Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #465
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 12/30/2003 11:25 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 465
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      RE:Capt. Midnight secret messages -   [ [removed]@[removed] ]
      Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam        [ Christopher Werner <werner1@globalc ]
      Bulk audio cassettes                  [ Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed]; ]
      Rod Serling                           [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      Jack Paar                             [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      RE: OTR actors on TV's Twilight Zone  [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      Paul Harvey / GE                      [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
      THANKS for the blank tape info        [ benohmart@[removed] ]
      Twilight Zone                         [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Les Tremayne Tribute                  [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      mp3 woes                              [ vigor16@[removed] ]
      Re: Rod Serling's influence from OTR  [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:34:44 -0500
    From: [removed]@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RE:Capt. Midnight secret messages - examples
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    	I can't attest to the very first time Jean Shepherd told the Orphan
    Annie decoder badge story, but I first heard it from one of his records that
    was played on WFMT's "The Midnight Special," some time in the early sixties.
    Shepherd constantly refined and retold his marvelous tales, the culmination
    being Ralphie's experiences in "Christmas Story." Whether the 'lousy
    commercial' line was just included to get a laugh (it was the punch line,
    when Shepherd told the story on stage), or it resulted from an incorrect
    memory, I don't know either. I know that after hearing his story for the
    first time, that was the way I remembered my own experience. Since the
    actual event had happened ten or twenty years earlier, when I was just a
    kid, I wouldn't be surprised if hearing his tale created a false memory in
    my own mind.

    	Anyhow, I never heard the 'Orphan Annie' shows, nor was she a
    favorite strip in the 'Chicago Tribune' when I was a kid. I was, however, an
    avid listener of 'Captain Midnight,' When I first heard about the decoder
    badge, I had to have one. The sticking point was the jar of Ovaltine. So I
    asked my parents if we could buy a bottle.

    	"No, you won't like it, and we'll have to throw it out," my mother
    responded.

    	"Please . . ., I'll drink it. I promise," was my whining reply.
    After all, the stuff was chocolate, what's not to like?

    	"No! You always make me buy you things that you don't eat, then we
    have to throw it all away. Don't you remember the Cheerios we bought, so you
    could send for the buildings in the Lone Ranger's Frontier Town. You ate one
    spoonful, and we had to throw out the rest of the box."

    	"But I ate all of the Shredded Ralston we bought so I could get
    (whatever Tom Mix premium was sold that year). I promise to drink the
    Ovaltine," I whined.

    	So, in the typical dynamic of parent-child interactions, she finally
    bought me a jar so I'd stop whining. Of course she was right, Ovaltine
    didn't taste anything like the way it sounded on the commercials. If there
    was a chocolate taste, it was overcome by the cereal taste of whatever
    grains it contained -- none of which were what I liked. Also, no matter how
    much I stirred the stuff, little bits of solid material remained to catch in
    my teeth and stick to my tongue and mouth, making it extremely unpleasant to
    drink. In the end, my mother was right; I couldn't stand the stuff. I did
    try to perservere, though. I tried several times over to drink it, but could
    never get a complete glass down my throat. It seemed like each swallow was
    worse than the one before, and by the time the glass was half empty, I
    started to gag whenever I brought it up to my lips. I told some of this tale
    some years ago on this very list, and was severely castigated by several
    other list members who thought I was crazy for not liking Ovaltine.

    	Meanwhile, as soon as we got the bottle home from the store, I tore
    off the label, wrote my name and address on the back, as instructed by
    Captain Midnight, and sent it off with whatever fee was required (probably a
    quarter). To my shock and amazement, when I returned from school the next
    day, my badge wasn't in the mail. Nor was it there the next day. Nor the day
    after that. In fact, I had to wait for an eternity; approximately the same
    time that I had to wait from the beginning of December until Christmas --
    forever.

    	Like Ralphie, I waited, and I waited, and I waited. Finally, there
    it was in the mail. Then I had to wait that interminally long time between
    3:15PM, when I arrived home from school, and 5:45 -- 6:00 PM, when 'Captain
    Midnight' aired. All those hours seemed like years; then during the
    adventure, which also seemed to last forever, while I caould hardly wait for
    it to end so I could hear the secret message, I heard something about Icky's
    new invention. Barely paying attention, so focused was I on the message to
    follow, I could barely make out that Icky had invented a new secret decoder
    badge. When the message finally came, I excitedly decoded it, but today I
    couldn't tell whether it was something to do with the adventure or 'a lousy
    commercial.' What I do remember is, in short order my decoder badge would be
    obsolete, and there would be no point in trying to get my mother to go for
    another bottle of Ovaltine so I could get the new one. I was dead in the
    water, with a badge whose value was lost almost as soon as it had come in
    the mail.

