------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2008 : Issue 194
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
OTR in the News [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
This week in radio history 10-16 Aug [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
OTR's categorical imperative [ Lance Grider <lancelotlmg@[removed] ]
The Jack Kirkwood Show [ "Jim Kitchen" <jkitchen@[removed]; ]
Re: Uncle Remus for Christmas [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
Script for "Ugliest Man in the World [ <jeddolnick@[removed]; ]
Re: Norman Corwin reading [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
8-10 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Re: Bob and Ray - Possibly Missing S [ <georgewagner@[removed]; ]
Green Hornet [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
"Chicken Heart" [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:42:35 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR in the News
An OTR DJ in Duluth Minnesota gets a write-up here:
[removed];freebie_check&CFID=66911062&CFTOKEN=95735662&jsessionid=88302a367b3106046413
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:42:45 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: This week in radio history 10-16 August
From Those Were The Days --
8/11
1909 -- The international distress call, SOS, which replaced CQD (All
stations -- distress!), was first used by an American ship, The USS
Arapahoe", out of Cape Hatteras, NC, on this day.
8/12
1937 - Comedian Red Skelton got his first taste of network radio as he
appeared on the Rudy Vallee Show on NBC.
8/13
1912 - St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, PA was granted the first
experimental radio license by the [removed] Department of Commerce.
8/14
1933 - WLW in Cincinnati, OH premiered Ma Perkins. Just four months
later, Ma moved to WMAQ in Chicago and was heard over the entire NBC
network. Virginia Payne was 23 years old when she started in the title
role. Ma Perkins operated a lumberyard in Rushville Center. Her children
were Evey, Fay and John (who was killed in the war). One of the other
characters in the show was Shuffle Shober. Virginia Payne played Ma
Perkins for 27 years -- and 7,065 episodes.
1942 - Garry Moore hosted a new program on NBC. The Show Without a Name
was an effort to crack the morning show dominance of Arthur Godfrey
(CBS) and Don McNeil's Breakfast Club (ABC). A prize of $500 was offered
to name the show and Someone came up with the title, Everything Goes.
1945 - CBS began the series, Columbia Presents Corwin. Orson Welles did
a special reading about the fall of Japan, titled, Fourteen August.
8/15
1911 - Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, OH introduced Crisco
hydrogenated shortening. (Where would all those shows have been with
Crisco as a sponsor? And remember, its digestible! -ed)
8/16
1922 - WEAF began broadcasting from new studios atop the Western
Electric Building in New York City.
1939 - Lights Out, radio's "ultimate horror show," was heard for the
last time on NBC. In 1942, Arch Obler brought the show back to life on
CBS. The show's most familiar trademark, guaranteed to put you under the
covers on a dark night was, "Lights out everybody!", followed by 12
chimes of a clock.
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:45:16 -0400
From: Lance Grider <lancelotlmg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR's categorical imperative
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I agree with Mr. G. R. Jackson, Jr. that OTR fans should busy themselves
protesting "drug-user" Seth Rogen's insidious bid to become the new Green
Hornet. I suggest we all meet at Duffy's Tavern. "Fibber" McGee can instruct
us all on the need for popular culture to promote virtue while Molly's Uncle
Dennis can serve libations. Or, perhaps Nero Wolfe will buy us a beer, or
Richard Diamond or Mr and Mrs North can do us cocktails. Jack Webb will be
there to make sure we all smoke lots and lots and lots of Chesterfields
because they're satisfying. When we're all suitably inebriated and nicotined
we can discuss whether or not Mr. Rogen is moral enough to portray a
millionaire vigilante who masquerades as a murderous underworld thug. We
won't let the weed of crime be sullied by the crime of weed!
Lance Grider
Billings, Montana
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[ADMINISTRIVIA: Ok, folks, let's drop this at least until the film actually
begins [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:45:22 -0400
From: "Jim Kitchen" <jkitchen@[removed];
To: "old time radio digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The Jack Kirkwood Show
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While browsing OTRNow's MP3 collection. I came across the Jack Kirkwood Show.
