------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 407
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Claude Rains explanation [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
The Longest Benny Laugh [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
under milkwood [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
Amos' descendents [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Dit Dah, Dit Dah [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
Today in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
MP3 files playing out of order [ otrdude@[removed] ]
SPERDVAC 2003 [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Lizzie Borden [ Dwane Harney <toys413@[removed]; ]
A & C movie question [ zbob@[removed] ]
Longevity of CD's [ Dan Poorman <dan@[removed]; ]
bill stern, mel allen, and paul harv [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
Armistice Day births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Kathryn Crosby book [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
OT, kind of, Cynic's Choice Host ill [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 23:19:17 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Claude Rains explanation
Ron Sayles posted the birthday and radio credits for Claude Rains for
November 9, and ended up making an error, which had Craig pointed out in the
last issue. (It's okay Ron, I've made mistakes too - you're forgiven. Keep
up the good postings.)
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
November 9th births
11-09-1889 - Claude Rains - London, England - d. 5-20-1967
actor: "Streamlined Shakespeare"; "This Is War!"; "Presenting Claude
Rains"
Whereupon Craig wrote:
PRETTY sure that Rains was not in the late 30's "Streamlined Shakespeare"'s,
but rather in the CBS competing Bard series?
BY THE WAY - has anybody found clean, uncut (not truncated re-broad's)
copies
of Jack Barrymore's "Streamlined"'s? I spoke to someone (maybe one of the
Gassmans?) years ago, when an NBC cache was [removed]
Anyone care about a really well-done series of plays, by the world's
greatest
playwrite, containing the last great work of the man considered one of his
best moden interpreters?
Man, Craig, I had to dig through a number of unlabled computer discs for
this one. I am surprised my memory held up but Ron Sayles was on the right
track. Rains was on a Shakespeare drama, what Ron meant to list was "THE
SHAKESPERIAN CIRCLE" instead of "STREAMLINED SHAKESPEARE." Here's a
detailed clarification with episode guides.
Try this one out. In June of 1937, NBC premiered a series of Shakespeare
plays, entitled Streamlined Shakespeare, and dramatized by the great stage
actor, John Barrymore which Craig described. Less than a month later - in
competition with NBC - the Columbia Broadcasting System premiered a
Shakespeare series of their own, with multiple Hollywood actors . . . and
both on the same Monday evening! What happened then? Well, three weeks
after this series premiered, Streamlined Shakespeare went off the air - and
a few weeks after, this series went off the air as well. Had both NBC and
CBS worked together in presenting their dramas in a more timely manor, both
programs might have had a longer broadcast run, allowing the listeners to
listen to both series with more convenience. Course, the Barrymore
productions was only supposed to last a few weeks so CBS had nothing to
compete against after the Barrymore productions went off the air.
THE SHAKESPERIAN CIRCLE (The CBS Shakespeare Series)
Conway Tearle was the narrator for each drama, as an off-to-the-side
describer of settings and sound. Victor Bay supplied the music. Brewster
Morgan directed. Broadcast from 9 to 10 pm. The plays were adapted for
radio by Brewster Morgan and Gilbert Seldes, with the exception of episode
five which Archibald MacLeish adapted. "Henry IV" was based on both parts I
and II. The "Julius Caesar" broadcast is what Ron Sayles was referring to.
1. "Hamlet" (7/12/37) Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, and Estelle
Winwood
2. "Much Ado About Nothing" (7/19/37) Leslie Howard and Rosalind Russell
3. "Julius Caesar" (7/26/37) Walter Abel, Morris Ankstrom, Reginald
Denny, Ian Keith,
Raymond Massey, and Claude Rains
4. "The Taming of the Shrew" (8/2/37) Frieda Inescourt and Edward G.
Robinson
5. "King Lear" (8/9/37) Margo and Thomas Mitchell
6. "As You Like It" (8/16/37) Dennis King, Elissa Landi, Frank Morgan,
Gail Patrick, Minerva Pious
7. "Henry IV" (8/23/37) Brian Ahern, Humphrey Bogart, Walter Connolly,
Walter Huston,
Patrick J. Kelly, Ian McLaren, Jack Smart, Eric Snowden, Ben Webster,
and
Dame May Whitty
8. "Twelfth Night" (8/30/37) Tallulah Bankhead, Sir Cedric Harwicke, and
Orson Welles
STREAMLINED SHAKESPEARE (The NBC Shakespeare Series)
"The greatest actor we ever had was John Barrymore. I saw him four times in
Hamlet . . ." So spoken by Eva LeGallienne in 1982, describing John
Barrymore, one of the great Shakespearean actors of all time. The National
Broadcasting Company also thought so, because in June of 1937, [removed] hired
John Barrymore for a short-run series that ran only six episodes before
being replaced by the four-week presentation of NBC Presents Eugene O'Neill.
