Subject: [removed] Digest V2008 #149
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/14/2008 10:14 AM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2008 : Issue 149
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Banquo's Chair                        [ Rentingnow@[removed] ]
      Banquo's Chair                        [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
      Banquo's Chair                        [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
      RE: "Banquo's Chair"                  [ Michael Ogden <michaelo67@[removed] ]
      Friday 13th births/deaths             [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Charity Auction                       [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Re: Banquo's Chair                    [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
      Man Who Saw Jack Benny Naked Tells A  [ seandd@[removed] ]
      Chan and a radio station              [ "Arthur Emerson" <milart@[removed]; ]
      Ampex 631 - lockup issues?            [ Chargous@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:28:08 -0400
    From: Rentingnow@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Banquo's Chair

    In a message dated 6/12/2008 12:18:43 [removed] Eastern Daylight Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     There is no such
>     chair  mentioned in the show and the show has nothing to do with MacBeth  or
>     Scotland.  There is also no character named Banquo in the show.

    I  haven't listened to that Suspense.  Could someone post it on a Podcast?

    In the play Banquo is killed by Macbeth because he, Macbeth, wants to  make
    sure he is the beginning of a linage of Kings.

    This is the quote  from the Yale  Shakespeare

    Enter the Ghost  of Banquo, and sits in Macbeth's place.

    Macbeth. Sweet remembrance! Now  good digestion wait on appetite,
    And health on both! ;
    Lennox. May't  please your highness sit?
    Macbeth. Here had we now our country's honor roof  d, Were the grac'd person
    of our Banquo present; Who may I rather challenge for  unkindness Than pity
    for mischance!
    Ross. His absence, sir, Lays blame upon  his promise. Please't your highness
    To grace us with your royal company?
    Macbeth. The table's full.
    Lennox. Here is a place reserv'd,  sir.
    Macbeth. Where?
    Lennox. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves  your highness?
    Macbeth. Which of you have done this?
    Lords.  What,lord?
    Macbeth. Thou canst not say I did it; never shake Thy gory locks  at me.

    In this case  there is no chair for Banquo.  He is sitting in Macbeth's
    chair.   Macbeth says that the table is full so there would be no empty chair
    at
    all.  Hence Banquo doesn't even have a chair.

    It is the year of  Macbeth in the Northeast.  There was a presentation of the
    opera (I  couldn't stand to watch the broadcast.  The 3 witches became a mob
    of women  in black carrying boxy black purses); a production with Patrick
    Steward (in that  production they poison and shoot Banquo even though the
    Shakespeare lines say  that he should have this throat cut), Another
    production
    directed by Teller of  Penn and Teller which was in DC which was reported to
    be
    EXTREMELY bloody and  another production slated for NYC.  Also reportedly
    planned
    to be  bloody.

    What gives?  Why is Macbeth all of a sudden of  interest?

    Larry Moore

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: I love requests; see [removed] for this
    episode of Suspense - you can download it, play it directly on the page with
    the built-in player, or subscribe to the RSS feed and receive all of the
    shows on the podcast. Lately we've been running some really good stuff
    provided by Jerry Haendiges, so don't miss out!  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:28:40 -0400
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Banquo's Chair
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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            Seems to me that there was a character named Banquo in Shakespeare's
    play "MacBeth" (aka the Scottish play to stage actors).  As I recall, Banquo
    died and returned to haunt MacBeth later in the play.  He appeared at a feast
    given
    by MacBeth and sat in the chair reserved for him at the table.  Thing is,
    only MacBeth could see Banquo sitting there in the chair, no one else could
    see
    this apparition.  Why he returned to haunt this man, I couldn't say for sure.

            I'd say if there was a meaning behind this title ("Banquo's Chair") it
    probably
    refers to any apparition or supernatural being who returns to exact some
    revenge
    on anyone who's done him/her wrong.  It's not about a character name in the
    episode or a specific piece of furniture named/shown in the episode.

            The only reason this reference rang a bell for me was that, in high
    school,
    we had to read a lot of Shakespeare and analyze it.  That, however, was over
    30 years ago.

            Didn't Alfred Hitchcock have an episode with this title?  Sounds like
    a title
    he might have considered.

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:29:03 -0400
    From: PURKASZ@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Banquo's Chair
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    During the pre-production meeting at the CBS  studios someone asked aloud
    what the title BANQUO'S CHAIR referred to as there  is no chair in the script.
        The response was that the original title was BRONX  CHEER but the censors
    prohibited them from using that title.
        LOL.
        OK.
        I mad that up.
        Sorry. Couldn't resist.
                                Gwynne

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    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:30:10 -0400
    From: Michael Ogden <michaelo67@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: "Banquo's Chair"

    Campbell inquired:

>     There is no such chair mentioned in the show and the show has nothing to do
>     with MacBeth or Scotland. There is> also no character named Banquo in the
>     show. Does anybody know to what the title refers?

