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

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 301

Table Of Contents: 

	 WABC
	 Houseman/Welles
	 TV Lone Ranger
	 The Crime Club
	 Houseman/Welles  split
	 Re: Radio Station Slogans
	 Jack Benny on "Biography"
	 OTR Yesterday and Today

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

Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 12:51:56 -0500
From: Joe Salerno <jsalerno@[removed]>
To: "'[removed]@[removed]'" <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: WABC
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Someone posted recently about WABC changing their call letters around =
1946 (sorry, I had a problem with my personal address book and lost the =
post along with a bunch of other things).=20

I have a transcription dated 1938, taken down by a private studio from =
station WABC in NYC. I'm a little confused bythis apparent conflict of =
info, and I thought ABC didn't even exist until the early 40s- IO =
couldbe wrong on that one.

Maybe someone can add somerthing to this? Or just subtract =
someconfusion.

Joe Salerno

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Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 16:49:16 -0400
From: Bigkids@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Houseman/Welles
Message-ID: <960826163124_269129364@[removed]>

Several months ago I saw a first rate documentary about Welles. Can't tell
you, unfortunately, whether it was on PBS or A&E or even AMC, although I
think it was A&E.

They had an interview with Houseman in which he talked about "Citizen Kane,"
and the fact that he'd basically written the script, with input from Welles.
But Welles was such a megalomaniac, he insisted on grabbing script credit for
the film. Apparently Houseman had worked with Welles in the theater, and
they'd managed to keep their relationship going in Hollywood, initially, but
this was the major breakpoint.

Of course, Houseman was not exactly modest and retiring, and I suspect that
those two titanic egos could crash together and set off a nuclear blast.

The more I learn about Welles, the more I've come to think that I would not
have liked him as a person. But still, he was a genius. Every so often I'll
be channel-surfing and come across "Cirtizen Kane" and it still grabs me.
I've seen it "X" many times from start to finish, plus "Y" many times when
I've run across it and watched ten minutes, or twenty, or thirty. What a
pity, to create your masterpiece so early in life and never match it again.

How does this grab you? A film biography of Orson Welles, starring Marlon
Brando.

To tie this into OTR -- we all know that Welles did a great deal of radio
work, from "The Shadow" to "War of the Worlds," etc. In fact, I recently
heard his Mercury Theater version of "The Man Who Was Thursday" and enjoyed
it despite the poor sound quality.

But -- does anyone know if Welles ever attempted a radio version of "Citizen
Kane"?

If not, I imagine that a skillful editor, working with a dub of the film
soundtrack, could turn it into a gripping audio piece.

It would be a real challenge, as so much of the film relies on visual
atmospherics. But it would be worth a try!

What do you think?

Dick Lupoff

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Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 20:02:41 -0400
From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed]>
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: TV Lone Ranger
Message-ID: <199608262002_MC1-905-2116@[removed]>

>  And the TV narrator was no Fred Foy (referring to The Lone Ranger)

Michael --- The Lone Ranger TV narrator WAS Fred Foy.  In fact, Fred tells
an anecdote of how he taped his narration       in Detroit (he was still
working at WXYZ) and air-mailed it to Hollywood each week. He never met any
of the TV cast until he met Clayton Moore at a convention many years after
the program went out of production.

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

Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 21:44:08 -0400
From: RadioClass@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Crime Club
Message-ID: <960826213530_269451508@[removed]>

Hi Everyone,
Someone asked about The Crime Club.  John Dunning's book "Tune in Yesterday"
has a paragraph about this show.  The host was Raymond Edward Johnson, the
original Raymond from Inner Sanctum Mysteries.  The show premiered Dec. 2,
1946 and ran through the 1947 season.  I have 7 shows in my collection.

Next Subject:
Mike Cervone said that "Adventures" is heard in Chicago on WMBI and WYLL-FM.
 Please, what time, what day?  Trying to track down OTR shows requires the
skills of a detective!  Wouldn't it be great if we could have radio guides
like we have Television guides!