    	The sad thing was, I quickly figured out the logic of the bnadge,
    and it was obvious that the new one would have, instead of 26 secret codes
    (actually 25, because one of them would be clear text), there would be 26 x
    26 secret codes. I think that I knew that I could have just created
    substitution tables on paper, and decode the messages that way, but I knew
    that would be wrong and Captain Midnight would never approve of such
    shenanigans.

    	Worse than that, what I didn't realize was that I would soon ([removed],
    soon, by today's standards) grow up and Captain Midnight, decoder badges,
    secret codes, and cereal premiums in general, would quickly lose their
    appeal and give way to other interests, and that I wouldn't think about such
    things again until approaching old age and 'senior citizen' status, where I
    now, again see the beauty of such things and the pleasure they once evoked.

    	And so it goes.

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:48:14 -0500
    From: Christopher Werner <werner1@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam

    One of the items I purchased for Christmas this year was the first two
    seasons of the Dick VanDyke show on DVD. I also purchased Vince Waldron's
    fine book on the series and am absorbing a chapter or two per evening. I
    was pleased to discover that both Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam had
    healthy Radio careers. Rose Marie started as 'Baby Rose Marie' at the age
    of 3 singing on radio (1928) she and Sheldon Leonard (producer of Danny
    Thomas, Andy Griffith, and I Spy) were part of the Phil Harris program.
    When Rose Marie was 11 (1936) she and Morey Amsterdam were on the Al Pierce
    show.

    Do recordings of their work exist? Morey wrote for Fanny Brice, Jimmy
    Durante, and Pearl Bailey.

    Who has recordings of the Al Pierce show (I only see one in RHACs
    collection)? There are 14 shows from 1939 and 1940 available (Hickerson).

    Any other known appearances of the three?

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:22:20 -0500
    From: Art Chimes <[removed]@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Bulk audio cassettes

    The radio network where I work uses Maxell DUP-xx series bulk
    cassettes. They come in boxes of 20, in lengths of 30, 34, 60, 90 and
    120. I have a price sheet from [removed] (which I have not ordered
    from and can't vouch for), which prices the C-60s at [removed] each, the
    C-90s at .70. These cassettes come without labels or boxes.

    The quality of these type-1 cassettes seems perfectly acceptable for
    OTR, and the mechanical quality is excellent, as these cassettes are
    made for high-speed bulk duplicators. With decent recording and
    playback equipment, even the 120s don't seem to give any trouble,
    although most people don't recommend them, and the thin tape should
    not be used for archival storage.

    Regards
    Art

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:22:53 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Rod Serling

              Yes, I did happen to see that special on PBS last
    night.  I believe several actors and actresses who performed
    on the Playhouse 90, Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery
    series also performed on radio.  Some of them included:

    Jack Klugman
    Jeanette Nolan
    Art Carney
    Jack Palance
    Vera Miles
    Lurene Tuttle
    John McIntyre
    George Macready

              Whether Serling was influenced by any of the reigning writers
    of OTR during his early years is debatable, but altogether possible.
    As you said, Arch Oboler (one of OTR's most prolific and well
    respected writers) might have been an influence.  Much of the work
    written by Serling, however, was rooted in his own life experience.  I
    believe this was mentioned in the special.

    Another Radio Enthusiast,

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:23:16 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jack Paar

              I was watching PBS last night and noticed they
    had a show on Jack Paar and the years he hosted the
    Tonight Show on television.  The show was very good
    and the excerpts from shows were expertly selected.

              My question is quite simple:  Was Jack Paar on
    OTR before he was on television?  If so, on which
    programs?

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 19:24:52 -0500
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  RE: OTR actors on TV's Twilight Zone

    Kermyt Anderson asked:

>     Are there any episodes that feature old radio stars?

    and our beloved listmaster added:

>     Many OTR stars performed in Twilight Zone episodes; our
>     friend Harry Bartell was featured in "I Shot an Arrow into the Air" (volume
>     18 of Image-Entertainment's DVD collection).

    As with most TV shows of this vintage, several OTR heavyweights appeared:
    Virginia Gregg ("The Masks"), Ed Wynn ("One For the Angels"), Jeannette
    Nolan ("The Hunt"), Jimmy Lydon ("Back There"), Ed Kemmer ("Nightmare at
    20,000 Feet"), Bob Hastings ("I Dream of Genie") and others.

    Of particular interest is Agnes Moorehead's episode, "The Invaders."  You
    can't match her voice to her face, as her part here was silent.  Yet her
    appearance is actuallly OTR-related: either the director or producer
    specifically wanted her for the role because she'd been so acclaimed for her
    performance in "Sorry, Wrong Number."  The thinking was to cast the actress
    renowned for a vocal tour-de-force in what was designed as a visual
    tour-de-force.  Once again, the end result was inspired.

