Screen Guild Theater

Radio Anthology Series (1939-52)

aka “The Gulf Screen Guild Show”
“The Gulf Screen Guild Theater”
“The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre”
“Stars In the Air”
“Hollywood Sound Stage”
“The Camel Screen Guild Theatre”
“The Camel Screen Guild Players”
“Frontline Theatre”
“The Globe Theatre”
“Playhouse 25”
“Hollywood Sound Stage”

SCREEN GUILD THEATER was an anthology series on American radio which featured revues, some original dramas and most notably, (abbreviated) adaptations of popular motion pictures, usually performed by the same Hollywood stars who had been in the original film.  As the hopped from network to network, the show aired under several different titles including “Screen Guild Theatre,” “The Gulf Screen Guild Show,” “The Gulf Screen Guild Theater,” “The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre,” “The Camel Screen Guild Theatre” and “The Camel Screen Guild Players,” depending on the sponsor. And just to make things murkier, The Armed Forces Radio Service also broadcast many of the programs as “Frontline Theatre,” “The Globe Theatre,” “Playhouse 25” and “Hollywood Sound Stage.”

But regardless of which name it used at any given time, all proceeds that would have normally gone to the actors and studios went to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, a charitable organization offering aid to those in the film (and later, television) industry.

High Sierra The Petrified forest Casablanca Ball of Fire

RADIO

• SCREEN GUILD THEATER
  (1939-52, CBS, ABC, NBC, AFRS, AFRTS)
  30-minute episodes
  An anthology series featuring Hollywood stars performing (abbreviated) adaptations of popular motion pictures.
  • “The Maltese Falcon”
    (September 20, 1943, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre)
    Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett
    Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, Joel Cairo
  • “Double Indemnity”
    (March 5, 1945, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre)
    Based on the novel by James M. Cain
    Starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck
  • “The Glass Key”
    (July 22, 1946, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre)
    Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett
    Adapted by Harry Cronman
    Directed and produced by Bill Lawrence
    Starring Alan Ladd, Marjorie Reynolds, Ward Bond
  • “My Favorite Brunette”
    (October 13, 1947, The Camel Screen Guild Theatre)
    Starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Frank Nelsone
  • “The Blue Dahlia”
    (April 21, 1949, The Camel Screen Guild Theatre)
    Based on the original screenplay by Raymond Chandler
    Starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Will Wright, Gerald Mohr
  • “The Dark Corner”
    (May 24, 1952, Stars in the Air)
    Starring Howard Duff and Virgina Grey
  • “Double Indemnity”
    (May 31, 1945, Stars in the Air)
    Based on the novel by James M. Cain
    Not sure if this is a re-broadcat

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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