Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #353
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/18/2007 10:18 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 353
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      a few more articles on the AFRTS      [ "joe@[removed]" <jsalerno@earthli ]
      Re: Dragnet questions in previous di  [ Michael Hayde <mikeh0714@[removed]; ]
      12-17 births/deaths                   [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Fountain of Fun                       [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed] ]
      Benny's theme                         [ "Laura Leff" <president@[removed] ]
      Badges, Bing, Bowie and Benny         [ Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed] ]
      Re: Bing and Bowie                    [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
      A "Suspense" Novelty?                 [ Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed]; ]
      reels and machines                    [ EDWARD CARR <edcarr@[removed]; ]
      Joe Friday badge number               [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
      12-18 births/deaths                   [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Re: Radio in Cinema                   [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:42:38 +0000
    From: "joe@[removed]" <jsalerno@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  a few more articles on the AFRTS

    or postwar activities of the AFRS

    [removed]

    Also interesting to Trek fans, see the reference on Mr. Spock.

    (it's actually on topic!)

    joe salerno

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:42:46 +0000
    From: Michael Hayde <mikeh0714@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Dragnet questions in previous digest

    My friend Derek Tague asked about the origin of the
    "case" used in "The Big Little Jesus," aka "The
    Dragnet Christmas Story," where the baby Jesus is
    "stolen" from a Los Angeles church by a child who
    wished to give the baby Jesus a ride in his brand new
    red wagon.

    Derek, I'm sure you've read "My Name's Friday" and not
    simply admired the credit you received for the images
    you provided. (Insert smiley emoticon here.)  As you
    apparently have forgotten, I wrote that the incident
    occurred in San Francisco in 1930.  If you ever see
    the original 1953 TV episode (the soundtrack of which
    is 90% of the radio version), you'll see that the
    Pastor of the SF church in question is the credited
    Technical Adviser.

    Another DRAGNET query came from "origami" - he'd asked
    if the radio show ever mentioned Sgt. Friday's badge
    number 714.  I don't believe so.  Friday did mention
    his badge number on the (lost) debut episode from June
    3, 1949.  I saw it in the script, but I've donated all
    my notes to the Library of American Broadcasting, and
    do not recall what it was.  I know it wasn't 714,
    though.  It was a four-digit number, more in line with
    the type actually used by the LAPD (there was no "700"
    series, which is why that number was used when DRAGNET
    went to TV).

    Michael

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:42:53 +0000
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-17 births/deaths

    December 17th births

    12-17-1895 - Rudolph Anders - Germany - d. 3-27-1987
    actor: Dr. VanMeter "Space Patrol"
    12-17-1896 - Arthur Fiedler - South Boston, MA - d. 7-10-1979
    conductor: "Robert Merrill with the Boston Pops Orchestra"; "Boston
    Pops"
    12-17-1900 - Katina Paxinou - Piraeus, Greece - d. 2-22-1973
    actor: "Suspense"; "Hallmark Playhouse"
    12-17-1900 - Norman Cloutier - Hartford, CT - d. unknown
    orchestra leader: "Cloutier Calling"; "Cosmopolitan Melodies"
    12-17-1902 - House Jameson - Austin, TX - d. 4-23-1971
    actor: Sam Aldrich "Aldrich Family"; Inspector Douglas Renfrew
    "Renfrew of the Mounted"
    12-17-1903 - Erskine Caldwell - Morland, GA - d. 4-11-1987
    playwright: "Information, Please"; "Short Story"
    12-17-1905 - Stella Unger - NYC - d. 2-15-1970
    commentatoe: "Hecker's Information Bureau"; "Your Hollywood News Girl"
    12-17-1906 - Martin Skiles - d. 5-1-1981
    music: "Mr. Aladdin"
    12-17-1907 - Frank Gill - d. 7-11-1970
    writer, comedian: "Joe E. Brown's Post Toasties Show"
    12-17-1910 - Spade Cooley - Oklahoma Territory - d. 11-23-1969
    western singer: (Rider's of the Purple Sage) "Spade Cooley Show"
    12-17-1911 - Jennie Land - St. Louis, MO
    singer: "Dramas of Youth"; "Musical Grocery Store"
    12-17-1911 - Richard Sale - NYC - d. 3-4-1993
    screenwriter: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    12-17-1913 - Herbert Nelson - Stillwater, MN - d. 7-19-1990
    actor: Ralph Fraser "Dan Harding's Wife"; George Lawlor "Romance of
    Helen Trent"
    12-17-1919 - Edward "Shrimp" Wragge - NYC - d. 12-22-1992
    actor: "Gold Spot Pal"
    12-17-1926 - Patricia Brooks - Chicago, IL
    announcer, scriptwriter: "Weekly Women's Magazine"
    12-17-1927 - Richard Long - Chicago, IL - d. 12-21-1974
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Proudly We Hail"
    12-17-1928 - Julia Meade - Boston, MA
    actor: 'Your Hit Parade"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    12-17-1930 - Bill Beutel - Cleveland, OH - d. 3-18-2006
    news reporter: "New York 1960"

