Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #122
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/4/2004 5:57 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 122
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      This week in radio history 4/4-10     [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Re: a clever wordsmith                [ Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Re: Jan Sterling                      [ Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Re: Clients booth's                   [ Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Re: Photogenic OTR performers.        [ Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      forgotten occupations                 [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
      Mr Ed not on Radio                    [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
      The Late Charlie Summers              [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
      Wayne and Shuster                     [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      The Murder of Lidice                  [ ScottMP@[removed] ]
      Re: otrd #121 & The April Fools       [ nancys_upriver_newscompany@netzero. ]
      Re: Me and the April Fools            [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Sherlock on PBS via BBC               [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:18:25 -0400
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 4/4-10

     From Those Were The Days --

    4/4

    1938 - After seven years of singing on the radio, Kate Smith began a new
    noontime talk show.

    4/6

    1931 - Little Orphan Annie, the comic strip character developed by
    Harold Gray, came to life on the NBC Blue network.

    1942 - We Love and Learn premiered on CBS. The serial featured Frank
    Lovejoy as Bill. The program would continue until 1951.

    1945 - This is Your FBI debuted on ABC. Frank Lovejoy from We Love and
    Learn had little problem finding work, as he served as narrator for This
    is Your FBI for the next eight years.

    4/8

    1941 - Earle Graser, the eight-year voice of The Lone Ranger, died in an
    auto accident. Brace Beemer, previously the show's announcer, took over
    the title role.

    Joe

    --
    Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
    [removed]~[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:18:40 -0400
    From: Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: a clever wordsmith

    While traveling back here on the East Coast, the lovely Dorothy occasionally
    trots out her laptop and I get to scan back issues of the Digest.

    I don't recall seeing any posts from "Zongo" before, but I thoroughly
    enjoyed his input on the Berle ratings, and the competition (?) he was up
    against.

    I particularly enjoyed his style of writing, and wry comments.

    Let's hear often more from Zongo.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:19:19 -0400
    From: Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Jan Sterling

    Oh No! Not another of my childhood crushes leaving us. Kermit posts;

>     Actress Jan Sterling has died at age 82. (SNIP)
>     What with Jan Minor passing away a few weeks back,
>     it's been a bad year for Jans.

    AW! Darn! Drat! and Dang it all.

    A few weeks back I recounted how I had a huge teenage crush on Jan Minor. A
    little know fact. The same held true for Jan Sterling.

    I was in a Broadway play with her back when I was age 11. If she was 82 when
    she died, that would have made her 21 at the time. The play (not a hit)
    starred Billy Burke, and newcomers Zachary Scott and Jan Sterling. It was
    titled "This Rock", and was a "War" story about English kids being separated
    from their parents and sent to live in the suburbs to escape the London
    Blitz.

    Jan was most charming and friendly with the kids in the cast, and I'm sure I
    wasn't the only one to develop a bad case of puppy love. Zachary Scott was
    also fun to be around.

    Strange, that the subject of that play should enter my consciousness at this
    time. Fate works in strange ways. Just last week, before leaving for Elmira,
    I had a telephone "reunion" (30 years since we last talked) with another
    child actress from that play. The lovely Joyce Van Patten, (sister of
    another OTR child actor, Dick Van Patten. Both went on with their acting
    careers in TV and films as they matured.  Me, I never matured, and became a
    TV Commercial Director. :)

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:20:33 -0400
    From: Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Clients booth's

    Ted posts;

>     I have heard that some network radio studios provided special private booths
>     for show sponsors to use.  Kind of like sky boxes in today's sports
>     stadiums.

    Nothing like the sports stadiums "sky Boxes" Ted. Nowhere near that opulent.
    And they ranged in size, depending on the size of the studio. The smaller
    ones might seat 6 to 8 people, with reasonable comfortable captains chairs.

    The large ones, like those on the 7th floor of NBC (Overlooking studios 6A &
    6B on the floor below, were larger, and theatre style seating in tiers. I
    think they had three or four rows, maybe 8 seats to a row.

    Ted goes on to ask

>     Were these booths equipped for entertaining?

    Hmmmn. That depends on your definition of "Entertaining". I certainly was
    entertained in them on numerous occasions. Being a normal teenager, with
    raging hormones, it was a great place to take my girlfriend whenever they
    (she) might come into the city to attend an Archie broadcast. I knew where
    the page staff kept the key, so it provided a great private place to "neck"
    (as they used to call it back then).

>     That is, did they cater meals,

    No, darn it. I Had to take her out to lunch afterwards. :)

>     Or were they just private places to sit and watch (listen) to the show?

    Yup! (Among other things.) There was only one problem. One never knew when
    the NBC cleaning lady (who also had a key) might inadvertently interrupt the
    proceedings. A trifle embarrassing to say the least. To her also. :)

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:21:11 -0400
    From: Dorothy Stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Photogenic OTR performers.

