Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #386
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 10/25/2003 11:38 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 386
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: Your Money or Your Life Redux     [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      Se Si Sue                             [ "ASTON" <aston@[removed]; ]
      Zero!                                 [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      War of The Worlds in Latin America    [ "Fábio" <fape2@[removed]; ]
      Short Wave reception                  [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
      violent Archie comix???               [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      the benny line                        [ Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal ]
      Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Hugh Studebaker                       [ Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed]; ]
      Johnny Zero                           [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
      Zeros, Navies, Admirals and Codes     [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      Pics are up (finally!!!)              [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
      The Company He [removed]               [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Remote disk jockeys                   [ Michael Mewborn <mmewborn@designgro ]
      The Legend of Sleepy Hollow           [ "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; ]
      Jack Benny Laugh Times                [ otrdude@[removed] ]
      10-25 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Are Miss Brooks                       [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      RE: Johnny ZERO                       [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
      10-26 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:02 +0000
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Your Money or Your Life Redux

    chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed]; called me out thusly:

     > NOOOOOOOOOOO it doesn't!!!  The laugh for "I'm
     > thinking it over" on March 28, 1948 lasts for exactly
     > and precisely six seconds; that would be 54-seconds
     > short of "a full minute".

    And, of course, he's right; I pulled out my copy of that show for the first
    time in years and, not only does the famous reply get a mere six seconds'
    worth of response (although Benny Rubin does step on the tail of that laugh
    a bit awkwardly, as if the show's producer [Hilliard Marks by this time?)
    gave him a bit of a speed-up cue; it could also just have been
    less-than-perfect timing on Rubin's part], the recital of the -straight-
    line gets =seven= seconds!

    (Oh, well, just shows one shouldn't rely on memory without disclosing [removed])

    Some comedians just have that knack, the ability to so build up a persona
    over time that audiences will laugh -in anticipation- of a gag line. Benny
    (obviously) had it; Johnny Carson would later; Groucho Marx was so gifted
    in this area that he actually complained about it on his quiz program when
    a completely innocent (but double-entendrable) remark by a guest elicited a
    huge -- and very dirty -- laugh from the audience.

    I'm wondering how many other examples there are of shows or talent that
    regularly got this sort of response from an ostensibly non-funny remark or
    situation -- or even nothing happening at all. I can think of times, for
    instance, when the McGees' closet door opened to utter silence, or on The
    Big Show, the knowing chuckles every Fred Allen mention of quiz programs
    would receive from prematurely media-savvy audiences on both coasts.

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:13 +0000
    From: "ASTON" <aston@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Se Si Sue

    Okay everybody, I need a bit a help.  The $.50 to a Bum -- Your Money or
    your life has been answered nicely   I need to know the date of the Jack
    Benny Show where he an Mel Blnac first did the Se, Si, Sue routine.  I could
    search and eventually locate the show, but maybe by asking here  the task
    would be a lot easier and quicker.  Any help would be much appreciated.

    Don Aston
    avpro@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:21 +0000
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Zero!

    Chris Holm, speaking of the Japanese aircraft, A6M, Zero-Sen, noted,

     > The Zero was light and maneuverable, and made an excellent dogfighter
     > early
     > in the war.  It was more than a match for the P40 Tomahawk, and special
     > hit
     > and run tactics were developed to fight the zero.

    Well, the Zero, with a good light design and lack of such things as
    self-sealing fuel tanks was indeed quite maneuverable.  But the P-40 held
    its own in the Pearl Harbor attack.  Lieutenants Taylor and Welch engaged
    several Zeroes and shot down seven aircraft, flying P-40s.  A Zero was
    captured nearly intact in 1942, and a number of [removed] pilots flew it and
    became familiar with its flight characteristics.  This aided in
    determining tactics for engagements.

    To put an OTR spin on this, the basic aircraft shown on the 1942,
    1946-1948 manuals that accompanied those years' Code-O-Graph were all
    P-40 variants.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:30 +0000
    From: "Fábio" <fape2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  War of The Worlds in Latin America

    Hi Joe,

    I saw your message and I think I can tell you something
    about some adaptations of The War of The Worlds in Latin
    America.

    I am a Brazilian PhD candidate writing a thesis on it and
    since you mentioned its adaptation in Latin America and
    couldn't remember where it was done, you might be surprised
    to learn that only in Brazil there were at least two
    different versions of it in Portuguese (one made at the
    university where I study and another one in the Northeast
    of Brazil).

    I also heard about, but cannot tell with certainty that
    other adaptations might have taken place in Chile,
    Venezuela and Mexico. Should anyone have any information on
    adaptations made there or in other countries, I would like
    very much to learn about.

