Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #250
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 9/15/2006 4:18 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 250
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      9-14 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      OTR treasure trove on Google Archive  [ Michael Berger <makiju@[removed]; ]
      More Whistler                         [ Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed]; ]
      More Spade/Continental Op connection  [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      Radio in the Cold War era             [ Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed] ]
      Jack Benny's "short lived" TV show    [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      9-15 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      August Deaths                         [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      new candidate for longest (almost) j  [ <wgaryw@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:01:07 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  9-14 births/deaths

    September 14 births

    09-14-1890 - Anthony Frome - Bellaire, OH - d. 1-20-1962
    as "The Poet Prince" he sang and read poetry over NBC Blue in early
    1930s
    09-14-1899 - Hal B. Wallis - Chicago, IL - d. 10-5-1986
    film producer: "Tex and Jinx Show"; "Academy Award Program"; "Lux
    Radio Theatre"
    09-14-1907 - Cecil Brown - New Brighton, PA - d. 10-25-1987
    newscaster: "CBS European News"; "Sizing Up the News"
    09-14-1908 - Bernard Green - NYC - d. 8-8-1975
    orchestra leader: "The Clock"
    09-14-1910 - Jack Hawkins - London, England - d. 7-18-1973
    actor: "[removed] Steel Hour"
    09-14-1916 - Jerry Doggett - d. 7-7-1997
    baseball announcer: "The LIberty Broadcasting System"
    09-14-1918 - Mike Stokey - Shreveport, LA - d. 9-7-2003
    announcer: "One Night Stand"
    09-14-1924 - Jerry Coleman - San Jose, CA
    baseball announcer for the San Diego Padres
    09-14-1925 - Bill Christy - Seattle, WA - d. 2-25-1946
    actor: Franklin Dexter "Meet Corliss Archer"

    September 14th deaths

    01-01-1911 - Hank Greenberg - NYC - d. 9-14-1994
    baseball great: "Play Ball"; "We the People"; "Philco Radio Time"
    01-17-1903 - Warren Hull - Gasport, NY - d. 9-14-1974
    actor: Jack Hamilton "Gibson Family"
    02-17-1914 - Wayne Morris - Los Angeles, CA - d. 9-14-1959
    actor: "Radio Reader's Digest"; "NBC university Theatre of the Air"
    03-22-1893 - Tito Vuolo - Italy - d. 9-14-1962
    actor: Uncle Carlo "The Goldbergs"
    04-06-1883 - Vernon Dalhart - Jefferson, TX - d. 9-14-1948
    singer, composer: "Barbasol Ben"
    06-08-1921 - Gordon McLendon - Paris, TX - d. 9-14-1986
    Founder of the Liberty Radio Network
    06-24-1910 - Cootie Williams - Mobile, AL - d. 9-14-1985
    jazz trumpet player: "Jubilee"
    09-02-1904 - Vera Vague (Barbara Jo Allen) - NYC - d. 9-14-1974
    comedienne: "Vera Vague Show"; "Bob Hope Show"; "Jimmy Durante Show"
    10-03-1899 - Gertrude Berg - NYC - d. 9-14-1966
    actor: Molly Goldberg, "Goldbergs"
    10-06-1906 - Janet Gaynor - Philadelphia, PA,  - d. 9-14-1984
    hostess, actor: "Hollywood Showcase: Stars Over Hollywood"; "Lux
    Radio Theatre"
    11-12-1929 - Grace Kelly - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-14-1982
    actor: "Family Theatre"; "Bob Hope Show"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:01:38 -0400
    From: Michael Berger <makiju@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR treasure trove on Google Archive

    One way to mine the new GoogleArchive for OTR material
    is to limit the search to one source. Time Magazine's
    archives are a rich source of OTR-related stories,
    dating back from the late 1920s.

    A simple search of "Information Please, Time Magazine"
    yielded a dozen stories, including one from 1943 that
    told the story of Dan Golenpaul's disputes with Lucky
    Strike and also included anecdotes related to how he
    put the show together.

    A similar search "Fred Allen, Time Magazine" [putting
    it in quotes is important] provided an even larger
    number of stories.

    Michael Berger

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:05:11 -0400
    From: Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More Whistler

    Re The Whistler discussion:

    And there was a local Chicago version of The Whistler,
    with local actors, on WBBM in at least September 1946,
    on Sundays, sponsored by Meister Brau beer.

