''Junior Miss'' is a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by

Sally Benson Sally Benson ('' née'' Sara Smith; September 3, 1897 – July 19, 1972) was an American writer of short stories and screenwriter. She is best known for her humorous tales of modern youth collected in ''Junior Miss'' and her semi-autobiographical ...

first published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. Between 1929 and the end of 1941, the prolific Benson published 99 stories in ''The New Yorker'', some under her pseudonym of Esther Evarts. She had a bestseller when Doubleday published her ''Junior Miss'' collection in 1941.

Broadway

Benson's stories were adapted for theatre by writers

Jerome Chodorov Jerome Chodorov (August 10, 1911 – September 12, 2004) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He co-wrote the book with Joseph A. Fields for the original Broadway musical ''Wonderful Town'' starring Rosalind Russell. The musi ...

and

Joseph Fields Joseph Albert Fields (February 21, 1895 – March 4, 1966)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, Californiaancestry.com/ ...

, by producer Max Gordon, and by director

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

. The play had a successful run of 710 performances on Broadway from November 18, 1941, to July 24, 1943. Patricia Peardon had the title role of Judy Graves, a teenager who meddles in people's love lives.

Film

In 1945, a

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of the play by

and

starred

Peggy Ann Garner Peggy Ann Garner (February 3, 1932 – October 16, 1984) was an American child actress. As a child actress, Garner had her first film role in 1938. At the 18th Academy Awards, Garner won the Academy Juvenile Award, recognizing her body of c ...

as Judy Graves.

George Seaton George Seaton (April 17, 1911 – July 28, 1979) was an American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theatre director. Life and career Early life Seaton was born George Edward Stenius in South Bend, Indiana, of Swedish des ...

directed. Produced by

William Perlberg William Perlberg (October 22, 1900 in Łódź, Poland – October 31, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) was an American film producer. William Perlberg was born Wolf Perelberg, son of Israel Jakob Perelberg (later: Perlberg), a fur manufacturer ...

, the 94-minute feature was released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

on June 16, 1945.

Radio

''Junior Miss'' was featured several times in different formats on U.S. radio. Sponsored by

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

, the first series was broadcast from March 4 to August 26, 1942, with

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

playing the lead character Judy Graves. Priscilla Lyon played her friend, Fuffy Adams, "the odd child from the apartment downstairs." Benson and

Doris Gilbert Doris Gilbert (1914-1993) was an American screenwriter and TV writer known for her work on B movies of the 1940s and 1950s at Republic Pictures. Biography Doris was the daughter of famed Russia-born composer L. Wolfe Gilbert and his wife, Cath ...

collaborated on writing the show. Broadcast on Wednesday evenings, the program cost $12,000 a week to produce. From 1944 to 1946, a Junior Miss segment, based on Benson's short stories, was a regular feature in the ''Mary Small Show'' (later changed to the ''Mary Small-Junior Miss Show''). In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the ''Junior Miss'' radio program starred

Barbara Whiting Barbara Whiting Smith (May 19, 1931 – June 9, 2004) was an American actress and singer. Early life Whiting was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of music manager Eleanor Youngblood Whiting and composer Richard A. Whit ...

, who had appeared in the 1945 film as Fuffy Adams. That series ran from April 3, 1948, to December 30, 1950, sponsored by Lever Brothers. The music was composed and conducted by

Walter Schumann Walter Schumann (October 8, 1913 – August 21, 1958) was an American composer for film, television, and the theater. His notable works include the score for '' The Night of the Hunter'' and the ''Dragnet'' Theme; the latter of which earned Sch ...

. The 1948-50 cast returned for another season in various formats and timeslots from October 2, 1952, to July 1, 1954. The film version of ''Junior Miss'' was promoted on radio twice in 1946, with

performing her role as Judy Graves in a shortened version of the film on CBS's Hollywood Star Time as well as Lady Esther

Screen Guild Theater ''The Screen Guild Theater'' is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several dif ...

Television

Chodorov and Fields’ version of ''Junior Miss'' was adapted as a television musical and broadcast on December 20, 1957, as part of

CBS Television 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 Entertainmen ...

's ''

DuPont Show of the Month ''DuPont Show of the Month'' was a 90-minute television anthology series that aired monthly on CBS from 1957 to 1961. The DuPont Company also sponsored a weekly half-hour dramatic anthology series hosted by June Allyson, ''The DuPont Show with Jun ...

''.

Carol Lynley Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) was an American actress known for her roles in the films ''Blue Denim'' (1959) and '' The Poseidon Adventure'' (1972). Lynley was born in Manhattan to an Irish ...

had the lead role of Judy Graves with

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

and

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

as her parents and Susanne Sidney as Fuffy Adams. Others in the cast were

Diana Lynn Diana Marie Lynn (born Dolores Eartha Loehr, July 5, 1926 – December 18, 1971) was an American actress. Early years Lynn was born in Los Angeles, California. Her father, Louis Loehr, was an oil supply executive, and her mother, Martha Loe ...

Paul Ford Paul Ford Weaver (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect, notably as Mayor Shinn in ''The Music Man (196 ...

Jill St. John Jill St. John (born Jill Arlyn Oppenheim; August 19, 1940) is a retired American actress. She may be best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the 007 franchise, in '' Diamonds Are Forever''. Additional performances i ...

and

David Wayne David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan, January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life and career Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...

References

External links

* {{IBDB show, 4985, Junior Miss 1940s American radio programs 1941 short story collections American short story collections Works originally published in The New Yorker CBS Radio programs Random House books