More of Kirk Douglas in OTR

Here are a few more appearances Kirk Douglas made on radio:

On September 25, 1946, Douglas made what seems to be his radio debut on Academy Award Theater for their adaptation of "Guest in the House". The motion picture Guest in the House is a bit of an odd one - it's a film noir picture which won an Academy Award yet somehow ended up forgotten and in the public domain until recent years when it's become reappraised as an unheralded classic of the genre. Douglas wasn't in the film version but stepped in to cover Ralph Bellamy's role for the radio.

• You can hear "Guest in the House" at archive.org by clicking here

Douglas' 1949 boxing film Champion came to radio twice, both times with Douglas reprising his starring role. First came the Screen Guild Theater on October 13, 1949. The drama is a little undermined by the audience, who begin giggling during a supposedly intense scene; I have a feeling one of the actors was making faces. A few months later he delivered another version for Screen Director's Playhouse on March 17, 1950.

• You can hear the Screen Guild Theater version of "Champion" at archive.org by clicking here

• You can hear the Screen Director's Playhouse version of "Champion" at archive.org by clicking here

Finally, one of Douglas' great films of the 50s was 1951's Detective Story. It was adapted into a one-hour drama for Lux Radio Theater. It was a rough story for its time, although the radio version is a little more tame than the film.

• You can hear "Detective Story" at archive.org by clicking here

RIP: Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas died today; he was 103 years old.

The man had quite a long life and quite a remarkable career; nearly everyone is eulogizing him as the star of the 1960 film Spartacus; he's also the father of Michael Douglas, who remains a popular actor. I'm personally very fond of Kirk Douglas' performance in Paths of Glory from 1957.

But I'm eulogizing him today because he was also one of the stars of Suspense, one of my favourite old-time radio programs. Way back when Douglas began his career, he and Burt Lancaster were two of the hot-ticket post-World War II actors who brought a new intensity to film acting; he and Lancaster wound up making 7 films together and both men appeared on Suspense during those post-war years when the prestige (and ratings) of Suspense made it one of the biggest shows on the radio.

Douglas' first appearance was on April 10, 1947 in the episode "Community Property". Douglas is a long-suffering heir who finally comes in to inherit the family fortune - but as he despises his wife, he decides to murder her before she can divorce him!

• You can download "Community Property" from archive.org here

Later that same year Douglas returned on October 2nd, 1947 to star in "The Story of Markham's Death", in which he played a hack writer who stumbles upon a lost manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe; he decides to pass it off as his own work.

• You can download "The Story of Markham's Death" from archive.org here

About 3 years later Douglas made his final Suspense performance on February 9, 1950, and BOY! he delivered! The story was called "The Butcher's Wife" and Douglas plays yet another heel, this time a grocery store employee who can't help but notice the store's butcher has a very lovely wife. But that butcher is insanely jealous! This episode has particularly excellent sound effects!

• You can download "The Butcher's Wife" from archive.org here

Rest in peace, Mr. Douglas.

100 Years of Kirk Douglas

Isn't it amazing that Kirk Douglas is still alive? He celebrated his 100th birthday two days ago. Douglas starred in one of my all-time favourite films, Paths of Glory.

I often comment when a star of old-time radio has passed away; how about we celebrate Douglas while he's still with us? When his career broke out post-World War II, old-time radio was beginning a decline as television ascended, but Douglas received a lot of attention for his early film roles (one of his best was The Bad and the Beautiful) and - with Burt Lancaster - was seen as quite the promising young turk. That being the case, Douglas made a few OTR appearances, including three visits to the greatest show of them all, Suspense!

Douglas made his first Suspense appearance in 1947 in the drama "Community Property." Douglas portrayed a husband who planned to inherit his wealthy uncle's fortune and wanted to cut his wife out of the deal, lest she claim part of the fortune via community property laws. After the uncle's sudden death, the nephew schemed to cut his wife out immediately!

• Click here to download "Community Property" from archive.org

That same year, Douglas appeared again on Suspense in "The Story of Markham's Death," a drama in which he played a hack mystery author who discovered a lost Edgar Allan Poe story which featured a new type of mystery tale (I love Edgar Allan Poe, but is it credible that after 100+ years of writers exploiting every possible angle there would be something Poe thought of first?). This being Suspense, Douglas must resort to murder to claim the lost Poe story for himself.

• Click here to download "The Story of Markham's Death" from archive.org

Three years later, Douglas struck again with "The Butcher's Wife," possibly the greatest of his appearances. In this episode, Douglas was a supermarket clerk who became involved in a triangle involving a butcher. A butcher who was immensely jealous and willing to bring his cleaver down on any piece of meat that got in his way. I featured this one on my blog two years ago as part of my '31 Days of Suspense' October feature.

• Click here to download "The Butcher's Wife" from archive.org

Please do enjoy the programs!

31 Days of Suspense: "The Butcher's Wife"

You may chalk this up to Halloween-themed joshing but... there was a time when Kirk Douglas was young.

I know, you probably find it hard to believe even Michael Douglas was once young, yet I swear, it's true.

In the February 9, 1950 episode of Suspense - "The Butcher's Wife" - Douglas played a young supermarket clerk who fools around with another man's wife. The butcher's wife, as the title indicates. This proves fatal for more than one person! You may download the episode from archive.org here.

The highlight of the episode comes in the carefully constructed climax, the explosion of the slow-burn relationship dynamics. Douglas is ultimately caught in the supermarket after hours with the knife-wielding butcher pursuing him. This is radio at it's best - the simple sound effects do an excellent job of cranking up the terror so that when the grisly moments arrive it all seems inevitable. Perhaps we're all a little wiser about fooling around with butcher's wives now.

The script reappeared as "Never Steal a Butcher's Wife" on August 19, 1954 & December 29, 1957, but I prefer the Douglas performance.

Tomorrow: "Remember, I pick them old enough to have families, dignified jobs. Would they want to admit to chasing bobbysoxers?"