Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #468
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 1/1/2004 2:42 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 468
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Shepherd's OTHER radio premiums       [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
  Mr. MaGoo's Christmas Carol           [ <welsa@[removed]; ]
  Gary Giddins                          [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  Rod Serling and Radio Writing         [ Oliver <joliver@[removed]; ]
  Jack Paar                             [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
  Radio History                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  adding to the Ovaltine discussion     [ "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed]; ]
  Jack Paar                             [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: mp3 woes                          [ "Lou Giliberto" <kd7hcw@[removed]; ]
  Three-oh-mark                         [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
  'Naughty' Words                       [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Oboler's WHAT THE DEVIL               [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Re: Les Tremayne on Mr Magoo's Chris  [ Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed]; ]
  "It's a [removed](-E)!" (Magoo's CAROL)    [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  2003 deaths                           [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  Ovaltine                              [ k g-g <grams46@[removed] ]

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 22:12:25 -0500
From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Shepherd's OTHER radio premiums
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

Many members of this Digest who are familiar with Jean Shepherd's movie A
CHRISTMAS STORY and the short story that was it's inspiration, may not be
aware that Shepherd penned another Christmas themed story entitled THE
RETURN OF THE SMILING WIMPY DOLL. Originally published in Playboy
Magazine, it also appeared in his second compilation of stories entitled
WANDA HICKEY'S NIGHT OF GOLDEN MEMORIES AND OTHER DISASTERS. In it, a
grown-up Ralph is alone at Christmas time in his midtown Manhattan
apartment in a doorman building surrounded by paperbacks of Kafka,
Nietzsche and Rona Jaffe when an unexpected package arrives from home.
His mom has sent him a box filled with childhood playthings she wanted to
clear out of the basement. What follows is a funny journey through time
as Ralph pulls out each artifact from his youth and reminisces as only
Shep can reminisce. Several of the artifacts are related to old time
radio, including the Wimpy doll in the title. Here's a short excerpt: "It
will surprise many historians to learn that at one point in American
history there was actually a Popeye radio program. Popeye, Olive and
Caster Oyl, Ham Gravy, Wimpy and the whole crowd came into the living
room every day. They offered you a choice of a Wimpy doll, a Popeye doll,
an Olive Oyl doll or an Alice the Good doll if you ate enough soup and
sent in the lables. We were a canned-soup family, so there was no problem
collecting enough labels, but I was probably the only kid in the United
States who didn't order a Popeye doll; I went for Wimpy, a
down-at-the-heels moocher who lived only to stuff his gut with
hamburgers. I identified with him; and I'll never forget the day my Wimpy
doll arrived." Are there any radio premium experts (buffs) out there who
know anything about the Wimpy doll premium Shep talks about. I guess Shep
was playing loose with facts and using "poetic license" because Dunning's
ON THE AIR says the the POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN show was sponsered by
Wheatena, not soup. The story mentions quite a few other radio items
including an Official Jack Armstrong Pedometer, a lead Buck Rogers
rocketship on a string (it pokes the Old Man in the eye), a Captain
MIdnight Ovaltine Shake-up mug, a Captain MIdnight Three-Way Mystic Dog
Whistle, an Ed Wynn Texaco Fire chief Hat (available only at your Texaco
station or the World's Fair, I presume the Chicago Century of Progress)
and a Tom Mix Mystic VooDoo Skull Ring. I wonder how many of these are
real and how many are from Shep's imagination. Real or not, the story is
enjoyable and I recommend that if you haven't read it, you seek out the
book and check it out. Jim Yellen

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

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

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 23:05:29 -0500
From: <welsa@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mr. MaGoo's Christmas Carol

This film was made in 1962.  Here are the principal voices:

      Cast (in credits order)
      Jim Backus ....  Ebenezer Scrooge/Mr. Magoo     (voice)
      Morey Amsterdam ....  Brady, James (voice)
      Jack Cassidy ....  Bob Cratchit (voice)
      Royal Dano ....  Marley's Ghost (voice)
      June Foray ....  Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)
      Paul Frees ....  Charity Man, Fezziwig, Eyepatch Man, Tall Tophat Man
       (voice)
      Joan Gardner ....  Tiny Tim (voice)
      John Hart ....  Billings, Stage Manager, Milkman (voice)
      Jane Kean ....  Belle (voice)
      Marie Matthews ....  Young Scrooge (voice)
      Laura Olsher ....  Mrs. Cratchit (voice)
      Les Tremayne ....  Ghost of Christmas Present (voice)

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:23:33 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Gary Giddins

I second Larry Lewis' high regard for Gary Giddins.   He is the winner of
many prestigious awards [Guggenheim, Peabody, American Book Award,
ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award and more] and has even won a Grammy for his album
notes.   His reputation is unblemished, except in this group <grin>.

