Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #240
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 6/18/2003 3:03 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 240
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Robert Arthur                         [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
  Re: Robert Arthur & Mysterious Trave  [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
  7 nights a week                       [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Michael post                          [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  The Lone Ranger today                 [ "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed] ]
  He was fat, but not "The Fat Man"     [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
  Don Pardo and Fred Allen              [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Robert Arthur & Mysterious Traveler   [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Why old radio Won't work on TV Today  [ [removed]@[removed] ]
  WORDS AT WAR: radio during World War  [ Howard Blue <khovard@[removed]; ]
  June 18th birthdays                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  JAKE AND THE FATMAN                   [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  the Fat Man                           [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  Kathrine Grant-Crosby                 [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Radio without pictures?               [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ lois@[removed] ]
  Fatman TV series                      [ james h arva <wilditralian@[removed] ]
  Animated [removed]                       [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
  MISSING EPISODE [removed] is it   [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  Catalog [removed]                    [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:24:26 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Robert Arthur

Rob Chatlin asked what other radio shows besides "The
Mysterious Traveler" Robert Arthur was involved in.

He and partner David Kogan were producer-directors of
Murder By Experts. They also wrote for "The Sealed
Book" and The Shadow. Arthur also wrote the Strange
Dr. Weird.

And, of course, Robert Arthur created and wrote 10
books in the classic Alfred Hitchcock and the Three
Investigators mystery series before his death in 1969.
The Three Investigators series, by the way, is far
superior to the Hardy Boys, and one that can be
enjoyed by adults as much as kids.

For the record, it was that series that sparked my
interest in becoming a writer.

Now I have a question concerning Robert Arthur. Does
anyone know of any radio program written or produced
by him (or any radio program at all for that matter)
in which we actually hear him speak? I'm curious what
his voice sounded like.

Rick

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:25:41 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Robert Arthur & Mysterious Traveller

In a message dated 6/16/03 10:04:35 PM, Rob Chatlin asks:

Does anyone know any other shows that writer Robert Arthur
contributed to, aside from The Mysterious Traveller?

***For starters, THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD, THE SEALED BOOK, MURDER BY EXPERTS,
at least one episode of SUSPENSE (11/16/61: "The Black Door"), about a
half-dozen episodes of THE SHADOW, and a number of NICK CARTERs (including the
15-minute daily serial version from 1944). --Anthony Tollin***

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:25:49 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  7 nights a week

Hi Everybody,

it would be fun to read a post where some one could match up all four
network prime time show again each other for all 7 nights for a particle
year like say 1945.  I am thinking on certain night certain network would
have been hard to beat like CBS on Monday with Lux Radio Theater, and Screen
Guild, or NBC on Tuesday night with Fibber McGee and Molly, Bob Hope, and
Red Skellton, or NBC on Saturday night with True or Consequences, and Your
Hit Parade.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:26:10 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Michael post

Hi Everybody,

Dr. Michael Biels in his last post talk about checking out network sound
qualities.  Another way to check that out is comparing the same show
recorded from two different places.  For example I have two different
recordings on the Bob Hope show from 11-30-48.  One is from a radio station
in Detroit.  I played this one on my Bob Hope birthday special.  You can
hear a slight hum on this show, but I also have another sound copy with out
hum and does not have all the loco Detroit spots on the recording.  So I am
thinking I have two separate recording from to different places of the same
show.  One has a hum and the other does not now maybe the hum come from a
different source like from the transfer of the show to reel to reel then to
tape.  Who knows,

take care,

Walden Hughes.   Ne

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:26:41 -0400
From: "Jim Nixon" <ranger6000@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Lone Ranger today

Steven Kallis Jr. raises an interesting point of speculation when he says
that The Lone Ranger might work for modern audiences once again.  I think
that the chief difficulty with the program today would be the treatment of
Tonto as a real character.  Sensitivity toward the treatment of the American
Indian has increased tenfold over what it was in the 1940's.   Tonto could
no longer be depicted in the manner he was in the radio series and the
Clayton Moore television and movie run.  Michael Horse did a pretty good job
with the character in the 1981 movie flop, but the latest TV effort was
abysmal.  I think for the character to work, he has to speak better, but
certainly not perfect, English.  The tremendous prejudice and enmity toward
Indians that existed at that time must be addressed and dealt with.  The
masked man could not keep sending Tonto into towns to buy supplies and get
information, because Tonto would probably be jailed or killed in most of
them.  (Bill Cosby's comic skit about this has a ring of truth).  He would
have to be Tonto's friend and protector as well as a fighter for right.
After that, I think the program would have a chance, especially if it
involved the masked man peripherally with historical characters and events.
This was when the radio series was the most fun, in my opinion.

