Romantic drama anthology · CBS
Romance
April 19, 1943 – January 5, 1957 · 469 broadcasts
Romance was CBS's long-running anthology of love stories -- "the great stories of all time," as its 1943 premiere promised, "tender love stories of today, the memorable love stories of the past." For nearly fourteen years it worked as the network's utility player, filling in for bigger shows and hopping from night to night, yet historian John Dunning judged it "a fine series" that "just bloomed." It began in New York in 1943 with host Frank Gallop and radio pros like Alice Frost and Santos Ortega. In 1944 it became Theatre of Romance under Colgate and Palmolive -- a half-hour "Lux Radio Theatre, Jr." that drew Hollywood names such as Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Temple and Van Johnson to adaptations of hit films and classic stories. After the war it moved to Los Angeles and into the hands of the CBS-Hollywood repertory company: William Conrad, John Dehner, Georgia Ellis, Virginia Gregg and the rest of the Escape and Suspense pool. Under director-producer Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston it became a proving ground for adult radio drama -- the 1951 broadcast "Pagosa" was a direct step toward their landmark Western, Gunsmoke. Its final and most polished run (1954-1957), directed by Antony Ellis and Fred MacKaye, is where most surviving episodes come from. "Columbia presents Romance!"
Collection status:
208 of 469 held (44% complete)
◆ ◆ ◆
Episode Spine
Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.
- 1943 (37 episodes)
- 1944 (51 episodes)
- 1945 (52 episodes)
- 1946 (46 episodes)
- 1947 (25 episodes)
- 1948 (24 episodes)
- 1949 (8 episodes)
- 1950 (8 episodes)
- 1951 (16 episodes)
- 1952 (31 episodes)
- 1953 (33 episodes)
- 1954 (32 episodes)
- 1955 (53 episodes)
- 1956 (52 episodes)
- 1957 (1 episodes)
1943
April 19, 1943
(untitled)
April 26, 1943
(untitled)
May 3, 1943
(untitled)
May 10, 1943
(untitled)
May 17, 1943
(untitled)
May 24, 1943
(untitled)
May 31, 1943
(untitled)
June 7, 1943
(untitled)
June 14, 1943
(untitled)
June 21, 1943
(untitled)
June 28, 1943
(untitled)
July 5, 1943
(untitled)
July 12, 1943
(untitled)
July 19, 1943
(untitled)
July 26, 1943
(untitled)
August 2, 1943
(untitled)
August 9, 1943
(untitled)
August 16, 1943
(untitled)
The wife of Britain's ambassador to Naples loses her heart to Admiral Nelson, the war hero of the age.
A strange and lovely woman who never seems to grow old, with Broadway's Julie Hayden in the title role.
September 6, 1943
(untitled)
September 13, 1943
(untitled)
A society woman faces a fatal illness in this tearful drama.
A carnival barker's son finds love -- and a rift with his father -- far from the sideshow.
October 4, 1943
(untitled)
October 11, 1943
(untitled)
October 18, 1943
(untitled)
A woman marries for love only to find herself an empress rather than a wife, in a story also known as "A Legend of Austria."
The tender tale of an orphan girl and the hidden benefactor who quietly changes her life.
November 8, 1943
(untitled)
November 15, 1943
(untitled)
November 22, 1943
(untitled)
November 30, 1943
(untitled)
December 7, 1943
(untitled)
December 14, 1943
(untitled)
December 21, 1943
(untitled)
December 28, 1943
Jane Eyre
1944
January 4, 1944
(untitled)
January 11, 1944
(untitled)
January 18, 1944
(untitled)
A bride gets cold feet on the eve of her wedding.
February 8, 1944
(untitled)
February 16, 1944
(untitled)
A love story set among the poor of the Paris tenements.
A small-town girl is torn between two very different kinds of love.
March 7, 1944
(untitled)
March 14, 1944
(untitled)
March 21, 1944
The Farmer Takes a Wife
March 28, 1944
(untitled)
April 4, 1944
(untitled)
April 11, 1944
(untitled)
April 18, 1944
(untitled)
Love strikes at first sight in the frozen wilds of Eskimo Point, Labrador.