    It's a deliberate literary allusion. Banquo's chair is, quite simply, the
    chair that the ghost sits [removed] ghost that, by its presence, causes panic
    in the person at the table who is the murderer. In the case of the
    Shakespeare tragedy, Macbeth is the only one to see the ghost; the rest of
    the assemblage merely sees the empty chair in which Banquo would have sat. In
    the radio play the characters at the table pretend to not see the actress
    playing the ghost so as to further frighten the homicdal nephew (played by
    Hans Conried) into open betrayal and confession of his crime.

    Two interesting side-notes:
    (1) Although BANQUO'S CHAIR has been performed on stage, filmed for the
    movies and television, and has appeared as a short story, it was originally
    written by Rupert Croft-Cooke as a radio drama.
    (2) When it first appeared on radio in 1926, the title was simply "The
    Telegram." It was apparently only after the initial broadcast that
    Croft-Cooke added the Shakespearean reference.

    Incidentally, while Croft-Cooke didn't do much of anything else in the
    supernatural vein, he did write (under the pen name of Leo Bruce) a series of
    delightful Golden Age (ie. between the wars) mysteries centering around the
    dubious detectional skills of the blustering Sergeant Beef. The author
    himself serves as Beef's Watson, all the while complaining  that all the
    "good detectives" (Poirot, Wimsey, etc.) are already taken by other writers.
    These books are hilarious send-ups which fully deserve to be rediscovered and
    reprinted. One of them which I've read, THE CASE WITH NO CONCLUSION, is even
    set in the same gloomy suburban neighborhood that BANQUO'S CHAIR takes place
    in.

    Mike Ogden

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:30:18 -0400
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Friday 13th births/deaths

    Friday the 13th births

    06-13-1873 - Jean Adair - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - d. 5-11-1953
    actor: "Radio Guild"; "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    06-13-1874 - Major Edward Bowes - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-13-1946
    emcee: "Capitol Family"; "Original Amateur Hour"
    06-13-1887 - Edward 'Senator' Ford - Brooklyn, NY - d. 1-27-1970
    panelist: "Can You Top This"
    06-13-1890 - Elmer Davis - Aurora, IN - d. 5-18-1958
    newscaster: "Elmer Davis and the News"
    06-13-1892 - Basil Rathbone - Johannesburg, South Africa - d. 7-21-1967
    actor: Sherlock Holmes "Sherlock Holmes"; Inspector Burke "Scotland
    Yard's Inspector Burke"
    06-13-1893 - Dorothy L. Sayers - Oxford, England - d. 12-17-1957
    writer: "He That Should Come: A Nativity Play"
    06-13-1894 - Mark Van Doren - Hope, IL - d. 12-10-1972
    pulitzer prize winning poet: "NBC University Theatre"; "Invitation to
    Learning"
    06-13-1894 - Tay Garnett - Los Angeles, CA - d. 10-4-1977
    film director: "Three Sheets to the Wind"; "Screen Director's Playhouse"
    06-13-1899 - Carlos Chavez - Mexico City, Mexico - d. 8-2-1978
    composer, conductor: "Columbia Workshop"; "Sinfonia India"
    06-13-1900 - Ian Hunter - Kenilworth, South Africa - d. 9-24-1975
    actor: "Hollywood Hotel"; "[removed] Steel Hour"
    06-13-1903 - Jack Fulton - Philipsburg, PA - d. 11-13-1993
    singer: "Ben Bernie, The Old Maestro"; "The Kraft Music Hall"
    06-13-1905 - Doc Cheatham - Nashville, TN - d. 6-2-1997
    jazz trumpeter: "Benny Goodman and His Sextet/Orchestra"; "Benny
    Goodman Quintet"
    06-13-1908 - Carl Eastman - NYC - d. 1-16-1970
    actor: "Mrs. Miniver"; "Renfrew of the Mounted"
    06-13-1909 - Anna Sosenko - NYC - d. 6-9-2000
    friend and agent to Hildegard
    06-13-1911 - Maurice Copeland - Rector, AR - d. 10-3-1985
    actor: Augustus Pendelton "Ma Perkins"; "Curtain Time"; "Hall of
    Fantasy"
    06-13-1912 - Sam Taylor - Chicago, IL - d. 5-26-2000
    writer: "Tales ofWillie Piper"
    06-13-1913 - Bob Bailey - Toeldo, OH - d. 8-13-1983
    actor: Johnny Dollar "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"; George Valentine
    "Let George Do It"
    06-13-1913 - Ralph Edwards - Merino, CO - d. 11-16-2005
    host, announcer: "Truth or Consequences"; "This Is Your Life";
    "Original Amateur Hour"
    06-13-1916 - Mary Wickes - St. Louis, MO - d. 10-22-1995
    actor: Louise "Meet Corliss Archer"; Irma Barker "Lorenzo Jones"
    06-13-1917 - Elizabeth Reller - Richmond, IN - d. 9-29-1996
    actor: Connie Barclay "Doc Barclay's Daughters"
    06-13-1917 - Si Zentner - NYC - d. 2-6-2000
    bandleader, trombonist: "Si Zentner and His Orchestra"; "Guard Session"
    06-13-1920 - Ben Johnson - Pawnee, OK - d. 4-8-1996
    actor: "Francis Burke for Attorney General"
    06-13-1923 - Eric Greer Earley - Ireland
    writer: "The Custodians"
    06-13-1924 - Lee Millar - Oakland, CA - d. 9-21-1980
    actor: Bob Regent "Chandu the Magician"; "On Stage"; "NBC Presents:
    Short Story"
    06-13-1939 - Tom Cheek - Pensacola, FL - d. 10-9-2005
    sports announcer: Original Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play

