About the show:
Now Hear This was one of the better produced, written and performed docudrama productions of the post-War era. Co-produced by Navy Recruiting and NBC, the east-coast productions featured some of the era's finest east-coast talent. Well-written, directed and paced, the series provided as many as twenty-one highly compelling vignettes of naval exploits, punctuated by one or two Navy recruiting messages. As indicated in the Billboard review below, the reviewer found the premiere episode, Fire At Sea, equally well-dramatized, performed and written.
***
There's no question that Now Hear This was an effective recruiting message during the Korean War era--and beyond. The series portrayed Navy personnel with both a very human and very inspirational touch, and in a perfect balance of each. Promoted as actual stories based on the personal experiences of the Navy personnel that embodied the great traditions of The Navy, the series more than met its portfolio. These were dramatized, first-person accounts of naval experiences. As such they presented a far more visceral and personal impression of each naval fighting man's fears, self-reflection and motivations. It was an inspired touch.
With the majority of the dialogue so personalized and intimate, the scripts came alive to equal the most compelling Radio drama of the era. This was a tribute to both the production staff and the performers enacting the scripts. This brief series, often overlooked in the vintage Radio community stands as the equal of the Peabody Award winning The Man Behind the Gun. Now Hear This is one of vintage Radio's overlooked and underappreciated gems.
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