Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #435
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 11/11/2002 3:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

    ------------------------------

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 435
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Cowboy Kid on TV                      [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      Bill Conrad not credited on Whispere  [ "Matthew Bullis" <MatthewBullis@run ]
      Paid Admission                        [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
      Audio clips from old newscasts        [ Jeff Miller <JeffM@[removed]; ]
      Owl Creek Bridge trivia               [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Bierce on radio                       [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      Owlcreek Bridge and Bookshare         [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
      Good Old Days Of Radio                [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
      Mutual Station in Los Angeles         [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
      Frank Buck/Ivory Soap premiums        [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Frank Buck ring                       [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      JIM COX's New Book                    [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      Rathbone and Sinbad                   [ "Vince Long" <vlongbsh@[removed]; ]
      KFRC and MBS                          [ "Paul M. Thompson" <beachcomber@com ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Nightfall                             [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      NEED INFO ON TWO RADIO SINGERS        [ Larry Jordan <midtod@[removed]; ]
      The Things They Carried               [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 17:08:13 -0500
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Cowboy Kid on TV

    Ed Ellers asks, regarding Bobby Benson on television :

>     Could that have inspired the title of "T-Bar-V Ranch Time" at WHAS-TV
>     in spring 1950?

    Probably not, both Bobby Benson shows were on WOR-TV.  No copies,
    either  script or video,  exist now, so we have to rely upon memories of
    the two leads, Ivan Cury and Clive Rice.

    Ivan Cury was in the first version which lasted several months in late
    1949, early 1950.  It was done as a two-camera, live adventure show,
    shot on stage of local theater. There was little rehearsal time and
    accidents abounded. They used all the radio cast in the TV show, except
    Al Hodge had to substitute for Charles Irving as "Tex Mason", as Irving
    was then of grandfather age. During one show, Hodge forgot his pistol on
    the backstage prop table, minutes before he had to draw on two outlaws.
    Hodge quickly put his back to the camera, pointed his finger at the two,
    and they obligingly raised their hands.

    This TV show was sponsored by Foxe's "U-Bet" chocolate drink, who gave
    away a free pony to a kiddie viewer each week. During one episode, the
    B-Bar-B Riders escaped from a trap in their bunkhouse by making smoke.
    However the crew had set up too many smoke-pots and the clouds filled
    the entire stage. In the midst of the smoke, Ivan, as "Bobby Benson",
    had to do the Foxe's commercial, live of course, which consisted of
    throwing his arm around a pony brought on stage, "And you can win this
    real horse, just like the one Foxe's will give away each week." However,
    the smoke distressed the pony so much, he began relieving himself during
    the commercial. Because of the smoke, the  camera did not pick up this
    unpleasant sight, although the plop-plop could be heard loudly. Don
    Knotts and the crew laughed loudly at Ivan's predicament; in fact, the
    camera man on the overhead boom, laughed so hard he fell off and broke
    his leg. Catastrophes such as this led to the cancellation of the
    series, and when it was resumed a few years later, with Clive Rice as
    "Bobby", it was on a tiny, closed set with no live animals.

    The Rice version was aired once a week from WOR-TV, on a small bunkhouse
    set, and had only three actors. Rice, as "Bobby" sang a song or two,
    talked about the Old West, and read letters from viewers. Tex Fletcher,
    a cowboy singer, who had been previously used in public appearances as
    radio's Tex Mason, also portrayed him on this TV show.  The third actor,
    who not in the radio version, was Paul Brown, the comedy relief, playing
    "Mr. Nobody." The show was sponsored by Wildrick's Grape Juice for most
    of the two years it was on the air. This bunkhouse set was adjacent to
    the one of "The Merry Mailman", played by Ray Heatherton, who became
    famous as the father of Joey Heatherton.

