Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #372
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 9/25/2002 8:44 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 372
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      More on MORRISON                      [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
      Underrated: Soaps?                    [ loviglio <loviglio@[removed]; ]
      Book by Hal Stone                     [ Jerry Bechtel <[removed]@[removed] ]
      The Ranger again                      [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
      Code & SOS                            [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
      Re: Penner and "Komedy Kapers"        [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      DeMarcos                              [ John Henley <jhenley@[removed] ]
      Mr. Keen Redux                        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Ooops                                 [ "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@delphiau ]
      Orson, Bill, or Brett                 [ "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed]; ]
      Radio Adventures/Scarlet Pimpernel    [ "Gareth Tilley" <tilleygareth@hotma ]
      Dog Impersonation                     [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Re: hoofs SFX                         [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      Under-rated and Over-rated            [ BH <radioguy@[removed]; ]
      OTR book                              [ "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed] ]
      MGM and WHN                           [ "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed]; ]
      Amos 'n' Andy Recreations on WBCQ     [ Dennis DeMarco <dennisdm@earthlink. ]
      History of SCIENCE FICTION            [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:28:04 -0400
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More on MORRISON

    Bret Morrison also had a busy second career as a cabaret singer, headlining
    at Old Nick's Music Hall and Castaway's Celebrity Room.  His singing talents
    were showcased in his 1947-48 Mutual series SONG OF THE STRANGER, a
    musical-adventure series in which he was heard as Pierre de Varney, a French
    resistance fighter.  As a singer, Bret appeared as the first guest in the
    premier telecast of ARTHUR GODFREY'S TALENT SCOUTS.  I included a clip of
    that broadcast (along an interview with Bret conducted by Frank Bresee) in my
    one-hour audio documentary, "Voices from the Shadows," which is included in
    GAA's THE SHADOW CHRONICLES, available in bookstores or from Radio Spirits.
    There is also a very interesting recording floating around of Bret Morrison
    auditioning for the role of Clark Kent/Superman in 1947, at a time when the
    series was returning after a summer hiatus and Bud Collyer may have been
    holding out.  Like Collyer, Bret's background as a singer helped with the
    transformation from tenor Clark Kent to the baritone Superman.  Bret often
    tripled on THE SHADOW when a part offered an opportunity for him to sing, as
    in the episode "Murders on the Main Stem" in which he sings as "Jean LaRue."
    ("Murders on the Main Stem" also features radio's first Shadow, James
    LaCurto, as Shrevie.) --ANTHONY TOLLIN

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:29:54 -0400
    From: loviglio <loviglio@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Underrated: Soaps?

    I have been wondering for months why so few posts to this digest concern
    OTR soap operas. I have been listening to Pepper Young's Family,
    The Life of Mary Southern, and others and I'm absolutely hooked on the serial
    format, the slow-developing
    plots, the incessant marital intrigue, and the
    suprising moments of humor, too.  Am I the only one?

    Jason Loviglio

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:29:02 -0400
    From: Jerry Bechtel <[removed]@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Book by Hal Stone
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    Perhaps I missed it. How does one get the opportunity to purchase the
    upcoming book by Mr. Stone? I'm 66 years old, used to listen to Archie
    ALL the time and would be thrilled to purchase a copy of "Jughead's"
    book! I find Mr. Stone's comments on the digest to be an exciting part
    and look forward to reading them each time he contributes. He certainly
    is a great personality and a valuable asset to the OTR community!

    Jerry Bechtel

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:49:05 -0400
    From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
    To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Ranger again

    David asked about  Fred Foy. He started as the regular announcer about 1947
    I believe.

    Symphonic interludes - on transcriptions, the music continues to fill the
    space that the broadcaster would use for commercials. The record continued
    but commercials were inserted in place. When you hear a transfer made by an
    OTR dealer, the commercials are not there. You are hearing the recording as
    it was made.

    Joe Salerno

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:49:30 -0400
    From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
    To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Code & SOS

    Stephen Kallis wrote:

>     ...Thus, the code "SOS" means "I am in trouble and need assistance,"

    I suppose SOS could be considered "code" for "I am in [removed]", but
    it actually is neither code nor cipher ... it is simply the initials of
    "Save Our Souls." It originated as a teletype abbreviation.

    Alan Chapman

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:50:19 -0400
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Penner and "Komedy Kapers"

    Derek Tague wrote:

>     I never saw the appeal of Joe Penner. In spite of the fact that I always
>     strive to allow for a different mindset  that existed in the 1930s,
>     I just don't get it.

    Just think of Penner as the Pee Wee Herman of the 1930s, and it will all
    fall into place. The whole point of Penner's comedy was the bizarre
    juxtaposition of obnoxious-four-year-old-child behavior coming out of a
    full-grown-adult, displayed right alongside more conventional grown-up
    appetites (cigar smoking, skirt chasing, etc.) The mindset of the
    character really isn't all that different from the Pee Wee persona of the
    1980s.

