Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Saturday 25 March 1939, page 46


Leading artists heard in

famous; plays

HARVEY ADAMS, popular stage and radio actor, plays in ICB's new "live-artist" shows.

Australia now has its own

"radio theatre"

Famous plays of the stage and screen are being presented by the "Radio Theatre," a Sunday night "live-artist" session from 2GB.

Cecil 6. de Mille, celebrated American film pro-ducer, formally opened the session on Sunday night by radio-telephone from Hollywood.

FOR the last few years a

similar session has been broadcast in America and has met with outstanding success.

Produced in Hollywood and broadcast over a nation-wide re-lay, the American

programme pro-vides an hour of dramatic enter-tainment and features leading film personalities, including Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Norma

Shearer, Leslie Howard, Claudette Colbert, William Powell, Merle Oberon, Joan Crawford, Fredric March, Myrna Loy and Herbert

Marshall.

To ensure that the Australian "radio theatre" would be of the same high standard, the producers of the American programme arranged for Mr. Phillip F. Mygatt to come to Australia. He reached Sydney a few weeks ago.

"I feel quite certain. Mr. Mygatt said, "that, although there are not available in Australia those famous personalities who add so much to the attraction of our American produc-tions, the talented players who will take part will make the session out-standing in Australian radio.

"The first production, 'Inter-ference,' featured Irene Purcell, the brilliant star of "The Women,' to-gether with Harvey Adams and Peter Finch and Thelma Scott.

"Next Sunday, from 2GB at 8 p.m., we shall present 'Hands Across the Tabla.' the delightful play which made such a grand film when Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray were starred in it for Paramount. Fred

MacMurray, by the way, played also in the Radio Theatre presentation in America, but on the air he was partnered by Claudette Colbert.

"It is the story or a manicurist who made up her mind to marry only a millionaire.

"She found a man with a mil-lionaire's name but no millions.

"On Sunday week, we shall broad-cast the comedy, 'The Bishop Mis-behaves,' with Lou Vernon as the Bishop who prefers detective stories

to sermons.

"On the following Sunday, listen-ers will hear Miss Dorothy Poster as the star of 'Dulcy,' a light comedy especially adapted for her.

Huge Audience

"AFTER that WiU ke near<* a seïtes

of plays which have delighted millions of stage and film fans.

"The exact order of production has not yet been fixed, but we hope to producá shows such as 'Michael and Mary.' 'The Man in Possession,' 'Seventh Heaven,' 'Candlelight,' 'The Thin» Man,' 'Men in White,' 'The Dark Angel,' '39 Steps,' 'Magnificent Obsession,' 'The Green Light,' 'Theo-dora Goes Wild,' and 'Desire.'

"Each play will run for an hour, and each will be played by the finest

IRENE PURCELL, well-known American stage

star, played the lead in "Interference."

artists obtainable in Australia. We hope to make 8 p.m., Sundays, on 2GB the highlight of radio enter-tainment in Australia.

"Live-artist presentations, par-ticularly in dramatic plays, we feel, hold tremendous appeal for the lis-tening public. Every listener in that huge audience which heard 'Inter-ference' must have been conscious of the personal presence of Irene Purcell as she stepped up to the microphone.

"She was there-a living person-ality in the home of every listener.

"It was particularly pleasing to find Mr. de Mille so interested in che Australian production that he phoned from Hollywood to wish us

success.

"The production of the plays in America, however, is so much the work of Mr. de Mille that he feels a very close personal interest in what we are doing out here.

"Before I left Hollywood we had to go very carefully through every detail of our Australian plans with Mr. de Mille himself, to satisfy him that our productions would be of a standard worthy of the name of the

'Radio Theatre.'"