Thirteen By Corwin is a selection of some of Corwin's own favorite programs.
First broadcast on June 8, 1941, and repeated by popular demand in 1944. Here is the fascinating and wonderful story of a young boy's search for his dog, Pootzy. He encounters all the bureaucrats of the Cosmos, starting in the Department of Lost Dogs and the Department of Deceased Dogs, meeting Father Time and Mother Nature, searching for "Dog Heaven" and finally meeting the Directors of "Curgatory"... This is the original broadcast of a splendid story for all ages, starring Hester Sondergaard, Roy Fant and Larry Robinson as Runyon.
Stars Groucho Marx, Robert Benchley, Vincent Price, Sylvia Sidney, Norman Lloyd, and Keenan Wynn in one of Norman Corwin's most popular radio plays. The entire play is written in brilliantly inventive rhyme! The mood is delightful, but the underlying subject deep indeed: The rights of the individual versus the needs of society at large. This fantasy, first broadcast on July 17, 1945, tells the story of a molecule, a single molecule, which refuses to obey the Laws of Chemistry and Physics. What to do, what to do... the authoritarian answer: Arrest the molecule and put him on trial!
First broadcast on July 25, 1944, tells the story of a romance between a young army corporal and a woman he meets on a cross-country train trip. Joseph Julian and Katherine Locke star in a beautifully-told tale of people, their hearts, and their places in the scheme of things.
A radio time-travelogue, which weaves a lyrical essay celebrating the many facets of life in the Big Apple. Pictures broad and narrow, softly or sharply focussed, are created by Corwin with voices and sounds and music that bring New York City to vibrant life. An entrancing use of the radio medium, narrated by Martin Gabel, it was first broadcast on May 16, 1944.
Features Frank Lovejoy, Hester Sondergaard, and Everett Sloane in a playful, frankly satirical introduction to network radio broadcasting. Done in the traditional alphabetical form ("A is for Announcers..."), this show takes some hilarious pokes at radio institutions and practices during the Golden Age; it's amazing how many modern targets get skewered as well! It was first aired on May 4, 1941.
First aired on August 3, 1941, tells the humorous story of a visit by several of the ancient Greek gods to 20th Century America. Lots of fun, mixed with some history and some divinely sharp observations about today! Wry, hardhitting radio comedian Henry Morgan, just then beginning to make a great name for himself, stars as Nick, the God of Trivia.
Adapted from a story by Lucille Fletcher ("Sorry, Wrong Number" and many others). Full of laughs and sharp digs at show business, the story follows the showbiz career of Curley -- a dancing caterpillar. This light-hearted comedy was first broadcast on March 7, 1940 and stars Everett Sloane and Kingsley Colton.
Stars Elsa Lanchester in a lovely performance as a young woman who wins five wishes in the Crinkly-Crunkly Bread Contest. Ruth Gordon stars as the fairy who arrives to grant them! What would YOU do with five wishes? A lighthearted Corwin comedy, first broadcast on August 31, 1941, likely to make you think while you're laughing and laugh while you're thinking!
First broadcast on February 19, 1939. Narrated by House Jameson, it is a powerful and poetic drama, Corwin's response to an incident in the Spanish Civil War. The son of Italian dictator Mussolini, after having served with the air force helping the Spanish republicans, was interviewed and widely quoted, waxing lyrical about the "beauty" he found in war while dropping bombs. This is a passionate personal answer to such attitudes, the value of which has already far outweighed and far outlasted the achievements of young Mussolini and his cohorts.
A widely-acclaimed part of a remarkable war-time series of programs created by Corwin, who travelled to wartime England to see, and hear, for himself. Here he documents life in a typical English village, going forward under constant threat of enemy invasion during World War II. With Corwin travelled a brilliant radio actor named Joseph Julian, who stars in this show, first broadcast on December 1, 1942.
A magnificent tribute to the courage and fortitude of the Czechoslovakian people in the face of the horrors of Nazi domination. Famed CBS radio war-correspondent William L. Shirer (later the author of "The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich") is featured, and the program is narrated by Martin Gabel (principal voice in the classic On A Note Of Triumph). This work was commissioned in 1943 by reknowned director Joseph Losey for a Carnegie Hall event, and was first broadcast on March 14, 1944.
An unforgettably poignant portrait of a young man, an American GI, who has been killed in combat in WWII. We look at his life as seen through the eyes of those who knew him best. We look at his death through the eyes of those who killed him, and those who buried him. The waste, the cost, the reasons for and the consequences of war have never been focussed so sharply. Frederic March stars as Hank Peters in this drama first broadcast on April 18, 1944.
Suppose... just suppose... the nations of the world tackled the problems of peaceful coexistence with the same zeal with which they wage war against each other. A national committment! Massive effort! Total involvement! Top Priority! Could it work? Could it? This inspiring, thought provoking, fascinating program was produced by Corwin for the United Nations radio division, and first aired on September 11, 1949. Martin Gabel, Ben Grauer and CBS correspondent Robert Trout star.
The Credits:
13 BY CORWIN was written, directed and produced by Norman Corwin.
Digital remastering was done at the studios of National Public Radio by project engineer Suraya Mohamed under the technical direction of Marty Halperin.
The project supervisors were Mary Beth Kirchner and Dan Gediman.
13 BY CORWIN was made possible by grants from the Ahmanson Foundation and the North Star Fund.
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