Tallulah & Olivia de Havilland

Tallulah Bankhead & Olivia de Havilland chat & joke after Olivia's live radio performance of 'Juliet', from the William Shakespeare play "Romeo & Juliet".
NBC's The Big Show, April 15th 1951.

[@DiabolicalAngel]

Olivia is funny when she says, "I'm trying to imagine you climbing over the wall and looking up at Juliet! " Damn poor Tallu lol

[@richardbruce6613]

I love them both and this shows the comedy they could both pull instead of always doing drama!

[@DiabolicalAngel]

Damn Olivia lays the blows on Tallu! But Tallu throws it right back- shes a real sport. Tallulah forever! Isn't she sweet? lol

[@gregdafaggot]

love Ms Bankhead ! Ms DeHavilland cool sparring pardner here too!

[@richardmcleod5967]

Everybody who was anybody was a guest on Tallulah Bankhead's "The Big Show" on radio from 1950 until 1952 with a total of 57 ninety minute shows. The most expensive and the longest (time-wise) show during the Golden Age of Radio.

[@richardmcleod5967]

@@pretzeltime3900 Radio Archives out of Spokane, Washington has many of her shows from "The Big Show" available in a 5 Volume set, beautifully restored back to a sound quality that may even be better than when the Show was initially broadcast. You can purchase them in either CD's and/or computer download. They have probably 28 or so of her shows available from the very first show through about the 28th show. They also have a few later shows in their Archives Treasures series which is also available for purchase.
"The Big Show" ran for a total of 57 episodes that were 90 minutes long each from 1950 until 1952. "The Big Show" may have been the longest running (time-wise) show ever on radio as most radio shows were 15 to 30 minutes in length. A few were 1 hour long, but they are rare. A full 90 minute radio show is a true rarity! Tallulah Bankhead was Awarded the Lady of the Year for Radio Host's from the Radio Association of America around 1951 or 1952 because the critics loved "The Big Show" and it was very popular with the public. Tallulah Bankhead probably had just about every major entertainer on her show during that time period on "The Big Show" at some point during the time it was on the air. It has held up quite well over the years and is still quite popular with radio enthusiasts.
Had television not come along "The Big Show" would have had a longer run, but by about 1960 television shows had for the most part successfully taken over the radio medium and most of the shows from the Golden Age of Radio were canceled. Nothing could have stopped that even though NBC tried very hard with "The Big Show", but even with all the talent in that 90 minute radio show, no radio show could successfully compete with television.

[@richardmcleod5967]

@@pretzeltime3900 There aren't many businesses out there selling old radio shows any longer, but the Radio Archives out of Spokane, WA has a good listing of the older shows and have restored them back to a quality that would rival the day a particular show was aired on the radio. They sell their shows on both CD's and also computer download.

[@richardmcleod5967]

Tallulah Bankhead won an Award from the Radio Association of American in about 1951 as the First Lady of Radio primarily for her work as Hostess on "The Big Show".
Agnes Moorehead was known as the First Lady of Suspense which she rightly deserves for all the work she had done on SUSPENSE and other vintage radio shows of the time period.
The Golden Age of Radio was a time period that produced many excellent programs prior to the advent of television.

[@richardmcleod5967]

@@pretzeltime3900 Many of the older radio shows are taken from the works of some of the greatest writer's the World has ever known. ESCAPE has many of the works from Rudyard Kipling, who was the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. There are many other great writer's and radio actor's. Cary Grant once said he so enjoyed radio work because it gave him a chance to be the Actor he always wanted to be.
Les Crutchfield (and many other writer's such as John Mestin) does many of the radio adaptations and the various works and are excellent to put a great novel or short story into a 30 minute times slot.
A shame that television has so overwhelmed the great vintage shows from the Golden Age of Radio, and sadly to the point that many if not most have been forgotten.

[@richardmcleod5967]

I was sorry that Tallulah Bankhead never (to my knowledge) had Miriam Hopkins on "The Big Show" as a guest. Oh well, she had so many major stars on "The Big Show" you can't have them all even though the show did have a total of 57 episodes and lasted almost 3 years with most of the shows broadcast from New York, one from Paris, one from London and one from Hollywood.
NBC put more money into the production costs of "The Big Show", as it was probably the most expensive radio show and the longest (time wise at 90 minutes each Sunday evening) of any program ever on radio during the Golden Age.

[@DiabolicalAngel]

Tallulah is crazy amazing. :D

[@loveoldmovies2249]

love it... thanks so much for sharing this

[@thomasburr8518]

Just a minute snake pit.

[@richardmcleod5967]

"Isn't she sweet."

[@leaho3789]

I’m crying 😭

[@DiabolicalAngel]

YAY! :D

[@albertmorris6162]

Hitch only used the best: Tallulah, not Bette; Joan Fontaine, not Olivia.

[@faithmitchell8310]

you just offended me so much

[@formwiz7096]

Hitch couldn't get Bette and Olivia.

[@Jasper7182009]

Just a minute, snake pit!!

[@noel888]

That is not Olivia' de Havilands voice.

[@randysills4418]

Yes, it was Olivia's voice!

[@scotnick59]

@@randysills4418 Of course it is!

[@bigred8432]

It is

[@stardusth2o]

It sure is.