>       The other show in which I failed to see the humour was  a 15-minute show
>     called "Komedy Kapers." I had never heard of this bit of obscuriana
>     until I bought a cassette of it at last year's FOTR convention. Figuring that
>     since the show spelled both "comedy" & "capers" with "K's," I ventured to
>     think that it just HAD to be [removed]

    This was one of the many syndicated programs produced during the 1932-33
    season by Radio Transcription Company of America, Inc, built around
    various personalities from local Los Angeles radio. Frank Gill and Bill
    Demling were most often the featured performers -- a smalltime
    vaudeville-style comedy team that had been featured on various programs
    at KHJ, including the "Union Oil Merrymakers" -- but other personalities
    sometimes appeared. Basically this series, and others like it, were
    catchalls for whatever minor-league talent was available to work for a
    few dollars when the programs were to be recorded.

    There were literally hundreds of two-bit comedy-harmony-novelty teams
    like Gill and Demling on the stage and in radio up until the
    mid-thirties, when most of them got swept away by the death of vaudeville
    and the takeover of radio by the Big Time Broadway Showbiz crowd. If you
    don't expect much out of these acts, some of their material can be
    amusing.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:50:57 -0400
    From: John Henley <jhenley@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  DeMarcos

    Gunner <revrcg@[removed]; said:

>     As always, the above thoughts are simply, one man's opinion

    which I would hope he believed, after saying

>     .. Fred Allen may have had the
>     worst singers of all time in the "DeMarco Sisters". I have to believe that,
>     all over America, water pressure dropped when they started their weekly
>     caterwauling.

    Speaking for _this_ man's opinion, I really like the DeMarco
    Sisters and actually wish they had been given another minute per
    program to sing slightly longer arrangements.  To my ear their
    harmony singing is tighter, more imaginative, and more swingin'
    than any other harmony "sister" act I know of this side of the
    Boswell Sisters.
    And, just as singers, they were way better than the Andrews Sisters.
    John Henley

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:52:17 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Mr. Keen Redux

    Herb Harrison, speaking of Mr. Keen, asks,

>     I remember listening to this show when I was about 10 years old. I
>     thought it was keen.  However, I remember almost nothing about the show
>     itself, so I might agree that it was terrible if I could hear it now.
>     Anybody know if it's webcast online, so I could judge if it's good, bad,
>     or "campy"?

    "Campy" can be either good or bad.  There are plenty of Mr. Keen episodes
    around; Radio Spirits even had (and may still have) an album of them.

    Mr. Keen is one of those programs that I can see on no other medium than
    radio.  The dialogue was priceless: every time anyone spoke to another
    person, the speaker would say the name of the person being addressed,
    with one exception.  Dialog like,

    "Mr. Keen, I'm Amy Blake.  I've come to ask your help."
    "Won't you have a seat, Miss Blake?  How can I help you?"
    "Thank you, Mr. Keen.  I'm here because of my brother, James."
    "Would you explain what your brother has to do with you seeing me, Miss
    Blake?"
    "Well, Mr. Keen, my brother, James, is missing."

    ... and so forth.

    The only exception is the killer.  If a victim sees a menacing figure, he
    or she would say something like, ":You!  You!  What are you doing down
    here?  Why are you holding that knife?  What are you ... planning to do?"

    Of course, the murderer will never respond, since that would identify the
    character.

    And the other thing is the way the dialog is used to describe what's
    going on.  "Look, Mr. Keen!  That handyman feller's holding a big axe.
    And he's chopping wood with it."  "Is ... is that a gun?  Why are you
    pointing it at me?"  "Mike, look at that safe.  It's been forced open.
    And its contents are scattered on the floor in front of it."

    The "detection" in Mr. Keen is haphazard and illogical, but that adds to
    the charm.

    For sheer entertainment, IMHO, you could do far worse than Mr. Keen.

    But don't expect it to be a regular detective show.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:53:07 -0400
    From: "Holm, Chris " <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ooops

    In 371, Anthony Tollin wrote:

>     ***You're referring to the origin story from the 1994 movie,
>     which has nothing to do with the origin of The Shadow from Walter
>     Gibson's pulp novels (in which The Shadow was in reality former
>     aviator and spy Kent Allard) and very little to do with the radio
>     origin.  The Shadow didn't commit those atrocities in either the
>     pulp or radio versions, but the new movie's producer's chose to
>     lift part of a new drug-smuggling origin inflicted on the
>     character by Howard Chaykin in a 1986 comic book miniseries.

    Well, I feel [removed] because if you can't trust Hollywood, who can you
    trust.  Again, I claim my 1974 birth excuses a little mistake now and then.
    So what are some good references to get an overview of the original
    pulp/radio Shadow origins.

