''The Campbell Playhouse'' (1938–1940) is a live CBS

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

series directed by and starring

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. Produced by Welles and

John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with directo ...

, it was a sponsored continuation of '' The Mercury Theatre on the Air''. The series offered hour-long adaptations of classic plays and novels, as well as adaptations of popular motion pictures. When Welles left at the end of the second season, ''The Campbell Playhouse'' changed format as a 30-minute weekly series that ran for one season (1940–41).

Production

Welles-Campbell-Playhouse-Rehearsal-1938

As a direct result of the front-page headlines Orson Welles generated with his 1938 Halloween production "

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

Campbell's Soup Campbell Soup Company, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has grown to become ...

signed on as sponsor. '' The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' made its last broadcast December 4, 1938, and ''The Campbell Playhouse'' began December 9, 1938. The series made its debut with Welles's adaptation of ''Rebecca'', with guest stars

Margaret Sullavan Margaret Brooke Sullavan (May 16, 1909 – January 1, 1960) was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan began her career onstage in 1929 with the University Players. In 1933, she caught the attention of film director John M. Stahl and had ...

and Mildred Natwick. The radio drama was the first adaptation of the 1938 novel by

Daphne Du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Geo ...

; the author was interviewed live from London at the conclusion of the broadcast.

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...

had time to compose a complete score for "Rebecca". "It was absolutely beautiful," said associate producer Paul Stewart, "and it was the first time to me that Benny was something more than a guy who could write bridges." Herrmann later used the main theme as the basis of his score for the film ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

''. Although the same creative staff stayed on, the show had a different flavor under sponsorship. This was partially due to a guest star policy which relegated the Mercury Players to supporting roles. There was a growing schism between Welles, still reaping the rewards of his Halloween eve notoriety, and Houseman, who became an employee rather than a partner. Houseman worked primarily as supervising editor on the radio shows. Howard E. Koch remained on the writing staff through "The Glass Key" (March 10, 1939), when he left for Hollywood. He was succeeded by

Howard Teichmann Howard Miles Teichmann (January 22, 1916 - July 7, 1987) was a Broadway playwright and biographer. Teichman was born in Chicago in 1916 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1938. He first went to work for Orson Welles on his The Me ...

, who wrote for the show for two years. France, Richard, ''The Theatre of Orson Welles''. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1977. After signing a film contract with RKO in August 1939, Welles began commuting from Hollywood to New York for the two Sunday broadcasts of ''The Campbell Playhouse''. In November 1939, production of the show moved from New York to Los Angeles. Screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was put on the Mercury payroll and wrote five scripts for ''Campbell Playhouse'' shows broadcast between November 12, 1939, and March 17, 1940. Mankiewicz proved to be useful, particularly working with Houseman as editor. The episode "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" includes an inside joke: the Viennese doctor asked to certify Deeds insane is named Dr. Herman Mankiewicz. Maltin, Leonard, ''The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age''. New York: Dutton, 1997. After an argument over finances December 16, 1939, John Houseman resigned from the Mercury Theatre and returned to New York. Two months later Welles hired him back to work with Mankiewicz on a new venture, Welles's first film project, ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...

''. After 20 shows, Campbell began to exercise more creative control over ''The Campbell Playhouse'', and had complete control over story selection. Diana Bourbon, an account executive from the Ward Wheelock agency, was appointed as liaison between Welles and Campbell. Bourbon acted as de facto producer, and she and Welles frequently clashed over story and casting. One notable dispute came after the broadcast of "Algiers", which employed a carefully crafted tapestry of sound to create the world of the Casbah. Challenged on why the background sounds were so loud, Welles responded, "Who told you it was the background?" Amiable classics were chosen over many of Welles's story suggestions, including ''

Of Human Hearts ''Of Human Hearts'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Clarence Brown and starring Walter Huston, James Stewart and Beulah Bondi. Stewart plays a proud and ungrateful son who rebels against his preacher father and (after his father's dea ...

''; the rights to many works, including '' Rogue Male'', ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their turbulent re ...

'' and '' The Little Foxes'', could not be obtained. As his contract with Campbell came to an end, Welles determined not to sign on for another season. "I'm sick of having the heart torn out of a script by radio censorship," he said. After the broadcast of March 31, 1940—a reprise of ''Jane Eyre'', after Welles's suggestion of '' Alice Adams'' was not accepted—Welles and Campbell parted amicably. ''The Campbell Playhouse'' returned to radio November 29, 1940, as a 30-minute weekly CBS series that was last broadcast June 13, 1941. The program was produced by Diana Bourbon. The series' focus shifted away from classic play and novel adaptations to lighter, more popular fare, still with casts drawn from the ranks of film actors.

Episodes

TV series

''The Campbell Playhouse'' is also the title of an American

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

and

television drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

June 6, 1952May 28, 1954. Sponsored by the

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

, the series also aired under the title ''Campbell Soundstage''. In June 1954 the title of the series was changed to ''Campbell Summer Soundstage'', and filmed presentations (many previously aired on '' Ford Theatre'') were featured until the show left the air in September 1954.

References

External links

*
''The Campbell Playhouse'': Script of ''A Christmas Carol'' (December 24, 1939) (full text)

Mercury Theatre site with ''Campbell Playhouse'' shows
*

* ttp://www.old-time.com/otrlogs2/cp_.log.txt Frank M. Passage's ''Campbell Playhouse'' logbr>Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of ''The Campbell Playhouse''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell Playhouse, The 1938 radio programme debuts 1940 radio programme endings 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs American radio dramas Campbell Soup Company CBS Radio programs Works by Orson Welles Anthology radio series

Production

Episodes

TV series

See also

References

External links