Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #303
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 11/4/2006 7:24 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 303
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      World's Greatest Old-Time Radio Show  [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      On the [removed]                       [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      Christmas Carol                       [ mikennancy2001@[removed] ]
      OTR FAN                               [ JLF <jlf@[removed]; ]
      My pleasure!                          [ "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed] ]
      A Ghost Story, for Christmas (?)      [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      More on Carol                         [ "erest@[removed]" <erest@verizon. ]
      Re: A Christmas Carol                 [ "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed]; ]
      Ralston cereal                        [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      RE: Al Lopez in Ron Sayles' Birth Da  [ "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed] ]
      Fred & Ed                             [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
      Christmas Carol                       [ Kirk GARDNER <kirk_gardner@sbcgloba ]
      Fred and Ed                           [ Illoman <illoman@[removed]; ]
      Travels of Mary Ward                  [ "Donald" <alanladdsr@[removed]; ]
      "On The Trail"                        [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
      Straight Arrow book                   [ Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed]; ]
      RE: Jack, Fred and Ed                 [ "HARLAN ZINCK" <zharlan@[removed]; ]

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 09:34:04 -0500
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  World's Greatest Old-Time Radio Shows

    Got this email today via the Metro Washington OTR web site.

    "Do you know who has a complete set of tapes marketed under the service
    "World's Greatest OTR Shows"? I was with them from the beginning, but
    do have a few blanks in my collection. They've stopped their
    subscription service now and they have no way of helping me fill in
    those blanks.

    Doug Chatfield
    Claremont, CA
    <DonChat35@[removed]; "

    Any Digesters out there that can give this guy some help?

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 09:54:05 -0500
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  On the [removed]

    Yes, "On the trail" from Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite was used as the theme
    for one of my favorite programs, "Crime Doctor."

    It is wonderful to note the many radio programs that used classical music
    for their themes!

    Ted Kneebone / 1528 S. Grant St. / Aberdeen, SD 57401
    [removed]~stmarkch/

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 10:21:50 -0500
    From: mikennancy2001@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Christmas Carol

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    I'm just now catching onto this thread.  I've never heard a radio version of
    the story (although it now seems I should), but I am particularly partial to
    the mid-1980s version with George C. Scott.  He was so convincing that for a
    couple of years afterwards I thought he was British!

    Also, PBS did a readers' theater version in the 1990s with Martin Sheen and
    James Earl Jones that I enjoyed a lot.  The whole book was read out -- no
    adaptation for radio or whatever.

    Mike (coming out of lurk mode)

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 10:54:27 -0500
    From: JLF <jlf@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR FAN

    You know one is an old radio fan when they use this [removed]

    Wallace Wimple was telling Fibber & Molly how awful Sweetie Face, his
    mean old wife was -- mentioning very bad things about her which shocked
    Fibber & Molly and then he [removed]

    "and then out loud I [removed]"!!!!!!!!

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 10:55:42 -0500
    From: "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest (E-mail)" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  My pleasure!

    Many thanks to Rick Keating for his kind words! It is always my pleasure to
    do whatever I can for any fellow OTR fan.  I can't always help, but I will
    always do my best.

    With regard to the Radio Spirits replacement policy - we will replace any
    damanged cassette or CD that you buy directly from us.  If you buy a
    collection from a store, please ask someone at the store to get the
    replacement on your behalf.  I know that Borders and Barnes & Noble does this
    for customers all the time.  But, if you have any problems, you can always
    write me.  Customer service does seem to have gone out of style in the world
    at large, but in my little office it is alive and well!

    As far as conventions go, my old boss and I actually attended the Cincinnati
    convention this past year - although, we were just observing and didn't have
    a Radio Spirits table.  (I did pick up a beautiful 1935 Radio Guide, though!)
    As for further west, I am trying to make a case for us to go to Puget Sound,
    but the jury is still out on that one.  Our next convention will actually be
    the New York Comic Convention at the Javits Center in February 2007.  We
    thought we might be able to reach out to some folks who are interested in
    Superman and such and introduce them to OTR.  No idea how successful we'll
    be, but it could be fun.

    Karen

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 10:58:08 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  A Ghost Story, for Christmas (?)

    Dear Chris-

    From: "Holm, Chris " _[removed]@[removed]_ ([removed]@[removed])

>     I feel that the  1999 TNT version starring Patrick
>     Stewart is particularly good.

