Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #90
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/21/2005 10:15 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 90
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  3-21 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  OTR Copyright disclaimer on ebay      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
  Re:ebay and copyrights                [ Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed]; ]
  Orson's Shadow                        [ jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns) ]
  exceedingly early radio               [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Charles J. Correll                    [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
  Re: Amos n' Andy                      [ alo <alo@[removed]; ]
  Jack Benny / Eddie Caroll / Spanish   [ seandd@[removed] ]
  [removed] Ted Brown                      [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
  new book re Orson Welles: a review (  [ "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:02:21 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  3-21 births/deaths

March 21st births

03-21-1867 - Florenz Zeigfeld - Chicago, IL - d. 7-22-1932
showman: "Ed Sullivan Show"; "Zeigfeld Follies of the Air"
03-21-1893 - Sidney Franklin - San Francisco, CA - d. 5-18-1972
film producer, director: "Academy Awards Program"; "Screen Guild
Theatre"
03-21-1903 - Mark Hellinger - NYC - d. 12-21-1947
broadway, hollywood producer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Post Toasties
Time"
03-21-1903 - Nan Boardman - NYC - d. 9-9-1984
actress: "The Modern Adventures of Casanova"
03-21-1908 - Vincent Pelletier - Minneapolis, MN - d. 2-25-1994
actor: Victor Powell "This is Life"; Robin "Calling All Detectives"
03-21-1911 - Henny Backus - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-9-2004
actress: "Romance"
03-21-1912 - Suzanne Kaaren - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-27-2004
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
03-21-1918 - Cliff Norton - Chicago, IL - d. 1-25-2003
actor: Connie the coolie "Terry and the Pirates"; "American Novels"
03-21-1919 - Lois Collier - Salley, NC - d. 10-27-1999
actress: Carol Chandler "Dear John"

March 21st deaths

01-30-1914 - John Ireland - Vancouver, Canada - d. 3-21-1992
actor: "MGM Theatre of the Air"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
03-15-1913 - Macdonald Carey - Sioux City, IA - d. 3-21-1994
actor: Jonathan Hillary "Just Plain Bill "; Lee Markham "Woman in
White"
03-20-1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave - Bristol, England - d. 3-21-1985
actor: Horatio Hornblower "Horatio Hornblower"
05-22-1903 - Ward Wilson -Trenton, NJ - d. 3-21-1966
actor, announcer: Mr. DeHaven "Aldrich Family"; Beetle "Phil Baker
Show"
05-27-1904 - Marlin Hurt - Du Quoin, IL - d. 3-21-1946
actor: Beulah "Fibber McGee and Molly"; Bill Jackson "Beulah"
06-08-1918 - Robert Preston - Newton Highlands, MA - d. 3-21-1987
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Eternal Light"; "Medicine USA"; "Silver
Theatre"
07-18-1891 - Gene Lockhart - Ontario, Canada - d. 3-21-1957
actor: "Nebbs"; "Doctor Fights"; "Abroad with the Lockharts"
11-27-1925 - Ernie Wise - Leeds, England - d. 3-21-1999
comedian: "The Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise Radio Show"; "Bandwagon"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:03:52 -0500
From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR Copyright disclaimer on ebay

Richard Carpenter posted:

Still
others say:  "After a careful search of the Library of
Congress and the United States Trademark and Patent
Office, it has been determined that the programs
listed here are in the Public Domain." Is that all
phony baloney or have they a leg or two to stand on?

I know Charlie wants to put this issue aside as it has been hashed over
many times  and the issue is still unresolved and probably never will
be, so this might not get to the Digest. Regarding that disclaimer the
sellers use on ebay, it is just hot air, as it would take a life-time
and more and thousands of dollars in attorney fees to research every OTR
program regarding copyright issues and just doing a search with the LOC
or the Trademark and Patent Office doesn't cut it. These sellers seem to
think that placing that disclaimer on there auctions makes everything
OK, but in reality it doesn't mean doodley squat.

Bill H.

[ADMINISTRIVIA: Charlie does. He really does.  --cfs3]

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:38:30 -0500
From: Jim Widner <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:ebay and copyrights

Laura Leff wrote:

Already did that, to no avail. Laid out the legal grounds to support the
argument, and information on the Benny estate that owns them. No response.
They copyrights aren't mine to defend, so just saying who owns them is all I
can do. As Mike Ogden said, I'm sure the corporate suits aren't interested
in losing the profits associated with selling this material;

While I generally agree with Mike Ogden's statement, my comments about
copyright were mostly intended from the perspective that the complaint
needed to come from the representative or lawyers representing the
estate and
sent both to eBay as well as the seller.

