Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #63
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 2/11/2003 4:25 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 63
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Ray Erlenborn, Silent Movie Actor?    [ Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed]; ]
  OTR at Target                         [ Smzmurphy@[removed] ]
  Rajput, Hindu Secret Service Agent    [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
  Dads and newspapers                   [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  [removed]                               [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
  Algonquin J. Calhoun                  [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
  Paladin calling card                  [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Re: Goodrich SHADOWs - "Can the Dead  [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
  Honest Harold / Harold Peary Show     [ otrdigest@[removed] ]
  Re: studio introductions              [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  Jeff Chandler                         [ William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed]; ]
  MP3, etc.                             [ "Bob & Lois Reynolds" <boblo1@allte ]
  Inner Sanctum preview                 [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Dates for shows                       [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Tributes                              [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 19:06:38 -0500
From: Bryan Wright <bswrig@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Ray Erlenborn, Silent Movie Actor?

Hi, All.

While reviewing the cast list for Charlie Chaplin's 1931 silent film "City
Lights," I noticed one Ray Erlenborn included in the credits. Is this the
same Ray Erlenborn of OTR sound effects fame?

Thanks,
Bryan Wright

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:14:57 -0500
From: Smzmurphy@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR at Target
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

I, too, found several Radio Spirits sets available for $[removed] at my local
Target. They included the Bob Hope set and RS' new collections of Best Shows,
Comedy Shows and the Shadow.

Mike

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

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:15:03 -0500
From: ilamfan@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
Subject:  Rajput, Hindu Secret Service Agent

     Does anyone have any information on a show called "Rajput, Hindu Secret
Service Agent"?  I have one 15 minute episode, and it sounds pretty cool.
Probably a 1930's syndicated show, by the sound of it, but I can find very
little info on it.  It reminds me of "Ghost Corps", a '30's program which I
like very much.
     Even though it's been said that the very best of 1930's radio programs
were only mediocre, I really enjoy them (what I can find of them!).  The
theatrical over-acting in most of them adds a kind of surreal sheen, and they
still have a certain innocence about them.
     I'm hoping that there is a complete run of this show, or at least enough
episodes to fill a single story arc.  Any info would be greatly appreciated -
at least some dates or titles, so I can catalog this episode correctly.
Thanks
very much!

Stephen Jansen

--
Old Time Radio never dies - it
just changes formats!

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:15:46 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dads and newspapers

From: "Ted Kneebone"
And then there were the "family" shows that had kids and teenagers
on them: Ozzie and Harriet, and Father knows best, for starters. As I
listen to these shows from my 68th year, I wonder why the parents
were usually depicted as such dummies?

I've never felt that the parents in these two shows were dummies.  The
family where the father REALLY was a dummy was The Life of Riley.  But Peg
was never really a dummy--she had to have the brains for both of them.

As a kid, I don't remember noticing that.

Me neither--at first.  But I remember the exact moment when I was a kid
that I first started to really think about the plotlines and characters in
sitcoms.  It was while our family was watching the TV "Life of Riley."  The
plot concerned a lost ring that really wasn't lost but Riley thought it
was.  The whole confusion could have ended if he had just asked a question
about the ring.  My father got so fed up with the show that he threw a
newspaper at the TV set, stood up, and stormed out of the room.  It's been
my standard of judging plotlines ever since--would it provoke a thrown
newspaper!

Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:15:51 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

>From Those Were The Days --

Today birthday --

1893 - Jimmy (James Francis) Durante actor, comedian: "Good night Mrs.
Calabash, wherever you are."; The Jimmy Durante Show; died Jan 29, 1980

  Joe

--
Visit my home page:
[removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:16:26 -0500
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  [removed]

Hi Gang:

    Forgive the "off-topic" nature of my question, but I figure it's something
OF the OTR era.
    Over this past week-end, I saw for the umpteenth time the "classic" "I
Love Lucy" episode "Job Switching," in which Lucy & Ethel acquire jobs in a
candy factory. When the duo were consulting an employment agency, the agent
asked them a battery of questions dealing with work experience. One of these
was "have you ever worked a PBX?"
    So, what precisely is a "PBX"?
    Another reference to this is the Allan Sherman song "Harvey and Sheila"
[sung to tune of  the Jewish folk song "Hava Nagillah"], a love story filled
with initials and acronyms. The line to which I refer is:
"Sheila's a girl I know
At [removed]; O,
She works the PBX
And makes out the [removed]"
    If it's any consolation, I do know that "BBD&O" is a famous advertising
agency.

Yours inquisitively in the ether--

Derek Tague

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 10:16:37 -0500
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Algonquin J. Calhoun

Another question:

   Did attorney-at-law Algonquin J. Calhoun ever utter words to the effect of
"Not only does my client resent these [removed] he also resents the
allegator!"
   Elizabeth?

