Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #68
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/26/2007 1:40 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2007 : Issue 68
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Unsettled Minds knew more than you t  [ <verotas@[removed]; ]
      The Bard in Broadcasting              [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK               [ "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@c ]
      Very early radio                      [ "tas richardson" <tasjude@[removed] ]
      Hal Stone's Theater redits            [ crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow) ]
      Readers Digest saved [removed]        [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
      2-26 births/deaths                    [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Charlie's tip o' the Juggie hat to H  [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      38 states and Canada                  [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:28:15 -0500
    From: <verotas@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Unsettled Minds knew more than you think!

    Friend Dunfee wrote in the vein of "Who knows what lurks in the minds of men"

>     I find it interesting when a thread starts about some unresolved bit of
>     info about a radio show plot. The most recent and most frequent is the
>     lone ranger name example. Others concern how a continuing plot theme ends
>     or not when a series ended abruptly without resolution. Some concern some
>     bit of logical conflict about what some character does or says at one time
>     and conflicts with the same thing at another time period or some procedural
>     logic such as what dId superman do with his street clothing when in
>     superman garb.

>     It seems to me the writers of a show never had in mind to tie all the loose
>     ends up logically. Was there someone who watched for such details so as not
>     to unduly rouse the listeners who wanted their virtual aural universe to
>     make sense? That the mind demands such seems clear as after all these years
>     threads continue to pop up about such matters.

    I doubt there was much use of what cinema calls "Continuity" people (it has a
    totally different connotation in broadcasting) to worry about such details.
    I don't recall Fred Foy describing the Lone Ranger's shirt going through a
    door as red, and coming out the other side was blue, the sort of thing that
    causes "threaders" of film fans to rise in umbrage.

    One of the great treats for me in attending FOTR for lo those many years (and
    I'm sure others got the same reaction at other cons) was the thoughts of the
    radio oldtimers themselves.  Let me use one of my heroes as one example:
    Dwight Weist.  As soon as I came on board and began asking about him, I
    learned that even before I became involved in FOTR, others had tried to get
    Dwight to attend, without success.  He and his partner Bob Barron ran a
    school of broadcasting which carried Dwight's name, in New York right up to
    Dwight's passing at age 81, in 1991.

    For them, radio was not a thing in the past - it was a living, ongoing
    business sort of thing, but from a totally different viewpoint from those of
    most of us here.   His take was 'been there, done that' so many years before,
    that it was just past history.  What was important was today, and the classes
    they were teaching to new generations of potential newscasters, actors, DJs
    and - when you could find them - announcers.

    I know that many of us in broadcasting over the years have felt that unless
    some entity caught us yesterday listening to our airwaves crossing over Alpha
    Centauri 7, what we said and did on the air was instantly just gone into that
    air - forever.  To quote a line I think from Sherman Edwards' marvelous play
    '1776' - "Is anybody there - does anybody care?"  Dwight insisted he did not
    live in the past, and didn't see any point for those who did, in his opinion.
    Same with many others.  He simply did not want to come to FOTR!  No way!

    Jackson Beck was aware of this.  I believe Jack came to every FOTR session
    (perhaps not the very first) until he died 5 days after his 92nd birthday, in
    2004.  Jack and Dwight had been friends for many of those intervening years.
    Beck was a founder of AFRA (I'd been told he carried Card No. 2 and he
    identified No. 1.  At this moment I don't recall who was number 1 - perhaps
    Frank Nelson?  Jackson knew everybody, and FOTR benefited greatly from this
    over the years as he brought more and more of the radio people to the
    conventions, especially but not only the East Coast folk.  He finally told us
    that he would get Dwight, whether Dwight liked it or not.  He insisted,
    Jack's request was Dwight's command - Weist relinquished.  He came, he saw,
    he conquered us all, and he loved it and stayed!