This brought back memories from the Winter of 1951/52. I had a seasonal job
that qualified for unemployment benefits during the winter months. I spent the
winter listening to Jack Kirkwood. So, I included this CD along with several
others that I ordered.
Right now, I am listening to the "Flat Man" episode where The Madhouse Little
Theater presents a satirized version of the Fat Man: "Look at that physique; 7
feet tall, 3 feet wide, he steps on the scale, his weight 62 pounds. He is the
Flat Man!" Pretty corny, but I enjoyed Jack then, and still do.
Jim Kitchen
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:45:32 -0400
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Uncle Remus for Christmas
I was wondering if any on the list has
any information at all on this series.
Scribner's holiday season "Uncle Remus" series seems to have been on the air
by late November 1947. Here's how it was heralded in the 24 November 1947
Washington Post:
***
"UNCLE REMUS" is coming to WINX this afternoon at 4. The series of
transcribed Uncle Remus stories, narrated by Jimmie Scribner, will be aired
Monday through Friday over WINX and WINX-FM with a completely separate story
every day.
***
According to publicity in the 6 December 1947 Winona (MN) Republican-Herald,
the series was written and produced in Hollywood with: "Special score" by
Ivan Ditmars; production by John Nelson; and writing by Bert Horswell. The
show was scheduled to run "every Monday through Saturday ... until
Christmas." Other papers indicate different days of the week, as in these ads
from the 28 November and 9 December Walla Walla (WA) Union-Bulletin:
[removed]
[removed]
Here are a few other ads. From the 24 November El Paso (TX) Herald Post:
[removed]
>From the 27 November Tucson (AZ) Daily Citizen:
[removed]
>From the 4 December Winona (MN) Republican-Herald:
[removed]
... the program content didn't seem
to be connected with the holiday season.
There's a brief reference in the show's
opening and close to Christmas activities,
but that's all.
At least some of the episodes seem to have dealt with holiday themes. Here's
an item from the 22 December 1947 Winona (MN) Republican-Herald:
***
Uncle Remus Christmas Story on KWNO Dec 23
Brer Fox plays Santa with disastrous results to his bushy tail in "Down the
Chimney on Christmas Eve," an Uncle Remus program at 4:45 p. m. over KWNO,
December 23. On Wednesday's show the story will be filled with Christmas
spirit as Brer Fox plays Scrooge in a way you never heard before.
***
Sometime after Christmas, the newspapers start listing the series as "Sleepy
Joe." Here's an ad from the 1 January 1948 Billings (MT) Gazette (note that
the illustration of Sleepy Joe is identical to that of Uncle Remus):
[removed]
... and a blurb from the 8 January 1948 Washington Post:
***
Jimmy Scribner, formerly "Uncle Remus," continues telling children's stories
and jingles under a new title. 4 p. m. on WINX and WINX-FM.
***
In the Brooks Read Brer Rabbit collections
at Louisiana State University, there's
mention of a "Uncle Remus" series that Read
did on the Liberty Broadcasting System.
Read was involved in a lawsuit about another
"Uncle Remus" program that featured Scribner.
Brooks Read doesn't seem to have begun his Liberty network "Uncle Remus"
series until around 1951. So I'm guessing he would not have been involved in
a legal dispute over Scribner's series in '47.
Didn't find a reason for the name change. But, in searching through the
newspaper databases, I noticed that more than one "Uncle Remus" children's
record was on the market in late '47, including one based on Disney's _Song
of the South_ (a film released in late '46 but probably seen by most
audiences in '47; in fact, it was still playing in some theaters in December
'47). I also saw a few non-Scribner broadcasts featuring Uncle Remus tales by
what seemed to be local storytellers. Perhaps the series title was changed so
as not to compete or conflict with the movie, the records, or other
children's shows.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:46:26 -0400
From: <jeddolnick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Script for "Ugliest Man in the World"
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I'm looking for the script to the Arch Oboler story, "Ugliest Man in the
World". If anyone has it or can lead me to a source, I'd appreciate it.
Jed Dolnick
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:46:52 -0400
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Norman Corwin reading
I teach a class in OTR and American
society and I'm looking for an article
that critically assesses Corwin's radio
work.
You might try an essay (in _Hollywood Quarterly_, Vol. 1, No. 1, 40-50. Oct.,
1945) entitled "Radio Plays as Literature" by William Matthews, who was an
Associate Professor of English at UCLA. There's a copy on the JSTOR academic
database ([removed]).
Matthews basically gives a tough literary critique of various published radio
plays. He savages Arch Oboler, praises Archibald MacLeish (for "The Fall of
the City") and Bertolt Brecht (for an English translation of his "The Trial
of Lucullus"), and goes on at length about Corwin, ultimately giving him a
very mixed grade.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:46:58 -0400
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 8-10 births/deaths
August 10th births
08-10-1874 - Herbert Hoover - West Branch, IA - d. 10-20-1964
[removed] president: "The People's Platform"
08-10-1878 - Louis Esson - Sydney, Australia - d. 11-27-1943
writer: "Lola, the Lorelei"
08-10-1887 - Hugh Herbert - Binghamton, NY - d. 3-12-1952
actor: Pop "That's My Pop"; "Rudy Vallee Hour"; "Family Theatre"
08-10-1895 - Harry Richman - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-3-1972
singer, dancer, actor: "Harry Richman Dodge Program"; "Chase and
Sanborn Hour"
08-10-1896 - Louis Sobol - New Haven, CT - d. 2-9-1986
columist: "Album of Manhattan"; "Voice of Broadway"; "Bright Lights
of New York"
08-10-1896 - Walter Lang - Memphis, TN - d. 2-7-1972
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
08-10-1899 - Jack Haley - Boston, MA - d. 6-6-1979
comedian: "Log Cabin"; "Wonder Show"; "Sealtest Village Store"
08-10-1899 - Walter Ashenbrenner - d. 11-xx-1981
violinist: WJAZ Chicago, Illinois
08-10-1901 - Josef Koestner - Wilmersdorf, Germany - d. 9-16-1990
orchestra leader: "Ry-Krisp Show"; "Hoover Sentinels Serenade"
08-10-1902 - Curt Siodmak - Dresden, Saxony, Germany - d. 9-2-2000
film writer: "Suspense"
08-10-1902 - Franklyn Ferguson - Texas - d. 9- -1969
announcer: "The Breakfast Club"; "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy"
08-10-1902 - Louise Massey - Midland, TX - d. 6-20-1983
singer: (Louise Massey and the Westerners) "National Barn Dance";
"Show Boat"
08-10-1902 - Venezuela Jones - d. 6-22-1995
actor: Susie Robinson "Our Gal Sunday"
08-10-1907 - Jane Pickens - Macon, GA - d. 2-21-1992
singer: (Pickens Sisters) "Gulf Headliners"; "Evening in Paris";
"Jane Pickens Show"
08-10-1908 - Richard DuPage - Kansas City, MO - d. 6-xx-1983
composer: "Murder By Experts"; "The Search That Never Ends"
08-10-1909 - Claude Thornhill - Terre Haute, IN - d. 7-1-1965
bandleader: "The Judy 'N Jill 'N Johnny Show"
08-10-1910 - Roy Ringwald - d. 7-11-1995
singer: "The Fred Waring Show"
08-10-1910 - Sigmund Miller - d. 8-5-1998
writer: "Inner Sanctum Mysteries"
08-10-1911 - Wanna Coffman - d. 11-28-1991
bass: "The Musical Brownies"
08-10-1912 - Wilbur Stark - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-11-1995
producer: "Movie Matinee"; "Teen Canteen"
08-10-1913 - Noah Beery, Jr. - NYC - d. 11-1-1994
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
08-10-1914 - Jeff Corey - NYC - d. 8-16-2002
actor: "Nightbeat"; "Escape"; "NBC Presents: Short Story"
08-10-1915 - Jack Lester - Oklahoma - d. 9-18-2004
actor: Sky King "Sky King"; ""Whistlin' Jimmy Steele"
