Hallmark Playhouse

Elmer, the Great

English · Dramatic Readings, Anthologies, Sports Fiction

Hallmark Playhouse is a dramatic anthology series that brings literary works and stories to radio. Each broadcast presents a self-contained adaptation, with actors using dialogue, narration, music, and sound effects to turn the source material into an intimate audio performance.

The program draws on a range of fiction, offering listeners changing settings, characters, and dramatic situations from one installment to the next. This recording is identified as an adaptation of Elmer, the Great, a story by Ring Lardner about a small-town baseball player whose ambitions take him into the world of professional sport.

The series’ polished, story-centered approach makes it well suited to focused listening: performances and radio sound create the atmosphere, while the anthology format lets each story stand on its own. The result is a classic radio drama shaped around literary storytelling rather than a continuing cast or plot.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.