Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Screen Directors' Playhouse, 30/Jan/1949)
First broadcast on Sunday 30th January 1949, as part of the Screen Directors' Playhouse series, this radio adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) starred Robert Montgomery and Mary Jane Croft.
Director Alfred Hitchcock provided an introductory narration as well as closing remarks.
Audio
Listen to the broadcast...
Broadcast Details
- broadcast as part of Screen Directors' Playhouse
- date: 30/Jan/1949
- length: approx 30 minutes
Credits
- Milton Geiger - adaptation
- Henry Russell - original music
- Howard Wiley - producer
- Bill Cairn - director
Cast
- Frank Barton - announcer
- Alfred Hitchcock - introduction
- Robert Montgomery - David Smith
- Mary Jane Croft - Ann Smith
- Carleton Young
- Verna Felton
- Pat McGeehan
- Dink Trout
Hitchcock's Narration
Introduction
Thank you very much!
It would seem, after a decade of directing motion pictures in the country, I have become associated with that emotional skyrocket — suspense. So, perhaps I should warn you that tonight's suspense has been suspended.
I must confess to several attempts to scare the daylight out of an audience, or at least to tie their nerves into pretty little knots but, in Mr and Mrs Smith, we reversed ourselves and turned to comedy. So, don't bother sitting on the edge of your chair — it might strain your diaphragm in you feel a giggle coming on.
Now, we give you Mr and Mrs David Smith — a family with a formula, a couple with a constitution, a set of rules for a successful marriage.
There has just been a domestic battle between the Smiths. Right now, handsome David Smith is reclining on the bathroom floor, his head pillowed on the bathroom scales. Ann Smith is brandishing a razor at her husband's throat... Mrs Smith is shaving Mr Smith.
That's right, Mrs Smith is shaving Mr Smith, and they are both feeling very smug about the latest success of domestic diplomacy.
"The Clash of Great Minds"
Mary Jane Croft: Ladies and gentlemen, as well as being a fine actor, Mr Montgomery is also a screen director. You are about to hear the clash of great minds as two directors face each other across a microphone.
Alfred Hitchcock: Hello Bob.
Robert Montgomery: Hello Hitch.
[laughter]
MJC: Well?
AH: Well, what?
MJC: Well, aren't you gonna to talk shop?
RM: Shop? Whatever are you talking about, Mary Jane?
MJC: Well, you're both directors, aren't you?
RM: Mary Jane, Alfred Hitchcock is more than a director, he's a... he's a force, a state of mind...
AH: A state of mind?! Have you ever seen a "state of mind" with a 92 and 3/4 inch waist measurement?!
[laughter]
MJC: Well, you know, there's one thing bothering me about our radio version of "Mr and Mrs Smith". It didn't have the Hitchcock trademark, did it Mr Montgomery?
RM: You know, that's right. Hitch, you can't place yourself in a radio scene the way you do in a picture just to identify the Hitchcock product.
AH: Ah, that's where you're wrong! You remember the sound of shaving in the first scene?
RM: ...yeah?
MJC: ...when I was supposed to be shaving Mr Montgomery?
AH: Yes. Well, when the sound man made that noise, those were my whiskers being scrapped.
[laughter]
RM: Ahhhh! The "Hitchcock Touch"!
