Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #475
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 12/8/2002 1:11 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 475
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Security and OTR in World War II      [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      OTR info for a friend                 [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      CDRW                                  [ CRic952262@[removed] ]
      The Saint On Radio                    [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
      Richard Carpenter                     [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
      Kay Kyser--dead or alive?             [ "welsa" <welsa@[removed]; ]
      George Reeves                         [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
      MP3 Boomboxes                         [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Red Channels                          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      My Little Margie                      [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Re: NEMO Defined                      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
      The Six Napoleons                     [ wilditralian@[removed] ]
      On the Busses                         [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      Re: NEMO Defined                      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
      The Mad Russian                       [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      I Was a Communist for the FBI         [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
      Re: Dwight Weist & Joan Shea          [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 22:27:48 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Security and OTR in World War II

    A news release about Howard Blue's book, Words At War, indicates that a
    program was stillborn because of security measures.  In part, it said,

>     During World War II, CBS radio almost revealed one of the [removed]'s top
>     wartime secrets, the breaking of the Japanese code. <snip>  a 1943
>     broadcast came close to letting the cat out of the bag. <snip>   "I got a
>     story nobody knows," one Air Force man told [Allan Sloane].  "I was in
>     the outfit that shot down that SOB Yamamoto." The man, a crew member of a
>     P-38, was referring to the April 1943 shooting down of a bomber, which
>     killed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

    P-38 aircraft did indeed shoot down the admiral.  Yamamoto was in a
    Mitsubishi OB-01 "Betty" bomber, one of two flying with an escort of six
    Mitsubishi S-OO-1 "Zero" fighters.  These were jumped by a flight of
    Lockheed P-38 "Lightning" fighters in an extraordinary mission where the
    American fighters were flying at less than wingspan height for most of
    the way between Guadalcanal to Bougainville both to avoid being spotted
    by radar and to take advantage of "ground effect" to conserve fuel.

    However, the P-38 is a single-seat aircraft, with a pilot and no other
    crew.  (FWIW, there was no Air Force in World War II: the organization
    was the [removed] Army Air Corps.)

>     "But that's a land based plane!" Sloane replied with a puzzled look,
>     not realizing he had stumbled
>     onto the biggest story of his career. "That's right. That's how we got
>     him. We knew exactly where he was going to be and when." <snip>  when the
>     script was submitted to the censors, it was slapped down. "Eliminate all
>     references to the P-38,"Sloane's boss was told. "We'd love to find out
>     where you got some of this information." <snip>  Had a Japanese spy heard
>     the projected broadcast, the revelation might have set back the Allied
>     war effort in the Pacific by several months.[by revealing that the [removed]
>     was reading the encrypted messages]

    >From the standpoint of minimizing the possibility of compromising the
    cryptanalytic ability of the [removed],

    "[Admiral Nimitz} sought to minimize the danger by ... a cover story.
    This was to the effect that Australian coastwatchers had radioed in the
    Yamamoto flight information, probably getting it from friendly natives
    around Rabul.  The coastwatchers enjoyed a superexcellent reputation
    among airmen and so the story would ring true.  If it got back to the
    Japanese, they might not even think about codes.  <snip>  [Vice Admiral
    Theodore Wilkinson had expressed concern about this, and] In his reply to
    Wilkinson, therefore, Nimitz ordered him to brief all personnel on the
    cover story, iterated by his authorization, and added a personal, 'good
    luck and good hunting' to the message."   [The Codebreakers, by David
    Kahn, MacMillan, 1967, p. 599]

    Interestingly, the breaking of the highest Japanese cipher, PURPLE, was
    almost compromised more than a year before the reported incident.  On
    June 7, 1942, The Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story running a full
    column to the effect that the [removed] Navy knew of Japanese strength and
    groupings in the Midway campaign several days before the battle
    commenced.  Although "codes" weren't mentioned, the details in the story
    could only have come from data derived in that fashion.  Fortunately,
    this wasn't picked up by the Japanese.  And on August 31, 1942,
    Representative Elmer Holland of Pennsylvania made a speech about the
    newspaper story, condemning the release of the data, thereby noting, "...
    what everyone was trying to hush up: 'that somehow our Navy had secured
    and broken the secret code of the Japanese Navy." [ibid, p. 604]  Kahn
    pointed out that though the speech was reported in many newspapers, the
    Japanese didn't find out about it.

>     Had  Japanese spy heard the projected broadcast, the revelation might
>     have set back the Allied war effort in the Pacific by several months.