    Thanks to Anthony Tollin, I got to know Dwight very well - we had lunch, etc.
    He told us of his past feelings, and that he was astounded at the reception
    he got from the moment he first walked into an FOTR room.  Respect,
    adoration, even love - and listeners quoting lines from his many, many
    programs numerous decades before, of which of course Dwight had no
    recollection - it was gone with the wind, to coin a phrase.  The FOTR fans
    quickly converted Dwight into a fan of FOTR, and we enjoyed his active
    participation the few years he had left to be with us.

    I bring this up because we heard variations on this from so many of the
    veterans whom we honored (actually they honored us with their presence and
    mirrored enthusiasm) over the years.  I can't possibly even begin to name
    them.  Dan Dunfee expresses surprise at the minutiae that cause - and often
    extend - frequent threads here.  The Theater of the Mind also functions as an
    Encyclopedia of the Mind, thanks to treasured memories of those people for
    whom - after all - all those folk toiled.  It's been said and written that
    tape recording, - and especially audio cassettes -  were totally responsible
    for the revival of OTR.  Not.  They're certainly vitally essential tools.
    But the real symptom of our shared collecting disease or syndrome springs
    from the wonderful memories of all of us combined, THEN the recordings, and
    THENCE the spreading work of so many outstanding contributors to books,
    articles, columns, and postings.  Now Dan, don't you agree that we are all so
    very fortunate to be sharing in all this minutiae?

    Dwight and many of the others simply thought no-one would remember or care -
    "Well now --  I wouldn't say that!"    Bestus, Lee Munsick

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 15:28:39 -0500
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Bard in Broadcasting

    On Saturday, February 24, 2007, at 11:12 PM, Roger Keel wrote:

>     I would like to know what shows featured productions of Shakespeare and
>     what are available.

    That entire subject was covered in great detail by frequent (and
    talented) Digester Martin Grams, Jr. in an article titled "Shakespeare
    on Radio" which was published in the August 2005 issue of RADIO RECALL
    In it, he discusses most of the series that featured William
    Shakespeare's plays, including "Great Plays", "Streamlined
    Shakespeare", "Radio Guild", "Shakespeare in Summer", Theatre Seminar,"
    and even "Suspense."

    All issues of RADIO RECALL for that year can be read on-line at the web
    site of the Metro Washington OTR Club by going to <[removed]> and
    clicking on "Radio Recall."  Then scroll down to "August 2005" and
    click on the title of Martin's article.

    Enjoy!

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:11:20 -0500
    From: "Jerry Haendiges" <jerryhaendiges@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK

    Hi Friends,

    Here is this week's schedule for my Olde Tyme Radio Network. Here you may
    listen to high-quality broadcasts with Tom Heathwood's "Heritage Radio
    Theater," Big John Matthews and Steve "Archive" Urbaniak's "The Glowing
    Dial" and my own "Same Time, Same Station."  Streamed in high-quality audio,
    on demand, 24/7 at [removed]
    Check out our High-Quality mp3 catalog at:
    [removed]
    =======================================

    SAME TIME, SAME STATION

    COMMAND PERFORMANCE
    Episode 238 11-10-46 "Superman"
    Stars: Bob Hope, Bela Lugosi, Sterling Holloway, Wendell Niles, The King
    Sisters and Paulette Goddard

    TRUE OR FALSE
    Episode 37 9-12-38 "Postal Clerks vs. League of Women Voters" Host: Dr.
    Harry Hagen

    DEATH VALLEY DAYS
    Episode 450 6-16-39 "Shoo Fly" The Old Ranger: John McBride Stars: Irene
    Hubbard, Milton C. Herman, Frank Butler and Jeffrey Bryant

    TAILSPIN TOMMY
    Episode 1 9-5-41 "Mine Ore"

    ==================================

    HERITAGE RADIO THEATER

    DVD REVIEW - The Poet Laureate of Radio - Norman Corwin
    >From Anthracite Films as produced by Michael James Casey. Review includes
    audio clips of Mr. Corwin.