    Mark Kinsler, in discussing  High Definition TV, posts,

>     I wonder if there are stars who won't quite make it into HDTV?  Mr Hal Stone,
>     who knows radio, TV, and probably HDTV (TV commercials have used it for a
>     while) might wish to comment.

    Mark, I've been happily retired from the TV Production rat race for almost
    25 years.  It scares me to think of the incredible technical achievements
    that have occurred in that period of time.

    But what I can comment on was your point about the physical appearance of
    some of the people in radio being less than desirable for TV or the silver
    screen.

    Frankly, I can't think of a single radio performer that I knew, or worked
    with, that was too ugly for the visual mediums. (I suppose the only
    exception to that would be Bob Hastings) :)

    But in the early days of TV, the flat lighting was sort of harsh, and not
    very flattering to those females starting to  sprout a few wrinkles. And
    when sharper lenses and tubes were developed, the problem was even greater.

    We often used diffusers on the lenses, or even shoot through a sheer silk
    stocking to be "kinder" to the aging beauties, and made Motion Picture
    lighting techniques an integral part of our Videotape medium.

    To me, sharper is better only when it comes to pencils. Or Sporting events,
    so you can see each drop of sweat and blood. Next, they will  be offering us
    "Smell"-a-vision. :) How about those post game locker room interviews then?

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:22:22 -0400
    From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  forgotten occupations

>     When is the last time you spoke to an elevator operator? "third
>     [removed] wearing [removed] [removed] down, step to
>     the rear of the car please."

    If you look carefully at office-building lobby scenes of some old movies you
    may be get a glimpse of the elevator *dispatcher*.  He sat at an impressive
    marble-and-bronze pulpit (now occupied by the security guy in old buildings
    today) and watched a number board that told him which floor had elevator
    [removed], on which floors someone had pushed the up or down elevator
    button.  His job was to send each elevator up to the floors and in the
    direction where they were needed most.  When an elevator was idle, the
    operator would descend to the lobby level and wait for further instructions
    from the dispatcher.

    The dispatcher's job was not a trivial one: he had to move the greatest
    number of people in the shortest time with a limited number of elevator
    cars.  In a fifty-story building, this takes a good deal of skill, and the
    problem is still a classic exercise given to transportation engineering
    students.

    Elevator dispatching in big office buildings is now done by a computer
    programmed with the appropriate queueing algorithm for that particular
    building.

    Department stores encourage escalators nowadays because the customers
    thereupon can see the merchandise offered on each floor as they go by.
    Multi-story shopping malls, which often don't have room for escalators, use
    slow glass-enclosed elevators for the same reason.

    I seem to recall that elevator dispatchers often used whistles of some sort
    to attract the attention of daydreaming elevator operators.  Perhaps those
    with better memories can enlighten us further.

    M Kinsler

    who, like every kid of his generation, always wanted to be an elevator
    operator.  They got to wear cool uniforms and sit on that little stool that
    folded down from the wall.

    512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
    [removed]~mkinsler1

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:22:54 -0400
    From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mr Ed not on Radio

>      Incidentally, Jay Hickerson's ULTIMATE GUIDE book lists a radio episode of
>      Mister Ed.  Though I suspect it's nothing more than an audio recording of a
>      TV episode, does anyone have this audio recording so I can check it out?
>      Martin Grams, Jr.

    Martin,
    What I think they may be is two sides of a Mr Ed album issued during the run
    of the show. I do not have the album but I was told by someone who had heard
    it the audio productions on it (2 of them) were edited from the TV series.

    Paul Urbahns

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:23:14 -0400
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Late Charlie Summers

            Breaking news.

            On an Old Radio this [removed], I heard noted reporter, Wally Ballou, air
    the following story which is of great interest OTR fans everywhere.

            "On April 1st, a combination wake/memorial service was held at the
    OTR Chat Room for the beloved listmaster of The Old-Time Radio Digest, the
    Late Charlie Summers.  When a bottle of 28 year-old Scotch appeared, Charlie
    miraculously arose from the departed.
            For those who remain skeptical,  Mr. Summers is reportedly attending
    the Cincinnati OTR Convention."

            If you can't believe Wally Ballou, who can you believe?

    Signing of for now,

    Stewart Wright

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:23:23 -0400
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Wayne and Shuster

     > Wayne and Shuster were comedians who had a very popular show.

