Show #21 - "The Lux Radio Theater"

This week on the Old Time Radio Express, I take a back seat to the old time radio (just as it should be, you say).  We present The Lux Radio Theater, and its presentation of "The Miracle of the Bells", a 1948 film broadcast on Lux later that same year (May 31, 1948).

"The Miracle of the Bells" stars Frank Sinatra, Fred MacMurray and Alida Valli (or simply Valli, as she was often referred to).  It's interesting to watch old movies and see a one-named actress without lasting impact pop up in the credits...most with one name seem to have cross-generational impact.  I'm thinking of Madonna, Cher, Lassie, Sabu.  To me, Valli shone her best in "The Third Man" (probably helped to have Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten surrounding her) and then was cast in nearly the same character in subsequent films, none of which was much good.  Granted, I have not seen her Italian filmography, so maybe she was fantastic in her native tongue. 

Radio is even harder for Valli, as she loses her looks and has to rely on a language which was not her first.  (The reference site radiogoldindex.com shows her performing in only 4 radio programs in her entire career.  Compare a Fred MacMurray - who was no radio man himself - at 96).  Regardless, "The Miracle of the Bells" is a nice Easter treat.  Enjoy.