Subject: [removed] Digest V2011 #11
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 1/16/2011 1:56 PM

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

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2011 : Issue 11
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      This week in radio history 16-22 Jan  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      Green Hornet a radio serial?          [ "danhughes@[removed]" <danhughes@jun ]
      Green Hornet movie                    [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      Ma's earliest days                    [ "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
      Fred Foy & Jack Benny                 [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
      Ma Perkins riddle solved              [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      1-16 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: New Adventures of Michael Shayne  [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
      Re: o                                 [ Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed] ]
      MA PERKINS                            [ "Thomas Heathwood" <HeritageRadio@m ]

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:52:20 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  This week in radio history 16-22 January

     From Those Were The Days -

    1/16

    1939   The shrill siren call of radio's I Love a Mystery was heard for
    the first time as the show debuted on NBC's West Coast outlets.

    1/17

    1938   Francis X. Bushman was the star of the program, Stepmother, which
    debuted on CBS. The show continued on the air for the next four years.

    1/18

    1929   New York Daily Mirror columnist Walter Winchell made his debut on
    radio, broadcasting a blend of political commentary and celebrity gossip
    to "Mr. and Mrs. [removed]" His quick jabbing, penetrating manner
    became his trademark. And so did wearing his fedora hat.

    1937   CBS introduced listeners to Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories for
    the first time. A complete story was told in five, 15 minute episodes
    which aired Monday thru Friday each week. Aunt Jenny was played by Edith
    Spencer and later, by Agnes Young. The show continued on radio until
    1956 and was sponsored over the years by Spry shortening and Lux soap.
    Aunt Jenny's whistling canary, for those of you ready to inquire, was
    played by animal imitator, Henry Boyd.

    1/20

    1954   The National Negro Network was formed on this date. Some 40 radio
    stations were charter members of the network.

    1/21

    1927   The first opera to be broadcast over a national radio network was
    presented in Chicago, IL. Listeners heard selections from Faust.

    1946   The Fat Man debuted on ABC. J. Scott Smart, who played the portly
    detective, weighed in at 270 pounds in real life.

    1/22

    1956   Raymond Burr starred as Captain Lee Quince in the Fort Laramie
    debut on CBS. The program was said to be in "the Gunsmoke tradition."

    Joe

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:52:36 -0500
    From: "danhughes@[removed]" <danhughes@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Green Hornet a radio serial?
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    Both the New York Times and the Washington Post seem to think the radio Green
    Hornet was a serial: NY Times:  &ldquo;The Green Hornet, based on an ancient
    and much-adapted radio [removed]"

    Washington Post:  "The movie somehow manages not to marginalize or insult
    Kato, a character who in the early "Hornet" radio serials ..." Have I missed
    something? ---Dan, [removed]

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    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:53:34 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Green Hornet movie

    Someone commented:

>     However, someone connected with the film deserves credit for paying homage to the source not once, but twice.
>     In one short scene there is an image of the Lone Ranger.  And then as the end credits start,
>     there is one on the screen all by itself which reads "Based on the Green Hornet radio series,
>     created by George W. Trendle."  They probably had to do that, but regardless of the reason it was nice to see.

    George W. Trendle Jr., the owner of The Green Hornet, Inc., was an executive producer, hence the credit for
    the creation of the radio show. It was in the contract to produce the series. Classic Media owns the rights to
    The Lone Ranger and wanting to avoid any connection to The Lone Ranger (and avoid a lawsuit), the name of
    Britt Reid's father, Dan Reid, was changed for the movie. But it appears they did work out a deal to feature
    Lone Ranger merchandise in the background. My wife caught it, I didn't. You have to look carefully.

    The Green Hornet movie is not based on the radio program, but rather the television incarnation. So if you
    are going in expecting to see the radio version, and faithful, you'll be disappointed. Best way to view
    the movie is to go in with no expectation and enjoy it for what it's worth.

