Big Town is a popular long-running radio drama featuring a corruption-fighting newspaper editor initially played from 1937 to 1942 by Edward G. Robinson in his first radio role, with echoes of the conscience-stricken tabloid editor he had played in the film Five Star Final . Edward Pawley played the lead role longer, 1943–52, in plots that made the editor more of a hands-on crime-fighter. During the later Pawley years, Big Town was adapted to film and television series, and a comic book published by DC Comics .
21-503: The radio program aired from October 19, 1937, to June 25, 1952. It was produced by William N. Robson and Crane Wilbur, and written by Jerry McGill. Theme music was by Fran Frey. Edward G. Robinson had the lead role of Steve Wilson, crusading editor of the Illustrated Press , from 1937 to 1943. Claire Trevor was Wilson's reporter sidekick "Lorelei," with Ona Munson taking over that role in 1939. The female lead evolved from
42-595: A "We Are For [Progressive Party candidate Henry] Wallace" advertisement in the New York Times .(4) he was listed as an "associate" on the masthead of the Hollywood Quarterly, a scholarly journal of film, radio, and television published by the University of California Press. This guilt-by-association would affect Robson's career over the next decade. Robson was the producer of Sure as Fate ,
63-522: A challenging (if anonymous) host introducing a story of murder or perhaps classic horror. Robson favored adaptations of anything from Poe tales to a good yarn in the latest issue of Esquire magazine." Robson's roles in other radio programs included those shown in the table below. Robson left CBS in 1939 to become director of an advertising firm's radio department, and after the United States entered World War II he helped to prepare broadcasts for
84-596: A mystery series that debuted on CBS in the summer of 1950. The listing in Red Channels took its toll, however, resulting in his replacement as producer (although he was paid for the full length of his contract). During the hiatus, he used a pseudonym as a writer for the television version of Suspense (U.S. TV series) . Even that activity ceased, however, after "he was told that orders from CBS headquarters in New York had forbidden further assignments to him." During
105-521: A newspaper article as being "known from coast to coast." He was involved in entertainment as early as age 9, when a newspaper article about a 1916 amateur production in Pittsburgh reported, "Little Bill Robson has six parts in the show ... " Robson graduated from Allegheny High School and attended the University of Pittsburgh for two years in 1923, leaving the school to become a reporter for
126-707: The Pittsburgh Post . He attended Yale University , graduating in 1928. In the 1920s, Robson had his own musical group, Bill Robson and His Yale Music. In the summers of 1926, 1927, and 1928, the group toured Europe, performing in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin, among other cities. Robson was the screenwriter for the 1933 Paramount Pictures film Private Jones . He worked as an associate producer at Paramount for three years. Robson spent most of his career involved with radio. His radio debut came in 1936 as director of Big Town . He succeeded Irving Reis as head of
147-481: The Columbia Workshop . Perhaps the most notable of Robson's productions was Suspense , followed closely by the similarly formatted Escape . Suspense lasted more than two decades on the air with more than 900 episodes broadcast. Ronald L. Smith wrote about Suspense and Escape in his book, Horror Stars on Radio: The Broadcast Histories of 29 Chilling Hollywood Voices : "Both used the same format:
168-616: The Office of Emergency Management and the War Production Board . He returned to CBS in May 1942 to help the network prepare programs related to the war. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet called Red Channels appeared, focusing on the field of broadcasting. Robson was among 151 entertainment industry professionals (erroneously) named in the context of "Red Fascists and their sympathizers". Eric Barnouw's A History of Broadcasting in
189-771: The 1950s, he wrote television dramas. In 1961, he joined the Voice of America where he produced documentaries, among them New York, New York on which Garry Moore interviewed celebrities visiting the city, and 200 Years Ago Tonight , a series about the American Revolutionary War produced during the bicentennial year of 1976. His time at the VOA won him four additional Peabody Awards. Three of Robson's radio works received George Foster Peabody Awards : With regard to his radio career, Robson would enthusiastically reflect to Dick Bertell in 1976: "The great period of radio
210-750: The United States: Volume 2: The Golden Web: 1933 to 1953 summarized the accusations against Robson as follows: The Red Channels listing for Robson contained four items. It said that (1) in 1942, he had been sponsor of an Artists Front to Win the War organized at a meeting in Carnegie Hall (2) in December 1946, he had made a speech in Los Angeles, protesting encroachments on freedom of expression; (3) in 1948, he had signed with other artists
