CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE: CRAIG'S WIFE (RADIO)
Summary
One in this weekly drama series featuring adaptations of popular and literary classics. This episode, hosted by Orson Welles, features George KellyÕs Pulitzer-Prize-winning play about the relationship between an overly idealistic man and his controlling wife -- Walter and Harriet Craig. The play opens as the CraigsÕ servants gossip about a local murder and about HarrietÕs obsession with the details of her household. At this point, Harriet returns early from a weekÕs trip to visit her ailing sister, bringing her niece Ethel along with her. Immediately, Harriet takes control of her home, nitpicking at the servants and chastizing her husbandÕs aunt, Ms. Austen, for socializing with a neighbor. She also puts her foot down when Ethel expresses her interest in marrying a college professor, Professor Fredericks, and when Harriet finds that her husband has been out socializing as well, she tries to trace a telephone number to find out whom he has been spending time with in her absence. Aunt Austen finally becomes fed up with HarrietÕs dominating behavior and decides to move out. Before she leaves, however, she warns Walter about his manipulative, self-centered wife. Although Walter urges his aunt to stay in his home, he also continues to defend Harriet. The situation changes when the local murder case leads the police to the CraigsÕ home, and tensions arise between Harriet and Walter that cause him to view her in a new light. During the course of an argument, Walter begins to recognize the negative qualities his aunt pointed out, which he has never been able to see before. Even Ethel recognizes the darker side of her aunt when Harriet schemes to keep Ethel and her suitor apart. When Harriet Craig finally gets the control that she wished for, it is no longer certain that she really wants it. The program concludes with commentary by Orson Welles and leading actress Ann Harding, and Welles previews the following weekÕs episode, "Huckleberry Finn." Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 10, 1940 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R87:0555
- GENRE: Radio - Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Domestic relations - Drama; Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - Radio series, 1938-1940
- COMMERCIALS:
- Radio - Commercials - CampbellÕs vegetable soup
- Radio - Promos - "Campbell Playhouse: Huckleberry Finn"
CREDITS
- Orson Welles … Producer, Host
- George Kelly … Writer
- Bernard Herrmann … Conductor, Music (Misc. Credits), Music arranged by
- Ernest Chappell … Announcer
- Orson Welles … Cast, Walter Craig
- Ann Harding … Cast, Harriet Craig
- Janet Beecher … Cast, Ms. Austen
- Mary Taylor … Cast, Ethel
- Regis Toomey … Cast, Billy Birkmire
- George Coulouris … Cast, Professor Fredericks
- Bea Benaderet … Cast, Maisie
- Clara Blandick … Cast, Mrs. Harold
- Richard Baer … Cast, the Forces of the Law