It's Time To Smile 1945 02 07 (179) Kidnapping

# The Eddie Cantor Show: "It's Time To Smile" — February 7, 1945

Picture yourself huddled around a wooden radio console on a winter evening in 1945, the amber dial glowing warmly in the darkness. Eddie Cantor's familiar voice crackles through the speaker with characteristic exuberance, but tonight there's something deliciously sinister brewing beneath the comedy. A kidnapping plot unfolds with all the melodramatic flair that made this show a Thursday night fixture in millions of American homes. The writing team has woven together laugh lines and genuine suspense—you'll hear Cantor's rapid-fire jokes and the orchestra's playful stings punctuating moments of genuine peril. His trademark delivery, that infectious energy that could make you laugh even during wartime rationing and blackout curtains, is the perfect antidote to the darker elements of the plot. The supporting cast delivers their lines with that golden-age precision, and you can practically see the sound effects team rattling sheets of tin and doors slamming in the NBC studio.

By 1945, The Eddie Cantor Show had already spent over a decade becoming America's favorite comedy hour. Cantor himself was a vaudeville legend and recording star whose transition to radio was seamless—his banjo eyes could twinkle just as effectively through a microphone as they could on a stage. This particular episode captures the show at its peak: the writers understood the magic formula of blending genuine comedy with serialized drama, offering listeners both escape and emotional investment. The wartime audience especially craved this balance—comedy to lift their spirits, drama to keep them engaged.

So settle in with a cup of coffee, dim the lights, and let Eddie Cantor and his talented ensemble transport you back to 1945. This is radio at its finest: where imagination fills in what no camera ever could, and a master entertainer reminds you exactly why it's time to smile.