Radio Series Adaptations
Radio comedy and drama was at its peak during the 1940s, and most of the films, TV series and TV movies on this list were produced during that period.
List activity
2.8K views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
60 titles
- DirectorMelville W. BrownStarsFreeman F. GosdenCharles J. CorrellSue CarolTypical Amos 'n Andy storyline has the boys trying to make a go of their "open-air" taxi business while they get caught up in a society hassle, involving driving musicians to a fancy party. All the regular characters are here (or mentioned), including the famous Mystic Knights of the Sea. The only film appearance of radio's long-running characters.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsPhillips LordEffie PalmerFrank AlbertsonSeth Parker takes in Robbie Turner and protects him from his cruel father Rufe. When the father disappears, Seth intends to raise Robbie as his own son. The vindictive father attacks Mary Lucy, a neighbor's daughter who is also trying to help Robbie. Mary's boyfriend David rescues her, and Rufe runs off with his son. But not for long.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsSilver ChiefChief ThundercloudLynne RobertsHeroic's of Lone Ranger & Tonto, matter!
- DirectorBernard VorhausStarsJean HersholtDorothy LovettRobert BaldwinA pleasant down-home entry which casts Hersholt as the title doctor in the mythical town of River's End, Minnesota.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsRobert LivingstonChief ThundercloudSilver ChiefHomesteaders are moving into the valley settled many years ago by rancher Craig Dolan. He wants to keep them out by legal means but his nephew Bart brings in outlaws to drive them out. The Lone Ranger is on hand to help the homesteaders battle Bart's men as he overcomes traps, ambushes, burning buildings and other obstacles in his attempt to bring peace to the valley.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsGordon JonesWade BotelerKeye LukeA newspaper publisher and his Korean servant fight crime as vigilantes who pose as a notorious masked gangster and his aide.
- DirectorMarcel VarnelStarsArthur AskeyJack Hylton and His BandRichard MurdochA plot involving spies in a haunted castle gives this team of celebrated British wireless comedians plenty of scope for laughs.
- DirectorAllan DwanStarsEdgar BergenCharlie McCarthyJim JordanFibber McGee enlists the help of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy in enticing an aircraft manufacturer to build a factory in the small town of Wistful Vista. Based on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" radio series.
- DirectorFord BeebeJohn RawlinsStarsWarren HullWade BotelerAnne NagelA wealthy publisher uses a disguise and calls himself the Green Hornet to fight crime in his city.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsJames StewartPaulette GoddardHorace HeidtJimmy goes to work with his uncle, the owner of a food factory. Before he gets there, he befriends an Irish family who happens to be his uncle's worst enemy because of their love for music and in-house band who constantly practices.
- DirectorNoel M. SmithRay TaylorStarsKent TaylorIrene HerveyRalph MorganDetective lieutenant Bill Bannister is assigned to run down an unknown gang of terrorists who have spread a net of crime over the city.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsDave O'BrienDorothy ShortJames CravenSecret Service Major Steel (Joseph W. Girard), is one of the few men in America aware of the fact that Captain Albright (Dave O'Brien) is also Captain Midnight, daring masked aviator dedicated to fighting gangsters and enemies of America. When murderous bombing attacks are made on West Coast munitions plants, Steel sends for Albright and asks him to track down the mysterious Ivan Shark (James Craven), the foreign agent mastermind behind the attacks. Shark has learned about an ingenious range finder, invented by John Edwards (Bryant Washburn) and makes plans to obtain a model of the invention. Edwards instructs his daughter, Joyce (Dorothy Short), to bring the model to Albright for safekeeping in his mountain laboratory. Shark takes Edwards prisoner by Albright assures Joyce that her father will be saved and an end put to Shark's reign of terror. Dressing as Captain Midnight and enlisting the aid of his friends, Chuck (Sam Edwards) and Ichabod Mudd (Guy Wilkerson), Captain Midnight delivers on his promises fourteen chapters later.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsHarold PearyJane DarwellNancy GatesGildersleeve, a small town bachelor, has slapstick troubles with a husband-hunting woman and two helpful kids.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsTommy HandleyGreta GyntJack TrainCon man local mayor gambles municipal treasury in a poker game and wins a broken down theatre.
- DirectorPhilip BrandonStarsHarry KorrisRobbie VincentCecil FredericksMr Lovejoy, a struggling actor-manager returns to a small provincial town with plans to put on a show.
