OK, quick question. Which Hollywood stars have played Rick Blaine in Casablanca? Yes, there's Bogart, but I mentioned "stars". How about Alan Ladd? No, this isn't some strange alternative universe - Alan Ladd did play him, but in Lux
Radio Theater which was a classic radio anthology running from 1934 to 1955 on and off. Originally Broadway shows were adapted, but then they moved onto hour long live radio presentations.
Often the original stars reprised their roles, but sometimes they were unable to do so. When they decided to run Casablanca Bogart was overseas entertaining the troops. Alan Ladd stood in for him. Another interesting thing with the Lux Radio Theater is that the studio system wasn't enforced, so it was possible to get actors working together across studio lines, which was quite revolutionary.
About a hundred of these recordings survive, and you can download them and listen to them, interspersed with the original advertisements for Lux soap. Absolutely fascinating; there are some great ones such as the aforementioned Casablanca, but other favourites of mine include The day the earth stood still, The ghost and Mrs Muir, Mrs Miniver, The Maltese Falcon, After the Thin Man, A farewell to arms and Miracle on 34th Street.
These are fantastic recordings, the adverts, the stars, the original crackles and pops... if you've any interest in Hollywood recordings, you'll love listening to these.
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Often the original stars reprised their roles, but sometimes they were unable to do so. When they decided to run Casablanca Bogart was overseas entertaining the troops. Alan Ladd stood in for him. Another interesting thing with the Lux Radio Theater is that the studio system wasn't enforced, so it was possible to get actors working together across studio lines, which was quite revolutionary.
About a hundred of these recordings survive, and you can download them and listen to them, interspersed with the original advertisements for Lux soap. Absolutely fascinating; there are some great ones such as the aforementioned Casablanca, but other favourites of mine include The day the earth stood still, The ghost and Mrs Muir, Mrs Miniver, The Maltese Falcon, After the Thin Man, A farewell to arms and Miracle on 34th Street.
These are fantastic recordings, the adverts, the stars, the original crackles and pops... if you've any interest in Hollywood recordings, you'll love listening to these.
David Soul played Rick in the 1983 TV version of Casablanca, and Todd Eckert played him in a 2003 short parody (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411217/) :-)
Posted by: Adrian Thompson | April 06, 2010 at 04:07 PM
this looks great! thanks
Posted by: Kelly Ahlfeld | April 07, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Thanks Phil! I'll do you swapsies: who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men?
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Posted by: Steven | April 11, 2010 at 10:10 PM
I heartily recommend the following podcasts: The Great Radio Detectives of Old Time Radio and Old Time Radio Detectives. If anyone can find a more gravelly voice than Jack Webb's I want to know. The writing is terrific in some of these. How about 'she wore a dress with a V neck. And the designer believed in big letters'?
Posted by: Val Skelton | April 23, 2010 at 06:28 PM