MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO LISTENING SERIES, THE:
A CORWIN KALEIDOSCOPE: NORMAN CORWIN AND THE ART
OF RADIO, PACKAGE #10: CORWIN'S AMERICANA
Summary
For over sixty years, Norman Corwin has been recognized
as one of the top writers, producers, and directors in
the fields of radio drama and documentary. During his
career, he has worked with many of the top names in
Hollywood to produce some of the most provocative radio
programs ever heard, earning him the title of "radio's
poet laureate." Corwin regularly uses his programs to
point out injustice, balancing that theme with a
fundamental belief in the common man's capacity for
goodness and the potential for universal brotherhood.
Well into his nineties, Corwin continues to create
popular programs for public radio. This series features
just a small portion of the Museum's collection of
Corwin's work, but it represents the many types of
programs that he created over seven decades.
Corwin's Americana
Gulf Screen Guild Theater: "Between Americans"
Airing only hours after the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor, this program was the first uninterrupted
half-hour on CBS following the bombing. Written as a
meditation on the greatness of America, it was
transformed by the events of the day into a rallying cry
for the nation. The program stars Orson Welles and
celebrates equality, freedom of speech, and other rights
outlined in the Constitution. It goes on to make the
point that although there are many things that make
America great, it is its ideals that make the nation
worth fighting for. (1941; 30 minutes)
The Roosevelt Special
Asked by the chairman of the Democratic National
Committee to help create an election eve special that
would get voters to the polls, Corwin gathered one of
the most impressive groups of celebrities ever
assembled to express support for a campaign -- in this
case for President Roosevelt's 1944 bid for re-election.
Hosted by Humphrey Bogart, the program features
comments and performances by Judy Garland, James
Cagney, Keenan Wynn, Groucho Marx, Claudette Colbert,
Irving Berlin, Joseph Cotten, Tallulah Bankhead, Rita
Hayworth, Walter Huston, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, Paul
Muni, Edward G. Robinson, Lana Turner, Fay Wray, Dorothy
Parker, Charles Boyer, the Ink Spots, Milton Berle,
Frank Sinatra, and President Roosevelt, among others.
Support for the president is also voiced by such regular
people as a farmer, a World War I veteran, a housewife,
a union member, and a young woman voting in her first
election. (1944; 60 minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: 2005 reprise of 1997
- RUNNING TIME: 1:25:33
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:15775
- GENRE: Radio - Drama; Radio - Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Advertising, political - 1944; Commercials, political - 1944; U S - Elections - 1944; U S - Officials - Talk/Interviews; Political satire
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Norman Corwin
- Tallulah Bankhead
- Milton Berle
- Irving Berlin
- Humphrey Bogart
- Charles Boyer
- James Cagney
- Claudette Colbert
- Joseph Cotten
- Judy Garland
- Rita Hayworth
- Walter Huston
- Ink Spots, The
- Danny Kaye
- Gene Kelly
- Groucho Marx
- Paul Muni
- Dorothy Parker
- Edward G. Robinson
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Frank Sinatra
- Lana Turner
- Orson Welles
- Fay Wray
- Keenan Wynn