    -- Phil C.

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:35:04 -0400
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More Spade/Continental Op connections

    A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of the connections between radio's
    Sam Spade and Hammett's earlier PI, the unnamed Continental Op. I've
    been working my way through the complete Op stories, in chronological
    order. (Well, complete except for 1923's It aka The Black Hat That
    Wasn't There, which was last reprinted in Ellery Queen's 1951 The Woman
    in the Dark anthology--if anybody has a copy of this please contact me
    offline!) Re-listening to a few episodes recently, I've noticed some
    more connections between Hammett's original stories and the radio
    series that I didn't see before.

    Sam and Psyche (aka Death of Dr Denhoff) 8/2/46: the writers bend over
    backwards to link this story with The Maltese Falcon. Sam's lawyer is
    mentioned at the start (name escapes me now--Sidney something), and the
    supposed villain is a Joel Cairo clone, mentioning the Levant not once
    but twice (and even performing a wonderful Peter Lorre imitation).

    The Convertible Caper 6/15/47: features Tom Tom Carey, from the Op
    story $106,000 Blood Money.

    The Dick Foley Caper 9/26/48: I haven't heard this one in a while, but
    as I recall Sam helps out Dick Foley, a fellow detective. In Hammett's
    writing Dick Foley is another operative for the Continental Detective
    Agency, and their best shadower. I heard a clip from this program the
    other day on Sam Spade episode of the BBC documentary series "The Radio
    Detectives." It was a scene in which Sam falls into San Francisco Bay.
    The presenters highlighted this as an example of how the writers of the
    radio series captured the essence of Hammett's writing. I think they
    must not have realized that it actually *was* Hammett writing! The
    entire scene is a virtually verbatim extract from the 1924 Op story
    "The Tenth Clew."

    It's interesting how, two years into the series, the writers are still
    mining Hammett's original work for names, ideas, and atmosphere. An
    interesting side note is--why bother? There couldn't have been more
    than a small fraction of their national audience who caught these
    references or even cared. It's nice to know the writers cared, and were
    making the effort to incorporate the source material (even if their
    version of Sam Spade ended up being very unlike the Satan-faced man in
    the novel).

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:35:31 -0400
    From: Graeme Stevenson <graemeotr@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio in the Cold War era
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Hi Folks.  I'm on the lookout for any recordings of Radio Moscow etc from the
    Cold War era. If you can help, please drop me an email.
      Graeme Stevenson, Scotland.

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

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:35:56 -0400
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Benny's "short lived" TV show

    I was reading the wikipedia entry about Bob Crosy
    ([removed]), when I saw the following
    line:

    "Crosby also appeared on Benny's short lived TV show which ran for
    about 3 years in the early 50's."

    Well!

    According to the wikipedia entry for Jack
    ([removed]), the TV show ran from 1950
    through 1965, with occasional specials after that. Though it was not
    seen weekly for all, or even much, of that 15 year period. Still,
    that's a far cry from "short lived"!

    Perhaps they Crosby authors meant to say that Bob appeared on Jack's
    show for about 3 years in the early 50s?

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:22:31 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  9-15 births/deaths