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:54:12 -0500
    From: "otrbuff" <otrbuff@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Ma's earliest days

    It won't change anything but just so we're all clear -- Ma Perkins
    originated over WLW on August 13, 1933.  In "The Great Radio Soap Operas" in
    great detail I traced the fascinating history of that daytime drama's humble
    start.  When a serialized domestic comedy titled The Puddle Family failed to
    stir detergent-buyers within range of WLW's 50,000-watt voice, hometown
    soapmaker Procter & Gamble began to look for an alternative that "could" get
    the job done.  Larry Milligan, an account executive with an ad agency,
    proposed a continuing narrative that would focus on a "helping hand"
    protagonist -- a self-reliant widow whose family and friends leaned heavily
    on her.  She would be Oxydol's "own" Ma Perkins, the matriarch not only of
    the Perkins brood but vicariously of the mythical Midwestern hamlet of
    Rushville Center, and in some respects, of the world.  Her wise counsel
    would keep many a wanderer tethered to his roots in the 27 years ahead.

    After the saga began to air in a test run, sales of Oxydol in Midwestern
    supermarkets received an overnight infusion -- grocers couldn't keep it on
    their shelves -- and the P&G brass knew it had found a winner.  To
    capitalize on its newfound cash cow, arrangements were made to transfer the
    series to NBC in Chicago starting December 4, 1933.  From there it would be
    broadcast coast-to-coast and eventually heard in several more
    English-speaking nations.  Frank and Anne Hummert, radio's most prolific
    producers, were engaged to oversee the new narrative when it moved to the
    Windy City.  Whether the counting system in place starts with December 4 or
    August 14 is open to conjecture.

    A question on this forum has come up in regard to program 423.  Martin Grams
    speculated that it "might" be the first or second broadcast in Jay
    Hickerson's book.  Without going back to listen, if Ma refers in #423 to
    son-in-law Willie Fitz as a "no-account scalywag" then it probably is the
    first or second broadcast starting Dec. 4.  In time 23-year-old namesake
    actress Virginia Payne put her foot down, insisting to producers and writers
    that Ma required a much softer attitude instead of the edgy woman she was
    then portraying who lived her life as an unapologetically spiteful divider.
    That wasn't the Ma most of us remember, who became -- I'd bet the rent --
    the most warmhearted, beloved figure in zillions of crafted plots swirling
    about dishpan dramas.  Her wisdom as the town sage, according to one
    comparison, qualified her to be "Just Plain Bill in skirts."

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:54:22 -0500
    From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fred Foy & Jack Benny

    In one of the Fred Foy interviews I'm enjoying,
    he talks about MCing a USO show with Jack Benny,
    that was recorded.

    Does this exist anywhere?

    thanks,

    rob

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:54:29 -0500
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Ma Perkins riddle solved

    Larry Maupin<mpn_lrry@[removed];  commented:

>      On the [removed]  under the category
>      "soap opera" (scroll down the right-hand side of the page to find the
>      category) is an episode of Ma Perkins ... In an accompanying article
>      Randy indicates that the show is from a  transcription disc labeled "Pgm
>     #423"

    You clicked on the wrong link.  Click on "Ma Perkins" because there are
    TWO episodes there, 423 and 424.

>      the announcer makes an interesting statement.  He says.
>      "And so we meet her for the first time. Ma Perkins, in person."

    But in the closing he says: "You'll love Ma Perkins every day as thousands of
    other women have already learned to love her."

>      The characters and setting are introduced with a degree of detail
>      that seems to assume no familiarity with the show on the part of listeners.

    The same is true about in pgm 424.

>      No date, commercials, or station or network identification is included.

    Likewise, but your also see the recording studio info on the label.

    Following Randy and Martin Grams' replies, I was about to launch into
    some speculaton of my own, when I decided on my way back to the computer
    to look in my 40 year old card file of notes for my PhD dissertation.

    PAYDIRT!