This series was broadcast on Monday evenings at 9:30 to 10:15 [removed], [removed]
Barrymore was supported by his fourth (and last) wife, Elaine Jacobs Barrie,
whom John had married less than a year before. Erin O'Brien performed
numerous supporting roles as well. The scripts were adapted for radio by
John Barrymore, along with the help of Forrest Barnes.
1. "Hamlet" (6/21/37)
2. "Richard III" (6/28/37)
3. "Macbeth" (7/5/37)
4. "The Tempest" (7/12/37)
5. "Twelfth Night" (7/19/37)
6. "The Taming of the Shrew" (7/26/37)
In the summer of 1950, Audio Rarities Records purchased the rights to all
six transcriptions of the 1937 series, purposely deleted the original
opening theme and monologue, and replaced it with a new one, entitling the
1950 series "JOHN BARRYMORE AND SHAKESPEARE." This second series, nothing
more than a rebroadcast of the original 1937 series, was also broadcast over
[removed], but only five of the six productions were presented, and broadcast
in a different order.
1. "Macbeth" (8/3/50)
2. "Hamlet" (8/10/50)
3. "Richard III" (8/17/50)
4. "Twelfth Night" (8/24/50)
5. "The Tempest" (8/31/50)
The transcriptions of the 1950 cuts (which is what Craig was describing) is
commonlyl circulating among collectors. BUT . . . if I am not mistaken, the
actual 1937 broadcasts do exist and are floating about in the hands of many
OTR collectors. (Art Pierce of Fair Pickings in NY probably has the 1937
broadcasts available). The 1950 series was eventually released commercially
to schools for education purposes and I believe my high school even had the
records at one time. Still, the 1937 broadcasts would be better to listen
to because they wouldn't be edited for brevity. You can tell the difference
between the 1950 cuts and the original 1937 broadcasts by the opening and
closing of each recording. Craig was right in clarifying that John
Barrymore Shakespeare productions are superior. I have a copy of episode
seven of STREAMLINED SHAKESPEARE and even with the huge cast, the production
wasn't impressive.
Martin Grams, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2003 23:39:20 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Longest Benny Laugh
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So this guy from the OTR Digest stands up at SPERDVAC and asks about the
longest laugh on the Jack Benny program. And after telling the various
stories, I
say, "Someone's going to have to sit down with a stopwatch and figure it out,
and it's probably going to be me."
It is me.
And now I know.
Do you want to know?
[removed] :)
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:04:20 -0500
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: under milkwood
The only two versions I know about are one with Dylan Thomas and one with
Richard Burton. If there are others I don't know about them. As I
remember the Burton was from about 1956. Kurt
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 00:59:14 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Amos' descendents
She was named after her father, and after her godfather, Andy. Amosandra
was Amos and Ruby's third child, with Arbadella the oldest (born in 1936)
and then Amos Jr. (born in 1941).
The first thing I thought of after I read this was to ask what Amosandra,
Arbadella, and Amos Jr. are doing these days.
M Kinsler
They had a good upbringing, so I suppose they did okay. Hope so.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:24:54 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Dit Dah, Dit Dah
<<<Rick Selven identified the "three-oh mark" to end a story in newspapering
terms connecting it to Bill [removed];>>
In military radio transmissions that we ASA's learned at The "Southeasy"
Signal School in Augusta, GA, then at Camp Gordon, Morse code (dots and
dashes) also had it's own kind-of "three-oh mark" to indicate a full stop (a
period in print) in the message which was: "dit, dah, dit, dah" the letter
"A" sent twice ( .[removed] )
After establishing and authenticating the opening identification (this is
"me" calling "you" in code) would be the two letters, "A and R" (dit dah dit
dah dit .[removed]) which would begin the coded message, or to say: "message
follows."
The ending letter "K" ( dah dit dah [removed] ) meant "over to you" in a two-way
conversation.
If you wanted to make a query, a "question mark" is dit dit dah dah dit dit
( ..[removed] )
("Not a lot of people know [removed]" thanks Rick for the humorous Michael
Caine saying.)
It was often difficult to clearly hear the sender's full message with fading
reception of the transmission signals. As well, the sender's identifiable
"fist" clicking out the dots and dashes on the Morse code key would be
different for each operator, so some would make up their own "dit dah's"
and, "we know who you are out there!"
I've forgotton many more military Morse code ellipsis maybe some list
members will recall (try saying that three times fast!)
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:25:02 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Today in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
1950 - Monty Woolley starred as The Magnificent Montague, which debuted
on NBC.
