Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #142
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/10/2001 7:51 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                          The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                             Volume 01 : Issue 142
                       A Part of the [removed]!
                               ISSN: 1533-9289

                               Today's Topics:

     Ellery Queen                         ["Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];  ]
     Tony Randall                         ["Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];  ]
     sorry wrong number                   [stopwatch@[removed] (Martin & Ma]
     The Answer Man and Bob Hawk          [Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed]; ]
     [removed]                       [Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@telu]
     Lines designations [removed]           ["Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed]]
     OTR COMPARISON; UK VS. [removed]          ["Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed]]
     tony randall                         [leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass]
     Re: Tony Randall                     [Fred Berney <berney@[removed];      ]
     Life of Riley                        [Tyrone Settlemier <settlet@[removed];]
     SPEAKING OF AUSTRALIAN SHOWS. . .    ["Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
     Alice Darling                        ["Welsa" <welsa@[removed];        ]
     Movie Version of Lennigan's Ants     [Rkayer@[removed]                     ]
     Billy Murray & Al Jolson             [Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 19:11:42 -0400
    From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ellery Queen

    In view of the mention of Ellery Queen in today's [removed] I mention
    that Howard Culver was the last Ellery Queen, from Jan 1948, following Larry
    Dobkin.

    Lois Culver
    KWLK (Mutual), Longview, WA, 1941-1944
    KFI (NBC), Los Angeles, CA 1945 - 1950 (intermittant)
    Widow of Howard Culver, radio actor

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 19:11:44 -0400
    From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Tony Randall

    I am not surprised that you could not talk to Tony Randall,  He was not
    well-liked in the radio world in Hollywood.  Smug, self-centered, was the
    word on him.

    When he was appearing on the show on TV (which name I cannot remember),
    where there were three detectives, each starring in the show on consecutive
    weeks, there arose an interesting situation.  TV Guide wanted to do a
    picture of the three of them for a cover of their magazine.  It was
    well-known that the address label of the magazine covered a portion of the
    left side.  When the picture-taking time came along, Randall physically
    rearranged the grouping so that he was on the right, therefore he did not
    anticipate being covered by the label.  When the magazine came out, however,
    joy reined in Hollywood when the picture got printed backwards and Randall's
    face was covered by the address label!

    Lois Culver
    KWLK (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-1944
    KFI (NBC) Los Angeles, CA 1945-1950 (intermittant)
    Widow of Howard Culver, actor

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 22:01:11 -0400
    From: stopwatch@[removed] (Martin & Margot)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  sorry wrong number

    Philip Railsback wrote the following:

>     On a related note.  Could Sorry, Wrong Number be produced today as a
>     contemporary piece???  Or have the changes in the way we make phone >calls
>     forever made this classic a period piece??

    I don't know.  When I played "Sorry Wrong number" for my 12 year old
    daughter I had to explain to her what crossed lines were.  She was
    interested that things like that actually use to happen.  Then a few weeks
    ago, she picked up the phone and had a cross lined with a neighbor.  That
    was exciting.

    Today you could easily do it with scanners replacing phones, I suppose.
    Also, cell phones can be messy.  I think you could make it convincing.

      - Philip

    ***

    It can be noted that at the Shaw Festival a few years ago, located at
    Niagara-on-the-Lake in the Canadian province of Ontario, which, I must add,
    always does great stage productions through a season that runs from April
    to the end of October, this gifted company presented Sorry, Wrong Number as
    one of its noontime features, which always run a little less than an hour,
    and where people are allowed to bring food.  (Or, at least they USED to be
    allowed, and even sold sandwiches in the lobby.  While we never miss a
    season and see everything they stage, I may not be observant and maybe the
    noontime food has been dropped.  I would not want anybody to be
    disappointed if you go there this summer and hope to have a tuna fish
    sandwich along with a live play.)

    Back to the subject.  It was a totally entertaining production, highly
    effective, and nothing was done to try and update or EXPLAIN the dated
    technology for the people who were born yesterday.

    It also strikes me that if one did begin worrying about what people
    understand as they experience a work taking place in a specific time or
    place, we'd have to explain without limit, taking up all the limited space
    that might be needed to tell the story.  We humans get to live on the
    planet for such a small amount of time, if you think about it, and even
    those who are now in their mid twenties, for example, were not alive when,
    for instance, it had already been more than FIFTEEN years since John F.
    Kennedy was killed.

    Martin Fass

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 22:01:09 -0400
    From: Bhob Stewart <bhob2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Answer Man and Bob Hawk

    One name I never see mentioned in the OTR DIGEST is Bob Hawk. Any
    details on his background and what became of him? Listening to radio in
    the 1940s, I thought of him as a major radio star, so I find it
    intriguing that he's never discussed here.

    Also, who was THE ANSWER MAN? I recall this as a show from Chicago
    (WGN?) late on Sunday nights. As a child, I naively believed the Answer
    Man was spontaneously providing his answers on the spot. It never
    occurred to me the show was researched and scripted. Supposedly, there
    were three questions the Answer Man could not answer: How many buffalo
    would it take to fill the Grand Canyon? Do birds dream? Unfortunately, I
    am unable to recall the third question. Does anyone know what it is? Do
    you think these questions could be answered today?

