------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 276
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
RIP Mary Lee Rob Cline [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
More thoughts on Horror Radio [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed] ]
More on Johnny Dollar [ "Ryan O." <rosentowski@[removed]; ]
Re: Scripts [ Cnorth6311@[removed] ]
5-Part Series [ Dan Riedstra <[removed]@veriz ]
Re: Jack Johnstone Interview [ Stewart Wright <otrwash@[removed]; ]
Speaking of YTJD [ wayne_johnson@[removed] ]
Re: radio game shows [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Radio Recall [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
"Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Nig [ "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
OTR Collection For Sale [ "Michael Ratcliffe" <firerat22@veri ]
Spelling It Out [ "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Request advice about Family Theatre [ "Steve Atlas" <slavacotr@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:59:36 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RIP Mary Lee Rob Cline
I'm not sure I saw obituaries posted for this Great Gildersleeve actress -
one of the ones who played Marjorie - this one is dated September 14.
I apologize in advance if I'm double posting -
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:34:44 -0400
From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: More thoughts on Horror Radio
In #275, Martin Grams rightfully critiques my use of the word horror to
describe some of the shows I listed in the previous digest. He's
correct, many of them don't qualify as horror. In my haste to post, I
used the term as shorthand for "scary/spooky/horror/Halloween themed
shows that are seasonally appropriate". The term is cheerfully
withdrawn.
Which leaves me in a quandary over what exactly to title the list.
Perhaps just "Fun shows for Halloween"? Meh, the title doesn't matter
too much.
Anyway, he recommends some other shows which are great. Although I
never thought of it as horror, I'm a big fan of Escape's two-part
production of "The Earth Abides." It takes some shocking liberties with
the book (for example, changing the pre-emptive execution to an
execution in response to a crime), but I suppose that's to be expected.
It's still a very solid work.
I'm less familiar with some of the other shows he's listed, which will
give me something to hunt down in dealers' catalogs - which is always a
pleasure. In the meantime, I'll merge his info with mine (with
attribution and his permission, of course) and work on polishing it.
-chris holm
PS - for some reason, my carriage-return characters were stripped when I
originally posted the list. What was supposed to be a single column of
shows turned into a paragraph, making it a little hard to read. Weird.
Sorry about that.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:03:59 -0400
From: "Ryan O." <rosentowski@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: More on Johnny Dollar
Reading the comments on the various incarnations of Johnny Dollar has been
interesting. I've always taken it for granted that the five-parters were the
best and that the vast majority of the otr community would agree with me.
It's nice to see some descending opinions, even though I still hold firmly
to my belief.
I especially enjoyed Stewart Wright's list of the recycled scripts used by
John Dawson. It appears that the only two original scripts he did for the
five-part series were the premier broadcast, "The McCormick Matter," and
"The Plantagent Matter."
Some time ago, I posted an article on this digest comparing the different
writing styles of the various authors who wrote for Johnny Dollar during the
serial period. It's long gone now, but here's a thumbnail summary of my
conclusions:
John Dawson: His portrayal of Johnny Dollar was that of a determined,
driven, moralistic man who never compromised. He smashed into the middle of
situations like a bull in a paper shop and didn't care who he stepped on in
his efforts to get to the truth. Dawson's Dollar was somewhat humorless, but
he had a compassionate and kind streak that surfaced when dealing with cases
that veered away from crime fiction into human interest, ala "The Broderick
matter," and "The Perling Matter." It's also noteworthy that Dawson went to
the trouble of giving Dollar a little history to explain how he was so
physically able to match his opponents during a brawl. In part four of, "The
Bennett Matter," Dollar testifies in court and says he spent several years
in the Marine Core and then was a police officer for a time. No other writer
bothered to expound on this.
Les Crutchfield: I believe his depiction of Dollar struck just the right
note between serious and humorous. Crutchfield often did basic murder
mysteries ("The Open Town Matter," and "The Flight Six Matter," come to
mind), but his plots were always interesting for the characters he brought
forth. Dollar could be serious and tough, but the dialogue with Bailey's
help gave Dollar a twinkle in his eye. Several of Crutchfield's scripts also
gave us the murderer right off the bat and delved into the matter of
motivation, ala "The Chi-Bono Matter." In, "The Confidential Matter," Dollar
discovers he must track his best friend down when he learns that his buddy
committed insurance fraud.
Jack Johnstone: We can give Johnstone a lot of credit for choosing Bailey to
re-energize the character and for doing great production work when radio
drama was becoming more and more streamlined. Unfortunately, Johnstone was
the weakest of the writers for the serial series. Someone mentioned, "The
Douglas of Heatherscote Matter," which is a perfect example of the flaws of
Johnstone's writing. The comedy was silly and almost bordered on slapstick
at times. Too often, scenes were chewed up by witty dialogue that really
didn't serve to advance the plot. Other times, Dollar would spend almost an
entire episode questioning a key witness on one point; a point that the
witness would jump through improbable hoops to avoid addressing until the
cliffhanger moment at the end arrived. Johnstone often resorted to old
mystery cliches, such as the standard witness about to reveal the name of a
murderer when he/she is suddenly gunned down by an unknown figure nearby;
something Dawson and Crutchfield usually managed to avoid. Johnstone did
have his strong scripts, however. I favor, "The Jolly Roger Fraud," and "The
Indestructible Mike Matter," as two of his best. They are also two of his
earlier offerings before he began to exhibit the undesirable patterns I
previously list . Johnstone should also be credited for introducing
recurring characters that gave Dollar's world more continuity. Such
characters included Pat McCracken (played by Larry Dobkin), Harry Branson
(played by Harry Bartell), and Buster Favor (played by Barney Philips.)
