFERENCE between the Redmonds and other members of radio's “soap opera” families such as “Ma Perkins,” “One Man’s Family,” “Big Sister,” and “Lonely Women” is not simply that the Redmonds happen to be a Negro family that has moved in on their block (although this in itself is sufficient to cause pandemonium among the “soap families”) —but that the Redmonds live where none of the other families have yet lived: in a real world.

The “Here Comes Tomorrow” the Redmonds live in is a real: world in which they struggle  through things that never exist in  radio serials, such as high prices,  housing shortages, racial discrimination, search for jobs and other real-life situations, in order to reach what Milton Redmond, the key character, describes as “tomorrow.” In other words: what has happened in Chicago radio is that in "Here Comes Tomorrow" it has produced America's first socially significant radio serial with a commercial sponsor. 

CREATED BY RICHARD DURHAM, who writes and produces the show under the direction of Allan Harris, its sponsor is the Metropolitan Mutual Assurance Company of Chicago, the first  Negro company to take to the air with a dramatic serial.

[DRW50]

A recent Archive post with various radio soaps (not sure how many are on Youtube).

Radio Soap Operas - From Transcription Discs & Second Generation Reels : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

I looked on Youtube for this one and only found the theme music.

The Carters Of Elm Street January, 1940 Transcription Disc : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Is that Jone Allison as Mildred?

Edited August 31, 2024 by DRW50

[jam6242]

@DRW50 I think Virginia "Ginger" Jones played Mildred for the entire run.  So probably not Jone, unless she was filling in.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

[dc11786]

I am 27 episodes into the Radio Playhouse episodes. It's a very neat concept I wish had lasted for several years. I'm listening to all four segments and can appreciate the diversity between the four shows from comedy (The Little Things in Life) to serialized novel (Author's Theatre presents Vanity Fair) to soap opera (The Faces of Love and To Have and  To Hold.) The fifteen minute format is effective. I know there has been a fan effort to try radio soaps in recent years, but I be very interested in seeing something in the vein of a daily short form serial like these. 

Of the four, Author's Theatre is the least interesting. Vanity Fair is a period piece which aren't really my favorite. Becky Sharpe is also not the most rootable character. I often skip this segment or just let it run without much attention. Not surprising to me, at least one station chose not carry Author's Theatre despite carrying the other three segments. 

I am surprised that I find The Little Things in Life enjoyable about a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, and their daily travails. Most of the episodes are one-offs but the last few segments have dealt with the fallout of a visit from some unexpected houseguests. In general, it is a nice little slice of life story. I had known that there were daily comedies, but I couldn't understand their appeal. With Little Things, I am starting to understand why they drew in an audience. There is something very homey about the series. Light weight, while not feeling too sacharine. There is a sort of timeless quality to it all that makes it enjoyable. 

The Faces of Love was the series I was hoping to find and it is a little disappointing at times. The original story is set in the small town of Bellhaven and focuses on a young widow, Kate Higgins Wakefield, who has found new freedom after the sudden demise of her beloved, but controlling, father-in-law Arthur Wakefield. In the wake of Wakefield's death, Kate has decided to close up shop and has taken a job with Al Ross (voice actor Ernie Francis, not Larry Haines Like I thought) at his real estate office in the city. Al is buddies with Tony Cushing, the neer do well playboy who thinks that Kate is going to be his next conquest. Kate's new direction has many different reactions. Her sister Joy wants her to settle down and marry and have a family like she has with her husband, Jim. Joy would prefer that the husband be David Sloane, the newspaper editor who has deep feelings for Kate. Joy's daughter, Nancy, wants Kate to live in the city because she plans to drop out of school and live with Kate in her new urban environment. David would prefer her close, but knows he has no control. Tony wants her in the city closer to him. Her aunt by marriage, Isabelle Wakefield (Joan Copeland, I believe), encourages Kate to live her life on her own terms. Pregnant office secretary Pat thinks that Kate should also pursue whatever her heart desires. Newspaper publisher Henry Slater wants her in Bellhaven because trouble seems to be on the horizon with the return of disbarred attorney, Stephen Wolf, inquiring into the Wakefield clan. Wolf had previously defended the late Tom Wakefield, Kate's husband, on drug related charges. Henry mentions being involved in a coverup involving Tom and how the late Arthur suspected that his son Tom had been manipulated into the drug world by those who were Arthur's enemies. 

