Radio Recap: Spotlight Playhouse

Since yesterday I wrote a little about Jack Webb's early radio career via his comedy program the Jack Webb Show, I'm going to examine a few more of his early shows.

Another program Jack Webb appeared in while in San Francisco is the ABC series Spotlight Playhouse. Unfortunately, despite its presence in Webb's history, radio historians don't seem to have paid much attention to this series yet. There are no radio logs for the program, so I know very little outside of what's present in the 2 surviving episodes.

Spotlight Playhouse was written and produced by Monte Masters. The two surviving episodes were written by him, so possibly the entire series was a showcase for his efforts. The casts were very small in this series, so like other early ABC programs it appears to have been cooked up on a shoestring budget. The opening rambles on and repeats itself somewhat:

The spotlight of life swings in all directions and no one knows upon whom it will settle. It may be you, or it may be you. All of us at one time or another have had something in our lives that would make drama and so you in our audience are the stars tonight in our Spotlight Playhouse, for these are stories presented each week at this hour which may concern any of you. Now: Spotlight Playhouse.

"From This Window" (March 14, 1946) concerned a young couple whose relationship is viewed from a window by a woman who narrates the events of their lives. Webb appears as the male lead of the couple.

"Genius from Hoboken" (March 21, 1946) concerned a New Jersey barber whose greatest desire is to build violins and how he struggles to achieve his dream. Webb appears in a couple of small parts, using a dialect in one of them.

You can find the surviving episodes at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library.

More on Jack Webb's early career tomorrow...