Screen Directors Playhouse


Screen Directors Playhouse is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, with original directors of the films sometimes involved in the productions, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations and taking a brief "curtain call" with the cast and host at the end of the program. During the 1955–56 season, the series was seen on television, focusing on original teleplays and several adaptations of famous short stories.

Radio

The radio version ran for 122 episodes and aired on NBC from January 9, 1949, to September 28, 1951, under several different titles: NBC Theater, Screen Directors Guild Assignment, Screen Directors Assignment and, as of July 1, 1949, Screen Directors Playhouse.
Actors on the radio series included Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Ronald Colman, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Kirk Douglas, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, James Mason, Ray Milland, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Norma Shearer, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Loretta Young.

Television

The television version, produced and filmed at Hal Roach Studios, was broadcast for one season of 35 half-hour episodes on NBC, under the sponsorship of Eastman Kodak, airing from October 5, 1955, to June 1956. The final episodes aired on ABC ending on September 26, 1956.
Hal Roach Studios produced the program, and members of the Screen Directors Guild directed the 30-minute filmed episodes. The guild used its income to support its educational and benevolent foundation.
John Wayne appeared in the episode "Rookie of the Year", in "his only real dramatic role on TV", and Errol Flynn's first dramatic role on TV came in "The Sword of Villon".
Billed in the opening credits of their respective television episodes are: Lee Aaker, Lola Albright, John Alderson, Leon Ames, Lew Ayres, Lynn Bari, Ralph Bellamy, William Bendix, John Bentley, Charles Bickford, Janet Blair, Ward Bond, Neville Brand, Walter Brennan, Hillary Brooke, Joe E. Brown, Edgar Buchanan, Rory Calhoun, Macdonald Carey, Jack Carson, Joan Caulfield, Gower Champion, Marge Champion, Fred Clark, Constance Cummings, Linda Darnell, Laraine Day, Yvonne deCarlo, Brandon deWilde, Bobby Driscoll, James Dunn, Leo Durocher, Robert Easton, Buddy Ebsen, Marilyn Erskine, Frank Fay, Errol Flynn, Scott Forbes, Wallace Ford, Sally Forrest, Rita Gam, Nancy Gates, Leo Genn, Greta Granstedt, Barbara Hale, Don Hanmer, Dick Haymes, Dennis Hopper, Kim Hunter, Buster Keaton, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Cloris Leachman, Sheldon Leonard, Peter Lorre, James Lydon, Jeanette MacDonald, Jimmy McHugh, Fred MacMurray, Lotfi Mansouri, Vera Miles, Ray Milland, Sal Mineo, Thomas Mitchell, George Montgomery, Patricia Morison, Barry Nelson, Edmond O'Brien, Dan O'Herlihy, Dennis O'Keefe, ZaSu Pitts, Basil Rathbone, Philip Reed, Robert Ryan, George Sanders, Herb Shriner, Mary Sinclair, Rod Steiger, William Talman, Casey Tibbs, June Vincent, John Wayne, Pat Wayne, Michael Wilding, Fay Wray, Teresa Wright, Keenan Wynn, May Wynn and Alan Young. But there was one difference between the two versions of the program: while the radio program had presented only condensed versions of well-known plays and films, the television version presented mostly original dramas.
The directors of television episodes are: Lewis Allen, Claude Binyon, Frank Borzage, John Brahm, David Butler, Gower Champion, William Dieterle, Allan Dwan, John Ford, Tay Garnett, Hugo Haas, Byron Haskin, Stuart Heisler, Ida Lupino, Leo McCarey, Norman Z. McLeod, George Marshall, Ted Post, H. C. Potter, John Rich, William A. Seiter, George Sherman, Andrew L. Stone, Ted Tetzlaff, Frank Tuttle, George Waggner and Fred Zinnemann.

Directors, vital dates, years of activity as director, episode titles, writers and broadcast dates

  1. Leo McCarey "Meet the Governor"
  2. Frank Borzage "Day Is Done"
  3. John Brahm "A Midsummer Daydream"
  4. George Waggner "Arroyo"
  5. William A. Seiter "Want Ad Wedding"
  6. Norman Z. McLeod "Life of Vernon Hathaway"
  7. Andrew L. Stone "The Final Tribute"
  8. Stuart Heisler "The Brush Roper"
  9. Leo McCarey "Tom and Jerry"
  10. John Ford "Rookie of the Year"
  11. H. C. Potter "Lincoln's Doctor's Dog"
  12. George Marshall "The Silent Partner"
  13. Ted Tetzlaff "The Titanic Incident"
  14. Tay Garnett "Hot Cargo"
  15. Allan Dwan "It's Always Sunday"
  16. Ida Lupino "No. 5 Checked Out"
  17. David Butler "Prima Donna"
  18. George Sherman "Cry Justice"
  19. Byron Haskin "Affair in Sumatra"
  20. William Dieterle "One Against Many"
  21. Claude Binyon "It's a Most Unusual Day"
  22. George Waggner "The Sword of Villon"
  23. Fred Zinnemann "Markheim"
  24. Frank Tuttle "Claire"
  25. Frank Borzage "A Ticket for Thaddeus"
  26. Hugo Haas "The Dream"
  27. Gower Champion "What Day Is It?"
  28. Lewis Allen "Every Man Has Two Wives"
  29. Tay Garnett "Partners"
  30. Ted Post "White Corridors"
  31. Tay Garnett "The Carroll Formula"
  32. John Rich "Apples on the Lilac Tree"
  33. John Brahm "The Bitter Waters"
  34. Frank Borzage "The Day I Met Caruso"
  35. Allan Dwan "High Air"

    Directors listed by number of "Best Director" Academy Award nominations

  36. Fred Zinnemann : The Search, High Noon, From Here to Eternity, The Nun's Story, The Sundowners, A [Man for All Seasons (1966 film)|A Man for All Seasons] and Julia
  37. John Ford : The Informer, Stagecoach, The [Grapes of Wrath (film)|The Grapes of Wrath], How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man
  38. Leo McCarey : The Awful Truth, Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's
  39. Frank Borzage : 7th Heaven and Bad Girl
  40. William Dieterle : ''The Life of Emile Zola''

    Television episodes

Opening announcement: "SCREEN DIRECTORS PLAYHOUSE. Bringing you each week an outstanding original screenplay chosen and directed by one of the country's foremost motion picture directors."

Listen to

Category:1955 [American television series debuts]
Category:1956 American [television series endings]
Category:1940s American radio programs
Category:1950s American radio programs
Category:1950s American drama television series
Category:American radio dramas
Category:Anthology radio series
Category:Black-and-white American television shows
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Radio programs based on films
Category:Radio programmes based on novels
Category:NBC radio programs
Category:NBC television dramas
Category:American Broadcasting Company television dramas