    The Japanese had extraordinary faith in their PURPLE system, even in the
    face of evidence that it might have been cracked.  "[T]he Japanese
    Foreign Ministry never replaced the stepping switches issued with the
    first PURPLE machines with newly wired versions.  <snip>  ... meaning
    that the United States ... was able to read PURPLE traffic in near real
    time throughout the Second World War." [Big Machines, by Stephen Kelly,
    Aegean Park Press, 2001, p. 105]

    Had the Japanese changed their cipher settings in the 1943 period in
    question, it might have taken the cryptanalysts as much as 10 weeks to
    break into the new settings.   However, at that time the Pacific forces
    were consolidating their positions, so if the Japanese had changed their
    settings, while it would have meant lots more work for the crypto teams,
    it wouldn't have affected the whole Pacific war effort as much as if
    they'd been executing some major attacks.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:27:20 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR info for a friend

    A friend of mine is searching for answers to the following questions.  I was
    able to answer many of her questions, but here are the ones I wasn't 100%
    certain, so any experts out there able to help her out?  If you know an
    answer, just drop me a line.

    Amos 'n' Andy -- Which is the correct title: "Amos 'n' Andy" or "The Amos
    And Andy Show"?

    Andrews Sisters Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch -- Is it "Sisters" or Sisters' (with
    apostrophe)?

    Kate Smith's programs -- Looks like I have three titles here:
    The Kate Smith Show; episode is Jan. 8, 1943
    The Kate Smith Hour; episode is June 2, 1944
    Kate Smith Sings; episode is Feb. 9, 1947

    The Lucky Strike Program -- Is it "Lucky Strike" or "Lucky-Strike"?

    She has an AFRS recording of an old-time radio show with a mystery plot
    entitled "Dead Ringer," but for the likes of both her and me, we can't
    figure out what radio show it belongs to.  It's not Inner Sanctum, not
    Suspense, possibly The Whistler?  Anyone know what anthology had an episode
    aired between 1940-1946 entitled "Dead Ringer"?

    Lastly, she has a broadcast log of Peter Lorre's 1950s series NIGHTMARE and
    she has many plots and many titles, and all definite airdates and episode
    numbers, but we're both curious to know if someone has already compiled a
    complete broadcast log?  If they created a partial, I'll put them in touch
    with her, and hopefully both mutual assistance will benefit.

    Martin

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:27:27 -0500
    From: CRic952262@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  CDRW
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    does anybody here
    download shows off the net onto a cdrw

    please email 1on1
    thank you

    Charles

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

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:04 -0500
    From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Saint On Radio

    Let's hear from some Saint fans out there. I left a comment at A&[removed]
    requesting that they issue The Saint Black and White Episodes on DVd like
    they did all the color episodes. Additionally, I suggested they include a few
    episodes of The Saint as "filler" on the DVDs. If you agree leave a similiar
    comment at their web site. I understand they are considering issuing the
    Black and Whites.
    I wonder if The Saint was recorded, or transcribed as they called it back
    then. The shows in circulation definately sound from records but if the show
    was recorded for broadcast, why would Barry Sullivan have to fill in a few
    shows while Vincent Price was in Paris. They could have repeated a recorded
    episode. They certainly repeated shows frequently enough as it was according
    to the three logs currently available of the show.

    Paul Urbahns
    paulurbahn@[removed].

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:16 -0500
    From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Richard Carpenter

    John Lennon's name popping up on an Old Time Radio list. Imagine!
        Bravo, Richard Carpenter. I share your sentiments.

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

    Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:39 -0500
    From: "welsa" <welsa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Kay Kyser--dead or alive?

    Kay Kyser (James King Kern Kyser) died July 23, 1985 in Chapel Hill, North
    Carolina.  Cremated.

    Ted

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:01:31 -0500
    From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  George Reeves

    In the latest digest Michael Hayde mentioned the following:

>     Are either of these in circulation?  And does anyone know of any other
>     programs on which Reeves performed?

    I seem to recall he had a bit part in the movie Gone With The Wind (that's
    assuming I haven't had one of those senior moments) :-)

    Don Dean

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:01:34 -0500
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  MP3 Boomboxes

    Today I tested several hybrid CD/MP3 boomboxes. These are all-in-one-housing
    units, not towers with separate speakers. Of the half dozen I tested at Best
    Buy, two played all my selections. One of those was a no-name brand with poor
    audio and awkward navigation. The other is an RCA model RCD128. I liked the
    RCA well enough to buy it for a gift. The manual says it plays MP3 recordings
    with a bit rate 32 kbps or greater. In use it plays all of the following but
    does not show a bit rate in the display for rates lower than 32 kbps -

    44,100 samples/sec - 128, 96 and 64 kbps, stereo, joint stereo and mono
    24,000 samples/sec - 32 kbps mono
    22,050 samples/sec - 64, 32, 24 and 16 kbps, mono
    16,000 samples/sec - 32 and 24 kpbs, mono

