NBC Presents: Short Story
Encyclopedia
NBC Presents: Short Story was a half-hour program offering dramatizations of contemporary American short stories by famed writers such as William Faulkner
, F. Scott Fitzgerald
and Shirley Jackson
.
Broadcasting from Hollywood, the series premiered February 21, 1951 on NBC
with an adaptation of "Fifty Grand" by Ernest Hemingway
. Script editor for the series was Hugh Kemp, who supervised scripts by George Lefferts
, Ernest Kinoy
and others. The series was first heard on Wednesdays at 10:30pm EST and then moved May 4 to Fridays at 8:00pm. Featuring stories by Conrad Aiken
("Silent Snow, Secret Snow
"), Sherwood Anderson
, Stephen Vincent Benét
, Ring Lardner
and John Steinbeck
, the first series continued until July 13. The dramas were directed by Andrew C. Love. Overall supervision of production was by Margaret Cuthbert and Wade Arnold. Lamont Johnson
, Don Stanley and John Wald were the announcers.
("The Rocket"), James M. Cain
, Erskine Caldwell
. John Cheever
, Anton Chekhov
, John Galsworthy
, Graham Greene
, Lardner, Steinbeck, Frank Stockton, Ben Ames Williams
and others.
("De Mortuis"), Eric Knight
, William Daniel Steele, James Street
, James A. Michener
and James Thurber
,
Brooklyn College
cooperated with NBC by scheduling a literary appreciation course with a Short Story tie-in. This was part of NBC's College by Radio plan.
Cast members included Parley Baer
, Jeff Corey
, Howard Culver
, John Dehner
, Georgia Ellis
, Paul Frees
, Virginia Gregg
, Jack Kruschen
, Dan O'Herlihy
and Barney Phillips
.
(1944–48). With "the best published short shorts... originals by famous authors", Short Short Stories was a 15-minute daytime drama series which aired three days a week.
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
and Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
.
Broadcasting from Hollywood, the series premiered February 21, 1951 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
with an adaptation of "Fifty Grand" by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. Script editor for the series was Hugh Kemp, who supervised scripts by George Lefferts
George Lefferts
George Lefferts is a writer, producer, playwright, poet, and director of television dramas, motion pictures, radio dramas, and socially conscious documentaries...
, Ernest Kinoy
Ernest Kinoy
-Early life:Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his father and mother were both high-school teachers. His older brother Arthur Kinoy later became a leading constitutional lawyer. Kinoy attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later Columbia University, although his studies...
and others. The series was first heard on Wednesdays at 10:30pm EST and then moved May 4 to Fridays at 8:00pm. Featuring stories by Conrad Aiken
Conrad Aiken
Conrad Potter Aiken was an American novelist and poet, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, a play and an autobiography.-Early years:...
("Silent Snow, Secret Snow
Silent Snow, Secret Snow
"Silent Snow, Secret Snow" is Conrad Aiken's best-known short story, often included in anthologies of classic American horror and fantasy short fiction...
"), Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson
Sherwood Anderson was an American novelist and short story writer. His most enduring work is the short story sequence Winesburg, Ohio. Writers he has influenced include Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, J. D. Salinger, and Amos Oz.-Early life:Anderson was born in Clyde, Ohio,...
, Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...
, Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
and John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
, the first series continued until July 13. The dramas were directed by Andrew C. Love. Overall supervision of production was by Margaret Cuthbert and Wade Arnold. Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson
Lamont Johnson was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards....
, Don Stanley and John Wald were the announcers.
Second series
Moving to Fridays at 9:30pm EST, the second series ran from November 23, 1951 to March 14, 1952 with William Welch as script editor and Wade Arnold as executive producer. The College by Radio plan was discontinued. Stories in the second series were by Benét, Ray BradburyRay Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
("The Rocket"), James M. Cain
James M. Cain
James Mallahan Cain was an American author and journalist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labeling, he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the roman noir...
, Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Caldwell
Erskine Preston Caldwell was an American author. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native South like the novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre won him critical acclaim, but they also made him controversial among fellow Southerners of the time who felt he was...
. John Cheever
John Cheever
John William Cheever was an American novelist and short story writer. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs." His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the Westchester suburbs, old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy,...
, Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, Lardner, Steinbeck, Frank Stockton, Ben Ames Williams
Ben Ames Williams
Ben Ames Williams American writer who published over thirty novels, including All the Brothers Were Valiant ,Come Spring ,The Strange Woman , House Divided , Leave Her to Heaven and The Unconquered...
and others.
Third series
The third series ran from April 11 to May 30, 1952 with stories by Nell Bell, John CollierJohn Collier (writer)
John Henry Noyes Collier was a British-born author and screenplay writer best known for his short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker from the 1930s to the 1950s. They were collected in a 1951 volume, Fancies and Goodnights, which won the International Fantasy Award and remains in...
("De Mortuis"), Eric Knight
Eric Knight
Eric Knight was an author who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie.Born on 10 April 1897, in Menston in Yorkshire, England, Eric Mowbray Knight was the third of four sons born to Frederic Harrison and Marion Hilda Knight, both Quakers...
, William Daniel Steele, James Street
James Street
- People :* James Street , American football quarterback* James H. Street , American journalist, Baptist minister, and novelist* James Street , English cricketer and umpire- Places :...
, James A. Michener
James A. Michener
James Albert Michener was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which were sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating historical facts into the stories...
and James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
,
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
cooperated with NBC by scheduling a literary appreciation course with a Short Story tie-in. This was part of NBC's College by Radio plan.
Cast members included Parley Baer
Parley Baer
Parley Edward Baer was an American actor in film, television, and radio.-Radio:Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Baer had a circus background, but began his radio career at Utah station KSL...
, Jeff Corey
Jeff Corey
Jeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor and director who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Howard Culver
Howard Culver
Howard Culver was an American radio and television actor, best known as hotel clerk Howie Uzzell during the entire run of TV's Gunsmoke...
, John Dehner
John Dehner
John Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
, Georgia Ellis
Georgia Ellis
Georgia Ellis was an American actress who is best known for her recurring role of Kitty in the popular Western radio drama Gunsmoke.-External links:...
, Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
, Virginia Gregg
Virginia Gregg
Virginia Gregg Burket was an American actress best known for her many roles in radio dramas.Born in Harrisburg, Illinois, Virginia Gregg was the daughter of musician Dewey Alphaleta and businessman Edward William Gregg.-Radio:Gregg was a prolific radio actor, heard on such programs as The...
, Jack Kruschen
Jack Kruschen
Jack Kruschen was a Canadian-born character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio.-Radio:...
, Dan O'Herlihy
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
and Barney Phillips
Barney Phillips
Barney Phillips was an American film, radio and television actor.-Biography and career:He was born Bernard Philip Ofner in St. Louis, Missouri, to Harry Nathan Ofner, a commercial salesman for the leather industry, and Leona Frank Ofner, a naturalized citizen of German origin, who went by the...
.
Similar programs
There were several related shows that also offered literary adaptations: Best Plays (1952–53), Short Short Stories and The World's Great NovelsThe World's Great Novels
The World's Great Novels was a radio series, directed by Homer Heck, which presented adaptations of classic novels. Broadcast on WMAQ, Chicago, and NBC from 1944 to 1948, it was initially heard Saturdays at 7pm during the first 1944-45 season and then moved to Fridays at 11:30pm...
(1944–48). With "the best published short shorts... originals by famous authors", Short Short Stories was a 15-minute daytime drama series which aired three days a week.