------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 77
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
broken [removed] [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@delphiau ]
Re:Empire State tragedy [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Re: OTR bios [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Phillip Morris [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
Lone Ranger/Sgt. Preston Crossovers [ FSHillman@[removed] ]
Spike Milligan (1918-2002) [ sdavies@[removed] ]
Radio dramas about King Arthur [ "T. J. Roberts" <roberts@[removed] ]
tales of the macabre [ Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed]; ]
Re: Help with OTR clips [ Tony Palermo <Palermo@[removed]; ]
Saying Thanks [ "JLF" <infom@[removed]; ]
Re: The Shadow and Philip Marlowe [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Johnny Roventini [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
Fay Santello, WOLF, Syracuse [ Duane Wadsworth <dwadsworth@wadswor ]
Re: George Trendle, Fran Striker and [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
"On the Air" signs [ Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed]; ]
Empire State Building [ Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed]; ]
Bret Morrison [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Interval Signal ...- [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:14:29 -0500
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: broken [removed]
I have a question that I hope some of the people with radio acting
experience can help answer (Mssr's Stone and Bartell especially). In
radio shows, it is not uncommon for one character to be interrupted by
another. However, to me it often sounds awkward. Character one's lines
seem to be written to be interrupted - that is, their dialog is a
fraction of a word or sentence, which ends where character two is
supposed to begin speaking the interruption. However, usually there is
a pause between the two characters. An example:
Character 1: "I think were safe [removed]"
*** big pause ***
Character 2: "You spoke too soon, here come the cops!"
In real life, character 1 would still be finishing his line when
character 2 began speaking, and there would be a period (albeit, a short
one), where the two voices would overlap.
Sometimes, this is done very well. An example of this where it is done
VERY well is one of the Jack Benny Christmas shopping shows (I'm at work
and can't look up the exact one), but it is where Jack and Rochester are
headed downtown in the Maxwell to do some shopping. They are looking
for a place to park and reading the signs of stores that are offering
free parking with purchase, and there is a sign at a dentist's office:
Jack "Here's one, Dr. Somebody, the friendly dentist.
One hour free parking with each tooth pulled.
Hmmm. Oh [removed]"
*** no pause ***
Rochester "I went last time boss, it's your turn!"
To me the timing feels just right. It sounds like a real conversation.
Why do some shows like Jack Benny and Gunsmoke get it right so often,
while some many others (OTR and modern TV) always sound so awkward? I'm
an engineer, not an actor, so I'm just guessing here, but is it that
actors spend so much time working on dialog where they wait for another
speaker to finish as a cue to begin their own lines that timing an
interruption is really hard? I would think that in radio especially,
where you have only voices to work with, that keeping each line clear
and separated would be important, and probably something that was
stressed. Is this just a habit that's hard to break? Or am I
completely off track here? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:25:00 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re:Empire State tragedy
"bill Scherer" asks
I'm too young to remember this but wasn't there a broadcast of the Empire
state building colapsing or catching fire or something in the 30's?
Actually Bill, it was an event that occurred on Saturday, July 28th, 1945.
slightly similar to the tragedy at the WTC on 9/11, but nowhere near the
magnitude. [removed] it was an unfortunate accident.
In my possession someplace, is a tape of an Archie Andrews program that I
had the Mutual Recording facilities tape off the air for me on that
particular morning. Unbeknownst to me at the time, our program was
interrupted with a news bulletin briefly announcing the tragedy. I may have
(someplace) a copy of one of the few existing news bulletins concerning that
event, but There's no way I could find it in time for you.
Some of the Archie cast members and myself, learning of the tragedy when we
got off the air at 10:30AM, walked down to a few blocks north of the Empire
State building to see for ourselves. The plane crashed into the North side
of the building, which enabled us to have a very clear view of the gaping
hole with smoke still billowing forth. Maybe the student could read this
"eyewitness" account as part of the project>
Incidentally, Herb Hobler's book "And Now the [removed] 1945" has a
distillation of the news reports about that event, and I'll quote it for
you.
"A B-25 Bomber lost in the fog over New York City crashed into the Empire
State Building this morning at 9:49. Hitting the 79th floor, it created an
18 X 20 foot hole, killed 13, and injured 26. Ambulances from hospitals and
the Red Cross promptly responded to the Tragedy as airplane gasoline set
fires on the 78th and 79th floors and bodies exploded out of the side of the
building. The War Decorated pilot, flying from Bedford, Massachusetts to La
Guardia was advised to land there, but he asked for weather information at
Newark apparently in hopes it would be clear".
