Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #165
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 5/27/2005 4:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2005 : Issue 165
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      NBC ownership                         [ Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@yahoo. ]
      V-E Day Concert                       [ "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@bas ]
      Jack Benny Tree                       [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      The Ballad of Less(-or) More          [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      1939 NY World's Fair Broadcasts       [ udmacon@[removed] ]
      Hitler's Death                        [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
      Re: Myrt and Marge: 1946 not 1931     [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLME  [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      Re: Radio Minimalism -- Late to the   [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
      Openings and Closings                 [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
      5-27 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Ken Curtis                            [ "Jack Feldman" <qualitas@millenicom ]
      Gap-removing software?                [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
      Mush bricks                           [ Clif Martin <martbart@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 17:18:32 -0400
    From: Alan/Linda Bell <alanlinda43@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  NBC ownership

    A few days ago someone mentioned that NBC was no longer owned by
    General Electric, but rather Vivendi Universal. According to the "Who
    Owns What" feature of the Columbia Journalism Review
    ([removed]) NBC Universal is 80% owned
    by GE and 20% by Vivendi.
    Alan
    --
    _______________
    Alan/Linda Bell
    Grand Rapids, MI

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 17:18:44 -0400
    From: "RadioAZ@[removed]" <radioAZ@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  V-E Day Concert

    I recently picked up a copy of a radio magazne I have never heard of.  Its
    called TUNE IN.  The issue I found in an antique store is from August, 1944.

    I found one very intriguing notice in it.  It reads as follows:

    "CBS maestro Mark Warnow is hard at work rehearsing for a Victory Jubilee
    Concert to be presented at midnight of the day Germany surrenders.  The 'Hit
    Parade' musical director has signed a contract with Milton H. Bergerman,
    president of Carnegie Hall, reserving the auditorium for that night -- even
    though the date is uncertain.  Plans for the celebration call for special
    numbers by contemporary composers, performed by every available artist in
    New York, plus the largest orchestra and choir ever to be assembled in
    Carnegie Hall.  All preparations are being made at once, so the concert can
    be broadcast with an hour's notice."

    I know that following D-Day in June of 1944 there was a lot of euphoria that
    the war would be over within weeks or just a few months.  That, of course,
    was not to be.  But, does anyone know if this concert ever happened?  If so,
    any recordings of it?

    My guess would be that as the war dragged on for another ten months from the
    date of the publication that enthusiasm for such an undertaking would wane.

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 18:39:52 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny Tree

    Hello again,

    I am pleased to announce  that the IJBFC, the City of Waukegan, and the
    Waukegan Parks District will be  planting a new Jack Benny Tree at the Jack
    Benny
    Center for the Arts next  Tuesday, May 31st, at 1:00PM.  Many of you will
    recall that a Jack Benny  Tree was planted in 1939 and subsequently died,
    leading
    Fred Allen to observe,  "How can a tree grow in Waukegan when the sap is in
    California?"

    For  full details, go to [removed] and click on the Jack Benny Tree
    link  under Featured Items.

    --Laura Leff
    President,  IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 19:40:30 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Ballad of Less(-or) More

    Dear Michael-

    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Radio  Minimalism

>     You apparently don't listen to "War of the Worlds" after the  station break.

    Actually, I've listened to the entire show - many times.

>     The final third of the program ... is mostly a

    monologue  ... I personally feel that this section of the program is FAR more
    effective than the first part.

    We'll have to respectfully disagree on that point.
    I think that the first third is one of the most brilliant uses of the audio
    drama medium - ever; the last, seems a lazy reliance on Wells' prose text (the
     one-hour Mercurys often begin stronger than they end.) My favorite section
    is  probably "The Fall of Manhattan -" a seamless blend of Ray Collin's usual
    strong  performance, with hauntingly effective effects.

>     Since Vincent Price  starred in the repeat of Three Skeleton Key, I'll bring
>     up his many recorded  readings of horror stories ... I also commend to you
>     the horror readings  that Ken Nordine did for the WMAQ/WMBQ "Faces In The
>     Window" series

    I've enjoyed Price's work in that field. And Karloff's, and McCallum's,
    [removed]
    But you speak of apples and oranges (both nutritious, by the way.) There is
    a place for recorded books - but not to the exclusion of fully-produced
    earplays.

>     Good grief, man.  Haven't you EVER seen a performance  of "Our Town"?????