May 2, 1944
(untitled)
May 9, 1944
(untitled)
May 16, 1944
(untitled)
The great romance of composer Robert Schumann and his beloved Clara.
May 30, 1944
(untitled)
June 6, 1944
(untitled)
She is too proud to love and he too prejudiced to court her, in Jane Austen's classic tale of matchmaking.
June 20, 1944
(untitled)
July 25, 1944
(untitled)
August 15, 1944
A Star Is Born
August 22, 1944
(untitled)
September 5, 1944
Dark Victory
September 12, 1944
(untitled)
September 19, 1944
(untitled)
September 26, 1944
(untitled)
October 3, 1944
(untitled)
October 10, 1944
(untitled)
October 17, 1944
(untitled)
October 24, 1944
(untitled)
October 31, 1944
(untitled)
November 7, 1944
(untitled)
November 14, 1944
(untitled)
December 12, 1944
No Time for Comedy
December 26, 1944
The Messiah
1945
January 9, 1945
The Letter
January 16, 1945
(untitled)
January 30, 1945
Shining Hour
February 13, 1945
Golden Boy
February 20, 1945
(untitled)
March 13, 1945
Silver Cord
March 27, 1945
Enchanted Cottege
April 3, 1945
Enchanted Cottege
April 17, 1945
(untitled)
April 24, 1945
(untitled)
May 1, 1945
(untitled)
May 8, 1945
(untitled)
May 15, 1945
(untitled)
May 29, 1945
(untitled)
June 5, 1945
(untitled)
July 3, 1945
Man Without a Country
July 10, 1945
Anne of Green Gables
July 31, 1945
Made for Each Other
August 14, 1945
(untitled)
December 11, 1945
Love Affair
1946
April 2, 1946
The Virginian
April 9, 1946
(untitled)
April 16, 1946
(untitled)
April 23, 1946
(untitled)
April 30, 1946
(untitled)
May 7, 1946
(untitled)
May 14, 1946
(untitled)
May 21, 1946
(untitled)
May 28, 1946
(untitled)
June 4, 1946
(untitled)
June 11, 1946
(untitled)
June 18, 1946
(untitled)
June 25, 1946
(untitled)
July 2, 1946
(untitled)
July 9, 1946
(untitled)
July 16, 1946
(untitled)
July 23, 1946
(untitled)
July 30, 1946
(untitled)
August 6, 1946
(untitled)
August 13, 1946
(untitled)
August 20, 1946
(untitled)
August 27, 1946
(untitled)
October 2, 1946
(untitled)
October 9, 1946
(untitled)
October 16, 1946
(untitled)
October 23, 1946
(untitled)
October 30, 1946
(untitled)
November 6, 1946
(untitled)
November 13, 1946
(untitled)
November 20, 1946
(untitled)
November 27, 1946
(untitled)
December 4, 1946
(untitled)
December 11, 1946
(untitled)
1947
April 23, 1947
(untitled)
May 7, 1947
(untitled)
May 14, 1947
(untitled)
May 21, 1947
(untitled)
June 4, 1947
Seventeen
June 11, 1947
(untitled)
June 18, 1947
(untitled)
June 25, 1947
(untitled)
June 30, 1947
(untitled)
July 7, 1947
(untitled)
July 14, 1947
(untitled)
October 18, 1947
The Rich Boy
October 25, 1947
The Camel's Back
November 1, 1947
(untitled)
November 8, 1947
(untitled)
November 15, 1947
(untitled)
November 22, 1947
(untitled)
November 29, 1947
(untitled)
December 6, 1947
(untitled)
December 13, 1947
(untitled)
December 20, 1947
(untitled)
December 27, 1947
(untitled)
1948
February 4, 1948
(untitled)
February 11, 1948
(untitled)
February 18, 1948
(untitled)
February 25, 1948
(untitled)
March 3, 1948
(untitled)
March 10, 1948
(untitled)
March 17, 1948
(untitled)
July 5, 1948
(untitled)
July 12, 1948
(untitled)
July 19, 1948
(untitled)
July 26, 1948
She Loves Me Not
August 6, 1948
Petticoat Fever
October 23, 1948
Kitty Foyle
October 30, 1948
Windward Passage
November 6, 1948
Disputed Passage
November 13, 1948
Long Engagement
November 20, 1948
The Highwayman
November 27, 1948
Quiet Wedding
December 4, 1948
Wuthering Heights
December 11, 1948
Daddy Longlegs
December 18, 1948
Somebody Loves Me
December 24, 1948
Two
1949
January 7, 1949
The Pirate of Orleans
January 14, 1949
The Doll in the Pink Silk Dress
January 19, 1949
Vigil for Chris
January 26, 1949
Young Woman's Darling
February 2, 1949
The Man from the North
1950
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his doomed love for young Maria Vetsera.
