Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #220
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 5/30/2003 9:03 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 220
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Bob Hope Recognized by National Revi  [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      The World's Greatest Novella          [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      I let you down?                       [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
      boone and godfrey                     [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
      Circle City                           [ "Jody Davis" <baroygis@[removed]; ]
      the man who loved dickens             [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
      Orson Welles                          [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
      Indianapolis 500 and Eddie Sachs      [ "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@prodig ]
      Dickens on Radio                      [ Philipmarus@[removed] ]
      Re:Let George Do It                   [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      Re: Bob Hope                          [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      Re: Just The Facts                    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Full Gallop                           [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
      Re: Let George Do It                  [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
      Ed Begley                             [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      Mariah Carey                          [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      Re: Billie the Brownie                [ "[removed] George" <yourstruly@[removed]; ]
      Ed Begley, Inherit the Wind, & Halls  [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
      Nightfall                             [ passage@[removed] ]
      May 31st birthdays                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 20:18:27 -0400
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bob Hope Recognized by National Review

    National Review Online ran a very nice tribute to Bob Hope today, available
    here:
    [removed] .

    I do take issue with the writer's position on how influential Hope was as a
    comedian - particularly with the idea that he and not Jack Benny was best
    known for hiring a team of writers and recognizing their work.  The article
    also unfairly lumps Benny into a group of comedians doing exaggerated comedy
    based on stereotypes when Hope was doing sophisticated political humor. Um,
    if the byplay between Jack and Rochester was somehow less sophisticated than
    Hope's stooging around with Jerry Colona, I'd like to hear the argument.

    It is pretty cool that the writer made reference to Hope's radio show as a
    central part of his career when so many of these tributes only cover the
    movies and camp visits.

    All in all a good article for OTR fans on a day when there will be a lot of
    them.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 21:27:46 -0400
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The World's Greatest Novella

>     From: FMazzar771@[removed]
>     To: [removed]@[removed]

>     does anybody have a list of or know where i can go to find a list of radio
>     shows based on charles dickens [removed] assume that the Christmas Carol
>     and Tale  of Two Cities and David Copperfield are obvious
>     Frank Thomas

    Dear Frank, & [removed]
    Well, though I yield to no one in my fondness for the Mercury/Barrymore
    CAROL, my group did one seven years ago; in fact, it was our first production
    - much thanks to list member Max Schmid! It was a labor of love, and most
    listeners have heard the love in [removed]
    (By the by, said group is rehearsing our very first golden age recreation -
    the wartime homefront serial HASTEN THE DAY -for the book publication party
    of yet another lister, Howard Blue).
    And that group is -
    Quicksilver Radio Theater.
    Best,
    Craig Wichman

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

    Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 22:15:57 -0400
    From: JackBenny@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  I let you down?
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Roby McHone wrote:

>     I can't believe that no one mentioned the most easily recognized voices in
>     radio, all stars from the same series: Jack Benny, Don Wilson, Mary
>     Livingston Benny, Eddie-Rochester-Anderson and my favorite (whose name I
>     can't spell) Bea Benaderit.  Laura, you let me down on this one.

    Gosh, I'm sorry.  I thought the question was about very recognizable voices
    who were *unknown* to the average listener.  I'll argue a bit with Bea
    Benaderet, [removed]!  Who played Mabel and who played Gertrude?  I
    think it
    will be mostly hardcore fans that will know that Gertrude was played by Bea,
    since the two voices were rather similar.  I've also had people hear Sara
    Berner
    and claim it was Benaderet, just because they heard the same sort of nasal
    Brooklyn sound.

    But I'll try to be sharper next time.

    --Laura Leff
    President, IJBFC
    [removed]

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

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

    Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 22:58:37 -0400
    From: Jer51473@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  boone and godfrey
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

     I remember pat on the show very well. Im probably wrong, but i dont remember
    him as being on very long and its seems to me that that he wasnt present
    every day of his run. It also seems to me that pat was already a pretty well
    know
    figure when he joined godfrey. I remember him singing "tuitti fruitti" on the
    show and i think i already had his version on record as well as little
    richards version. I first remember boone as he appeared on ted macks amateur
    hour, as
    an unknown of course, and ill always remember mack introducing him as a
    direct decendent of daniel boone. That was interesting to me as my
    grandmother was
    a boone and from the same town as pat. We never researched the issue though.

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

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

    Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 23:20:20 -0400
    From: "Jody Davis" <baroygis@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Circle City

    Now that we're discovering we have fewer than 6 degrees of separation from
    Indianapolis, allow me to toss in my two cents. I wasn't born there, but I
    was a consumer reporter in WTHR-TV's Troubleshooter Squad from 1986-89. I
    consider those three years the best of my adult life. Indianapolis is a fun
    town with friendly people.