Joe
--
Visit my homepage: [removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 10:10:14 -0500
From: otrdude@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: MP3 files playing out of order
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This issue has come up before, but I fail to remember the solution. When I
play MP3 shows on my portable MP3 player, some discs play in the correct
order (by date), but others do not even though the shows all have a uniform
system of dates labeling each show.
How can I create an MP3 disc on my computer, where the shows play on my
portable player in an order that I intend ([removed] by date) ?
Andrew Steinberg
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 13:43:22 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: SPERDVAC 2003
Hi all
Just returned from the SPERDVAC Convention, and just wanted to say that
Dorothy and I had a great time. The Convention was chaired by Bobb Lynes
this year, ably assisted by [removed] Watkins, and even the food was good. :)
It was made sort of special for me because I was able to convince my old
buddy (literally and figuratively) Bob Hastings to join in on the fun this
year, and got to work with him doing some great material.
For the Saturday evening banquet, I was scheduled to Direct A Damon Runyon
script, and I cast Hastings as one of the leads, along with Tommy Cook and
Barbara Fuller. We had a stellar group of Local LA actors to round out the
cast, like Glenn Taranto, (who does a super "[removed] Fields"), "Snooks" Watkins
and Stuart Lubin. They all played their roles flawlessly. I mean they were
really great.
You realize that for a Director to get credit for a job well done, he is
only as good as the people playing the roles. Boy, was I good that night. :)
Then, after Sunday Brunch, Hastings and I were scheduled to perform about an
hour's worth of Bob and Ray scripts. We were both a trifle concerned about
pulling it off. Neither of us are "impressionists", and knew we couldn't
mimic Bob and Rays voices, or duplicate the many character voices that they
were known for. But we met with Tom Koch (pronounced "Cook") who wrote many
of the sketches for Bob and Ray, and who was the moderator for the event.
Tom's wife Donna Koch assisted us ably by providing musical bridges on her
keyboard.
We had met with Tom prior to the Brunch, and he said not to worry about
sounding exactly like Bob and Ray, have fun with the material, and do
whatever character voices we felt would work, based on the zany "people" we
were portraying in any given skit.
Once we began, our trepidation's disappeared when we started getting laughs
right off the bat. Certainly, the material is funny, but we felt we needed
to come as close as possible to the zany vocal characteristics that Bob and
Ray utilized, and maybe come up with our own interpretation every so often.
At that point, we really threw ourselves into the material, and had great
fun playing off each other.
I have to confess that at one point. I did something terribly
unprofessional. I cracked [removed] so hard at Hastings performance.
Hastings was playing the "President" of "The Most Boring People in North
America" society. Although we read through the material together the prior
day, we didn't actually have a full blown rehearsal. Once the skit started,
I was playing Ray, as the interviewer. As Hastings ("Bob"), droned on, the
bit, (and his character), became funnier and funnier, and I found myself
listening and enjoying it, along with the audience. I tried suppressing my
laughter, since I was on mike, but I simply couldn't control it. Tears were
running down my cheeks. At one point, I actually had trouble picking up my
cue because he was so funny and I was laughing so hard.
Afterwards, I realized the reason Hastings was so perfect to play that
Character is because he actually is one of the most boring people I know. :)
Generally, I don't get copies of the things that I perform in at these
conventions, but I do want to get the Bob and Ray tape because my 'ol buddy
and I had way too much fun doing it.
Thanks again to the SPERDVAC people for inviting us. In closing, it was also
fun to meet fellow Digesters, face to face, when they came up to me and
identified themselves.
Regards to all, and "Write when you get work".
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 13:43:47 -0500
From: Dwane Harney <toys413@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lizzie Borden
The discussion about whether Paul Harvey's stories are
true, reminded me of one of his stories I heard
several years ago (possible in the mid 1980's). Paul
Harvey said that Lizzie Borden didn't kill her
parents. Instead it was the maid who did it.
I've tried to find a reference to Paul Harvey's story
about this on the internet, but have only found one
place that talks about it:
[removed]#link5
Does anyone have more details about this? Any
information would be appreciated.
By the way, here's a list of some radio shows that are
about Lizzie Borden:
Crime Classics 09-30-1953 "The Bloody, Bloody Banks Of
Fall River"
Murder After Midnight 04-03-2002 "Lizzie Borden" (LBC
radio)
Suspense 01-14-1952 "Fall River Tragedy" with Agnes
Moorehead
Suspense 10-04-1955 "Goodbye Miss Lizzie Borden"
Unsolved Mysteries "Lizzie Borden Case"
Thanks,
Dwane
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 15:59:19 -0500
From: zbob@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: A & C movie question
Some of A & C's films have been discussed lately - I have a puzzler
about "... Meet Frankenstein". About 50 minutes into the film, Dracula is
wandering about, and we can see his reflection in a mirror (???) What gives?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:47:04 -0500
From: Dan Poorman <dan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Longevity of CD's
Since I imagine many of us are storing our OTR collection on CD's,
this article is a must read.
