From Paris
October 7, 1951 rich
Cast: George Sanders, Gracie Fields, Josephine Baker, William Gargan
No audio currently held for this broadcast — status: missing from the surviving collection.
Synopsis
Broadcasting from the Empire Theatre in Paris before a capacity house, the program paired George Sanders with Joan Fontaine in a dramatization of Stefan Zweig's "Letter from an Unknown Woman," which Allen and Bankhead then spoofed. Josephine Baker's number reportedly drew the loudest ovation of the night -- French press coverage judged she had upstaged the hostess -- and the broadcast also carried a tribute to the recently deceased French actor Louis Jouvet, performed by Fernand Gravey and French cast members. Gracie Fields and Georges Guetary both had numbers substituted or pre-taped around contractual and clearance snags with their regular engagements.
Sources:martingrams.blogspot.com, otrsite.com
Editorial Notes
- George Sanders, Gracie Fields, Josephine Baker, William Gargan (Haendiges log)
Production Notes
- Recorded 24 September 1951 in Paris and shipped to the U.S. for network edit before airing; only part of the 90-minute program was carried on Radiodiffusion Francaise's Light Programme in France.