You notice that in his comment about the conversation between Jack Benny and
Bing Crosby  (in the NY Times) he said that Jack Benny  made the comment
about being an actor and a Jew 'on the radio.'   He did not say that it was
said on Jack Benny's program.

Giddins,  also write a well-received book in 1992 called "Faces in the
Crowd" which is a collection of essays about musicians, writers, actors and
filmmakers.  His essay on Jack Benny about how Benny revolutionized comedy,
is considered a classic., and was selected as the Best American Essay of
1987 so he's not just dabbling in off the cuff remarks about Benny.

-Irene

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:24:00 -0500
From: Oliver <joliver@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Rod Serling and Radio Writing

Yes, Rod Serling was influenced by radio and contributed to the
medium.  The Zero Hour in the 70's was among Serling's last projects,
bringing him and many otr veterans back to the airwaves one more time.

CNN's Larry King tells a story about Serling that illustrates the writer's
affinity for radio.  Serling told him that if he wrote a line in a radio
script like "It was a dark, foreboding castle," the listeners could imagine
the castle just the way they wanted it to be.  On the other hand, if he
wrote the same line for TV, three production guys show up and say, "Rod,
how dark do you want the castle to [removed] shade of paint?  And how
[removed] you want cobwebs, and if [removed] many?"

Joe Oliver

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:25:01 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Paar

I'm guessing that William Murtough lived in Bronxville, where I was born.
He wrote:

Parr lived in the same town where I commuted from and
patronized the same barber. However I never encountered him. Durward
Kirby, who I had known since my Hollywood days also lived there and we
did ride the commuter train together.

Actually I'm assuming that the town where he and I both lived was
Eastchester, his village was Bronxville, and my village was Tuckahoe.
Both were in the town of Eastchester.

My Dad had a small restaurant in Bronxville, on Palmer Ave, across the
street from the Lawrence Hospital.

I too saw  Durward Kirby on the train from time to time, perhaps William
Murtough was with him some of those times, and we teenagers also spotted
Jack Paar, but not on the train.

I'm pretty sure Jose Melis also lived in Bronxville but no spotting to
report.

-Irene

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:25:48 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio History

Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 08:51:26 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

One of the most popular songs to be played
was Happy Birthday to You; which was performed in many different languages
just to get past the ban. The original song is now, in fact, a copyrighted
piece of music, though it wasn't at the time.

This is not possible.  Once something is in the public domain, it stays there
unless the law
changes (as it did recently when copyright terms were extended).

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:26:46 -0500
From: "Bart Bush" <bbush3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  adding to the Ovaltine discussion

I received for Christmas a can of Ovaltine that was made in Thailand.
A friend of mine told me that China was the only place that still made the
original recipe.
Compareing the ingredients  with a US  version, i found the following:

they BOTH were made with Barley Malt Extract, Cocoa Processed Alkali and
Whey, Vanillin and Salt.

The China label includes  Skim Milk, Glucose Syrup, part hydrogenated veg
oil,
soybean oil. And says "32% Malt" in emphasized print on the front.

The US label  includes  sugar, beet extract, mono & diglycerides, molasses
and natural carmel flavoring.

After doing the taste test i concur that the China recipe is closer to the
original.
For me the clincher was that the crystals did not all dissolve, and some
floated on the top for quite awhile and I even got to experience the famous
Ovaltime crunch! Ha!
Available at most Oriental Grocery stores and similar venues.  My [removed] can
was $[removed] Seemed like a bargain to me!!

bart

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 02:27:38 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Paar

Is Jack Paar still with us, anyone know?

Yes, according to the Dead People Server, [removed] .

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 09:50:47 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1923 - The very first radio broadcast of the Rose Bowl was beamed in Los
Angeles over KHJ.

1925 - Lucrezia Bori and John McCormack of the famous Metropolitan Opera
in New York City made their singing debuts on radio this day. The
broadcast over WEAF encouraged others to sing on radio.

1927 - The very first coast-to-coast network broadcast of the Rose Bowl
was made. Graham McNamee provided the play-by-play on NBC.

1930 - One of radio's first comedy programs, The Cuckoo Hour, was heard
for the first time on the NBC Blue network.