    The player includes an infrared remote control. Some of the controls are
    awkward, but that seems to be the norm. The skip button is also the fast
    forward button. To use fast forward, push and hold the button. That's fine
    except sometimes the remote gets interpreted as a short push and the thing
    skips on to the next selection. Otherwise the remote is useful. The manual
    says it plays Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, but I have not tested those.
    It will play CD-RW disks and I did confirm that. The display shows four
    programs in stop mode, scanning a disk is quick. I was able to go from the
    top to the bottom of about 200 selections in 30 seconds or so. The sound
    quality is fair and respectable for OTR. It runs on batteries if desired or
    plugs into the wall. So far I like the RCA unit considering its price but
    prefer the Rio Volt with small powered speakers because that remembers where
    you turned it off. The RCA forgets where you were. The RCA unit includes an
    AM & FM tuner but no tape deck.

    There is one recording the RCA player was unable to completely play. It
    stopped at 13 minutes into the recording. That same recording plays correctly
    on other players I have. My thought about that is the RCA may be more
    sensitive to disk errors or disk quality than other players I have,
    otherwise, I can't explain why it would stop part way through. I have not
    tried to evaluate that failing. The recording that failed is a 192 kbps [removed]
    recording about 2 hours long. It's a 150 MB file and a little out of the
    ordinary.

    Price of the RCA player was $90 less a $20 instant (at the cash register)
    rebate at Best Buy. I had to go to two stores to find one in stock. RCA sells
    the same unit on their web site for $80.

    [removed],2588,PI700272-CI700026,[removed]

    The three Sony boomboxes I tested failed to play all the selections with
    various results from stalling to playing machine gun type loud noise to
    gracefully skipping unplayable selections--so gracefully you would not notice
    it had skipped a selection unless you paid attention.

    I recommend testing any MP3 player you are looking at with your own samples,
    whether it's DVD, portable, boombox or other. All of the players lack
    something, especially in ease of use, and choosing is a matter of personal
    preference. In choosing the RCA, I determined simple and reliable to be
    important considering who I am giving it to. It does have some complicated
    features, but they can be ignored.

    I am retired and don't work for any of the electronic equipment makers.

    Most of my posts to this mail list have been technical, but I do enjoy OTR
    greatly and all the stories I read here. Hopefully my long winded technical
    stuff doesn't burn too many ears. If it does, let me know and I can make them
    short.

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:24:43 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Red Channels

>     Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 17:38:47 -0500
>     From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];

>     Clark's list, in turn, was drawn from an assortment of old FBI memos,
>     hearsay, and various published sources.  A number of the organizations
>     listed by Clark were defunct groups which had advocated wartime aid to
>     Russian refugees, while others were Depression-oriented groups which had
>     been defunct since the 1930s. Still others had seen the peak of their
>     activity in the 1920s or even the 1910s.

    This is all the more support for the proposition that the entire phenomenon known rightly or
    wrongly as "McCarthyism" really had nothing to do with national security and had everything
    to do with power trips, money, and people covering their behinds.  And quite a few careers
    and lives were destroyed before some people like John Henry Falk, Edward R. Murrow, and
    others got up some courage to challenge it.

    I read an article in "Sky and Telescope" magazine a few years ago about how an astronomer
    at Harvard was passed over for Observatory Director over this sort of nonsense.  Exactly how
    the political beliefs of an observatory director can have anything to do with national security
    is a bit hard to fathom.  The man, fortunately, ended up in better shape than most.  He
    moved to Australia, where he specialized in the study of the Southern Milky Way.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:25:03 -0500
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  My Little Margie

>     Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 10:50:07 -0500
>     From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

>     1952 - My Little Margie, starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, made its
>     debut on CBS.

    I remember that one on both radio and television.  Was this one of the handful of shows that
    started first on television and then went to radio? Or did the radio and TV versions start
    simultaneously?

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:51:19 -0500
    From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: NEMO Defined

    From: "Bill Orr" <billorr6@[removed]; says:

>     During my early days in broadcast (late 40's), I was told that NEMO was
>     derived from the Greek meaning "far away, remote".  It took up little space
>     on a patch panel where space was at a premium.

>     I have come to doubt the "Greek connection" but I also doubt that it is
>     (was) an acronym.  So, back to square one.

    Here you can see its use.
    [removed]
    Scroll about half way down the page to the picture of the
    Telechron clock used to controll the NBC Chimes.