    December 17th deaths

    01-01-1909 - Dana Andrews - Collins, MS - d. 12-17-1992
    actor: Matt Cevetic "I Was A Communist for the FBI"
    03-01-1914 - Gil Doud - Minnesota - d. 12-17-1957
    writer, director: "Sam Spade"; "Escape"; "One out of Seven"; "Pat
    Novak for Hire"
    07-04-1895 - Irving Caesar - NYC - d. 12-17-1996
    lyricist: "Biography In Sound"; "Perspective"
    07-10-1889 - Noble Sissle - Indianapolis, IN - d. 12-17-1975
    songwriter, orchestra leader: "Freedom's People"
    07-11-1892 - Thomas Mitchell - Elizabeth, NJ - d. 12-17-1962
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"
    08-28-1907 - Sam Levene - NYC - d. 12-17-1980
    comedian: "Fred Allen Show"
    11-14-1894 - James Van Dyk - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-17-1951
    actor: Clyde Houston "Lora Lawton"; Dick Phillips "Rosemary"
    12-31-1921 - Rex Allen - Wilcox, AZ - d. 12-17-1999
    country/western singer: "Country Music Time"; "Country Hoedown"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:03 +0000
    From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Fountain of Fun
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    An episode of Fountain of Fun (broadcast on WLW Cincinnati) was recently
    broadcast
    on Jerry Haendiges' OTR program. He gave a date of 42-12-20 and said the
    show was
    only broadcast 12 times and all were in 1942. The episode is known as either "A
    Visit to Santa's Workshop" or "First Joke - The Christmas Tree". On the
    episode,
    someone says it is the 19th of December. I have also seen this episode dated as
    43-12-19. Does anyone know if Fountain of Fun was broadcast in December 1943
    and/or what day of the week the program aired in 1942 or 1943?

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

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:16 +0000
    From: "Laura Leff" <president@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Benny's theme

    Ted asked:

     > We all know (I presume) that Jack Benny's theme song was "Love in Bloom."
     > But listening to several shows recently, I have concluded that there are
     > actually two theme songs. If you listen carefully, the music starts out
     > with one or two bars of George M. Cohan's "I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy"

    At the risk of sounding glib, that's how Mahlon Merrick arranged it. And
    "Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a much brighter, peppier tune to come tooting out
    of your speaker to catch your attention than the slightly sappy "Love in
    Bloom".

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:22 +0000
    From: Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Badges, Bing, Bowie and Benny

    There was a real cop behind Badge 714 and he was Sgt. Dan Cooke, who served
    as the LAPD's
    technical adviser on the original Dragnet tv series. It was retired and is
    on display at the LAPD
    Museum at their training academy. It was then re-retired on the occasion of
    Jack Webb's death in
    1982.

    As for the Bing-Bowie duet it was held up for legal issues and finally
    released by RCA (also in
    '82) According to a 2006 story in the Washington Post, the original idea
    was to have the two just
    duet on "Little Drummer Boy" but Bowie hated the song. Buz Kohan, who
    scripted the special,
    huddled with musical director Ian Fraser and arranger Larry Grossman and
    came up with the counter
    melody song in about 75 minutes. The stars rehearsed it for less than an
    hour and nailed it. Said
    Kohan, "We never expected to hear about it again."

    As for Jack Benny's "Love in Bloom," it was said Jack hated it as a theme
    song. He would often
    recite the lyrics (Can it be the trees/that fill the breeze/with rare and
    magic perfume?) and then
    ask, "Now what the hell has that got to do with me?" But it attached to him
    whether he liked it or not.