    Jack French
    Editor:  RADIO RECALL
    [removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 18:51:34 -0500
    From: "Matthew Bullis" <MatthewBullis@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bill Conrad not credited on Whisperer

    Hello, does anyone know why William Conrad was not credited on the Whisperer
    when he appeared in an episode?
    Thanks a lot.
    Matthew

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 18:52:11 -0500
    From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Paid Admission

    On July 14th this year, Joe Mackey's "Those Were The Days" in OTV history
    (V02-#95)  posted the 1939 event of the first televison theatre that opened
    in Boston.  200 spectators paid 25 cents to watch a 45 minute variety show
    performed on a floor above the theatre and transmitted downstairs by TV.

    Re-reading Tom Lewis' "Empire Of The Air" book, a similar, radio event took
    place on November 20, 1940 to demonstrate FM radio in Schenectady, NY (page
    274) when 2,000 people went to Proctor's Theatre to hear what General
    Electric advertised as it's "Hour Of Charm."  For 44 cents (or 75 cents for
    loge and box seats) the audience heard the first live, FM music broadcast,
    Phil Spitalny's All Girl Orchestra, featuring Evelyn Kay and her violin at
    8:30 [removed]

    The experimental FM radio relay of January 5, 1940 by Edwin Armstrong, The
    Yankee Network, et al,  was even more significant sending a program for the
    first time from Yonkers, NY to Alpine, NJ  to Worcester, MA  to Mt.
    Washington, NH to Boston and back to Yonkers, a 825 mile relay in a fraction
    of a second. No paid audience witnessed this, however, it just produced
    superior results changing transmissions from FM to AM that staggered the
    communications industry.

    Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 18:52:24 -0500
    From: Jeff Miller <JeffM@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Audio clips from old newscasts
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I have set up a page of mostly MP3 files from older radio network newscasts at

    [removed]

    Actually, it's a resurrection of an old site that I had taken down a couple
    of years ago.  Please check it out!

    Jeff Miller

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 18:54:51 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Owl Creek Bridge trivia

    AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE was a French film, but it didn't run 20
    minutes.  The full length of this short was 29 minutes exactly.  I know
    cause I used to have the full-length print.  It has since entered the public
    domain (copyright was never renewed), and the French film (not the TZ
    version) has been released commercially twice.  Once by Goodtimes Home Video
    (they placed the two letters GT on the bottom of the screen like a station
    ID) and the second time was through Video Yesteryear (no longer in
    business).

    Lee was correct, the producers of Twilight Zone (note: it was called
    Twilight Zone during the fourth and fifth season, only seasons 1 - 3 had
    "The" before the title) were having budget problems and paid the producer of
    that short, having noticed it at the Cannes Film Festival, to have it aired
    over Twilight Zone.  The result was magnificent, though some scenes were
    deleted so the Twilight Zone print runs only a mere 22 minutes (leaving 3
    minutes for Serling's intro and the opening and closing theme/credits).

    At present, the Twilight Zone verison of AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE
    has been released commercially twice.  Columbia House offers on 41 videos,
    all 156 episodes, uncut.  I know CBS/Fox Home Video released on 43 DVDs, the
    complete series of the original Twilight Zone - though I have not yet
    comfirmed whether this set includes all 156, I suspect they have.

    There was a two-VHS set entitled TREASURES OF THE TWILIGHT ZONE released in
    1991, offering some rare short features like Serling on Mike Wallace's TV
    talk show and Serling's ten-minute pitch toward the sponsors hoping they'd
    pick the show for CBS.  Among this two-VHS set was six episodes, the
    premiere, three classic episodes, and two specials entitled, AN OCCURENCE AT
    OWL CREEK BRIDGE and THE ENCOUNTER.

    For the record, THE ENCOUNTER and AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE have
    never been aired over network TV since their initial airings, not even PBS,
    and are the only two episodes never to have been shown in reruns over the
    past decades.  The reason is obvious.  THE ENCOUNTER has some pretty strong
    racial material (an actor calls the Samarai he took from a Japanese soldier
    during WWII a "pig sticker" and that wasn't even the bad slangs used - it is
    a great episode - no, superb episode - but it's racist material pushes the
    borders and after many letters of protests from viewers, CBS (Viacom, their
    distributor) has withheld the episode from being aired on reruns all these
    years.  OWL CREEK BRIDGE has never been reaired because, as Viacom puts it,
    they won't allow anything to be aired over network TV without someone
    signing a disclosure form stating they own the rights and are giving CBS
    permission to air the film - which is difficult to do when the film has
    since going into the public domain.

    The Sci-Fi Channel, when they initially picked up The Twilight Zone for
    syndication in 1995, also made an attempt to buy permission to air those two
    episodes, but were not successful.

    I have the entire series in superb quality and I will state that although
    the Twilight Zone version of OWL CREEK BRIDGE is slightly shorter in length
    than the full-length French film, it is SUPERB and highly recommended - well
    worth finding the TREASURES VHS at your local video store.

    As for all the versions of OWL CREEK BRIDGE I have heard on radio programs,
    the 1956 version on SUSPENSE is still the best, right down to the drums
    beating in the background soundtrack.  One of William N. Robson's best.

    As for Ambrose Bierce, to the best of my knowledge, he mysteriously vanished
    off the face of the earth, his remains never found, went off to the
    mountains and never came back.  He wrote many witty and chilling stories,
    some of Civil War background (he was a Civil War veteran) - but the mystery
    of what ever happened to him still remains unknown.

    The version done on the Alfred Hitchcock TV series was not as impressive
    (TZ's airing kicked butt) and is not worth going to the trouble of finding a
    copy to watch on VHS.

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 21:15:16 -0500
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "OTR message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bierce on radio

    LeavesAnyone have Bierce"s "Oil of Dog" on Dreadful John at Midnight? I do
    but know nothing of the series. CBC? Maybe part of Black Mass?

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 21:15:40 -0500
    From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
    To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Owlcreek Bridge and Bookshare

    Hi all:
    There is a version of "An Occurrence at Owlcreek Bridge," done on the CBS
    Radio Mystery Theater.  I don't recommend it.  As usual, Hyman Brown
    distorted a perfectly good piece of literature in an attempt to turn it into
    compelling radio drama.  Still, if enthusiasts want to give it a listen for
    comparison, be my guest.
    Also, hat's off to the gentleman who posted about [removed]  I am a
    blind person and I have read the Dunning book on cassette.  It is very
    frustrating when used as a reference guide.  Here's hoping that it will soon
    be posted on [removed]
    RyanO

    "Walking Alone and Marching Together."

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 21:15:55 -0500
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Good Old Days Of Radio

    Thank you for your feed-back on Good Old Days Of Radio, and I heard from
    many -- this is a marvelous [removed]
                                    Sandy

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 21:47:00 -0500
    From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mutual Station in Los Angeles

    George Aust is correct - the Mutual Station in Los Angeles was KHJ.  KFRC
    (as shown on the disks given to SPERDVAC by Howard Culver) was the Mutual
    Station in San Francisco, where these newscasts originated .  The show would
    have been done in San Francisco and aired on KHJ in Los Angeles.

    Lois Culver
    KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
    KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
    Widow of Howard Culver, actor

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 23:03:24 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Frank Buck/Ivory Soap premiums

    Richard Fisher asked:

>     Tom Tumbusch's "Illustrated Radio Premium Catalog & Pricing Guide" makes the
>     cryptic comment "There were also two Ivory Soap premiums from a special
>     1939 promotion".
>     Can anyone add any further light to this statement.

    Those premiums were part of the 1939 World's Fair in which Frank Buck and
    his jungle animals appeared.
    Not sure of Ivory's tie in unless it was the Ivory/Jungle connection, but
    both the ring and the knife were
    premiums that were part of the Fair.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 23:04:12 -0500
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Frank Buck ring

    Richard Fisher asks:

>     Back in 1939 I ordered and received from somewhere a "Frank Buck Genuine
>     Ivory Initial Ring. No one seems to list that program being on the air
>     except in 1932. Tom
>     Tumbusch's "Illustrated Radio Premium Catalog & Pricing Guide" makes the
>     cryptic comment "There were also two Ivory Soap premiums from a special
>     1939 promotion". Can anyone add any further light to this statement?

    Your 1939 Frank Buck ring has nothing to do with either of his two,
    brief, radio shows.

    Frank Buck (1884-1950) ,as an exotic hunter and trapper, managed to stay
    in the spotlight for many years. Under his motto, "Bring 'Em Back
    Alive", he was a popular figure in the newsreels, world's fairs,
    magazines, and even played himself in a Columbia serial. His five books,
    "Bring 'Em Back Alive", "Fang and Claw", "Wild Cargo" and "On Jungle
    Trails" all sold very well. Various toys, knives, rings, buttons, maps,
    and games were sold in his name in stores or offered as premiums by
    different companies from the 30s to the 40s.  The best line-up of these
    items in not in the Tumbusch book, but its rival, "Hake's Price Guide to
    Character Toy Premiums."

    His two short radio series were both  flops. "Bring 'Em Back Alive" on
    NBC, sponsored by A. C. Gilbert Toys, lasted only two months, 10-18-32
    to 12-18-32, but four episodes of that series have survived. NBC Blue
    tried the show again, under title "Jungle Adventures", in 1934,
    sponsored by Pepsodent, and it ran from Jul 34 to Nov 34.  No audio
    copies exist from that version, but three kinds of premiums  do.   There
    is also an audition show of "Frank Buck's Jungle Quiz" from 1941 which
    is in circulation.

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    [removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 00:55:05 -0500
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  JIM COX's New Book

    May I recommend Jim Cox's new book: RADIO CRIME FIGHTERS (pub. by McFarland)
    to you.  We will do a review of it on next week's Heriateg Radio Theatre,
    but meanwhile, be assured this is a great addition to the library of OTR.
    Another "gap" filled by Jim.
    <<Tom Heathwood>>   11/10/02

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 07:19:48 -0500
    From: "Vince Long" <vlongbsh@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Rathbone and Sinbad

    Regarding the Rathbone recording, I have the 78s and encoded them as MP3s a
    few years ago.  I post the MP3 on my web site, so it must be in circulation
    in that format.  If you want any info from the 78 jacket, just write me off
    list.  I'm unable to repost the MP3 right now since that portion of my site
    runs on my school's server and we went out on strike last week and the
    servers have been shut down.  It could be while until things return to
    normalcy.

    Vince (who is "walking the line." Did Our Miss Brooks ever go on strike?)

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 07:20:15 -0500
    From: "Paul M. Thompson" <beachcomber@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  KFRC and MBS

    George Aust asked if there were two MBS stations in Los Angeles after
    seeing a reference to Mel Ventnor and Howard Culver on MBS's KFRC
    in Los Angeles during the early 40's.

    Wrong city. KFRC, once a Don Lee station, has been in San Francisco
    since 1924 and Mel Venter (note correct spelling) was a long time staff
    member and air personality for the station. I believe Howard Culver was
    also a member of the KFRC staff in those early 40's. Lois could confirm
    this.

    Paul Thompson

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 07:40:25 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

>     >From Those Were The Days --

    1932 - The National Broadcasting Company opened its new studios at Radio
    City in New York City. They celebrated with a gala program at Radio City
    Music Hall.

    1938 - Kate Smith sang God Bless America for the very first time. It
    would later become her signature song. Irving Berlin penned the tune in
    1917 but never released it until Miss Smith sang it for the first time
    on her radio broadcast.

    1940 - The chant, "invovo legem magicarum," was heard for the first time
    when Mandrake the Magician debuted on
    WOR radio in New York City.

      Joe

    --
    Visit my home page:
    [removed]~[removed]

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 07:59:25 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Nightfall

    This was sent to me.  If you can help, please answer him directly.  Jay

    Dear Mr. Hickerson,

    I found your name and e-mail, along with the title of your book, as a
    reference
    on a program log for the CBC series, "Nightfall".

    In doing research for an audio sci-fi/horror anthology I'm preparing to
    produce,
    I discovered "Nightfall". Right away I was taken with the style and quality of
    the productions I'd managed to hear. After a while, I became extremely
    interested in the show and began doing research on-line, trying to find out
    more
    about it. I managed to make contact with Bill Howell, the producer for the
    first
    3 years or so--he still works for the CBC--and I started to think about
    writing
    a book about the series. Not just a program guide, but an account of the
    show's
    development, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews with some of the cast and
    crew members, newspaper articles--especially ones regarding the clamor over
    how
    frightening the series was--that sort of thing.

    However, there is *so* little information on-line that I'm having trouble even
    getting started. I've managed to find all but perhaps 5 episodes as
    poor-quality
    MP3s, and I've been making notes from them about the cast and crew, etc. (not
    all of the episodes are complete, sadly, so much of that information is lost).
    However, it sounds like your book would be a good place to start my research.
    I
    was curious as to just how detailed your entries on "Nightfall" are. Is it
    just
    episodes titles and brief descriptions? Or does it include cast and crew info
    as
    well? Did you have to travel to Toronto to research your information, or did
    you
    contact someone at the CBC? I'd appreciate any help or advice you can give me
    and will happily give due credit to you.

    Assuming the CBC support the idea, I think I can do the series justice, given
    time and access to resources, such as the CBC archives and various cast and
    crew
    members. I'd have to travel to Toronto, at least, I'm sure to do a lot of
    this.
    But I'm willing.

    Do you think there's enough material or interest out there to warrant such a
    book? It's a fabulous series, but it did only run 4 years and it was
    primarily a
    Canadian program, except for the 30 episodes aired on NPR. It's not like "Star
    Trek" which found its following in syndication, since syndicating "Nightfall"
    wasn't feasible for a long time due to copyright issues (though, Bill Howell
    tells me the CBC recently sold a "Nightfall" package to XM, the satellite
    radio
    company [it airs weeknights at 9 PM on their Sonic Theater station]). I also
    discovered that McFarland Publishing recently put out a large, hardbound book
    about "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" and they say they're interested in more such
    books. So perhaps there *may* be a market? If nothing else, it would make for
    the basis of a great website. :)

    Thanks for your time and, like I said, any assistance you can give me will be
    greatly appreciated, not to mention acknowledged.

    Sincerely yours,
    Neil Marsh

    ---
    Neil Marsh <Neil@[removed];
     (617) 621-3571 - Home/Work
     (617) 669-4391 - Mobile

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 12:27:34 -0500
    From: Larry Jordan <midtod@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  NEED INFO ON TWO RADIO SINGERS

    I am wondering if anybody has any information on two singers who were on the
    radio in the 1950s -- Buddy Hall and Dolores Watson? I have some of the
    shows they appeared on together (which ran on the ABN network) but I have
    been unable to locate any biographical information on either of them. I'd
    like to know where they came from, what other shows they were on, etc. The
    shows I have were done on the network but originated in Nashville, Tenn.

    Also, the programs from 1957 have station IDs that say "The American
    Broadcasting NETWORK" and "ABN." Yet in the histories I've read of ABC, they
    make no mention of it being called that. On one of the shows there is a
    reference to Merv Griffin also being on the network, but this is all
    confusing. Was ABN the same as ABC? When did they change the name?

    Thanks,
    Larry Jordan

    ------------------------------

    Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 12:28:39 -0500
    From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Things They Carried

    [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #435
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