1951
January 6, 1951
For Business Reasons
January 13, 1951
A Vigil for Chris
Intrigue on a Caribbean island ruled by a beautiful woman.
August 13, 1951
Home on Fasseri
August 20, 1951
The Marriage of Lit Lit
September 8, 1951
Purple and Fine Linen
September 15, 1951
Damascus Steal
September 22, 1951
The Woman Who Wouldn't Run
September 29, 1951
Germelshausen
December 23, 1951
Home on Fasseri
December 30, 1951
Mail Order Bride
1952
January 6, 1952
Impressario
September 1, 1952
The Hour of Truth
September 4, 1952
Stone Walls
September 11, 1952
Motive for Murder
September 18, 1952
The Story of Mayerling
September 25, 1952
Bayou Song
October 2, 1952
The Glass Hero
October 9, 1952
Valley of the Shadow
October 16, 1952
The Long Arm
October 23, 1952
San Francisco Incident
October 30, 1952
The Bribe
November 6, 1952
Two Languages
November 13, 1952
One on One
November 20, 1952
The Fine Line
November 27, 1952
September Times Two
December 4, 1952
Red
December 11, 1952
The Heiress from Red Horse
December 25, 1952
The Cave
1953
January 1, 1953
Wild Oranges
January 8, 1953
False Holiday
June 4, 1953
Latin Lover
June 11, 1953
Home on Fasseri
June 18, 1953
Palermo and Return
June 25, 1953
September Times Two
July 2, 1953
The Pool
July 9, 1953
Development in Portugal
July 16, 1953
The Big Hello
July 23, 1953
Flight 71
July 30, 1953
A Very Considerate Burgler
August 6, 1953
I Am Not a Stranger
August 13, 1953
Martinique
August 20, 1953
Hour of Truth
September 3, 1953
A Simple Affair
September 10, 1953
Bachelor's Quarters
September 12, 1953
A Portrait of Stephanie
September 19, 1953
Miggles
October 3, 1953
Autumn Heroes
October 10, 1953
Intermezzo
October 17, 1953
Goodbye Mr. Chips
October 24, 1953
Rapaccini's Daughter
October 31, 1953
Portrait of Jennie
November 7, 1953
Point of View
A rural comedy about a chicken ranch whose hens won't lay -- and the good reason why.
November 21, 1953
(untitled)
November 28, 1953
(untitled)
December 5, 1953
(untitled)
December 12, 1953
Pagosa
December 19, 1953
A Warm Coat for Mommy
December 26, 1953
The Citadel
1954
A return to Shangri-La, the hidden Valley of the Blue Moon.
A meek little clerk from Cleveland stumbles into romance on a South Pacific island.
July 3, 1954
Sometime Every Summertime
A tale of brave knights and noble deeds.
With the war over, a woman long parted from her husband tries to rebuild an ordinary life.
A man reckons with eight years he let slip away in the Mojave desert.
A journey to Martinique -- French and tropical, modern and primitive, beautiful and mysterious.
A bored American, played by William Conrad, falls for a ballerina in the heat of a Paris summer.
August 28, 1954
Silhouette
The great lover Casanova as he really was -- fat, forty and past his prime.
October 2, 1954
Down East
A very unusual new kind of reporter arrives in Lisbon.
A college student falls hard for her English professor -- and there is a strange reason why.
A deputy is sent after a dangerous outlaw who turns out to be mild Elmer the hired man, armed with a squirrel gun.
Two friends scheme to trap an elusive bachelor into marriage.
An eccentric architect drives his client to distraction.
Two American girls set out to kick up their heels in Paris and get exactly what they came for.
