Below are details about Tracy and Hepburn on radio, and some general description of the intersection of this information with old-time radio collecting in general.
UPDATED 3/19/04
I have been on a mission to find as many recordings of Tracy and Hepburn on radio as possible. Working from a variety of sources in the OTR community (most recently RadioGOLDINdex.com) as well as James Fisher's book, Spencer Tracy, A Bio-Bibliography, and Alvin Merrill's Katharine Hepburn, I have compiled what I believe to be a reasonably complete list of Tracy and Hepburn radio appearances. I have also educated myself on the finer points of acquiring MP3 copies of old-time radio shows. My goal is to get as many programs as can be gotten and then to make them available here.
Some things to know about radio collecting (maybe more than you wanna know)
- These programs (from the 30s and 40s) are in the public domain and thus can be freely acquired and traded, sold or otherwise shared freely.
- Old radio shows are often distributed in bulk; one CD may contain 50 or more MP3s of hour-long programs within a single series.
- Series sets are missing some shows, making particular episodes a challenge to track down.
My Radio Research
Here are the radio programs on which Tracy and/or Hepburn appeared and what I know about them and their availability. I'm both offering my knowledge of their availability and reviewing them--at least in brief--for your enjoyment.In the 1930s, studios and radio networks had rather close relationships. Many programs existed both to provide advertising opportunities for sponsors like Gulf Oil or Lux Soap, and also to promote the motion picture studios. Many stars appeared on these programs, either to promote their films directly, or to gain general publicity for themselves and for their studios. Some shows were directly sponsored by studios, as in the case of Good News, sponsored both by Maxwell House Coffee and MGM. The studio provided movie stars to the variety program. Some shows boasted altruistic goals; raising funds for the Motion Picture Home (Screen Guild Theater) or offering entertainment to GIs during World War II (Command Performance). But these shows were sponsored too, and their highly scripted nature and frequent use of movie stars makes it apparent that these programs provided promotional opportunities for performers and their studios.
Tracy and Hepburn each appeared on both variety and dramatic programs. Variety shows often featured stars performing as themselves in some way, though most of these programs featured dramatic segments. The variety shows included Chase and Sanborn (Edgar Bergen), Command Performance and Good News. Spencer Tracy typically performed in dramatic segments. He rarely participated in the banter between host and guest star. He did host an episode of Command Performance (see below).
Tracy and/or Hepburn were more often featured in straight dramatizations. Lux Radio Theater, Screen Guild Theater, and Theater Guild of the Air all broadcast dramas and comedies. Most of these were based on films. Among the most interesting subgroup of these shows are those that feature actors in roles they did not play on the screen. Tracy, for example, appears in the George Brent role from Dark Victory, and also in Arrowsmith, Anna Christie, and Men in White, all of these for Lux Radio Theater. Almost more intriguing for Hepburn fans is the fact that at least half of her 1930s films were performed on radio with other actresses in her part--some more than once. The most amusingly ironic (and badly performed, in my opinion) is Holiday with Loretta. Young in the Hepburn role. Young also played Tracy Lord in a Lux Radio Theater production of The Philadelphia Story.
Neither Tracy or Hepburn seemed to have great enthusiasm for radio. In Tracy's case, some performances are quite wooden and seem forced. It is quite likely that he was asked by MGM to make these appearances and was unable to apply his usual acting skill to the two-dimensional forum. I came to this conclusion not after hearing one of his dramatic efforts, but after hearing his commentary (completely scripted, as it was in all of these programs) at the end of several Lux Radio Theater dramas. Tracy seemed very ill at ease.
The Show List
What follows is an annotated list of Tracy and Hepburn radio appearances. The links point to MP3 files for the shows I have. To download the show for later listening, right-click the link and then choose "Download to Disk".Spencer Tracy's Radio Appearances
Riff Raff, Hollywood Hotel, CBS November 29, 1935, with Jean Harlow(unavailable so far. I have found this series listed on a site or two, but not this particular show)
Kraft Phenix Cheese Program, NBC February 13, 1936
(unavailable so far)
The Royal Gelatin Hour, NBC, December 10, 1936
(unavailable so far. I have found this series listed on a site or two, but not this particular show)
Men in White, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, January 4, 1937 with Virginia Bruce and Frances Farmer
Fairly pedestrian melodrama, in which Tracy does fine
Maxwell House Show-Boat, NBC October 21, 1937
(unavailable so far)
Arrowsmith, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, October 25, 1937
The play is rather badly chopped up to fit into an hour, if you ask me. Tracy is a bit gruff in the part.