    On page 52 of the April 15, 1935 issue of Broadcasting is:  "Augmenting
    its NBC-WEAF series, "Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins", Proctor and Gamble Co.
    Cincinnati, on April 1 began to spot transcriptions of the program on
    WWL, KMOX, WIOO, WJAX, WFLA, WRVA, WHAM, WFBL, and KRLA.  In all but two
    of the cities the transcribed program is synchronized with the network
    broadcast, being on the air at the same time.  RCA Victor produced the
    transcriptions, and Blackett-Sample-Hummert Inc. Chicago, handles the
    account"

    NOW I can speculate with authority.   It is not the Canadian airings
    from 1941, although Randy's speculation that it was possibly a
    syndication disc or a rehearsal rather than the actual network broadcast
    is quite good.  Thus those statements by the announcer might not have
    been heard on the network airing of the episodes.

    Dave Goldin's guess of August 1935 is good, but I think we can safely
    say that these are rehearsals before, or dubs of, the RCA Victor
    syndication discs recorded for April 1 and 2 airings.  Lacquer coated
    discs had been introduced nationally in Oct 1934 (some from July 34 also
    exist) but it took a while before studios converted over to them.  March
    and April 1935 would be more likely for an uncoated disc rather than
    August, although it is still possible.

    These labels state they are copies, and it is likely this uncoated
    aluminum disc are dubbings of the RCA Victor pressings which would have
    been on Victrolac Vinyl with matrix numbers identifying them, so Randy
    is correct in speculating that this uncoated aluminum disc was not an
    actual syndication disc but was a copy made for reference.

    Martin mentioned that Jay Hickerson lists the first two episodes of Dec
    4 and 5, 1933 in circulation, but unless those two episodes do actually
    ALSO exist, it is probable that some dealer over the years speculated
    that these programs were the first two because of the intro, and either
    he did not have the disc or he also ignored the episode numbers AND the
    CLOSING announcement about other women already loving Ma.

    A little newspaper research in the above listed syndication cities might
    tell us if the Broadcasting article means that the STORY is to be in
    sync with the network day or if only the BROADCAST  TIME need to be in
    sync.  I think it is probably the story. just like with the Amos 'n'
    Andy syndication in 1928 and 29 when the recorded script had to be on
    the same day as the live WMAQ airing.  That would mean that these Ma
    Perkins recordings were made weeks BEFORE April 1 and 2, 1935 for airing
    on that date.  If we had the actual syndication discs, the RCA Victor
    matrix numbers would tell us that, just like we know the recording dates
    of most of the 1929 Amos 'n' Andy syndication recordings because they
    were done in batches and most of the recording sheets survived.  MATRIX
    NUMBERS ARE IMPORTANT, AND RAND'S LABEL PHOTOGRAPHS FOR NON-PRESSED
    DISCS ARE FANTASTIC HELPS.

    So, I think the question is solved.  These are dubs of the syndication
    discs recorded for airing April 1 and 2, 1935 or a sample recorded
    before that date to sell the project.  They would be the first
    SYNDICATED episodes, not the first episodes.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:54:36 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1-16 births/deaths

