Ann Blyth on Lux Radio Theater - Thunder on the Hill

 

Ann Blyth is seen in this photo appearing on Lux Radio Theater, reprising her role what was then her most current film, Thunder on the Hill (1951).  The radio show was broadcast September 24, 1951, and the episode was called "Movietime USA" and was a roundup of eight currently released movies with scenes enacted by their stars.  Ann performed on the show with her co-star, Claudette Colbert.

In the movie, Ann plays a convict condemned to execution and about to be hanged, but when she and the police detective and prison matron are stranded in a remote hilltop convent because of storms and flooding, a scrappy nun played by Colbert stumbles upon hidden truths among several others who are stranded in the convent and also have ties to her case.  It's a race against time, and floodwaters, in this mystery.

For more on Thunder on the Hill and background on the production, have a look at my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

eBook edition (Amazon)

print edition available at Amazon and also my Etsy shop.

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Also available in eBook at:

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For more on my other books and plays, please see my website: JacquelineTLynch.com

Ann Blyth on radio in All About Eve

Ann Blyth played the notorious Eve Harrington in "All About Eve," an episode of Lux Radio Theater.  It's a fine performance, with the wonderful Claire Trevor as Margo Channing.  William Conrad, whom many Old Time Radio fans will recall did a lot of radio work and was splendid as radio's Matt Dillon in the original Gunsmoke plays Margo's lover Bill.  He's great in the part, battling and butting heads and throwing wisecracks.  Eve attempts to seduce him (only one of her many conquests, attempted or successful).   Here's the blurb from my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:

Lux Radio Theater.  November 23, 1954.  “All About Eve.”  Adaptation of the hit film about a conniving woman with ambitions for an acting career, no matter who she has to stab in the back.  Ann Blyth as Eve, with Claire Trevor, Don Randolph, William Conrad, Betty Lou Gerson, Carleton Young, Ruth Perrott, Eileen Robin, Herb Butterfield, and Edward Marr.

Conrad, Trevor, and Ann are terrific in this tightly-written adaptation for radio.  At the very end of the show, host Irving Cummings brings Ann and Claire Trevor out to the mic for a closing chat, and when Mr. Cummings marvels at Ann's work as an evil character, Claire remarks, "I'll never forget Ann's performance as the daughter in Mildred Pierce."  They joke a bit, and then Claire adds her congratulations to Ann for being chosen as the Most Popular Actress of the Year by Modern Screen magazine.

Now you can listen to the episode here on YouTube: Lux Radio Theater - All About Eve.

Stairway to Heaven - Ann Blyth on radio

With sheet music in one hand and a microphone in another, we don't know if Ann Blyth is in the act of a musical recording or a radio performance in the above magazine photo.  She performed many times on radio, and a listing of those performances is part of the appendices of my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.  Here's a link for you to have a listen to one of those radio performances, in the Lux Radio Theater production of "Stairway to Heaven".

This, as with many Lux episodes, is a condensed story from the film version.  The original fantasy film starred David Niven.  This radio show stars Ray Milland as an English pilot during World War II who is caught between heaven and earth, wanting to return to the American WAC with whom he has recently fallen in love.  Ann Blyth plays his love.  She was nineteen years old at the time of this performance.  The cast also includes Nigel Bruce, Alan Reed (whom most of us remember better as the voice of Fred Flintstone), William Johnstone, and Herb Rawlinson.  It was broadcast October 27, 1947. Toward the end of the episode, when the stars are saying goodnight, host William Keighley announces Ann's upcoming film with Charles Boyer "Mortal Coils."  That was the working title of the film that was eventually named A Woman's Vengeance.  Enjoy.
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The audio book for Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star. is now for sale on Audible.com, and on Amazon and iTunes.

Also in paperback and eBook from Amazon.