''Big Town'' is a popular long-running

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had played in the film

Five Star Final ''Five Star Final'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film about the excesses of tabloid journalism directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson, Aline MacMahon (in her screen debut) and Boris Karloff. The screenplay was by Robert ...

Edward Pawley Edward Joel Pawley (March 16, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri – January 27, 1988 in Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley; he never ...

played the lead role longer, 1943–52, in plots that made the editor more of a hands-on crime-fighter. During the later Pawley years, Big Town was adapted to

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series, and a comic book published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Radio

The radio program aired from October 19, 1937, to June 25, 1952. It was produced by

William N. Robson William N. Robson (October 8, 1906 – April 10, 1995) was a director and producer of radio programs. Early life Robson was born William N. Robson II in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of William N. Robson and Gertrude Brehm Robson. His father ...

and Crane Wilbur, and written by Jerry McGill. Theme music was by Fran Frey. Edward G. Robinson had the lead role of Steve Wilson, crusading editor of the ''Illustrated Press'', from 1937 to 1942.

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

was Wilson's reporter sidekick "Lorelei," with

Ona Munson Ona Munson (born Owena Elizabeth Wolcott; June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955) was an American film and stage actress. She starred in nine Broadway productions and 20 feature films in her career, which spanned over 30 years. Born and raised in ...

taking over that role in 1940. The female lead evolved from the initial script's description as "the society editor who writes under the name of 'Lorelei'" to star crime reporter "Lorelei Kilbourne," with no hint that her first name was a stylized byline. She provided the tabloid-minded Wilson with a conscience in the early episodes, not unlike the editor's secretary in Robinson's Oscar-nominated

in 1931.

Edward J. Pawley Edward Joel Pawley (March 16, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri – January 27, 1988 in Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley; he never ...

portrayed Steve Wilson from 1943 until 1952 when

Walter Greaza Walter Noel Greaza (pronounced Gree-zay; January 1, 1897 – June 1, 1973) was an American television, radio, stage and film actor. Biography Greaza was born on January 1, 1897, in St Paul, Minnesota, to Albert Edward Greaza and Mary Elizabeth Fr ...

was heard as Wilson in the final episodes. Fran Carlon played Lorelei to Pawley's Wilson from 1942 to 1952. During the period in which Pawley starred, ''Big Town'' was rated No. 1 among all of the reporter-type drama series on radio. It was also rated in the top 12 among all radio programs broadcast and had a listening audience rated between 10 and 20 million people.

Ken Niles Ken Niles (December 9, 1906 – October 31, 1988) was an American radio announcer. Niles was born in Livingston, Montana. He was married to Nadia Niles, and had two children, Kenneth Niles and Denise Niles. His brother, Wendell Niles, was also a ...

was the announcer.

Film

Four films based on the radio series were made by Paramount Pictures'

Pine-Thomas Productions Pine-Thomas Productions was a prolific B-picture unit of Paramount Pictures from 1940–1957, producing 81 films. Co-producers William H. Pine (February 15, 1896 – April 29, 1955) and William C. Thomas (August 11, 1903 – April 2, 1984) were kno ...

studio: ''

Big Town ''Big Town'' is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had ...

'' (1947), ''

I Cover Big Town ''I Cover Big Town'' is a 1947 American drama film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Maxwell Shane. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Robert Lowery, Robert Shayne, Mona Barrie and Vince Barnett. It was released on Februa ...

'' (1947), ''

Big Town After Dark ''Big Town After Dark'' is a 1947 American film noir drama film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Whitman Chambers. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Richard Travis, Ann Gillis, Vince Barnett, Joe Sawyer and Robert Kent. ...

'' (1947), and ''

Big Town Scandal ''Big Town Scandal'' is a 1948 American crime film directed by William C. Thomas and written by Milton Raison. The film stars Phillip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Stanley Clements, Darryl Hickman, Carl Switzer and Roland Dupree. It was released on May ...

'' (1948). All four films starred

Phillip Reed Phillip Reed (born Milton LeRoy; March 25, 1908 – December 7, 1996) was an American actor. He played Steve Wilson in a series of four films (1947–1948) based on the '' Big Town'' radio series. Early years Reed was a star athlete at Er ...

as Wilson and

Hillary Brooke Hillary Brooke (born Beatrice Sofia Mathilda Peterson; September 8, 1914 – May 25, 1999) was an American film actress. Career A 5′6″ blonde from the Astoria neighborhood of New York City's borough of Queens, Brooke, who was of Swedish an ...

as Lorelei, all were based on radio- and/or screenplays by Maxwell Shane, and all were produced and directed by William C. Thomas.

Television

When ''Big Town'' moved to television, the program was telecast

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

, but in 1952 the production switched to film after the move from New York City to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. The

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

ran on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from 1950 through 1954, continuing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 1955 through 1956. Repeat episodes aired on the

DuMont Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

from 1952 to 1954 under the title ''City Assignment'', while ''Big Town'' was still showing first-run episodes on CBS. Reruns were also shown under the titles ''Heart of the City'', ''Headline'', and ''Byline Steve Wilson''. The stories revolved around ''The Illustrated Press'', the city's largest newspaper, and the people who worked for it, most particularly managing editor Steve Wilson (played by Patrick McVey from 1950 to 1954 and by Mark Stevens from 1954 to 1956). Five actresses had the role of reporter Lorelei Kilbourne. In its sixth and final season, the series would adopt the documentary style made famous by '' Dragnet'', right down to Stevens producing, writing, and directing most of the episodes. Jack Gross and Philip Krasne produced the program in 1952.

Television ratings

*1950–1951: #21 *1951–1952: #15 *1952–1953: out of the top 30 *1953–1954: out of the top 30

Comic book

DC's ''Big Town'' comic book ran 50 issues, from January 1951 to March–April 1958. The comic book was edited by

Whitney Ellsworth Frederick Whitney Ellsworth (November 27, 1908 – September 7, 1980) was an American comic book editor and sometime writer and artist for DC Comics during the period known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was also ...

, and the contributing artists included Dan Barry,

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

, John Lehti, Manny Stallman and

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

, with most of the later scripts written by John Broome.

References

Listen to

RadioLovers: ''Big Town'' "Occupied Paris" (9/5/42)Zoot Radio, free 'Big Town' old time radio show downloads

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0042083, title=Big Town 1950 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs 1950s American drama television series American radio dramas Radio programs adapted into films Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming DuMont Television Network original programming English-language television shows NBC original programming CBS Radio programs NBC radio programs 1937 radio programme debuts 1952 radio programme endings Television series about journalism