Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #38
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/25/2003 5:07 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 38
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Accents then & now                    [ leemunsick@[removed] ]
      Accent on Accents                     [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Accents                               [ "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed] ]
      "non-OTR-initiates"                   [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Re: Radio History URL                 [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      Orson Welles Tribute to Bill Maudlin  [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      Gene Autry                            [ "Wayne Stratton" <strutton@bellsout ]
      Re: Uncle Don                         [ Udmacon@[removed] ]
      Re: Suspense guide                    [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
      Broderick Crawford                    [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Western Old Time Radio Shows          [ "George Coppen*" <gacoppen@[removed] ]
      USS TICONDEROGA                       [ "Fred Bantin" <bantin@[removed]; ]
      Lucille Fletcher and CINNAMON BEAR    [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Hallmark Hall Of Fame's production o  [ jsexton <jsexton@[removed]; ]
      accents                               [ bruce humphries <cherubim1234@yahoo ]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:00:57 -0500
    From: leemunsick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Accents then & now

    Bob Keldgord of Sacramento wrote that he misses 'old time' regional
    accents, of which he notes the apparent passing of those of the deep south
    or New England as examples.  Other writers have discussed and some lamented
    the "loss" of regional dialects and accents.  Don't fret, chums, I'm here
    to say it isn't so.

    I was born in Connecticut, and my family returned to its roots in New
    Jersey during World War II.  For some years, I was joshed about my 'New
    England accent'.  Ay-uh.  While I can put it on to some extent (it won't
    fool real Down-Easters).  By the time I could audition for my deeply
    desired job as an announcer, my stay in the Garden State left me with what
    I consider NO [removed] what Chief Announcers up until the 1950s or so
    would probably have called a perfect radio accent.

    Contrary to popular legend away from New Jersey, there is no 'New Jersey
    accent'.  The 'Joisey' intonations popularized by comedians is present in a
    small area around Hudson County (Jersey City) but is equally associated
    with the Bronx and Queens boroughs of New York City.  It lived on largely
    in the realm of comedy, such as "Duffy's Tavern".  Like most such wonderful
    humor, it is now considered 'politically incorrect', the sad excuse for
    killing off much rich American lore.

    Particularly with the development of the national networks, program
    directors, station managers and chief announcers made it a point to hire
    announcers who may have come from any region of the country, but did not
    evidence regional [removed] charming but rare intonations we will recall
    from H. V. Kaltenborn, Lawrence Welk, John Henry Faulk, and other
    'regioners' pretty much disappeared from the ranks of radio, except in
    drama and comedy (The Goldbergs, Lum and Abner,  and Amos 'n Andy, to cite
    the most well known).

    Mr. Keldgord referred to the "deep South" as a source of what most of us
    assumed to be  _an_  accent.  My wife and I moved from New Jersey to
    Appomattox County in south central Virginia about three years ago.  I
    wouldn't call this area 'deep South', suggesting that perhaps Mobile,
    Alabama would be about as 'deep' one could get.

    We have fallen in love with the tongues of the natives.  Note the
    plural.  I think the situation is similar to referring to one 'British
    accent'.  There just is no such thing, although I have heard linguists say
    that Virginia "English" (I don't know which one) is the closest to that
    spoken in England in the 1700s.  I can tell you that here in the Old
    Dominion State, there is not one accent, even within a relatively small
    area such as our county.  Even within one neighborhood family of a handful
    of farming brothers and their closest neighbors, there are a half-dozen
    distinctive ways of speaking, ranging from a very pleasing southern accent
    to something I can't even describe, often do not understand at all, or
    sometimes with great difficulty.  I often have to feign deafness to request
    repeats, even then sometimes falling by the wayside.

    One factor which surprised me is the speed of speaking by some of my new
    neighbors and friends.  We tend to associate the 'southern' way of talking
    with the words 'languid' and 'drawl'.  I'm here to tell you that some of
    our friends would baffle 'Speed' Riggs.  Recall the ubiquitous tobacco
    auctioneer of those familiar "Sold American!" advertisements on the Jack
    Benny programs, and the many others sponsored by the cigarette maker, both
    before and since "Lucky Strike green went to war".

    All this said, I'm here to say that regional accents are alive and well in
    [removed] just no longer pop up in the way friend Keldgord is
    thinking, via broadcast announcers on radio and television.  Those who wish
    to become announcers and 'news 'readers' (the same thing) learn early on to
    eliminate their regional accents, or settle for a career limited to their
    local stations, if at all.  Years back, people who would have failed an
    audition for announcer, could become newsmen, where it was deemed that a
    voice too high (like mine) or with a regional accent (like David Brinkley)
    was acceptable, just as long as the speaker was understandable, and
    otherwise a good newsman.  On the other hand today, broadcast
    "personalities" are acceptable with accents, so long as such intonations
    are not too strong.