That's the best I can do Bill.
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:23:19 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: OTR bios
Carolie Minuscule quoted an excerpt from my recent posting.
It seems that "Radio Credits" don't count for much.
These Bio's primarily concentrate on TV or Motion
Pictures.
Then Carolie goes on to say:
I have long been planning to put a Radio Actors
Credits page on my site, and this comment decided me
to get my girdle in gear and go ahead and do it.
In the old days, Warriors "Girded their Loins for battle" I guess it's now
politically correct for one to say "Girdle"! :)
It is very skeletal at the moment, since I've just
started it, but I wanted to announce it to everyone
and request your help! <snip> I'm confining it at the moment to
roles played on mystery, suspense and crime dramas.
Thanks a bunch! :) I get you motivated and get ignored. Sob, Sob. Oh, the
ignominy of it all. There ain't no justice! :)
Best of luck with your project. I hope I'm still around by the time you get
to the "Comedy" programs. :)
Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Jughead"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:29:52 -0500
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Phillip Morris
Kevin Michaels inquired about Johnny from Phillip Morris. I was the
engineer on radio's Phillip Morris Playhouse for the last two years that
it was on radio. Naturally, someone else did it on TV. Johnny's last name
was Roventini. His brother Frank always accompanied him to the studio,
both of whom became good friends. Johnny was an avid yachtsman and
skippered his 45 foot cruiser. However, the Johnny that Kevin met may not
have been Johnny Roventini. There were other "Johnys" who visited cigar
stores to promote the product. My friend Johnny was a delightful person
as was his brother. However, one of the one's who substituted for him I
was told was obnoxius. I hope that Kevin had the good fortune to meet the
one that I knew.
Bill Murtough
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:49:56 -0500
From: FSHillman@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lone Ranger/Sgt. Preston Crossovers
John Mayer (in responding to a question posed by Michael Browning) mentioned
as crossovers the use of von Reznicek's "Donna Diana" Overture and also the
occasional appearance of actor Paul Sutton (who played Sgt. Preston) in Lone
Ranger episodes.
There are some other crossovers, too, but similar. Paul Hughes (if I have
his name right, a deep-voiced actor) appeared in both shows, as did Sgt.
Preston's announcer, Jay Michael and, very notably, John Todd, the Lone
Ranger's faithful Indian companion Tonto. I believe I have read that other
actors appeared on both series as well. This is logical, of course, since
both shows originated from WXYZ Detroit -- as did "The Green Hornet." I
think I heard Hughes on a "Hornet" adventure once, though I never followed
that series.
"The Lone Ranger" was famous for its use of classical music; I don't know if
"Challenge of the Yukon" made such generous use of classical music or not. I
believe I am recalling correctly when I say that "The Green Hornet" used
Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumble Bee" as its theme.
Speaking of which, I think there was a recognition scene of sorts in Hornet
where young Britt Reid (who, of course, is the Hornet and also a
newspaperman) is trying to talk to the owner of the newspaper, whose name is
Dan Reid, now an old man. (At the moment, I don't recall if Dan is Britt's
father or grandfather or possibly uncle. Someone please feel free to supply
my omission!) Without explicitly giving away his identity as the Hornet,
Britt comments that the Hornet is, in his own way, working for justice and
truth. The elder Reid says that he can understand this. Not surprising,
since the elder is the same Dan Reid who is the nephew of the Lone Ranger. A
great connection.
I may have read this decades ago in Jim Harmon's book "Those Great Radio
Heroes," but time has passed; I don't want to be stealing from anyone without
giving credit! The description of the scene sounds very touching [removed]
kind of epiphany/recognition. Unfortunately I don't know which episode of
"Hornet" it is. I wouldn't mind obtaining a copy, though I am much more a
Lone Ranger fan than a Yukon or Hornet fan.
Fred Hillman
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:50:17 -0500
From: sdavies@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Spike Milligan (1918-2002)
Comedian Spike Milligan, the zany genius behind the British comedy
radio series The Goon Show, has died. I think it had a two year run on NBC
in the mid-fifties.
Here are two web articles at CBC about him:
[removed]
[removed]
Stephen Davies
mailto:SDavies@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:50:37 -0500
From: "T. J. Roberts" <roberts@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio dramas about King Arthur
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I grew up with radio drama, from 1930 or so until 1950 or so. One of my
students is doing a paper on the King Arthur stories, with special empahsis
(for the moment) on the figure of Mordred/Modred. I could not remember any
radio shows about King Arthur and his knights or about any other knights.
