THE CAVALCADE OF AMERICA: THE LOST EPISODES
by Martin Grams, Jr.
Sixty years ago when DuPont chemists were toiling over their bunsen
burners and squinting into the reports to bring into the world such strange
and new materials as nylon and lucite, the public thought of DuPont as a
gunpowder manufacturing gargantuan, making goods of destruction.
Then some smart advertising agency executives sold the 26 men on
DuPont’s executive committee the idea of advertising on radio the
constructive things DuPont was making for society.
“Better things for better living through chemistry” was the motif
behind the advertising plan and it was soon heard as DuPont’s slogan on a
weekly program called The Cavalcade of America.
Nearly 1,000 man-hours each week and eleven-and-a-half hours of rehearsal
time were spent in the preparation of each half-hour production.
Newspapers with a circulation of 17,500,000 carried advertisements of
the program. Close to 715,000
pieces of mail were sent out weekly to stockholders, business leaders,
educators, customers, and anyone else who might have an interest in the
program. Variety reported in
February of 1944 that the budget for Cavalcade
moved from $5,000 to $7,000 per show (exactly one year before), to $11,500.
For statistics:
October 9, 1935 – The Cavalcade of
America premiered over CBS Radio.
October 1, 1952 – The Cavalcade
of America television series
premiered over NBC-TV.
Initially dramatizing adaptations of the radio
scripts, the television series eventually filmed
original television dramas.
March 31, 1953 – the final radio broadcast of The
Cavalcade of America was heard.
June 4, 1957 – the final television episode of The
DuPont Cavalcade Theater aired. (the
final two
seasons were called The DuPont
Cavalcade Theater, not The
Cavalcade of America.)
For anyone keeping count, there was “officially” a total of 781 radio
broadcasts and 197 television broadcasts. I use the word officially for good reason, which will be
explained near the end of this essay. Concerning
ourselves with the radio end, only 764 of the 781 historical presentations
are known to exist. After
months of research, with the cooperation of DuPont and a handful of private
collectors, in early 1999 I completed the official list of the seventeen
lost radio episodes. Does
anyone out there have any of these?
Lost Episode # 1:
“The Development of Band Music in America”
Broadcast August 12, 1936. Subtitled
“The Concert Band Comes Into Its Own.”
Script was first written on August 3, 1936 and revised on August 7
and 10, 1936. Written and
directed by Kenneth Webb. Produced
by Arthur Pryor. Music composed
and conducted by Arthur Pryor and his Orchestra.
Frank Singiser is the announcer.
Songs featured (in the order they were performed on this episode)
were “On Jersey Shore,” Victor Herbert’s “Badinage,” a selection
from Kreisler’s operetta “Apple Blossoms,” an overture from
“Rienzi,” and a sextet from “Lucia.” This episode was part five of a six-part special summer
series which described the origin and development of orchestral and band
music in America.
Lost Episode # 2:
“The Development of Band Music in America”
Broadcast August 19, 1936. Subtitled
“Introducing the Instruments.” Script
was first written on August 3, 1936 and revised on August 13 and 18, 1936.
Written and directed by Kenneth Webb.
Produced by Arthur Pryor. Music
composed and conducted by Arthur Pryor and his Orchestra.
Frank Singiser is the announcer.
Songs featured (in the order they were performed on this episode)
were Pryor’s “The Heart of America,” Bizet’s “L’Arlisienne
Suite,” Victor Herbert’s “Fortune Teller,” Pryor’s “The Lion
Chase,” a Sousa march, and the Grand Scene of “Andre Chenier.”
This episode was part six of a six-part special summer series which
described the origin and development of orchestral and band music in
America.
Lost Episode # 3:
“Modern American Orchestral Music”
Broadcast September 9, 1936. Script
was first written on September 3, 1936 and revised on September 8, 1936.
Written by Harold Sanford. Directed
by Kenneth Webb. Produced by
Arthur Pryor. Frank Singiser is
the announcer. Music composed
and conducted by Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra. The true events leading to the composition of the following
songs, which were all featured in this broadcast. The 1915 song “Underneath the Stars,” the 1920 “Dardanella,”
Victor Herbert’s 1922 “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” Gershwin’s
1924 “Rhapsody in Blue,” and Herbert’s “Kiss in the Dark.”
Lost Episode #4:
“The Story of Rubber” Broadcast
November 18, 1936. Written by
Lawrence Hammond. Frank
Singiser is the announcer. Craig
Stevens is the commercial spokesman. Produced
by Arthur Pryor and directed by Kenneth Webb.