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:54:02 -0500
    From: wilditralian@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Six Napoleons

    08 DEC 02

    Good morning,

    I am presently doing research for a book involving radio, silver-screen,
    and television versions of the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Six
    Napoleons".  I presently have copies of the following"  [1] 03-07-48,
    Mutual, John Stanley and Alfred Shirley;  [2] 12-07-54, BBC Light
    Programme, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson;  [3] 12-05-66, BBC
    Light Programme, Carlton Hobbs and Norman Shelley;  [4] 1986, Granada TV,
    Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke; and,  [5] 09-08-93, BBC Radio Four,
    Clive Merrison and Michael Williams.
    	I know that there was at least one other broadcast on American radio.
    It was first broadcast on May 25, 1931, and then again on June 22, 1932,
    and starred Richard Gordon as Holmes.  There was also a silent film done
    in 1922 starring Ellie Norwood.  If anyone knows of the existence of
    copies of either of these, I would be most appreciative if someone could
    put this old Hound of the Baskervilles on the scent.

    Best regards to all,

    Jim Arva

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:54:16 -0500
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  On the Busses

    Talking of BBC shows on radio-TV  I loved "On the Busses" and wonder if any
    st's available and/or if it ever went to radio like Dad's Army (another
    great [removed] the
    greatest.)

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:51:29 -0500
    From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: NEMO Defined

    Forgot to add, the web page states it comes from a telephone term
    (Not Emanating Main Office).

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:02 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Mad Russian

              The character  of the Mad Russian was played by
    comedian Bert Gordon.  It seems to me that he used to
    have appearances on shows like "Duffy's Tavern" and
    others, but I seem to have memories of him doing skits
    with Eddie Cantor.  He may have been a guest on "The
    Eddie Cantor Show" or one of the shows Cantor hosted.
    I'm not sure.

              As I recall, the line most identified with the Mad
    Russian is 'how do you do' in a heavy Russian accent.

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:07 -0500
    From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
    To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  I Was a Communist for the FBI

    The whole blacklisting business continues to fascinate me and I try to read
    see and hear all I can about it. What does it mean that almost all of the
    radio and film personalities that I admired for their talent and work were
    blacklist victims? What does it say about me, I wonder. And so many of the
    vocal patriots in radio and film I never cared for,
    never made me laugh and I never liked!? Tis a puzzlement. I know my liking
    or disliking did come before I was aware of their politics so I don't think
    my own politics were a factor.

    To try and keep the focus on otr, does anyone have anecdotes on the I Was a
    Communist For the FBI series or Matt [removed] life during the series and
    afterwards.

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

    Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:59 -0500
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Dwight Weist & Joan Shea

    My OTR compadre Bill Murtough raised two interesting points. He told the
    story about a sounds effects man, when he commented about the strong
    chemical odor emanating from a sound proof "filter booth.

>     When he came out he leaned into the cast mike and commented on the smell and
>     added "they must have had a communist meeting in there last night". The
>     entire
>     cast as one gave him a "dirty look". Apparently they were all comunist
>     members. Jim came into the control room and stated that he would never do
>     that
>     again.

    I wasn't sure about how to interpret your statement contained in that story,
    Bill.

>     "Apparently they were all comunist members".

    Were you being serious? Or facetious? That was an interesting reaction on
    their part.

    Bill goes on to say;

>     Dwight Weist was a close friend and a flying buddy of mine. He was joined
>     by my one time girl friend, actress Joan Shea, when they spearheaded an
>     action by their union at a West coast AFRA convention to oust Murray
>     Wagner from their union.

    Wow, what a small world. Dwight Weist was a close buddy? I applaud your
    choice of friends. And Joan Shea was your one time girlfriend????

    I bet I loved her more than you did. (Just kidding, Bill). Joan was a very
    frequent performer on the "Archie Andrews" show. I had the biggest teen age
    crush on her. (Right on up to the present day). Of course, she never knew it
    until I confessed that fact to her at an OTR Convention some 10 years ago
    (featuring an Archie Cast reunion). Bob Hastings  and I were standing around
    reminiscing with her, when I confided that fact to her. Hastings chimed in
    that he too had a "crush" on her back then. But I then confronted Joan, and
    said, "Go on, tell Hastings the truth. YOU LOVED ME MORE THAN YOU LOVED HIM,
    RIGHT? We adored her because she was so charming, not to mention good
    looking. (By the way, in the section of my book that talks about Joan, there
    is a couple of picture of her to illustrate just how lovely she was.

    I don't mean to pry [removed] What led to the break-up of your
    "romance"? I didn't have anything to do with her extreme political views did
    it? Wow. I discovered another truly wonderful person was interested in
    exposing communists in the business. I wonder. Was Joan "responsible" for
    the death of anyone. I bet you will proclaim loud and clear. NO WAY!!!

    Hal(harlan)Stone
    Jughead

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #475
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