Category Archives: 1950s

College trustee steamed over student press

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Bob Stepno

The witty — if a bit prone to puns and quotations — college president on “Halls of Ivy” had more than one anxious moment over campus news media, but supported the freedom of the press in good spirits, which must … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, columnists, comics, Drama, newspapers, reporters | Leave a comment

A bit critical

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Bob Stepno

“I can save time if I write my review on the way to the theater.” –Mortimer Brewster http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/B%20Series/Best%20Plays/Best%20Plays%2052-07-06%20(05)%20Arsenic%20and%20Old%20Lace.mp3 Arsenic and Old Lace (IMDB), a hit play and Capra film, was done by several radio anthology series. Here it is by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adaptations, Capra, critics, movies | Leave a comment

A case of mistaken identity

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Philip_Marlowe_Singles/Philip_Marlowe_50-09-29_ep103_The_Big_Book.mp3 In Raymond Chandler’s novels or the 1947-51 radio series they inspired, Philip Marlowe wasn’t the kind of detective who plays for the headlines. “What’s the news in that?” he asks at the end of this 1950 adventure titled “The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, detectives, reporters | Leave a comment

Before Bond: Moscow correspondent faces Russian with steel teeth

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Suspense (1955): https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Suspense_Singles/Suspense_550217_585_The_Man_with_the_Steel_Teeth_-64-44-_11715_24m48s.mp3 This script by John Dehner was timely Cold War radio about an American correspondent attempting to flee his Soviet interrogator, “The Man with Steel Teeth.” It was produced twice, both times by Antony Ellis, for two of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, cold war, international, reporters, Russia | Leave a comment

A gentleman of the press vs. ungentlemanly gentiles

Posted on June 28, 2018 by Bob Stepno

A Facebook conversation just led me to check back and see if I had ever posted a blog item about the radio adaptations of the movie Gentleman’s Agreement, and it looks like I hadn’t, other than a paragraph in my … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, 1950s, adaptations, civil rights, reporters, stereotypes, undercover | Leave a comment

Ghostwriting for equal rights

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/DestinationFreedom/DF_49-06-19_ep050-Ghost_Editor.mp3 “Ghost Editor” is a well-dramatized biography of Roscoe Dunjee, who founded the Black Dispatch, the first African American newspaper in 1915 Oklahoma City. Actor Fred Pinkard narrates the series as Dunjee in this episode of the “Destination Freedom” African … Continue reading →

Posted in 1900s, 1940s, 1950s, civil rights, editors, historical figures, newspaper crusades, newspapers, racial justice, reporting, undercover | Leave a comment

Mann of the Press at Bay

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Suspense_Singles_By_Year_1952/Suspense_521124_488_Man_Alive_128-44_28478_29m41s.mp3 From November 1952, this is no Thanksgiving story… A San Francisco newspaper columnist gets involved with bad Italian accents, puns on his name (“Mann”), a picture postcard and a mystery. Supposedly based on a true story, this episode of … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, suspense, true stories, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Two Reporters Conspire in Moscow

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Bob Stepno

Radio’s dramatic adventure series like “Suspense” and “Escape” sometimes relied on journalist characters as narrators, doing what reporters do — telling a story mostly from the outside. In “Two If By Sea,” the derring-do is their own. Even in peacetime, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, Europe, foreign correspondents, international, reporters, romance, Russia | Leave a comment

Photo-snatching & Gunsmoke

Posted on January 31, 2018 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Gunsmoke_Singles/Gunsmoke%2052-07-26%20%28014%29%20Gentleman%27s%20Disagreement.mp3 In 1952, the first episode of the classic adult western “Gunsmoke” began with Marshal Matt Dillon dictating the text for a wanted poster to Mr.Hightower, Dodge City’s printer and newspaper editor. The enterprising editor had already snitched a tintype … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, adventure, editors, ethics, westerns | Leave a comment

Agnes Moorehead Reports Again

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Bob Stepno

https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Suspense_Singles_By_Year_1953/Suspense%20530323%20505%20The%20Signalman%20%28128-44%29%2027657%2028m49s.mp3 For the “Suspense” March 23, 1953, production of Charles Dickens’ “The Signal-Man,” one of radio’s leading ladies, Agnes Moorehead, narrates a supernatural story, some 16 years before she played the witch Endora on TV’s “Bewitched.” Her character is a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, 19th century, adaptations, Drama, reporters, suspense | Leave a comment