$25.17
Add to Cart
Campbell Playhouse Old Time Radio 3 MP3 CD Set
5 available
Details
Shipping: Australia: $8.00 (more destinations)
Condition: Brand new
*The store has not been updated recently. You may want to contact the merchant to confirm the availability of the product.
Campbell Playhouse is an old time radio drama anthology directed, and starring Orson Welles. It ran on CBS from 1938 to 1940. It is in actuality a continuation of another great old time radio show, Mercury Theater On The Air.
As you might guess by the name, this old time radio show was sponsored by Campbell Soup. Orson Welles had really mad a name for himself after his broadcast of War Of The Worlds. So at this time there was no doubt that his new endeavor would be picked up by a sponsor, and it did rather quickly.
Campbell Playhouse filled an hour long spot and featured radio adaptations of classic plays and novels, along with an occasional popular movie. Most of the cast from Mercury Theater came aboard this new show as well, including Agnes Moorehead, George Backus, and more. Many of the best actors and actresses in old time radio were going to get in on this one. But under the sponsorship of Campbell, what were the lead actors in Mercury Theater, were now being used more and more in supporting roles. The only reason for this was the addition of top name stars who weren't going to go for second billing. Names such as Katherine Hepburn, Joseph Cotten, Helen Hayes, and more graced these shows.
In addition to the name stars, and Orson Welles directing, the big draw to this great show was the stories they used for scripts. Works by Ernest Hemmingway, Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis, Pearl Buck, and more, made it a big draw. Besides the stories being good, many people were familiar with them already, as back in those days you had to read fine literature to graduate from high school. So Campbell Playhouse already had a ready made audience.
Campbell Playhouse came out before Orson Welles had a bad reputation for himself among radio and movie bigshots. By today's standards Welles would be considered no problem. But during his career he had let some personal problems get in the way.
Running from 1938 to 1940 Campbell Playhouse was an hour long show, and then for a short period from 1940 to 1941 it had become a 30 minute series. The shows in this set are all hour long episodes, well maybe not an hour, you have to have time for commercials!
There is a little bit of confusion and mystery involved in exactly how many shows are in the Campbell Playhouse series. I've read from 57 to 60, depending on where you read it, but at 58 episodes on this set, we'll just call it the complete series. Campbell Playhouse is a high bit rate set, which is nice in old time radio to find, so it takes 3 MP3 CDs for the complete set.
As you might guess by the name, this old time radio show was sponsored by Campbell Soup. Orson Welles had really mad a name for himself after his broadcast of War Of The Worlds. So at this time there was no doubt that his new endeavor would be picked up by a sponsor, and it did rather quickly.
Campbell Playhouse filled an hour long spot and featured radio adaptations of classic plays and novels, along with an occasional popular movie. Most of the cast from Mercury Theater came aboard this new show as well, including Agnes Moorehead, George Backus, and more. Many of the best actors and actresses in old time radio were going to get in on this one. But under the sponsorship of Campbell, what were the lead actors in Mercury Theater, were now being used more and more in supporting roles. The only reason for this was the addition of top name stars who weren't going to go for second billing. Names such as Katherine Hepburn, Joseph Cotten, Helen Hayes, and more graced these shows.
In addition to the name stars, and Orson Welles directing, the big draw to this great show was the stories they used for scripts. Works by Ernest Hemmingway, Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis, Pearl Buck, and more, made it a big draw. Besides the stories being good, many people were familiar with them already, as back in those days you had to read fine literature to graduate from high school. So Campbell Playhouse already had a ready made audience.
Campbell Playhouse came out before Orson Welles had a bad reputation for himself among radio and movie bigshots. By today's standards Welles would be considered no problem. But during his career he had let some personal problems get in the way.
Running from 1938 to 1940 Campbell Playhouse was an hour long show, and then for a short period from 1940 to 1941 it had become a 30 minute series. The shows in this set are all hour long episodes, well maybe not an hour, you have to have time for commercials!
There is a little bit of confusion and mystery involved in exactly how many shows are in the Campbell Playhouse series. I've read from 57 to 60, depending on where you read it, but at 58 episodes on this set, we'll just call it the complete series. Campbell Playhouse is a high bit rate set, which is nice in old time radio to find, so it takes 3 MP3 CDs for the complete set.