For those that don't want to wade through it, Fred Langa says tests on
his own cd's show that those with labels fail to read even after a
couple of years. So we may not be archiving shows as we think we are!
It's worth taking the time to read about the various tests and such.
[removed]
Dan
Lansing, MI
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 19:23:01 -0500
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: bill stern, mel allen, and paul harvey
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I listened to stern all through my boyhood and consider him to be by far the
best football announcer i have ever heard. I feel the same way about mel allen
(baseball) and both these guys were considered to generally be the best at
what they did for many years and even today rate, arguably, among the best
ever.
Paul harvey has, in more recent years, become a household voice and is among
the best at doing his thing. However, to think that harvey somehow has more
character or is more trustworthy than allen or stern is, to me, ridiculus. All
three men entertained in a respectful and entertaining way (harveys still at
it). They did it the way their bosses told them to do it and if there was a
little fiction at times, well no one was hurt, only entertained. I hope no one
thinks that harvey has all those stories stored in his head. They probably
come
across his desk and he knows about the stories at times only moments before he
reads the material to us.
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 19:23:16 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Armistice Day births/deaths
Armistice Day births
11-11-1887 - Roland Young - London, England - d. 6-5-1953
actor: Cosmo Topper "Advs. of Topper"; "Hobby Lobby"
11-11-1892 - Al Schacht - NYC - d. 7-14-1984
sportscaster: ( The Clown Prince of Baseball) "Al Schacht"s Sports Show"
11-11-1899 - Harold J. "Pie" Traynor - Framingham, MA - d. 3-16-1972
sportscaster: KQV Pittsburgh
11-11-1899 - Pat O" Brien - Milwaukee, WI - d. 10-15-1983
actor: Dan Carson "Dan Carson"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Family Theatre"
11-11-1904 - Joe Penner - Magybecskereck, Hungary - d. 1-10-1941
comedian: "Joe Penner Program"; "Penners of Park Avenue"
11-11-1909 - Rad Robinson - Bountiful, UT - d. 9-20-1988
singer: (Member of the King"s Men) "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "King"s Men"
11-11-1909 - Robert Ryan - Chicago, IL - d. 7-10-1973
actor: "Document A/777"; "Hollywood Star Playhouse"; "Suspense"
11-11-1911 - Patric Knowles - Horsforth, Yorkshire, England - d. 12-23-1995
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
Veterans day deaths
04-10-1885 - Sigmund Spaeth - Philadelphia, PA - d. 11-11-1965
commentator: "Tune Detective"; "Fun in Print"
08-08- 1900 - Victor Young - Chicago, IL (R: Warsaw, Poland) - d. 11-11-1956
conductor, composer: "Shell Chateau"; "Old Gold Don Ameche Show"
08-29-1899 - George V. Denny, Jr. - Washington, [removed] - d. 11-11-1959
moderator: "America"s Town Meeting of the Air"
10-12-1905 - Jane Ace - Kansas City, MO - d. 11-11-1974
comedian: "Easy Aces"; "Jane Ace, Disc Jockey"
10-19-1903 - Robert Hardy Andrews - Effingham, KS - d. 11-11-1976
writer: "Skippy"; "Jack Armstrong, The All-American Boy"; "Just Plain Bill"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 20:12:59 -0500
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Kathryn Crosby book
Hi Everybody,
I have 14 autograph copies of Kathryn Crosby,s new book called My Last Years
with Bing for sale. The cost is $40 plus shipping and handling. If you are
interested contact me off list. Take care,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:39:14 -0500
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OT, kind of, Cynic's Choice Host ill
I know that we mostly deal with american shows here, not british, but
this person is an institution in Southern California. Brian Clewer, and
I am not sure of the spelling, has been on the air in Southern California
with Cynic's Choice for 35 to 40 years on many different stations. He
has always played british comedy and musicals for all these years, and
his program has been very enjoyable. His store, the Continental Shop has
been around for years. I knew he was sick, because his voice became
different a few months ago after he mentioned that he had been in the
hospital. I called over there last week because of a fidelity problem,
and I think he thought I meant something else. He said that he has
cancer, but he didn't specify where, and I didn't ask. He seems like a
very nice man and I have always liked the comedy. I just wanted to let
everybody know so they could say a prayer for him. He is on KMMX
(formerly KEZY 1190 AM on Sundays at one [removed] He has been around for so
long on so many stations, and a thank you is in order. To end on a note
he would like "during the next seven days, in a very sentimental world,
try and do your best to remain truly cynical." Kurt
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #407
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