Command Performance: starring Betty Grable and Jack Benny – ComicWeb Old Time Radio Podcast

5 лет назад

1,100 Просмотров

ComicWeb Old Time Radio
Program: Command Performance
Episode: starring Betty Grable and Jack Benny
Original Airdate: 05/07/1942

Subscribe to ComicWeb’s Old Time Radio Podcast to hear hundreds (and growing) old time radio programs just like this one.
http://www.comicweb.com/podcasts/oldtimeradioprograms.xml
Or subscribe/follow us on this platform for even more OTR programs, or, well, you know what, just go to our website, we’ve got all sorts of great stuff there: golden age comic books, tv shows, serial cliffhangers, more radio, just a whole lotta coolness. It’s fun!
www.comicweb.com

-----------------------------------------------------------
Episode Summary:
In honor of Memorial Day tune in to our podcast for an episode of Command Performance starring Betty Grable and Jack Benny
https://radiopublic.com/comicweb-old-time-radio-programs-GMPOq4/ep/s1!cbdac

The best wartime program in radio that listeners in the States never heard!
Command Performance is basically a USO show on the radio. This episode stars Betty Grable and Jack Benny.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Program Summary:

Command Performance was a weekly variety show produced by the War Department and only aired for our troops serving overseas, it was dubbed by Time Magazine as “the best wartime program in radio.” The program featured the most spectacular stars: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, the Andrews Sisters, Cary Grant, and many, many, more. Broadcasters donated their studios, the stars donated their acting, Vick Knight (the director) left the popular, and well paying, Fred Allen show to donate his skills. The show was seen by stars and studio hands as a way for the entertainment industry to contribute to the war effort, and to make a connection to the soldiers. The idea behind the title is that the soldiers would write in and request what they wanted. The show includes some heartfelt letters from soldiers who might request a particular sound from their home, like the sounds of Fifth Avenue, NY, the emcee would give a shout out to a particular solider or unit, or theater of war, then play what was requested.

To counteract what could be sad or moving letters from those serving and risking their lives, the show had a lighthearted feel, plenty of peppy music and jokes. It is basically a USO show on the radio. Two specific programs stick out: On Christmas Eve 1942 the show was aired in the states, and was played on all four radio networks. As an example of how star studded the show was, in 1945 the show outdid itself with an episode called “Dick Tracy in B-Flat” (subtitled – “For Goodness Sakes, Isn't He Ever Going To Marry Tess Truehart”). The Dick Tracy rip off starred Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Judy Garland, the Andrews Sisters, and Frank Sinatra.

“Command Performance USA the greatest entertainers in America, as requested by you, the men and women in the Unites States Armed Forces throughout the world. Command Performance presented this week and every week till your back from over there.”

Тэги: