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Anthology drama · CBS

On Stage

January 1, 1953 – September 30, 1954 · 79 broadcasts

On Stage was a CBS anthology that put two of radio's finest -- the real-life husband-and-wife team Cathy and Elliott Lewis -- at the center of a brand-new, self-contained play every week. Comedy one week, hard drama or western or literary adaptation the next, but always built around the relationship between the two characters the Lewises played: lovers, spouses, strangers, sometimes enemies. Elliott Lewis, radio's celebrated "Mr. Radio," produced, directed, edited, and transcribed the show as well as starring in it, drawing scripts from a deep bench of writers -- Morton Fine and David Friedkin, E. Jack Neuman, Shirley Gordon, Antony Ellis, Richard Chandlee. George Walsh announced and Ray Noble supplied the "Cathy and Elliott" theme, with a reliable company of West Coast character players -- Byron Kane most of all -- filling out the casts. It ran from January 1953 to September 1954: 78 broadcasts, of which just over forty survive, and one of the medium's most polished actors' showcases.

Collection status: 42 of 79 held (53% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1953

January 1, 1953 The String Bow Tie Listen (MP3)
An advertising copywriter winds up starring in the very perfume commercial he cooked up, and the comic tangles multiply from there.
January 8, 1953 Beirut by Sunrise Listen (MP3)
A young woman's ocean voyage turns into an unexpected romantic adventure by the time the ship reaches Beirut.
January 11, 1953 Poetic Tragedy Rehearsal Listen (MP3)
The rehearsal recording of "A Poetic Tragedy" (aired four days later): a producer deliberately talks up a hopeless play, banking on the profit in its failure.
January 15, 1953 A Poetic Tragedy Listen (MP3)
A theatrical producer deliberately oversells a doomed show, gambling that its very badness will pay off -- the same con later spun in The Producers.
January 22, 1953 Cargo Listen (MP3)
Adventure, danger, and heartbreak collide deep in the jungle, where a dangerous shipment carries far more than freight.
January 29, 1953 Public Furlough Listen (MP3)
A lovestruck soldier pours his heart out in letters to a movie star, then finds his long-dreamed-of trip to Hollywood is nothing like he pictured.
February 5, 1953 A Corner of Autumn Listen (MP3)
A never-quite-famous nightclub singer and an alcoholic pianist drift into a fragile, doomed romance; the episode that served as the show's audition, with Cathy Lewis singing.
February 12, 1953 The Party Listen (MP3)
A wry social satire set at a soiree where the hostess is thoroughly in her glory while one male guest flounders hopelessly.
February 19, 1953 Four Meetings Listen (MP3)
From the Henry James story: a man looks back on the cousin he met only four times, and on the small tragedy that shadowed her life.
February 26, 1953 A Fifth of Tears Listen (MP3)
An undercover policewoman works her way into a seedy bar's gangland crowd to get a trapped young girl out.
March 12, 1953 Call Me a Cab Listen (MP3)
Stuck out in the rain, a solitary passenger and her equally solitary taxi driver drift together into a shared romantic reverie.
March 19, 1953 Eddie Listen (MP3)
A quietly chilling account of a stalker and the chances to stop him that everyone let slip past.
March 26, 1953 Dig, the Thief Listen (MP3)
A silver-tongued swindler talks his way into a dig by passing himself off as an archaeology expert.
April 2, 1953 The Lady or the Tiger Listen (MP3)
Frank Stockton's famous riddle of jealousy and choice, dramatized: behind one door a bride, behind the other a tiger.
April 9, 1953 The Bunch of Violets Listen (MP3)
One salesman's impulsive nickel bouquet triggers a chain of comic mix-ups, with Cathy Lewis and Peggy Webber both taking three parts apiece.
April 16, 1953 Casey at the Bat Listen (MP3)
A tongue-in-cheek retelling of Thayer's ballpark ballad, out to reveal the "real" reason the mighty Casey struck out.
April 23, 1953 Skin Deep Listen (MP3)
A plain-looking woman lawyer, gnawed by envy of a beautiful defendant, lets that jealousy push her to prosecute an innocent woman.
April 30, 1953 Happy Anniversary Album Listen (MP3)
A musical valentine for the couple's tenth anniversary, reviving a disc they had waxed years earlier with bandleader Ray Noble; Cathy performs "The Very Thought of You."
May 7, 1953 The Bear Listen (MP3)
Chekhov's one-act reset on the frontier: a loud, boorish creditor comes calling on a grieving widow over money her late husband owed, and the two strike sparks.
May 14, 1953 Statement of Fact Listen (MP3)
A hard-charging assistant state's attorney sits down face to face with the woman accused of an axe murder.
May 21, 1953 Conrad in Quest of His Youth
May 28, 1953 The Hanging at Four Oaks Listen (MP3)
A frontier tale of a dancehall singer bound up with a killer on the run.
June 4, 1953 And a Fond Farewell Listen (MP3)
A comic love triangle among a drama teacher at a college, his spouse, and the never-married pal from their student days who has since become a stage star.
June 11, 1953 East Lynn
June 18, 1953 An Ideal Couple Listen (MP3)
A blissfully wed pair lands a guest spot on a TV program titled "Happy, Though Married" -- and the cameras put their contentment to the test.
June 25, 1953 A Day to Remember
July 2, 1953 The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere Listen (MP3)
July 9, 1953 Man of Independent Mind Listen (MP3)
A man sets out to become the strongest person alive by starting absurdly small -- snapping toothpicks, one at a time.
July 16, 1953 Miracle for Julie
July 23, 1953 The Fling Listen (MP3)
After seven years tending his invalid wife in the desert, a man is tempted by a night with a lively passing waitress.
July 30, 1953 The Girl I Tried to Love
August 13, 1953 A Month of Sundays
August 20, 1953 Canary Yellow Listen (MP3)
A celebrated actor looks back and tells the story of his very first, childhood turn on the stage.
August 27, 1953 Child in the Room
September 9, 1953 I Love You, I Love You, Gezundheit!
September 16, 1953 The Crustacean Listen (MP3)
A grim two-hander at an isolated backwater inn, pairing a slow-witted dishwasher with a cold, predatory waitress.
September 23, 1953 Penny Ante Listen (MP3)
First of the Stanley Finston comedies: Stanley finds a stray dollar on a Las Vegas casino floor and, over his wife's protests, parlays it into a fortune.
September 30, 1953 Loving Listen (MP3)
Three short plays on the many faces of love, with the Lewises each taking three roles, alongside William Conrad and Barney Phillips.
October 7, 1953 Great Dane
October 14, 1953 Ditty and Mr. Jasper
October 21, 1953 Take My Hand, My Love Listen (MP3)
A painter and a writer fall for each other in Greenwich Village at the turn of the century.
October 28, 1953 Cellar Door
November 4, 1953 Vickie
November 11, 1953 The Marathon
November 18, 1953 A Circle of Wheels Listen (MP3)
A wry fantasy: X-rays reveal that a married couple has tiny gears quietly growing inside them.
November 25, 1953 New York's a Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn't Want to Live There
December 2, 1953 Our American Cousin
December 9, 1953 Passing Strange
December 16, 1953 Candide Listen (MP3)
Voltaire's satire condensed for radio, following guileless Candide through a world determined to disabuse him of optimism.
December 30, 1953 Happy Holidays Listen (MP3)
A musical holiday sequel to the anniversary show, re-creating the Lewises' 1949 record, with Ray Noble.