Good News of 1938, NBC, November 11, 1937
[unavailable so far)
Good News of 1938, NBC, December 16, 1937
(unavailable so far)
Anna Christie, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, February 7, 1938
(revised). Though Tracy uses a convincing and very appealing Irish brogue, the cutting of this piece for radio does great harm to it, making it a fairly conventional melodrama. I am not a huge Garbo fan, but once you have seen her in Anna Christie, it is unimaginable that anyone else would play the part, much less that the play would be made so sappy as a radio production.
Premiere of Marie Antoinette, NBC, July 8, 1938
Chase and Sanborn Program, NBC, July 24, 1938--Tracy appears in an adaptation of a movie called Five Star Final
Tracy is pretty good. I believe Edward G. Robinson played the part on film.
Good News of 1939, NBC, September 1, 1938 --includes Tracy and Mickey Rooney performing scenes from Boy's Town, as well as an appearance by the real Father Edward Flanagan, during which he reads a short script praising the film.
Good News of 1939, NBC, September 29, 1938--Tracy is a guest. He performs in a dramatic skit called "He Who Gets Slapped". It's not very good.
Three Days March, Gulf Screen Guild Theatre, CBS, February 12, 1939
Tracy is fairly good in this wartime drama. .
A Man's Castle, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, March 27, 1939, with Loretta Young
The recording I have is actually the rehearsal. That's interesting in itself. I think Tracy is better in the Bergman version, but this isn't bad.
Dark Victory, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, January 8, 1940, with Bette Davis
Tracy seems, as he did in Arrowsmith, sort of gruff and maybe a little annoyed. Davis is quite good.
Ninotchka, Screen Guild Theatre, CBS, April 21, 1940, with Rosalind Russell
This is a very uninspired performance by both actors. Russell's Russian accent is positively annoying. I also think the cutting of the film script for radio was badly done. Much of the essential comedy of the piece is squashed by bad structure, and made worse by poor pacing on the part of whoever directed the thing)
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: Community Mobilization For Human Needs. November 1940.
Program #36 (?). Syndicated. Sponsored by: Community Chest fund appeal (last spot added locally). The first selection is "March Militaire." Spencer Tracy speaks on behalf of the Community Chest. The date is approximate.
Christmas Greetings to Great Brittain from Hollywood, NBC, December 25, 1940
Greek War Relief Program, NBC, Febryary 8, 1941
Luncheon Honoring Father Flanagan's Boys Town, NBC Blue Network, April 2, 1941
A Man's Castle, Lux Radio Theatre, CBS, December 1, 1941, with Ingrid Bergman
This is pretty good, I think. Bergman is a fair radio actress, and it's fun to see Tracy return to one of his better early roles.
Yarns for Yanks, 1942
Tracy reads a Robert E. Sherwood story called Extra! Extra!--It's not a very good story, but Tracy does a fine job of reading it.
Mail Call, #33, early 1942
March of Dimes of the Air, NBC, January 24, 1942
Command Performance, Armed Forces Radio, June 30, 1942--Tracy acts as MC for this variety show. He does an acceptable job as host, but it's apparent that Mocking is not really his strong suit.
LISTING UPDATED 3/19/04: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, January 15, 1943
Basil O'Connor makes an impassioned appeal, followed by a similar speech by Spencer Tracy. Spencer Tracy, Basil O'Connor, Edwin C. Hill (host)
Woman of the Year, Screen Guild Theater, CBS, April 19, 1943
The 30-minute program feels very rushed. Performances are OK, but the pace of the program strips it of its essential emotional impact. The ending is based loosely upon the original ending of the film. Here's a transcrtption of the script for this program.