    In researches for my book on Arthur Godfrey, I learned that a few months
    before his horrific, crippling auto crash in 1931, he was nominated for a
    prestigious radio industry diction award.  Remember that he was still in
    the Milton Cross mode, the standard for announcers who were stage
    elocutionists, and often appeared for their studio stint clad in formal
    wear.

    Director-Writer-Linguist-Author-Commentator Vida Ravenscroft Sutton had a
    half-hour network program called 'The Magic of Speech' on NBC (Red 1929-36,
    Blue 1936-37).  She was sent from New York to Washington to coach the then
    28-year old NBC staff announcer.  Godfrey spent his earliest years in New
    York City, and then his family moved across the Hudson to Hasbrouck
    Heights, New Jersey.  The area verbal 'affliction' remained with him.  He
    didn't make it through the coaching for the diction award.  It was recalled
    later that he suffered from a typical oral shortcoming not necessarily
    limited to the New York area.  He just "couldn't stop droppin' his G's".

    In time, he learned, although forever clinging to his slogan Be the Good
    Lord willin', without the G.  Arthur Godfrey spent the rest of his life
    altering his own speech to make it as correct as possible.  Sometimes still
    feeling awkward with this education, he often kidded that very correctness,
    such as when asking a Talent Scout, "[removed] you brung us this
    evening?"  Correct English can sometimes be awkward, especially when
    transferred from oral discussion to the printed page.

    The redhead could also discourse with a chopped British accent (learnt from
    his Liverpudlian pater), or don a slight Irish lilt, originating with his
    mother, nee Kathryn Morton, of Gaelic background.  In the 1950s, whenever
    conversing with red-haired Irish singer Carmel Quinn, Mr. Godfrey would
    unconsciously drift into her wonderful lilt, and stay with it for the rest
    of that day's program.  He was not alone under that influence; it happens
    to me every time I talk with Carmel, as charming and lovely as ever.

     From his background on the streets around New York, and from a brief time
    spent in vaudeville when in his early 20s, 'Red' Godfrey could and did
    speak for effect in various immigrant accents.  On his programs, he
    delighted in re-telling stories he knew or heard, in Italian,
    Yiddish/Jewish, Irish, and other dialects, and did pretty well at all.  One
    favorite story was about Zlotnick the Furrier, an early Washington
    sponsor.  The retailer was told by friends about "that man on the radio
    making fun of your accent!"  Zlotnick indignantly responded, "Vot heccent?"

    Sadly, Godfrey's obvious joy and proficiency in telling Jewish tales with
    the appropriate accent contributed to the belief by some misguided critics
    that he was an Anti-Semite, which could not possibly be further from the
    truth.  Just one of several widespread lies spread by the media about
    Arthur Godfrey to this day.

    The other point made about Mr. Godfrey is that he changed from the formal
    'Ladies and Gentlemen of the radio audience' approach generally in vogue in
    radio in the 1930s.  He developed the folksy, one-to-one persona later so
    associated with him, but not limited just to Godfrey, as discussed here
    recently.

    The trend continues in broadcasting to  _not_  speak with an accent in
    broadcasting, or if so, with a very gentle one.  This is still true with
    regard to the few announcer types who remain.  True even on local stations,
    although in nearby Farmville, Virginia, there is an on-air voice (I suspect
    it's the station manager) who sounds exactly like Frank Perdue (yet another
    Virginia dialect?).

    Broadcast "personalities" are acceptable with accents, so long as such
    intonations are not too strong.  Dr. Phil (psychologist Dr. Phillip C.
    McGraw) is perhaps today's most outstanding and successful example of the
    idea that accent or not, if one has a charming and compelling personality
    and something to say, one has a chance to make a go of it.

    Greetings, y'alls, from the not-so-deep, but deeply accented south.  Lee
    Munsick

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:01:30 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Accent on Accents

     Bob Keldgord, commenting on the "fading" of accents, opines,

>     My theory is that America is rapidly losing its accents, whether on the
>     air or in everyday speech, and that broadcasting is merely a microcosm of
>     the overall cultural changes.  <snip> as Americans have become more
>     mobile and no longer spend their entire lives in one section of the
>     country, the accents have tended to "fade" or blend

    I rather suspect that *because* of radio and television accents are on
    the decline.  No doubt a certain mobility of the population, particularly
    after World War II, is contributory, but I recall hearing that
    broadcasters tended to look for people who had little regional accent, in
    order to make them more audially acceptable to more listeners.