    "On A Note of Triumph"
    Special, written by Norman Corwin and broadcast at the end of the War in
    Europe - 5/6/45 and repeated 5/13/45. Complete - 1 Hour from original CBS
    reference recording.

    EXTRA - MONTY PYTHON
    on BBC Radio. Two cute pieces.

    ====================================

    THE GLOWING DIAL

    Adventures Of Ellery Queen - "Adventure Of The Message In Red"
    originally aired November 7, 1945 on CBS
    Starring: Sydney Smith, Santos Ortega, Ted de Corsia, Victor Jory as guest
    armchair detective, Don Hancock announcing.
    Sponsor: Anacin

    New Adventures Of Nero Wolfe - "Case Of The Killer Cards"
    originally aired January 12, 1951 on NBC
    Starring: Sydney Greenstreet, Gerald Mohr, Bill Johnstone, Betty Lou Gerson,
    Jay Novello, Howard McNear, Barney Phillips, Don Stanley announcing.
    Sustained

    Nick Carter, Master Detective - "Case Of The Unwritten Letter"
    originally aired July 29, 1945 on MUTUAL
    Starring: Lon Clark, Charlotte Manson, Ed Latimer, Humphrey Davis, Jackie
    Grimes, Ken Powell announcing.
    Sponsor: Lin-X Home Brighteners & Acme Paints

    Adventures Of The Falcon - "Case Of The Neighbor's Nightmare"
    originally aired February 4, 1951 on NBC
    Starring: Les Damon, Ed Herlihy announcing.
    Sponsor: Kraft Foods

    ==================================

    If you have any questions or request, please feel free to contact me.

         Jerry Haendiges

         Jerry@[removed]  562-696-4387
         The Vintage Radio Place   [removed]
         Largest source of Old Time Radio Logs, Articles and programs on the Net

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:11:42 -0500
    From: "tas richardson" <tasjude@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Very early radio

    I am reading a biography of Enrico Caruso and it states that he was
    fascinated by technical developments, and that any new experiment found him
    eager to collaborate.  On the night of Jan. 3rd, 1910 he made his own niche
    in radio history when part of 'I Pagliacci' was transmitted by Lee de Forest
    from the Metropolitan stage to the Victor Talking Machine company's
    headquarters in Camden, New Jersey, with a private link to Gatti-Casazza's
    office (he was the manager of the Met) and several friends and employees.
    The songs were also picked up by hams in Connecticut and even in the
    wireless cabin of the steamer Avon at sea.

    I also recently noticed in a 1931 Hearst's Cosmopolitan magazine in an ad
    for General Electric's "Full Range Radio" that a "remote control was
    available at additional cost."  I didn't think they came in until television
    was well established.  But then a 1903 Doulton plumbing catalog we have,
    shows a flexible "telephone" hand spray for the shower, and probably the
    ancient Romans had 'em too.

    I never had the pleasure of personal communications with Hal, but learning
    of his sudden passing was a shock, and without his humorous and informative
    postings, the Digest will just not be the same again.

    Tas - who is impatiently waiting for the crocuses to pop up in sunny
    Alberta.

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:16:01 -0500
    From: crow8164@[removed] (Dennis Crow)
    To: [removed]@[removed] (Old Time Radio Digest)
    Subject:  Hal Stone's Theater redits

    Jim Burns asks about Hal Stone's theater credits.

    The  "NY Times Directory of the Theater"  lists two.  They are indexed under
    Harlan Stone.

    THIS ROCK ... February, 1943
    STAR SPANGLED FAMILY ... April, 1945

    He writes in his book that he toured with TOMORROW THE WORLD, which was made
    into a terrific film.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:16:40 -0500
    From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Readers Digest saved [removed]

    On Sunday, February 25, 2007, at 03:31 PM, Don Dean wrote, in answer to
    D. Dunfee's inquiry about the content of Readers Digest Radio Edition:

>     Radio's Readers Digest was first broadcast over CBS in 1942. My reel
>     to reel tape #
>     952 has 12 of these half hour shows beginning with 2/5/48 through
>     4/22/48. These
>     shows were sponsored by Hallmark Cards.