    I never got to meet any Indy 500 drivers, owners, or broadcasters when
    covering the races during those years. Ironically, while working in New York
    as an anchor on CNNfn in 1996-97, I had Mario Andretti as a guest on my show
    for the entire half hour, and did field interviews with Michael Andretti and
    Chip Ganassi. Because of my prior Indy connection, all three gentlemen
    opened up considerably during the interviews, and were very amiable.

    Jody Davis
    24-year broadcast journalist & OTR fan

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 00:06:12 -0400
    From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  the man who loved dickens

    As I am sure somebody told you already the story is by (I am an English
    major, but I am still not sure) Evelyn Waugh.  Great story, and
    diabolical, like you wouldn't believe.  Kurt

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 00:06:31 -0400
    From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Orson Welles

    If everybody wants to go the first Columbia Workshop, to the play about
    the men in the mines, I think you will hear an uncredited Orson Welles.
    If you haven't heard it in a while, listen to it again.  A bit over the
    top, but so was Orson, and he was young then, too.  Kurt

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 01:59:58 -0400
    From: "Robert W. Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Indianapolis 500 and Eddie Sachs

    I well remember that 500 - the first I heard on radio and the year after I
    went to the race.

    It was Memorial Day, 1964 - the race was run ON Memorial Day then, except
    when the holiday was on Sunday. I don't recall all the details but as either
    the first or second lap was completed, Sachs and rookie Dave MacDonald, both
    in the then-new rear-engined cars, came out of the fourth turn and down the
    main stretch. Something happened - a spinout, perhaps - and the story was
    that MacDonald's inexperience caused him to make the wrong choice. The
    bottom line was that he cut in front of or left Sachs nowhere to go, and he
    took the wall - hard. It was before the days of safety advances on fuel
    tanks, and there was a huge fireball. The safety crew was unable to get
    Sachs out in time. I still hear in my head the voice of Sid Collins on both
    the IMS network and the track PA saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, Eddie Sachs
    is dead." There was stone cold silence at the track, at least that's how I
    recall it. I still get tears in my eyes when I think of it. MacDonald died
    later in hospital. Sid Collins then gave a tribute to Sachs and
    philosophized about the fragility of life.

    Sid Collins later contracted AMS - Lou Gehrig's Disease. The story was that
    he did not want to face the prospect of degenerations and diminishing
    capabilities so, on May 2, 1977 he took his life. Paul Page assumed the
    anchor spot. Somewhere I have the tape of that race. At the very start, Page
    said something to the effect of "Before we begin the race, we switch to the
    all-important Southwest (fourth) turn and Ron Carroll (?)", who then gave a
    moving on-air eulogy to Collins. He ended with words to the effect that
    despite the loss, Sid Collins would have wanted them to carry on in the
    tradition of the Indy 500 broadcasts and that in spirit he would be cheering
    them on.

    The thing I miss about the race is that with increased speeds, there is less
    time for features, recaps and other interesting items the slower speeds
    allowed for.

    My feeling is that both Paul Page and Bob Jenkins were very good successors
    to Sid Collins, much better than I could have hoped for. I only wish that
    the early races would be released on MP3 and made available for the fans.

      Macandrew

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 02:00:29 -0400
    From: Philipmarus@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dickens on Radio
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    The story "The Man Who Liked Dickens" (Liked not Loved) was written by the
    British writer Evalen Waul (sic),. I Think it may have also been done on
    Suspense as well.

    Mike Kerezman

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

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:49:11 -0400
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:Let George Do It

      Listened to another Let George Do It yesterday and Harry Bartell played a
    cowboy named Jimmy Jones who after an accident with his horse had a fear of
    riding horses. Every year he would appear at the orphanage but this year he
    was worried about how he was going to appear without riding his horse
    Thunderbolt. Won't go any further to avoid telling the ending.
      A very good story and would recommend it to anyone.
      Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:49:25 -0400
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Bob Hope

    A. Joseph Ross, [removed] wrote:

>     "Thanks for the mammaries."

    I guess than one was a bust, but I wanna tell [removed]

    Michael

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:51:00 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Just The Facts

    On 5/29/03 8:42 PM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:

>     I just wanted to state
>     that I agree with those who think Elizabeth should
>     consider publishing a book about Amos and Andy.

    Well, thanks for the vote of confidence -- and let's just say that I'm
    not averse to the idea. If an overwhelming opportunity presents itself,
    I'm certainly willing to be overwhelmed, but it would have to be on my
    terms -- and I've been around the media long enough to know this isn't
    likely to happen.  I'm just not willing to let some ham-handed editor
    muck about with my life's work -- I'd frankly rather give the work away
    for free on the web, knowing it says exactly what I intend it to say in
    exactly the way I intend to say it, if the only other option is to
    publish it in a form which has been distorted or watered down to make it
    more "salable."

