------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 235
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
This week in radio history [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
Radar (from M*A*S*H) and Jack Benny [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
Inside the Doctor's Office [ "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed]; ]
Related Benny Questions [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Artistic license [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
Re: HORIZONS WEST and Sebastian Cabo [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
7-19 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
VOA and WOR [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
Benny mannerisms [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 01:08:02 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: This week in radio history
From Those Were The Days --
7/18
1936 - The critically acclaimed, experimental theatre of the air, The
Columbia Workshop, debuted on CBS.
7/19
1942 - The Seventh Symphony, by Shastakovich, was performed for the
first time in the United States by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony
Orchestra.
1948 -- Our Miss Brooks, starring Eve Arden and Gale Gordon, debuted on
CBS this day.
7/20
1935 - NBC debuted G-men. The show was later renamed Gangbusters.
Joe
--
Visit my slightly updated (1/1/04) homepage:
[removed]~[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 02:56:31 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radar (from M*A*S*H) and Jack Benny
So, how might Radar have been able to imitate Jack
Benny's mannerisms around 1950-51?
Come on, this is Radar we're talking about here. The
guy who knows the choppers are coming before anyone
else does; the guy, who in his own words, "sometimes
knows what's going to happen before they happen." He
knew Jack Benny would use the palm on the side of the
face gesture on TV, just as he knew those choppers
were coming.
Simple.
Rick
[removed] The Radar issue aside, you do have a point about
M*A*S*H anacronysms. One example that comes to mind is
when a character is reading what is obviously a
contemporary (late 1970s) comic book in what is
supposed to be the early 1950s.
Still you gotta love the occasional radio reference,
such as Hawkeye's alias of "Cranston Lamont" in
"Adam's Ribs."
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 09:24:14 -0400
From: "Doug Leary" <doug@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Inside the Doctor's Office
I was unable to locate info about this show through Internet searching, but
as a tangent I did find an interesting picture of a print ad for the
sponsor, Kyron Way diet pills:
[removed]
At some point the product used Marilyn Monroe's picture in its adverts.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 09:25:23 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Related Benny Questions
Snopes asks,
Radar gets up in front of the screen and does a Jack Benny
impersonation, complete with Benny's familiar palm-along-the-cheek and
outstretched hand mannerisms. My questions are: Given that Jack Benny was
primarily a radio comedian at the time the Korean War began, was he using
those stage mannerisms then ([removed], by 1950), and if so, how likely was
Radar to have seen them?
Did Radar's father do imitations too? Is it possible that Radar's
parents saw a Jack Benny stage show and related that to Radar? Did Jack
Benny do and Stateside USO entertainment? Did he go on any of the Bob
Hope overseas USO shows for the troops? Could Radar have seen a
kinescope (which were on 16mm stock and some of which could have been
forwarded to troops overseas)?
The questions are rife with possibilities.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 11:09:49 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Artistic license
snopes, on the subject of "MASH" anachronisms, says;
I've sort of mentally catalogued these anachronisms over years of watching
M*A*S*H reruns, and I recall one particular instance of potential
anachronism that I'm not sure about. (SNIP)
Radar gets up in front of the screen and
does a Jack Benny impersonation, complete with Benny's familiar
palm-along-the-cheek and outstretched hand mannerisms. My questions are:
Given that Jack Benny was primarily a radio comedian at the time the
Korean War began, was he using those stage mannerisms then ([removed], by
1950), and if so, how likely was Radar to have seen them?
I am certain Lorna will add her expertise to "snopes" question, while I just
offer my opinion as to how, and why, the producers/directors of "MASH" mixed
time periods (eras) with impunity. Simply [removed] called it Artistic
License. One can never watch anything on TV, or in films, and take
everything as factual. From the plot, to the dialogue within, many things
are "tweaked" to make them more interesting, entertaining, or help advance
the story line.
Snopes is to be commended for spotting "Radar's" impersonation of Jack Benny
(with the hand on cheek mannerism) as being in conflict with the time
period. But producers don't care. What better physical mannerism to use if
one is going to impersonate Benny. (If you recall, all the Benny show
re-runs used a drawing of Benny in that pose for promotion). Radar probably
assumed the pose during rehearsal,...or it was suggested to [removed] everyone
thought it was hilarious, and the producer said, "great, keep it in". Some
picky person in the group might have spotted what Snopes realized, raised
the time warp issue, but as usual, they were probably told, "so what!...it's
a funny bit. The viewers will love it. Besides, they aren't bright enough to
realize it's not historically correct.
Boy, I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard similar conversations.
Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 11:10:18 -0400
From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: HORIZONS WEST and Sebastian Cabot
Dennis wrote
I just finished listening to this fine series that starred
our late friend Harry Bartell. I wondered if anyone
could tell me a bit more about it?
Several years ago I researched and compiled a broadcast log for this series.
The log includes some background about the series and lists cast and crew
credits.
The address for the Web page for this series is:
[removed]
HORIZONS WEST was recorded at Capitol Records in Hollywood for the Armed
Forces Radio and Television Service in either 1962 or 1963.
Harry Bartell was not the first choice for the role of Meriwether Lewis; he
was going to play another role in the series. When the actor who was
initially chosen to play Lewis didn't work out, Harry was asked to play the
co-leader of the expedition.
I did not think about in terms of radio
Sebastian Cabot who was listed in
the credits but I still have not figured
out what role he played. Was Cabot
involved in radio?
Sebastian Cabot played Toussaint Charbonneau in HORIZONS WEST. Not much is
known about his other American radio activities. He did perform in at least
one episode of the CBS radio series "Studio One."
