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Family Theater

In 1945, Father Patrick Peyton persuaded the Mutual Broadcasting Company network to give him a free half-hour for a program to pray for and support families. It was scheduled for Mother’s Day, May 13. He recruited Bing Crosby, one of the country’s biggest stars, to give a talk, and the parents and sister of the famous five brothers who died on the same ship during World War II to lead families in praying a decade of the Rosary. Less than a week before the program, the Germans surrendered, and President Truman declared May 8 as VE Day and May 13 as a national day of prayer and thanksgiving for the end of the war in Europe and for those who lost their lives. More than 300 stations picked up the show, which got excellent reviews by newspapers.

With this success, Father Peyton asked Mutual for a weekly half-hour program. Mutual eventually agreed as long as the series was nonsectarian, featured Hollywood stars and was well-written and produced. It was and the series went on to win 14 awards including the best radio program of the year in 1947-1951 by several trade magazines and daily newspapers. It became one of the longest running weekly dramatic radio programs, airing for 22 years. More than 550 programs featured over 400 Hollywood stars

Sample shows - left click headphones to listen, right-click & save-as to download

Show Title Broadcast Date File Size Length
Details
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Flight From Home 2/13/47 6.7 00:29:16 James Stewart, Don Ameche, & Loretta Young. The corrosion of guilt, the miracle of forgiveness, the power of prayer.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download No Night Too Dark 2/20/47 6.79 00:29:40 William Gargan, Walter Brennan, Beulah Bondi in the story of a blind veteran who learns that he can still see. So who played the cat?
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download J Smith And Wife 2/27/47 6.65 00:29:02 Bing Crosby, Dana Andrews, & Irene Dunn. The aftermath of an accident.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Let Us Remember 3/11/47 6.73 00:29:22 An old man from war-torn Europe explains to an American boy about hunger. Robert Young, J. Carrol Naish, Claude Jarman, Jr.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Work Of A Lifetime 3/18/47 6.71 00:29:16 Edward G. Robinson, Bill Williams, & Pat O'Brien. One prison inmate can't take life on the outside.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download A Bunch Of Keys 3/25/47 6.72 00:29:19 Lee Bowman, Frank McHugh, George Murphy. A Wall St. wizard loses everything, and gains more back.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Passion 4/3/47 6.65 00:29:00 Ethel Barrymore, Charles Boyer. An Easter presentation of the Passion of Our Lord.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Man Against Death 4/10/47 6.67 00:29:06 Jane Wyatt, John Charles Thomas, John Emery. The story of John and Diana Bruce, medical detectives.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download God And The Red Scooter 4/17/47 6.67 00:29:07 Jane Wyman, James Craig, Gary Cooper. A grown man learns how to sleep.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Ernie's Day 4/24/47 6.76 00:29:29 Barry Fitzgerald, Charlie Ruggles. Ernie is a hot dog vendor, and one heck of a guy.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Mr. Bidderoe's Mission 5/1/47 6.72 00:29:21 Jack Haley, Chester Morris, Cecil Calloway. Clyde has only a short time to live, and before he goes he wants to murder a man before he goes. Mr. Bidderoe is sent to stop him.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Awakening 5/8/47 6.86 00:29:56 Alan Jones, Susan Peters, Richard Quine. A working mother gets her priorities straight.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Lonely Road 5/15/47 6.73 00:29:23 Gregory Peck, Nelson Eddy. A pressured politician finds the courage to buck the lobbyists.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Laughing Into Glory 6/12/47 6.72 00:29:21 Vincent Price as a pastor who requests a transfer, for good reason.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Juggler Of Our Lady 12/25/47 6.66 00:29:04 John Charles Thomas, John Nesbit, Irene Dunne. A French folk tale about a poor ignorant juggler giving Our Lady and Her Son the only gift he had.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Herbert Has Ideas 12/8/48 5.53 00:24:07 Jack Smith, Janet Waldo, John Biehl. An ambitious young man gets his chance at last.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Gentlemen Be Seated 1/12/49 3.65 00:15:54 Rosalind Russel, Eddie Cantor. The story of Sugarfoot & Son, minstrels.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download World Without End 1/19/49 5.5 00:24:01 A new bride becomes a war widow. Joan Leslie , Robert Young.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Melancholy Clown 1/26/49 5.53 00:24:09 Lionel Barrymore, Dean Stoclwell. The childhood of Prince of the Theater David Belasco.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Leprechaun Who Wouldnt Listen 3/16/49 5.55 00:24:12 Edmung Gwen, Alan Young. A whimsical tale about a disobedient leprechaun who gets into real trouble.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Night Elevator 4/6/49 5.64 00:24:36 James Gleason, Nancy Olsen, Claudette Colbert - James Gleason as an elevator operator who has an eventful shift.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Throw Your Heart In The Ring 4/27/49 29 00: Gary Cooper, Shelly Winters, Henry Morgan. A nurse cares for a sick man in a seddy hotel and finds herself falling in love with him.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Stolen Symphony 5/11/49 6.78 00:29:36 Richard Widmark as a test pilot who gains a new appreciation of life when he dies.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Necklace 6/29/49 28 00: A couple struggles for 10 years to repay a debt. A short story by Guy DeMaupassant.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Pardoner's Tale 7/6/49 6.71 00:29:16 From The Canterbury Tales, a story of three men who don't know about death, but do know about greed.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Other Wise Man 12/14/49 6.57 00:28:40 Otto Kruger and Jeff Chandler present my favorite Christmas story.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Cobbler's Window 12/29/49 6.56 00:28:37 A lonely old shoemaker discovers hope. With Pat O'Brien and Victor Jory.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Short Career Of Dexter Coles 2/8/50 6.58 00:28:43 Jack Webb as an honest reporter who sells out to a crooked politician(played by William Conrad).
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Spy 2/22/50 6.54 00:28:33 A revolutionary tale, starring Robert Stack.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Mahoney's Lucky Day 4/19/50 6.81 00:29:43 A good guy finally gets a break.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Lullaby Of Christmas 12/13/50 5.67 00:24:45 Roddy McDowall in Charles Tazwell's tale of a mute Bethlehem boy who prays for the gift of speech.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Perfect Princess 12/12/51 6.76 00:29:31 Starring William Bendix and Harold Perry. Perfection can be daunting.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Martians And The Coys 11/11/53 6.85 00:29:54 The Kirkwood Family. Travellers from Mars meet a hillbilly family from Earth.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Little Prince 12/30/53 6.86 00:29:58 With Eddie Cantor and Wendell Corey.Three doctors are summoned to a foreign kingdon to treat a royal child..
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Sideman 1/6/54 6.88 00:30:03 Dan Duryea tells the story of a small town trumpeter who gets his big break.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Mental Blocks 3/17/54 6.81 00:29:44 James Cagney. Enough said. What could be bad?
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download Night Caller 3/24/54 6.79 00:29:37 A woman is held hostage in her home by a gang of criminals. With Anne Blythe and Raymond Burr.
Left-click to listen, Right-click to download The Story Of Little Tree 4/7/54 6.73 00:29:23 Edmund Gwen tells the story of the tree that supplied the wood for the Cross of Christ.
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