A typical large crowd gathers outside the CBS Vine Street Theatre for a performance of the Lux Radio Theater, circa 1944.
D23′S Greg Ehrbar brings you back to the days of the Lux Radio Theater, when Disney movies came to life on Hollywood’s most spectacular radio show.
Some of us have family or friends who remember the expression “watching the radio.” Long before TV, families would gather around a big, tube-laden console and literally stare at a fuzzy speaker that became the audio window to the world of imagination and information. (Ironically, some of those people later would also say they were “listening to the TV.” Go figure.)
While movies, theater, recordings and sheet music were popular forms of entertainment in the early half of the 20th century, radio was the “hot” commodity — a magical medium that reached out to people in their homes as nothing else could at the time. Though Hollywood studios looked warily at radio — thinking it would subtract from theater attendance (much as today’s industry forces are grappling with downloads and streams) — they soon embraced the medium for promotional purposes. Not only were the top motion picture stars pictures featured in carefully selected guest appearances on radio programs (which were as pre-planned or fully scripted as television shows are today), they actually starred in live dramatizations of feature-length movies.
Lux: The Most Lavish and Prestigious of Them All
The Lux Radio Theater anthology series (Lux was a popular soap of the time, marketed by Hollywood stars such as Dorothy Lamour, Joan Crawford and Judy Garland, and is still popular in regions around the world) premiered in 1934 from New York, dramatizing stage plays with distinguished casts. Two years later it moved to Hollywood and became the grandest and most expensive program of its kind. The cast and crew numbered in the dozens, appearing onstage with a full orchestra behind them, dressed in formal wear — as this was treated as a full-fledged night of elegant entertainment. Hundreds of hopeful fans lined up to secure a place in one of the limited audience seats. Hundreds were often turned away.
Sometimes on “golden age” radio programs such as The Firstnighter, producers fictionalized a theater setting, but the Lux Radio Theater location was real: The Music Box at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard. Today, that same building is called The Music Box at Henry Fonda Theater.
The Biggest Stars in Hollywood
Megastars like Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, Loretta Young, James Cagney, Judy Garland, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Spencer Tracy, Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn re-enacted their film roles for the Lux Radio Theater. Sometimes, if the original stars were not available for a live show, an alternate cast of stars would provide a fascinating “what if” effect — like hearing Casablanca with Alan Ladd and Hedy Lamarr instead of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
The stars loved making these appearances and knew it would also keep them in the public eye (or ear). Programs like the Lux Radio Theater were instrumental in creating the dreamlike perception of Hollywood, including the image of a stern but kindhearted producer/director dressed in jodhpurs and wielding a riding crop. Cecil B. DeMille actually dressed that way. Through his epic movies and his nine years as the Lux Radio Theater host (he really was neither the producer nor the director, folks), DeMille became perhaps the most well-known behind-the-scenes show biz personality of the time, before Alfred Hitchcock and even Walt Disney, who both gained most of their onscreen persona through television.
Walt Disney’s World of Radio
Walt was no stranger to the Lux Radio Theater. He appeared during show intermissions as himself and Mickey, with Clarence Nash as Donald, on the 1936 broadcast of “The Plutocrat” (no connection to Mickey’s pal) and the 1937 presentation of “The Song of Songs.”
The day after Christmas, 1938, Walt again appeared when his groundbreaking box office sensation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was re-enacted with members of the original cast.
The Lux Radio Theater made a point of crediting all the actors in each program, along with plugs for the stars’ latest film releases. That was not the case with Snow White. The actors were not identified and the production was done without an audience (though scattered laughter among the limited attendees can be heard).
“Walt thought of these characters as very real,” explains Jim Korkis, respected Disney historian and author of The Vault of Walt, which was published in 2010 and focuses on rarely discussed facets of Disney history. “He didn’t want the voice identified because he felt it was only one aspect of the final character and that the design and animation of the character were just as important to the whole existence of a character.”
However, this is D23, so we can reveal them to you. From the original cast came Roy Atwell as Doc, Billy Gilbert as Sneezy, Stuart Buchanan as the Huntsman and Moroni Olson as the Mirror. The Lux stable of actors filled out the cast: Rolfe Sedan as Happy, Jack Smart as Bashful Gloria Gordon as the Witch and Stuart Buchanan again as Grumpy. Stuart Buchanan recreates his film role as the Huntsman and also plays Grumpy (he was filling in for Pinto Colvig, whom he would also on occasion replace in later years as Goofy). Future Bambi viewers would hear Paula Winslowe, who voiced Bambi’s mother, as The Queen.