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:26:48 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  He was fat, but not "The Fat Man"
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 Conrad was "Cannon"

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Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:27:44 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Don Pardo and Fred Allen

Doug Douglass reminded us that Don Pardo's 60th anniversary at NBC was last
Sunday, June 15.  Last fall my daughter and I interviewed him and he told
us a delightful story about the time when he, as the network continuity
announcer, cut the end of The Fred Allen Show off the air, only to have
Allen resume that closing skit from the cut-off point when the program
began the following week.  Does anybody have this pair of programs to
confirm the details and tell us the dates?  Now that we (hopefully) have
our camcorder fixed we will be able to retrieve the interview and write the
article.  The real behind-the-scenes details about how and why this
happened will amaze many of you.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:28:17 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Robert Arthur & Mysterious Traveler

Rob Chatlin asked:

Does anyone know any other shows that writer Robert Arthur
contributed to, aside from The Mysterious Traveller?

Yep, THE SEALED BOOK, THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD, MURDER BY EXPERTS are a few
series he had control over like THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER.  Many of his radio
scripts were later adapted into short stories for magazines and anthologies.
  Arthur was a ghost writer for most of the early Alfred Hitchcock anthology
books, penning the intros that had Hitchcock's name on them.  In fact, since
he was the real editor of those Hitchcock books, it's easy to see which ones
he had a hand in because each book he edited usually had a short story
written by him among the contents.

Arthur's short story "The Haunted Trailer" appeared in one of the juvenile
Hitchcock anthologies and that was adapted from one of his humorous episodes
of THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER.  Many of Arthur (and Kogan's) scripts were later
dramatized again during the final season of SUSPENSE (which was reusing
scripts from many series including CREEPS BY NIGHT, TALES OF FATIMA and
INNER SANCTUM).

It should be noted that all of the MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER scripts do exist and
will soon be (if they are not already) available for reading by OTR fans, so
even with "lost" episodes, the chance of enjoying more broadcasts will soon
be at hand.
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:28:40 -0400
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Why old radio Won't work on TV Today
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Several folks suggested that "The Halls of Ivy" would work well as a TV
show. Well, it did. Unfortunately, Ronald Colman was one of a kind and I
doubt that anyone today could duplicate his efforts. I can still see him
buckling the swash in "The Prisoner of Zenda," just as I can both see and
hear him as Professor Hall in that great show. One of the things we're all
forgetting, I think, is that we're remembering shows from the forties and
fifties, and we're now in a new century. It isn't only a question of whether
those old radio shows could transform themselves from radio to television,
but can today's audiences with their sensibilities appreciate humor and
drama from fifty and sixty years ago.

For those of us who still appreciate those old shows, mayhaps a solution
would be to simply create TV shows with modern actors, perhaps Harrison Ford
or Sam Elliott playing Matt Dillon, and just mouthing the words, while the
soundtrack would play the original radio shows with William Conrad.  Hmmmm,
maybe not.

