''A Woman to Remember'' is a

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 21 to July 15, 1949. The show began on February 21 as a daytime series at 3 pm ET. However, starting May 2, the show aired Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 7:45 pm ET. John Haggart was the writer, and Bob Steel was the director. The 7:30 pm version of the show followed ''

Captain Video and His Video Rangers ''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television. The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...

'' and had no sponsor. The series is believed to be lost.

Synopsis

The soap opera featured a story within a story. Set in a radio studio, it had actors portraying the director, technicians, and other personnel of inner soap opera. The director's replacing a regular actor with a detested new actor led to conflicts within the company.

Cast and characters

The main focus of ''A Woman to Remember'' was the backstage drama of a radio serial. Radio soap opera star Christine Baker (

Patricia Wheel Patricia Wheel (December 9, 1925 – June 3, 1986) was an American actress who appeared in films and TV series from the 1940s to the 1970s. Early years Wheel was the daughter of Lester H. Wheel and his wife, Helene, and she had a sister, Lesley. ...

) was the central heroine who had to spend much of her time dealing with malicious Carol Winstead ( Joan Catlin), who fought against her both at work and in Christine's relationship with Steve Hammond ( John Raby). Other characters included Christine's actress pal Bessie Thatcher ( Ruth McDevitt) and sound man Charley Anderson (

Frankie Thomas Frank Marion Thomas Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006), was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was ...

). Thomas would later star in popular series ''

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Ast ...

''. His mother, Mona Bruns (who appeared on many soaps), had a small part on the show and described the backstage atmosphere as very hectic.

Production

The show was broadcast live from a tiny radio studio in Wanamaker's Department Store,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, with a budget of $1,750 a week, a three-hour rehearsal period, and, at most, two TV cameras. The studio bathroom was used as the dressing room, there was little ventilation, the sets were cheap and the actors were barely paid. One day, the air conditioning broke down and five technicians fainted from heat exhaustion. Bruns had to say, "I've just had a tooth pulled," but was so delirious, she said (live on air), "I've just had a pooth tulled." The actors struggled not to laugh, which kept them from fainting from the heat. Leading man Raby once had a scene with an actress who panicked once the broadcast began. She tried to flee the set, but he pushed her into a chair and kept her there. He blurted out, "I can ''guess'' what you came to tell me," and proceeded to recite all of her dialogue, along with his own lines. After the scene ended he went to the bathroom and threw up. For many years, ''A Woman to Remember'' was considered the first television soap opera, due to some magazine articles which erroneously claimed the series debuted in 1947. However, DuMont's ''

Faraway Hill ''Faraway Hill'' was the first soap opera broadcast on an American television network, airing on the DuMont Television Network on Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM between October 2 and December 18, 1946. A ''Variety'' article stated the Caples advertis ...

'', which ran for several months in 1946, is now considered the first soap opera on television.

Critical response

A review in the trade publication ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said that ''A Woman to Remember'' "succeeds in shaping the soap opera formula to television's requirements." It commended the writing for containing "honest, simple dialog."

References

Bibliography

*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:

Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...

, 2004) *Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Ballantine Books, 1964)

External links

Interview with Frankie Thomas dealing with ''A Woman to Remember''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Woman To Remember, A DuMont Television Network original programming American television soap operas 1949 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings American live television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Lost American television shows Television series about actors Television series about radio Television shows filmed in Pennsylvania