Hitchcock vs. Radio Part 5: Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

• Lux Radio Theater (June 9, 1941): starring Bob Hope and Carole Lombard (reprised her film role).
• Screen Guild Theater (February 8, 1942): starring Errol Flynn and Lana Turner.
• Screen Guild Theater (December 14, 1942): starring Joan Bennett, Robert Young and Ralph Bellamy.
• Matinee Theater (November 26, 1944): starring Victor Jory and Betty Winkler.
• Screen Guild Theater (January 1, 1945): starring Preston Foster, Louise Allbritton and Arthur Q. Bryan.
• Hollywood Star Time (July 20, 1946): starring Robert Montgomery (reprised his film role) and Mary Jane Croft.
• Screen Director's Playhouse (January 30, 1949): starring Robert Montgomery (reprised his film role) and Mary Jane Croft; hosted by Alfred Hitchcock.

This is one of the most-frequently adapted Alfred Hitchcock films heard on the radio. Of course, it's not what people think of as a Hitchcock film - it's simply a screwball comedy (starring Carole Lombard, the very queen of the genre). But heck, the movie was a good piece of screwball regardless.

These seven adaptations are all over the place. The most faithful to the original film is the Lux Radio Theater version, although it added a lot of 'zingers' suited to Bob Hope's style. The Screen Guild Theater adaptations made a few changes to the plot and added many new jokes, but mostly followed the original. It is interesting that in the second version (with Robert Young), Warner Bros' Arthur Q. Bryan and Mel Blanc both appeared!

I complained about Matinee Theater before in my entry on Rebecca and I have to single them out again. Their adaptation is extremely unfaithful as the conclusion nullifies the story's premise - that is, the couple are revealed to have been married all along. It stinks.

The most interesting one is the Screen Director's Playhouse version because - even though Hitchcock didn't consider this to be 'truly' one of his films - he appeared as the host. There's even some fun banter after the program where they talk about Hitchcock's many cameos in his films, which was apparently a subject of conversation as early as '49 (Hitchcock makes a joke about the lack of cameo in Mr. and Mrs. Smith). Hitchcock fans ought to listen to that adaptation at the very least.