 B. Ray
Hug a malamute today! <<

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:28:46 -0400
From: Howard Blue <khovard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WORDS AT WAR: radio during World War II

I just learned that H-Net has a copy of WORDS AT WAR for which it is
seeking a reviewer.  If any academic subscriber to the old time radio
digest would like to review the book, please contact me and I will refer
you to the appropriate person from whom you can get the copy

Howard Blue

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:29:03 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  June 18th birthdays

June 18th Births

06-18-1902 - Tom Breneman - Waynesboro, PA - d. 4-28-1948
emcee: "Breakfast at Sardi"s/in Hollywood"; "My Secret Ambition"
06-18-1904 - Keye Luke - Canton, China - d. 1-12-1991
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
06-18-1906 - Jeanette MacDonald - Philadelphia, PA - d. 10-21-1965
singer: "Nobody"s Children"; "Vicks Open House"; "Campbell Playhouse"
06-18-1906 - Kay Kyser - Rocky Mt., NC - d. 7-23-1985
bandleader, emcee: (The Old Perfessor) "Kollege of Musical Knowledge"
06-18-1908 - Clayton "Bud" Collyer - NYC - d. 9-8-1969
actor, announcer: Clark Kent/Superman "Adv. of Superman"; "Cavalcade of
America"
06-18-1910 - Dick Foran - Flemington, NJ - d. 8-10-1979
singer: (The Singing Cowboy) "Burns and Allen"
06-18-1910 - [removed] Marshall - Owatonna, MN - d. 8-25-1998
narrator: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-18-1917 - Richard Boone - Los Angeles, CA - d. 1-10-1981
actor: "Dragnet"

June 18th Deaths

07-10-1905 - Thomas Gomez - NYC - d. 6-18-1971
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
08-15-1879 - Ethel Barrymore - Philadelphia, PA - d. 6-18-1959
actress: Hattie Thompson "Miss Hattie"
08-21-1924 - Jack Buck - Holyoke, MA - d. 6-18-2002
baseball broadcaster: St. Louis Cardinals
11-01-1908 - Felix Knight - Macon, GA - d. 6-18-1998
singer: "Schaefer Revue"; "American Album of Familiar Music"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn and Spencer Tracy

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:29:16 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  JAKE AND THE FATMAN
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In a message dated 6/16/2003 11:04:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:

Seems to me that there was a "Fatman" TV series starring William [removed]
or was it 'Nero Wolfe'? Help!

Herb Harrison


     Seems there will always be a 'Fatman' in our entertainment listings,
though not so much lately in these 'lean' times.
     Herb must be referring to the above mentioned show I was fortunate
enough to do an episode of which meant working with Bill Conrad.
   A delightful man, cigar in one hand, donut in the other when we first met
at the craft-service table, we spent two weeks together and many off camera
chats about OTR.
     He liked Honolulu as I recall but realized a few million dollars short
of his dream house over there and soon the show was canceled and it was not
until we met again at Art's Deli in Studio City that I realized it was
probably
going to be his last series.
     A fine gent who left behind perhaps the most recognizable vocal style in
all of radio and movies.
                     Michael C. Gwynne

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:29:46 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  the Fat Man

Herb Harrison wrote:

Seems to me that there was a "Fatman" TV series starring William [removed]
or was it 'Nero Wolfe'? Help!

As I'm sure many others will tell you, he did both. He played Nero Wolfe in
the 1980s and then the "fat man" in JAKE AND THE FAT MAN. He wasn't Brad
Runyan but I know he listened to a few tapes of the FAT MAN radio show
before doing the role.

Of course he was a "fat man" back when he did CANNON also.

Boy, do I miss William Conrad!

Barbara

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 18:29:57 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Kathrine Grant-Crosby

Hi Everybody,

I have been told that Katharine Grant-Crosby has a new book out and she is
out promoting the book.  We would like to book her on Yesterday USA for an
interview.  Does any one know who is publishing the book?  That way I can
make the arrangements for the interview.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 20:39:18 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio without pictures?
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Mike Carraher wrote:

On another point: I've heard people talk about the "theater of the mind" in
old time radio.  I never saw (and still don't see) radio in my mind.  I
immerse myself in the voices, sounds, stories, personalities and jokes --
the content -- but I don't picture it.

The first thought that came to my mind after reading this was Jack Benny's
vault.  Is it possible to listen to it and not picture it in your mind?  If
so,
is it still funny?  So many people complained to the cast after they did it on
television that "it didn't look like the vault", that it seems a lot of
people had their own mental versions of the heavy chains, drawbridges,
alligators,
Carmichael, and Ed.

I can understand not visualizing pure dialogue.  Several members comment that
in listening to the Benny shows where the cast is just chatting, many imagine
them just standing around in the studio.

