[78-L] Me and "Me and Orson Welles"

[Elizabeth McLeod]

on 12/25/10 11:22 AM David Lennick wrote:

>Sorry, Elizabeth caught one of the two "radio studio" errors I referred 
>to, the 
>page saying nobody is allowed in the studio during a recording (it was 
>live, of 
>course). I have a couple of other questions about this scene..where was 
>"First 
>Nighter" broadcast from? New York or Hollywood? (Or Chicago?) Orson refers 
>to 
>"bringing the program to New York just for me". His ambulance takes him to 
>485 
>Madison Avenue..CBS? First Nighter was still on NBC in 1937, per Duning.

The First Nighter was a Chicago production thru and thru -- one of the 
big Merchandise Mart shows of the time, and was never based in New York. 
And yep, it was still an NBC feature at the time. I do give the producers 
of the film credit, though, for not only knowing who Les Tremayne and 
Barbara Luddy were but also casting actors who reasonably resemble them.

(And despite being on the air for the entire decade of the 1930s, exactly 
*one* recording of a First Nighter program from that decade -- from 1939 
-- is known to survive.)

Elizabeth