08-10-1917 - Kathleen Claypool - Aylesworth, IN - d. 5-5-2003
actor: "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy"
08-10-1921 - Marvin Zindler - Houston, TX - d. 7-29-2007
disk jockey, spot news announcer: KATL-AM, Houston, Texas
08-10-1923 - Rhonda Fleming - Hollywood, CA
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-10-1924 - Martha Hyer - Fort Worth, TX
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-10-1927 - Jimmy Martin - Sneedville, TN - d. 5-14-2005
actor: "Grand Ole Opry"
08-10-1928 - Eddie Fisher - Philadelphia, PA
singer: "Stars in Khaki 'n' Blue"; "Eddie Fisher Show"
08-10-1928 - Jimmy Dean - Plainview, TX
singer: "Grand Ole Opry"
08-10-1935 - Marshall Borden - Howell, MI
actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
August 10th deaths
01-10-1899 - Kenneth Casey, Sr. - NYC - d. 8-10-1965
conductor: "Winnie the Wave"
02-02-1888 - Frank Lloyd - Glasgow, Scotland - d. 8-10-1960
film director: "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Robert Arden Round Table
Discussion"
02-14-1909 - Carlton Moss - Newark, NJ - d. 8-10-1997
writer, creator: "Community Forum"
04-23-1915 - James F. Fleming - Baraboo, WI - d. 8-10-1996
announcer: "Vic and Sade"; "Get John's Other Wife"
05-02-1903 - Sylvan Levin - Baltimore, MD - d. 8-10-1996
conductor: "Sinfonietta"; "Brownstone Theatre"; "Let's Go to the Opera"
05-06-1914 - Ken Englund - Chicago, IL - d. 8-10-1993
writer: "Three Sheets to the Wind"
05-20-1894 - Adela Rogers St. Johns - Los Angeles, CA - d. 8-10-1988
novelist: Commentator on NBC 1936-1937
06-18-1910 - Dick Foran - Flemington, NJ - d. 8-10-1979
singer: (The Singing Cowboy) "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show"
07-03-1915 - Jerry Gray - Boston MA - d. 8-10-1976
bandleader: "I Sustain the Wings"; "Philip Morris Frolics"; "Club 15"
07-04-1902 - Vince Barnett - Pittsburgh, PA - d. 8-10-1977
actor: "Shell Chateau"; "Rudy Vallee Sealtest Show"
07-10-1913 - Joan Marsh - Porterville, CA - d. 8-10-2000
actor: "Calling All Cars"; "Good News of 1939"
07-17-1917 - Lou Boudreau - Harvey, IL - d. 8-10-2001
sportscaster: Chicago Cubs
08-07-1910 - Freddie Slack - Westby, WI - d. 8-10-1965
pianist, bandleader: "Kraft Music Hall"
08-20-1911 - Robert Riley Crutcher - Missouri - d. 8-10-1974
writer: "Fabulous Dr. Tweedy"; "Eddie Bracken Show"
08-23-1910 - John Nesbitt - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - d.
8-10-1960
commentator: ""John Nesbitt and the News"; Passing Parade"
09-20-1898 - Charlie Dressen - Decatur, IL - d. 8-10-1966
baseball manager: "Tops in Sports"; "Brooklyn Dodgers Locker Room
Interviews"
09-30-1912 - Kenny Baker - Monrovia, CA - d. 8-10-1985
singer, comedian: "Jack Benny Program"; "Glamour Manor"; "Kenny Baker
Show"
10-27-1890 - Bob Becker - Terryville, SD - d. 8-10-1962
commentator: "Fireside Chats About Dogs/Pet Parade"
11-13-1903 - Conrad Thibault - Northbridge, MA - d. 8-10-1983
singer: "Show Boat"; "Packard Hour"; "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round"
11-27-1897 - Vera Allen - NYC - d. 8-10-1987
actor: Grace Doblen "Hilltop House"; Mother Malone "Young Dr. Malone"
11-27-1901 - Ted Husing - The Bronx, NY - d. 8-10-1962
announcer, sportscaster: "Sportslants"; "March of Time"; "Radio
Reader's Digest"
xx-xx-1908 - Sheila Barrett - d. 8-10-1980
impersonator, mimic: "Fred Allen Show"; "Time of Your Life"; "Magic Key"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:47:10 -0400
From: <georgewagner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bob and Ray - Possibly Missing Shows?