So to the other popular topic of [removed] Jack Benny work on TV.
The obvious answer is yes, he did.  But there were two types of Benny radio
shows, just as there were two types of television shows.  The sitcom style
("Now
let's go out to Jack Benny's house in Beverly Hills where we find Rochester
fixing [removed]") worked in both media, and many of the scripts were
reused.
 But the "cast chatting" shows were only used on radio, and the "in one"
(Jack's monologue with a guest and a [removed] Carol Burnett/Tarzan) shows
were
only done on TV.  Then again, there's an 11/24/46 diner skit featuring Edward
G. Robinson that starts as a "chatting" show, which was reused in an "in one"
TV show on 12/4/60 with Dan Duryea.  So cut-and-paste is not new, especially
to
the Benny writers.

--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]

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

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 04:52:05 -0400
From: lois@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

A weekly [removed]

For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over six years, same time, same channel!

Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
"Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
maintainer of the best-known OTR Digest (we all know who he is)..........

and Me

Lois Culver
KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
and widow of actor Howard Culver

(For more info, contact lois@[removed])

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

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 12:11:45 -0400
From: james h arva <wilditralian@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Fatman TV series

18 JUN 03

Herb Harrison writes:  "Seems to me that there was a "Fatman" TV series
starring William [removed] or was it 'Nero Wolfe'? Help!

It was a series called "Jake and the Fatman".  As I recall, William
Conrad (The Fatman) was some sort of police official, and he had this guy
-- whom I believe was Don Johnson in his pre-Miami-Vice days -- doing leg
work for him.  Years before that series, though, he had a series where he
was a private eye named Frank Canon (perhaps "Cannon"), and that was
called, simply, "Canon" (or, "Cannon").

Regards,

Jim Arva

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

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 12:13:35 -0400
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Animated [removed]

Recently, I purchased a copy of the "Beany & Cecil" DVD from Barnes & Noble
(it was on sale!) and I discovered while watching some of it this morning
that there were a couple of projects creator Bob Clampett worked on
involving some of our OTR favorites.

In 1961, Clampett had an idea for a fully animated show ("The Edgar Bergen
Show") with Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.  On the DVD,
you can listen to a soundtrack of the pilot featuring the voices of Bergen,
June Foray and Paul Frees.  Accompanying this soundtrack are storyboard
sketches and some full frames of the series-that-wasn't-to-be, and it's
really a shame that this project fell by the wayside--the caricatures of
Edgar, Charlie & Mortimer are really first-rate, and the animation style is
nearly identical to "Beany and Cecil."

A year later, Clampett came up with an idea to put live action heads on
cartoon bodies performing the "Tex and Judy" skits from "The Judy Canova
Show."  Canova took an active part in this pilot, providing the "head" for
her character--and the test footage is set against a soundtrack featuring
the voices of Canova, Mel Blanc (of course) and Verna Felton.  I can see why
this show never got off the ground; the human-heads-on-cartoon-bodies thing
is a little [removed], for lack of a better word, bizarre.  But the footage
is nicely wrapped up by a brief clip of a cartoon Judy singing and yodeling.

Great DVD, by the way.  More extras that you can shake a stick at--if that's
your idea of a good time.

Ivan

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

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 12:10:29 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  MISSING EPISODE [removed] is it just me?
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        Can anyone tell me if I am barking up a dead tree here?
     I noticed in my Suspense collection, one I thought almost complete, that
there are two particular episodes from 1951 that are weirdly incomplete as
well as back-to-back.
     I mean it seems they are cut off files rather than missing segments and
so make me think I have a defective show.
     I refer to the April 19th show called, "The Rescue" with James Stewart
and the April 26th called, "The Thirteenth Sound" with Anne Baxter.
     Is this the state of the art as it stands today or am I just listening
to an outdated file?
     Please help as this is a real cliffhanger on both episodes.
                     Michael C. Gwynne

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

Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 14:38:01 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Catalog [removed]

For anyone interested, I have brought my OTR catalog up to date.  This is
the cassette list.  Later, I will add my CD list, mostly mp3s.  URL is
below.

Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #240
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