Joe

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 09:51:46 -0500
From: "Lou Giliberto" <kd7hcw@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: mp3 woes

Deric wrote:

Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 23:58:11 -0500
From: vigor16@[removed]
Subject:  mp3 woes

I have a problem that I can't understand.  I have purchased some mp3 otr
cds recently from various vendors.  I received 3 different cds from 3
different persons of "Family Theater".  They seem to make a "bloop" sound
every few seconds through most of the shows.  I tried 3 vendors to see if
it was the copy but they all do it and at the same places irregardless of
what I play them on.  I play them as mp3 files and no power problems.  In
fact, the problem is unique to this program.  I've bought cds of other
types from the vendors and have no problem with any other show.  I am not
all that familiar with mp3 to understand.  Is there a way I can find out
what this stuff is.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Maybe they all use the same rips and the original rips are bad.
2) Are you playing them on your computer?  If so, try copying the MP3s to
your hard drive.  The CD has to keep up with the playing or you get noise in
the playback.  This can happen on fast or slow computers - the reasons are
too technical to get into here.  But, playing from the hard disc instead of
the CD helps many times.
3) Use a known player.  I use Windows Media or Winamp.  Winamp [removed] came out.
It's really nice and it's free.  [removed]
4) If you're really stumped, and after trying to play them from your hard
drive you still get the "bloop", you are welcome to e-mail me one of the
files and I can take a listen/look and see if I can figure it out.

Some interesting stuff about mp3 to help you in your detective work:

MP3 has a limit on dBs.  If the recording peaks above a certain dB level,
the MP3 player will clip the top of the waveform.  Sometimes this results in
a "bloop" or static sound.  If the person who made the transfer cranked up
the gain, this might be part of the cause.  It might be a stylus pop (like a
scratch or something) from the original record getting clipped into a
"bloop".  You can adjust the gain without destroying the quality of the mp3
by using this free (yay!) program:

[removed]

It will also tell you if the files are clipping.  If you need help using it,
go ahead and e-mail me.  The manual is also cool, and it explains about this
clipping stuff and why it happens.

Another use for MP3Gain is to adjust the overall volume of your MP3s so you
aren't constantly hitting the volume knob between tracks.  I have an
internet radio station, and I adjust to 91dB (the authors recommend 89dB to
avoid clipping actually but I like the punch).  I play heavy metal and
classical (and OTR horror shows, heh) and some of the metal is at 103+ (!!!)
while some of the classical is in the 70s.  It would drive listeners crazy
having to adjust the volume, so I normalize it at 91.  People can do the
same for their OTR and music tracks.  Especially handy for portable players
when you can't reach the volume and Superman is blowing out your ears but
you can't hear Amos n Andy.

Free whine (you supply cheese): Especially on modern rock albums they seem
to be increasing the gain more and more.  This is the wrong way to do it --
the listener should make it louder in the amplification stage ([removed], the
volume knob) rather than the engineer cranking up the gain which can
overload front ends and distort the sound.

-Lou

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 09:52:24 -0500
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Three-oh-mark

<<Bill Murtough is rumored to have asked if anyone knew who used "that's
thirtys" for sign [removed];>>

I'd say that it was Bill Stern signing off his "Sports Newsreel" program
with: "That's the three-oh mark for tonight!"  Maybe that is not the same as
"thirty's" - but it is a newspaper term ending the story print copy
ith  -30-

The "three-oh-mark" was explained on this list many moons ago, in 2003, but
I don't remember "last year" now at all!   -30-

Russ Butler  oldradio@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:30:56 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  'Naughty' Words

Responding to an observation that a "blue" comment appeared in a Marx
Brothers film, the renowned Elizabeth McLeod noted,

This line was actually extraordinarily tame compared to much of what was
seen and heard on the Broadway stage in the 1920s -- sex jokes abounded
in the musical revues of the day, delivered with a sort of smirking
knowingness that pandered to the adult sophistication of the sort of
people who attended Broadway shows in formal evening clothes and then
adjourned to illegal speakeasies to drink the rest of the night away.
This was *not* the tourist-oriented Disneyfied Broadway of today.

My recently deceased mother, who lived to age 95, was a young woman in
New York during the Roaring 20s.  She would relate stories about her
bootlegger and her favorite speakeasies.  The Broadway shows of those
days had "sophisticated" lyrics indeed, and later Broadway musicals kept
some of that even through the 1940s and 1950s.  There often were sexual
innuendoes in the lyrics that were carefully excised from the songs that
became popular singles.

As it happened, both my parents were Broadway musical fans, and our home
abounded in LP albums of musicals.  I often heard the Broadway versions
of songs before they became popular, and although I was still an early
teenager, I still understood the differences.  In the song, "Bewitched,
Bothered, and Bewildered," the Broadway lyrics were, "Couldn't sleep, and
wouldn't sleep, until I could sleep where I shouldn't sleep."  I forget
the Bowdlerized version's lyrics.

Of course, by current standards, a lot of the innuendoes of those days
are rather tame compared to some of today's lyrics.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

Afterthought:  There were many interesting lines in the Marx Brothers
films that slid right by the Hayes Office.  One of my favorite was
Groucho, referring to his actions relating to Margaret Dumont's
character, "I'm defending her honor, which is more than *she* ever did."

