Bend of the River, starring Stewart, Julie Adams, Rock Hudson and Arthur Kennedy, was released in the United States in February of 1952. As outlined in Jimmy Stewart on the Air, Universal-International issued a special 12-inch, one-sided, 33 1/3 RPM record on red vinyl to help promote the film. It was pressed on red vinyl. Stewart not only talks about the film but also about his twin daughters, Judy and Kelly.
The record had Mr. Stewart’s answers to questions which would be posed by local disc jockeys. A script for the disc jockey was included with the record. Unfortunately, we do not have a copy of the script in our collection, but here are Stewart’s answers.
Universal-International also used a second method to promote the film. This one had nothing to do with radio, but it is rather interesting. It was a contest, sponsored by Sears Roebuck and Company. The contest pitted school students against one another to see who could give the best imitations of Jimmy Stewart or Julia Adams. Here is a newspaper ad for the contest from the February 11, 1952 edition of the Kansas City Times.
