Category Archives: 1930s

Zola on the air

Posted on April 2, 2019 by

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Lux_Radio_Theater_Singles/Lux_Radio_Theatre_39-05-08_218_The_Life_of_Emile_Zola.mp3 Today was the birthday of Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840-1902), and the birthday of a former editor of mine, a coincidence that reminded me that I have never gotten around to posting about the 1898 Dreyfus case and … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Europe, historical figures, journalism, movies | Leave a comment

Flying reporter & a woman in charge

Posted on January 8, 2019 by

“What a story! Boy this is great!” — reporter Jimmy Gifford Here’s a mystery from 1932, the days when radio drama was relatively new, when flying the air mail was still an adventure, and so was newspaper reporting. The broadcast … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, adventure, crime, Police, reporters, romance | Leave a comment

Fatherly editor faces romantic son, Persian poetry

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

When Ah, Wilderness, Eugene O’Neill’s comedy-drama about coming of age, was adapted for radio, Walter Huston starred as the newspaper-owner father whose poetry-besotted son is tempted by what passed for the wild side of life in 1906 Connecticut. https://archive.org/download/TheaterGuildontheAir/Tgoa_45-10-07_ep005-Ah_Wilderness.mp3 Theatre … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, adaptations, comedy, Drama, editors, ethics, romance | Leave a comment

No paper dolls on radio, just a pioneer newswoman role model

Posted on April 26, 2018 by

Sept. 26, 1938?? Sept. 27, 1938?? http://www.VintageRadioPrograms.com/Jane_Arden_380927_Ep002_Police_Question_Cab_Driver.mp3 Announcer’s introduction: The Adventures of Jane Arden, a thrilling drama of a fearless girl reporter, the most beautiful woman in the newspaper world. Jane Arden, star reporter for The Bulletin, important newspaper of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, adventure, comics, journalism, newspapers, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Fighting drugs with a radio-comicbook crossover

Posted on March 28, 2016 by

Radio and movie star Frank Lovejoy would have been 104 today. Better known as the leading man reporter on Night Beat,  Lovejoy also took a turn as The Blue Beetle, a radio and comic book superhero who appeared to borrow … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, adaptations, adventure, comics, detectives, reporters, science fiction | Leave a comment

Two-fisted editor KO’s reform school scandal

Posted on September 2, 2015 by

News about a real-life judge sentenced to jail for taking kickbacks from a for-profit jail reminded me of this Big Town episode, with its crusading newspaper editor sending a 17-year-old copyboy undercover to expose a corrupt and barbaric reformatory. “A … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, Drama, newspaper crusades, newspapers, undercover | Leave a comment

Little Orphan Annie in the newsroom

Posted on January 14, 2014 by

Popular radio series characters of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s often visited or were visited by newspaper reporters and editors. Little Orphan Annie, decades before her Broadway debut, paid a visit to a local editor on the occasion of her … Continue reading →

Posted in 1930s, adventure, children, comics, editors, local news | Leave a comment