    Not sure if it was from television or radio (TV, I suspect), but I recall a
    very funny skit that W&S did wherein a guy became addicted to television as
    one becomes addicted to drugs - he just needed to watch, any show, it
    didn't matter. As an antidote trying to cure him, he was forced to listen
    to radio.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:25:19 -0400
    From: ScottMP@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Murder of Lidice
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    I'm searching for something the group might be able to help me with:

    On June 10, 1942, the Nazis wiped out the Czecho-Slovakia village of Lidice
    under the false impression that the murderer of Reinhard Heydrich was being
    provided with safe harbor in the village.

    The Writers' War Board, on June 12, 1942 -- and I now quote from the October
    17, 1942 issue of The Saturday Review of Literature -- "resolved to do
    everything it could to keep the name and memory of Lidice from ever being
    forgotten.
     One thing was to ask Edna St. Vincent Millay to write a poem about Lidice.
    She answered with a long dramatic narrative poem, 'The Murder of Lidice,'
    part of which [was] published [removed]

    "The radio version, substantially the same as that to be published by
    Harper's on October 25 ... is to have its premiere on the evening of October
    19
    [1942], over the National Broadcasting Company network.

    "The ceremonies will be presided over by Mr. Alexander Woollcott.
    Well-known actors and actresses will be featured."

    Could any member of the group help me find a copy of this broadcast?   I
    heard a portion of the epic poem read at a college speech competition once,
    years
    ago, and have never forgotten it.   There is little or no interest in, let
    alone memory of, the event by the media, but I continue to wage a campaign to
    reprint the poem so that Ms. Millay's and the Writers' War Board's admonition
    can
    be upheld:

    "Careless America, crooning a tune! --
    Catch him!   Catch him and stop him soon!
    Never let him come here!

    "Think a moment:   are we immune?"

    "Or will you wait, and share the fate
    Of the village of Lidice?
    Or will you wait, and let him destroy
    The Village of Lidice, Illinois?
    Oh, catch him!   Catch him and stop him soon!
    Never let him come here!"

    The poem and its sentiments strike me as particularly relevant these days.

    Best regards,

    Michael P. Scott

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

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:27:04 -0400
    From: nancys_upriver_newscompany@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: otrd #121 & The April Fools

    Mr. Harlan zinck states:

>     Considering the almost complete and utter reaming Ms. McLeod suffered >due to
>     last year's fairly innocuous prank, who the hell can blame her?!?

    Speaking as one of those April Fools, I can only state that I loved it.  The
    fact of the matter is that for a brief moment, when learning the truth, I was
    wounded.  After that I chuckled for a week.
    Yes, Ms. McLeod took and unfair whooping from some people.  That was unworthy.

    Further Mr. Zinck continues:

>     many of those same people continue to post considerably in-depth historic
>     questions and follow them up with something like "Maybe Elizabeth can fill
>     us [removed]" or "I'm sure Elizabeth will respond with a more detailed
>     [removed]" or simply "Elizabeth?" I wonder where we ever got the idea
>     that she was our personal on-call reference librarian -- let alone our
>     no-fee informational ATM machine?

    I've noticed the same thing.  It goes to prove that just because some people
    are baby-ish in some respects, they still know enough to go to the correct
    source for guidance.

    Then Mr. Zinck continues:

>     Happy belated April Fool's Day, Elizabeth -- and, despite your
>     understandable silence this year, here's to many [removed]!
>     Harlan Zinck

    Well, here I disagree with the gentleman.  Off-list - bologna - I can assure
    you that when Ms. McLeod shows up on the digest, and the printer finishes,
    its Swedish exercises, the first articles looked at are those by the Lady
    Elizabeth.

    Anyone who has read any of her works on the internet knows her writing and
    research are top-notch.

    These April Fools look forward to more from the lady.
    Regards,
    Larry (and Nancy) Hall

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:28:20 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Me and the April Fools

    On 4/4/04 12:18 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     Considering the almost complete and utter reaming Ms. McLeod suffered due to
>     last year's fairly innocuous prank, who the hell can blame her?!?

    Well, I'll admit that I wasn't real happy about the tone of some of the
    comments I got, and I did grumble to real-world friends about it, but
    now, from the perspective of a year later, and with other things going on
    in my life that are more much important, I think I'm over whatever I
    might have been feeling at the time.

    But yes, it's a stunt I'll not repeat again. There was some fallout from
    the gag that had repercussions outside the OTR world -- I found out
    months later that certain Serious Record Collectors in Europe were
    outraged about it, and the story was going around their circles that the
    stunt was actually pulled by the "girlfriend of a prominent American
    collector," and that said collector "obviously needed to slap her around
    a bit."

    That wasn't the only physical threat I got from the stunt, but it was on
    so many levels the most offensive.  You can see why I'm not exactly
    tempted to try again.