    So far as I know, none of the adaptations caused any panic
    after Orson Welles' experience in 1938.

    Best regards from

    Fábio L. S. Pietraroia

    =====
    Fábio Lacerda Soares Pietraroia
    Alameda Jaú, 150. Ap. 13-A
    01420-000  São Paulo-SP
    Brazil

    fones: (11)3262-3435
          e (11)9443-7144

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:39 +0000
    From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Short Wave reception

    Pete writes:

     > Try running a single strand of wire 30 feet in length
     > verticle. Isolate it with insulators from where it is
     > attached and you will be amazed at what you will hear
     > and the cost is not really that much. One further bit
     > of advice is that if you can ground your radio that
     > will also help a lot.

    You might have less noise pickup if you run your antenna horizontal. Noise
    from sources such as power lines, motors, and other man-made devices is
    mostly vertically polarized and a vertical antenna tends to pick up these
    noise sources whereas a horizontal antenna will not be as sensitive to
    them. It is kind of a crap shoot, try it both ways.

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:47 +0000
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  violent Archie comix???

    Re: Archie comics:

     >> Actually, they weren't above a little ride on the Violence bandwagon: under
     >> their "Red Circle" imprint, they tried to squeeze a bit of blood out of the
     >> Marvel-inspired '70's Horror Comics mini-revival. Nothing as gory as the
     >> '50's stuff, and the run didn't last very long - but they DID try to go
     >> beyond Riverdale!
     >
     > Really? Archie and Veronica and them? Huh???
     > Can you explain this a bit more?

    I don't recall anything resembling gore in an Archie comic since the time
    when Archie concealed his arm beneath a sweater and taped on a mannequin
    arm (I believe Jughead had found one) in its place. Archie then added a
    ripe tomato in the shoulder of the mannequin arm, and went off to confront
    Moose. True to form, Moose grabbed Archie's 'arm,' only to tear it off. The
    tomato provided the requisite blood, sending Moose into shock.

    M Kinsler

    who always wondered why Midge put up with Moose. [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:41:58 +0000
    From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  the benny line
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Is it possible that the mistaken memories of the big buildup laughter of
    the "money or your life" Benny line was based not on any radio broadcast,
    but a TV version of the line, in which Jack is seen closeup in a driving
    rainstorm, the water dribbling off his face, as he ponders the answer. That
    buildup was, as I recall, 10-15 seconds, but it's equally possible that the
    "laughter" was canned.

    Michael Berger

    Please reply to: intercom1@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:42:24 +0000
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Today in radio history

     From Those Were The Days --

    10/24

    1929 - The Rudy Vallee Show was broadcast for the first time on NBC.
    Actually, the Rudy Vallee show had several different titles over the years,
    all of which were referred to by the public as The Rudy Vallee Show.
    Megaphone-totin' Rudy and his Connecticut Yankees band were mainstays on
    radio into the late 1940s.

    10/25

    1937 - Stella Dallas made her debut on the NBC Red network. Stella hung out
    on NBC until 1955 with Anne Elstner in the title role for the entire run.
    Stella Dallas was "A continuation on the air of the true-life story of
    mother love and sacrifice, in which Stella saw her own beloved daughter,
    Laurel, marry into wealth and society, and realizing the difference in
    their tastes and worlds, went out of Laurel's life."

    10/26

    1935 - A talented twelve-year-old sang on Wallace Beery's NBC show. Judy
    Garland delighted the appreciative audience. The young girl would soon be
    in pictures and at the top of stardom. It would be only four years before
    Ms. Garland (George Jessel gave her the name, thinking it would be better
    than her own, Frances Gumm) captured the hearts of moviegoers everywhere
    with her performance as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

    Joe

    --
    Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:42:41 +0000
    From: Allen J Hubin <ajhubin@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Hugh Studebaker

    Laurie Platt asks about Hugh Studebaker.  This is what
    Luther Sies (in Encyclopedia of American Radio 1920-
    1960) has to say:

    "Actor, singer and organist Studebaker was born May 31,
    1900.  He made his first radio appearance on a Council
    Bluffs, Iowa station performing a song and piano act in
    1928. Shortly thereafter, he played the organ on Ted
    Malone's program (WLW, Cincinatti, OH). His later
    career was mostly devoted to roles on numerous daytime
    dramatic serials."

    According to the Social Security Death Benefits records,
    he died in May 1978 in Encino, California.

    Al Hubin

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

    Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 13:42:54 +0000
    From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Johnny Zero

    <Regarding the recent posts about the Japanese "Zero" airplane and the
    [removed];

    The radio connection for this list? There was a popular WWII song called
    "Johnny Zero" on the radio about real USAAF enlisted man, John Foley, a
    clerk-typist from Chicago, who was eager for combat.  Some rumored that he
    forged his orders assigning him to the South Pacific.  Although he had no
    gunnery training, he volunteered as a gunner and was assigned to the crew of
    a Martin B-26 bomber.