    Re the Crosby collector: Is this the Crosby collector who made and
    distributed the limited-run bootleg LP of off-color Crosby recordings
    taken from the vault? What are the details of that incident?

    Does anyone have the text of the speech Gordon McLendon made on the day
    the Liberty Network came to an end?

    Bhob @ PRE-FUSE @ [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 22:16:21 -0400
    From: Elmer Standish <elmer_standish@[removed];
    To: Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  [removed]

    [removed]

    A commercial site with CDs Etc of many Artists, listed
    alphabetically
    Possibly worth a visit, even for the list of Artists

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 22:16:18 -0400
    From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Lines designations [removed]

    Thanks to Bill Murtough for the information on the various network lines
    from AT&T. I knew of A, B and C lines but didn't know what the difference
    was in quality between them. Variety Radio Directory lists some regional
    networks - the Inter-City Broadcasting System and the Texas Quality Network
    among these - used Class C lines in 1939-40. I couldn't find it in the
    directories but at one time the Yankee and Colonial networks may have used
    "C" lines as well.

    In the early to mid 70's, some Mutual affiliates must have depended on "C"
    lines as the voice quality was approximately that of a regular telephone. (I
    joked with a friend who worked for one of Mutual station that the net might
    have resorted to railroad tracks or barbed wire fences for some of the net's
    legs - the quality at his station was abysmal.) I wonder that the old
    Western Union lines might have had better transmission.

    A few years ago, the former WMJS-FM in Prince Frederick MD had similar sound
    quality when carrying the Orioles and the minor league hockey Icebreakers.
    And lately I've heard broadcasts of the minor league baseball Shorebird's
    (from Maryland's Eastern Shore) that sound the same.

    Bill, would you tell us again the Hartford station you worked for? I think
    it was WNBC, now WPOP, when it started on Main Street in New Britain and
    before it changed to WHTD/WONS. In the 70's I spoke with I think Rogers
    Holt, one of the early CE's of the station, and I'd like to hear more about
    it's early days.

     Macandrew

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

    Date: Wed, 9 May 2001 22:16:23 -0400
    From: "Ian Grieve" <ian@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  OTR COMPARISON; UK VS. [removed]

    "Bruce Guthrie" asked some questions on this subject and I will reply "off
    the top of my head" now and then arm myself tonight with the rest for
    tomorrow.

    "The thing that interests me is that there must have been thousands and
    thousands of hours of programming produced here in Australia in the
    30s, 40s and 50s - both original shows and re-cast versions of US
    shows."

    There certainly were.  I have been buying books on the subject and have
    discovered shows that I have never heard of even though I have had an
    interest in Australian History for many years.  I recently purchased a
    catalogue of shows from Screensound, the new modern name for the Australian
    National Film and Sound Archives.  The catalogue is several years out of
    date and lists shows that Screensound have in their collection.  The trouble
    is Screensound also have collections that have never been catalogued due to
    time and money limitations.  These are not minor collections that remain
    uncatalogued, they are the major collections, so what Screensound have
    listed is really the tip of the iceberg.
    [removed]

    "Where are all the Dad 'n Daves, Lawsons, Blue Hills, etc etc? The only
    thing can imagine is that they must be tied up in copyright by
    creators' families or whatever. There are a few shows available
    commercially but these must be the tip of the iceberg."

    Dad n Dave still plays on Australian radio (I missed mentioning that
    yesterday) somewhere each day.  From time to time I have heard it on
    regional stations when driving through the country areas.  Blue Hills, which
    is probably the most famous Australian Radio serial as well as the longest
    running, is in Screensounds collection, though with many missing episodes.
    Several years ago the Archives put out a call for any episodes that may be
    in the hands of private collectors.  They were absolutely taken back with
    the amount of shows that appeared seemingly from nowhere.  They had no idea
    of the amount in private hands.  I understand that within Screensound there
    is a project of trying to put together as many Blue Hills episodes as they
    possible can.

    "Ian, do you have much Australian OTR?"

    No.  I do have CD collections put out by Screensound and I have an order in
    at the moment for more.  Most of what I have collected has been made up of
    Australian versions of American scripts.  I have just in this last week
    discovered a very large collection of reel to reel, wire, recordings and
    also non working machines including record makers.  I read the question in
    yesterdays Digest about "wire" and was waiting for the technical answers to
    come.  This collection contains rolls of "wire" but I have been told that
    due to the age, the chances of reading shows from it would be unlikely.
    Also the reel to reel tapes are oxidising so there is a lot of work to be
    done long before discovering the contents.  It is a project that I will put
    together when time allows and permissions granted.

    Probably the most extensive collection of Australian shows outside of
    Australia are those held by the Scifiguy who has an interest in Australian
    shows.  He reads this digest and is very knowledgeable on the subject.
    Whilst he doesn't like mp3 collectors :) for very good reason I might add,
    it is possible for mp3 collectors and serious collectors to work together.
    I for one believe that serious mp3 collectors will end up making the jump to
    the higher end collecting sooner or later.  I see myself doing that now.
    Trouble is whilst mp3 collecting is an open shop and everybody shares and
    assists each other, the serious collecting is more of a closed shop and
    there appear to be barriers that shouldn't happen, but do and probably for
    good reason.