    January 16th births

    01-16-1878 - Harry Carey, Sr. - NYC - d. 9-21-1947
    actor: "Lincoln Highway"; "Suspense"
    01-16-1890 - Lloyd Bacon - San Jose, CA - d. 11-15-1955
    film director: "Screen Guild Theatre"; " Screen Director's Pla
    01-16-1895 - Irene Bordoni - Ajaccio, Corsica, France - d. 3-19-1953
    singer: (The Coty Playgirl) "The RKO Hour"
    01-16-1895 - John B. Kennedy - Quebec, Canada - d. 7-22-1961
    commentator: "Collier's Hour"; "RCA Magic Key"
    01-16-1901 - Sid Silvers - Brooklyn, NY - d. 8-20-1976
    actor: Beetle "Phil Baker Show"; "Jack Benny Program"
    01-16-1907 - Alexander Knox - Strathroy, Ontario, Canada - d. 4-25-1995
    actor: "Document A/777", BBC
    01-16-1907 - John Hiestand - Madison, WI - d. 2-5-1987
    announcer: "Amos 'n' Andy"; "Cinnamon Bear"; "Feg Murray Show"
    01-16-1909 - Ethel Merman - Astoria, NY - d. 2-15-1984
    singer" "Ethel Merman Show"; "Home Front Matinee"
    01-16-1910 - Dwight Weist - Palo Alto, CA - d. 7-16-1991
    actor: Mr. District Attorney "Mr. District Attorney"
    01-16-1910 - Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean - Lucas, AR - d. 7-17-1974
    baseball broadcaster: (Baseball Hall of Fame) "Game of the Day"
    01-16-1914 - Don Ettlinger - Detroit, MI - d. 8-6-2000
    writer: "Railroad Hour"; "Our Miss Brooks"; "Doctor Fights"
    01-16-1914 - Roger Wagner - Le Puy, France - d. 9-17-1992
    chorale director: "It's Time for Johnny Mercer"; "America Sings"
    01-16-1916 - Joe McMichael - Minneapolis, MN - d. 2-12-1944
    singer: (The Merry Macs) "Bing Crosby Show"; "Fred Allen Show"
    01-16-1916 - Norval Taborn - d. 1-23-1990
    singer: (The Vagabonds) "The Breakfast Club"
    01-16-1917 - Brainerd Duffield - Boston, MA - d. 4-5-1979
    writer: "The Ford Theatre"
    01-16-1917 - Buddy Lester - Chicago, IL - d. 10-4-2002
    comedian: (Brother of Jerry Lester) "Connee Boswell Show"
    01-16-1920 - Elliott Reid - NYC
    actor: Biff Bradley "Pepper Young's Family"
    01-16-1922 - Lina Romay - NYC - d. 12-17-2010
    latin singer: "The Bing Crosby Show"; "The Dick Haymes Show"
    01-16-1923 - Roy Lanham - Corbin, KY - d. 2-14-1991
    guitar: "Plantation Boys"
    01-16-1924 - Allen Swift - NYC - d. 4-18-2010
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    01-16-1924 - Katy Jurado - Guadalajara, Mexico - d. 7-5-2002
    actor: "George Fisher Interviews the Stars"
    01-16-1928 - Pilar Lorengar - Zaragoza, Spain - d. 6-2-1996
    soprano: "Ondas Infantiles"
    01-16-1929 - Popeye the Sailor - d. will live forever
    cartoon character: "Popeye"
    01-16-1947 - Michale Falconer Anderson - Aberdeen, Scotland
    author of radio plays

