NBC Radio, 24 April 1949
Another gem from the archives of American old-time radio. This was an
episode from the series Screen Director's Playhouse, which brought leading Hollywood actors and directors to the
microphone in adaptations of famous films.
The episode was introduced - rather haltingly - by director Edward H. Griffith, who
saw his film The Sky's The Limit (1943) as a slice-of-life drama, a brief respite in wartime service, in which pilot
Fred Burton (Fred Astaire) had a week's leave in New York and managed to fall in love with photographer Joan Manion (Joan
Leslie) before being unexpectedly called back to serve. Six years later the piece had acquired a nostalgia value, an evocation
of a world which - in Griffith's view - had mercifully passed.
The 1949 adaption brought Astaire back, this time partnered by Sharon Douglas in
the Joan Leslie role. The story was pure corn: pilot pretends to be unemployed, falls in love and then reveals his identity
at the end, promising to be faithful forever. However the adaptation was enlivened by a Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer score -
played live by a full orchestra - including the great song "One For My Baby (and One More for the Road)," later immortalized
by Frank Sinatra.
Listening to the podcast, I realized just how stylized American radio drama of the
period actually was. The announcer made much of the stars' presence, both at the beginning, before and after the commercial
breaks; the onstage orchestra played a series of interludes; while the live audience applauded politely at regular intervals.
At the end of the production the stars stepped out of character and indulged in a spot of harmless banter; unlike films, radio
enabled them to show their human sides (even though this was just another role that they played).
Astaire had a pleasant voice; by 1949 he had become highly proficient in playing
the role of an eligible middle-aged man looking for a partner. His costars - like Douglas - offered competent support, but
the drama really depended on him. In this case, he did not let listeners down.