December 25, 1954
The Cave
1955
January 1, 1955
Room, Board, and Stanislavski
January 8, 1955
Bachelor's Quarters
January 15, 1955
School at Diaz Pass
January 22, 1955
Lady in the Press
January 29, 1955
Ski Resort
February 5, 1955
Simi-Private Eye
February 12, 1955
Winter of the Difference
March 5, 1955
Tweedy Type
A married man goes to his class reunion and meets an old flame who hasn't changed a bit.
A young man takes his fiancee home to meet his mother, and tempers soon flare.
March 26, 1955
Black Diamond
April 2, 1955
One Day at Heatherstone
April 9, 1955
This I Remember
A troupe of starving young actors plays Cupid for a plain-faced waitress with a heart of gold.
April 23, 1955
Marriage Test
A very British comedy about Bunny, the houseguest who is never invited and never welcome.
June 4, 1955
Wisdom Is Humble
June 11, 1955
Ten Years Ago Tonight
June 18, 1955
After All, You're Not
June 25, 1955
Whistle Switch
Two young people fall in love over a summer vacation.
A man's business partner begins taking over duties that belong to his wife.
October 1, 1955
A Long Way to Go
October 29, 1955
The Move
November 19, 1955
A Big Fish Story
December 3, 1955
Village Scandal
A weary mother finds herself merely going through the motions of Christmas.
1956
A writer with an outsized ego is in for a surprise.
An innocent Ohio girl grows worldly and sophisticated in the big city.
A tender love story of a boy and a girl on a rainy day.
A thoroughly British service comedy set in the days of the old India.
As a spoiled rich man climbs a mountain to end it all, his wife walks out on him.
A noble impostor moving in high society is unmasked.
March 10, 1956
Oscar
A swashbuckling pirate yarn with a romance simmering behind two gruff exteriors.
A soldier comes home from occupied Japan with understandable reluctance.
Locked away in a prison cell, a young burglar aches for love.
The musings and diary entries of a confirmed bachelor who wonders what is so wrong with the single life.
June 16, 1956
The Fling
June 23, 1956
Mr. Barber's Love Affair
July 7, 1956
Dakotah - Courtship
The tale of the best poacher and moonshiner in the Cajun country.
July 21, 1956
One Night a Week
August 4, 1956
Gentle Torment
A Mississippi fair and its beauty contest are nearly ruined by one pesky fly.
September 1, 1956
The Vortegs
Not every pretty catch from the sea has a temper to match.
A visitor from Venus pays a friendly call on a widow living alone in the desert.
September 29, 1956
Capt. Willis' Wonderful Padle Wheel
A little girl, orphaned in a car crash, is trapped when an earthquake strikes her hospital room.
October 13, 1956
The Bell That Couldn't Ring
October 20, 1956
Theatricals at Medicine Hat
What might have happened if the undelivered letters of the dead-letter office had reached their destinations?
November 10, 1956
Log of the Black Parrot
December 1, 1956
Women of the Seventh
A delightful tale of two boys who wander into a cave full of pirates.
1957
The Story
Romance was CBS's long-running anthology of love stories -- "the great stories of all time," as its 1943 premiere promised, "tender love stories of today, the memorable love stories of the past." For nearly fourteen years it worked as the network's utility player, filling in for bigger shows and hopping from night to night, yet historian John Dunning judged it "a fine series" that "just bloomed." It began in New York in 1943 with host Frank Gallop and radio pros like Alice Frost and Santos Ortega. In 1944 it became Theatre of Romance under Colgate and Palmolive -- a half-hour "Lux Radio Theatre, Jr." that drew Hollywood names such as Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Temple and Van Johnson to adaptations of hit films and classic stories. After the war it moved to Los Angeles and into the hands of the CBS-Hollywood repertory company: William Conrad, John Dehner, Georgia Ellis, Virginia Gregg and the rest of the Escape and Suspense pool. Under director-producer Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston it became a proving ground for adult radio drama -- the 1951 broadcast "Pagosa" was a direct step toward their landmark Western, Gunsmoke. Its final and most polished run (1954-1957), directed by Antony Ellis and Fred MacKaye, is where most surviving episodes come from. "Columbia presents Romance!"
Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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