Music composed and conducted by Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra. This episode documents Charles Goodyear, who in 1832, began
experimenting with a crude form of rubber called India Rubber, in an attempt
to find a way to make the substance useful for manufacturing.
Lost Episode #5:
“The Cavalcade of Music” Broadcast
August 11, 1937. Subtitled
“Jerome Kern’s Music,” this was part six of a twelve-part summer
series dramatizing the history of American musicians and their compositions.
Script first written July 22, 1937 and revised on August 10, 1937.
Francia White was the soprano. Writer
is unknown but the last name is Wright.
Frank Singiser is the announcer.
Produced and directed by Kenneth Webb.
Music composed and conducted by Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra. Some of the songs featured were “Old Man River,” “Till
the Clouds Roll By,” “Good Morning Dearie,” “Smoke Gets in Your
Eyes,” and “Can I Forget You.”
Lost Episode #6:
“The Pathfinder” Broadcast January 26, 1938.
Script first written on August 31, 1937 and revisions were made on
January 3, 11 and 25, 1938. Written
by John Driscoll. Frank
Singiser is the announcer. Dwight
Weist is the commercial spokesman. Produced
by Arthur Pryor and directed by Kenneth Webb.
Music composed and conducted by Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra.
The opening overture was “My Little Gray Home in the West.”
The drama for this episode was about John C. Freemont, geologist,
botanist and topographer, who combined the technical knowledge with his
daring as a pioneer in the western wilderness.
Lost Episode #7:
“Dear Brutus” Broadcast March 16, 1942.
Stars Fredric March as Dearth, Karl Swenson as Matey, John McIntire
as Mr. Coade, Jeanette Nolan as Mrs. Coade, Charita Bauer as Margaret and
Betty Garde as Alice. Kenny
Delmar is the narrator. Clayton
Collyer is the announcer. Music
composed and conducted by Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra.
Producer and directed by Homer Fickett.
Next to “Peter Pan,” “Dear Brutus” is the most beloved of all
the plays written by Sir James Matthew Barrie.
The radio script was adapted for Cavalcade
by Robert Tallman (who wrote for The
Whistler and Suspense).
For trivia buffs, Jeanette Nolan and John McIntire, real-life husband
and wife, played a married couple, respectfully, in this episode.
Lost Episode #8:
“The Silent Heart” Broadcast on March 30, 1942.
Stars Ingrid Bergman as Jenny Lind, Karl Swenson as Joseph, Bill
Johnstone as Otto, Betty Garde as Anna, Ed Jerome as Webster, Ted Jewett as
the voice, John McIntire as P.T. and Edgar Vincent as the sailor.
Kenny Delmar is the narrator. Based
on unpublished research by Carl Carmer, written by Norman Rosten.
The production credits are the same as above.
This episode featured the Ken Christie singers.
Elizabeth Mulliner sang Bergman’s role of Jenny Lind, singing the
1813 song “Last Rose of Summer.” Best
remembered as the Swedish nightingale, this episode told the story of Jenny
Lind and her debut at the Old Castle Garden on the Battery in New York.
Lost Episode #9:
“This Side of Hades” Broadcast
on April 27, 1942. Stars
Loretta Young as Molly Pitcher, Ed Jerome as Irvine, Betty Garde as Beulah,
Bill Johnstone as the sentry, Paul Stewart as Smith, Bill Pringle as the
Captain, Ted Jewett as the Colonel, John McIntire as George Washington, and
Jeanette Nolan as Mrs. Irvine. Based
on research by Carl Carmer, written by Robert Tallman.
Clayton Collyer is the announcer.
Produced and directed by Homer Fickett.
Donald Voorhees and his orchestra supplied the music.
True story of Molly Pitcher, who ran back and forth from the front
lines to a distant well with her pitcher of water, during the American Civil
War. Then one day her husband
fell exhausted by his cannon, and Molly came to the rescue.
Lost Episode #10:
“Clara Barton” Broadcast on June 1, 1942.
Stars Madeleine Carroll as Clara Barton, Bill Pringle as Senator Z.,
Everett Sloane as Jim, John McIntire as Wilson, Jeanette Nolan as Ann, Paul
Stewart as Hay, Ed Jerome as Senator Y, Ted Jewett as the orderly.
Kenny Delmar is the narrator. Production
credits same as above. Clara
Barton not only founded the American Red Cross, but also spent four years
after the Civil War directing an extensive search for missing soldiers.
Lost Episode #11:
“Man of Iron” Broadcast on July 13, 1942.
Stars Dean Jagger as Lt. Worden, Bill Johnstone as Greene, Ian Martin
as the attache, Paul Stewart as the helmsman, Arnold Moss as Fox, Arlene
Francis as Olivia, Ed Herome as Abe Lincoln, Karl Swenson as Stanton.