Cabot did quite a bit of radio for the BBC in his native England during the
early to mid-1940's and became quite adept at doing dialects. He also
appeared in the series THE LIVES OF HARRY LIME (aka THE THIRD MAN.)
Signing off for now,
Stewart Wright
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 13:03:33 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 7-19 births/deaths
July 19th births
07-19-1889 - Max Fleischer - Vienna, Austria - d. 9-11-1972
cartoonist: "Popeye the Sailor"
07-19-1891 - Raymond Bramley - Independence, OH - d. 11-27-1977
actor: Burton York "Howie Wing"; Silas Finke "David Harum"
07-19-1901 - Juano Hernandez - San Juan, Puerto Rico - d. 7-17-1970
actor: Kolu "Jungle Jim"; Lothar "Mandrake the Magician"
07-19-1906 - "Tiny" Hill - Sullivan, IL - d. 12-13-1971
orchestra leader: "Tiny" Hill and His Orchestra"
07-19-1914 - Lou Krugman - Passaic, NJ - d. 8-8-1992
actor: Tony Griffin "Romance of Helen Trent"; Ulysses Hink "Dear Mom";
"Gunsmoke"
July 19th deaths
02-20-1909 - Barry Wood - New Haven, CT - d. 7-19-1970
singer, host: "Million-Dollar Band"; "Your Hit Parade"
02-24-1919 - Betty Marsden - Liverpool, England - d. 7-19-1998
actress: Daphne Whitehigh, Buttercup Gruntfuttock, et al "Round the Horne"
03-31-1928 - Lefty Frizzell - Corsicana, TX - d. 7-19-1975
singer: "Grand Ole Opry"; "Louisana Hayride"; "Big D Jamboree"
06-23-1908 - Erik Barnouw - The Netherlands - d. 7-19-2001
radio historian/author: "A Tower of Babel"; "The Golden Web"; "The Image
Empire"
07-20-1896 - Harry Horlick - Tiflis, Russia - d. 7-1970
conductor: "A&P Gypsies"
11-02-1899 - Evelyn MacGregor - Pittsfield, MA - d. 7-1967
singer: " American Melody Hour"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
12-17-1913 - Herbert Nelson - Stillwater, MN - d. 7-19-1990
actor: Ralph Fraser "Dan Harding's Wife"; George Lawlor "Romance of Helen
Trent"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 15:36:27 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: VOA and WOR
Mike Biel's great stories about visiting VOA transmitters and the equivalent
(we assume) in Russia reminds me of my frequent visits to the WOR (New York)
transmitter, then located in Carteret, New Jersey. This was in the 1950s,
again during that Cold War era, but also reminiscent of WWII.
I was a frequent participant on the "Long John" Nebel midnight to dawn talk
show on WOR, until management decided it might last, and let us come in to
1440 Broadway amid all that art deco MBS/WOR stuff there.
I much preferred the Carteret xmtr installation. By the time I went there it
was a short ride from the Carteret Exit off the New Jersey Turnpike. As I
have mentioned and most of you readers know, WOR was and is Clear Channel,
50KW, and because of its 710 KC situation, has a tremendous signal all up and
down the east coast. It is also not very far from the New Jersey shore, and
probably could be reached fairly readily by a submarine-dropped Axis team
bent on blowing up the installation, or taking it over for propaganda
purposes. For obvious reasons, security was very tight during wartime. By
the time I visited a decade or so after the end of the war, the evidence was
still there.
The site was very large, many acres with multiple, huge towers. I believe
there are sites on the web which show pictures. Well out from the sticks and
the building was a surrounding cyclone fence, with a locked gate, all topped
with barbed wire (for you neophytes, "ribbon wire" did not exist in WW2).
One could not drive into or even walk onto the property without sensors
setting off alarms in the building. Obviously, during wartime there was a
larger staff at hand than when we did our programs. Then it was John Nebel,
me, other guests, and one engineer.
Even when we were broadcasting from there, racked up on the wall for ready
use (I wouldn't have dared for fear they'd blow up in my face) were shotguns,
rifles and submachine guns. Or maybe they were there in case WOR ever
decided to air "War of the Worlds"? Remember what happened in South America!
Sadly, all that is now gone. The transmitter was relocated miles away, the
towers carefully dismantled, the building demolished, and I assume the
property sold. I am told that it is now the site of one of those huge New
Jersey shopping malls. What else?
Enjoy these flashbacks!
PLEASE NOTE MY NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: damyankeeinva@[removed]
EFFECTIVE NOW.
If you really want to know what it means, Email me.
Bestus, Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 00:32:49 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Benny mannerisms
snopes writes:
So, how might Radar have been able to imitate Jack Benny's mannerisms
around 1950-51? Could he have picked them up from newsreels? Did Jack
Benny make any personal appearances in the Midwest during the 1940s that
an Iowa farm boy could have attended? Did Benny even use these mannerisms
that early, or did he only develop them once he was established on
television?
The stories about Jack's mannerisms all originate from the vaudeville days,
so it's a pretty safe bet that he was using some version of them that far
back. A couple have Mary scratching her fingernails down his cheek,
necessitating that Jack hold his hand to the side of his face to cover it.
Also, many
of his gestures and his walk were adapted from Frank Fay, so that also dates
it back to the 1920s.
I have heard from people who performed on the radio show that Jack would do
many of the stares and mannerisms to prolong the laughter. Of course,
there's a limit to how much you can do with your hands while you're holding a
script. Jack did give stage performances, so it is plausible that an Iowa
farm
boy might have attended one of those, perhaps in Chicago.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #235
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