    Then too, I don't want to commit to putting my work between hard covers
    until I'm confident that I've considered and explored the topic as
    thoroughly, as accurately, and as completely as possible. Studying A&A is
    like peeling an onion -- there's just layer after layer after layer, and
    just when you think you've gotten to the center, some new information
    appears that suggests there's even more to be learned. Once the work is
    in print, it's fixed for all time -- but web publication gives me the
    flexibility to add this new information, this new research as it becomes
    available.

>     And, of course, there's still the attitude that things
>     found online can be suspect, while books-- especially
>     if they're carried in the local library, and thus have
>     been approved by people who know worthwhile books from
>     worthless ones-- are considered to be more reliable.

    An unfortunate attitude, this. I can walk into any library or bookstore
    and pull out any number of error-laden, distortion-filled volumes -- and
    that's just on topics in which I have some level of knowledge. Even the
    imprimatur of an academic press is no guarantee of accuracy -- I've found
    sloppy factual errors, hopeless garblings of quotes, deliberate
    falsification of sources, and even suggestions of plagiarism in
    academy-published works discussing A&A. My years in journalism taught me
    to be thoroughly skeptical -- but my experiences in researching A&A
    taught me to be even more so.

>     Granted, I don't know how many people would buy the
>     book (though I would, at least), but I still think
>     it'd have a wider-reaching and more long-term impact
>     thn a website.

    Possibly. But on the other hand, I've had over 36,000 hits on my A&A
    website since I started counting two years ago, and I'd have to wonder if
    a book on the same topic would ever possibly sell that many copies. I
    admit, though, to being totally clueless as to the sales figures of a
    typical OTR book.

>     People, however, don't want to believe what they were
>     orgininally taught was wrong or based on faulty or
>     incomplete information. Still, the only way to educate
>     people is to reach as many as possible.

    I think the biggest compliment I've ever gotten in my life came from
    Freeman Gosden's widow -- who told me "you're not afraid to take on a
    subject that makes strong men run away in fear." I think that's a good
    comment on history in general: we live in a world where preconceptions
    too often takes precedence over fact -- and if the facts disagree with
    preconceptions, then the facts must be wrong. And because of that, too
    many writers are afraid to challenge those preconceptions in any
    meaningful way. Too often "iconoclastic" books simply replace one set of
    myths with another, depending on the ideology of the author and his or
    her intended audience -- because that's what sells.

    There's an awful lot of this in the OTR world -- think of how desperately
    people hold onto such myths as the Uncle Don story, the Nelson Eddy
    Tuneout, the "Decoder Ring," "The Lone Ranger Founded Mutual," "Arthur
    Godfrey Fired Julius LaRosa Out Of Spite," and so forth, even though each
    of these has been thoroughly debunked many times. There's a whole
    fascinating psychology at work here, I think, in the way in which people
    tend to cling to "facts" that aren't actually factual even when shown the
    proof -- but that's a book for someone else to write.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:51:41 -0400
    From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Full Gallop

    Hi Gang:

       With all this talk about Frank Gallop, I thought I might add one of his
    most enduring credits. Mr. Gallop was the narrator of the first Casper cartoon
    for Paramount/Famous titled "The Friendly Ghost." As long as that cartoon
    retains its public-domain status & keeps popping up on cheaply produced
    cartoon video-tapes sold at discount stores, Frank Gallop's work is sure to
    live on. Personally, I can't stand that infernal
    little [removed] though the series provided work for such great OTR voice
    people like the aforementioned Mr. Gallop, Jackson Beck, and, according to one
    source book I have, Gwen Davies of "Let's Pretend" fame as the voice of Casper
    sometime in the series' long run.
       Secondly, I posit this query: is Mr. Gallop still alive?
       Changing the subject a bit:
       I saw in last Saturday's (05/24) NY Times  an obituary for cartoon voice
    artist Lionel Wilson, who provided all the voices for the "Tom Terrific"
    TV-cartoon series of the 1950s. Did Mr. Wilson ever do radio?
    "Tom Terrific"  might've worked on radio if it wasn't so visual. I mean,
    c'mon, "Crabby Appleton" is such a great comical name for a villain.

    "Th-th-that's all from the ether!"

    Derek Tague

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:51:55 -0400
    From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Let George Do It

    I've heard many, many, episodes of Let George Do It, and it's not a bad show
    at all.  I don't think it's anything extra-ordinary, but it's a pretty good
    program.  Well acted to be sure, though, in my opinion, the writing was a
    little below the best detective programs of the time (Sam Spade, Philip
    Marlowe).  It's an interesting gimmick though.  Reminds me quite a bit of Box
    13, which I believe came a bit later down the line.

    rodney.

