The Theatre Guild on the Air: The Guardsman

N.p. The Theatre Guild, 1945. Small archive of material relating to the 1945 radio play, including the original play script, a Theatre Guild contract signed by Arthur Miller, and an original program for the live performance.

"The Guardsman" was adapted by Arthur Miller from Ferenc Molnár's 1912 play "A Testõr." The play aired on the radio on September 30, 1945, and was one of Miller's earliest efforts, produced four years before the debut of Miller's classic "Death of a Salesman."

Included with the script are two contracts: one between the Guild and Miller, signed by Miller and dated September 5, 1945, and one between the Guild and royalty holder Hans Bartsch, signed by Bartsch and dated August 30, 1945. Additionally included with the script is an original program given to the studio audience for the radio performance, dated September 30, 1945.

The 1924 Theatre Guild stage production of "The Guardsman" marked the first time legendary duo Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne would appear onstage together for the Guild. The Guild billed this radio performance, nearly two decades later, as something of an encore by the acting team.

The Theatre Guild first experimented with radio theatre in "Theatre Guild Dramas," a short-lived CBS Radio series that ran from 1943 to 1944. In 1945 the department created "Theatre Guild on the Air," an anthology series that quickly rose in popularity, soon gaining sponsorship by the US Steel Corporation. The series was broadcast until June of 1953, when it was moved to television.

Script:

Title page present, dated September 30, 1945, with credits for Miller, Molnar, Lunt, and Fontanne. 73 leaves, with last page of text numbered 71. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only. Pages Very Good plus, with title page detached from the binding, and a short closed tear on the bottom edge, partially bound with a single staple on the top left corner.

Program:

6.75 x 9 inches. Four pages, folded twice. Near Fine.

Contracts:

8.5 x 11 inches. Near Fine.

Housed in a black three-ring binder.

[Book #157264]