WAACs: The Modern Molly Pittchers, NBC, June 26, 1943
Command Performance, Armed Forces Radio, August 12, 1944. Tracy acts as MC
[unavailable so far)
Command Performance, Armed Forces Radio, December 25, 1944
Tracy acts in a Christmas play
LISTING UPDATED 3/19/04: Tribute to Ethel Barrymore, ABC, August 15, 1945
Tributes by many entertainment personalities. Dozens of celebrities (that are not named below), say nothing more than their names. The program also has a reply by Ethel Barrymore. Alfred Lunt, Arthur Hopkins, Basil Adlam (composer, conductor), Bernard Baruch, Billie Burke, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Charles Bracken, Claudette Colbert, Constance Collier, Dwight Hauser (director), Eleanor Roosevelt, Elsie Janis, Ethel Barrymore, Fanny Brice, Gregory Peck, Harry Truman, Herbert Bayard Swope, Herbert Hoover, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Cornell, Lionel Barrymore, Louis B. Mayer, Lucille Watson, Lynn Fontanne, Ruth Gorman, Somerset Maugham (author), Spencer Tracy, Tallulah Bankhead, Walter Hampden. 29:28.
Woodbury Hollywood News, NBC 1947
Program hosted by Louela Parsons. It appears to be the show referred to in this article.
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: God and the Red Scooter, Family Theatre, Mutual Radio Network, February 16, 1949
Tracy introduces and closes the program.
Joppe the Juggler, Family TheatRE, Mutual Radio Network, December 20, 1950
Tracy introduces and closes the program and tells a short anecdote..
Father of the Bride, Theatre Guild on the Air, NBC, February 25, 1951, with Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor
(unavailable so far)
In addition to the programs listed above, Spencer Tracy appeared on a number of promotional programs associated with his films at MGM. Commonly called air trailers, these 10-15 minute programs were heard under the series names Hollywood on the Air and Leo on the Air. Air trailers exist for Whipsaw, Libeled Lady,San Francisco, They Gave Him A Gun, Captains Courageous, Boys Town, and Men of Boys Town.
Katharine Hepburn's Radio Appearances
Romeo and Juliet, January 7, 1934.Eight minute version of the balcony scene, for which Miss Hepburn was paid $5000. This listing is unconfirmed, and further details are unknown.
A Marriage Has Been Arranged, The Standard Brands Hour, NBC, June 1, 1933
(Unavailable so far)
A Farewell to Arms, Campbell Playhouse, CBS, December 30, 1938
One of the very first programs in this Orson Welles-produced series. It appears in none of the many collections of Campbell programs I've searched.
Miss American, Arch Obolers Plays, NBC, September 16, 1939
There is some connection between this production and Suffer Little Children, which is listed in one of the Hepburn bios. They are one in the same. Miss American relates to immigration of European refugee children to the United States in the earliest days of World War II, two years before the US entered the war.
The Philadelphia Story, New York Film Critics Award Program, NBC, January 5, 1941
A scene from the film
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: President Roosevelt's Diamond Jubilee. January 31, 1942
Pool feed to all networks, Mutual net, WOR, New York aircheck. Sponsored by: March Of Dimes fund appeal. A program of remotes from around the country. The program starts with birthday greetings in rhyme from Eddie Cantor. "Happy Birthday" is sung with each line of the song sung from a different city! Eddie Cantor (m. c.), Dinah Shore, Cookie Fairchild and His Orchestra, Walter Winchell, Kenny Baker, Danny Kaye, Sylvia Fine (piano), Katharine Hepburn, Maurice Evans, Bert Gordon (as "The Mad Russian"), Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (playing, "At The President's Birthday Ball"), Johnny Long and His Orchestra (from Washington, D. C.), Helen Young (vocal), Bob Houston (vocal), The Flatfoot Four (a barbershop quartet, from oklahoma City), Duke Ellington and His Orchestra (remote from Detroit), Hyman Tunensky and His Orchestra (? playing "You're A Grand Old Flag" from Dallas), Edward G. Robinson (from hollywood), Roy Rogers, Nelson Eddy, Tony Martin
The Philadelphia Story, Victory (formerly Lux Radio) Theater, CBS, July 20, 1942
The oddest thing about this is the bit at the end where the actors make little speeches about the war. During some portion of the war, the Lux show was actually sponsored by the US government and the program renamed Victory Theater. Hepburn makes a short speech about an atrocity in Czechoslovakia. It sounds stilted and she is much louder than the other actors.