    And what then was the pulp version's Shadow's motivation?

    -Chris Holm
    Who still feels the early Shadows and Welles voice are darker and more
    haunted sounding.  And perfers them that way.

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 15:53:17 -0400
    From: "jsouthard" <jsouthard@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Orson, Bill, or Brett
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    I have been following the "Who was  the best Shadow?" thread with great
    interest.  The Shadow was one of my favorite programs as a child. Since Brett
    Morrison was the Shadow I listened to, he was my first choice. After listening
    to all three portrayers for the last thirty years I have been collecting OTR,
    I now vote for Bill Johnstone as the best Shadow. Welles characterization
    often showed the sloppy presentation, he usually skipped all rehearsals and it
    shows. His later fame has given him an overated Shadow. Morrison suffered from
    a show that had grown tired and a formula. It was mostly a detective show with
    the Shadow making two appearances, before the middle commercial to interrogate
    a suspect, and in the end to save Margo from some crackpot murderer.
    Morrison's voice was perfect, eventhough the show was inferior. Bill
    Johnstone's characterization was excellent and the scripts were good. So for
    best Shadow shows stay with Bill Johnstone.
    John Southard

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:25:21 -0400
    From: "Gareth Tilley" <tilleygareth@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio Adventures/Scarlet Pimpernel

    Hi

    Did anyone record "Radio Adventures" this week from Radio 4  - it was about
    the scarlet pimpernel - one of my favourite shows so I'd really apprieciate
    a copy. Please email me privately if you have one!

    Thanks

    Gareth

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:55:57 -0400
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Dog Impersonation

    Recently, I was talking to a group  of senior citizens about old time
    radio. I mentioned  "The Challenge of the Yukon,"  a great program
    featuring one of my childhood heroes, Sergeant Preston.

    The audience consisted of folks interested in radio history.  A gentleman
    in his eighties claimed that he had been a dog impersonator for his local
    radio station many, many years ago. He was good at it and so the station
    called him for its local childrens' shows whenever the script called for a
    dog.

    I asked him if he could do an impersonation of Yukon King. He said he
    didn't do huskies --- that huskies were a specialty and that the husky
    impersonators in the days of his youth were the busiest dog impersonators
    there were.

    Could this possibly be true? It drew quite a laugh from the audience but
    the gentleman said he was dead-on serious.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:56:48 -0400
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: hoofs SFX

    Don Hunt responded to the question about horses' hoof SFX.

>     The consesus among the group-and I could be wrong- was that-in this case-the
>     sound of the horses' hooves was reproduced with the use of plungers in a box
>     full of sand. At one end of the box were pebbles whereby the plungers were
>     used
>     to represent the changes in terrain.

    In early OTR, the better SFX practitioners were innovative, and spent hours
    experimenting with methods to produce the needed sound. In the early days,
    what was used in Detroit, was not necessarily used in NY, or from network to
    network. Speaking of Network Sound Effect departments, they became much like
    a parts department in a huge factory. The Director of a show usually
    selected his particular favorite SFX guy from a list of those on the network
    staff. (When and if they didn't have a conflict.) If the program was
    particularly "heavy" with effects, the SFX guy would have an assistant
    assigned.

    Then, after being assigned to a program, they would receive their scripts in
    advance, and prepare a "parts" list, for submission to the SFX "storage
    room". He'd then have everything at hand when it came time to lug all that
    stuff into a studio to rehearse the program. Sometimes, if there were lots
    of hand held effects, they would wheel a laden "Laundry cart" filled with
    goodies. (At least that's the way it was done at NBC NY.

    I don't know when coconut halves (The inner shell) became standard for
    horses hoofs, but I remember them in use around 1940. (When I worked on
    "Death Valley days" the sound effects man used to let me play with them
    during breaks in rehearsal until I outgrew that childishness).

    That's not to say that rubber "plunger" bottoms wouldn't have worked just as
    well. But the advantage of the coconut shell halves was that a strap could
    be attached to them, and the SFX man could slip his hand between the strap
    and top of the shell, and maintain better control of them. The strap was
    about 1" wide, and if memory serves me, looked as if it was cut from a heavy
    duty automobile tire inner tube. (Remember those things) :) The
    approximately 2X2 shallow (maybe 6" deep) box that held the "media" on which
    to "clip-clop", could be filled with sand, gravel, or plain old dirt, and
    large enough to accommodate two sets of SFX hands. (I remember dirt, more
    than anything else. It gave a better "packed terrain" sound. It might have
    even been the type of surface used on "clay" tennis courts.