    Michael

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:38:39 -0500
    From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Paul Harvey / GE

    Since 84-year-old news commentator Paul Harvey is mentioned every now and
    then on this list I'm posting the following article on a recent flap he got
    into with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).  Apparently, he
    discussed a link between the Iraqi sport of cock fighting with the violence
    associated with the religion of choice there.  He sort-of-apologized and
    CAIR claimed victory.  Of course, the same week CAIR chose to protest his
    comments, their co-religionists blew up a bus full of school children in
    Israel, leaving me to wonder whether he had a point.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:38:49 -0500
    From: benohmart@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  THANKS for the blank tape info

    THANKS to the Many people who got in touch about bulk tapes. Great links!
    Everyone
    here is always so helpful.

    Ben

    The Paul Frees biography
    [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 21:45:39 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Twilight Zone
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

    In reply to Kermyt's queries:

    The Rod Serling documentary was probably the one part of the AMERICAN
    MASTERS series that was initially broadcast over PBS in the summer of
    1995 and was a rerun. It is a superb documentary that runs about 90
    minutes and featured REALLY great rare footage. I recorded it off the
    air in 1995 and still have a copy on VHS but just recently transferred
    it to DVD for my collection.

    The entire TWILIGHT ZONE television series is available on DVD (all
    156 episodes) commercially through CBS Home Video but the price is
    steep. $[removed] retail for a set of DVDs and the entire series is
    divided up into five or six DVDs. I myself purchased a complete set
    of all 156 episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE on VHS from Columbia House
    years ago and recently transferred them all to DVD. (Videos are
    available for anyone who wants them - I'm willing to part with the
    videos at a cheap price just to reimburse the cost of the blank DVDs .
    . .FYI.)

    There are a few TWILIGHT ZONES to keep an eye out for, especially if
    you are a fan of OTR.

    >From the first season, "The Hitch-Hiker" which was an adaptation of
    the Lucille Fletcher radio script that was performed by Orson Welles
    on both SUSPENSE and MERCURY THEATER. The difference is that the
    protagonist was changed from a man to a woman (character named Nan,
    named after a family relative of Serling's.).

    >From the second season, "Static" with Dean Jagger as a man who finds
    an antique radio in his attic that actually plays radio programs of
    the past - how we all wish we had one of those! If I recall
    accurately, scenes from a Fred Allen broadcast, Major Bowes and Tommy
    Dorsey were heard in the sound track. Also "Night of the Meek" the
    classic Christmas episode with Art Carney who plays a drunken bum who
    turns into the real Santa Claus during Christmas Eve. The character
    Carney plays is "Corwin," named after the radio script writer Norman
    Corwin.

    >From the fifth season, "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" with
    Don Gordon playing the lead. This was based on Henry Slesar's short
    story of the same name, which was also done on the CBS RADIO MYSTERY
    THEATER (cause Slesar was writing scripts for that radio series).
    Interesting to compare the two versions.

    Radio actors John Dehner, Everett Sloane, Howard Duff, Ted de Corsia
    and if you watch carefully, you'll see Vic Perrin as an alien in
    "People are Alike All Over," one of the neatest first-season episodes
    ever filmed.

    Rod Serling, incidentally, always recalled his days of writing for
    radio since it was when he got his first big break. The radio series
    DR. CHRISTIAN had an annual contest where listeners could submit a
    script and the winner would get paid as well as hear and see their
    script dramatized on the series. Rod Serling won one year. Serling
    also wrote a few scripts for THE FIRST NIGHTER PROGRAM and GRAND
    CENTRAL STATION (one of which does exist in recorded form). When you
    watch many of the NIGH GALLERY TV shows of the 1970s, you'll also
    notice a few that were based on radio scripts. In fact, an orignal
    INNER SANCTUM radio script and an original MURDER AT MIDNIGHT radio
    script were adapted for television's NIGHT GALLERY during the final
    season of NIGHT GALLERY.

    Lastly, if anyone watches TWILIGHT ZONE on Sci-Fi Channel, be aware
    that the station often plays syndicated cuts. FYI: The channel
    actually re-edited the television shows so they could air more
    commercials. During the late fifties and early sixties, a half-hour
    show ran about 25-26 minutes long so there would be about 4-5 minutes
    of commercials. Nowawadays stations like the Sci-Fi Channel play
    syndication cuts - they deleted scenes out of the stories so viewers
    wouldn't know the difference. If you were to record an episode of THE
    TWILIGHT ZONE off Sci-Fi and delete the commercials as you go along,
    you'll notice that a standard half-hour episode runs about 22 1/2
    minutes long instead of 25. In the case of the episode "Dust," you'll
    notice they sloppily cut the last few minutes of the episode, did a
    cheap slow-motion close and dubbed Serling's voice over so you never
    even get to see the last two minutes of the drama! If you watch
    "Escape Clause," you'll notice the scene where Walter drinks the
    poison and comments it tastes like weak lemonade completely deleted.
    Sci-Fi Channel got so much flack from viewers a few years ago that the
    station had to resolve the matter by airing "uncut marathons" in which
    they played a usual half-hour episode in a forty-five minute
    time-slot. Not sure if what they play are "uncut marathons" anymore -
    I think they dropped that a couple years ago when fans stopped
    protesting.

