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Rating: 
Summary: The Lux Radio Theater does "Laura" and "The Maltese Falcon"
Review: The "Lux Radio Theater" was the brainchild of Cecil B. DeMille, and brought one-hour adaptations of feature films to its listening audiences each week. This particular audiotape shows you the range of these programs in terms of the stars who show up. For "Laura" you have Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, and Vincent Price from the original film, with Otto Kruger taking the Clifton Webb role. But with "The Maltese Falcon" you have a completely different cast, including Edward G. Robinson, Gail Patrick, and Laird Cregar (Note: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sidney Greenstreet did perform "The Maltese Falcon" for Lux, but it was a half-hour version of the film that was just trimmed down way too far). "Laura," which originally aired February 5, 1945, tells of the detective (Andrews) who investigates the murder of the beautiful young Laura Holt (Tierney) and finds himself falling in love with the victim while trying to figure out which of the two men in her life killed her. "The Maltese Falcon," performed February 8, 1943, is the Dashiell Hammett classic detective story of Sam Spade (Robinson) who becomes involved in the search for the valuable black bird and the woman (Patrick) will cannot tell the truth even when her life depends on it. "Laura" is a nice encapsulation of the film (which I watched last night, so it was quite fresh in my mind) but listening to a different cast do "The Maltese Falcon" is the real treat. Often with the Lux Radio Theater you will find name actors doing roles they did not play on the big screen: Clark Gable in "The Buccaneer," Greer Garson in "The African Queen," Charles Boyer in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," etc. The stars come out at the end and plug their latest movies and in addition to the omnipresent commercials for Lux Soap there are also some patriotic spots for the war effort. Once you listen to these you will probably want to track down some more of these old broadcasts, especially when Lionel Barrymore tells us at the end of "Laura" that next week's show will be "For Whom the Bell Tolls" with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman (especially since it gets promoted three times in the last three minutes of the show). I have been tracking down as many of these old recordings as I can find and usually begin my day puttering around the office while listening to one of these movie adaptations. If you like old movies or remember the Golden Age of Radio, then check these out because I am sure you will find something you will like.
Rating:
Summary: The Lux Radio Theater does "Laura" and "The Maltese Falcon"
Review: The "Lux Radio Theater" was the brainchild of Cecil B. DeMille, and brought one-hour adaptations of feature films to its listening audiences each week. This particular audiotape shows you the range of these programs in terms of the stars who show up. For "Laura" you have Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, and Vincent Price from the original film, with Otto Kruger taking the Clifton Webb role. But with "The Maltese Falcon" you have a completely different cast, including Edward G. Robinson, Gail Patrick, and Laird Cregar (Note: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor and Sidney Greenstreet did perform "The Maltese Falcon" for Lux, but it was a half-hour version of the film that was just trimmed down way too far). "Laura," which originally aired February 5, 1945, tells of the detective (Andrews) who investigates the murder of the beautiful young Laura Holt (Tierney) and finds himself falling in love with the victim while trying to figure out which of the two men in her life killed her. "The Maltese Falcon," performed February 8, 1943, is the Dashiell Hammett classic detective story of Sam Spade (Robinson) who becomes involved in the search for the valuable black bird and the woman (Patrick) will cannot tell the truth even when her life depends on it. "Laura" is a nice encapsulation of the film (which I watched last night, so it was quite fresh in my mind) but listening to a different cast do "The Maltese Falcon" is the real treat. Often with the Lux Radio Theater you will find name actors doing roles they did not play on the big screen: Clark Gable in "The Buccaneer," Greer Garson in "The African Queen," Charles Boyer in "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," etc. The stars come out at the end and plug their latest movies and in addition to the omnipresent commercials for Lux Soap there are also some patriotic spots for the war effort. Once you listen to these you will probably want to track down some more of these old broadcasts, especially when Lionel Barrymore tells us at the end of "Laura" that next week's show will be "For Whom the Bell Tolls" with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman (especially since it gets promoted three times in the last three minutes of the show). I have been tracking down as many of these old recordings as I can find and usually begin my day puttering around the office while listening to one of these movie adaptations. If you like old movies or remember the Golden Age of Radio, then check these out because I am sure you will find something you will like.
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