    September 15th births

    09-15-1876 - Bruno Walter - Berlin, Germany - d. 2-17-1962
    conductor: "Salzburg Music Festival"; "Word from the People"; "New
    York Philharmonic"
    09-15-1878 - William Hard - Painted Post, NY - d. 1-30-1962
    commentator: "Back of the News"
    09-15-1889 - Robert Benchley - Worcester, MA - d. 11-21-1945
    comedian: "Buick Program"; "Melody and Madness"
    09-15-1890 - Agatha Christie - Torquay, England - d. 1-12-1976
    author: Creator of "Hercule Poirot"
    09-15-1894 - Edwin Cooper - Illinois - d. 2-2-1984
    actor: "The Eddie Bracken Show"
    09-15-1898 - Gene Arnold - d. 4-12-1954
    singer: (the man with a tear in his throat) "National Barn Dance"
    09-15-1899 - Dr. Milton Eisenhower - Abilene, KS - d. 5-2-1985
    doctor: (Brother of Ike) "Second Seagram's Symposium"; "Meet the Press"
    09-15-1901 - Alexander Kirkland - Mexico City, Mexico - d. unknown
    actor: "Helen Hayes Theatre"; "Our Gal Sunday"; "Society Girl"
    09-15-1903 - Roy Acuff - Maynardsville, TN - d. 11-23-1992
    singer: (The King of Country Music) "Grand Ole Opry"
    09-15-1904 - Sheilah Graham - London, England - d. 11-17-1988
    gossip columnist: Intermission Guest :Lux Radio Theatre"
    09-15-1904 - Tom Conway - St. Petersburg, Russia - d. 4-22-1967
    actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"; Simon Templar "The Saint"
    09-15-1906 - Kathryn Murray - Jersey City, NJ - d. 8-6-1999
    hostess: "Advs. of Ellery Queen"
    09-15-1907 - Jack Bailey - Hampton, IA - d. 2-1-1980
    emcee: "Queen for a Day"; "Truth or Consequences"
    09-15-1908 - Penny Singleton - Phildelphia, PA - d. 11-13-2003
    actor: Blondie Bumstead "Blondie" Penny Williamson "Penny Singleton
    Show"
    09-15-1909 - Frank Richards - NYC - d. 4-15-1992
    actor: "I Love A Mystery"
    09-15-1915 - Al Casey - Louisville, KY - d. 9-11-2005
    guitarist: "One Night Stand"; "New World A' Coming"; "Eddie Condon's
    Jazz Concert"
    09-15-1915 - John Conte - Palmer, MA - d. 9-4-2006
    emcee: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "John Conte Show"
    09-15-1915 - Phil Brito - Boomer, WV - d. 10-28-2005
    narrator: "Moon River"
    09-15-1916 - Margaret Lockwood - Karachi, British India - d. 7-15-1990
    actor: "A Christmas Carol"
    09-15-1919 - Nelson Giddings - NYC - d. 5-1-2004
    writer: "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"
    09-15-1922 - Jackie Cooper - Los Angeles, CA
    actor: "Campbell Playhouse"; "George Jessel Show"; "Voice of the Army"
    09-15-1923 - Arvell Shaw - St. Louis, MO - d. 12-5-2002
    jazz bassist: "Floor Show"; "Damon Runyon Memorial Concert"; "Jubilee"
    09-15-1924 - Bobby Short - Danville, IL - d. 3-21-2005
    singer: Sang on Chicago radio at beginning of his career
    09-15-1928 - Cannonball Adderley - Tampa, FL - d. 8-8-1975
    jazz saxphonist: "Voices of Vista"

    September 15th deaths

    01-20-1896 - Rolfe Sedan - NYC - d. 9-15-1982
    actor: "Escape"; "Suspense"; "Mystery in the Air"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    02-09-1930 - Garner Ted Armstrong - Portland, OR - d. 9-15-2003
    preacher: (Son of Herbert W. Armstrong) "Plain Truth"; "The World
    Tomorrow"
    02-17-1914 - Larry Douglas - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-15-1996
    actor, singer: "Here's to Romance"
    03-06-1916 - Virginia Gregg - Harrisburg, IL - d. 9-15-1986
    actor: Helen Asher "Richard Diamond, Private Detective"
    04-24-1905 - Robert Penn Warren - Guthrie, KY - d. 9-15-1989
    author: (All the King's Men) "NBC University Theatre"
    08-20-1908 - Andre Baruch - Paris, France - d. 9-15-1991
    announcer, disc jockey: "Your Hit Parade"; "Kate Smith Program";
    "Myrt and Marge"
    09-25-1895 - Jack Denny - Indiana - d. 9-15-1950
    music: "The American Revue"; "The Harry Richman Show"
    10-05-1904 - John Hoyt - Bronxville, NY - d. 9-15-1991
    actor: "Escape"; "Suspense"
    11-11-1906 - Harry Holcomb - Malta, OH - d. 9-15-1987
    director, narrator: "Curtain Time; "Dr. [removed], The Mental Banker";
    "Moon River"
    11-26-1891 - Anne Nichols - Dales Mill, GA - d. 9-15-1966
    writer: "Abie's Irish Rose"
    12-13-1915 - Mark Stevens - Cleveland, OH - d. 9-15-1994
    actor: "This Is Hollywood"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Suspense"
    xx-xx-1880 - Gertrude Bondhill - Cincinnati, OH - d. 9-15-1960
    actor: Dal Tremaine's Mother "Arnold Grimm's Daughter"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:22:38 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  August Deaths