Written by Robert L. Richards and Robert Tallman.
Clayton Collyer is the announcer.
Homer Fickett produced and directed.
Donald Voorhees and his Orchestra supplied the music.
John Ericsson came forward to build, in the incredibly short period
of one hundred days, a vessel that would destroy the new menace called the
Merrimac. His “cheesebox on a
raft” introduced a basic new principle of naval warfare to the world.
Lost Episode #12:
“Theodore Roosevelt, Man of Action”
Broadcast on August 17, 1942. Stars
Edward Arnold as Roosevelt. Written
by Robert L. Richards and Robert Tallman.
Production credits are the same as above.
This presents the life of Roosevelt, the man who charged up San Juan
Hill, won Vice Presidency in the election of 1900, and became President a
year later when McKinley died at the hand of an assassin.
The original title of this script was “The Big Stick,” referring
to the old proverb, “walk softly and carry a big stick.”
By the time the final draft of this script came into being, the title
was changed to the above. One
small historical mistake occurred during this drama.
McKinley was assassinated by three bullets (provided by sound man Al
Scott). When listeners heard this, they began writing to DuPont,
commenting that McKinley was assassinated by two bullets, not three.
And the listeners were correct!
Lost Episode #13
“The Road to Victory” Broadcast
December 7, 1942. Radio actors
often played more than one role in the same drama, a common practice for
creating the illusion of a crowd, or filling in for simple one-line remarks
such as a conductor calling “All Aboard,” or a passerby saying
“hello.” To note, this
episode featured the largest cast of characters than any other Cavalcade
broadcast. Seventy-three
characters were featured, to be exact, and all of the roles were played by a
little more than a dozen actors! Carl
Sandburg is the narrator. Based
on numerous works by Sandburg, and adapted for Cavalcade
by Norman Rosten. Produced and
directed by Homer Fickett. Clayton
Collyer is the announcer. Music
composed and conducted by Ardon Cornwell and conducted by Donald Voorhees.
A vocal number is sung by the Delta Rhythm Boys.
This episode was a one-year anniversary of Pearl Harbor, with
Sandburg describing his meetings with Americans from all walks of life, and
paused to celebrate the road builders and those traveling along that road.
Lost Episode #14:
“Sing a War Song” Broadcast on May 29, 1944.
Stars Kay Armen in a musical war-time presentation.
Demms Taylor is the narrator. Written
by Peter Lyon. Produced and
directed by Jack Zoller. Roland
Winters is the announcer. Ted
Pearson is the commercial announcer. Music
for this program was under the direction of Donald Voorhees and his
Orchestra of twenty-eight men, Ray Block and a chorus of twenty-four voices
and the Golden Gate Quartet. Donald
Bryan directed the musical scores. Songs
featured were “Elmer’s Tune,” “Praise the Lord and Pass the
Ammunition,” “Rosie the Riveter,” “Don’t Forget to Say No,
Baby,” “This is the Army, Mr. Jones,” “One More Mile to Go,”
“One Little Wac,” “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet,” and “When
the Yanks Go Marching In.”
Lost Episode #15:
“Pink Lace” Broadcast
on February 28, 1949. Stars
Janet Blair as Pauline Cushman and Staats Cotsworth as McNairy.
Written by Virginia Radcliffe. Produced
and directed by Jack Zoller. Bill
Hamilton is the commercial spokesman. Ted
Pearson is the announcer. Music
composed and conducted by Ardon Cornwell and conducted by Donald Bryan. During the War between the States, actress Pauline Cushman
openly declared herself for the South, thus enabling her to move around
gathering information as a female spy.
This episode actually has two titles.
The official script title was “Pink Lace,” but before-hand it was
entitled “The Girl in the Pink Lace.”
At the beginning of the broadcast Ted Pearson announced the drama as
“The Girl in the Pink Lace,” even though the official script title says
otherwise. Madeline Carroll was
originally slated to play the role of Pauline Cushman, but for reasons
unknown, she was unable to attend. Janet
Blair became her replacement.
Lost Episode #16:
“Letter From Europe” Broadcast
on March 21, 1949. Stars
Charles Boyer as Albert Gallatin, Barbara Weeks as Hannah, Ethel Owen as
Mrs. Harwood, Scott Tennyson as Janney, House Jameson as Thomas Jefferson,
Robert Dryden as voice one, Alan Hewitt as the chairman, Arnold Moss as John
Adams, and Joseph bell as the Massachusetts man.
