Ford Theater
The FORD THEATER, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, presented hour
long dramas first on NBC for one only season. The series moved to
CBS for its second and last season. There were 39 NBC and 39 CBS hour-
long shows (not verified).
The show initially received an unfavorable review from the New York
Times for poor script adaptation but was still highly rated for the
actors' performance and overall production. The show was supposed
to feature only original scripts but had to forgo that plan due to
lack of quality material.
The first season on NBC used radio actors under the direction of
George Zachary. Martin Gabel announced the first show but was soon
replaced by Kenneth Banghart.
The second season, on CBS, used Hollywood screen actors in the lead
roles, supported by radio actors. Fletcher Markle, who previously
produced CBS's STUDIO ONE series, was the producer for the second
season.
Although a short series, it still has some of radio's best dramas.
47/10/05 1 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Karl Swenson, Mason Adams)
47/11/02 5 Ah, Wilderness (Eric Dressler)
47/11/16 7 Carmen Jones (Murial Smith, Luther Saxton)
47/12/21 12 The Man Who Played God (Santos Ortega, Ann Seymour)
47/12/28 13 Father, Dear Father
48/01/04 14 Adventures of the Bad Boy (Santos Ortega, Hugh Marlowe)
48/01/11 15 Storm in a Teacup (Les Tremayne, Wendell Holmes)
48/01/13 Girl Crazy (rehearsal)
48/01/18 16 Girl Crazy (Linda Douglas, Ted DiCorsia)
48/02/01 18 Green Pastures (Juano Hernandez, Elwood Smith, Valerie Black)
48/03/21 25 It's a Gift (Cliff Carpenter, Carl Eastman, William Zuckert)
48/04/18 29 The Silver Cord (Eve Arden, Les Tremayne)
48/05/09 32 Front Page (Everette Sloan, Ed Begley)
48/05/16 33 Counselor at Law (Les Tremayne)
48/05/23 34 A Star Is Born (Mason Adams, Carl Eastman, Adelaide Klein)
48/05/30 35 Laura (Virginia Gilmore, John Larkin)
48/06/13 37 My Sister Eileen (Shirley Booth, Virginia Gilmore)
48/06/20 38 The Late Christopher Bean (Alice Goodkin, Beatrice Pons, Warren Brian)
48/06/27 39 Arrowsmith (Peter Capell, Art Carney, Raymond Edward Johnson)
48/10/08 40 Madam Bovary (Claude Rains, Marlene Dietrich, Van Heflin)
48/10/15 41 Double Indemnity (Burt Lancaster, Joan Bennett)
49/01/21 55 Anna Christie (Ray Milland, Joan Loring)
49/03/04 61 The Horn Blows at Midnight (Jack Benny, Claude Raines, Mercedes McCambridge)
49/04/01 65 Wuthering Heights (Mongomery Clift)
49/06/24 77 A Farewell to Arms (Helen Hayes)