    12-09-1915 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Jarotschin, Posen, Germany - d.
    8-2-2006
    singer: Austrian Radio
    08-11-1925 - Mike Douglas - Chicago, IL - d. 8-11-2006
    singer: "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
    06-22-1909 - Milton Kaye - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-14-2006
    pianist/arranger: "Roger Kilgore, Public Defender"; "Under Arrest"
    xx-xx-1915 - Vernile Morgan - Oak Park, IL - d. 8-17-2006
    actor: "Curtain Time"
    05-28-1928 - Maynard Ferguson - Montreal, Canada - d. 8-22-2006
    trumpeter: "Bud's Bandwagon"
    02-15-1930 - Mary Lee Robb - Chicago, IL - d. 8-28-2006
    actor: Marjorie Forrester "Great Gildersleeve"
    05-01-1916 - Glenn Ford - Quebec, Canada - d. 8-30-2006
    actor: Christopher London "Advs. of Christopher London"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:37:27 -0400
    From: <wgaryw@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  new candidate for longest (almost) jack benny
     laugh, and a   lingering question. . .
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    still catching up on old digests, and i just read a thread from about amonth
    ago about the longest laugh on the jack benny program.  this seems to come up
    pretty regularly.  there's certainly no debating that "your money or your
    life" wasn't even close to the longest laugh.

    by sheer coincidence, i happened to be listening to a late period show,
    1954-05-16 The French Restaurant, while i was reading the digest posts, and
    found to my surprise that this show actually has one of the longest laughs--
    it may not be *the* longest, but it's darned close and i've never heard this
    joke mentioned before in discussions of record setting audience laughs.

    early in the show, jack gets a massage from the frank nelson character for
    $3, the rate being so low because it turns out that frank had been using
    chicken fat as a lubricant. . . later on, jack takes gertrude to a french
    restaurant, and while they're driving, the following exchange takes place:

    GERTRUDE: Say, did you notice a little bump a minute ago?
    JACK: No.
    GERTRUDE: Neither did I, but it smells like we ran over a chicken.

    now, according to my copy of the program, the laugh for this line starts at
    17:44, and lasts until 18:15, a full *31 seconds.*  that's a REALLY long
    laugh, though i can see why it's never mentioned:  first, because it's from a
    very late era program (these tend to receive a lot less attention than
    earlier period benny programs), and second because it's not a line that
    displays a great deal of wit on the part of the writers (it *is* funny, but
    it's just not the kind of line a writer would probably want to be remembered
    for.)

    it reminds me of a question i;ve had for a long time.  there's no accounting
    for the two broadcast versions of the programs before the transcription era.
    i've posed this queswtion more than once before, but never got a response,
    about the line fluffs (mostly mary's) that became running gags in subsequent
    programs, and how this was handled with respect to east/west coast
    broadcasts.  if the east coast broadcast had the flub, did they "recrreate"
    it for the west coast show?  otherwise, how would the folks on the west coast
    understand the later weeks' running gags about the bloopers?  and if the flub
    took place in the *second* broadcast, the east coast listeners *definitely*
    would not have heard it.

    this relates to the question of the longest laugh, because in cases like the
    famous "chiss sweeze" flub by mary, in the recording i have the mistake gets
    only a moderately big laugh, nothing exceptional.  jack also frequently
    talked about this show, and claimed that mary flubbed the line several times
    without realizing what she was saying, and jack milked it by having her
    repeat the line several times.  this is not in the recording i have, so i
    always wondered if the original flub took place in the east coast show, but
    that we only have the west coast show in circulation.  it's plausible, as
    this show was from 1946, before transcription recordings were broadcast.  or
    it may just be another case of a performer's memory not being very accurate--
    [removed], benny always claimed that he and fred allen never discussed their feud
    until 8 or 9 months after it started, when in fact they appeared together in
    the "climax" of the feud about three months into it on the benny show.

    anyhow, it just doesn't add up to me that the writers would make a running
    gag out of bloopers that only half the country had actually heard.
    but it seems equally unlikely that benny would attempt to restage a
    spontaneous blooper self consciously, as this would most likely come off very
    stiffly and unnaturally.

    does anyone have a clue about this issue?  it's always bugged me. . .

    --w. gary w.

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

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #250
    *********************************************

    Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
      including republication in any form.

    If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
       [removed]

    For Help: [removed]@[removed]

    To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]

    To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
      or see [removed]

    For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
      in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]

    To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]

    To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]