I would think that ebay certainly won't respond to anyone complaining when
the legal beagles don't seem interested.

Combine the legal complaint with publicity and you begin to wake up this
sleeping giant.

That said, I am not easily duped into believing that this is a cure-all,
never fail
method.

Jim Widner
[removed] (celebrating 10 years on the web)

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:38:57 -0500
From: jameshburns@[removed] (Jim Burns)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Orson's Shadow

The new off-broadway play about a 1960 stage production of Ionesco's
RHINOCEROS, starring Olivier, and directed by Welles--

Is VERY slow--

And VERY mediocre.

The acting is all first rate, and a couple of the "impersonations" are
quite astonishing (Vivien Leigh, Kenneth Tynan and Joan Plowright are
other "characters," in the piece)--

But this is in no way something to rush out, to see.

There IS one funny OTR line, though, anyway.
Leigh, I think, tells Welles how jealous Olivier was of his success with
the WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast. To paraphrase:

"Suicide, Orson! That has got to be the ultimate compliment for an
artist."

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:04:53 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  exceedingly early radio

We have mounted a gonzo huge exhibition at our science museum concerning
everyone's favorite doomed ship, the Titanic.  My major contribution was to
point out that, without a radiotelegraph, nobody would have ever found out
what happened to the Titanic and all its rich and famous people, and we
wouldn't have an exhibition.

So I built a little spark transmitter that I use to broadcast pseudo-Morse
code to a nearby AM radio.  This little exhibit, mounted on a cart, has been
popular far beyond my expectations.  In my discussion, I've been telling
people that while the 1912 technology seems terribly primitive, commercial
radio stations started only a comparatively few years later.

Now, I know that the date and place of the first radio broadcast is an
endless subject for discussion, and I'm not concerned with it.  What I'd
like to know is the date that the earliest well-known,
presently-broadcasting radio station went on the air and stayed there.  I've
been using WOSU, Ohio State University's station, which I think began in
1924, twelve years after the iceberg won.  For that matter, it was fourteen
years after the Great Ship took its dive into the sea that the Mystic
Knights of the Sea began airing their meetings publicly.

But the point of this part of my discussion is that radio technology
developed as quickly as computer technology did today, and I'd like a more
dramatic answer.  Can I get the time from Titanic to real radio down to,
say, eight years?  My recollection is that at least some commercial stations
were on a regular schedule by 1920.  Are there any that we'd recognize by
call letters?  Any in Ohio?

Mark Kinsler

king of the world

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

Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:17:22 -0500
From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Charles J. Correll

The L. A. Times noted this week that Charles Correll's original Holmby
Hills  estate  (Correll was the Andy of  "Amos 'n' Andy" fame)  was just
sold for between $15 to $17 million.  Columnist Ruth Ryon states  that the
initial   asking price was closer to $23 million, then reduced to $[removed]
million.

The home is being sold by its inhabitant since 1978,   best-selling
novelist  Sydney Sheldon, who, among other accomplishments,  created
"Gilligan's Island" and "I Dream of Jeannie."  Correll's 22,000 square foot
main house  has 12 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms; the entire estate comprises 3
acres.

As the house was designed in the 30's for Correll, early radio was
apparently  most kind to the "Amos 'n' Andy"  star. I would hope the
current buyer respects the property and lights a candle for the great
comedian once  in awhile.

Dennis Crow

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 01:00:58 -0500
From: alo <alo@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Amos n' Andy

At 02:17 PM 3/19/2005, C M Fung wrote:
My first question has to do with Amos N' Andy. I've read some material from
an Elizabeth Mcleod

I think of her as *the* Elizabeth McLeod (though there *are* others),
especially with the first of April coming up fast. ;-)

 (actually they were selected answers from her on this
very list) and she seemed to indicate that said show was more than just
racial humour but rather there was some deph and meaning to the show.

This is a common misconception, perhaps exacerbated by somewhat slanted
points of view taken by some. I rather doubt Elizabeth would phrase the
show as being "more than just racial humor" though, at least not with the
implication that Amos 'n' Andy *was* racial humor.

 I'd
like to know what kind of situations did A&A got into? What kind of
storylines did they get involved in?

