The run
- Network
- CBS
- Years active
- 1939–1952
- Surviving broadcasts
- 364
- Genre
- theatre
This upload contains 364 episodes of the Old Time Radio show Screen Guild Theater, sponsored over the years by Gulf Oil, Lady Esther Cosmetics, and Camel Cigarettes. The show, which started as a variety program and then quickly became a vehicle for adapting popular motion pictures of the day, aired over 530 episodes during its 14-year run (1939-1952). (The final season was billed as Stars in the Air.) A unique aspect of the show was that fees usually paid to actors were donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund and used to provide for members of the industry in need. The dates, episode numbers and titles are believed to be correct based on available sources, but any corrections are welcome. Initial upload: 4/20/2020 (350 episodes) 1st update: 6/26/2020 (7 episodes) 2nd update: 6/26/2021 (3 episodes) 3rd update: 1/6/2022 (3 new episodes: Eps. 84, 87, 528, and replaced Ep. Digitised by the Old Time Radio Researchers and streamed from the Internet Archive item “screen-guild-theater-1939-01-08-1-variety-review-1-begin-gulf-screen-guild-show”; these recordings are in the public domain.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
12 dated broadcasts across 14 years on the air, with 5 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1939, in original transmission order.
- 1. Screen Guild Theater 1939-01-08 (1) Variety Review 1 (Begin Gulf Screen Guild Show) · 8 Jan 1939
- 2. Screen Guild Theater 1939-12-17 (35) Smilin' Through · 17 Dec 1939
- 3. Screen Guild Theater 1941-01-05 (68) Love Affair · 5 Jan 1941
Screen Guild Theater 1939-01-08 (1) Variety Review 1 (Begin Gulf Screen Guild Show)
8 Jan 1939 · 28 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 8 January 1939. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1939-12-17 (35) Smilin' Through
17 Dec 1939 · 30 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 17 December 1939. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1941-01-05 (68) Love Affair
5 Jan 1941 · 30 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 5 January 1941. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1942-03-22 (109) How Green Was My Valley
22 Mar 1942 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 22 March 1942. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1943-06-07 (147) The Devil and Miss Jones
7 Jun 1943 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 7 June 1943. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1944-02-07 (182) True to Life
7 Feb 1944 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 7 February 1944. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1944-10-23 (217) Ninotchka
23 Oct 1944 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 23 October 1944. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Screen Guild Theater 1945-07-02 (252) Standing Room Only
2 Jul 1945 · 29 min
Originally broadcast on Syndicated, 2 July 1945. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Also on CBS
CBS in 1939–1952
Other series the network carried while Screen Guild Theater was on the air.
Same seasons
theatre on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
Theatre of the mind
Full-cast drama with a live orchestra and a studio full of sound effects. Lux Radio Theater and the CBS Radio Workshop are the direct ancestors of scripted podcast fiction.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Screen Guild Theater
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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