    I will put together a list of the books I have, only about 6 and also the
    story of the end of the Golden Age of Radio in Australia tomorrow.  I owe
    the Scifiguy the book details anyway so it will kill two birds with one
    stone.

    Ian

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 00:12:32 -0400
    From: leonardfass@[removed] (Leonard Fass)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  tony randall

    is an expert on opera and used to be a regular guest on the texaco opera
    quizzes on saturday afternoons

    [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 00:16:23 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Tony Randall

    Does anyone know why Tony Randall won't talk about his role on ILAM?
    Fred
    For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]
    New e-commerce page [removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 00:16:38 -0400
    From: Tyrone Settlemier <settlet@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Life of Riley

    Recently I purchased a number of lacquers from the mid 40s containing Pat
    O'Brian interviews.  The kind seller threw in a promotional record for radio
    for the film "The Life of Riley."  This is an open-ended interview where the
    radio hosts asks questions and William Bendix answers via the transcription.
    Fortunately the disc came with the script, so I had fun watching my 5 year
    old's reaction as I went through the routine.  My question:  Could one of our
    Riley fans inform me what year this film came out?  And if anyone wants, I
    could type out a copy of the script.  It's a fun one.

    Tyrone Settlemier
    settlet@[removed] settlet@[removed]
    [removed]~settlet/[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 08:58:46 -0400
    From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  SPEAKING OF AUSTRALIAN SHOWS. . .

         Speaking of Australian (and South African)versions of  American OTR
    shows, our tape library has Both AUS. & SA versions of the following shows:
    Sherlock Holmes (both) The Fat Man (AUS>) and One Man's Family (AUS.).  THe
    shows are not US imports but are completely new showswith settings and
    situations geared to the local scene. They have entirely different cast
    members from the US versions.

        It is really remarkable to hear Mother & Father Barber, Jack, Hazel &
    Nickey (One Man;s Family)and Brad Runyon (The Fat Man), speaking with a
    decidedly Australian accent. I wonder if any of the other "imports" from
    the US did the same thing?

    Owens Pomeroy

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 08:58:48 -0400
    From: "Welsa" <welsa@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Alice Darling

    OK, so this is very trivial.  But sometimes my curiosity gets the better of
    me.

    Oneof the recurring characters in Fibber McGee and Mollyin the early to
    mid-1940's, was Alice Darling.  She was a ditzy resident of the town of
    Wistful Vista who often dropped in on the McGee's to lend confusion to the
    situation.
    For example, in explaining who her friend Gertrude is, she replied, ""She's
    the boy who always rides past here in the cream colored Cadillac and honks
    his horn's sister."

    Anyway, I just finished reading a script from early 1945, and it appears
    that Alice was actually a resident of the McGee household.  Anyone know how
    this happened?  When?  Why?  How long did she room there?

    The only other person I ever knew to occupy the McGee home was Uncle Dennis.

    Ted Meland

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 12:20:11 -0400
    From: Rkayer@[removed]
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Movie Version of Lennigan's Ants

    The following movie anouncment sure sounds like "Lenigan's Ants"
    In addition to 'Sorry Wrong Number' and the Twilight Zone version of 'The
    Hitchiker' any other examples of movies and/or TV scripts based upon radio
    shows?

    Bob Kayer

    "The Naked Jungle (1954)

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

    ENCORE1 - MoviePlex Thu May 10 7:20 PM
    Movies, 100 Mins.
    *** (Rated NR)

    A cocoa grower, his mail-order bride and their Brazilian plantation are beset
    by miles of man-eating ants. Adult Situations.

    Cast: Eleanor Parker, Charlton Heston, Abraham Sofaer, William Conrad, Romo
    Vincent, Douglas Fowley, John Dierkes, Leonard Strong, Norma Calderon, John
    Mansfield. Director(s): Byron Haskin. Producer(s): George Pal. Distribution:
    Paramount "

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

    Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 21:48:54 -0400
    From: Duane Keilstrup <duanek9@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Billy Murray & Al Jolson

    The Kleinshmidts mentioned Billy Murray and wondered who he was.  I know
    nothing about "Turn Back the Turntable," but Billy Murray was a popular
    singer and recording artist in the early 20th century, with such songs as
    "Red Rose Rag," (1911) "If the War is What Sherman Said It Was, Then Tell Me
    What Is Married Life?" (1915) and "The Grand Old Rag," (1906).  He was
    active even into the 40's.  I once played his "The 5:15" (popular back in
    1915) on my show Classics & Curios on Yesterday USA.  Fidelity aside, his
    songs are a delightful part of early recording history.

    Incidentally, this coming Sunday, I'll feature Al Jolson in a Mothers Day
    feature on Classics & Curios during Bill Bragg's Sunday Night Show on The
    Yesterday USA Radio Networks after 7:40 EDT at [removed].
    Duane Keilstrup

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #142
    *******************************************

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