Broken Arrow was presented on the Lux Radio Theatre on January 22, 1951. Jimmy Stewart, Jeff Chandler and Debra Paget had starred in the 1950 film, so it was only natural that they would also star in the radio adaptation; and, that’s the way things were planned. However, at the last minute, Jimmy became ill and could not appear. Burt Lancaster stepped in for him and portrayed Tom Jeffords. The change came too close to the broadcast date; so many newspaper listings, like this one from the New York Times, had Stewart in the lead role.
At the end of the program, William Keighley, the host, thanks Lancaster for stepping in for Jimmy and the two of them talk about Stewart, his illness and the fact that he and Gloria were about to be the parents of twins.
A few months later, in September of 1951, Jimmy would finally get to portray Jeffords for the radio audience on Screen Directors’ Playhouse.
