''Time for Love'' is an

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...

adventure drama in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was broadcast 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 ...

January 15, 1953 - May 27, 1954.Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. .

Relationship to ''Cafe Istanbul''

''Time for Love'' can be considered a sequel to — or a spinoff of — '' Cafe Istanbul'', although the setting and the main character's name differed from those of the earlier program. Radio historian John Dunning, in his reference book ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', wrote, "In 1953, Dietrich took the show 'Cafe Istanbul''to CBS, changed the setting, and emerged with a sound-alike series called ''Time for Love''. Robert C. Reinehr and Jon D. Swartz wrote in ''The A to Z of Old Time Radio'', "The program 'Cafe Istanbul''moved to a different network and was renamed ''Time for Love''. Jim Cox, in ''Radio Crime Fighters: More Than 300 Programs from the Golden Age'', noted, "Some reviewers suggested that this drama 'Time for Love''was an outgrowth of Marlene Dietrich's previous radio adventure feature, ''Cafe Istanbul''.

Format

Cox described the main character, Dianne La Volte, as "a mythical, globally famous vocal performer ... hocrusaded avocationally for law and order across the continents. She worked to protect innocent people and bring criminals to justice. Although La Volte lived in San Francisco, episodes of the program took her to Rome, Venice, Casablanca, Singapore, Vienna, and other far-flung places. In the book ''Dietrich Icon'', Gerd Gemünden and Mary R. Desjardins described a typical episode in which "La Volta confronts German gunrunners while on safari in Kenya during the Mau-Mau uprising. Her globe-trotting journalist-boyfriend Michael saves her from a lion while telling her that ''she'' is the most dangerous animal in the jungle."

Personnel

Marlene Dietrich starred as Dianne La Volte. The only other character who appeared regularly was Michael Victor, an American journalist, who was portrayed by

Robert Readick Robert Readick (November 28, 1925 – May 27, 1985), also known professionally as Bob Readick or Bobby Readick, was an American voice and film actor, best known for a run as the voice of "Johnny Dollar" in the CBS radio series ''Yours Truly, J ...

. Victor was La Volte's love interest, and he also "had the uncanny ability, with law authorities in tow, to arrive just in the nick of time to rescue La Volte from some menacing fate." Lee Vines was the announcer. Joe DeSantis, Guy Repp, and Luis Van Rooten were often heard in supporting roles. Dietrich was the program's producer. Murray Burnett and Ernest Ricca were the directors. The program's theme was the song ''Time for Love'', which Dietrich recorded with

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listenin ...

and his orchestra in 1953.

References

{{Reflist 1953 radio programme debuts 1954 radio programme endings CBS Radio programs American radio dramas