231-510: The initial script's description as "the society editor who writes under the name of 'Lorelei'" to star crime reporter "Lorelei Kilbourne," with no hint that her first name was a stylized byline. She provided the tabloid-minded Wilson with a conscience in the early episodes, not unlike the editor's secretary in Robinson's Oscar-nominated Five Star Final in 1931. Edward J. Pawley portrayed Steve Wilson from 1943 until 1952 when Walter Greaza
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#1732787757330252-523: The later scripts written by John Broome . William N. Robson William N. Robson (October 8, 1906 – April 10, 1995) was an American director and producer of radio programs. Robson was born William N. Robson II in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , the son of William N. Robson and Gertrude Brehm Robson. His father handled public relations for the Loyal Order of Moose and was described in
273-500: The program was telecast live , but in 1952 the production switched to film after the move from New York City to Hollywood . The television series ran on CBS from 1950 through 1954, continuing on NBC from 1955 through 1956. Repeat episodes aired on the DuMont Network beginning on February 6, 1953, under the title City Assignment , while Big Town was still showing first-run episodes on CBS. Reruns were also shown under
294-437: The radio series were made by Paramount Pictures' Pine-Thomas Productions studio: Big Town (1947), I Cover Big Town (1947), Big Town After Dark (1947), and Big Town Scandal (1948). All four films starred Phillip Reed as Wilson and Hillary Brooke as Lorelei, all were based on radio- and/or screenplays by Maxwell Shane, and all were produced and directed by William C. Thomas. When Big Town moved to television,
315-485: The series would adopt the documentary style made famous by Dragnet , right down to Stevens producing, writing, and directing most of the episodes. Jack Gross and Philip Krasne produced the program in 1952. DC's Big Town comic book ran 50 issues, from January 1951 to March–April 1958. The comic book was edited by Whitney Ellsworth , and the contributing artists included Dan Barry , Carmine Infantino , Gil Kane , John Lehti, Manny Stallman and Alex Toth , with most of
336-464: The titles Heart of the City , Headline , and Byline Steve Wilson . The stories revolved around The Illustrated Press , the city's largest newspaper, and the people who worked for it, most particularly managing editor Steve Wilson (played by Patrick McVey from 1950 to 1954 and by Mark Stevens from 1954 to 1956). Five actresses had the role of reporter Lorelei Kilbourne. In its sixth and final season,
357-640: Was added in 1904 and the original 1888 building was replaced by a new Art-Deco -style structure in 1936. The surviving 1904 and 1936 buildings, which were designed by Frederick J. Osterling and Marion M. Steen respectively, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The campus is no longer a high school but is still used by Pittsburgh Public Schools for elementary and middle grades (Allegheny PreK–5 and Allegheny 6–8). Notable Allegheny High graduates include William N. Robson , award-winning writer, director, and producer from
378-399: Was from 1937, '38 really, through the war. It was only 7 years—the golden age of radio. 'Suspense' and 'Escape'—those are the things one does later because one has all the skills at his fingertips. At this time we were trying to find out how to do it ... We were learning skills, we were sharpening and honing our abilities ... when Irving Reis did The Fall of the City in the spring of '37 [it
399-423: Was heard as Wilson in the final episodes. Fran Carlon played Lorelei to Pawley's Wilson from 1943 to 1952. During the period in which Pawley starred, Big Town was rated No. 1 among all of the reporter-type drama series on radio. It was also rated in the top 12 among all radio programs broadcast and had a listening audience rated between 10 and 20 million people. Ken Niles was the announcer. Four films based on
420-568: Was the time." Robson died at his home in Alexandria, Virginia , from complications of Alzheimer's disease . He was survived by his wife, Shirley; three sons; and one grandson. Allegheny High School Allegheny High School is a former high school in the Allegheny Center neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . It opened in 1888 as the sole high school serving what was then the independent city of Allegheny . An annex
441-556: Was written] by Archibald MacLeish—one of America's outstanding poets—a man who was so impressed by the medium of radio that he submitted to Irving Reis and the Columbia Workshop a first play for radio. And who directed that? Irving Reis with all of the director staff of CBS assisting him. Earle McGill, Brewster Morgan, myself, Bill Spier all assisting. Orson Welles as narrator, Burgess Meredith as chief orator. Names that we conjure with now that were just kids then, just kids. That
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