    Respectful other opinion, here.

    Knowing of Stewart's Broadway one-man-show, & recording, of Dickens'  piece,
    I awaited this with baited breath.
    Alas, I found it a noble mis-fire. It's all darkness and no light (except,
    for me, for Joel Grey's turn as Christmas Past.) Stewart is doing something
    character-wise, and especially costume and makeup wise, that is unique,  but
    is
    not Scrooge (again, to me.)

    For a more recent TV version, I'd go with Geo. C. Scott (and Frank Finlay,
    Edward Woodward, David Warner, Susannah York, Roger Rees, and Nigel
    Davenport!)

>     As an aside, does anyone else tend to avoid half-hour versions of  A
>     Christmas Carol?

    As touched on in my earlier posts, yes. The tragedy being, that these
    versions often have great lead actors: Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, Edmund
    Gwenn,
    etc.
    (Missed bet - why didn't anyone ever ask Boris Karloff?)

>     Carol is a very thin book

    Not that thin - it's 165 pages in the original. That makes it a genuine
    novela, not the short story that most adapters seem to think it is.

>     but there just seems to be
>     too much going on to get through it all  in a 30 minute broadcast.

    Yes.
    This applies to most radio versions, and several TV ones. Chuck
    Jones/Richard Williams animated '70's edition, which looks wonderful, and is
    well cast
    (including Sim's one return to the role), is mortally flawed by  its < 30 m.
    running time.

>     They
>     always feel like they're rushing and they're just never  satisfying.

    The idea seems to be, "everyone knows this story - we can cut to the  chase."
    That wrong-headed thinking leads to missing a great deal of wonderful
    incident & atmosphere in the original story. This is, sadly, often  the case
    when
    folks say they're doing "Stoker's" Dracula, or "Shelley's"  Frankenstein,
    etc.,
    without going back to the source.

    Also, many adapters - especially in the OTR days - juvenilized &  softened
    the story. The fear & suffering in Dickens' story is very strong  and adult -
    as
    is the love & redemption. This is no "Kid's Story."

    As far as other audio versions, I believe Hy Brown did it in the  CBSRMT
    (though I haven't heard it); there was evidently a '51 WQXR production  with
    Alec
    Guiness; and several for Lp, including Paul Scofield/Ralph  Richardson.

    Best,
    -Craig

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 12:07:35 -0500
    From: "erest@[removed]" <erest@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More on Carol

    During the 1939 broadcast, Orson remarks that the reading of Dickens
    Carol is a seasonal tradition and that Barrymore's presentation of it is
    fast becoming one.
    That says to me that Barrymore had done Scrooge on radio for quite some
    time.

    Rob

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 15:36:10 -0500
    From: "Candy Jens" <candyj@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: A Christmas Carol

    In 1956 a TV adaptation, "The Stingiest Man in Town," was performed on the
    Alcoa Hour. It starred Basil Rathbone (radio connection), Vic Damone, the
    Four Lads, Johnny Desmond, and Patrice Munsel.  Great music (Fred Spielman)
    and lyrics (Janice Torre), issued on an LP.  Does anyone else but me
    remember it?    It's a "must listen" at holiday time for me.

    Candy

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 15:36:38 -0500
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ralston cereal

    When I donated a box of Instant Ralston to the raffle at 2006 FOTR,
    several convention attendees came to me after the banquet and asked
    where they could get a box of Tom Mix's favorite cereal. I told them I
    saw it in a catalog but couldn't remember which one.

    Today that catalog arrived in my mail box; it's the Vermont Country
    Store (which some of you probably suspected.) Anyway, they sell it only
    in combination sets of three boxes for $ [removed], plus S & H. This
    Straight-Shooters' breakfast food can be ordered from them at
    <[removed]>  And each box has Tom Mix's picture on
    the back.

    "Take a tip from Tom, go and tell your mom, that Ralston can't be beat!"

    Oh yes, other than the fact that "Tom Mix" was my favorite show as a
    kid, the usual disclaimers [removed]

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 15:36:50 -0500
    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Al Lopez in Ron Sayles' Birth Dates

     > 08-20-1908 - Al Lopez - Tampa, FL - d. 10-29-2005 baseball hall of fame:
    "Greatest Sports Thrills"; "Tops In Sports"

    Ron left out the fact that Al Lopez was the manager of the 1959 American
    League Champion Chicago White Sox. But then, what can one expect from a guy
    who lives in Milwaukee.