I have around 17 reels of the Bob and Ray program from the CBS Radio run,
circa 1959-1960.
These were mike-recorded, but the recordist did an quite acceptable
job of it. (The episodes recorded while he was away at work and he lived in
an extremely quiet house.)
Might there be things here not otherwise preserved?
Sincerely,
George Wagner
georgewagner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:47:25 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Green Hornet
Drug trafficing and drug use on crime programs, even radio programs that were
exposed to a juvenile audience was not uncommon. The reason was two-fold.
One, to demonstrate the ill effects of drug use and how it could inflict harm
on their friends and family. Two, that the law would eventually catch up to
them. Progams like THE GREEN HORNET were among (probably hundreds) of crime
programs that demonstrated this example. Others off the top of my head,
DRAGNET, THIS IS YOUR FBI and GANG BUSTERS.
As for WXYZ, I am not aware of any documented evidence of a drug problem
among the staff. Alcohol was evident, even at the local watering hole that
was populated by the staff (known as The Alcove). Maybe in the 1930s alcohol
was considered a drug, but standards of today's society, there is a very,
very strong line between alcohol and drug use. Even in today's society we
separate them by "drugs AND alcohol." Even on the radio programs of the past,
they separated the two by even using the words "narcotics" and "marijuana."
Regarding THE GREEN HORNET, of the first 200 episodes broadcast in the
series, at least six of them dealt with drugs of an illegal nature. In the
broadcast of March 1, 1936 (episode #10), Attorney John Lamont has his sights
on Rodney Harris, the suave dope ringleader who is behind the drug
trafficking in the streets. On the broadcast of May 14, 1936 (episode #31),
Tony Updyke is a supplier and his men visit him in the back room on the
second floor of a gambling joint known as the Four Corners Club, where his
peddlers distribute dope to high school kids. On the broadcast of August 24,
1937 (episode #161), Mellie Meegle is having a tough time competing with the
big chain stores, so he's using men on his payroll to apply brute force to
convince small pharmacies in the city to use their patent medicines with fake
labels on them. Narcotics are sold to the wrong people and the Hornet sets
out to smash the fake drug racket. On the broadcast of September 2, 1937
(episode #164, part two of a two-part adventure), Doctor Mordant fired his
nurse when she discovers he is administering drugs to at least half a dozen
addicts claiming they are treatments for the patient's nervous troubles. On
the broadcast of October 5, 1937 (episode #173), Kato injects an oriental
drug on a gunman of a bigboss and Reid warns him not to inject too much else
it'll kill him. On the broadcast of November 30, 1937 (episode #189), a high
school crowd is being lured into the web of drug usage without understanding
the awful future that was ahead of them and the words "dope," "pushed," and
"marijuana cigarettes" was referenced. And this was just a few of the first
200 broadcasts of THE GREEN HORNET. Makes you wonder just how important the
script writers and producers felt the subject matter was important for the
juvenile audience to listen to, and how many make good decisions thanks to
these efforts.
Martin Grams Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:47:41 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Chicken Heart"
A pal of mine in Metro Washington OTR Club heard a LIGHTS OUT
broadcast of "Chicken Heart" when he was a young lad. This Arch
Oboler classic on NBC originally aired March 10, 1937. In the past
few years, my friend has searched in many venues for a complete copy
of the broadcast but has found only bits and pieces, which he
suspects are re-creations anyway.
Any Digester know if the complete show survived?
Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #194
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