    The song, (written by David and Lawnhurst) had lyrics "Johnny got a zero,
    today" when he shot down a Zero fighter on his first mission, albeit without
    direct orders to fire his machine gun at that time.  Members of the 19th
    Bomb Squadron confirmed his victory and a war correspondent nicknamed him
    "Johnny Zero."   The song was recorded by Ozzie Nelson's Orchestra with
    vocalist, Harriet Hilliard (yet another OTR connection for this list!)

    Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:48:48 +0000
    From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Zeros, Navies, Admirals and Codes

    In 384, Mark Kinsler wrote:

     > It was designed to operate from aircraft carriers and,
     > along with the superb seamanship of the Japanese navy
     > in general, was able to beat the stuffing out of Allied
     > forces in the first few years of World War II.

    Yamamoto, who had a significant role in the early sucess of the Japanese
    navy, is sort of a minor hero in cryptography circles - mainly as an
    example of what happens when you have bad crypto.  The Allied code breaking
    efforts had pretty much broken most Japanese codes, and Allied naval
    victories were often the direct result of the codebreakers knowing the
    position of the Japanese fleet.  Even Yamamoto's death (his plane was shot
    down) was because the Navy knew where his plane would be.

    Perhaps he needed a Captain Midnight code-o-graph.

    -chris holm

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:50:47 +0000
    From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Pics are up (finally!!!)

    Folks;

        Sorry it took so long, but what can I [removed]'s a whole lot to do
    here, and not much time to do it in!

        Anyway, some pics are up at:

    [removed]

        ...the photo pages take a while to load on a dialup (trust [removed] I know ;)

              Charlie

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:50:58 +0000
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Company He [removed]

     > From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];

    ...had dinner last evening with Hal Stone and his lovely wife Dorothy
    (she's the smart one). <

    Charlie's lovely wife Annie was there as well (...should I reiterate the
    paranthetical part, [removed])

     > Also at our table were Joyce Randolph, Lynne Rogers, Teri Keane, Ruth
    Last, and the Digest's own Craig Wichman, so eat your heart out. <

    Nice ladies, all. But (don't tell The Wife!), either because she sat next
    to me at din-din, or because she was so dang good when we shared at mic in
    MAITLAND AT LARGE, I think I've got a crush on Ms. [removed]

    And lemme tell ya - (Hal, maybe you'll see this in a few days?): if some
    producer doesn't corral "Hastings & Stone" into a revival tour of THE
    SUNSHINE BOYS, they're missing a bet! (Of course, they'd have to wear
    POUNDS of aging [removed]).

    Seriously, if you're within striking distance, come out. The Big Guns are
    Good Eggs.
    (Miss you, Barbara W.!)
    Best,
    Craig "Eugene Fiske" Wichman

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:51:24 +0000
    From: Michael Mewborn <mmewborn@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Remote disk jockeys

    This is marginally OTR related.

    I remember as a teen (and after television became the mainstay occupier of the
    evening hours) that various of the teen hangouts had remote radio disk
    jockeys who
    played songs with dedications submitted by customers. I remember driving to
    Doug
    Broome's Drive-In to make a request, then racing back to Seawell's Drive-In to
    watch the surprised looks on the faces of those to whom the dedications
    were made.

    My questions are: Where did this start? When? Who paid for it (radio station or
    restaurant)?

    The disk jockey frequently occupied a glass booth that was high above the
    restaurant and offered a good view of him (usually) and whatever he was doing.
    People would drive by and blow their horns and he would acknowledge them,
    sometimes with disparaging comments about the car or its occupants.

    See, this has a radio connection.

    Thanks,

    Michael

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:51:38 +0000
    From: "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Hi all,

    As Halloween approaches and I grab all my favorite OTR Halloween type stuff
    to share with my Sons it occured to me
    that I don't have an OTR version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
    I'm assuming that it must have been done at some point.
    If it was done more than once, what would be considered the the best version?
    Would someone be interested in a trade of some kind so I could get it?
    Thanks
    Bill
    PS.  One of the favorites is the Archie Andrews episode where Archie throws
    a Halloween party.
    Thanks Jughead.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:51:47 +0000
    From: otrdude@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Jack Benny Laugh Times
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    In the public interest, I listened to the previously mentioned Jack Benny
    episodes and measured the laugh times. Here is what I found:

    3-2-48 I'm thinking it over  - 6 seconds

    4-14-46 Hello, Louella - 12 seconds

    4-25-48 Oh, shut up - 23 seconds

    1-8-50 Dreer Pooson - 26 seconds

    Andrew Steinberg
    otrdude@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:52:05 +0000
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-25 births/deaths

    October 25th births

    10-25-1882 - Richard Gordon - Bridgeport, CT - d. 12-1967
    actor: Sherlock Holmes, "Advs. of Sherlock Holmes"; Jim Barrett, "Valiant Lady"
    10-25-1891 - Father Charles Coughlin - Hamilton, Canada - d. 10-27-1979
    commentator, preacher: (The Radio Priest)
    10-25-1901 - Daniel Landt - Scranton, PA - d. 2-24-1961
    singer: Landt Trio, "Doc Pearson"s Drug Store"; "Bob Hawk Show"
    10-25-1901 - Walter T. Butterworth - Wallingford, PA - d. 3-10-1962
    emcee: "Molle Merry Minstrels"; "Vox Pox"; "Take a Card"
    10-25-1909 - True Boardman - Seattle, WA - d. 8-4-2003
    writer, narrator: "Silver Theatre"; "Favorite Story"
    10-25-1912 - Minnie Pearl - Centerville, TN - d. 3-4-1996
    comedienne: (Queen of Country Comedy) "Grand Ole Opry"
    10-25-1914 - John Reed King - Atlantic City, NJ - d. 7-8-1979
    announcer, actor:"Columbia Workshop"; Schuyler 'Sky" King " "Sky King"
    10-25-1924 - Billy Barty - Millsboro, PA - d. 12-23-2000
    comedian: "Spike Jones Band"
    10-25-1927 - Barbara Cook - Atlanta, GA
    actress: Julie Boyd "Great Merlini"
    10-25-1928 - Marion Ross - Albert Lea, MN
    actress: Lux Radio Theatre

    October 25th deaths

    02-12-1919 - Forrest Tucker - Plainfield, IN - d. 10-25-1986
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    05-27-1911 - Vincent Price - St. Louis, MO - d. 10-25-1993
    actor: Simon Templar "The Saint"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    06-19-1908 - Mildred Natwick - Baltimore, MD - d. 10-25-1994
    actress: "Starring Boris Karloff"; "Best Plays"; "Campbell Playhouse"
    09-14-1907 - Cecil Brown - New Brighton, PA - d. 10-25-1987
    newscaster: "CBS European News"; "Sizing Up the News"
    11-14-1901 - Morton Downey - Wallingford, CT  - d. 10-25-1985
    singer: (The Irish Thrush), "Morton Downey Show"; "Songs by Morton Downey"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:52:22 +0000
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Are Miss Brooks

    Hi Everybody,

    in the last digest a request was ask about the Are Miss Brooks Christmas
    show.  In fact three people are still with us from that show.  Bob Le mond,
    who I just talk to on Tuesday to discuss a telephone interview on Yesterday
    USA, Gloria McMillian is still around.  She and he husband ran an acting
    school in California.  Frank Bresee played the little boy part.  He did not
    get credit for the only time he worked the show, but I will ask him on
    tonight broadcast.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:52:30 +0000
    From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Johnny ZERO

       Russ B. recently posted about the WWII song called "Johnny Zero", heard
    on the radio in 1943 (for example, on "Your Hit Parade" and on "The Victory
    Parade Of Spotlight Bands").  On a broadcast of the latter-named show,
    Harriet Hilliard sang the song, which plays with the word "zero": Johnny
    used to be a poor student getting lowly "zero" scores on school tests.  But
    he becomes a pilot and gets "zeros" again but this time it refers to
    shooting down Japanese "Zero" fighter planes.

       You can see the lyrics on the web page below, but they got the song's
    composers' names wrong - should be, as Russ said, David and Lawnhurst.  But
    they got the lyrics right (or at least mostly right).

    [removed]~rickheit/dtrad/[removed]

       -- Phil C.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Oct 2003 12:52:42 +0000
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  10-26 births/deaths

    October 26th births

    10-26-1876 - [removed] Warner - London, England . d. 12-21-1958
    actor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    10-26-1911 - Mahalia Jackson - New Orleans, LA - d. 1-27-1972
    gospel singer: (The Angel of Peace)
    10-26-1914 - Jackie Coogan - Los Angeles, CA - d. 3-1-1984
    actor: Ernest Botch "Forever Ernest"

    October 26th deaths

    03-08-1902 - Louise Beavers - Cincinnati, OH - d. 10-26-1962
    actress: Beulah "Beulah"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    06-10-1895 - Hattie McDaniel - Wichita, KS - d. 10-26-1952
    actress: Beulah "Beulah"; Mammy "Maxwell House Showboat"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #386
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