Is there any material (written or otherwise) that goes into Correll and
Gosden's attitudes on black people and if there was any backlash to the show
>from the black community? or was it universally liked by all?

Also can anyone recomend any books or websites (what have you) that deal
with A&A?

All of these questions are covered in Elizabeth's forthcoming book from
McFarland:

[removed]

Elizabeth is, quite simply, the authority on this subject.

She is also a tireless researcher of broadcast history, whose writing
talent conveys the fruits of said research painlessly to the rest of us.

It's probably worth pointing out (again) that Elizabeth has a lot going on
at the moment, a lot of plates spinning in the air, as it were, and isn't
intentionally ignoring anyone who emails her -- she's just got more things
to do than there are hours in the day.

Amanda

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 08:39:28 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny / Eddie Caroll / Spanish NTR

Here is an amusing article about Jack Benny starting $39 trust funds for
children born in Waukeegon on a specific day from The Chicago Sun Times.

[removed],1,[removed]
?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

Jack Benny impersonator Eddie Carroll is playing Seneca County tomorrow night.

TUESDAY

VITA Tax Sessions, 6-9 [removed], Commission on Aging, 10 Riverside Drive, Tiffin.
Offering e-filing. No appointments taken.

"Jack Benny - Laughter in Bloom" starring Eddie Carroll, 2 [removed], The Ritz
Theatre. Tickets $14-$18 at the box office or charged by phone at (419)
448-8544.

Finally, an article about a Spanish language radio station in Lebanon, PA
that is trying an OTR-type children's show.

[removed],1413,139~10139~2773019,[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 08:40:37 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  [removed] Ted Brown
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Hi Gang;

I'd like to take this opportunity to comment on and show my appreciation for
the newly deceased Ted Brown,  age unreported, who died yeaterday (20) of
long-term complications of  a recent stroke.

In addition to being the one-time host of NBC's "Monitor," Brown spent many
years spinning discs here at WNEW-AM in NYC. During high-school when all
my friends were caught up in bands like Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, and Led
Zeppelin,
I was soaking up the sounds of big bands and OTR-era vocalists thanks to the
education I acquired from programmes on WNEW hosted by Ted Brown,
William B. Williams, Jim Lowe, and Al "Jazzbeau" Collins.

According to David Hinckley's "Radio Dial" column in today's (21)  NY
"Daily News," Brown's funeral will take place tomorrow at 11:15 at Riverside
Memorial Chapel, 331 Amsterdam Avenue (not far from Lincoln Center).

Yours forever in the ether,

Derek Tague

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 11:04:35 -0500
From: "HOWARD BLUE" <khovard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  new book re Orson Welles: a review (Part I)

The Medium and the Magician: Orson Welles, the Radio Years, 1934-1952.
(Rowman and Littlefield, 2005) by Paul Heyer (255 pp---- $[removed])

 Reviewed by Howard Blue

Anyone but an OTR fan might have thought that given the variety of
biographies and numerous magazine article about Orson Welles, there was
nothing left to say about the ubiquitous former "Boy Wonder." The Medium and
the Magician is a long overdue book. Had Welles, never ventured into the
stage and film worlds, his immensely creative twenty year radio career
alone, would have warranted the great public recognition his name still
receives.

Of course Heyer discusses The Shadow, the Mercury Theatre and the other
broadcasts best-known in connection with Welles' career. But he also
discusses The School of the Air of the Americas (1934), The Wonder Show
(1936), a 1936 radio adaptation of Hamlet, the seven part mini-series, Les
Miserables (1937), Living Dramas of the Bible, Standard Brands Presents, and
Drums and Roses, among others.

Heyer obviously spent many hours listening to tapes of Welles' broadcasts.
His analyses of the shows are often quite insightful. In discussing Welles'
production of Dracula, for example, he writes "The musical segue to [Dr.]
Seward's first speech consists of crashing minor chords accompanied by
chimes. It anticipates the opening sequence of [Citizen] Kane which itself
plays like the introduction to a Gothic horror story."

Heyer does a particularly fine job in showing the continuity of certain
facets of Welles' radio work, for example Welles' masterful use of music and
sound effects. In a passage about an episode of The Shadow, Heyer writes "We
then flash forward to a program of organ music, which is soon interrupted by
news that a doctor has treated the Shadow for a bullet wound . . . then back
to the music, a technique that directly anticipates the first part of the
infamous War of the Worlds braodcast a year later.

(part II of this review will appear in the next edition of the Digest)

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #90
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