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:35:06 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Oboler's WHAT THE DEVIL

Ivan commented:
Marc Scott Zicree's invaluable THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION mentions that
Oboler's "What the Devil" (broadcast on LIGHTS OUT October 6, 1942) was at
one time a script candidate for TZ, but for some unknown reason was never
used.

Without consulting any reference works, I might be able to supply an
interesting story for that particular LIGHTS OUT episode.

"What the Devil?" was the first episode of the 1942-43 season of LIGHTS OUT,
broadcast October 6, 1942 with Wally Maher in the lead, and Gloria Blondell
in the supporting role.  The story dealt with a man who finds himself
strangely persued by a vehicle determined to run him over (worse, kill him)
but when the vehicle comes too close for comfort, there doesn't appear to be
any driver inside!

The details are slightly sketchy, but in 1971, ABC television aired a
made-for-TV movie directed by a then-young Steven Spielberg entitled DUEL.
The film starred Dennis Weaver as a man who is being menaced by a large
truck (a 16-wheeler if I recall accurately) whom he cannot see the driver
and as it turns out, there was no driver.  Richard Matheson, who scripted
episodes for Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE, also wrote the film script which
Steven Spielberg directed.  Regrettably, Arch Oboler found out about DUEL
and consulted his attorney about the possibility of entering a suit against
Matheson and Spielberg and of ABC for using a story HE wrote, claiming they
stole his idea without permission.

Neither Matheson or Spielberg claimed they borrowed the idea from Oboler's
radio script, and that it was just a coincidence, but Oboler felt he had his
story stolen from him.  I cannot recall all the details (I faintly remember
there being a small financial settlement to keep things quiet but Oboler was
unable to comment on the matter afterwards for legal reasons.)

Rolling Stone magazine did feature a brief article about the incident circa
1971 but I cannot recall the exact issue off the top of my head.  Oboler did
comment in a couple recorded interviews I have but from the tone of his
voice, even years later, he apparently felt he was robbed from the rich hoi
poloi of Hollywood.
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 11:35:18 -0500
From: Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Les Tremayne on Mr Magoo's Christmas

Ken Piletic wanted to know what part Les Tremayne played in the 1962
animated TV program, Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol.

 From the Internet Movie Database ([removed]), a great source for this
sort of information: Tremayne was the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Happy new year, everyone,
Art

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 13:30:03 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "It's a [removed](-E)!" (Magoo's CAROL)

From: KENPILETIC@[removed]

 Yesterday I watched an old videotape of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol".

Hope you enjoyed it? It's one of the best adaptations of the story in any
medium, the best musical version, and a great introduction to this classic
for kids!

does anybody know what parts any (all?) of the cast members played?

Compiled from a few sources:

JACK CASSIDY - Bob Cratchit
ROYAL DANO - Marley's Ghost
JANE KEAN - Belle
LES TREMAYNE - Christmas Present
MARIE MATTHEWS - Young Scrooge
JOAN GARDNER - Tiny Tim, Christmas Past
LAURA OLSHER - Mrs. Cratchit, Children
MOREY AMSTERDAM - Brady, James
PAUL FREES - Fezziwig, Undertaker, Meg

Merry Christmas (we can still say that until Epiphany!),
Craig "Uncle Scrooge" Wichman

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 13:31:01 -0500
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  2003 deaths

Many thanks to Ron Sayles who has been providing us daily birth and death
dates for radio-related people.

In his list of those who passed on in 2003, I'd add:

Cliff Norton  Jan 25, 2003
Don Stanley  Jan ?, 2003
Joe Connelly  Feb 13, 2003
George Wyle  May 2, 2003
Charles Michelson  July 4, 2003
Lesley Woods  Aug 2, 2003
Donn Reed  Dec 15, 2003
Robert Dryden  Dec 16, 2003

And perhaps (?) Dick Simmons Jan 11, 2003, TV's Sgt. Preston

Barbara

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

Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2004 13:37:03 -0500
From: k g-g <grams46@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Ovaltine

lawyer@[removed] wrote:

Ovaltine consisted of crystals that seemed
to be made of glass and actually had sharp edges if you tried to eat them
directly (which
kids certainly would do), and they wouldn't dissolve in milk very well.  A
glass of milk
always had a large residue of undissolved Ovaltine at the bottom.

from kathy:
some years ago, my father and i visited an elderly cousin of my mother's.
helen offered us a drink and one of the choices was Ovaltine.   my father was
a little orphan annie fan when he was a child and asked for some.
it took helen several minutes to chunk out enough crystals from the can for a
cup of hot Ovaltine.   apparently,  the Ovaltine had been purchased when
little orphan annie was still selling it.
my father bravely drank it all but refused a second helping.   When i took
the cup into the kitchen, i noticed a large mound of the stuff at the bottom
of the cup.

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #468
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