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 Bennet

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