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:28 +0000
    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Bing and Bowie
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I always understood that Bing Crosby/David Bowie cover of "Little Drummer
    Boy" came straight from the videotape when they performed it on what turned
    out
    to be Bing's last CBS Christmas special.  It was taped before his death in
    1977
    and shown afterward, during the Christmas season, a rather sad special that
    year.

    Dixon

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

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:33 +0000
    From: Joseph Webb <drjoewebb@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  A "Suspense" Novelty?

    On the Suspense broadcast #521, "The
    Shot," aired on 10/12/53, there is a curious announcement. At
    approximately 1:40 of this show, as Harlow Wilcox closes the Autolite
    commercial, he says that because of a "failure in our technical
    facilities" many of the listeners were not able to hear the end of
    the prior week's program. He does not give details of the regions of
    the country or the stations involved or the exact cause. It must have
    affected a large number of listeners, prompting a sizeable number of
    complaint letters. He says that they were "mimeographing the last
    five minutes of the show and mailing them to you as quickly as we
    can." I wonder if it was in script format, or as a narrative
    summary.

    The show in question would have been
    #520, "Action," aired on 10/5/53.

    Does anyone have an original or a copy
    of this keepsake? I've never seen it in my OTR travels.

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

    Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:43:09 +0000
    From: EDWARD CARR <edcarr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  reels and machines
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    hi
    anyone interested in reels or reel machines? machines will need some work
    edcarr@[removed]

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

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:18:01 -0500
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Joe Friday badge number

    It was recently asked if Friday ever used the badge number 714 during
    the radio show.  As far as I can remember, I don't think the badge
    number was ever used on the radio Dragnet.  However, I do seem to
    remember him using a serial or employee number.  He's with the
    department doctor for an annual police physical, and filling out some
    forms, and I believe he uses some sort of ID number there.  Definitely
    not a badge number, but a number none the less.

    It's all a little hazy though.
    -chris holm

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:18:44 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-18 births/deaths

    December 18th births

    12-18-1864 - S. Parkes Cadman - Wellington, Shropshire, England - d.
    7-12-1936
    preacher: "National Radio Pulpit"
    12-18-1885 - J. Anthony Smythe - San Francisco, CA - d. 3-20-1966
    actor: "Carefree Carnival"; Henry Barbour "One Man's Family"
    12-18-1886 - Ty Cobb - Narrows, GA - d. 7-17-1961
    baseball great: "Coca Cola Top Notchers"; "Baseball: An Action History"
    12-18-1888 - Gladys Cooper - Lewisham, England - d. 11-17-1971
    actor: "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"
    12-18-1890 - Edwin H. Armstrong - NYC - d. 1-31-1954
    inventor: FM radio
    12-18-1891 - Edward Reese - Baltimore, MD
    actor: Spencer Dean "Eno Crime Clues"; "Just Plain Bill"
    12-18-1895 - Harry Kogen - Chicago, IL - d. 12-xx-1985
    violinist: "The Bobby Doyle Show"; "The Breakfast Club"
    12-18-1897 - Fletcher Henderson - Cuthbert, GA - d. 12-29-1952
    jazz orchestra leader: "Jubilee"; "Magic Carpet"
    12-18-1904 - Montana Slim - Guysborough, Novia Scotia - d. 12-5-1996
    singer: Had his own show on CBS
    12-18-1908 - Celia Johnson - Ellerker Gate, Richmond, England - d.
    4-26-1982
    actor: "Desert Island Disks"; Read poetry and short stories during WWII
    12-18-1909 - George Fisher - d. 12-9-1987
    hollywood reporter: "Hollywood Whispers"; "Hollywood Gossip"
    12-18-1910 - Abe Burrows - Brooklyn, NY - d. 5-17-1985
    writer: "Abe Burrows Show"; "Danny Kaye Show"; "Duffy's Tavern"
    12-18-1911 - Jerry Lawrence - Rochester, NY - d. 9-24-2005
    host, announcer: "laugh 'N' Swing Club"; "Tom Power's Life Stories"
    12-18-1913 - Alfred Bester - NYC - d. 9-30-1987
    writer: "Charlie Chan"; "Nick Carter, Master Detective"; "The Shadow"
    12-18-1913 - Lynn Bari - Roanoke,  VA - d. 11-20-1989
    actor: "Dan Carson"
    12-18-1915 - Bill Zuckert - NYC - d. 1-23-1997
    actor: Detective. Lieutenant. Parker "Crime and Peter Chambers"
    12-18-1916 - Betty Grable - St. Louis, MO - d. 7-2-1973
    actor: "Hollywood Showcase"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "So You Want to
    Lead a Band"
    12-18-1917 - Ossie Davis - Cogdell, GA - d. 2-4-2005
    actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "Story Hour"
    12-18-1918 - Danny Simon - The Bronx, NY - d. 7-26-2005
    writer: (Brother of Neil)  "The Milton Berle Show"
    12-18-1918 - Hal Kanter - Savannah, GA
    writer: "The Beulah Show"
    12-18-1919 - Ralph Levy - Phildelphia, PA - d. 10-15-2001
    director: "Burns and Allen"

