The run
- Network
- CBS
- Years active
- 1948–1953
- Surviving broadcasts
- 79
- Genre
- theatre
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Each week the programme adapted a work of literature — the opening broadcast was The Devil and Daniel Webster — with a guest film star in the lead. The series later became the Hallmark Hall of Fame. These transfers are public domain.
Source collection
Internet Archive audio collections
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
4 dated broadcasts across 6 years on the air, with 5 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1948, in original transmission order.
- 1. Devil and Daniel Webster · 10 Jun 1948
- 2. Mrs Union Station · 17 Jun 1948
- 3. Unless Love Is Music · 24 Jun 1948
Devil and Daniel Webster
10 Jun 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Mrs Union Station
17 Jun 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Unless Love Is Music
24 Jun 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Penny Serenade
1 Jul 1948 · 29 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Pride and Prejudice
8 Jul 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Girls Are Like Boats
15 Jul 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
The Citadel
22 Jul 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
The Old Nest
12 Aug 1948 · 28 min
Hallmark Playhouse was broadcast on CBS from June 1948 to 1953, sponsored by Hallmark Cards and hosted by the novelist James Hilton, author of Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr.
Also on CBS
CBS in 1948–1953
Other series the network carried while Hallmark Playhouse was on the air.
Same seasons
theatre on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
Theatre of the mind
Full-cast drama with a live orchestra and a studio full of sound effects. Lux Radio Theater and the CBS Radio Workshop are the direct ancestors of scripted podcast fiction.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Hallmark Playhouse
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
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