Radio Facts

Cecil B. DeMille and Lux Radio Theatre

Cecil B. DeMille (“CB”) was by far the movie producer-director most associated with hosting The Lux Radio Theatre, a position he assumed when the anthology drama series based on motion pictures moved from New York to Hollywood in 1936. DeMille, in his youth a stage actor trained in the classic style, brought a magnificent voice and warm authority to his introductions and between-acts narrations of the hour-length radio dramatizations. (“CB” did not direct the broadcast stories, although the impression was given that he did.)

In 1945, when Lux Theatre was riding high in ratings, and critical approval, DeMille’s stentorian voice was suddenly missing from the dramatizations. Nor was it ever heard again on the CBS program, as other directors or producers, such as William Keighley and Irving Cummings, took DeMille’s place.

What caused the break? DeMille had taken a sincere political position, and stayed with it. The radio performers’ union, AFRA, assessed each of its members, “CB” included, a one-dollar fee to support a voting proposal for closed union shops in California. DeMille opposed closed shops and refused to contribute, even though it would mean that he could not continue to appear on the program. When “CB” also did not allow the sponsor to pay the assessment in his behalf, the Lux-DeMille era ended.

A footnote. About a decade after DeMille’s departure from the Lux Radio Theatre, he was featured one Sunday on a new cultural series of Los Angeles radio station, KNX, speaking at length, and in his familiar style, about the Ten Commandments (the subject of his newest epic movie). The famed director’s presentation was so impressive that the station received more than 500 complimentary letters, an astonishing response at that time. Within weeks CBS advanced the series to network status. And when the broadcast was repeated thereon to reach a wider audience, the voice of Cecil B. DeMille was ringing once again on the network he had been forced to leave so abruptly. Oh yes, if memory serves, the producer-host of that new series was a young fellow named Raymond William Stedman.

Episode Titles

Most dramatic shows on radio were given an episode title that reflected the content of the show. Comedy shows, however, were handled differently. Most comedy shows were never given titles, but were referred to by air date. Any names given to a particular epsisode are the later invention of collectors or OTR dealers in an attempt to highlight the content of certain shows and create an easier reference than broadcast dates alone. Dr. Ether has decided to continue this practice.

Have Gun, Will Travel

Have Gun, Will Travel is a bit of an anomaly in the history of radio, as it started life as a television show in 1957 starring Richard Boone in the role of Paladin. By 1958, CBS added a radio version of the show to their lineup and many of the early scripts were adaptions of the TV episodes that had aired earlier in the same week of the radio broadcast. By 1960, it was decided the radio show had run its course and it was cancelled, but not before presenting a final episode that gave a sort of closure to the adventures of Paladin: over 3 years before the end of the television series.

Ralph Rainger

Two of the very familiar theme songs of radio days were "Love in Bloom" and "Thanks for the Memory." The first, of course, was the Bing Crosby hit of 1934 that Jack Benny would torture on his violin for decades. The latter was Bob Hope's signoff melody, one he had introduced in Paramount's Big Broadcast of 1938.

This all might seem to be unrelated trivia were it not that both melodies had been written by the same composer. As Doug Ramsey reminded us in a recent Wall Street Journal, the man behind those eventual theme songs was a fellow named Ralph Rainger. Few today would know of him, even though Rainger also wrote the memorable melodies of "Moanin' Low," "June in January," "Please," "Blue Hawaii," and many more, mostly with lyricist Leo Robin. Together they composed songs for seven Bing Crosby movies.

Ralph Rainger's career was cut short in 1942 when he lost his life in a bizarre collision between a passenger plane and an army bomber. He was only forty-one.

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About Dr. Ether

Dr. Ether is the pseudonym of a former radio professional who learned his trade at the feet of Marconi and later assisted both Edison and Tesla. He currently resides in a vat of nutrient fluid somewhere on the Atlantic coast.