    December 18th deaths

    01-14-1915 - Mark Goodson - Sacramento, CA - d. 12-18-1992
    producer, director: "Portia Faces Life"; "Stop the Music"
    03-08-1919 - Mavor Moore - Toronto, Canada - d. 12-18-2006
    actor: Nero Wolfe "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; "The Crusoe Boys"
    03-12-1908 - Eugene Conley - Lynn, MA - d. 12-18-1981
    operatic tenor: "NBC Presents Gene Conley"; "Voice of Firestone"
    03-15-1910 - Nick Stewart - NYC - d. 12-18-2000
    actor: "Hollywood Newsreel of the Air"
    03-17-1902 - Bobby Jones - d. 12-18-1971
    renowned golfer, did a 15 minute show on golf
    05-09-1923 - Connie Russell - NYC - d. 12-18-1990
    vocalist: "The Dave Garroway Show"
    05-17-1883 - Ethel Intropidi - NYC - d. 12-18-1946
    actor: Phyllis Welby "Pretty Kitty Kelly"
    06-14-1919 - Sam Wanamaker - Chicago, IL - d. 12-18-1993
    actor: Ellis Smith "The Guiding Light"; "Lone Journey"
    06-25-1903 - Anne Revere - NYC - d. 12-18-1990
    actor: "Cavalcade of America"
    08-30-1916 - Herman Klurfeld - The Bronx, NY - d. 12-18-2006
    ghostwriter for Walter Winchell
    10-01-1885 - Louis Untermeyer - NYC - d. 12-18-1977
    writer: "Information Please"
    10-04-1880 - Homer Rodeheaver - Union Furnace, OH - d. 12-18-1955
    singer/composer: "Come On. Let's Sing"
    10-07-1926 - Diana Lynn - Los Angeles, CA - d. 12-18-1971
    actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    10-11-1897 - Leo Reisman - Boston, MA - d. 12-18-1961
    conductor: "Sheaffer Revue"; "Johnny Presents"; "Your Hit Parade"
    12-01-1898 - Cyril Ritchard - Syndey, Australia - d. 12-18-1977
    actor: "Best Plays"; "United States Steel Hour"; "NBC Star Playhouse"
    12-07-1888 - Heywood Broun - Brooklyn, NY - d. 12-18-1939
    theatre critic: "Author, Author"; "Fleischmann's Yeast Hour"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:18:38 -0500
    From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Radio in Cinema

    On 12/16/2007Jim Hilliker wrote:

>     I learned about a 1925 Our Gang film called "Mary, Queen of Tots"
>     which featured a short scene showing Uncle John Daggett of KHJ radio
>     in Los Angeles, with the radio station as part of the plot of the
>     movie, after the kids turn on a radio. in somebody's home.

>     I'm wondering if this may have been the first Hollywood movie to
>     feature radio or radio broadcasting as part of the
>     storyline.  Anybody know the answer?

    A related topic would be the use of radios as props.

    "Zenith Radio, The Glory [removed]" says the first Zenith radios
    placed with studio property managers for use in films was in
    "Broadway Babies" released in 1929. Film companies probably used
    Zenith radios on their own in earlier films.

    Zenith had a policy of offering a pair of identical radios to
    property managers with the understanding one of the sets would be
    delivered to the home of the property manager and that Zenith would
    receive several 8 x 10 photos with stars admiring the radio in the
    film. The radio used in a film was usually a non-working mock-up.

    Don

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #353
    *********************************************

    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]