Break the Bank (1948) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Break the Bank is an American quiz show

Quiz Show

Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...

which aired variously on Mutual Radio

Mutual Broadcasting System

The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...

and ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

and NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

television from 1945 to 1957.

Radio

Sponsored by Vicks, the series began on radio October 20, 1945, heard Saturdays on Mutual until April 13, 1946. Initially, it featured different hosts each week, including John Reed King and Johnny Olson

Johnny Olson

John Leonard "Johnny" Olson was an American radio personality and television announcer. His work spanned 32 game shows produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman from the late 1950s through the mid 1980s...

. Bert Parks

Bert Parks

Bert Parks, born Bertram Jacobson , was an American actor, singer, and radio and television announcer, best known for hosting the annual Miss America telecast from 1955 to 1979....

became the full-time host in 1946. With Vitalis as the sponsor, the series returned Friday, July 5, 1946, on ABC for a run until September 23, 1949. Bud Collyer

Bud Collyer

Bud Collyer was an American radio actor/announcer who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars...

and Bob Shepherd were the announcers, and Peter Van Steeden provided the music.

The questions were written by Joseph Nathan Kane, the author of Famous First Facts, who hand-delivered the sealed envelopes to the radio studio. Jack Rubin directed for producers Walt Framer and Ed Wolfe. On October 5, 1949, the series moved to NBC, continuing until September 13, 1950. It was heard weekdays on NBC in 1950-51 and weekdays on ABC (1951-53). With Miles Laboratories as the sponsor, it moved back to weekdays on NBC (1953-55), overlapping with a weekdays series on Mutual (1954-55).

Television

In 1948, Radio Mirror
Macfadden Publications
Macfadden Communications Group is a publisher of business magazines. It has a historical link with a company started in 1898 by Bernarr Macfadden that was one of the largest magazine publishers of the twentieth century.-Macfadden Publications:...

called Break the Bank "the highest-paying quiz program in the world." That same year, the series moved to television with Bert Parks and Bud Collyer co-hosting.

Gameplay

Contestants were drawn from the studio audience and brought up on stage to play a quiz game. The contestant was asked a series of questions, each worth progressively more money. The goal was to provide eight correct answers before making two mistakes. The first right answer won the contestant $25, and the values increased to $50, $100, $200, $300, $400, $500, and finally the "break the bank" question worth all the money in the bank, which began at $1,000. Any contestant who missed two questions forfeited their winnings and they were added to the bank.

Break the $250,000 Bank

In this prime time revival the rules slightly changed. The contestant picked a category and was asked five questions on that category worth $100 a piece with one wrong answer ending the game. If they get all five right they could walk with $500 or risk it and answer on one question that would up the score to $5,000. The contestant would then return for the next several weeks to answer questions worth $10,000. Prize money increased as the player continued, up to $250,000. A wrong answer along the way simply ended the game.

Records

The record bank win was $8,870 until Break the $250,000 Bank was created in response to The $64,000 Question and other big-money shows. However, that version ran for only three months (October 9, 1956 to January 15, 1957), and no contestants won anymore than $60,000 (won by dentist Harry Duncan).

The most notable contestants during this period were actress Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...

, who won $10,000 she said would go toward back taxes, and two escapees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who competed in a special category – "Fight for Freedom".

Episode status

Some episodes survive, including three at the UCLA Film and Television Archive

UCLA Film and Television Archive

The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...