Written by Russell Hughes. Production
credits are the same as above. In
1798, when war with France seemed inevitable, a small group of men marshaled
themselves against it. Among
them was the European-born Albert Gallatin.
He won his fight and later became Secretary of the Treasury under
President Jefferson.
Lost Episode #17:
“Never Marry a Ranger” Broadcast
on May 9, 1950. Stars Martha
Scott as Roberta McConnell, Donnie Harris as Scott, Nelson Case as Mr.
McConnell, Joseph Bell as the boss, Robin Morgan as Cissie, George Petrie as
the volunteer, Cameron Andrews as Old Pete, Joe Latham as Oley, Rica Martens
as the woman, Clifford Tatum, Jr. as the baby cry, Carl Eastman as the radio
voice. Written by Virginia
Radcliffe, adapted from the book of the same title by Roberta McConnell, as
originally published by Prentice-Hall in 1950.
Produced by Roger Pryor and directed by Jack Zoller.
Bill Hamilton is the commercial spokesman and Ted Pearson is the
announcer. Music composed by
Roger Pryor and conducted by Ronald Voorhees.
Story of the Forest Ranger Station on Callina Crib in the Utah
mountains, and how Roberta, the wife of a Forest Ranger, has to contend with
her husband’s job and the life that accompanied it.
When a forest fire broke out one day, it was Roberta who saved the
day, and then realized the importance of her husband’s job.
THE FIVE UN-CIRCULATED EPISODES
The above represents the seventeen lost episodes of The
Cavalcade of America. Of
the 781 Cavalcade of America broadcasts, there are six exceptions.
Please take note:
May 29, 1939
“Eluthere Irenee DuPont”
March 2, 1942
“Accent on Youth”
June 15, 1942
“The Lady and the Flag”
April 2, 1945
“My Wayward Patient”
Sept. 16, 1952
“Man of Great Importance”
The five episodes listed below so exist in recorded form, and I can vouch
for their existence. These five
episodes are not in the circulation of collectors’ hands yet.
They presently rest in the DuPont archives and with a little
finger-crossing, these five might one day reach circulation so that other
collectors and fans of OTR can listen to them and enjoy the dramas.
Why are they not in circulation?
Part of the mystery revolves around an odd story.
Sometime during the 1970s, an OTR collector/dealer/fan discovered
that DuPont actually recorded on transcription disc, each and every
broadcast from the first to the last. That’s
right, all 781 episodes were recorded.
A couple copies of the discs were made of each broadcast – one for
DuPont’s library/record and the second for the leading actor or actress
who performed in that drama. When
I did research for my Cavalcade
book, I came across numerous photos of Hollywood stars such as Basil
Rathbone and Dick Powell posing for a photographer, while holding their copy
of the transcription disc.
Anyway, this researcher apparently struck a deal with a
custodian/librarian at DuPont. It
seems DuPont was allowing any patron who wished to listen to any of the
broadcasts, free reign of the material at their archives.
But being in the form of transcription discs posed a problem.
So the collector offered to “borrow” all of the discs from DuPont,
make a copy of the programs on audio cassettes and reels, and return the
copies, along with the discs to the archives.
What did DuPont get out of this arrangement?
They now had a copy of these episodes in a format that easily allowed
their visitors access to listening to the recordings.
The collector was granted permission to make a copy for himself.
This is the story as I heard it from a librarian at the DuPont archives
who had been there since the day the buildings were constructed (and she
probably held the hammer on the first day of construction). The
name of the OTR collector who worked out this arrangement is not known.
She could not remember the name.
Sadly, when the recordings were turned over to the archives, about
580 episodes were given to the library.
Apparently the collector was not thorough in his or her work in
transcribing the material to cassettes and reels.
At present, DuPont does not have any of the transcription discs in
storage. Whatever became of the
discs remains a mystery. DuPont
doesn’t even have all 781 broadcasts – a result of the OTR collector who
apparently didn’t fulfill their part of the arrangement.
But among the 580+ episodes DuPont does have are the five I listed
above. That is why I can vouch
for their existence, but at the present time, they are not in circulation. Last I heard a year ago, someone dealing with the mp3 format
contacted them and as to what happened after that – I have not heard from
the mp3 dealer that was working on making the five episodes available.
THE GOLDEN FLEECE
Finally, of the 781 radio episodes, only one will NEVER surface.
Known as broadcast #408, “Jane Adams of Hull House” dated
November 6, 1944. Originally
slated to star Loretta Young in the lead, this episode never came to be.
The time slot was sold (at the last minute) to the National
Independent Committee for Roosevelt and Truman.
The election speeches, the Republican/Democratic special, also
pre-empted other radio programs that same evening.