[removed]

Derek Tague

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 12:00:04 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Paladin calling card

Harry Machin remarked:

One of the souvenirs I brought back from my navy days (1950-54, when I
frequently hitchhiked to Hollywood to visit the Hollywood Canteen and
attend radio shows) was a card that pictured aknight from a chess set and
had the words "Have Gun, Will Travel."  I don't remember now where I got
that card, but it was my understanding that Paladin, as the TV song said,
was a"knight without armor in a savage land."

The now-famous calling card that Paladin used on the show has gone through
so many revision it's not funny.  On the television series, they used two
different cards (they revised it during the fifth or sixth season to make it
a little more fancy). The cards featured on the show was a little larger
than today's normal-sized business card. Those are the ones collectors are
willing to pay top-dollar for.  Andy McLaglen, who directed more TV episodes
of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL than anyone else has two or three in his collection
and gave one to Peter Boone - Richard Boone's son - a few years ago which
should give you an idea of how difficult it is to find an original used on
the show.

Duplicates were made (some in smaller size) for HGWT toys.  Among the cap
guns and Paladin action figures were small "Wire Paladin" collector cards
that children could distribute themselves - one collectable even came with
it's own plastic portfolio so the child could store their cards.  The
replicas that accompanied the toy market were not replicas of the original
cards used on the series - the toy manufacture companies mainly used a chess
piece image and the same words but never consulted the originals or made any
attempt to print an exact scale replica.

During the 1990s, when Columbia House began releasing the series on VHS,
fans of the series began using today's home computers to create replicas for
themselves.  Three years ago I purchased on eBay what was to be three cards
from the original series - turned out to be made on someone's home computer
- and I was screwed out of $[removed]  And there were about half a dozen people
on ebay selling cards like that - all made from their own design.  Beware of
these replicas, they are everywhere!

Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:00:23 -0500
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Goodrich SHADOWs - "Can the Dead Talk"

In a message dated 2/8/03 6:54:31 PM, [removed]@[removed]
writes:

[removed] Now, I'm even more confused. First, I thought
Goodrich sponsored only one season-- Orson Welles and
Margot Stevenson in 1938. They had a 1939 season with
Bill Johnstone, too?

***Goodrich sponsored two summer seasons of THE SHADOW.  The 1938 season
featured Orson Welles and Margot Stevenson in totally different stories than
the 1937-38 Blue Coal winter season.  The 1939 Goodrich summer season starred
Bill Johnstone and Agnes Moorehead, and featured the same stories as the
1938-39 Blue Coal winter season ... with a single exception.  As
radio-researcher Karl Schadow discovered in 1939 newspaper radio listings,
the 12/25/38 Christmas show "Give Us This Day" was apparently replaced by a
story titled "Conversation with Death."  (Apparently, Goodrich didn't believe
in Christmas in July, though they did rebroadcast the Blue Coal New Year's
show, "The Man Who Murdered Time.")***

Second, if it was a
Goodrich-sponsored episode, Blue Coal got the credit,
since the episodes have commercials for Blue Coal. But
then, I guess that balances out all those Blue
Coal-era shows that have Goodrich commercials (Unless
it turns out that those weren't mistakes and Goodrich
did sponsor some of the Johnstone-era shows).

*** I'm not dertain what you're referring to.  The episode in question, "Can
the Dead Talk," exists in both Blue Coal and Goodrich versions.  It's the
Goodrich version that's featured in Radio Spirits' THE SHADOW'S GREATEST
RADIO ADVENTURES 40-show collection, and it features Goodrich commercials,
not Blue Coal.  (I just relistened to the RSI CD.)  The Blue Coal version of
"Can the Dead Talk" (with Johnstone and Moorehead introduced at the end) was
previously included in a GAA 8-show cassette collection.  Most of the 1939
Goodrich episodes feature Bill Johnstone as The Shadow in the middle
commercial though "Can the Dead Talk" does not, presumably because Lamont
Cranston had supposedly died in the previous scene.  Only a few of the 1939
Goodrich episodes are in circulation, including "The Man Who Murdered Time,"
and if memory serves, "Murder in E-Flat."  However, the vast majority of
surviving hundred or so Bill Johnstone SHADOWs are indeed Blue Coal Shows. ***

But are you saying that "The Black Abbott" and "The
Ghost Walks Again" are the SAME story, or was the
basic plot re-worked and/or "tweaked" a bit? If it is
the same story, how often did "The Shadow"
re-broadcast an episode, possibly with different
actors?