Robert Wrife: Wrife was the fourth major writer from the serial series and
he usually did straight-up whodunits. Dollar would always find himself in a
situation wherein he had three or four suspects to choose from. He would
invariably cycle through each suspect during the course of the show until
some twist in the final episode would point to the guilty party. Sometimes
the twist worked. Other times, it comes off as more gimmickish than not. My
favorite Wrife offering is, "The Alvin Summers Matter," when we learn that
every one of Dollar's suspects is guilty.
Radio actor Tony Barret penned two five-part scripts, "The Long Shot
Matter," and "The Alder Matter." Both stories are solid, but it's not enough
for me to draw any distinguishing characteristics. A different writer also
authored the final five-part story, "The Silent Queen Matter," but his name
escapes me at the moment. I do remember that it wasn't a strong send-off for
the serial programs.
In the end, Les Crutchfield is my favorite Johnny Dollar author, with John
Dawson as a close second. I've heard several of Dawson's scripts in their
original half-hour versions and the five-parters always come off as the
better alternative for me. It just goes to prove that drama is at its best
when writing, acting and direction all jell to make a top-notch production.
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:11:07 -0400
From: Cnorth6311@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Scripts
The thread about reusing scripts was interesting. I recall the first time I
was aware of reusing scripts, was on the Terry and The Pirates show. In the
first use of the script, Terry, and Pat were hiding under straw on a cart
while
smuggling a secret radio out of the dragon ladies headquarters. In this
script, they used the Terry Scope to see out from under the straw. The second
time the script was used, the dialog was almost identical, the only
difference
being they did not use the Terry Scope. This was in 1941 I believe. The
second
time the script was used was in 1947.
I am sure there are many instances of scripts being reused, but this is the
one that sticks out in my mind.
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:11:24 -0400
From: Dan Riedstra <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 5-Part Series
Dear Digest,
Another long running half-hour series which became a 5-parter during the
early to mid 1950's was "Grand Central Station". I have been lucky to obtain
some AFRS disks with on of these 5-parters on it. I guess spitting the
series up was a really popular thing to do back then.
Dan
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:39:03 -0400
From: Stewart Wright <otrwash@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jack Johnstone Interview
Joe Webb asked:
Speaking of Johnstone, does anyone have interviews or recordings of him?
John Dunning conducted an interview with Jack Johnstone on 10/23/1983. Dunning
donated his interviews to the OTR Club, the Radio Historical Association of
Colorado (RHAC.) The tape of the interview is in the RHAC Lending Library.
One must be a member of RHAC to borrow the tape.
[removed]
Signing off for now,
Stewart Wright
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:13:39 -0400
From: wayne_johnson@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Speaking of YTJD
I was listening to The Primrose Matter ... all 5 parts. First broadcast 50
years ago this week. I had always wondered how acurate the settings were on
other episodes of YTJD and in this case, the setting is Tucson, AZ, where I
grew up. I was very pleasantly surprised to hear of locations that I had
been to as a young man. In this "matter", I would say that the locations are
accurate. I assume other locations are accurate also. Can anyone comment?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:41:43 -0400
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: radio game shows
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In a message dated 10/9/06 9:22:51 AM Central Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
So the name was
changed to "Uncle Jim's Question Bee" and moved over to the National
Broadcasting Company.
Are there any episodes of this one in circulation? I've never seen any and
would love to hear this one. Ditto "Professor Quiz" from its earliest days.
Dixon
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:57:08 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Radio Recall
The October issue of RADIO RECALL is enroute back from the printer and
will soon be mailed to subscribers throughout the 50 states. This issue
leads off with a piece by popular author Jim Cox, surveying the busiest
actors in the Golden Age of Radio. Bob Jennings, OTR collector, has an
illustrated article uncovering an unlikely crossover: OTR band leader
Kay Kyser's appearance with Batman and Robin in the February 1949 issue
of "Detective Comics."
Esteemed OTR columnist Jim Snyder gives RADIO RECALL the privilege of
publishing his last column, ending his three decades of writing about
our hobby. His two-page column rescues Bill Dunn, CBS correspondent in
WW II, from the relative obscurity of standard reference books.
Also in this issue, a review by Maury Cagle of Jim Cox's book, ""The
Daytime Serials of Television," a cross stitch puzzle of OTR comedians,
Gracie Allen's recipe for roast [removed] for you Straight
[removed] words to the Tom Mix Ralston commercial.
