Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #37
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/10/2008 12:58 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 37
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Identity Crisis                       [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
      Ubangi's lips                         [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
      "The Devil's Radio"                   [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      Another column mentioning OTR         [ seandd@[removed] ]
      OTR Fossils                           [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
      The Invisible Man                     [ fmazzar771@[removed] ]
      "The" Guiding [removed]               [ Afanofoldradio@[removed] ]
      RE: Five thoughts on Suspense         [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
      Car starters interference             [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:18:14 -0500
    From: skallisjr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Identity Crisis

    Joe Mackey reports from Those Were The Days,

>     1940 - Mutual presented the first broadcast of Superman. The identity
>     of the man from planet Krypton was unknown to listeners for six years.
>     The secret eventually leaked out that Superman's voice was actually that
>     of Bud Collyer.

    But wasn't the *identity* of the man from the planet Krypton given from
    the first broadcast?  I thought everyone was told that it was Clark Kent.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr

    (Who, as a child, ate inordinate amounts of Kellogg's Pep because of that
    program.)

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:18:56 -0500
    From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ubangi's lips

    Sean wrote:

>     On one Fred Allen program, Fred complained he had been at an
>     event outside when it was so hot that "the only shade available
>     was under a Ubangi's lips."  I remember thinking that if the most
>     literate popular comedian of that era would pop off with a joke
>     like that, imagine what the average night club hack must have
>     been like.

    I don't think this was racist in the way some people (most
    people?) might take it today. Do an image search for Ubangi on
    the Internet or recall some pictures in the National Geographic
    or under "Africa" in an encyclopedia and you're likely to come up
    with the "Ubangi saucerlips natives." Allen's reference wasn't to
    black people having large lips, it was to the Africans who
    enlarged their lips to the point of having the bills of a duck
    ... hence the shade.

    Let's not try to rewrite history and intentions like PBS'
    "History Detectives."

    Bob Cockrum

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:21:10 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "The Devil's Radio"

    (That's the title of a terrific song by George Harrison. Worth a  listen, as
    it deals humorously with the whole rich panoply of crap riding the  airwaves.)

    Ted wrote:

    From: _radioaz@[removed]_ (mailto:radioaz@[removed])

>     I'm not surprised  that fundamentalists would be against radio.  They are
>     against so many  new ideas.

    Historically, there has been some truth to [removed]

>     a TV channel called
>     JCTV--they feature some of the most awful music  I have heard in a long
>     time--all of it rock and heavy metal and all of it  aimed at winning kids
>     over to the church.

    ...but here, you make the counter argument. You may not like the sound
    of those types of music - but they are "new," and are being used by the
    groups you speak of.

>     I wouldn't be surprised if Billy Sunday, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson  and
>     Father Coughlin were in great part responsible for evangelicals  adopting
>     radio as a tool.  I'm sure there are many others.

    Well, if we use "Evangelical" in its original, non-purjorative form, as it
    was preferred by Dr. Martin Luther as a name for the reformed church,
    we have to  largely credit a man,and a show, mentioned on this list before.

    Dr. Walter A. Maier began THE LUTHERAN HOUR on Oct. 11, 1930. It pretty
    quickly became a National, then an International, show, and continues to
    this day.

    Best,
    -Craig W.

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:28:02 -0500
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Another column mentioning OTR

    Here's another old-timer's column that mentions OTR nostalgia, particularly Bergen & McCarthy.

    [removed];c=MGArticle&cid=1173354547243

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 09:52:05 -0500
    From: skallisjr@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Fossils

    Many OTR programs aren't in circulation.  Many cannot be, as no audio
    recordings survive.  Yet some are still "recorded," after a fashion, and
    their adventures can be shared, after a fashion.

    In a simpler time, when consumer electronics was a lot less complex, most
    homes had no way of recording the programs that were broadcast.  But some
    of the stories were adapted to other media, notably Whitman Publications'
    Big Little Books and Better Little Books.  Some of the shows were
    "novelized," notably Captain Midnight and Jack Armstrong.  The Better
    Little Books featuring the OTR adventures pop up from time to time on
    flea markets and auctions.

