A Radio Christmas Sampler, Vol. II
Season 10, Episode 11
December 19, 2022
Our second sampling of radio holiday programs
Re-Imagined Radio's "A Radio Christmas Sampler, Vol. II" samples from from Jean Shepherd Show, Suspense, and The Six Shooter. The latter is a fine retelling of the classic story by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.
Access the episode script
Background
The Jean Shepherd Show
"Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails The Cleveland Kid"
Jean Shepherd, American storyteller and radio and television personality, first published this story in
Playboy magazine, 1964. He reminices about growing up in Depression-era small town Indiana
and Cleveland, Ohio, and how he wanted a Red Ryder Carbine Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle
for Christmas.
He used this and other stories from his two semi-autobiographical books, In God We Trust, All Others Must Pay Cash (Doubleday, 1966) and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories (Doubleday, 1971), to write the screenplay for A Christmas Story (1983). All the stories he used for the movie were collected in the book A Christmas Story (Crown, 2003).
Shepherd is cited by some as the creator of free-form talk radio, an inspiration for Garrison Keillor, and is noted for his nightly extemporaneous monologues often based on childhood memories. SEE "Wannabe Inkling" for more about Shepherd.
Suspense
"Back for Christmas"
Suspense was a radio drama series offered by the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1940 to
1962. Subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills," Suspense was all about drama and
suspense, and during the early years often featured leading Hollywood actors.
One was Peter Lorre. Born Lazlo Lowenstein (1904) in Hungry, Lorre began his acting career in Vienna. He moved to Berlin, where he appeared as a serial killer in M a 1931 film directed by Fritz Lang, famous for the 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film Metropolitan.
When the Nazis took over Germany in 1933, Lorre sought refuge in Paris, and then London. There, in 1934, he appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Man Who Knew Too Much. After that, Lorre settled in Hollywood, where he found featured roles in crime, mystery, and detective movies. Perhaps the two most notable of Lorre's Hollywood films were The Maltese Falcon in 1941, and Casablanca in 1942.
Lorre's distinctive voice was also heard on radio. In fact, more people might know Peter Lorre for his radio appearances than his films. Between 1936 and 1964, he made 143 radio appearances including comedy programs, radio drama, and popular genre programs. In the same period he appeared in only 68 films.
For this episode of Re-Imagined Radio we sample "Back for Christmas," the 23 Dec. 1943 episode of Suspense. "Back for Christmas" was produced and directed by William Spier (SPEER) from the original short story by John Collier, first published in The New Yorker magazine, 7 October 1939.
Lorre voices the part of Hubert Schumacher, a henpecked British botany professor. He and his wife, Hermione, plan a end-of-year trip to America where he will give a series of lectures. Hermionie tells friends they will be back for Christmas. But Lorre has another plan for his wife: murder, and then an extended stay in America with his new wife, the young, adoring Miss Markham. But, his perfect plans unravel in fiendish ways.
The Six Shooter"Britt Ponset’s Christmas Carol"
From the introduction . . . "The man in the saddle is angular and long-legged. His skin is sun-died brown. The gun in his holster is gray steel and rainbow mother of pearl, its handle unmarked. People call them both "The Six Shooter." His real name is Britt Ponset, the Texas plainsman who wandered through the Western territories leaving behind a trail of still remembered legends."
Created by Frank Burt, who wrote many of the episodes including this one, The Six Shooter lasted only one season, 39 episodes, September 20, 1953 to June 24, 1954. Episodes ranged from Western drama to comedy. Each episode starred Hollywood movie star Jimmy Stewart as Britt Ponset, a wandering cowboy in the last days of the American West.
Stewart's distinctive drawl and everyman persona were featured in 80 films from 1935 to 1991. His breakthrough came in 1938 with a part in Frank Capra's comedy You Can't Take It With You. In 1939, working again with Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart played a virtuous man who becomes a United States Senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his 1940 performance in The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.
Then there was It's a Wonderful Life, also in 1940, working again with Frank Capra. Based loosely on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, It's a Wonderful Life became Stewart's defining film role and a Christmas classic.
In these films, Stewart played characters with a strong sense of morality, a characteristic he exhibited in his personal life as well. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him third on its list of the greatest American male actors.
Jimmy Stewart is also noted for his radio acting. He appeared several times on the Lux Radio Theatre reprising his movie roles for radio. The Six Shooter was Jimmy Stewart's only recurring leading role in radio, and remains one of the best examples of the adult western genre. The term "adult western" speaks to combining contemporary psychological themes and traditional Western motifs to examine the deeper character motivations and to inform the plot. Both Gunsmoke and The Six Shooter are excellent examples.
Production
Contents
For 2022, Re-Imagined Radio samples unexpected Christmas episodes from vintage radio programs, The Jean Shepherd Show, Suspense, and The Six Shooter.
The Jean Shepherd Show
"Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails The Cleveland Kid"
WOR Radio, New York
December 24, 1970
Suspense
"Back for Christmas"
December 23, 1943
Starring Peter Lorre
The Six Shooter
"Britt Ponset’s Christmas Carol"
December 20, 1953, episode 14
Starring Jimmy Stewart
Credits
Curated, Produced, and Hosted by John F. Barber
Post Production by Marc Rose
Graphics by Holly Slocum Design
Significance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam non erat non risus pretium cursus. Duis condimentum in tellus dignissim hendrerit. Curabitur semper mi vitae nunc convallis sollicitudin. Mauris tincidunt nunc malesuada dolor lobortis posuere. Phasellus venenatis justo dolor, quis blandit risus ultrices sit amet. Sed placerat augue enim, ut varius nulla luctus sit amet.
Producer's Notes
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam non erat non risus pretium cursus. Duis condimentum in tellus dignissim hendrerit. Curabitur semper mi vitae nunc convallis sollicitudin. Mauris tincidunt nunc malesuada dolor lobortis posuere. Phasellus venenatis justo dolor, quis blandit risus ultrices sit amet. Sed placerat augue enim, ut varius nulla luctus sit amet.
Promotion
Press
Graphics