Anne

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

Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 22:38:34 -0700
From: John Cunningham <johnc@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Houseman/Welles  split
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In reply to John R. Pellatt's inquiry of 8-26 about the split:

The classic story has to do with an incident which supposedly happened at 
Chasen's restaurant, during which Welles, upon learning that the Mercury 
accounts were just about bankrupt and that there was not enough money to 
keep the troupe in Hollywood, became very angry and threw a flaming 
sterno warming dish at Houseman.  Houseman supposedly then decided to 
seek his fortunes elsewhere and, as we know, later became a producer at 
MGM before launching a successful acting career later in life (notably, 
THE PAPER CHASE film & TV).

If you'd like to learn more about the split, the editor of THIS IS ORSON 
WELLES suggests that to get Welles' side you consult the Welles biography 
by Barbara Leaming (sorry, I can't remember the title, but I'll get it 
for you if you can't find it by the author) and the Peter Bogdonovich 
article "The KANE Mutiny" (which a librarian should be able to help you 
locate--let me know if you can't find it and I'll do some digging).

For the Houseman side consult the first volume of his memoirs entitled 
RUN THROUGH [New York, Simon & Schuster, 1972].  

Part of what kept the animosity high between the two was Houseman's 
public statements that Welles did not write CITIZEN KANE.  This angered 
Welles who said of Houseman "...if you've got him for a friend you don't 
need an enemy."  Welles also said that Houseman made too much of the 
Chasen's incident in his memoirs.

In THIS IS ORSON WELLES [by Welles and Bogdonovich; Harper Collins, 1992] 
Welles does give Houseman credit for supervising the writing of many of 
the Mercury scripts and for the financial oversight of the group.  He 
finally says, "I owe him much.  Leave it at [removed]"

No doubt the artistic temperaments of two very creative artists also 
played into the conflict.  This relationship (and the split thereof) is a 
most interesting subject area and one worthy of it's own book.

Another Welles biography you might wish to consult is CITIZEN WELLES by 
Frank Brady, although this book doesn't seem to deal directly with the 
split as much as the others.

Now, somebody, how about a good comprehensive biography of Agnes 
Moorehead?  Does anybody know of one?  The only book I know of about her 
is Dr. Warren Sherk's book which, although noble in effort, isn't very 
satisfying.  Isn't it about time someone wrote a book worthy of the first 
lady of radio?!!

Happy listening!

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

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 00:54:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: MAX SCHMID <mschmid@[removed]>
To: airwavesOTR <[removed]@[removed]>
Subject: Re: Radio Station Slogans
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Over the years, several "unofficial" slogans have been composed, mostly 
on the bathroom walls, for WBAI (originally Broadcast Associates, Inc).
By the way, Henry Morgan did Here's Morgan over WBAI in 1959-60, so this 
is close enough to OTR.
	The two slogans that stick in my mind (because they're both so true):
We Beg At Intervals - WBAI & parent Pacifica wwere the first non-commercial
stations to hold on-air fund drives.
and even more appropriate:
	We Broadcast Any Idiot
		Max Schmid - WBAI Broadcaster

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

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 00:53:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: "'A. Joseph Ross'" <lawyer@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jack Benny on "Biography"
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

I've just read in TV Guide that next Tuesday, 3 September, the program
"Biography" on the Arts & Entertainment cable network will do a show about
Jack Benny.  "Biography" is on at 8 PM and midnight Eastern Time.  I don't
know how that comes out in other time zones.

======================================================================
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                                      617/367-0468
15 Court Square                                   lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2573                    [removed]~lawyer/
======================================================================

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

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 00:46:07 -0700
From: joseph@[removed] (joseph)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Yesterday and Today
Message-Id: <v01530500ae4794bb5dc3@[[removed]]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

All of the talk about what happened to OTR was interesting. True the medium
dissappeared from the airwaves, but that doesn't mean it couldn't come back
in a new form.

Mr. Lupoff is right it can't be commercial radio. Radio will not support
radio theater (RT). Which is why I am producing new stuff. While this is a
minor plug for A-R-T Audio what we need to do is support those who produce
new and good RT for cassettes or what have you.

And if it wasn't for OTR I wouldn't be doing "NTA" (New Time Audio).

Joseph M




A-R-T Audio Productions      Tapes Distributed Through
Joseph C. McGuire            Satellite Broadcasting Co.
PO Box 331                   4580E Mack Avenue
Sedro- Woolley WA 98284      Fredrick MD 21701




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End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #301
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