Jerry Devine revised his "Black Abbot" script as "The Ghost Walks Again," but
it's basically the same story with changes in locale and character's names
(and a different cast) and a few other "tweaks."  But it's basically the same
story/plot, and the later version won a radio scriptwriting award.  "Murder
in E-Flat" aired in both 1938 Blue Coal and 1939 Goodrich versions, and was
reworked the following season as "Prelude to Terror."  I purposely avoided
recommending "Murder in E-Flat" for RSI's THE SHADOW: RADIO'S GREATEST MAN OF
MYSTERY because the basic plots were so similar.

Writers frequently reused plots; Peter Barry rewrote his 1942 SUSPENSE script
"The Kettler Method" as THE SHADOW's "Terror at Wolfshead Knoll," while
Sidney Slon reworked his 1942 SHADOW script, "The Return of Anotole
Chevanic," several times, including a 1970s episode of CBS RADIO MYSTERY
THEATER.  Alfred Bester routinely reworked his earlier GREEN LANTERN comic
book scripts as episodes of THE SHADOW, and rewrote his 1945 script, "The
Case of the Flaming Skull," in 1948 as "The Man Who Was Death."  The original
1945 version starring John Archer remains a lost show, though the episode
survives in the Australian version starring Lloyd Lamble and the 02/29/48
version starring Bret Morrison and Arnold Moss.

BTW, how did you like the RSI booklet's photo of Carl Kroenke, the actor who
portrayed Lamont Cranston in the 1935 15-minute transcribed serial?  He
certainly looked like he belonged around Cranston's Cobalt Club.  I don't
suppose anybody on this list has a recording of an episode from the MacGregor
and Sollie serial, which remained in syndication here and overseas for at
least eight years.  Or a recording of the 1934 MacGregor and Sollie DOC
SAVAGE series.  If anyone does, please contact me offlist.  --ANTHONY TOLLIN

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 13:57:36 -0500
From: otrdigest@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Honest Harold / Harold Peary Show

What was the correct name of this show?

When I listen to the show it seems to clearly state
that it is "The Harold Peary Show." Also, there is a
show within the show called 'Honest Harold.' However,
On The Air: The Encylopedia of Old-Time Radio lists
the show's title as Honest Harold.

Andrew Steinberg

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:10:55 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: studio introductions

Sorry guys and gals, (and particularly Brian) who asked a question that I
have been tardy in answering.

I listen to a lot of variety/comedy shows like Jack Benny, Bob Hope, etc and
whenever they introduce someone there is a loud round of applause as if the
person just showed up on stage. Is that what happened on these shows or were
the people on stage and when there name was mentioned the audience just
started applauding? Was there a cue person holding up a sign that read
applause?

I can't address the way they did things on the West Coast, but here's the
way most introductions were handled on many of the live audience programs
that I worked on that originated from New York. And the "Archie Andrews"
show was fairly typical.

Many of the Radio studios that were built to seat live audiences, had a
fairly large stage area. (To accommodate orchestras, SFX Equipment, as well
as the performers). The performers microphones were always placed adjacent
to the front lip of the stage, close to the audience. In NBC Studio 6A & 6B,
the rear 25% of the stage had a long curtain across the entire width of that
rear area. The curtain could be drawn open to make the working stage area
even larger, but more often that not, it was closed.

The reason? Behind that curtain was stored a lot of Misc. studio equipment,
and the drawn curtain kept the clutter out of view of the audience.
(Neatness counts). FYI, that equipment might consist of large sound effects,
doors/windows, turntables, as well as large musical instruments such as
Grand Pianos, xylophones, kettle drums, etc.

As you might imagine, that curtain was also used during cast introductions.
(No one was on hand to open [removed] When introduced, we just emerged at the
edge of the curtain nearest the control room side of the studio.

Prior to the show, the announcer would do what was called an "Audience warm
up". (That practice goes on to this day when audiences' attend tapings of TV
shows). The general idea was to welcome the audience, make them feel
comfortable in this strange environment, and if it was a comedy show, limber
them up with a few jokes, etc.

Then the cast would be introduced, one by one, (minor or supporting players
first), saving the "Stars" for last. As each cast member was introduced, the
announcer cued the audience to applaud by waved his hand in a "more/more"
gesture.  We'd sweep past the curtain for our "entrance", (But not like
Loretta Young) walk about 30 feet to the front of the stage, waving to our
"fans". (And shamefully, milking the applause) :)

The announcer had already rehearsed the audience applause during the
warm-up. (in my case, as I entered, I usually waved to the audience with a
rolled script held in my hand), wave or point to a friend or two in the
audience, or be so brash as to wink at a pretty girl in the front row. :)

Since Bob Hastings and I always had the opening lines of the show, we would
stay down front at the microphones following our introductions. The other
cast members, who had been introduced earlier, would have bowed during their
applause, and immediately take a seat in a row of chairs set up along the
wall directly under the control room window.

