Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #218
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 7/1/2004 10:18 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 218
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      cassette boxes F/S                    [ zbob@[removed] ]
      James-Jimmy Stewart                   [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      Bickersons bio books in!              [ benohmart@[removed] ]
      Conelrad                              [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Radio Stars on "This Is Your Life" D  [ LSMFTnolonger@[removed] ]
      Why Curley?                           [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Eddie Anderson                        [ "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback ]
      Glenn Miller OTR                      [ "Ronnie Wise" <rwise@[removed]; ]
      Comedies and Laughing                 [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      40's humor                            [ Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal ]
      Curley on NPR                         [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Re: Comedy of the "Marxist" sort      [ "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@ea ]
      Regarding Curley                      [ "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed] ]
      Quiz Time                             [ seandd@[removed] ]
      Today in Jack Benny [removed]        [ seandd@[removed] ]
      7-2 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:11:13 +0000
    From: zbob@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  cassette boxes F/S

    Need boxes to store your cassettes?  I have a pile of new translucent
    plastic boxes with anti-rotation tabs. Similar to RS 44-611.    Fifty cents
    each plus shipping, obo.

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

    Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 23:11:40 +0000
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  James-Jimmy Stewart
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      Hi Gang:

     >>Rick Keating pkeating89@[removed] wrote:

    Speaking of names, it's curious how the man went from "James Stewart" to
    "Jimmy Stewart" as he got older. Usually, it's the other way around, or
    someone is known by a nickname from the beginning ([removed] Jimmy Carter, Stevie
    Wonder, Donny Osmond, Tommy Lee Jones,
    etc.).

    "That's pretty good, Ricky, but that ain't the way I heerd it!" The way I
    heard it is this:
    I always though Mr. Stewart's billing policy was "James" for dramas and "Jimmy
    Stewart" for comedies. I remember seeing a short-lived sitcom called "The
    Jimmy Stewart Show" when I was young.  Didn't actor Robert "Bob" Cummings
    adopt a similar stance? "Robert" for dramas and "Bob" for comedies.

    As for Stevie Wonder, he matured into that name after having been billed by
    Motown as "Little" Stevie Wonder. With some people, old habits die hard. I
    know older people who still call Muhammed Ali "Cassius Clay." I still refer to
    "Stevie" Winwood even though he now prefers "Steve" ...as in one of my
    favourite jokes, "Hey, you, make like Stevie Winwood and go play in Traffic."
    [it sounds funnier than "...make like Dave Mason and go play in Traffic."]
    Hey, Rick, there's only you and me and we just disagree.

    Shovelling Off,

    Derek Tague

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    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:11:29 +0000
    From: benohmart@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bickersons bio books in!

    Yes, the Bickersons biography books have come in and look Great! To all who've
    ordered, they're already in the mail to you. Now I just have to send
    Frances Langford a
    couple in thanks for her gracious support. She always says that her time
    with Bob Hope
    and the Bickersons is what she's most proud of.

    And on a related Hope note, I'm feelin' great because just today I got Bob
    Colonna's
    signed contract in the mail. NOW it's OFFICIAL - he's writing a book on his
    dad Jerry! I
    tracked Bob down because I've always been a Jerry Colonna fan and really
    wanted a
    project of this sort to be written. Ah yes!

    Ben Ohmart

    Old radio. Old movies. New books.
    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:11:44 +0000
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Conelrad

     > Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:48:46 +0000
     > From: "Jim Pogras" <jimpo@[removed];

     > Someone asked about a silent period across the country in 1960.  This was
     > the one and only time that the old CONELRAD system was activated. It was
     > done as a test.

    I don't remember a test in 1960, but I do remember one in 1955 or 56,
    summer I think.  They
    were talking about a general air raid drill, and I remember going down to
    our cellar with my
    sister and listening to Conelrad on the radio.  I remember being annoyed
    that the signal kept
    fading and changing strength and thinking something was wrong with the
    radio.  But when I
    mentioned it to my mother, she said that it was supposed to do that because
    of the way the
    Conelrad system was set up.

    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
      15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:11:59 +0000
    From: LSMFTnolonger@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio Stars on "This Is Your Life" DVD
      Set

    "This Is Your Life--The Ultimate Collection" (a 3-DVD, 18-episode set)
    will be released in March 2005.

    This Ralph Edwards Production will have episodes featuring these
    celebrities who appeared on old-time radio:

    George Burns, Roy Rogers, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Lou Costello,
    Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Bette Davis.