    It would be hard to be an actor for 24 years and NOT experience OT (which I
    love):
    Regional productions (was almost in one at Columbia); Grey's Broadway
    version; Holbrook's, and Newman's, TV shows; and Mercury and Theatre  Guild's
    radio
    editions.

>     MUCH better drama than GWTW,

    Much DIFFERENT, yes?
    And you support my point: different pieces demand different presentation.  OT
    might've been hurt by an epic element (though, if I recall aright, Wilder's
    original spare choices were as much necessity, as High Art.) But GWTW would be
     as damaged by an bare-bones setting.
    Another example? THE LORD OF THE RINGS - both film series, and radio series
    - would rapidly induce sleep, if produced "OT-style."

>     And OT is not, as you put it, "small-cast 'chamber drama.'"

    That is not a perjorative term, and it does fit here. As it would to another
    great play, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, which I liked enough to do  twice.

>     The Cradle Will Rock is PRECISELY the example that proves your  position
>     wrong.

    (We speak much more of opinion and taste here, than of "right and  wrong."

>     It would have drowned in Welles' production (which certainly was  a
>     "flattering setting") but it gleams and shines when the  unnecessary
>     distractions are stripped away

    I couldn't disagree more, that all Production Detailing - costume, sets,
    music, and lighting and sound effects - are no more than "distraction."
    Again,
    form follows function; they are needed, as the script calls for them.

    Masters of the audio drama form - Corwin, Welles, Oboler - all created
    "little more than dialogue" pieces, when it was appropriate. But they also
    knew
    full well when to pull out the bells and whistles, when that was demanded by
    the
     text.

    Best,
    -Craig Wichman
    Quicksilver Radio Theater

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 19:41:32 -0400
    From: udmacon@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  1939 NY World's Fair Broadcasts

     I'm currently reading "1939: The Lost World Of the Fair" by David Gelernter,
    which brings up the question: what network shows broadcast, if ever, from the
    1939-40 New York World's Fair?!

    I think I've heard a "Vox Pop" episode and I recall that WOR's Ed Fitzgerald
    was the official voice of the Fair.

    Any ideas?!

    BILL KNOWLTON: "Bluegrass Ramble," WCNY-FM ([removed]) Syracuse, WUNY ([removed])
    Utica; WJNY ([removed]) Watertown NY. On the web: [removed]. Sundays: 9 pm to
    midnight EST (since 1973) 315-457-6100

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 19:50:35 -0400
    From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Hitler's Death

    I was asked to post the email below from my German friend, Bernd:
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Germany May 1st,1945:
    Hitler`s death has not been broadcast, thus the OKW report (supreme
    command radio report)
     brings the news: "In Berlin's centre a brave force defends itself,
    gathered round our [removed]" At 10:53 [removed] Doenitz receives a telegram
    from Bormann informing him "Last Will coming into force".
     At [removed] (3[removed]) a second telegram from Bormann to Doenitz: "Fuehrer
    died yesterday at 15:30
     (3[removed])."

    At 22:30 (10[removed]) ([removed] 6 hours EST USA) the radio news came:
    "From Fuehrer HQ it is
    reported that our Fuehrer [removed] died *this* afternoon [sic!] ... in his
    Reich [removed]", followed by
     a radio address of Doenitz.

    [removed], Germany

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 20:36:36 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Myrt and Marge: 1946 not 1931

    On 5/26/05 5:32 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     Can anyone say more definitively that the Myrt and Marge #1 episode in
>     circulation is not from 1931?

    The Myrt and Marge #1 episode in circulation is not from 1931.
    *Definitively.*

    This episode is the leadoff episode from the Finley Productions
    syndicated series from 1946. This version used Myrtle Vail's original
    scripts, but updated many elements of them to eliminate dated 1930s
    reference to Prohibition and such and to reflect a more
    contemporary-postwar-era point of view.

    Myrtle Vail herself does not appear in the 1946 Finley series, with
    actress Alice Yourman taking over the role of Myrt. Donna Damerel, the
    1930s-era Marge, died in childbirth in 1941, and her role in the Finley
    production was taken over by Alice Goodkin.

    The original 1931 series would have contained sponsor tags for Wrigley's
    gum, but only one commercial per episode, a brief mention of Wrigley's at
    the end of each program. This was considered something of a revolutionary
    technique when it was introduced, even though it had only been two years
    since Amos 'n' Andy introduced the standard 15 minute program format of
    story content sandwiched between two rather lengthy commercials.

    The syndications contain no sponsor mentions at all, with any local
    commercials to be inserted live by a station announcer.

    There are also definite differences in audio quality in the circulating
    recording compared to what you'd expect in an actual broadcast recording
    from 1931. An early aircheck from uncoated aluminum discs or Victor Home
    Recording discs contains certain sonic footprints that are unmistakable
    once you've heard enough of them, but such markers are absent from the
    circulating M&M Episode 1.

    Thus, definitively -- 1946, not 1931.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 21:25:14 -0400
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  FURTHER ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

    I purchased the tape set at Half Priced Books of jim French's THE FURTHER
    ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. They were well worth the momney and it was great
    to have some "different" Sherlock Holmes stories written and produced in the
    old
    fashioned way.

    Paul Urbahns

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 21:59:24 -0400
    From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Radio Minimalism -- Late to the party,

>     From: Elizabeth McLeod

> > >     No story, no sound effects, just two people talking.

>     From: Wich2@[removed]

> >     BUT-
> >     What a mistake would it have been, to produce such pieces as THE

    WAR OF THE WORLDS, or THREE SKELETON KEY thus!

> >     (Though, amazingly, producers did it then- and do it to this day,

    at  times.)

    Interestingly, a radio drama troupe did a music-less combination of
    THREE SKELETON KEY and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS around last Halloween.
    You can download their mp3 files of this hysteric event at:

    [removed]

    In this version, the lighthouse personnel are played by women and the
    characters are named Jean, Louise and Agnes (instead of Jean, Louis
    and Auguste) . The gal who plays Jean is pretty good, given the
    circumstances. Occasionally, the story is interrupted to bring you a
    WOTW parody.

    And then Mike Biel said:

>     Since Vincent Price starred in the repeat of Three Skeleton Key,
>     I'll bring up his many recorded readings of horror stories.  I don't
>     know if he did a reading of the original version of the story, but I
>     bet if he did it would possibly be as good as the drama version he
>     did.  (Remember that there is an enormous amount of narration in the
>     Escape version of Three Skeleton Key.)

    Actually, much of that narration is not in the original version. See
    this online comparison of  Toudouze's short story with James Poe's
    adaptation for Escape:

    [removed]

    The author argues that Poe improved on the original, creating "a much
    more visceral experience" than the short story.

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

    Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 23:39:46 -0400
    From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Openings and Closings

    Randy Story asks:

>     Does anyone know anything about Vincent Terrace's bookm RADIO SHOW
>     OPENINGS &
>     CLOSINGS? Does the book contain radio commercial scripts for various
>     products?
>     I am greatly confused by th [removed] description of this work.
>     Can someone on the digest fill me in, please?

    I've read Mr. Terrace's book and it contains exactly what is claimed in
    the title, nothing more, nothing less. I do not see how there could be
    any confusion about his book, although I may have underestimated how
    the teen-age entry writers of Amazon may have muddied the waters.

    Sample Entry:

    DEFENSE ATTORNEY  (ABC 1951-52)

    Opening:

    Announcer:  "The makers of Kix, tasty, crispy, corn puffs, food for
    action, and the makers of Clorets, the new chlorophyll chewing gum that
    makes your breath 'kissing sweet' present: Defense Attorney!"

    Martha Bryant:  "Ladies and Gentlemen: To depend upon your judgment,
    and to fulfill mine own obligation, I submit the facts, fully aware of
    my responsibility to my client, and to you, as defense attorney!"

    Closing:

    Announcer:  "You have just heard Mercedes McCambridge as Defense
    Attorney, with Howard Culver as Jud. Music was composed and conducted
    by Rex Koury.  Defense Attorney is written by Joel Murcott and the
    program is directed by Dwight Hauser.  Next week: another exciting
    adventure with Mercedes McCambridge, Defense Attorney!"

    In most of the shows he compiled, Terrace almost always has the
    opening, but not always lists the closing. And if you want to know more
    about the above crime mystery series, you'll have to read my PRIVATE
    EYELASHES

    Jack French
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 08:17:05 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  5-27 births/deaths

