Columbia Presents Corwin


Columbia Presents Corwin

Norman Corwin, considered by many to be the Bard of the Golden Age of Radio, was recognized as for his great talents early on by CBS. In 1941, CBS devoted an entire block of the prestigious COLUMBIA WORKSHOP series for his works, known by the title TWENTY SIX BY CORWIN. COLUMBIA PRESENTS CORWIN was another occasion when CBS offered the listening audience a chance to hear Mr. Corwin's work. Although it is seen by some as part or revival of the COLUMBIA WORKSHOP series, the last show from the Worhshop was in 1942. The 1944 COLUMBIA PRESENTS CORWIN series ran for 22 shows. The following year, CBS again aired COLUMBIA PRESENTS CORWIN, this time as an 8-show summer series. The first series consisted of original works with some scripts borrowed from TWENTY SIX BY CORWIN. For the second series, 5 original scripts were used and 3 scripts were borrowed from previous airings. One of the classic originals from Series 2 is "The Undecided Molecule", a story, completely done in rhyme, of a molecule which refuses to obey the laws of chemistry and physics. The all-star cast includes Groucho Marx, Robert Benchley, Vincent Price, Sylvia Sidney, Norman Lloyd, and Keenan Wynn. Six of the shows from both series were selected for inclusion in a 1996 National Public Radio broadcast entitled THIRTEEN BY CORWIN, including the above mentioned "The Undecided Molecule". Norman Corwin's works are the best of what was the Golden Age of Radio, and these two series are some of the best examples of why.
44/03/07 1 Movie Primer 44/04/18 7 Untitled 44/05/02 9 The Cliche Expert 44/05/09 10 Cromer 44/05/23 12 Tel Aviv 44/06/06 14 American Trilogy 1 - Carl Sandberg 44/07/04 17 Home for the Fourth 44/07/18 18 The Moat Farm Murder 44/07/25 19 El Capitan and the Corporal 45/07/03 1 Unity Fair 45/07/10 2 Daybreak 45/07/17 3 The Undecided Molecule 45/07/24 4 New York - A Tapestry For Radio 45/08/14 7 Fourteen August 45/08/21 8 L'affair Gumpert