    [removed]?
    NewsID=1782

    Greg Jackson, Jr.

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:12:17 +0000
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Why Curley?

    Robert Sheldon <rsheldon@[removed];:

     > Yeah, I know what "ing" is, but what was the reason Curley came up on All
     > Things Considered last week?

    Part of an interview with Tom Hanks; a favorite movie of his or something.
    He remembered the title as simply "Curly" and ATC's factcheckers quickly
    corrected him.

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:12:46 +0000
    From: "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Eddie Anderson

    A couple of nights ago I watched that classic Bette Davis movie
    "Jezebel".  An actor appeared on screen who looked quite familiar.  But
    then he talked and he didn't *sound* familiar at all. That is the voice
    did not match the face.  I'm talking about Eddie Anderson, of course.
    There was no gravel in his voice.  In fact, he sounded perfectly normal.
    The movie was made in 1938, though I don't know if that makes a
    difference.  My question -- how real was his Rochester voice?  If that
    was his real voice, how come he sounded so different in 1938?  Did
    something happen to his throat?

    Thanks.

       - Philip

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:12:58 +0000
    From: "Ronnie Wise" <rwise@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Glenn Miller OTR
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    I recently bought an MP3 set of 86 Glenn Miller radio broadcasts that range
    from the late 1930's through the war years. This led me to wonder how much
    more is out there? Is there any way to have an educated guess as to how many
    Glenn Miller radio broadcasts that have survived?

    Does any one in radio collectors' land have any rare Glenn Miller? I'm looking
    for interviews with Miller and band members, singers, etc., and any rare
    recordings by his Armed Forces band. Thanks for your help!
    Ron Wise

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    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:13:05 +0000
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Comedies and Laughing

    In speaking of 1940s comedies, the scholarly Elizabeth McLeod observes,

     > maybe it's just that I sense a real pasteurized-process quality in so
     > much of the mass-produced, committee-written, Hollywoodized humor of the
     > forties, especially from about 1945 onward. It strikes me as a *product*
     > cynically ground out for mass consumption, and makes no real attempt to
     > hide it. There are exceptions -- Allen, Benny, Henry Morgan, and perhaps
     > Harris/Faye jump to mind. But so much postwar radio comedy was the sort
     > of limp gag-file jokes that could be read by anyone that it just doesn't
     > work for me.

    Much postwar comedy of the 1940s, IMHO, was ritualistic stuff.  Fibber
    McGee's closet was a highlight of every program broadcast, and it was
    always the same.  Likewise Mr. Conklin's double-take.  Irma's "My head is
    made up" is another.  But many of the shows, for all their banalities,
    were quite popular.  I suspect that for many listeners, each repetition
    of the "funny" material merely evoked fond memories, which might have
    been enough.

    My favorite two radio comedy programs were Jack Benny and what Elizabeth
    calls "Harris/Faye."  I enjoy listening to either to this day for their
    humor rather than for pure nostalgia. My favorite radio show with
    unconscious humor is still Mr. Keen.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:13:18 +0000
    From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  40's humor
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    As Elizabeth inferred, the real 'judge' of comedy is the live audience,
    which is to say the live radio or theater audience, looking at a live
    comedian, not a film.
    I don't think it takes a college degree to 'get' Fred Allen; just a basic
    knowledge of the times in which he lived. If the name Petrillo means
    nothing to you, for example, then you'll never 'get' the many jokes Allen
    and others wrote about this cantankerous, powerful man, a major American
    figure of that era.
    Beyond the topical humor was the rich human character of comedians such as
    Ed Gardner [Archie], and those who never had radio shows, like Myron Cohen,
    Alan King, and the king of the one-liners, Henny Youngman.
    In an era in which ridicule and obscenities pass for humor, it's little
    wonder that someone doesn't 'get' the humor of the 40s, or all the decades
    that preceded it.

    Michael Berger

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:22:03 +0000
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Curley on NPR

    In #217, Robert Sheldon asked:

     > Yeah, I know what  "ing" is, but what was the
     > reason Curley  came up on All Things Considered
     > last week?

    .  They were interviewing Tom Hanks regarding the new movie "The
    Terminal".  The Michele Norris was asking about the element of fantasy in
    some of his [Hanks'] movies, and he brought up Curley - though he couldn't
    remember the exact title.

    Go here:
    [removed];prgDate=18-Jun-2004 and
    scroll down about 1/3 of the way.  You'll find a link where you can listen
    to the story.

