|
This story was published in Radio Recall, the journal of the Metropolitan Washington Old-Time Radio Club, published six times per year.
Click here to return to the index of selected articles.
|
|
“ETERNAL LIGHT” DOCUMENTARY
NOW AVAILABLE TO OUR MEMBERS
(From Radio Recall, April 2006)
"The Eternal Light" began as a radio drama in 1944 and aired weekly nationwide for a decade and then gradually production shifted to a television version, which also aired for many years into the 1980s. A total of 2,000 radio and TV shows were broadcast over this extended period. One of the purposes of these shows was to enlighten the Christian audience of Jewish tradition through drama, poetry, panel shows, and interviews.
This January ABC aired a one hour TV special, which is narrated by Marian Seldes, which covered the entire history of this series, starting with the original radio scripts. Much like a Ken Burns special, the early days of radio are covered in B & W still photographs with appropriate sound and narration. As it moves into the TV era, the shows themselves move from B & W to full color.
There are cameos of many famous performers including John Garfield, Theodore Bikel, E.G. Marshall, Jan Peerce, Gene Wilder, Alan Arkin, etc. There is even a brief, contemporary scene with Stephen Lewis and the Gotham Radio Players, whom several of us have enjoyed at their re-creations at FOTR Newark.
The Jewish Theological Seminary (of NYC) has donated a copy of this special to MWOTRC. It is available for loan in DVD or Video cassette from Mark & Marsha Bush. Contact us for more information.
|
