In the 1930s through the early 1950s, there were several radio programs that presented condensed versions of popular movies. The most popular was NBC’s Lux Radio Theatre, named from the sponsor, Lux Soap. Originally presenting radio versions of Broadway plays, the production was moved to the West Coast in 1936, and the focus became radio versions of Hollywood movies, often with members from the original cast. In 1939, CBS radio began a similar radio anthology series — Screen Guild Theatre — but it condensed the films into 30 minutes, unlike the full hour used by the Lux Radio Theatre.
I began researching the history of these radio anthology programs and discovered that nearly half of the movies on our Christmas watch list were presented on one of these radio anthologies. I have listed below the ones we have discovered with information about the date of the original broadcast and the cast. (There are some interesting substitutions!) The title of the film is linked to an online stream of the archived radio program, often on a YouTube channel or some other source. Enjoy!
| FILM | CAST | BROADCAST DATE | PROGRAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor Mother | Ginger Rogers, Frederic March | 01/22/1940 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| Bachelor Mother | Henry Fonda, Lorraine Day, Charles Coburn | 02/01/1942 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| Bachelor Mother | Fred MacMurray, Ann Sothern | 11/23/1942 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| Bachelor Mother | Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Francis X. Bushman | 05/06/1946 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| Bachelor Mother | Lucille Ball, Joseph Cotten, Charles Coburn | 04/28/1949 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| The Bishop’s Wife | Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven | 03/01/1948 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| The Bishop’s Wife | Tyrone Power, David Niven, Jane Greer | 12/19/1949 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| A Christmas Carol | Lionel Barrymore, Orson Welles | 12/24/1939 | Mercury Theatre |
| Christmas in Connecticut | Ronald Reagan, Jane Wyman, Leon Delasco | 08/05/1946 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| The Gift of the Magi | Gene Tierney (reading the original O. Henry Story) | 03/20/1947 | Radio Reader’s Digest |
| Holiday Affair | Robert Mitchum, Lorraine Day | 12/18/1950 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| Holiday Inn | Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore | 01/11/1943 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| In Name Only | Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, Kay Francis | 12/11/1939 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| It Happened on Fifth Avenue | Victor Moore, Gale Storm, Charles Ruggles | 05/19/1947 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| It’s a Wonderful Life | Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Victor Moore | 03/10/1947 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| The Lemon Drop Kid | Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell | 12/10/1951 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| The Man Who Came to Dinner | Clifton Webb, Lucille Ball | 03/27/1950 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn | 12/22/1947 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| Remember the Night | Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray | 03/25/1940 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| Remember the Night | Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray | 12/22/1941 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| The Shop Around the Corner | Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan | 09/29/1940 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| The Shop Around the Corner | Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche | 06/23/1941 | Lux Radio Theatre |
| The Shop Around the Corner | Van Johnson, Phyllis Thaxter | 02/26/1945 | Screen Guild Theatre |
| The Thin Man | William Powell, Myrna Loy | 06/08/1936 | Lux Radio Theatre |
If you are interested in seeing the full range of classic films that were converted to radio scripts on Lux Radio Theatre and Screen Guild Theatre, click these links: