Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #38
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/5/2006 2:44 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 38
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      2-5 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Breaking the 4th Wall             [ "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@ya ]
      They got it right. Sort of.           [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      Breaking the fourth wall              [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
      Benny baseball references             [ Michael Berger <makiju@[removed]; ]
      Gracie on InfoPls                     [ Michael Berger <makiju@[removed]; ]
      The End of Tom Mix                    [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      Kryptic                               [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
      Looking for a NTR                     [ "Barth Wysong" <stargazerbw@excite. ]
      Robert Benchley on Radio              [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      Bursting through the audio fourth wa  [ "G. Morgan Watkins" <morgan@watkins ]
      An OTR Oscar Nomination               [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
      Old Time Radio Videos                 [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      A Night of OTR Programming            [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
      Re: Scene transition music effectsRe  [ Graham Newton <gn@audio-restoration ]
      Re: Breaking the fourth wall          [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
      WJSV and Superman                     [ "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 02:41:41 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  2-5 births/deaths

    February 5th births

    02-05-1893 - Carlton Coon - Rochester, MN - d. 5-4-1932
    bandleader: (Coon-Sanders Nighthawks) "Florsheim Frolic"
    02-05-1898 - Sidney Fields - d. 9-28-1975
    comic, comedy writer: "Abbott and Costello Show"; "It's Time to Smile"
    02-05-1901 - Arthur Sheekman - Chicago, IL - d. 1-12-1978
    writer: "The Marx Brothers"
    02-05-1906 - John Carradine - New York, NY - d. 11-27-1988
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    02-05-1918 - Tim Holt - Beverly Hills, CA - d. 2-15-1973
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    02-05-1919 - Red Buttons - New York, NY
    actor: "Guest Star"; "Friar's Club Roast"
    02-05-1934 - Hank Aaron - Mobile, AL
    baseball legend: "Baseball: An Action History"; "Tops In Sports"

    February 5th deaths

    02-11-1909 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz - Wilkes-Barre, PA - d. 2-5-1993
    screenwriter, film director: "Theatre Guild On the Air"; "Lux Radio
    Theatre"
    02-14-1905 - Thelma Ritter - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-5-1969
    actress: "Aldrich Family"; "Big Town "; "McGarry and His Mouse"
    04-10-1868 - George Arliss - London, England - d. 2-5-1946
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-04-1913 - Carroll Moore, Jr. - Somerville, MA - d. 2-5-1977
    writer: "The Henry Morgan Show"
    06-10-1909 - Larry LeSueur - d. 2-5-2003
    CBS news correspondent: "This Week in Europe"; "The World Today"
    06-29-1908 - John Hench - Cedar Rapids, IA - d. 2-5-2004
    actor: Stanley Gilman "Those Happy Gilmans"
    07-06-1905 - Pauline Drake - Denver, CO - d. 2-5-1981
    actress: Bessie "Great Gildersleeve"; "Miss Duffy "Duffy's Tavern"
    11-07-1903 - Dean Jagger - Lima, OH - d. 2-5-1991
    actor: "Crisis in War Town"; "Columbia Workshop"; "Cavalcade of America"
    11-14-1914 - Court Benson - Vancouver, Canada - d. 2-5-1995
    announcer, narrator: "Tennessee Jed"
    12-01-1896 - Ethel Shutta - New York, NY - d. 2-5-1976
    singer-comedienne: "Jack Benny Program"
    12-08-1910 - Ruth Matteson - San Jose, CA - d. 2-5-1975
    actress: Nicole Scott "Against the Storm"
    xx-xx-xxxx - Kuda Bux - Kashmir, India - d. 2-5-1981
    magician: "Believe It or Not"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 02:41:52 -0500
    From: "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Breaking the 4th Wall

    The most effective "breaking the 4th wall" I know is when Peter Lorre did it
    at the climax of "The
    Horla".   That scared the pants off me!

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 02:43:43 -0500
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  They got it right. Sort of.

    One movie I really like is _The Final Countdown_. Even
    though the plot, when you think about it, amounts to
    much ado about nothing. I'll explain why in Spoilers
    to follow.

    But first the OTR connection that they got right. Sort
    of. The USS Nimitz finds itself transported back in
    time to December 1941 off the coast of Pearl Harbor,
    though it takes them a while to realize this. One of
    the first clues comes when they turn on the radio and
    hear a clip from _The Jack Benny_ program.
    Specifically, Rochester telling Jack he can't get
    Carmichael to go to sleep.

    So tonight, while watching my newly purchased DVD of
    the movie, I pulled out my copy of _39 Forever_ and
    checked to see if there'd been a broadcast on or about
    December 7. Sure enough, there was a broadcast on
    December 7, and it did concern Rochester trying to get
    Carmichael to go to sleep.

    Just one problem. The Nimitz had been sent back in
    time to December 6. Pearl Harbor had not yet been
    attacked. So, like I said, they got the right _Jack
    Benny_ episode, just the wrong day. But hey, they
    could have just picked something at random. I'm sure
    there have been "period" movies that have done that.

    [removed] Now to the SPOILERS about the film. Read no
    further if you haven't seen it, but plan to, and don't
    want any surprises ruined:

    As I said, the Nimitz is transported back to 1941 (by
    a strange storm of some sort). While there, the
    Captain debates whether to intervene and prevent the
    attack on Pearl Harbor. Ultimately, he decides to do
    so. But first, he needs to get rid of a prominent
    senator named Sam Chapman and his secretary, Laurel
    Scott, whom crew members had rescued from an attack by
    Japanese Zeros. He arranges to have them dropped off
    on a small island, and sends one of his officers to
    see to it.

    In the original history, the Senator died in the
    attack on his yacht; now he dies when he fires a flare
    gun on board the helicopter, which he'd forced it to
    take off from the small island. Meanwhile, his
    secretary and the officer, Commander Richard Owen, are
    stranded.

    Also meanwhile, the attack on Pearl Harbor is about to
    commence, and the Nimitz has launched fighters to take
    on the Japanese fleet. Up pops the mysterious storm
    again. The captain recalls the jets; the storm hits,
    and the Nimitz is back home in 1980.

    At the start of the movie, a civilian named Warren
    Lasky, loaned out to the Defense Department, is seen
    off on the voyage by his mysterious, wealthy employer,
    Mr. Tideman, who, himself remains unseen in his
    limousine. Tideman also was responsible for designing
    and building the Nimitz (or at least played a large
    part in that effort).  At the end of the film, Lasky
    is invited into the limo to join Mr. and Mrs. Tideman,
    and discovers that they are in fact, Laurel Scott and
    Richard Owen.

    So, in essence, the Nimitz went back in time so one
    crew member could be stranded in the past, and
    eventually become the mysterious millionaire
    (billionaire?) who helped design and build the thing.
    Nothing was changed with regard to Pearl Harbor.
    Senator Chapman still died. Like I said, the plot
    amounts to much ado about nothing, when you think
    about it. The ship's role in that major historical
    event boiled down to serving as a time travelling
    ferry for one man.

    But it's still one of my favorite films.

    Rick

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 02:43:57 -0500
    From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Breaking the fourth wall

    One example I can cite where a show broke the "fourth
    wall" (after a fashion) is the April 10, 1949 episode
    of the _Adventures of Sam Spade_, called "The Stopped
    Watch Caper." In the story, Effie is out, and Sam has
    someone else filling in. Why is Effie on leave? She's
    visiting a sick friend, Lurene Tuttle.

    Effie, of course was _played_ by Lurene Tuttle.

    Rick

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:25:17 -0500
    From: Michael Berger <makiju@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Benny baseball references

    Not having heard that show, cannot answer the question
    about why no reaction, but as a former Pacific Coast
    League baseball fan, I can report that the Vern
    Kinsfather and Steve Nagy were pitchers for Seattle
    while Ed Chandler was a pitcher for Los Angeles. The
    odd thing is that the other name, Lade, was that of a
    pitcher, not a catcher.

    Talk about trivia!!

    Michael Berger

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:25:48 -0500
    From: Michael Berger <makiju@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Gracie on InfoPls

    The inquiry about Gracie Allen's appearance on
    Information Please prompted me to re-listen to that
    show, one of the good ones in a superb series. We're
    lucky she was invited when she was, because at the end
    of the program, it's announced that she appeared
    'courtesy of Chesterfield cigarettes'.  A year later
    and the InfoPls sponsor would have been Lucky Strike
    and probably no chance for Gracie.

    As it was, she was delightful and the only negative in
    the program was the perhaps unintentional
    condescension of host Clifton Fadiman, who played to
    the 'dizzy dame' image that Gracie thrived on, rather
    than just letting her be her witty self, which she was
    throughout, saying at one point, 'wouldn't George be
    proud of me?'  She was a treasure, and not just to
    George.

    Michael Berger

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:26:26 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The End of Tom Mix

    Jack French relates the dramatic confrontation between Tom Mix and Caesar
    Ciano.

>     He issued a series of threats to Tom and Mike and declared they would
>     not broadcast their show today.  Bluffs and counter-bluffs went back and
>     forth until Ciano demanded to know how each program ended. Don Gordon
>     said he ended each show so guns were trained on him.  He nervously
>     concluded the show with something like "Tom Mix has been brought to you
>     by the makers of Ralston" and the episode ended there.

    I remember that show like yesterday.  Ciano was in the studio while Mix
    was on the air, and he (Ciano) wanted the program to end.  After having
    his henchmen  shoot up the "on the air" light with a Thompson submachine
    gun, he forced Don Gordon, at gunpoint to say, "This is .. uh .. the
    Mutual Broadcasting Network."  No closing Ralston jingle or anything!

    That was the most effective show ending I ever heard!

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:26:58 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Kryptic

    A Joseph Ross, [removed], commenting on Rick Keating's various questions about
    Superman and his planet of origin, responded to the idea of a
    "counter-Earth" as a fictional device.

>     I don't know if there was either at that point, but it seemed a
>     convenient story device and there didn't seem to be any reason why it
>     couldn't be so.  The theory of Lagrange points existed, but I don't think
>     it was very well known at the time.

    The idea goes all the way back to Classical Greece, long before anyone
    understood orbital dynamics.  Even in the Ptolemaic system, the idealized
    counter-Earth was hidden by the Sun.

    During the 1940s, a science fiction series about a radio relay station in
    one of the stable Lagrange points in Venus' orbit, the "Venus
    Equilateral" stories, was being run.  The author, George O. Smith, was a
    radio engineer.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:27:10 -0500
    From: "Barth Wysong" <stargazerbw@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Looking for a NTR
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

     I've been looking for a particular show, I beleive its a new time radio show
    (1970-80s).  It concerns an archeologist who discovers a skull from a missing
    link(?).  Turns out that the skull is a fake and he has been duped by a
    collegue and there's murder [removed] thought it was linked to a CBS Radio
    Mystery Theater episode called "Yesterday's Giant" but this show is not in
    their canon. Its been bugging me for years.  Thanks!

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

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:28:29 -0500
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Robert Benchley on Radio

    Here's one Benchley broadcast, which happens to be one of my all-time
    favorite OTR programs:

    Robert Benchley appeared as the Interpreter in Norman Corwin's "The
    Undecided Molecule," broadcast over CBS July 17, 1944. The cast for this
    show was just perfect, including Vincent Price, Norman Lloyd, Keenan
    Wynn, and even Groucho Marx. (Perfect casting was the rule for Corwin,
    of course!)

    It was done just a few months before Benchley died, and may be his last
    radio appearance (?? -- anybody know?). It was also, as far as I'm
    aware, Benchley's only appearance with Groucho in any medium. The
    broadcast has survived and is available on CD as part of the "13 X
    Corwin" collection.

    For more info, and click-to-hear excerpts, go to:

    [removed]

    Richard Fish

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:28:40 -0500
    From: "G. Morgan Watkins" <morgan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bursting through the audio fourth wall

    I remember the Adventures of Sam Spade had one or more
    self-referencing scripts while Howard Duff was doing the series.

    It sounded odd, but it was a delightfully strange show at times anyway.

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:29:27 -0500
    From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  An OTR Oscar Nomination

    "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin," a documentary by
    Eric Simonson, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the
    Documentary (short subject) category.

    If anybody knows people who vote for these things, it's time for some
    good, clean, honest-and-above-board, albeit impassioned and dedicated,
    lobbying!

    Richard Fish

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:30:14 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Old Time Radio Videos

    My wife is making me clean out the loft and this includes stuff I no longer
    need or want.  (These are the sacrifices a newlywed must learn to start
    [removed])

    I have 350+ VHS videos in three big boxes that I no longer need.  Rather
    than throw them away (people do NOT really buy videos anymore at film
    conventions - I should know - they buy DVDs instead), I figured to offer
    them a good home.  First come, first serve basis.  The cost I would like to
    offer is $[removed] (that's a bit more than a buck a video) plus postage.  A
    little more than a dollar a video seems fair to me since that's about the
    cost of blanks at the moment.

    Among the videos
    OUR MISS BROOKS the movie, RICHARD DIAMOND TV episodes, DRAGNET tv episodes,
    HENRY ALDRICH television show, THE ARCHIES unaired TV pilot, THE PHANTOM
    unaired TV pilot,
    A DAY IN THE LIFE OF DENNIS DAY unaired TV pilot, MISTER ED unaired TV
    pilot,
    EDGAR BERGEN AND CHARLIE McCARTHY SHOW 2 unaired TV pilots, SPACE PATROL,
    TALES OF THE TEXAS RANGERS lots of TV shows, CHARLIE CHAN, BIS STORY tv
    shows (one with James Dean), The CRIME DOCTOR movies, DR. CHRISTIAN tv
    shows, BIG TOWN movies,
    WILD BILL HICKOCK Tv shows, BOSTON BLACKIE movies, WHISTLER television
    shows,
    SKY KING same, ROCKY JONES SPACE RANGER, CAPTAIN VIDEO tv shows, LUM AND
    ABNER movies,
    STUDIO ONE tons of episodes, some movies adapted from PAT NOVAK FOR HIRE and
    PIER 23,
    SUSPENSE television episodes, DEATH VALLEY DAYS, FIBBER McGEE AND MOLLY
    television episodes, THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE TV episodes, HENRY ALDRICH
    movies, BULLDOG DRUMMOND movies, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT movie, rare horror
    films from 1930s and 40s, THE SAINT movies and TV shows, ELLERY QUEEN tv
    shows, complete series of THR PRISONER (retailed $[removed] when purchased from
    Columbia House), and of course TV and movies like THE UNTOUCHABLES,
    PLAYHOUSE 90 (about 7 or 8 of these!), SHEENA, RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE, SEA
    HUNT, HIGHWAY PATROL, FU MANCHU movies, SEA HUNT, and a bunch of cliffhanger
    serials, and a LOT, LOT MORE.

    I just want to clean these out so I have more room in the loft.  So I want
    to sell them all at once, not as brief selections as it would take forever
    to sell them so I would rather people not pick and choose.  Serious inquires
    as I don't want to repost this a second time.  $[removed] plus postage for 350+
    videos containing what's listed above PLUS LOTS MORE.

    All disclaimers apply, contact me personally, sold on a first-come,
    first-serve basis.  All sales final.  They come as they are.  Quality varies
    from video to video but they are all videos I purchased from dealers or
    traded for so they are good enough for dealers to resell even today.  If
    they were to be purchased today on DVD, we're talking over $2,[removed] of
    material.  I prefer to mail them rather than drop and deliver as I want them
    out of the house, not taking up space.  I do accept Credit Card at the house
    if it's easier for anyone.  If you want tons of old-time radio related shows
    to watch, here's a bargain of a price.

    Martin
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:30:32 -0500
    From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  A Night of OTR Programming

    When my brother Bob and I were driving to the FOTR in Newark last October,
    we passed the time on the New Jersey Turnpike by trying to decide what would
    be our perfect fantasy evening of OTR. If you were the program manager of a
    radio station playing Old Time Radio and could present any radio show that
    you want without regard to network or time or year, what would you present?
    Here's what I came up with. Does anyone want to share his/her selections?

    6:00 Captain Midnight- "More Ovaltine, Mom!"
    6:15 Hop Harrigan- This is a kid's adventure that I still enjoy listening to
    as an adult.
    6:30 Lone Ranger- Hi Yo, Silver!
    7:00 Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet- OK, so this is a low-key, kind of
    corny show, but since my brother and I are about the same age as Ricky and
    David, we could relate to the Nelsons. The only thing is that our father
    wasn't much like Ozzie. Ours was more like the Old Man in Jean Shepherd's
    Christmas Story.
    7:30 Dr. [removed] A little mental exercise
    8:00 Jack Benny Program- Need I say more?
    8:30- Alice Faye and Phil Harris Show- Phil and Frankie are always in
    trouble. Sing Alice, sing.
    9:00 Let George do it- I just like this one.
    9:30 The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street- From barrelhouse to
    boogie-woogie. A nice change of pace.
    10:00 Your Truly, Johnny Dollar- "Before I left Hartford I stopped at Sal's
    Super Service to fill up. Ten gallons of gasoline, two dollars and twenty
    cents."
    10:30 Suspense- One of the best
    11:00 The Mysterious Traveler- "We'll thrill you a little and chill you a
    little."
    11:30 Lights Out- I remember the time my brother actually turned out the
    lights and scared the #%@^&$ out of both of us.
    12:00 Murder at Midnight- Of course.

    Jim Yellen

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:31:03 -0500
    From: Graham Newton <gn@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Scene transition music effectsRe:

    "G. Morgan Watkins" <morgan@[removed]; said to the OTR [removed]
    On the subject:  Scene transition music effects

>     As I listen to different OTR programs, I am surprised by the number
>     that use the same transitional music effects between scenes.

    There were (and still are) music library companies that license recorded music
    for use in radio, TV and film productions.  It is MUCH cheaper to license
    their
    material than to hire a composer, arranger and orchestra to record your own
    material, although some of the larger OTR shows did do this.

    Some popular libraries used in OTR shows were:-

    Chappell  (Black Museum used cues from here)
    Boosey and Hawkes
    Capitol "Q" and "Hi-Q"
    Mutel
    Conroy
    Video Moods
    Impress
    Weinberger
    Paxton
    FDH

    Many of these libraries were distributed by Emil Ascher Inc in New York and
    Regent Recorded Music Inc., in Hollywood.  This accounts for why British
    libraries found their way into North American productions.

    ... Graham Newton

    --
    Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, [removed]
    World class professional services applied to tape or phonograph records for
    consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR's new CAMBRIDGE processes.

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:31:23 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Breaking the fourth wall

    I find this thread on radio characters interacting with their real
    counterparts interesting. Several examples of the fourth wall being
    broken by the show moving beyond its fictional self into the real world
    have been presented.

    Another, albeit weaker example, was from Richard Diamond, Private
    Detective when Dick Powell in his character as Diamond says:

    "Hello there, this is Diamond. You know, I like to say that: 'Hello
    there, this is Diamond.' I don't know why, maybe it's just because I say
    it all the time. Hello there, this is Diamond. You know I think it
    sounds kind [removed] bad. Of course, I'd rather say: 'Hello
    there, I've got a sponsor Diamond.' But that's silly too because if I
    had a sponsor I wouldn't have time to say 'Hello there, this is
    Diamond." I'd be over shining your shoes."

    Anybody know of any other examples?  This is kind of fun.

    Jim Widner

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

    Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 15:31:42 -0500
    From: "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
    To: ""old-time radio digest">" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  WJSV and Superman

    Hi all,
    First thanks for setting me straight on my Superman question about Jimmy.  Of
    course you were all right.  I had totally forgotten that they never mentioned
    the last
    name.

    Now just to add to the WJSV chat, I thought it was boring as well.  I truely
    expected it to be much better.  It's a good time Capsule I suppose, but I
    don't expect
    to drag it out and listen anytime soon.
    I have always wondered if there was another entire day captured a couple
    years later if it would have been any better?
    Any ideas?
    Bill

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #38
    ********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]