    This unusual series may be only one that was directly responsible for
    saving an actor's life.

    RADIO RECALL in our February 2002 told how. In his 1975 book, "This Was
    Radio," OTR writer and actor Joe Julian related that he was in the cast
    of an episode of Radio's Readers Digest in which the story line
    included a scene in a hospital room. To highlight the sound of a
    patient's beating heart, the director and sound man agreed to place a
    real stethoscope on the chest of the actor who was portraying the
    patient, with the other end pressed against the microphone.

    The realistic "thumpidy-thump" during the afternoon rehearsal impressed
    the director so the same technique was used for the live show that
    evening. However before the show had signed off, the phone lines at the
    network started ringing. Most of the two dozen calls were from heart
    specialists around the country, all of whom had detected the same
    cardiac defect. They urged that whoever had had the stethoscope against
    his chest be immediately taken to the nearest hospital.

    The actor complied with their instructions and at the hospital, an
    electrocardiogram confirmed the serious condition of his heart,
    something he had never suspected. Appropriate medical action was taken
    and the actor lived on for many more productive [removed] thanks to
    radio sound effects.

    Jack French
    Editor: RADIO RECALL
    <[removed]>

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

    Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 23:16:55 -0500
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  2-26 births/deaths

    February 26th births

    02-26-1875 - Emma Dunn - Cheshire, England - d. 12-14-1966
    actor: "The Eveready Hour"
    02-26-1887 - William Frawley - Burlington, IA - d. 3-3-1966
    comedian: Fred Mertz "I Love Lucy", "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Hollywood
    Hotel"
    02-26-1891 - Alan Bridge - Pennsylvania - d. 12-27-1957
    actor: "The Eddie Bracken Show"
    02-26-1891 - Josef Bonime - Vilna, Poland - d. 11-8-1959
    conductor: "Death Valley Days"; "Echoes of New York"
    02-26-1900 - Jean Negulesco - Craiova, Rumaina - d. 7-18-1993
    film director, screenwriter: "Screen Director's Playhouse"; "Lux
    Radio Theatre"
    02-26-1903 - Donald Baker - Ontario, Canada - d. 11-12-1968
    announcer: "Columbia Workshop"; "Information Please"
    02-26-1906 - Madeleine Carroll - West Bromwich, England - d. 10-2-1987
    actor: "The Circle"; "NBC Radio Theatre"; "Stage Door Canteen"
    02-26-1907 - Hal Fimberg - d. 4-6-1974
    writer, director, producer: "Abbott and Costello"; "Spike Jones"
    02-26-1912 - Dane Clark - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-11-1998
    actor: Perry 'Quiz' Quisinberry "Passport for Adams
    02-26-1914 - Robert Alda - NYC - d. 5-3-1986
    singer: "Rudy Vallee Presents the Drene Show"
    02-26-1914 - Roy Maypole - d. 7-4-1976
    creator, writer: "Heart's Desire"; "Stepmother"
    02-26-1915 - Eddie Gallaher - Washington, [removed] - d. 11-26-2003
    disc jockey: "Moon Dial"; "On a Sunday Afternoon"
    02-26-1916 - Dick Dunham - NYC - d. 11-24-1989
    announcer: "Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters"
    02-26-1916 - Jackie Gleason - Brooklyn, NY - d. 6-24-1987
    comedian: "Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne Show"
    02-26-1918 - Theodore Sturgeon - Staten Island, NY - d. 5-12-1985
    science fiction writer: "Beyond Tomorrow"; "X Minus One"; "Future Tense"
    02-26-1919 - Mason Adams - NYC - d. 4-26-2005
    actor: Larry 'Pepper' Young "Pepper Young's Family" Ned Scott "Jones
    and I"
    02-26-1920 - Tony Randall - Tulsa, OK - d. 5-17-2004
    actor: Reggie York "I Love A Mystery"
    02-26-1921 - Betty Hutton - Battle Creek, MI
    singer: "Radio Almanac"; "Radio Hall of Fame"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
    02-26-1921 - Clarice Blackburn - San Francisco, CA - d. 8-5-1995
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    02-26-1922 - Margaret Leighton - Barnt Green, England - d. 1-13-1976
    actor: "Variety Playhouse"; "Pocket Theatre"
    02-26-1926 - David Frankham - Kent, England
    actor: Andy Barbour "One Man's Family"
    02-26-1928 - Fats Domino - New Orleans, LA
    singer: "Guest Star"
    02-26-1932 - Johnny Cash - Kingsland, AR - d. 9-12-2003
    singer: "Louisiana Hayride"
    02-26-1933 - Godfrey Cambridge - NYC - d. 11-29-1976
    actor: "Voices of Vista"