Bob and I might kibbitz (clown around) with each other,(to entertain the
audience) or joke with people in the front row, while we waited for the
clock second hand to hit straight up, and the director to throw the opening
cue.

I don't ever recall anyone holding up a sign that read applause, just the
announcer gesturing with his hand as he stood down at the edge of the stage,
and slightly off to one side. I think those applause signs, and lightboxes
with the word "applause" that could be flashed, were innovations of early TV
live audiences. They hung those high over the audience, so they would be
more visible, and away from the stage cluttered with TV cameras and
production crews.

As for West Coast comedy shows, if a guest star appeared in the middle of
the program, chances are they would already have been introduced during the
warm-up, and as they approached the mike do do their bit, and their name was
mentioned, chances are the announcer would call for some additional "on-air"
applause from the studio audience commensurate with their star status.

Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Jughead"             [removed]

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:38:03 -0500
From: William L Murtough <k2mfi@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jeff Chandler

Today I am getting out my soapbox, dusting it off, and airing something
that is bothering me. Some of the posters write what they assume was how
something happened based on their own estimation, rather than actual
fact. One that really got to me the other day was a statement that Jeff
Chandler (Ira Grossel) was gay. This was predicated by the fact that his
widow made a statement that Jeff enjoyed wearing women's clothes. This
would mean that he was probably a transvestite, but not necesarily a
homosexual. I thought that his widow was grossly out of line to discuss
their personal life with the media. Ira was not only a handsome "dog" but
had a magnificent personality and was loved  by all of us who were
fortunate enough to have known him. One of a kind!

BILL MURTOUGH

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 17:56:50 -0500
From: "Bob & Lois Reynolds" <boblo1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  MP3, etc.

I am sorry that a person had a problem with the Memorex 3123.  I have never
had a problem with any disc that I have received from OTRCAT. Question- does
anyone remember a Suspense, Whistler or what with a plot as follows: two men
meet on a train. Later one man is falsely sentenced to death for a murder,
which took place at the time the man was on the train. The prisoner's lawyer
could not locate the other passenger.  As the execution is about to take
place, the executer is ready to throw the switch, he recognizes his fellow
passenger and bingo a happy ending.

As an old OTR fan, I always try to recall programs that give alittle chill
to the old spinebone.  Two that come to mind for me are "House in Cypress"
and "The Hitchiker".  Anyone out there with the same thoughts??  Bob
Reynolds  boblo1@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 19:50:06 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Inner Sanctum preview

Thanks to the valuable and persistent endeavors of director Tom Brown of the
First Generation Radio Archives, a sampling of my upcoming book, INNER
SANCTUM MYSTERIES: BEHIND THE CREAKING DOOR will be featured in his next
newsletter.

For anyone who is not aware of this OTR newsletter (if I have this
correctly), it is a once-a-month e-mail that gets sent out to anyone who has
subscribed to it.  Unlike the OTR Digest, this is a once-a-month e-mail and
it acknowledges the hard work that goes into preserving old-time radio in
both recording form and print media.

The Archives gives the newsletter away for free to anyone who requests
it at:
[removed]

The next issue is being sent out Friday so in order to receive the next
issue (which features a sample of the INNER SANCTUM book) you must subscribe
very soon.

For those who have pre-ordered a copy of the INNER SANCTUM book, have no
fear.  I am awaiting it's arrival within a few weeks, sometime during
mid-late March, and all pre-ordered copies will mailed out immediately. For
those attending the Cincinnati OTR convention, the book will premiere there.
  (Hal Stone will be signing copies of his book at Cincy so don't miss out
on the opportunity of buying his memories!)  For info about the Cincy con:
e-mail Bob at haradio@[removed].
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 20:25:45 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dates for shows

Does anyone out there have dates for the following shows aired on WFUV's
Classic Radio program last weekend?

Haunting Hour, "Bird of Death"
Gangbuesters, "The Rumbolt Vault Robberty."

FYI - the 60-minute weekly program is streamed over the internet at
[removed].  It runs from Midnight to 1 [removed]
immediately following Sunday evening.  It might be fun for us to make a list
of such shows (although potentially maddening as I'm barely keeping up with
the programs I'm aware of now).

Let me know privately if you have the dates.

Thanks,

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:23:44 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Tributes

Has anyone seen the tributes to both Richard Crenna
and Robert Rockwell which are in the February 15-21 issue
of  TV Guide, page 8.  Both tributes mention their work on
OTR, television, and films.  Just thought everyone out their
might be interested.  I was surprised that ET (Entertainment
Tonight) made no mention of either of these men at the time
it happened.

Kenneth Clarke

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #63
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