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Judy Garland was among the most active film performers on radio during World War II. The war happened to coincide with the height of Garland’s early film success, but she was also an enthusiastic participant in the war effort.

On this episode, you’ll hear Judy play Esther Blodgett, twelve years before her crowning achievement as star of the musical film version of A Star Is Born. You’ll also hear a high-spirited episode of Mail Call, a popular variety show intended to build military morale.

• “A Star Is Born” Lux Radio Theater, December 28 1942
• Mail Call, April 11, 1945

Next time, Judy in the post-war years.

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Long before she made her first MGM film, Judy Garland was known to radio audiences. Shortly after signing with the studio in 1935 (at age 13) Judy began appearing on radio shows sponsored by the studio, and eventually landed regular roles on other variety shows including Jack Oakie’s College, and the Popsodent Show. Her first national radio appearance occurred on October 26, 1935, on MGM’s Shell Chateau program. 
On this episode of HOTR, you’ll songs from three radio programs, and a complete episode of MGM’s Good News, which aired during the run-up to the release of The Wizard of Oz. Today you’ll hear:

• “Broadway Rhythm”, Shell Charteau, October 26, 1935
• “Zing”, Shell Chateau, November 16, 1935
• “FDR Jones”, Pepsodent Show, March 7, 1939
• Good News of 1939, June 29, 1939

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Command Performance was Hollywood’s gift to the men and women serving overseas during World War II. Produced by the US War Department with 100 percent donated labor and facilites, the show featured appearances by performers as requested by servicemen. Each show featured a star MC, musical acts, comedy, and variety. Today’s episode was produced June 30, 1942. Spencer Tracy serves as host, with appearances by Groucho Mrx, Barbara Stanwyck, Victor Borge, and Mary Lee, among others.

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In the fourth in our series of Lux Radio Theater programs, we mov beyond the Cecil B. DeMille years, to the William Keighley era. DeMille left his position as host after nine years, following a dispute with theAmerican Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA). After months of on-air auditions Keighley was named permanent host in November 1945, Keighley was a film director whose credits included; Brother Rat, The Streat With No Name, and  The Man Who Came to Dinner. Today’s episode of Lux, from November 15, 1948, stars John Garfield and Jane Wyman in Body and Soul.

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In part 3 of our Lux Radio Theater series, we take a look at Lux during World War II. Like most other radio series of the time, Lux included its share of war stories and other patriotic plays, but never abandoned the series’ focus on the glamorous, and more carefree side of Hollywood. War-themed plays mirrored the fare being offered on the nation’s movie screens, and on at least one occasion in the summer of 1942, Lux handed sponsorship of the show over to the US government, which re-christened the show, The Victory Theater, and used the episode to pitch war bonds. Male stars who had served in the military were welcomed back to the Lux stage with great fanfare, as were women stars who toured army camps stateside and overseas. Episodes during and after the war often featured pitches for war bonds, or human-interest stories about military personnel and civilians involved in the fight.

This week’s episode, from April 24, 1944, is called This Land is Mine. It’s the story of a small town in Europe, and its resistance of the Nazi occupation. The radio show is based on the 1943 film of the same name, which also starred Charles Laughton and Maureen O’Sullivan.

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Today we hear Lux episode 245, Dark Victory. It aired on January 8, 1940. The film version, starring Bette Davis and George Brent, had been released in April 1939, smack dab in the middle of Hollywood’s greatest film year. Lux had presented another version of Dark Victory in April 1938, with Barbara Stanwyck and Melvyn Douglas in the lead roles. But in 1940, it was not the play, but the pairing of Academy Award winners Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis that Cecil B DeMille raved about in his introduction. Davis and Tracy had earned two Oscars apiece by then, having each won acting awards at the most recent Oscar ceremony in 1939. Tracy’s Oscar was his second in a row. Davis had won her first in 1936. In short, Davis and Tracy were at the top of their game, and Lux made the most of their pairing on radio. Davis would go on to be nominated for another Oscar for her performance in <em>Dark Victory</em>. She lost to Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind.

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This week, I’m featuring two episodes of Academy Award Theater. First is Paul Muni in The Story of Louis Pasteur. He won an Oscar for his performance in the 1936 film. Ginger Rogers took home the 1940 Academy Award for her performance in Kitty Foyle, our second episode.