    February 26th deaths

    02-20-1900 - Paul Conlan - Indiana - d. 2-26-1980
    writer, director: "Abbott and Costello Show"; "The Signal Carnival"
    03-15-1919 - Lawrence Tierney - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-26-2002
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    03-28-1915 - Joel Murcott - d. 2-26-1978
    writer, director: "Tales of the Texas Rangers"; "Yours Truly, Johnny
    Dollar"
    04-29-1896 - Harry McNaughton - Surbiton, England - d. 2-26-1967
    actor, panelist: Higgins "It's Higgins. Sir"; "It Pays to Be Ignorant"
    07-05-1903 - Hester Sondergaard - Minnesota - d. 2-26-1994
    actor: (Sister of Gale Sondergaard) "Columbia Presents Corwin";
    "Studio One"
    08-28-1908 - Genevieve Rowe - Freemont, OH - d. 2-26-1995
    singer: "Gay Nineties Revue"; "Songs America Loves"; "An Evening with
    Romberg"
    10-28-1896 - Howard Hanson - Wahoo, NE - d. 2-26-1981
    conductor, composer: "New York Philharmonic"; "ASCAP World's Fair
    Concert"
    11-29-1913 - Harry Bartell - New Orleans, LA - d. 2-26-2004
    actor: Archie Goodwin "Advs. of Nero Wolfe"; "Adv of Sherlock
    Holmes"; "Gunsmoke"
    12-10-1889 - Arthur Vinton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-26-1963
    actor: Killer Kane "Buck Rogers"; Commissioner Weston "The Shadow"
    12-26-1900 - Charles Perry - NYC - d. 2-26-1967
    producer, sports announcer: WHN New York
    xx-xx-1855 - Adelaide Fitz-Allen - d. 2-26-1935
    actor: Old Nancy, the witch of Salem "The Witch's Tale"

    Ron Sayles

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

    Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 10:52:33 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Charlie's tip o' the Juggie hat to Hal

    Dear Charlie-

    Thanks so much; fittingly  done.

    As far as your comment that:

    "...the reason so many of us  are having so much trouble coming to grips with
    Hal's death is that it's almost inconceivable that someone with such a
    powerful life-force could be taken away  from us-it's unbelievable that
    someone
    so [removed] [removed] be  [removed]"

    I would say that the Victorians had that impulse - rightly -  pegged:

    Truly, "he is not Gone, he has only Moved."

    -Craig

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

    Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:37:44 -0500
    From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  38 states and Canada
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    When a east coast/midwest radio station says it reaches 38 states, is there a
    standard list of which 12 are not being reached?

      Hawaii and Alaska are always out, and we can assume that due to distance,
    Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Nevada are out. That's seven.

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

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #68
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