''The Dreft Star Playhouse'' was a daytime radio program in the United States, presenting adaptations of romantic movies in serial form.Dunning, John. (1976). ''Tune in Yesterday: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, 1925–1976''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. . p. 170. It was broadcast on NBC June 28, 1943 – March 30, 1945. The show's original title was ''Hollywood Theatre of the Air'', but that changed effective October 18, 1943, " avoid conflict with similar titles."

Format

''The Dreft Star Playhouse'' was classified as "prestige drama" by one source.Sterling, Christopher H. (ed.) (2004). ''Encyclopedia of Radio''. Fitzroy Dearborn. . p. 1179. It "attempted to accomplish in a five-times-a-week soap-opera format what ''Lux Radio Theatre'' had done in the nighttime format."Buxton, Frank and Owen, Bill (1972). ''The Big Broadcast: 1920–1950''. The Viking Press. . p. 73. Radio historian John Dunning called the program "a noble experiment, devised to see if daytime radio would support a show of purported nighttime quality." Programs presenting adaptations of movies proliferated on nighttime radio. '' Lux Radio Theatre'' may have been the best known; others included ''Warner Brothers' Academy Theatre'', '' The Screen Guild Theater'', ''Hollywood Premiere'', '' Hollywood Star Time'', ''Hollywood Mystery Time'', ''Hollywood Star Preview'', '' Academy Award'' and ''Hollywood Star Playhouse''.Hilmes, Michele (1990). ''Hollywood and Broadcasting: From Radio to Cable''. University of Illinois Press. . pp. 67–70. In contrast to the evening programs, which limited an adaptation of a movie to a single broadcast, ''The Dreft Star Playhouse'' presented its adaptations in the form of serials whose duration varied. Perhaps the longest was "Dark Victory," starring Cathy Lewis, which ran for six weeks in daily quarter-hour doses.

Productions and players

Dunning called ''The Dreft Star Playhouse'' "an ambitious undertaking," noting that the program spent "up to $3,000 per week for 'name' talent." Jane Wyman starred in its first production, "Bachelor Mother." Other titles and stars that listeners heard on the program included the following: *"The Magnificent Ambersons" – Agnes Moorehead *"Hold Back the Dawn" – Maureen O'Sullivan *"Take a Letter, Darling" – Mary Astor *"Marked Woman" – Gail Patrick *"Suspicion" – Margo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreft Star Playhouse, The 1940s American radio programs American radio dramas 1943 radio programme debuts 1945 radio programme endings NBC radio programs Radio programs based on films