    It has been a belief of mine that OTR was one of the really important
    unifying influences in the United States getting a solid national
    identity.  Once through the establishment of network-wide programs,
    people throughout the country were able to have commonality no matter
    where they traveled.  As I mentioned previously, I was a child of a
    career Army officer; as a result, I lived in different parts of the
    country.  But at all places I went, I could always hear Captain Midnight,
    Jack Benny, Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters, The Adventures of Sam
    Spade, The Lone Ranger, and literally dozens of other shows.  In places
    as geographically separate as St. Petersburg, FL, San Antonio, TX,
    Tacoma, WA, and San Francisco, CA, I could hear the same programs,
    sharing experiences with people throughout the nation.  This is not to
    say that prior to OTR, there was *no* national identity; rather, it was
    that the identity moved more solidly into the foreground.  In some other
    areas of the world, "identity" starts with municipality, then region (or
    state), then country.  For most people in the US, this order tends to be
    inverted, starting with national identity.  I credit (or blame) OTR and
    television with that perspective.

    If my hypothesis is correct, then the relatively accent-free characters
    on radio (Senator Claghorn and Mr. Kitzel among the exceptions) were a
    contributory factor in minimizing regional accents.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 12:01:52 -0500
    From: "Roby McHone" <otr_alaska@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Accents

    Bob Keldgord from Sacramento wrote

>     Another factor which has escalated the loss of accents is, I believe, the
>     growth of the electronic media. When people got their news on the printed
>     page, they continued to speak in their native accents. When, however, radio
>     and later TV became so all-invasive, the accents began to fade and/or
>     blend.

    Thanks, Bob, I was going to say almost the same thing but I think you said
    it more gooder than I would have.
    A few years ago, I visited my many aunts and uncles in western, rural North
    Carolina.  I manage to get down there every 10 years or so.  I noticed that
    the people in that area did not have the southern accent and did not speak
    as slowly as I remembered.  I did quite a bit of driving around the
    countryside and finally [removed] every farmhouse had a satellite
    television dish outside.  Instead of listening to local (southern accented)
    radio and watching local television, they were hearing the American version
    of BBC English every time they turned on the TV and their speech patterns
    were slowly changing.

    Roby McHone
    Fairbanks, Alaska-where we applaud global warming

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:55:17 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "non-OTR-initiates"

    Derek Tague, speaking of those who are ignorant of things OTR related,
    asks,

>     Anyway, has anybody out there in the ether devised a good-natured term
>     that we OTRers can call non-fans?

    How about "off-frequency folk"?

    Although this is a bit off-topic, since Derek noted,

>     Being that Harry Potter deals in "magicks unholy" ....

    Actually, Harry and Friends don't do that.  They deal with "magicks
    nonholy," if anything.   Aleister Crowley, then or now, is not a reliable
    one to cite.  Stick with Chandu, the Magician.

    Now, back to the music of Korla Pandif .... :-)

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:56:25 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Radio History URL

    "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed]; told us:

>      an article about portable radio stations for The Broadcast Archives
>     in 1998. The URL is:

    An interesting site indeed. Thanks, Russ. But the URL given did not
    work until I deleted the final "l."

    The correct URL seems to be:
    [removed]

    Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:56:53 -0500
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Orson Welles Tribute to Bill Maudlin

    Radio star Orson Welles' post  VE-day tribute to the recently deceased
    cartoonist Bill Maudlin was republished in today's New York Post.  The link
    can be found here:
    [removed].

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 14:56:58 -0500
    From: "Wayne Stratton" <strutton@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Gene Autry
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    How long was Gene Autry on the radio and what was the name of his show?
    [removed]

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    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:09:46 -0500
    From: Udmacon@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Uncle Don
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    As our administrator says, the "Uncle Don" story is a total myth.

    But right now I'm reading the 1972 autobiography of John A. Gambling (Jon B's
    son), in which THIS WOR personality said something even worse!

    After taping a feature during a break for commercials, Gambling decided he
    didn't like the way it was going. So he said: "Well I guess we f***ed THAT
    up!"

    The WOR "live" mike was turned back on just as he said it!!

    Bill Knowlton, "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse ([removed]), Utica ([removed]),
    Watertown NY ([removed]), 9 pm-midnight est: [removed]

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:10:00 -0500
    From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Suspense guide

    RyanO asks this question about Suspense:

>     Is there a
>     guide somewhere that might give detailed descriptions of each show?

    I'm sure I won't be the only person who recommends Martin Grams' book on
    Suspense, entitled:  Suspense:  Twenty Years of Thrills and Chills.  It's
    extremely informative, and answers any questions you may have.

    I believe Martin is planning on issuing another small print run before
    letting the book lapse into 'out of print' status.  You can contact him
    at: mmargrajr@[removed] for info on price and stuff.