    Thanx,

     B. Ray

       W9KEE

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 15:37:39 -0500
    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fred & Ed
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    In a message dated 11/3/06 8:49:19 AM Central Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Ed Gardner appeared on Fred Allen's show at least
>     twice. The dates I have are 1-9-44 and 3-26-44.

    There's at least one show floating around (probably one of the above dates)
    that had Fred being hit by a beer truck and being hauled, feet first, into
    Duffy's Tavern, with Ed Garner playing Archie.  I saw an AFRS version in a
    catalog
    years ago and now understand there's a sponsored, network version floating
    around.

    Dixon

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 16:30:25 -0500
    From: Kirk GARDNER <kirk_gardner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Christmas Carol
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    I second Chris Holm's recommendation of the Patrick Stewart "Christmas Carol"
    as being one of the most faithful to the original story.  If you are familiar
    with Dickens' work, you will see many little touches that come directly from
    his incredible descriptions.

      However, when Chris says he avoids all 30 minute adaptations, I believe he
    may not be familiar with a 1971 animated version by Richard Williams (who
    later did "Roger Rabbit") that was, up to the time of the Patrick Stewart
    movie, the most faithful adaptation done.  It's difficult to find, but it is
    quite wonderful (and Alastair Sim does the voice of Scrooge).

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 17:47:54 -0500
    From: Illoman <illoman@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fred and Ed
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    Michael wrote:

>     Ed Gardner appeared on Fred Allen's show at least
>     twice. The dates I have are 1-9-44 and 3-26-44.

    Michael, thanks for the info. Now if I could just find those two
    [removed]

    Mike

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 18:13:56 -0500
    From: "Donald" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Travels of Mary Ward

    I have a number of these 15m shows with a delightful Mary intruding into
    people's lives with plugs for Montgomery Ward [removed] those prices! Does
    anyone know who played Mary? She was really quite good.

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

    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 19:29:03 -0500
    From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "On The Trail"
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    Yes Phillip Morris Cigarettes did Ferde Grofe's" On The Trail," from his
    "Grand Canyon Suite, wirth little midget Bellhop, Johnny Roventini, on the
    following radio shows: The Milton Berle Show, Crime Doctor, The Phillip
    Morris Play House,My Little Margie and a lot of other shows, long before
    [removed] you would like to know where to obtain them, please cotact me
    off line.                              Best wishes,   bob Slate

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    Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2006 19:29:31 -0500
    From: Bob Slate <moxnix1961@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Straight Arrow book
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    The long awaited paperbound book,"Straight Arrow" by William H. Harper must
    be ready for shipment, because Bear Manor Media is already running an ad at
    their [removed] is $[removed] plus $[removed] for shipping at: Bear Manor Media, [removed]
    71426, Albany, Georgia 31708. I sent in an order for it. Bill Harper told me
    last year it will be upgraded from the magazine versions and will have more
    photos.                                             Kaneewah, Fury!
    Manituwah!  Bob Slate

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    Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2006 08:21:46 -0500
    From: "HARLAN ZINCK" <zharlan@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Jack, Fred and Ed

> >     There's also two pictures of Jack and Fred that I hadn't seen before.
> >     [removed]

>     Thanks, Kermyt for posting about those photos of Fred Allen. I'd like
>     to know where the one on the left of Jack and Fred was shot. Sitting
>     directly behind Allen is Ed Gardner, one of my favorite radio
>     comedians. i don't know of any shows that Fred and Ed appeared in,
>     though.

    The photo of Benny, Allen, and Gardner was taken in early November 1943, as
    the cast of that year's Christmas "Command Performance" show gathered to
    record it in advance of the holidays for pressing and worldwide distribution
    the following month. I've seen two other photos of Benny and Allen taken on
    the same day which look as though they preceded the table read of the show.
    (By the way, I suspect that the balding gentleman with his back to the
    camera and speaking to Gardner is Abe Burrows, the head writer of "Duffy's
    Tavern."

    The photos are indeed wonderful and it was great to be able to see them!

    Harlan Zinck
    First Generation Radio Archives

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #303
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