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:52:10 -0400
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ed Begley

    Let us not forget that Ed Begley did win an Academy Award in 1962 for "Sweet
    Bird
    of Youth" -best supporting. His work in Inherit the Wind was on the stage.
    After 700
    plus performances in the Bryan role, he switched over to the Darrow part and
    wowed audiences for 500 plus performances. He also created the character in
    Arthur Miller's
    All My Sons. When you think about it, the man really is under written about
    from an otr standpoint. He was a consummate radio [removed] 2500
    radio shows, according
    to one [removed], yet had great success in stage and film. I could be
    wrong (darn
    right) but I can't think of any otr biggie who could top that trio of
    notable work. Maybe
    Everett Sloane? Agnes Moorehead? I don't think the volume of work in the
    three
    mediums matches Begley's though. A trivia fact: he was in the film version
    of "Sorry,
    Wrong Number."

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 09:58:09 -0400
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Mariah Carey

    Just saw this child on Today show. She was introduced as "the biggest
    selling female
    recording artist of all time." !!! Say it isn't so. Please, say it isn't
    [removed] all time?!
    Oh my goodness. Stop the world I want to get off! Surely Helen Traubel sold
    more.
    Kitty Kallen, possibly?

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 10:33:57 -0400
    From: "[removed] George" <yourstruly@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Billie the Brownie

    Try seeing if your local library has a copy of the cassette. If not, they
    should be able to borrow one for you throught the Inter-Library Loan.

    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 15:27:25 -0400
    From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ed Begley, Inherit the Wind, & Halls of Ivy

    There's a photo of Ed Begley, Sr., and Paul Muni in
    Inherit the Wind, from the original Broadway run, at
    [removed] .
    Apparently Begley played the William Jennings Bryan
    role, and Muni the Clarence Darrow part (judging from
    their physiques). (Tony Randall had the HL Mencken
    character--this is only a few years after his
    participation in the NY run of I Love a Mystery.)

    Incidentally, the authors of Inherit the Wind, Jerome
    Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, were the scriptwriters
    (along with Don Quinn) of Ronald and Bonita Colman's
    series "Halls of Ivy."

    Kermyt

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 15:29:37 -0400
    From: passage@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Nightfall

    Hi All,

    I received this query from Neil Marsh (Neil@[removed]).

    - ---
    I'm doing research for a book I'm writing about the CBC series
    "Nightfall" and I've been checking with on-line OTR fans to see
    if they can contribute any information about the series which
    I may not have. I'm all ready in contact with several writers,
    directors, producers and production personnel, but there is much
    information out there which they will not necessarily know as
    much about as a fan will. I'm interested in everything from
    anecdotes to advertisements, newspaper articles to reviews.
    Nothing is too trivial, especially when you consider how little
    data there is that's readily available.

    I've been invited, and am planning, to go to Toronto to do research in
    the CBC's library later this year, but the more information I have
    before I go, the more efficiently I believe I can work while I'm there.
    - ---

    If anyone can help this gentleman, please email him.

    Frank

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

    Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 15:34:28 -0400
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  May 31st birthdays

    The birthdays for May 31st are:

    05-31-1893 - Albert Mitchell - Elsberry, MO - d. 10-4-1954
    host: "The Answer Man"
    05-31-1894 - Fred Allen - Cambridge, MA - d. 3-17-1956
    comedian: "Linit Bath Club"; "Town Hall Tonight"; "Fred Allen Show"
    05-31-1898 - Norman Vincent Peale - Bowersville, OH - d. 12-24-1993
    preacher: "The Art of Living"
    05-31-1900 - Hugh Studebaker - Ridgeville, IN - d. 5-6-1978
    actor: Ichabod ‘Ichy' Mudd "Captain Midnight"; Silly Watson "Fibber McGee and
    Molly"
    05-31-1901 - Alfredo Antonini - Alessandra, Italy - d. 11-3-1983
    conductor: "La Rosa Concerts"; "Treasure Hour of Song"
    05-31-1901 - Joe Kelly - Crawfordsville, IN - d. 5-26-1959
    emcee, quizmaster: "National Barn Dance"; "Quiz Kids"
    05-31-1908 - Don Ameche - Kenosha, WI - d. 12-6-1993
    actor, singer: John Bickerson "The Bickersons"; Captain Hughes "Jack Armstrong"
    05-31-1931 - Barbara Whiting - Los Angeles, CA
    actress: Judy Graves "Junior Miss"; Mildred "Meet Corliss Archer"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn and Spencer Tracy

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #220
    *********************************************

    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]