Woman of the Year, Screen Guild Theater, CBS, April 19, 1943, with Spencer Tracy
(see Tracy entry)
NEW FIND: January 2006 Command Performance, Armed Forces Radio, July 31, 1943
The Philadelphia Story, Arthur Hopkins Presents, May 10, 1944
Canadian Victory Loan, May 3, 1944
Hepburn appears in support of a Canadian War Bond drive. In a segment not included in this recording, Hepburn speaks to the audience in french as part of a dramatic presentation.
Stage Door Canteen, CBS, June 9, 1944
(From a series of shows. I am unsure what Hepburn's role was)
Tribute to Ethel Barrymore, ABC, August 15, 1945
(see Tracy entry)
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: The Story Of The Big Mo. Mutual, October 30, 1945.
The program originates from the deck of the U. S. S. Missouri, in New York harbor. Katharine Hepburn, Stewart Murray (Captain, U. S. Navy), Raphael Hayes (writer), John Bosman (writer), Bob Novak (producer), Herbert Rice (director), Robert Stanley (music director), Bruce Anson (announcer), Fredric March, Ellen Drew
Little Women, Theatre Guild on the Air, ABC, December 23, 1945
Hepburn plays Jo and narrates the story, which is an interesting device. Actually, I think she is more effective as the narrator than when she's in character. She sounds older than she should, which of course she is by the time of the production.
The Philadelphia Story, Screen Guild Theater, CBS, March 17, 1947
The script for the program is here.
LISTING UPDATED 3/10/04: The Right To Live, United Jewish Appeal, NBC, May 18, 1947, with Dana Andrews
A young Jewish girl escapes from a Nazi ghetto to America, but feels guilty that she lived while so many others died. Samuel Goldwyn speaks on behalf of the U. J. A. Katharine Hepburn, Dana Andrews, Samuel Goldwyn, Elliott Lewis, Lurene Tuttle, Norma Jean Nilsson, Veola Vonn, Hanley Stafford, Frank Lovejoy, Dion Romandi (music conductor), Allan Sloane (writer), Himan Brown (director), Dwight Degnan (composer).
Undercurrent, Lux Radio Theatre, October 6, 1947, with Robert Taylor
The production isn't too bad, but the material lacks much impact without a visual dimension.
Little Women, Theatre Guild on the Air, ABC, December 21, 1947
(unavailable so far. It's possible this is a re-run of the 1945 program).
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: Two Lines. CBS, October 19, 1948
A moving, dramatic story about two friends who go their separate ways after college, but are united by a terrible disease. A well done program about cancer. The two lines are, "I had cancer, I was cured." A plea for support for the American Cancer Society is made by Katharine Hepburn after the drama. Katharine Hepburn, Irve Tunick (writer), Cathy Lewis, Earle Ross, Harry Lang, Hy Averback, Lud Gluskin (conductor), Larry Berns (director), Ken Christy, Dick Ryan, Sandra Gould, Joe Forte, Marlin Skiles (composer), Bob Stevenson (announcer)
The Game of Love and Death, Theatre Guild on the Air, ABC, January 2, 1949
(unavailable so far)
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: Stagestruck, CBS. April 18, 1954
"How The Stage Helped Make Hollywood History". Sustaining. Mike Wallace (host), Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Sylvia Sidney, Stanley Kramer, Frank Lovejoy, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Lilli Palmer, John Garfield, Greta Garbo, William Powell, Lana Turner, Lionel Barrymore, Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Lucille Ball, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Bert Lahr, Van Johnson, Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: Biography In Sound. NBC, March 20, 1955.(AFRTS rebroadcast. "Meet Ethel Barrymore".)
A sound portrait of the famous actress. The program was rebroadcast September 6, 1955. Vincent Sheehan (narrator), Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Alexander Woollcott, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore, Claudette Colbert, Arthur Hopkins, Dudley Digges, Helen Hayes, Lucille Watson, Billie Burke, Herbert Bayard Swope, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ethel Barrymore.
LISTING ADDED 3/19/04: The William Mallard Show. KPFK-FM, Los Angeles, June 1972.
Mr. Mallard plays a recording of Katharine Hepburn, recorded May 19, 1947. She speaks out against the House Unamerican Activites Committee and the "blacklist" (approximately twenty minutes). Another recording, called "You, On Trial" is played. It's about "The Hollywod Ten." William Mallard, Katharine Hepburn.