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:22:22 +0000
    From: "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Comedy of the "Marxist" sort

    Referring to a post on a blog linked in the Digest, Elizabeth McLeod wrote:

     >Lileks has a good point: comedy movies were made
     >to be viewed with a large theatre audience, and were written, directed,
     >timed, and performed for such an audience. Their impact, and the quality
     >of their humor, cannot be adequately judged by from viewing them alone on
     >a TV set.

    Amen.  This past weekend, I took my two oldest children to the AFI theatre
    in Silver Spring MD to see "Monkey Business," "Duck Soup" and "Horse
    Feathers."  You simply have not seen the mirror sequence in "Duck Soup"
    until you've seen it with a rollicking theater audience.

    Earlier in her post, Elizabeth noted that she has "little use for any Marx
    Brothers picture made after they left Paramount."  Me too, although perhaps
    not for the same reason.  Until I found Gerald Mast's book "The Comedy
    Mind," I thought I was the only person in the world who viewed the
    departure of Zeppo as a liability, not an asset.  Thankfully, there's an
    online international organization that agrees with me: SPAZ - the Society
    for the Prevention of Abuse toward Zeppo.  Any blue-blooded Marxists
    seeking more information should check it out:
    [removed]

    Michael

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:22:31 +0000
    From: "John Abbott" <mraastro@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Regarding Curley

>     Yeah, I know what  "ing" is, but what was the reason Curley  came up on
>     All Things Considered last week?

    I am not sure of the date, but there was an inverview with Tom Hanks during
    which the topic of hte movie came up.  He thought it was "My Client
    Curley", but he host did a query on the IMDB website - during the interview
    - and corrected him.  I can not remember what he name of hte movie was off
    hand, but it was mentioned in a previous post.

    Check out the NPR website for the interview.

    John C. Abbott

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:22:42 +0000
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Quiz Time

     >From Reason Magazine's weblog, Hit & [removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    Commercial History
    Today in 1941, the world's first TV commercial aired.

    The ad was broadcast before a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the
    Philadelphia Phillies and cost the Woodside-based company less than ten
    dollars.
    The same company also bought the first ever radio advertisement (1926) and
    was the first company to make a large sponsorship agreement with a TV show
    (1955). What company is this? Click
    [removed] to find out
    and see a still from the TV commercial.

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:22:53 +0000
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in Jack Benny [removed]

    TODAY in Theatre History: JULY 1
    [removed] - New York,NY,USA
    1930 Comedian Jack Benny makes his Broadway debut in Earl Carroll's Vanities
    of 1930. The revue also featured Patsy Kelly, Jimmy Savo and the Collette
    Sisters. ...
    <[removed];

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

    Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 16:23:07 +0000
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  7-2 births/deaths

    July 2nd births

    07-02-1910 - Jeff Alexander - Whidbey Island, WA - d. 12-23-1989
    conductor: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Light Up Time"; "Tums Hollywood Theatre"
    07-02-1916 - Ken Curtis - Lamar, CO - d. 4-28-1991
    singing cowboy: "Hollywood Barn Dance"
    07-02-1927 - Brock Peters - NYC
    actor: Darth Vader "Star Wars"; "Earplay"

    July 2nd deaths

    01-17-1875 - Minetta Ellen - Cleveland, OH - d. 7-2-1965
    actress: Francis 'Fanny' Barbour "One Man's Family"
    03-27-1914 - Snooky Lanson - Memphis, TN - d. 7-2-1990
    singer: "Snooky Lanson Show"; "Your Hit Parade"
    05-05-1915 - Ben Wright - London, England - d. 7-2-1989
    actor: Hey Boy "Have Gun, Will Travel"; Nicholas Lacey "One Man's Family"
    05-20-1908 - Jimmy Stewart - IN, PA - d. 7-2-1997
    actor: Britt Ponset "Six Shooter"
    06-09-1905 - Martha Boswell - Kansas City, MO - d. 7-2-1958
    singer: (The Boswell Sisters) "The Boswell Sisters"; "Woodbury Soap Show"
    07-10-1926 - Fred Gwynne - NYC - d. 7-2-1993
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    07-23-1936 - Don Drysdale - Van Nuys, CA - d. 7-2-1993
    baseball announcer: California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers
    11-09-1909 - Kay Thompson - St. Louis, MO - d. 7-2-1998
    singer: "Fred Waring Show"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Tune-Up Time"
    12-18-1916 - Betty Grable - St. Louis, MO - d. 7-2-1973
    actress: "Hollywood Showcase"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "So You Want to Lead
    a Band"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #218
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