Now I have to admit that a couple researchers have a very annoying habit
of finding scripts that were intended to be broadcast (pre-empted because of
such specials) and labeling them as “lost episodes.”
I can name half a dozen books in which the researchers were unable to
gather all the titles and airdates and instead of listing a blank space with
“title unknown,” they just skipped the process and continued numbering.
For an example:
Episode #34 “The Terror of
the Alien Invasion” Broadcast
May 5, 1943.
Episode #35 “The World of
Allen Cross” Broadcast May
12, 1943.
Episode #36 “A Terrible
Food Situation” Broadcast
June 2, 1943.
Episode #37 “The Life of
Joseph Green” Broadcast June
9, 1943.
What they should have done is this:
Episode #34 “The Terror of
the Alien Invasion” Broadcast
May 5, 1943.
Episode #35 “The World of
Allen Cross” Broadcast May
12, 1943.
Episode #36 ---------- title
unknown ------------ Broadcast
May 19, 1943.
Episode #37 ---------- title
unknown ------------ Broadcast
May 26, 1943.
Episode #38 “A Terrible
Food Situation” Broadcast
June 2, 1943.
Episode #39 “The Life of
Joseph Green” Broadcast June
9, 1943.
Why should someone include the “title unknown”?
Because this accuracy will tell the readers exactly how many episodes
were broadcast, with no mistakes. Now
if the broadcast of May 26, 1943, for example, didn’t really air because
of election results or a speech by the President of the U.S., obviously the
pre-emption should be documented and the broadcast of June 2, 1943 becomes
episode 37. But sadly, I can
name half a dozen books where the researcher failed to double check
references, and like the first example, just went and listed all they knew
and continued the numbering sequence. This is very annoying. Authors
who later make the corrections are often accused of altering the previous
log. I myself receives a letter
last month from someone telling me, “[so and so] did a broadcast log on
that series ten years ago and your new log has material that conflicts with
his. Why can’t you just leave
the past alone and stop revising other people’s broadcast logs?”
(That letter writer apparently overlooked the obvious fact that my
log had twice as many titles and airdates as the previous one suggesting the
revision was necessary.)
The reason I mention this is because DuPont actually numbered the Cavalcade
broadcast of November 6, 1944. Why
they did this since “Jane Adams of Hull House” was never dramatized I
will probably never know, but they did number that broadcast was episode
#408 and the November 13, 1944 broadcast as episode #409.
Because of this reason, I broke the rule of numbering episodes in the
correct sequence. And to date,
this is the only time I have ever broken that rule.
So even though “Jane Adams of Hull House” is included in my
published episode guide, the broadcast of November 6, 1944 will NEVER
surface. Consider it the Golden
Fleece of OTR. It’s
documented as an episode, but the recording will never be found.
I figure if I didn’t explain this, I would start receiving a lot of
e-mails from people telling me that I overlooked the broadcast of November
6, 1944 as a “lost” episode, or receive queries as to the whereabouts of
a recording.
CONCLUSION
So that’s it. Of the 781 Cavalcade
of America broadcasts, five are not in circulation yet, one was never
really broadcast, and seventeen are considered “lost.”
If anyone out there happens to have any of these lost recordings,
please drop me a line so I can update this essay.
You can also inform Terry Salomonson who runs this web-site, and Jay
Hickerson (jayhick@aol.com) so that the
recording can be listed as “available.”
NOTE OF INTEREST: ALLOW ME TO VERIFY YOUR EPISODE
Since the initial publication of this article (SPERDVAC’s Radiogram
of May 1999), I was contacted by a collector who deals with mp3 format and
he claimed he was on the road attempting to collect every episode of the
series, and supposedly found (only in mp3 format) a few of these “lost”
episodes. He eventually
contacted me and does apparently have a couple of these episodes in partial
condition (first half only, second half only, etc.)
He would not send me a copy, however, for verification because of
fears of copyright laws. He did state that he gave a copies of his mp3 discs to a few
libraries so apparently these newly-discovered “lost” episodes do exist
but until someone can actually supply me recorded copies of any of the 17
episodes (or five non-circulating) to verify that they exist in recorded
form, I will not budge or change this list.
I will only verify by receiving a copy of a “lost” episode in
recorded form as I have methods of verifying with my own ears.
Martin Grams, Jr. is the author
of the highly-acclaimed publication, The History of the Cavalcade of America, the authorized guide to the
history of the popular radio/television series. The 500 page book is available from all major bookstores,
including Amazon.com and Borders.com. This
book comes highly recommended. It
features a more extensive episode guide than what is reprinted above.