1954

January 6, 1954 Gopher Man
February 3, 1954 Camille
February 10, 1954 Tragedy Off Hollywood Blvd.
February 17, 1954 Heartbreak Listen (MP3)
Written for the Heart Fund campaign: a 38-year-old businessman survives a heart attack, only to be paralyzed by the fear of ever exerting himself again.
March 3, 1954 The Dreamer Listen (MP3)
A young couple's life is upended when an eccentric elderly relative moves in and starts building inventions in the basement.
March 10, 1954 Crusade of Stanley Finston Listen (MP3)
Stanley Finston returns, saddled with a traffic ticket and dead set on proving that you really can fight City Hall.
March 17, 1954 Occurrence Up a Side Street
March 24, 1954 Heaven's to Betsy
March 31, 1954 Three Anniversaries
April 7, 1954 Hidden Heart
April 14, 1954 The Referee
April 21, 1954 A Man and His Mountain
April 28, 1954 Giant's Fireplace Listen (MP3)
June 17, 1954 Fork in the Road
June 24, 1954 Younger Sister
July 1, 1954 Some Days It Just Doesn't Pay
July 8, 1954 Welcome Home' Dan
July 15, 1954 The Book of Next Month
July 22, 1954 Interlude
July 29, 1954 The Telegram Listen (MP3)
A comedy about a couple slowly driven frantic by an unopened telegram and their runaway imaginations about what it says.
August 5, 1954 Diversion
August 12, 1954 Driftwood
August 19, 1954 Stanley Finston, Stockbroker
August 26, 1954 The Prize Fighter
September 2, 1954 Lovely Dead Letter
September 9, 1954 Saralee, You Are Lovely as the Summer Listen (MP3)
A naive, hopelessly romantic orphan, employed cleaning hotel rooms, weaves love stories around her own life.
September 16, 1954 Sleepytime Gal
September 23, 1954 Fascination Listen (MP3)
September 30, 1954 Circle of Wheels Listen (MP3)
The series' final broadcast, a rerun of "A Circle of Wheels": X-rays reveal a couple with tiny gears growing inside them.
The Story

On Stage was a CBS anthology that put two of radio's finest -- the real-life husband-and-wife team Cathy and Elliott Lewis -- at the center of a brand-new, self-contained play every week. Comedy one week, hard drama or western or literary adaptation the next, but always built around the relationship between the two characters the Lewises played: lovers, spouses, strangers, sometimes enemies. Elliott Lewis, radio's celebrated "Mr. Radio," produced, directed, edited, and transcribed the show as well as starring in it, drawing scripts from a deep bench of writers -- Morton Fine and David Friedkin, E. Jack Neuman, Shirley Gordon, Antony Ellis, Richard Chandlee. George Walsh announced and Ray Noble supplied the "Cathy and Elliott" theme, with a reliable company of West Coast character players -- Byron Kane most of all -- filling out the casts. It ran from January 1953 to September 1954: 78 broadcasts, of which just over forty survive, and one of the medium's most polished actors' showcases.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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