Title: The Ford Theater

Type: Drama anthology

Length: 60 minutes

Broadcast history:

Oct. 5, 1947 - June 27, 1948 NBC. Sundays at 5 PM. Sponsored by Ford.

Oct. 8, 1948 - July 1, 1949 CBS. Fridays at 9 PM. Sponsored by Ford.

Cast:

(1947 - 48) Eric Dressler, Anne Seymour, Gary Merrill, Arnold Moss, Paul Douglas, Everett Stone, Ed Begley, John Larkin, Virginia Gilmore, Shirley Booth, Wendell Holmes, Les Damon, Vicki Vola, Claudia Morgan, Santos Ortega, Les Tremayne, Ted de Corsia, Muriel Kirkland, Evelyn Varden, Lauren Gilbert

(1948 - 49) Claude Rains, Marlene Dietrich, Burt Lancaster, Joan Bennett, Lucille Ball, Ray Milland, Ronald Coleman, Jean Arthur, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby

After folding "The Ford Sunday Evening Hour" and "The Ford Festival of American Music", Ford decided to move into drama, hoping to do for it what they had done for music. The program featured the "best" of literature, film, stage, and musical shows. The first years program was produced in New York with veteran radio performers in productions of such shows as "Cimarron", "The Front Page", and "My Sister Eileen". The shows were well done and polished but ratings were poor. The next year, Ford moved the show West and used top Hollywood stars. The ratings were better but still not good enough.

Source:

On the Air - John Dunning