''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 t ...

featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

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 Rob ...

. Edward Pawley 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 atmospher ...

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 advertising, ...

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 the ...

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.

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 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 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 was the announcer.

Film

Four films based on the radio series were made by Paramount Pictures' Pine-Thomas Productions studio: '' Big Town'' (1947), '' I Cover Big Town'' (1947), '' Big Town After Dark'' (1947), and '' Big Town Scandal'' (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 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 album ...

, 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) * Hollywoo ...

. 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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

ran on CBS from 1950 through 1954, continuing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from 1955 through 1956.

Repeat Repeat may refer to: * Rerun, a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program * Repeated sequence (DNA), a pattern of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) that occurs in multiple copies throughout the genome ** CRISPR * The smallest rectangle th ...

episodes aired on the DuMont Network 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 Patrick McVey (March 17, 1910 – July 6, 1973) was an American actor who starred in three television series between 1950 and 1961: ''Big Town'', '' Boots and Saddles'', and '' Manhunt''. Early life McVey was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hi ...

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 D ...

, and the contributing artists included Dan Barry,

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

, Gil Kane, 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