It took many years after the film’s 1947 release for any type of soundtrack recordings to be issued. The first came in 1988 on the Sundance Film Music Series, Vol. 1 (Telarc DG-18801 [LP]/CD 88801 [CD]). The album features 10 tracks from It’s a Wonderful Life, as well as songs from the soundtracks of A…
Monthly Archives: July 2016
Arthur Godfrey Time
Arthur Godfrey aired daily from New York City for 27 years, from 1945 until 1972. Jimmy Stewart first appeared on the program on July 30, 1947, as shown by this listing from the New York Times on that date. At this time the show was airing from 11-11:30 a.m. Its announcer was Tony Martin and…
Christmas Radio Shows from the 1930’s, 1940’s, 1950’s
This 8-CD set was issued by Radiorevisited.com (22CD8). Stewart’s Lux Radio Theatre version of It’s a Wonderful Life, also starring Donna Reed, is included. The show was originally broadcast on March 10, 1947…
Hedda Hopper Interviews Jimmy Stewart…Sort Of
The following article appeared in Hedda Hopper’s newspaper column for December 20, 1941: No broadcast date was listed and no recording of the show has been located. But, if the impersonation was good enough to fool his own parents, how would we identify this show even if it was found?…
1957 Heart Fund Drive
This public service disc was covered in Jimmy Stewart on the Air, but is updated here with a photo and audio. The 16-inch transcription disc was prepared for the American Heart Association and was to be used during the month of February. It was prepared by the Gotham Recording Corporation (GRC-4289). Mr. Stewart delivered the…
An Interview with Jimmy Stewart and Harvey
To help promote the film Harvey, Universal-International issued a 12-inch, 33 1/3 RPM interview disc to radio stations. This was an open-end interview, featuring only Stewart’s answers on the record. The local disc jockey would ask the questions which were also supplied by U-I in the form of a script. Although the record is part…
Shirley Thomas Hollywood
Shirley Thomas was a Hollywood reporter for NBC Radio and also hosted her own weekly half-hour program. As listed in Jimmy Stewart on the Air, Jimmy appeared on the July 26, 1953, broadcast. Here is a listing from the Independent Press-Telegram, Long Beach, CA, on the day of the broadcast. This show is not available…
V.I.P. Radio/The Big Sound – Station Break “Frames”
The same Stewart recording was used for the 1950’s V.I.P. Radio and the 1960’s The Big Sound self-promotion discs provided to radio stations on a subscription basis. The idea of this particular set of recordings was to supply a celebrity framework around which the local disc jockey could identify himself and the stations. As you…
Jimmy Stewart Subs for Bill Stern
On Friday, July 23, 1948, Bill Stern was aboard the S.S. Mauritania on his way to England to broadcast from the London Olympic Games. His radio show, Bill Stern’s Sports Newsreel, needed a substitute host and on this day it was Jimmy Stewart. As mentioned in Jimmy Stewart on the Air, it turns out that…
Boy Scout Jamboree – July 23, 1953
This was the fifth, and we believe final, Boy Scout Jamboree radio broadcast in which Mr. Stewart participated. Below are two newspaper previews of the event. The first is from the Long Beach Independent, Long Beach, CA: The second appeared in the San Antonio Express, San Antonio, TX: The show is not available, but these…