“The Forgotten Snow White”
But what of Adrianna Caselotti? One might assume that she eagerly jumped up and said, “Papa! Papa! Pick me! I can be Snow White on the Lux show!” However, in this version, Snow White was played by Thelma Hubbard with James Eagles replacing Harry Stockwell as the Prince. Thelma who?
I like to call Thelma Hubbard ‘The forgotten Snow White,’” Jim Korkis adds. “Why was she brought in to do Snow White’s voice rather than Adrianna Caselotti, who did it in the movie? One reason might have been that Thelma had more experience performing on radio and more experience doing Snow White’s voice.
I like to call Thelma Hubbard [who played Snow White in the Lux Radio Theater version] ‘The forgotten Snow White,’” Disney expert Jim Korkis says. “Why was she brought in to do Snow White’s voice rather than Adrianna Caselotti, who did it in the movie? One reason might have been that Thelma had more experience performing on radio and more experience doing Snow White’s voice.
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“For one thing, she did Snow White’s Spanish dialogue for the original Spanish theatrical release. For another, on the Mickey Mouse Theater of The Air radio show earlier in 1938, she not only supplied the voice of Minnie Mouse (and would do the voice for a handful of theatrical shorts in the early ’40s) but also did Snow White (in English) for two of the shows.
“Thelma Hubbard later married and became Thelma Boardman which is why on the voice listings for Bambi you might find both Thelma Hubbard and Thelma Boardman listed as supplying the voice for the character of Mrs. Quail, as well as two or three other incidental characters.”
We can only imagine what a thrill it must have been to hear the story and songs of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs coming from your radio in 1938. It must have been even more exciting to hear Pinocchio on the Lux Radio Theater the following Christmas — more than a month before it premiered in movie theaters!
When You Wish Upon a Bar (of Lux Soap)
Pinocchio may have been the most outstanding of all the Disney-Lux radio adaptations. The film itself is so visually stunning and the action so compelling, it’s easy to overlook what a tightly written, clever script it has. In the absence of moving pictures, the radio version brings out these qualities, especially with so many of the original cast members present (Dickie Jones as Pinocchio, Evelyn Venable as the Blue Fairy, Christian Rub as Gepetto, Frankie Darro as Lampwick and Charles Judels as Stromboli and the Coachman). As Jiminy Cricket, Cliff Edwards ably takes the narration reins from DeMille. Astonishingly, the cast delivers the lines in almost the exact manner as they did in the film — live and without the safety net of retakes.
As in Snow White, the songs are also performed on the program. Snow White‘s incidental radio music, however, seemed largely the work of Lux musical director Louis Silvers and was much as it sounded in other Lux shows. In the case of Pinocchio, the songs were augmented with background tunes like “Jiminy Cricket Theme,” further replicating the film with precision. If you listen to this program today, it would be much like hearing the audio track from your DVD, except for added expository dialogue created to explain the action radio listeners couldn’t see (for example, in Snow White, as the princess ran through the forest she verbally described the scary images.)
Walt himself did not appear on the Pinocchio broadcast or any future installments of Lux Radio Theater (he was seen onscreen accepting an award on a 1954 TV installment of Lux Video Theater), but three more of his films were presented, including the first one entirely shot in live action, Treasure Island.
Exit DeMille, Enter a New Theater
The Lux Radio Theater had lost its host by the time Treasure Island was broadcast. DeMille had departed in a union voting disagreement and was replaced with various celebrities, producers and directors who never quite recaptured his verve and gravitas.
“The physical location of the Lux Radio Theater had changed back in 1940,” Hollywood historian/photographer Gilbert Smith recalled. “The program was moved to the larger Vine Street Theatre on 1615 North Vine Street in Hollywood. It was renamed the CBS Radio Playhouse and was used exclusively for Lux Radio Theater productions of that era.”
Bobby Driscoll, his adolescent voice making him sound more like Peter Pan than Jim Hawkins, was the only member of the original Treasure Island film cast to perform the Lux version on January 29, 1951, though there was an indirect connection to Disney voices since Ben Wright (Roger in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Akela in The Jungle Book and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid) appeared as Dr. Livesey.
Nigel Bruce, a classic movie favorite who played Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes, gave his blustering best as Squire Trelawney. And, in an odd twist of Disney fate, Long John Silver was played by the future Captain Nemo: James Mason! One might assume that, since the original British cast could not feasibly be flown to California for this broadcast, some of Hollywood’s favorite stateside Brits were enlisted instead.
Alice in Radioland
Lux listeners on Christmas Eve of the same year received a radio journey down the rabbit hole as Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland was presented, starring Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Ed Wynn as The Mad Hatter, Jerry Colonna as The March Hare, Sterling Holloway as The Cheshire Cat, Bill Thompson as the White Rabbit, Joseph Kearns as the Doorknob, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts and Doris Lloyd and Norma Varden as Flowers, with remaining characters played by Lux regulars.