>     I find it interesting to note that, though her joke posting of last year was
>     greeted with scorn and disdain by a great many regular Digest participants,
>     many of those same people continue to post considerably in-depth historic
>     questions and follow them up with something like "Maybe Elizabeth can fill
>     us [removed]" or "I'm sure Elizabeth will respond with a more detailed
>     [removed]" or simply "Elizabeth?" I wonder where we ever got the idea that
>     she was our personal on-call reference librarian -- let alone our no-fee
>     informational ATM machine?

    I don't mind answering questions when I'm in a position to do so and when
    other issues aren't more pressing. Some people might have noticed I'm far
    less active on the Digest than I used to be -- this is because I've been
    dealing with a rather complex medical situation over the past year or so,
    and getting it resolved is consuming most of my spare energy these days.
    So if you've written me offlist with a question and I haven't responded,
    please don't take it personally -- right now there's over 1200 emails in
    my inbox I haven't had a chance to deal with, and it may be a while
    before I do.

    In the midst of that, I've also been very busy preparing a manuscript for
    publication. I have a contract with McFarland for the publication of
    "Amos 'n' Andy In Person -- The Lost Years of a Broadcasting Landmark,"
    and getting the manuscript into final form has kept me quite busy thru
    the winter.

    So I've got more than enough on my plate this year, but who knows --
    maybe next year someone else will pull a memorable April Fool joke all
    their own. Just be aware there's some real nut cases out there in The
    Vast World-Wide Collecting Community, and you don't want to get on their
    bad side.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 14:58:54 -0400
    From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sherlock on PBS via BBC

    Kenneth Clarke asked about the aborted PBS series on the origins of Holmes,
    and its details about the life of Conan Doyle, leading him to write the
    Sherlock Holmes stories.

    The series to which he refers was called "Murder Rooms".  It ran on the BBC
    and WGBH, the latter passing it through to PBS.  Isn't it interesting that
    one more difference between our two English-speaking nations is that we
    colonials routinely talk of programs as being on ABC or CBS, but when
    speaking of the good gray BBC (to steal a phrase), it's THE BBC.  Yet we say
    that someone is in the hospital or taken to the hospital, while the Brits
    drop those articles and just say "he's in hospital", or "she was taken to
    hospital".  Churchill was right, separated by our common language.

    The series starred Sir Ian Richardson (I mention his knighthood; he never
    does in his credits) as Dr. Joseph Bell, the prototype of Sherlock Holmes.
    When his stories became hugely popular, Arthur Conan Doyle reportedly wrote
    thankfully to his friend the forensic pathologist Dr. Bell, "It is to you
    that I owe Sherlock Holmes".  As a medical student, Arthur Conan Doyle was
    tutored by Dr. Bell at Edinburgh University, and was then taken under the
    wing of the good Doctor. to learn Bell's approach which was literally Holmes'
    method.

    Unfortunately, the "Murder Rooms" series was cut short in its infancy.  With
    great difficulty and expense, several times involving purchases from the UK,
    I managed to find five of the installments:

    The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes
    The Kingdom of Bones
    The Patient's Eyes
    The White Knight Stratagem
    The Photographer's Chair

    As I have noted here before, I am an unabashed fan of Ian Richardson, since
    seeing that other wonderfully sly British series "Deck of Cards".  In the
    "Murder Rooms" series, Robin Laing portrayed young medical student Conan
    Doyle in the first installment, "Dark Beginnings".  In the ensuing four
    chapters in my collection, young Doyle is portrayed by Charles Edwards.
    Throughout, the two are wonderfully complemented by excellent supporting
    performances.

    If I have any negative about the series other than that it was entirely too
    truncated, it is that at least in my videos the scenes, while staged
    marvelously in wonderful sets and locations, are "Dreadfully Dark".  I choose
    those double-D words deliberately as the very dreary darkness may well be a
    directorial device chosen to deepen the direction of the dire deeds, dripping
    with blood, shown in the series.  My high school English teacher always told
    me some day I'd have the opportunity to utilize words starting in D which
    lend themselves so well to portraying dread!

    If anyone knows of additional chapters in the series and how to obtain on
    video, I will appreciate having such information.  As I said, two years ago
    it was nigh unto impossible to find [removed] they are readily available on
    DVD (mine are VHS) and appear regularly on eBay and elsewhere, for far less
    cost.

    Sir Ian also appeared as Sherlock Holmes himself in another aborted British
    teleseries.  I believe there was just one of them.  This is based on my
    correspondence from Sir Ian.  In any case, I have but one video:  "Hound of
    the Baskervilles".  Again, if anyone knows of more, I will appreciate knowing
    about them.  I want to acquire whatever I can of Ian Richardson's marvelous
    film work.  Sadly, I cannot similarly acquire his extensive stage repertory.

    I remain dolefully yours, [removed], Lee Munsick

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #122
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