Old Radio

While standing out in the memories of most as being "the director of Citizen Kane ," Orson Welles was a polymath and a practitioner of all mass media. As a filmmaker, Welles had a very keen visual sense, but he is also well-known for his deep and booming voice. This made him a natural for radio. He entered the medium relatively early in a career that had been, at that point, one centered around drama. He'd established a theatre troupe called The Mercury Theatre , and before long he decided to expand this to an iteration for radio called Mercury Theatre on the Air . This 1938 series mostly adapted classic and contemporary dramatic works, but it was also the show on which the "War of the Worlds" blowup occurred. The attention from that got new sponsorship and a new iteration of the program, Campbell Playhouse . This series adapted such works as "Our Town," " The Count of Monte Cristo ," "The Magnificent Ambersons" an...

Another star born on this day--in this case in 1878--is Arthur Hopkins.  As is apparent, Hopkins lived to adulthood before Marconi's marvelous invention began broadcasting content into homes. He entered the world of theater as a press agent and began writing plays.  Late in his life, he endeavored to bring high-quality drama into American homes and thus produced and hosted Arthur Hopkins Presents.  The program brought to life such classics as "The Philadelphia Story," "The Deluge," "Mr. Pim Passes By," and "Our Town." Actors and actresses who contributed were Katharine Hepburn, Wendell Corey , and Helen Hayes . We salute the contributions of this author, producer, and host.