    The BLB stories aren't quite the originals, as some actions don't
    necessarily advance the plot significantly, as when making a pitch for a
    radio premium, but they carry all the main points.   Admittedly, some of
    the audio charms of an OTR program are gone, but at least the stories
    have been preserved, more or less.

    [[removed]:  There are some BLBs on OTR characters that were adapted from
    other media.  For instance, the BLB, /Captain Midnight and the Moon
    Woman/, was adapted from the Captain Midnight newspaper comic strip
    rather than the radio show.]

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 10:09:24 -0500
    From: fmazzar771@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Invisible Man

    I got into OTR back in the late 1980's and was introduced to it by an old
    timer who walked my city streets with a shopping cart and picking cans.
    Inside that shopping carriage was an old Fisher Price cassette
    player/recorder and a purse filled with OTR tapes. I became his link to the
    OTR world and I did mail ordering to get him the shows he always had wished
    for. My pal died in 1993 and just recently I stumbled upon a cache of tapes
    he left behind. on one of them there was an OTR version of HG Wells Invisible
    Man. From what show it came i cannot tell because my friend cut out the
    intro's and announced the show in his own voice over and he did the same at
    commercial breaks. Can anyone tell me how many, if any, times the Invisible
    Man was done on OTR and the names of the shows and dates if possible.

       Thank you

       Frank Thomas

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:53:22 -0500
    From: Afanofoldradio@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  "The" Guiding [removed]
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    An article in the 2-7-2008 edition of the Chicago Tribune mentions how  "The"
    Guiding Light', (I still call it that though they have not used that title
    since 1976) in order to boost ratings, are now going to use roving  hand-held
    cameras instead of using in-studio pedistal cameras-and  using more outside
    New
    York locations. They do however mention in the story  how it first came on
    radio in 1937 so Procter and Gamble could sell soap and  moved to TV and CBS
    on
    June 30th, 1952 where it has been ever  since!!!

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

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:53:49 -0500
    From: "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: Five thoughts on Suspense

    In [removed] Digest V2008 #36
    Richard Carpenter asked
    ". . .
    3) I know that some of the ESCAPE shows were also on SUSPENSE. Was this a
    budget move as radio lost its luster and advertising to TV? And did SUSPENSE
    use recordings of the ESCAPE shows with new introductions and farewells, or
    did SUSPENSE use its own actors, [removed] . . ."

    The following is a compilation of information from a post I made in March,
    2001 to the Old Time Radio Digest and an article I wrote in 2006 called
    "Produce It Again, Sam: The Reuse of Scripts During the Golden Age of
    Radio."

    New Productions of Previously Used Scripts
    	During Radio's Golden Age, a more common practice than replaying
    previous aired transcriptions, was the reuse of previously broadcast scripts
    for new productions.  The reuse of scripts probably had been an industry
    practice since the late 1930's, but definitely became more common as the
    fortunes of network radio began to wane in the early 1950's.

    	If a script was used again on its original series, it was normally
    as a new production and usually with at least a few cast or crew differences
    from the original production.  Also, there might have been title, dialog,
    and scene changes made in the script.  If the new production was in a
    different length time slot, changes could be substantial and entail the
    addition or deletion of entire scenes and characters.

    	When the script was used on a different series, modifications could
    be minor or significant.  Cast and crew changes were to be expected.  Series
    specific changes such as opening, closing, and between acts segments and
    locale and characters' names were made.  Episode title changes were common.
    Dialog alterations might be made.  If the newer series had a different air
    time length than the original series, changes might be quite extensive as
    mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

    	In some cases, it was a matter of economics. Radio networks often
    had a limited-time option to reuse a script on its original series or on
    another series.  A reduced fee was usually paid to the writer for the
    multiple uses of a script.  As network radio was dying, broadcast budgets
    became increasingly tight and reusing scripts allowed directors to save
    money while still supplying a quality show.