To subscribe, or sample articles from prior issues, go to
<[removed]>
Jack French
Editor
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:55:02 -0400
From: "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand
with the Big Bands"
The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].
This week we feature four complete shows in MP3 format
for your listening pleasure or for downloading; two "Golden
Age of Radios" and two "One Night Stands." We present new
shows every week or so. The current three programs will be
available on line at least until the morning of 10/17/06.
Program 1 - April, 1970 - Stanley Quinn
(Note: This program has been restored; the version last posted
here was reconstituted from an incomplete show from Dick
Bertel's collection; this version is as originally broadcast in
1970.)
Stanley Quinn was a writer and producer for the radio
department of The J. Walter Thompson Agency. He was
also the first guest on the new program, which, for the
first few installments was called "The Golden Era of
Radio." (Dick can't remember what brought about the
change of the title.)
The first few shows were actually done live in the studio,
but later it was more efficient to record the guests whenever
they were available and put the show together on tape. It was
also handy, since Ed was able to look in his collection for
shows mentioned in the interview.
Program 2 - May, 1970 - Charles Harrell
Charles Harrell was the Eastern program director for the
NBC Blue and ABC radio networks. NBC was founded
in 1926 by RCA, GE, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
The network started with 24 stations on November 15.
"A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold Dean
Programs 2 and 3 - Artie Shaw - Parts 1 and 2
Arnold Dean interviews and plays the music of Artie Shaw.
These programs were broadcast in April and May of 1971,
and were the first two programs in the "One Night Stand"
series.
In the "Big Band Era" there was no bigger star in the music
universe than Artie Shaw. The jazz clarinetist and bandleader's
rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" was one of the best-
known songs of the 20th century. Shaw's recording of "Begin the
Beguine" sold millions.
In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
Big Bands."
Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
Ed Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970; Ed was
Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.
Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band
era in his pre-teen years and his decision to study
the clarinet was inspired by the style of Artie Shaw.
When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program
of big band music. In 1971, encouraged by the success
of his daily program and "The Golden Age of Radio"
series, he began monthly shows featuring interviews
with the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters,
etc. who made major contributions to one of the great
eras of music history.
Bob Scherago
Webmaster
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:02:51 -0400
From: "Michael Ratcliffe" <firerat22@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Collection For Sale
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Greetings,
I am writing in the hopes of finding a good new home for a large collection
of OTR shows. The collection belonged to my father, who passed away last
year at the age of 62. He was a firefighter and suffered a massive stroke
while driving a fire engine. Thankfully, no one else was hurt. Some of you
may have known him: James "Mike" Ratcliffe. He was a regular at the Friends
of OTR Convention in Newark NJ for many years.
Anyway, I have no room for his collection and am offering it up for sale in
the hopes of finding someone who can enjoy it. The collection consists of
600+ reels, mostly 1800 ft. but some 2400 ft. and 1200 ft., containing a
variety of mystery, adventure, comedy shows, etc. Because there are so many
reels, I have no way of telling you exactly what shows are on them. Most
were purchased over the years from OTR vendors, but some he recorded
himself. There are also a couple hundred cassettes, as well as five or six
reel-to-reel players (I'm not sure how many of them actually work).
I'm offering everything as one lot. Anyone interested in making an offer
should contact me at firerat22@[removed]. I am not expecting to make a
fortune on the sale. I realize fewer and fewer people are using reels these
days. All reasonable offers will be entertained.
Obviously, because there are so many items, it would probably cost the buyer
a fortune to have them shipped. So we can make arrangements to have the
buyer pick the items up from my dad's old house in Metuchen, New Jersey
(Exit 10 off the NJ Turnpike) or we can make some other arrangements (such
as meeting at the OTR convention in Newark in a couple weeks, etc.).
Thank you for your time and I wish you all well.
Michael J. Ratcliffe
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
firerat22@[removed]
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:03:05 -0400
From: "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest (E-mail)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Spelling It Out
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Hi all,
Does anyone know why announcers tended to spell out the name of a sponsor's
product as part of the commercial breaks? I had thought that it was a quirk
of Roma Wines (R-O-M-A!), but the more I listen to OTR the more products I
hear spelled out. Why did they do this? As both a marketing professional and
an OTR fan I am very curious.
Karen Lerner
Radio Spirits, Inc.
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:17:11 -0400
From: "Steve Atlas" <slavacotr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Request advice about Family Theatre programs
One of my favorite OTR programs (a refreshing switch from much of the
cynical stuff today, and even many other OTR shows) is Family Theatre. I'm
trying to build a collection of some of the best Family Theatre.
My problem is that the program was on for many years, and there are several
hundred shows.
Can anyone recommend 5-10 of their favorite (and hopefully some of the best)
Family Theatre shows (with dates and titles, if possible)? I have the Radio
Spirits set of 6 tapes of Family Theatre (18 episodes), and the 12 shows
starting (chronogically) with The Awakening.
This may be of interest to other list members. But, you can also contact me
privately at slavacotr@[removed], or steveatlas@[removed].
Thanks.
Steve
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #276
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