    The BIGGER heavier effects, like actual doors and window sash, (and even
    record turntables on wheels) were kept in the rear of some of the bigger
    studios, as well as some of the larger musical instruments (piano's,
    xylophones, kettle drums, etc.) That stuff was usually hidden by a curtain
    at the rear of the studio. But, if a "door" was needed in studio B, and it
    was in use someplace else, the NBC Set-Up crew (similar to stagehands),
    would go get one from another studio, (on another floor perhaps) and deliver
    it via freight elevator to whatever studio needed it. The SFX guys usually
    just concerned themselves with gathering the hand held items and recorded
    effects.

    The Sound Effect that I thought was the most ingenious was the one used for
    "thunder". It consisted of a sturdily constructed large wooden frame on a
    base that had casters, so it could be wheeled around from place to place. A
    very large piece of sheet metal was suspended from this frame. When it was
    shook (hard of gentle) it could produce an overhead thunder clap, or distant
    rumblings, depending on where it was grabbed, and how violently it was
    shaken.

    One other bit of SFX trivia. All of these large pieces of equipment were
    uniformly painted black, with the NBC logo stenciled on part of the frame,
    and "Sound Effects Dept" someplace else.

    I recall that if a show had a studio audience, they were always fascinated
    by the activities in the SFX area. And some of these guys really "played" to
    the audience. Particularly if the show was a comedy.

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:56:58 -0400
    From: BH <radioguy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Under-rated and Over-rated

    "Michael Psarakis" <[removed]@[removed]; says:

>     The Lone Ranger - Gunsmoke makes it look amatuerish, never any  > character
>     development, why was this show on twice a week?

    You're mixing apples and oranges. The LR was aimed at the juvinel
    crowd, I loved it as a kid, he was a real hero we could look up
    too. Gunsmoke was an adult western.

    Bill H.  "I don't need the Shadow to cloud my mind, I can do that
    all by myself"

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:57:09 -0400
    From: "Philip Chavin" <philchav@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR book

        I've just read "Radio's Captain Midnight: The Wartime Biography" by
    OTR-Digester Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. (McFarland & Co., 2000) and highly
    recommend it, especially to OTR, aviation, and WWII buffs.  It's
    well-researched and is written as a serious history of the hero-aviator and
    his Secret Squadron organization, treating them as though they really
    existed.  It includes realistic adventures based on scripts of this famous
    "Captain Midnight" OTR series and tells about premiums offered on the
    series. Also it tells about cryptology (codes), military aircraft of WWII,
    and more. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

        -- Phil C.

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:57:27 -0400
    From: "Ed Ellers" <ed_ellers@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  MGM and WHN

    Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]; wrote:

>     This was a local show aired for many years over WHN, New York -- and dates
>     back at least to 1927. It had its origin in the family connection between
>     WHN and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: the station was owned during the 1920s by the
>     Marcus Loew Booking Office, an arm of Loews Incorporated, which also
>     controlled MGM.

    For a while starting in 1943, WHN's FM station was in fact called WMGM; ISTR
    references claiming that they even briefly changed the AM call to WMGM (some
    time after 1947), but I can't confirm that.  During the same 1943-47 period
    WOR's FM station was called WBAM (short for Bamberger, which owned the
    station), and WQXR's FM station was called WQXQ.  I don't know what NBC, CBS
    or ABC -- all of which had New York FM stations -- did.

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 20:57:49 -0400
    From: Dennis DeMarco <dennisdm@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Amos 'n' Andy Recreations on WBCQ

    Hello all,

    I've been enjoying the Amos 'n' Andy recreations currently airing on
    shortwave broadcaster WBCQ ([removed] MHz)weeknights at Midnight. I fell upon
    the program accidently and now listen most nights. I'm especially impressed
    with his Andy voice -- to my untrained ear he sounds pretty close to the
    original. His Amos is not that on target, however. I'm only familiar with
    the half-hour sitcom version, so the 15-minute serials are quite
    interesting to me.

    In any event, I admire the uniqueness of putting these shows back on the
    radio -- something no domestic AM/FM radio station would ever do. I hope
    the shows continue. He ends each show asking for donations to offset the
    $[removed] he must pay each week to the station to air his show.

    Anybody else listening to this? Elizabeth?

    Dennis

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

    Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 22:42:37 -0400
    From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  History of SCIENCE FICTION

    Just a note to mention that I'll be discussing radio science fiction in a TV
    documentary that premieres this weekend. FANTASTIC VOYAGE: THE EVOLUTION OF
    SCIENCE FICTION airs this Saturday night (September 28) on the History
    Channel (8pm ET and again at midnight).  The two-hour documentary features
    visits with Samuel "Chip" Delany, William Shatner, Forrest J. Ackerman, SF
    historian David Kyle, Roger Corman and others including yours truly, Anthony
    Tollin - who will be speaking about broadcast science fiction and perhaps the
    influence of SF on society, morality and religion.  I haven't seen the
    finished film yet so I don't know for sure what was included in the final
    cut.

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #372
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