The show can be entertaining when emphasizing the small town concept (there's a nice sequence where Kate drags Tony through the woods) and some of the more modern dilemmas involving a woman's choice to be a wife or live her own life. Overall though, I waver between feeling it is dated (even by 1975) and thinking its what I imagine mid 1970s Love of Life felt like, which I am not sure whether to consider that a compliment or not. I think there's potential and I like the characters, but I find myself wondering if someone else wrote it, what would happen. 

I cannot praise To Have and To Hold enough. It's a joy. From Richard and Suzanne Holland, the story of the Carter and Foster families drives the drama with one central storyline involving the mysterious illness of Emily Fairchild Carter, wife, mother, and graduate student, causing her to hear noises that aren't there and to have terrible headaches. Set outside Chicago in the community of Lakeside (I think), the central story is split between the hospital, Jefferson or University Hospital, and the homes of the families including Robert Carter's estate, River Run. In the latest episodes, Emily is in the hospital for a series of tests, appears to be on the mend, but her doctor Marshall Foster suspects that she might have a brain tumor. Marshall has a growing fondness for Emily's sister, Angela, who has taken up residence in the Carter home while Emily is in hospital. This has given Marsh an excuse to visit Angela.

The friendship between the teenage daughters of both families, Susie Carter and Betsy Foster, has created additional tension between their mothers Emily and Ginger Foster (Charita Bauer). Marsh and Ginger' Foster's volatile marriage is a ongoing subplot as it is unclear whether Ginger's neuroses over Marsh and Angela's friendship is unfounded or based on Marshall's previous extra martial interests. Susie's story has involved her relationship with both her mother, and now her aunt. Emily, in one of her fits, slapped Susie in public leading to animosity from Susie towards her mother. Now, things have settled as Susie's brother Bobby has returned from summer camp and plans to head off soon to Harvard, though Emily's illness may keep him around longer. Susie and Emily have had very tense standoffs that were very good. It really ground Emily's illness in emotions. Additionally, now that Emily is away, Susie has some issues with her new mother figure Angela, partially stemming from the perception that Angela may be carrying on with Marshall Foster, her best friend's father. 

By comparison, this all feels more modern to me than The Faces of Love. Add in a compelling score, the swell of the opening theme gives such a lush quality I am drawn in even before the start. In the B story, Lynn Carter (Emily's sister-in-law) has been depressed since her marriage to William Sloan, an attorney, ended in an annulment when William wouldn't have children with her. Lynn has become smitten with ski instructor, Kurt Rogers, while she and her stepmother Caroline Carter are vacationing in Switzerland. Lynn makes it clear she wants to be a mother and has plans to quickly remarry. Her father, Robert Carter, is less convinced and has paid an associate over in Switzerland to investigate Kurt. In one segment, we have heard Kurt carrying on with a married woman and has mentioned he has been avoiding returning home to Vermont. Bill has popped up needing to speak to Lynn about joint property they need to settle and there are so many references to Ann, Caroline's daughter, that I can only imagine she will pop up sooner rather than later. In the latest, Robert has informed Lynn of the investigation, which upsets her. This second story is more fitting of the show's coda: the story of the traditional vows and modern morality and the people who struggle between them or something along those lines. 

I believe some of this was later reused by the Hollands on General Hospital with a lawyer (Lee / Robert in THATH) marrying a Caroline with a child from a previous marriage (Bobby / Ann). I'd be curious how the Hollands work was received on GH since I find the medical aspect on To Have and To Hold a good mix of work place and family drama. 

Edited September 10, 2024 by dc11786
fixing Al Ross actor