The Free Company                            

Last Edited: 14-Jul-2017
A Global British Comedy Collaborative document. Edited by John Lucas
Broadcast source is BBC Radio Four unless otherwise indicated. Recording quality is considered good unless otherwise indicated.

10 short radio plays about American life and values by a consortium of famous American playwrights.

Date Title Cast Parameters
23-Feb-1941
The People With Light Coming Out Of Them
written by William Saroyan
Burgess Meredith, Henry Fonda, John Garfield, Edmund
Gwenn, Nancy Kelly and Tim Holt

02-Mar-1941
The Mole on Lincoln's Cheek
written by Marc Connely
Burgess Meredith, Robert Young, and Charles Bickford

09-Mar-1941
An American Crusader
written by Robert Sherwood
Franchot Tone, Gail Patrick and Burgess Meredith

16-Mar-1941
One More Free Man
written by James Boyd
Betty Field, Dorothy McGuire, Elia Kazan
Directed by Norman Corwin

23-Mar-1941
Freedom's A Hard Bought Thing
written by Stephen Vincent Benet
Eric Burroughs, James Boyd, Harrington Lewis,
Georgette Harve and the Juanita Hall Singers

06-Apr-1941
His Honor, The Mayor
written by Orson Welles
Orson Welles, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead,
Evertt Sloane, Paul Stewart, and Erskine Sanford
28:43, 23569, S
13-Apr-1941
A Start In Life
written by Paul Green
Canada Lee and Luis Van Rooten

20-Apr-1941
The States Talking
A blank verse drama
written by Archibald MacLeish
Burgess Meredith is the host
directed by Irving Ries
Leif Stevens conducted his own score based on
American folk song manuscripts in the Library of Congress

27-Apr-1941
The Miracle on the Danube
written by Maxwell Anderson
Burgess Meredith and Paul Muni

04-May-1941
Above Suspicion
written by Sherwood Anderson,
finished by the group
George M. Cohan, Paul Henreid, Eddie Ryan Jr., Lily
Valenti, Betty Jane Tyler, and Earle Chaney


Documentaries and Collateral Material
Date Title Cast Parameters