Category Archives: movies

Read Along with Hildy & Walter

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Thanks to the Internet Movie Script DataBase, I’ve added a text excerpt of Hildy Johnson’s passionate second thoughts about journalists to my page of links to “His Girl Friday” and “The Front Page” radio incarnations, just in time for my fall … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, Hildy Johnson, movies, radio, reporters, romance, women | Leave a comment

Philadelphia wasn’t really the story, but radio kept telling it

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Bob Stepno

While not exactly a “journalism procedural,” the romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story does feature a reporter and photographer on the trail of a high-society wedding — with the reporter literally getting in over his head. (In the swimming pool, by … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, comedy, journalism, magazines, movies, newspapers, photographer, reporting, romance, sensationalism | Leave a comment

Slightly Dangerous: When a newspaper deludes itself and readers

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Bob Stepno

MGM Theater of the Air didn’t get the original movie cast for its 1950 radio production of the screwball comedy Slightly Dangerous, but Celeste Holm made a charming Peggy Evans (or “Miss X”) — a lunch-counter waitress so bored with … Continue reading →

Posted in adaptations, comedy, ethics, movies, newspapers, romance | Leave a comment

Foreign Correspondent tilts windmills in classic spy drama

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Bob Stepno

The 1940 Alfred Hitchcock film “Foreign Correspondent” was nominated for a half-dozen Academy Awards, which more than qualified it for a radio adaptation on Squibb’s Academy Award Theater radio series in 1946. (Actually winning an Oscar wasn’t required; in fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, adaptations, foreign correspondents, international, journalism, movies, propaganda, World War II | Leave a comment

Blood on the Sun, on the radio and on screen

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Portraying hand-to-hand combat was never one of radio’s strong points, but this mixture of journalism and judo is worth a bow, at least as a vehicle to discuss some of the quirks of radio’s approach to movie adaptations. As a … Continue reading →

Posted in 1940s, foreign correspondents, historical figures, movies, newspapers, reporting, World War II | Leave a comment

Sabra Cravat, Frontier Editor

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Bob Stepno

In both versions of the movie “Cimarron,” the visual spectacle of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush may have stolen the show. But in two radio adaptations, the story all belonged to Irene Dunne‘s portrayal of Sabra Cravat, frontier wife, mother … Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century, adaptations, cavalcade, editors, Hallmark, journalism, movies, newspapers, radio, women | Leave a comment

Deadline U.S.A. — radio edition of a classic newspaper film

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Bob Stepno

The movie poster gives you the general idea of the plot, but here is the radio version of a classic “heroic newspapermen” movie called Deadline U.S.A. (click to play or download the mp3 if a “player” icon isn’t visible below). … Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, closing, editors, ethics, journalism, movies, newspapers, Pulitzer Prize | 2 Comments

Rescuing the Tabloid Competition in Big Town

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Not only were newspaper reporters and editors cast as heroic characters in old-time radio dramas, they sometimes made heroic attempts to help the competition, no matter how bitter the rivalry. Perhaps that’s because they recognized newspaper journalism as a higher … Continue reading →

Posted in competition, crime, ethics, j-heroes, movies, newspapers, reporters, sensationalism | 1 Comment

‘Hildy Johnson used to be a man’ – Cecil B. DeMille

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Bob Stepno

After their success as Hollywood movies, both “His Girl Friday” and the hit Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur play that inspired it, “The Front Page,” were adapted for radio — and more than once. A few of the productions are … Continue reading →

Posted in Hildy Johnson, j-heroes, movies, newspapers, reporters, women | Leave a comment

Superhero ethics versus reporter ethics

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Bob Stepno

Landing that first journalism job can be a challenge. It’s certainly true today, but the 1940s were no picnic either. So, when a young man identifying himself as Clark Kent appeared at The Daily Planet, “a greenhorn” as the editor … Continue reading →

Posted in Clark Kent, j-heroes, journalism, Lois Lane, movies, newspapers, podcast, reporters, Superman | 2 Comments