    May 27th births

    05-27-1894 - Dashiell Hammett - St. Mary's County, MD - d. 1-10-1961
    author: "Fat Man"; "Adventures of Sam Spade"
    05-27-1904 - Marlin Hurt - Du Quoin, IL - d. 3-21-1946
    actor: Beulah "Fibber McGee and Molly"; Bill Jackson "Beulah"
    05-27-1911 - Vincent Price - St. Louis, MO - d. 10-25-1993
    actor: Simon Templar "The Saint"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-27-1912 - John Cheever - Quincy, MA - d. 6-18-1982
    writer: "NBC Presents: Short Story"
    05-27-1912 - Slammin' Sammy Snead - Ashwood, VA - d. 5-23-2002
    golf legend: "Kraft Music Hall"
    05-27-1915 - Herman Wouk - NYC
    writer: "Town Hall Tonight"; "Fred Allen Show"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-27-1919 - Ray Montgomery - d. 6-4-1998
    actor: Noel Chandler "Dear John"
    05-27-1921 - Redd Stewart - Ashland City, TN - d. 8-2-2003
    lyricist: "Pee Wee King and His Golden West Cowboys"
    05-27-1925 - Tony Hillerman - Sacred Heart, OK
    writer: "The Zero Hour"
    05-27-1934 - Harlan Ellison - Cleveland, OH
    writer: "[removed] 68"

    May 27th deaths

    08-12-1904 - Kay Campbell - d. 5-27-1985
    actress: Evey Perkins Fitz "Ma Perkins"
    09-13-1895 - Ruth McDevitt - Coldwater, MI - d. 5-27-1976
    actress: Jane Channing "This Life is Mine"; Mother "Keeping Up with Rosemary"
    10-10-1909 - Florida Friebus - Auburndale, MA - d. 5-27-1988
    actress: "Great Plays"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    10-12-1900 - Ted Collins - NYC - d. 5-27-1964
    announcer, host: (longtime manager of Kate Smith) "Kate Smith Speaks"
    11-07-1902 - Ed Dodd - Lafayette, GA - d. 5-27-1991
    comic creator: "Mark Trail"
    11-23-1925 - Jeffrey Hunter - New Orleans. LA - d. 5-27-1969
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    12-03-1889 - Ferdinand Munier - San Diego, CA - d. 5-27-1945
    actor: Rene Michon "Count of Monte Cristo"
    12-25-1893 - Robert L. Ripley - Santa Rosa, CA - d. 5-27-1949
    emcee: "Colonial Beacon Light"; "Baker's Broadcast"; "Believe It or Not"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 08:18:36 -0400
    From: "Jack Feldman" <qualitas@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ken Curtis

    There are a number of websites that cover Curtis's life. I found them when I
    wanted to find if the squinting which comes and goes was real. It wasn't.
    BTW, Jack Elam's squint was real. He was poked in the eye with a pencil as a
    child.

    Curtis did start his career as a big band singer, and even was part of the
    Sons of the Pioneers. I poked around in several web sites and can't confirm
    my memory that he ended his career playing Festus at rodeos.

    The Festus accent came from a character he played in the John Ford film, the
    Searchers. He was a member of the Ford "acting company", appeared in many
    Ford films, and married Ford's daughter Barbara.

    He had a rich and varied career. I got interested when it appeared that he
    was taking over Gunsmoke. It is played daily in my area at 5AM Central time
    on TV Land. It seemed that a frequently used plot device was to have Mat
    leave town on business at the beginning of the episode, and return at the
    end, leaving the action to Festus.

    For more information Google his name.
    [removed] even has a clip of him
    singing.

    Jack

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

    Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 10:54:37 -0400
    From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Gap-removing software?

    Hello again --
    I have a request which may be slightly off-subject, but it involves OTR
    programs in mp3 format. I recently acquired several programs which have
    small gaps of about a half-second of silence within them about every ten
    seconds or so. Perhaps they were converted to mp3 before the format was
    improved; at any rate, the gaps are very annoying. I have eliminated a few
    of them manually with my Goldwave software, and the result in sound seems
    seamless (no loss of information). But to do so with one half-hour program
    would mean about 200 such procedures at about six or seven per minute!
    Does anyone out there in cyberspace know of software which will eliminate
    these gaps automatically? I've already tried those programs that eliminate
    the gaps between tracks of a CD, and they don't work in this case.
    Many thanks,
    Jan Bach
    P. S. You can write to me off-group if you prefer.

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

    Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 11:49:39 -0400
    From: Clif Martin <martbart@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mush bricks

    An OTR fan's idea of heaven might well be chomping on mush bricks while
    listening to Vic and Sade speak of their mush brick delivery man.  More
    commonly known simply as fried corn meal mush, I get it from my local Bob
    Evans restaurant. Other places offer it, too.    I love it.  No syrup please.
    Just lotsa butter.

    Clif

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #165
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