I'm very familiar with Otto Kruger (1885-1974) from his appearances in many movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
He had an urbane manner that I thought was best suited for him to play villains hiding under a veneer of respectability. We know he's evil, the hero knows he's evil, but nobody else believes it!
My favorite such role of his was in "Saboteur" (1942), my vote for most-underrated Alfred Hitchcock movie:
Another good role like that was in "Tarzan's Desert Mystery" (1943) - a good flick:
And "Murder, My Sweet" (1944):
Just a few from a fine resumé!
As for Robert Paige, I'm also familiar with his work, mainly from the time that he was under contract to Universal Pictures in the 1940s.
As a contract player player at Universal, he was bound to pop up in an Abbott & Costello movie and a horror movie.
He did appear with A & C in "Pardon My Sarong" (1942):
And with Lon Chaney, Jr. in "Son of Dracula" (1943):
These were among his many movies for Universal. I think he's very good although the roles don't usually give him much to work with, "Son of Dracula" being a notable exception.
He's very pleasant as a light leading man, but Hollywood was full of those guys in the 1940s.
It must have been interesting for him to meet up with that certain comedy team once again in "Abbott & Costello Go to Mars" (1953):
This movie (which is very underrated!) was maybe just a short time before the AFRTS show in question?
Bob Paige's role here as host for the US Navy program reminds me of Bill Lundigan on "Shower of Stars" in that you have someone whom the audience knows from having seen them in movies, even if they weren't big stars. Not the worst gig in the world!
I like both Otto Kruger and Robert Paige as performers and was glad to hear them pop up on this intriguing artifact from the AFRTS!
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