    Rodney Bowcock
    Past Tense Productions "Classic movies and TV for $7"

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:10:04 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Broderick Crawford

    Someone asked about Broderick Crawford on radio.  Here is a small list of
    his various radio credits:

    The Royal Gelatin Hour  (12/9/37)  "Of Mice and Men"  stars Rudy Vallee,
    with W. Ford.
    The Royal Gelatin Hour  (12/15/38)  "The Rock"  stars Rudy Vallee.
    The Lux Radio Theatre  (10/26/42)  "Wake Island"  with Brian Donlevy and R.
    Preston.
    The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater  (11/18/46)  with I. Jewell and Edward
    G. Robinson.
    Hollywood Star Playhouse  (5/1/50)  "Hospital Zone - Quiet"
    Screen Director's Playhouse  (5/12/50)  "Butch Minds the Baby"
    Suspense  (6/15/50)  "Deadline"
    Hollywood Star Playhouse  (12/21/50)  "Santa is No Saint"
    The Hallmark Playhouse  (1/4/51)  "The Life of Theodore Roosevelt"
    The Cavalcade of America  (3/3/53)  "The Star and the Shield"
    Suspense  (10/26/53)  "Dutch Schultz"  with William Conrad.
    Suspense  (4/12/54)  "Parole to Panic"

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:49:22 -0500
    From: "George Coppen*" <gacoppen@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Western Old Time Radio Shows

    I have been fooling around trying to make a list of every Western Old Time
    Radio Show that was broadcast. I have the most popular ones ( I THINK ) but
    the not so popular ones are hard to find. SO, if you wouldn't mind I would
    appreciate it if sometime in the next week or so you would take the time to
    send me any of the Western Show names that you can remember, popular and not
    popular. Please send them to gacoppen@[removed]
    This is just a winter thing to do. Up here in WINTERPEG ( Winnipeg, Manitoba
    Ca.) this time of year gets pretty cold outside and when you are a big sissy
    like me finding an indoor project is a real good way to kill time until we
    can get back outside. By the way it seems to be warming up a bit, it was
    only -24 C last night, summer is almost here :-))
    George

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:49:36 -0500
    From: "Fred Bantin" <bantin@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  USS TICONDEROGA
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    USS TICONDEROGA

    I have a friend who lost his brother during a "Kamikaze" attack on the
    aircraft carrier Ticonderoga, January 21, 1945. He believes there was a
    documentary on the radio about that attack. If anybody knows where this
    documentary could be obtained, it would be greatly appreciated. Knowledge of
    any radio or other media about this attack would also be appreciated.

    Fred Bantin

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    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:50:12 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lucille Fletcher and CINNAMON BEAR

    Ryan Osentowski asks about other Lucille Fletcher plays performed on
    SUSPENSE.   He listed five of the most famous ones,  including "Sorry Wrong
    Number."    During the 1940's,  I count four others: "Dark Journey," "The
    Thing in the Window," "The Search for Henry LeFevre," and "Night Man."
    There may be more but these are what I recollect.  I believe Fletcher was
    an early SUSPENSE writer.

    Oddly, Shirley Jackson's most famous short story "The Lottery" and
    Fletcher's equally scary and most famous play, "Sorry Wrong Number," were
    conceived in a grocery store. Fletcher and Jackson have been compared for
    their  sense of the  "macabre."

    My favorite book on SUSPENSE is by Martin Grams, Jr.    I like it for its
    detail and huge amount of SUSPENSE trivia which is not found in any other
    place.

    I can't resist commenting on an obscure connection THE CINNAMON BEAR has to
    SUSPENSE. Elizabeth Heisch, wife of Glan Heisch, the creator of THE
    CINNAMON BEAR, wrote the SUSPENSE episode, "A Thing of Beauty," which first
    aired on December 28, 1944. Elizabeth was also the sister of CB's
    announcer, Bud Heistand.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 17:52:50 -0500
    From: jsexton <jsexton@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Hallmark Hall Of Fame's production of KIM
     with Dean Stockwell

    Hi,
      Many years ago Lionell Barrymore hosted a Hallmark Hall of Fame version of
    KIM by Rudyard Kipling that featured DEAN STOCKWELL as [removed] think they also
    did "Day THe Earth Stood Still" and "Hound of the Baskerville".Are any of
    these still available on CD?? Thanks,John (jsexton@[removed])

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

    Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 18:58:31 -0500
    From: bruce humphries <cherubim1234@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  accents

    Bruce Young wrote - how he noticed actors speaking
    words different?

    While in Theater Conservatory, (censored) years ago,
    we were taught the American Stage Standard Speech.

    As I remember, it grew out of early American
    Shakespearaen Theater was initially taught to the
    younger actors by the older actors backstage and
    during rehearsels.

    It is an intense physiological study of how sound is
    created in the human body as well as a written score
    of shorthand notes to break words into 'acceptable'
    dipthongs and consonant combinations for
    pronunciation. And like studying Latin first before
    studying other Romance Languages, it lays a great
    groundwork for understanding and reproducing any
    dialect you need.

    But of course I went into Radio and like my piano
    technique - I hear and reproduce.

    Que Sera Sera

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #38
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