    Friday the 13th deaths

    05-26-1893 - Eugene Goosens - London, England - d. 6-13-1962
    conductor: New York Philharmonic
    05-30-1909 - Benny Goodman - Chicago, IL - d. 6-13-1986
    bandleader: (King of Swing) "Camel Caravan"; "Victor Borge Show"
    06-07-1887 - Carmela Ponselle - Schenectady, NY - d. 6-13-1977
    operatic mezzo-soprano: "The Metropolitan Opera"
    06-13-1874 - Major Edward Bowes - San Francisco, CA - d. 6-13-1946
    emcee: "Capitol Family"; "Original Amateur Hour"
    06-17-1920 - Aaron "Red" Doff - Washington, D. C. - d. 6-13-1997
    actor: "Uncle Whoa Bill"
    07-20-1919 - [removed] Stevens - Los Angeles, CA - d. 6-13-1994
    actor: Lois Graves "Junior Miss"
    07-26-1896 - Charles Butterworth - South Bend, IN - d. 6-13-1946
    comedian: "Fred Astaire Show"
    07-28-1912 - George Cisar - Illinois - d. 6-13-1979
    actor: Tim "Tena and Tim"
    09-05-1879 - Reginald C. Knorr - Mottville, MI - d. 6-13-1959
    actor: "Myrt and Marge"
    10-10-1913 - Johnny Downs - Brooklyn, NY - d. 6-13-1994
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    11-08-1931 - Darla Hood - Leedey, OK - d. 6-13-1979
    actor: "Jack Benny Program"; "Bud's Bandwagon"
    11-20-1907 - Fran Allison - La Porte City, IA - d. 6-13-1989
    actor, singer: Aunt Fanny, "Breakfast Club"; "National Barn Dance";
    "Uncle Ezra"
    11-22-1924 - Geraldine Page - Kirksville, MO - d. 6-13-1987
    actor: "Arch Oboler's Plays"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:05:58 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Charity Auction

    The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is hosting a Charity auction this
    September. A number of celebrities from Fess Parker, Alan Young to Norman
    Corwin have been kind enough to donate something autographed for the auction.
    There are a couple McFarland books (valued at $75 each) being donated as
    well. If anyone has anything old-time radio related they would like to
    donate, please let me know. MP3s, old magazines, comic books, radio
    cassettes, anything is welcome. The money raised will benefit the Johns
    Hopkins Comprehensive Cancer Center. A rep from Hopkins is scheduled to be in
    attendance. If you plan to attend the convention, you can bring the item or
    items with you to the convention.
    Many thanks,
    Martin
    [removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:06:08 -0400
    From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Banquo's Chair

    In OTR Digest #148, James Burns writes

>     Is it Macbeth's guilty conscience, or an actual spectre, visible only to
>     the dread [removed]

    Has Macbeths' choice of chair at the banquet become known as the dread Scot
    decision?
     ;-)

    Jan Bach

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:06:20 -0400
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Man Who Saw Jack Benny Naked Tells All!!!!

    A veteran entertainment PR man recounts a very strange encounter with Jack
    Benny in a recent address to the Publicity Club of Chicago:

    [removed]

    Also, Eddie Carroll's next performance of "Laughter in Bloom" is scheduled
    for Wilmington, Ohio.

    [removed];SubSectionID=156&ArticleID=166958&TM
    =[removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

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

    Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:06:34 -0400
    From: "Arthur Emerson" <milart@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Chan and a radio station

    Sounds like "The Scarlet Clue' at the "Cosmo Radio Station" -1945 - Sidney
    Toler

    Arthur

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

    Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:12:13 -0400
    From: Chargous@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ampex 631 - lockup issues?

    Has anyone had any problems with the old-style 631 locking up?  It's the
    older style light reddish-brown tape in the type of reel hub that 291 comes
    in, not the newer style one from the 80s.

    I've had two recently, 3 3/4 ips reels, both the same brand, different
    sources, that have locked up about 3/4 to 4/5 of the way through.  It
    didn't squeal.  One I was able to play by rewinding it a bit.  The other
    one would slow down and lock once it got to that point no matter what.  I
    haven't had this problem so far with non-coated reels of other brands and
    model numbers.

    Does baking help non-coated reels?  I've had squealer non-coated reels
    before - all were labeled GKI 641.  I clean the heads and assorted parts
    after each side.

    I've had one lock-up issue with coated reels.  There was one that would
    lock up at the same spot, even when baked twice.

    Travis

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2008 Issue #149
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