- DirectorBenjamin StoloffStarsPhil BakerEdward RyanMadge MeredithYoung sailors Eddie Collins and Herb Gordon eagerly begin their shore leave in New York City, where they are greeted at the dock by Eddie's wife Kate. Kate, who is pregnant for the first time, is fearful about her condition, as her mother had problems in childbirth, and she tearfully tells Eddie that her regular doctor has joined the Army. Kate wants to be seen by noted doctor Edward Preston, but when Eddie goes to Preston's office, he is told by the secretary that Preston, who commands fees of up to one thousand dollars, is too busy to see new patients. Hoping that if he can obtain the fee, Preston will see Kate, Eddie tells his worried wife that Preston has already agreed to deliver their baby. Eddie, Kate and Herb then attend an airing of Phil Baker's famous Take It or Leave It radio show, in which contestants answer questions in an attempt to win sixty-four dollars. Eddie is chosen as a contestant, and after two other players drop out, gets his turn. He chooses "scenes from motion picture hits of the past" as his category and as the film clips are projected, correctly answers the first question about Shirley Temple. Baker quickly takes to the nervous young sailor, who reveals that he has a pregnant wife. As Eddie continues to answer questions about such films as Tin Pan Alley , Orchestra Wives and One in a Million , Baker gives him broad hints to help him and allows him to go above the usual limit on winnings. When Baker asks Eddie about his wife's doctor, Preston, who is listening with his wife, is stunned to hear his name, as his secretary did not inform him of Eddie's visit. Mrs. Preston chastises her husband for charging a serviceman so much money, but Preston insists that the radio program is fixed and that the Collinses are not real people. Eddie, who is about to answer a question for $384, is forced to stop when Kate goes into labor. Before leaving for the hospital, Eddie confesses to Baker that Preston is not really Kate's doctor, but that he lied to keep her from being frightened. Mrs. Preston asks her husband to attend Kate, but he instead leaves for a previously planned vacation. Mrs. Preston then calls Baker's show and states that she does not know where her husband is. Baker urges Preston to help the young couple, and Preston, who is listening to the show in a taxi, tells the driver to take him to the hospital. Preston arrives after the uncomplicated birth of Kate and Eddie's healthy son, but promises Eddie that he will look in on Kate. Baker announces to his audience that Eddie and Kate's son is doing well, then goes to the hospital to visit them. There, he learns that the infant has been named "Phil Baker Collins" in his honor. Herb then arrives and tells them that he and his girl friend, touched by Kate and Eddie's story, have decided to get married, and Baker laughingly tells him to have his babies on the radio show too.
- DirectorWilliam CastleStarsRichard DixGloria StuartJ. Carrol NaishA depressed man hires an assassin to kill him when he least expects it, but when his life takes an upward turn, he finds he now wishes to live.
- DirectorHal WalkerStarsEd GardnerBing CrosbyBetty HuttonThe staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.
- DirectorHenry LevinStarsJim BannonNina FochGeorge MacreadyIn San Francisco, detective partners Jack Packard and Doc Long are hired by socialite Jefferson Monk who believes someone is following him with the aim to kill him.
- DirectorLeslie GoodwinsStarsWally BrownAlan CarneyFrances LangfordA Hollywood talent agency tries to avoid finacial ruin by getting its best clients on the air.
- DirectorHarold D. SchusterStarsTom BrenemanBonita GranvilleBeulah BondiBased on a current (1946) radio series with a live audience. It is the story of some of the people who attend the show. Nat King Cole sings.
- DirectorSam WhiteStarsJack HaleyHelen WalkerRudy ValleeTwo rival radio producers try to get the same sponsor, so they try to top each other with new ideas.
- DirectorJohn ArgyleStarsAnthony HulmeJoy SheltonTamara DesniNovelist and amateur sleuth, Paul Temple, meets a newspaper woman called "Steve." Together they investigate a gang of diamond robbers.
- DirectorRobert B. SinclairStarsDennis O'KeefeAdolphe MenjouMarguerite ChapmanAn assistant district attorney gets mixed-up with a woman who is working for the group that he is investigating.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsWallace BeeryJane PowellElizabeth TaylorHyperactive teenager Judy Foster (Jane Powell) challenges, and is challenged by, her overly-proper parents, pesky brother Randolph (Jerry Hunter), and boyfriend Ogden "Oogie" Pringle (Scotty Beckett).