On Thursday, December 10, 1953, the world premiere of The Glenn Miller Story starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson took place at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. NBC radio was there to broadcast live from the theater. Shirley Towers and Eddy King talked to various celebrities as they entered the theater.
In Jimmy Stewart on the Air, we outlined who was interviewed and even included a transcript of Towers’ talk with Jimmy Stewart. Unfortunately, this show is still not in general circulation and appears to only be available at the Library of Congress. However, we can add some newspaper scans and a bit of information not previously available in the book.
First, here is a look at the “Program Highlights” section of the Los Angeles Times on the day of the broadcast.
The show was to air at 10:30 p.m. on the west coast. No east coast listings could be located, most likely because it would have been 2:30 a.m. there.
A second preview appeared in the Long Beach Independent, Long Beach, CA.
Notice that this one adds that the premiere would also be covered by WBIG. Bill Tusher of that station would also be interviewing the stars on tape. Those interviews would then be broadcast at 2:55 p.m. the following day (December 11th).
Finally, this syndicated article appeared in many newspapers around the country.
Of the celebrities mentioned in the article, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Marilyn Maxwell and Jeff Chandler were interviewed by King and Towers as they entered the theater.