Were there any? I suppose IVANHOE must have been dramatized, but I cannot
remember hearing it--and I certainly did spend a lot of my time searching out
radio shows. I listened in the Twin Cities, though, and may have missed out on
shows broadcast in New York. . . .
Tom Roberts
roberts@[removed]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 11:50:48 -0500
From: Frank Absher <fabsher@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: tales of the macabre
Anyone know of a fairly recent (70s) program, either syndicated or on CBS,
called "Tales of the Macabre?" Details would be appreciated.
Thanks.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:24:27 -0500
From: Tony Palermo <Palermo@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Help with OTR clips
Bill,
The news event that put live radio on the map was the crashing of the
Hindenberg in 1937.
Here's a link to an article AND an audio clip of Herb Morrison's
horrifying report: [removed]
Please note that this clip was studied when Orson Welles' "Mercury
Theater on the Air" were preparing their production of "War of the
Worlds."
Here's a link to a history of radio news site with more info/clips:
[removed]
I'm a radio drama producer for the Museum of Television & Radio in Los
Angeles and I suggest your teacher friend also visit my website about
"Radio Drama Resources." I've got plenty of "how to" info for teachers
and students of the medium as well as links to famous OTR scripts and
other good radio drama sites. The link is just below my signature.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Palermo - Los Angeles, USA
Palermo@[removed]
Visit my Radio Drama Resources web site
Info about Writing, Scoring, Sound Effects, Production
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:31:19 -0500
From: "JLF" <infom@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Saying Thanks
I wonder if we could make up a list of e-mail addresses for those radio
actors (who would wanted to get it) to tell them how much we STILL
appreciate their work. Every time I learn of a death of one of these talents
I always think "I wish I'd have thanked them for all the joy and
entertainment they provided." Maybe we could do it before it's again too
late? Any ideas?
JLF
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:33:35 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Shadow and Philip Marlowe
In a message dated 2/27/02 11:22:36 AM, Laurie Platt asks:
What became of Ben Johnstone, Bret Morrison and Gerald Mohr. If they are
still alive, is there anyway to write to them.
***Sadly, none of the three are still with us. Gerald Mohr died in 1968,
Bret Morrison in 1978 and Bill Johnstone about five or six years ago. The
last surviving radio Shadow, John Archer, passed away two or three years ago
after attending a number of FOTR and SPERDVAC conventions and being a very
active member of the Seattle-area REPS (Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound)
club. Bret Morrison was the first guest at the very first OTR convention
back the early 1970s. After his long radio career, Bill Johnstone moved to
television where he starred as Judge Lowell on AS THE WORLD TURNS from 1955
through 1978. --ANTHONY TOLLIN***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:51:04 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Johnny Roventini
[removed] Roventini was originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan (also my
hometown). There is a small display dedicated to him in the Van Andel Museum
Center (Public Museum of Grand Rapids), including his original bellhop
uniform.
--Laura Leff
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:51:31 -0500
From: Duane Wadsworth <dwadsworth@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fay Santello, WOLF, Syracuse
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I worked at WOLF summers and holidays when I was in college 1954-1957. Fay
Santello was Librarian, Programmer, etc. and extremely influential. She had
a helluva influence on me concerning pop music.
The Brill Building crowd beat a path to Central New York to have Fay put
their songs on WOLF's play list. I heard she died a couple of years ago
but I've been unable to get her obit or other [removed] can anyone help?
Thanks,
-DUANE-
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 12:52:54 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: George Trendle, Fran Striker and Tom
Dougall
Approved: ctrn4eeWlc
In a message dated 2/26/02 3:03:33 PM, Michael Browning asks:
A question was brought up to me concerning the creator of The Lone Ranger
and The Green Hornet. There was a third program that he created and right
off hand I can not think what it was. So if there is anybody out there
that can help me, I'd appreciate it.
And John Mayer replied:
This one will not require the scholarship of Elizabeth or any of theother
true cognoscenti on this list; even I can answer: The show was Challenge of
the Yukon_, featuring Yukon King and his sidekick Sgt. Preston.
***Actually, many of us would strongly question citing George Trendle as the
creator of THE LONE RANGER . . . since his primary contribution as WXYZ
station owner was to ask his program director James Jewell for a Western
series and sign the checks. Scriiptwriter Fran Striker (working in Buffalo,
NY) basically created the character and also licensed his early LONE RANGER
scripts to Buffalo's WEBR and Omaha's KOIL for separate productions. Trendle
later asked Striker to create something a contemporary crime series similar
to Frank Packard's popular mystery-adventure novels featuring Jimmie Dale, a
wealthy young man about town who operated at night as the masked crimefighter
known as the Grey Seal. Pretty much everything else about THE GREEN HORNET
came from Striker (the Britt Reid identity, the Daily Sentinel, the Black
Beauty, Kato) came from Striker.
