Alias Jimmy Valentine (radio program)

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Alias Jimmy Valentine
Bert Lytell Photoplay 1918.png
Bert Lytell starred as Jimmy Valentine (1918 photo)
GenreCrime drama
Running time15 minutes
Country of originUnited States
Language(s)English
SyndicatesNBC-Blue
StarringBert Lytell
James Meighan
AnnouncerDick Joy
Written byDoris Halman
Produced byFrank and Anne Hummert
Narrated byFord Bond
Original releaseJanuary 18, 1938 –
February 27, 1939
Other themesIf I Should Love You
Sponsored byEdgeworth Tobacco
Dr. Lyon's Tooth Powder

Alias Jimmy Valentine is an old-time radio crime drama in the United States. It was broadcast on NBC-Blue January 18, 1938 - February 27, 1939. [1]

Contents

Format

The concept for Alias Jimmy Valentine came from writer O. Henry in his short story "A Retrieved Reformation". [1] That story was adapted into the 1909 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong. [2] [3]

The program's stories focused on Lee Randall, described by Jim Cox in his book, Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age as "an ex-con and reformed safecracker [who] applied his talents and enormous underworld contacts to abet the forces of law and order". [1] While doing so, he became an honest bank clerk and fell in love with the daughter of the banker. [4]

Producers

The series was produced by Frank and Anne Hummert, who were described by Jim Cox in his book, Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers as "the most prolific creatives in eight decades of broadcast history". [5] They originated more than 100 radio series, about half of which were soap operas. [5]

Cox wrote that Alias Jimmy Valentine episodes raised "the never-to-be-resolved query: 'Can a protagonist go straight and overcome his impasse?'" [1] That query, Cox wrote, "was true formulaic Hummert". [1]

Personnel

Bert Lytell and James Meighan each played the lead at different times. [6] William Bennett Kilpack [7] and Earle Latimore also appeared on the program. [8]

Dick Joy was the announcer. Doris Halman was the writer. [1] Ford Bond narrated. [9]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cox, Jim (2002). Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age. McFarland. p. 39. ISBN   9781476612270 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Alias Jimmy Valentine". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. December 26, 1909. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921-1930. 1971. p. 12.
  4. ↑ Cox, Jim (2009). The A to Z of American Radio Soap Operas. Scarecrow Press. p. 25. ISBN   9780810863491 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 Cox, Jim (2003). Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers. McFarland. p. 5. ISBN   9780786416318 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  6. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-4513-4. P. 21.
  7. ↑ Cox, Jim (2004). Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons: A Complete History and Episode Log of Radio's Most Durable Detective. McFarland. p. 65. ISBN   9781476607382 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  8. ↑ Herbert, Stephen (2004). A History of Early Television. Taylor & Francis. p. 466. ISBN   9780415326681 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Cox, Jim (1999). The Great Radio Soap Operas. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN   9781476604145 . Retrieved 5 October 2016.
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