Basil Rathbone and radio

"Radio is unquestionably a superior medium to television because it makes us use our imaginations. . . . In the days of radio, The Theatre Guild of the Air . . . was ever striving for quality, intelligence, and good taste. I have played many times for them and every time I was invited it was a worthwhile experience."

Basil Rathbone

Before I tell you anything in this subject - listen to this. I have listened to it so many times that I know it in and out by now.
Broadcasted in 1939, Vivien Leigh and Basil Rathbone read love poems to each others, here.

Listened? Okay. If you can be interested in anything else after that, you may go ahead:

Basil Rathbone worked a lot with radio broadcasts during his career. In those days it was common to do radio adaptions of popular films (often with the same actors as in the film), and so did Rathbone. For example he, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland appeared in a radio play of Captain Blood (1935), broadcasted in February 22nd, 1937 (listen to it on YouTube here), and in May 1938 Rathbone narrated a radio adaption of The Adventures of Robin Hood, the same year the film was released.




During the same years the Sherlock Holmes films were made, 1939-1946, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce aired a lot of radio plays of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories about the famous detective (them being more true to the originals than the film adaption!).
I have included an example of a radio play below.

"I have been told by literally hundreds of people that when we were doing the Sherlock Holmes series they would turn out the lights or if they had a fire sit round it and let their imaginations go fancy free."

- Basil Rathbone

Radio broadcast from January 28th, 1946. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce play their usual roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in this radio play of "Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber". (Does someone get the hickups during the ending?)

Since Rathbone by the time of the Second World War was too old for combat (47 years old), he contributed by making radio broadcasts, encouraging the people in war and making political statements.

Wartime radio broadcast by NBC with British stars Greer Garson, Leslie Howard, Vivien Leigh, Brian Aherne, Ronald Colman and Basil Rathbone.

But the radio wasn't an entirely serious business. Basil Rathbone made comical guest appearances in, among others, The Bob Hope Show and The Jack Benny Show. I have a fine example of Basil Rathbone finding Jack Benny behind a bush in November, 1941, here. (The entire program is included below.)
In 1939 Rathbone was on the panel of an intellectual quiz program called "Information Please". Listen to him answering a series of Shakespeare questions correctly here. Quite amusing!

Here follows a Jack Benny Program from 1941 with Basil Rathbone as a guest star, very funny! (But quite silly, too!) Rathbone appears in part three, but I included the whole program (just because). Jack Benny harasses Rathbone at his house. But he conceals himself as Charles Boyer, so it's cool.