However, while CHALLENGE/SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON came out of the same
WXYZ studios as THE LONE RANGER and SERGEANT PRESTON and featured the same
supporting cast, it was NOT created by either Fran Striker or George Trendle.
The creator of CHALLENGE OF THE YUKON was the largely-forgotten Tom Dougall,
an actor/scriptwriter in the WXYZ stock company who briefly scripted and
directed the BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY radio series in the early 1940s
before returning to Detroit and WXYZ. Fran Striker did work as script editor
on SERGEANT PRESTON for many years but neither he nor Trendle created the s
eries. --ANTHONY TOLLIN
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 14:19:49 -0500
From: Michael Henry <mlhenry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "On the Air" signs
Does anyone know the history of the use of the "On the Air" sign?
Thanks.
-Mike Henry
Library of American Broadcasting
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 14:32:37 -0500
From: Bill Harris <radioguy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Empire State Building
From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed]; commented:
As a young teenager in the forties, I remember a military plane crashing
into one of the upper stories of the Empire State Building. It was big news
at the time and somewhere in my collection I have about 8 to 10 minutes of
a radio station interviewing people who were on that floor or close to it,
and a recording of a man talking on a dictaphone and you can hear the roar
of the plane and the crash. If this is what you're talking about contact me
personally and I'll make a copy for you.
July 28, 1945 a military B-25 crashed into the building. The
bomber was lost in the fog and hit the building. Fortunately the
results were not the same as the the WTC on 9-11-01. A woman
survived a 75 story fall when the cables to the elevator in which
she was riding were severed. See
[removed];CFTO
KEN=33872314
for the complete story.
BH
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 15:27:50 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bret Morrison
In response to Laurie Platt,
Bret Morrison died on September 25, 1978. What follows an exact article that
appeared in the Milwaukee Journal on September 26, 1978.
"The Shadow,' 66, Found Dead
Los Angeles, Calif. - AP -
Bret Morrison, whose sonorous voice as The Shadow thrilled millions of radio
listeners in the 1930s and 1940s, has died of a heart attack in Hollywood. He
was 66.
Morrison, who as Lamont Cranston portrayed The Shadow, was found dead Monday
behind the steering wheel of his car parked on a Hollywood street. Friends
speculated that his heart attack might have been caused by the 107 degree
temperatures in Southern California that day.
Morrison's radio career began while he was in high school in the 1930s. It
reached its apex when he played The Shadow, a wealthy man who righted wrong,
championed the innocent and made short work of the guilty.
He is survived by his son, Edward.
I have a very fond memory of Bret Morrison. Several years ago I wrote him a
letter telling him of my love for Old Time Radio and that The Shadow was one
of my favorite programs.
He was kind enough to send me a paperback edition of "The Big Broadcast,
1920-1950" by Frank Buxton and Bill Owen. On the title page he inscribed, To
Ron Sayles, Thanks for listening, Sincerely, Bret Morrison "The Shadow".
I still have the book and the title page of that book is in a frame not more
than three feet from where I am sitting right now.
As I have said in the past, Old Time Radio people are of another breed. They
are kind and generous, sometimes to a fault. That not only goes for the people
who are keeping it alive, but for the performers as well. This list is proof
of that.
--
Ron Sayles
Make your day just a little better,
Listen to an Old Time Radio Program.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:29:34 -0500
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Interval Signal ...-
The BBC's wartime V ...- for Victory interval signal did make a
comeback after WW2 as a Cold War emblem. If I remember correctly, the
3-dits-&-a-dah played on a kettle drum was used by a shortwave station
called The Voice of the West. It was based in Lisbon, Portugal and run
by the Portuguese government which, under the military dictator Salazar,
was one of the most repressive regimes this side of the Iron Curtain.
But it was also a faithful NATO ally and sought to advance some version
of freedom and democracy. Broadcasts ended with the station's slogan,
"The West can and _will_ win!" ...-
Also Michael Biel mentioned about BBC World Service:
All the other 23 hours were noted by an announcement at X:59:30
"This is London" followed by a 20 second march (I forget the name.)
It was "Lilli Bolero", which I believe was something of an anti-royalist
folksong, and so a bit surprising as an official British signature
tune. I miss it (along with the chimes every 15 minutes).
--Bill
Jaker
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #77
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