    	In other cases, script reuse was a recognition of popularity.
    Occasionally, positive listener response was acknowledged with new
    productions of a popular script such as "Three Skeleton Key" on ESCAPE and
    SUSPENSE and "Sorry, Wrong Number" on SUSPENSE.

    ESCAPE and SUSPENSE
    	There were many scripts that first aired on ESCAPE that were later
    produced on SUSPENSE. The use of these recycled scripts occurred from the
    mid-1950's onward when the budget for SUSPENSE was cut.  Also, some scripts
    that originally aired on SUSPENSE were later reused for productions on
    ESCAPE.

    	Thirty scripts written for ESCAPE were subsequently produced on
    SUSPENSE.   Script alterations were made in series openings and closings,
    and in some cases, dialog.  The new productions generally had different cast
    and crew members.  Reused scripts included such classics as "A Shipment of
    Mute Fate," "Leiningen Versus The Ants" and "Three Skeleton Key."  Two
    scripts written by actor John Dehner, "Lily and the Colonel" and "The Man
    With The Steel Teeth," were used on ESCAPE by director Antony Ellis and
    reused when Ellis directed SUSPENSE.  Director William N. Robson adapted the
    Ambrose Bierce short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" for ESCAPE in
    1947 and later reused the adaptation three times while he was directing
    SUSPENSE.   (See below for the list of scripts shared by ESCAPE and
    SUSPENSE.)

    Common Directors
    	Three well-known radio directors -  William N. Robson, Norman
    Macdonnell, & Antony Ellis - directed both ESCAPE and SUSPENSE.  They
    sometimes recycled quality, previously-written scripts that were still under
    network option.  Also, these directors may have reused scripts they were
    familiar with because it gave them the opportunity use a script of known
    quality or to fix something that didn't quite work in its first production.

    	When he directed SUSPENSE, Antony Ellis reused some scripts from the
    time period when he wrote for and directed ESCAPE:  "A Study In Wax," "The
    Game," and "Classified Secret."  The script for "The Cave" written by Ellis
    was used on at least three series:  first ESCAPE, then SUSPENSE, and finally
    ROMANCE.  Ellis directed SUSPENSE and ROMANCE when "The Cave" was produced
    on those series.

    Signing off for now,

    Stewart

    SHARED ESCAPE and SUSPENSE SCRIPTS
    Lost Special
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/Jack Fink
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  09/30/1943
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle/Les Crutchfield
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/12/1949

    Back for Christmas
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  John Collier/William Spier & John Collier/William
    N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  12/23/1943 & 12/23/1956
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   John Collier/Robert Tallman
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  12/24/1947

    Man Who Liked Dickens
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Evelyn Waugh/Richard Breen
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  10/09/1947
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Evelyn Waugh/John Meston
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  12/21/1952

    Action
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   C. E. Montague/Les Crutchfield
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  04/04/1948 & 07/21/1949
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  C. E. Montague/Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  10/05/1953

    An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Ambrose Bierce/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  12/10/1947
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Ambrose Bierce/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  12/09/1956, 12/15/1957,  & 07/19/1959

    Cave, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  12/24/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  12/20/1955

    Classified Secret
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  04/12/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  11/22/1955

    Command
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   James Warner Bellah/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  12/06/1049 & 12/06/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  James Warner Bellah/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  09/14/1958

    Country of the Blind
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   H. G. Wells/John Dunkel
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  11/26/1947, 06/26/1948, & 03/20/1949
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  H. G. Wells/John Dunkel
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  10/27/1957 & 12/13/1959

    Crossing Paris
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Marcel Ayme/John Meston
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  08/25/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Marcel Ayme/John Meston
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  06/02/1957

    Flood on the Goodwins
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   David Divine (aka Arthur Durham Divine) /James Poe
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  11/01/1949 & 07/24/1954
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Arthur Durham Divine/James Poe
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  07/14/1957

    Game, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  08/30/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  03/15/1955

    I Saw Myself Running
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/22/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  05/24/1955

    Leiningen Vs. The Ants
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Carl Stephenson/Robert Ryf
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  01/14/1948, 01/17/1948, 05/23/1948, & 08/04/1949
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Carl Stephenson/Les Crutchfield? & Carl
    Stephenson/Robert Ryf?
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  08/25/1957 & 11/29/1959