    January 16th deaths

    02-12-1888 - Victor Kolar - Budapest, Hungary - d. 1-16-1957
    conductor: "Ford Sunday Evening Hour"
    02-16-1911 - "Curly" Noland - Tennessee - d. 1-16-1993
    bass: "The Swift Jewel Cowboys"
    03-15-1927 - Carl Smith - Maynardville, TN - d. 1-16-2010
    country singer: "Grand Ole Opry"; "Cas Walker's Radio Show"
    03-23-1905 - Sidney Walton - Mississippi - d. 1-16-1958
    announcer: "Arthur Tracy, Street Singer"; "Changing Times"
    03-24-1907 - Martin Kosleck - Barkotzen, Germany - d. 1-16-1994
    actor: "Treasury Star Parade"
    03-25-1867 - Arturo Toscanini - Parma, Italy - d. 1-16-1957
    conductor: "NBC Symphony Orchestra"
    04-21-1923 - John Mortimer - London, England - d. 1-16-2009
    author: "Rumpole of the Bailey"
    05-03-1907 - Earl Wilson - Rockford, OH - d. 1-16-1987
    columnist: "Earl Wilson's Broadway Column"
    06-13-1908 - Carl Eastman - NYC - d. 1-16-1970
    actor: "Mrs. Miniver"; "Renfrew of the Mounted"
    06-26-1913 - Jack Moyles - San Francisco, CA - d. 1-16-1973
    actor: Major Daggett "Fort Laramie"; Rocky Jordan "A Man Named Jordan/
    Rocky Jordan"
    07-03-1930 - Robert Robertson - St. Andrews, Scotland - d. 1-16-2001
    actor: "Have Gun, Will Travel"
    07-20-1911 - Bill Dillard - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-16-1995
    jazz trumpeter: "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts"; "Arthur Godfrey Time"
    07-31-1892 - Herbert W. Armstrong - Des Moines, IA - d. 1-16-1986
    preacher: "Plain Truth"; "The World Tomorrow"
    09-01-1907 - Ray Barrett - NYC - d. 1-16-1973
    announcer, newscaster: "Monitor"; "Talent Search, Country Style"
    09-22-1875 - Guy Bates Post - Seattle, WA - d. 1-16-1968
    actor: Ulysses S. Grant "Roses and Drums"
    10-06-1908 - Carole Lombard - Fort Wayne, IN - d. 1-16-1942
    actor: "The Circle"; "Hollywood Hotel"
    10-10-1903 - Vernon Duke - Pskov, Russia - d. 1-16-1969
    broadway composer: "Mildred Baily Show"; "Good News of 1940"; "March
    of Time"

    Ron
    [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:54:42 -0500
    From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: New Adventures of Michael Shayne
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    Hello again --

    This link I discovered with Google,
    [removed], gives
    you nearly a complete picture of the Michael Shayne programs, with their
    history of production, their record of cast changes, and suggestions about the
    way the program changed over the years. Yes, Jack Webb was mentioned as an
    uncredited supporting actor in the Jeff Chandler series, and I believe I have
    heard Bill Conrad in another role in that later series. This is a much more
    detailed description of the program than that supplied by John Dunning's "On
    The Air," in most cases the best reference work for all things OTR.

    yOurs TRuly,
    Jan Bach

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    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:55:01 -0500
    From: Rob Chatlin <rchatlin@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: o

    As a few folks mentioned:

>     As the credits roll at the end of the movie, it says clearly "based on the
>     RADIO program". It also mentions the original creator of the series George
>     W. Trendle.  I was delighted to see this when I watched it this morning.

    Is there any mention or credit for Fran Striker?

    Or is the radio equivalent of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby ?

    rob

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

    Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:55:50 -0500
    From: "Thomas Heathwood" <HeritageRadio@[removed];
    To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  MA PERKINS
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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    Randy Riddle has created an interesting puzzle re: Ma Perkins.  His postings
    of the audio of episodes 423 and 424
    are truly engaging. The show started in 1933 on WLW in Cincinnati (as I
    understand it) as a LOCAL show and didn't go to the NBC Network until ;later
    that year.
    WLW:  August 14th- December 1st.
    NBC     December 4th and on for years and years
    In 1942 it became a double network daily feature on NBC and CBS
    It was also heard on MUTUAL concurrently during 1935-1936
    Also broadcast on a syndicated basis, but don't have the dates.  Suspect that
    was in the 30's only.
    Thus, the program actually could have had several "beginnings" at which time a
    recap of the characters and storyline would have been appropriate.   The shows
    on his disk sounded like a syndicated version at first, but then I noticed
    references to OXYDOL, which would seemingly eliminate that possibility.
    However if it were a CANADIAN  rebroadcast from disk, and OXYDOL was the
    sponsor, this would fit.
    I will be interested to see who offers a more definitive answer. The fact that
    these shows were on an a
    aluminum disk should make the puzzle a bit easier.
    One question I would initially ask is: Was the original WLW show in 1933
    sponsored by OXYDOL?
     Tom Heathwood   1/16

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    End of [removed] Digest V2011 Issue #11
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