    Martin Grams, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2003 22:40:41 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Les Tremayne Tribute
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from text/html

    With the passing of Les Tremayne this past week or so, I recalled the
    other day a compliment paid to Tremayne by the master of suspense,
    Alfred Hitchcock.

    The opening episode of the sixth season of television's ALFRED
    HITCHCOCK PRESENTS was

       Episode #192, "MRS. BIXBY AND THE COLONEL'S COAT"  September 27, 1960

       Filmed August 17 - 19, 1960.

       Starring Audrey Meadows as Mrs. Bixby

       Les Tremayne as Dr. Fred Bixby

       Stephen Chase as the Colonel

       Bernie Hamilton as the butler

       Sally Hughes as Miss Pultney, the nurse

       Maidie Norman as Eloise, the Colonel's maid

       Harry Cheshire as Mr. Gorman, a patient

       Ted Jordan as Mr. Evans, a patient

       Lillian Culver as a patient

       Teleplay written for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS by Halsted Welles, base
       don  the  short  story  of  the  same  name  by Roald Dahl, originally
       published  in an issue of NUGGET.  Subsequently collected in KISS KISS
       (Michael  Joseph,  1960;  Knopf,  1960)  and  later  in  TALES  OF THE
       UNEXPECTED (Michael Joseph, 1979; Vintage, 1980).

       Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

       Plot:   Mrs.  Bixby  takes  one  of her monthly, weekend train trip up
       north  to  spend time with her mother.  What Mr. Bixby doesn't know is
       that  her  mother  is really the Colonel, a man she has been having an
       affair  with for many years.  At the end of this weekend, however, the
       wealthy Colonel admits that he has to break off their relationship and
       as  a  parting gift, leaves Mrs. Bixby with an expensive wild labrador
       mink  coat.  During her train ride back home, Mrs. Bixby realizes that
       she  can't  take  the  coat home, without a logical explanation to her
       husband.   Stopping  at  a pawnshop down the street from her husband's
       office,  she  pawns the coat, making sure that there is no description
       on  the  ticket.   That  evening  Mrs. Bixby tells her husband how she
       found a ticket in the cab.  Mr. Bixby explains that it's a pawn ticket
       and he explains how tomorrow morning, he'll go and pick up the object,
       with  the  intention  of  handing  her  the surprise.  Arriving at his
       office  the next afternoon, she expects to be presented with the coat,
       only  to  be  handed  an inexpensive small mink sole instead.  As Mrs.
       Bixby  sits  in  her  husband's  office pondering what went wrong, she
       notices  that  her  husband's nurse leaving for lunch, wearing the new
       mink coat!

       Trivia:  Lillian Culver, who plays a small role in this episode, was a
       distant  cousin  (third  cousin  twice  removed, believe it or not) of
       Hollywood  actor  Brad Pitt.  Her husband, Harry Hazel Culver, was the
       founder of Culver City, California.  But months after this episode was
       filmed,  Alfred  Hitchcock  remarked  in an interview, "Its really the
       purest  form of the original short story as developed by De Maupassant
       and  O.  Henry,  and  of  which  The  Gift  of the Magi, read by every
       schoolchild,  is  still  the classic example. The real problem on this
       mink  story  was  the  casting.  We  had  to  have an actor who in the
       beginning  was  suffuciently conservative but who in the end you could
       believe  might  have been playing around. Les Tremayne played the part
       admirably.

       Even the master of suspense admired Les Tremayne's acting ability.

       Source: THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS COMPANION, OTR Publishing, 2001.

    Reprinted with permission of the authors.

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

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

    Hi all,

    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.

    Deric

    Nice to hear from you!
    God and I care
    Deric J. McCoy  "
    314-352-0890

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 01:04:10 -0500
    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Rod Serling's influence from OTR
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    In a message dated 12/30/03 4:36:30 PM Central Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Is there any consensus of opinion
>     on how influenced by radio Rod Serling was?

    Probably heavily.  One ep of "The Twilight Zone" was adapted from the
    "Suspense" episode "The Hitchhiker" and another one was about an old radio
    that
    played OTR shows 20 years later (like a like Tommy Dorsey remote or the
    "Allen's
    Alley" segment of "The Fred Allen Show," both of which are heard in the
    show).
    And if I'm not mistaken, in the 1970s he was involved in the production of
    radio's "Zero Hour" and/or "Hollywood Radio Theater."

    Dixon

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