    Lily and The Colonel
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   John Dehner
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  05/03/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  John Dehner
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  05/17/1955

    Man from Tomorrow
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Irving Reis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  08/23/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  09/01/1957

    Man Who Stole the Bible, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   John and Gwen Bagni
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  05/05/1950 & 08/30/1951
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  John and Gwen Bagni
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  11/25/1956

    Man Who Won the War
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Robert H. Buckner/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/28/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Robert Henry Buckner/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  10/05/1958

    Man Who Would Be King
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Rudyard Kipling/Les Crutchfield
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  07/07/1947 & 08/01/1948
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Rudyard Kipling/Les Crutchfield
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  05/31/1959

    Man with the Steel Teeth, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   John Dehner
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  03/15/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  John Dehner
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  02/17/1955

    Outer Limit
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Graham Doar/Morton Fine & David Friedkin
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/07/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Graham Doar/Morton Fine & David Friedkin
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  02/15/1954 & 03/17/1957

    Rim of Terror, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Hildegarde Teilhet/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  05/12/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Hildegarde Teilhet/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  12/02/1956

    Second Class Passenger
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Perceval Gibbon/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  01/07/1948, 01/10/1948, & 07/28/1949
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Percival Gibbon/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  01/20/1957

    Shipment of Mute Fate
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  10/15/1947, 03/28/1948, 03/13/1949, & 07/07/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
    Martin Storm/Les Crutchfield
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  01/06/1957
    04/03/1960

    Sleeping Draught, A
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Westin Martyr/Antony Ellis & Westin Martyr/S. A.
    Boldt
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  10/01/1950 & 04/05/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Westin Martyr/Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  06/19/1956

    Study in Wax, A
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/01/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  08/16/1955

    Sundown
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Joel Murcott
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  06/23/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Joel Murcott
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  05/04/1958

    The Island
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Millard Kauffman
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  07/11/1951 & 03/08/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Millard Kauffman
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  01/12/1958

    Three Skeleton Key
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   George Toudouez/James Poe
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  11/15/1949, 03/17/1950, & 08/09/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  George Toudouez/James Poe
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  11/11/1956 & 10/18/1958

    Tramp, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  03/01/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  07/25/1956

    Two Came Back
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Jules Archer/Savage Dollar
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  08/04/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Jules Archer/Joseph Cochran & Ronald Dawson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  06/05/1960

    Vanishing Lady, The
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Alexander Woollcott/William N. Robson
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  02/01/1948, 02/07/1948, & 01/10/1950
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Alexander Woollcott/William N. Robson
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  04/07/1957

    Zero Hour
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Ray Bradbury/Antony Ellis
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  10/04/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Ray Bradbury/Antony Ellis
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  04/05/1955, 05/18/1958,  & 01/03/1960

    *Elementals
    ESCAPE Writer/Adapter:   Stephen Vincent Benet/Meyer Dolinsky
    ESCAPE Air Date(s):  10/21/1953
    SUSPENSE Writer/Adapter:  Stephen Vincent Benet/Meyer Dolinsky
    SUSPENSE Air Date(s):  06/12/1960
    * Originally aired on RADIO CITY PLAYHOUSE 02/14/1949

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

    Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:54:10 -0500
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Car starters interference

    Richard Carpenter mentioned that some car starters introduced static while
    listening to the radio or watching television.  Yes, some starters did that.
    My experience was that these were all Ford cars.
        "Hey, the neighbors are starting their Ford!  Look at the [removed] to
    the radio."
        They must have fixed that since the static is gone.

    Recalling the roles of Hal Peary, I notice that his Gildersleeve
    replacement, Willard Waterman, is often on the Whistler and some other
    shows.  I think Waterman was on these shows before and after his appearance
    on Gildersleeve.

    Ted Kneebone /  1528 S. Grant Street, Aberdeen, SD  57401
    Phone: 605-226-3344 / OTR: [removed]
    St Marks: [removed] /

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #37
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