Alice was heavily promoted before its release, with Walt himself making appearances to drum up excitement. Some of these broadcasts have been provided as bonus features on various DVD releases, with even more on the laserdisc edition. One U.K. radio program actually depicted Walt getting the posthumous endorsement of “Lewis Carroll” himself!) This particular radio program featuring Alice was broadcast after the film’s release.
Ironically, the big surprise in the Alice in Wonderland broadcast is the appearance of Adrianna Caselotti, now billed as a Disney actress and acknowledged as the voice of Snow White. She’s there as a “Lux Girl,” extolling the virtues of Lux to female listeners, and also because of Snow White’s 1952 reissue to theaters. It’s a very odd moment, though, from today’s standpoint of careful character branding — as if Jodi Benson would ever appear in connection with her Disney voice work to sell Jacuzzis or Paige O’Hara hawked Kindles. That couldn’t happen, could it?
Second Star to the Right and Straight on ‘Til the Commercial
The last Disney film to be re-enacted on the Lux Radio Theater was Peter Pan on December 21, 1953. It was the second time Peter Pan was dramatized on the program; back in 1936, a Lux version of Barrie play starred Freddie Bartholomew. This is considered the first commercial production in which a male actor portrayed Peter, with the Disney version being the first such casting in a film version.
When Kathryn Beaumont and Bobby Driscoll returned to the Lux Radio Theater to play Wendy and Peter, Bill Thompson, as Smee, was the only other original movie cast member in the show. Most notably absent was Hans Conried, a very busy radio and TV actor at the time. Conflicting schedules surely were the reason Conried did not re-create his Captain Hook for Lux, though it’s interesting to hear veteran actor John Carradine take the role. One again, Adrianna Caselotti appeared during a commercial break to inspire young ladies everywhere to pursue dewy “Lux Girls” softness.
Through his epic movies and his nine years as the Lux Radio Theater host (he really was neither the producer nor the director, folks), DeMille became perhaps the most well-known behind-the-scenes show biz personality of the time, before Alfred Hitchcock and even Walt Disney, who both gained most of their onscreen persona through television.
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The Lux Radio Theater broadcast its final episode (“Edward, My Son”) on June 7, 1955. The aforementioned TV version was already underway and would continue until 1957, but its glory days were in the past. Walt Disney was now looking to television to promote his films, parks and other ventures. For home audiences, it wasn’t as exciting to see a movie re-enacted on TV when you might just as well see the actual movie. And of course, no one dreamed that someday you could just pop a Blu-ray or a DVD into your player and watch Pinocchio or Snow White whenever you wanted.
And What Happened to the Lux Playhouse Building?
The theater still stands majestically 1615 North Vine Street, but has endured some changes. It became the Huntington Hartford Theater, the Doolittle Theater and today, the thriving, meticulously restored venue called The Ricardo Montalbán Theater.
The legendary film and television actor (what Disney fan can forget how he almost unmasked Zorro?) initiated the purchase of the theater in 1999 for Nosotros, an organization founded in 1970 by Mr. Montalbán, Desi Arnaz, Fernando Lamas and other Latin entertainment leaders.
“The mission of Nosotros is to produce, present, and support outstanding, meaningful, and inclusive world-class theater that examines issues of common and universal concern for all people, as seen through a prism of the Latino experience,” Gilbert Smith says. “The theater has been restored to the way it looked in its heyday. And it’s once again a showcase for major stars and talented newcomers, for concerts, plays and festivals. It even has a Disney neighbor in the form of the El Capitan Theatre.
True to its legendary tradition, The Montalbán continues to host landmark entertainment history. “Last Wednesday, November 16, we presented the people from Capitol Records, who made the official announcement that The Beatles music catalog was being released to iTunes. It was amazing to be right here at The Montalbán for this event.”
How does Gil know so much about the former Lux Radio Theater building, which once brought Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan to life in such a unique way? Not only is he managing producer — he is married to the daughter of Ricardo and Georgiana Montalbán.
And that’s not all. Georgiana is a sister of one of the most frequent Lux Radio Theater stars, Loretta Young, whose family lived near the Disneys in Holmby Hills and were among the invitees to the opening of Disneyland.
See how cool it is to follow this Disney heritage stuff? You never know how it will all come around!
Special thanks to Chris Lewis, Linda Lewis, Jim Korkis, Leonard Maltin, Gil Smith and Teri York for their help in completing this article. Source material includes Lux Presents Hollywood by Connie Billups and Arthur Pierce and The Peter Pan Chronicles by Bruce K. Hanson.
By D23′s Greg Ehrbar.
