------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 309
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Seck Hawkins [ Mike Martini <mmartini@[removed] ]
Ted Healy [ "David Howell" <DHowell@northampton ]
Ted Healy again [ "David Howell" <DHowell@northampton ]
Shemp Howard [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
More OTR on DVD [ "Robert M. Bratcher Jr." <bratcher@ ]
Dr. Biel, Call Surgery [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
re: Lucy Didn't Love Herself? [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
Lux Radio Theatre [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Roma Wines [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
I LOVE LUCLLY [ Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed]; ]
JOE MACKEY'S SOS ENTRY [ james h arva <wilditralian@[removed] ]
Question regarding the Hour of Charm [ Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed]; ]
"Great" Suspense Show? [ ilamfan@[removed] ]
Roma Wines [ "Jack Sayre" <kylongboy@[removed]; ]
Bob Hope and Writers [ "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed]; ]
War of the Worlds [ JJLjackson@[removed] ]
His Masters Voice in America [ "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed]; ]
The Shadow OTR opening theme [ Bill Miles <bmiles@[removed]. ]
suspense, cypress canyon [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:10:27 -0400
From: Mike Martini <mmartini@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Seck Hawkins
"Seckatary Hawkins" creator Robert Schulker's nephew is keeping his uncle's
legacy alive with a wonderful web-site for anyone interested in Seck and
his stories (even a little bit on the radio show) at:
[removed]
The radio program started on Cincinnati's WLW in the late-1920's before
moving to Chigacao and the network for a few years.
M. Martini
as Seck always said: "A winner never quits and a quitter never wins!"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:19:43 -0400
From: "David Howell" <DHowell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Ted Healy
Ted Healy died from the results of a fight outside a nightclub. You
could say that it was a result of alcoholism, since he was intoxicated.
The circumstances were somewhat mysterious, however.
There is a [removed] website.
Also, as a stoogphile (sp), I am obligated to mention that the first
full length Stooge feature was "Have Rocket, Will Travel", from 1959.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 12:20:56 -0400
From: "David Howell" <DHowell@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Ted Healy again
According to Moe Howard, Healy was fine until he started drinking, like
many alcoholics. This probably accounts for the differences in the way
he is remembered.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 13:32:41 -0400
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Shemp Howard
Although many people recall his work in the Three
Stooges short films, Shemp Howard was a successful
character. One of the many characters roles he played
was in one of the Thin Man movies (I forget which). It
only lasted a few minutes, but sticks in my mind all the
same.
Kenneth Clarke
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 13:36:19 -0400
From: "Robert M. Bratcher Jr." <bratcher@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: More OTR on DVD
For those of you keeping score: the recently released 60th anniversary
version of CASABLANCA (a 2-DVD set) contains the April 26, 1943 broadcast of
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Players version of the movie starring Humphrey
Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid. (I heartily recommend this DVD,
btw.)
Ivan
The Suspense episode "The Defense Never Rests" is on an out of print
Tritonmedia DVD called Crime Stoppers Collection Volume II. I found it in a
pawn shop. Bought it for the 3 movies Fog Island, Black Raven & Disc Tracy
VS Cueball however it's nice to have the Suspense episode thrown in along
with an old Popeye cartoon.
Another out of print DVD I have has an All Star Bond Rally (theater short)
that shows Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Harpo, Fibber McGee & Molly plus a
couple of other stars I don't remember the names of. Capcom Video double
feature The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock and Heartbeat. Nice to find neat stuff
thrown in on budget DVD's!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 13:37:34 -0400
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Dr. Biel, Call Surgery
Was just listening to the Mutual net broadcast of
Franklin Roosevelt's 'Day of Infamy' speech to
Congress, and the subsequent House debate on the war
resolution. I remember Dr. Biel talking about this,
and playing some of the debate on C-SPAN some years
ago. If he's around, hopefully he can answer this,
though info from anybody would be appreciated.
Though it wasn't supposed to be, this turned out to be
the first broadcast of an actual House session.
"Joint Session" broadcasts, such as the FDR speech,
were allowed, but nothing else.
NBC terminated its broadcast from the House floor as
soon as FDR was done speaking. CBS and Mutual,
however, continued to broadcast as the debate
proceeded. I haven't heard the CBS version in some
time, but I think I remember CBS either pulling the
plug on its feed, or having it pulled by someone in
authority, about the time Speaker Rayburn orders the
floodlights cut off. I was surprised, then, to hear
Mutual continue its broadcast well after this, with
Fulton Lewis--on the air--telling a Congressional
staffer to buzz off, that he didn't have the authority
to terminate the broadcast; the Mutual feed from the
House floor continues up through the actual vote, and
only terminates when Lewis changes broadcast
positions, having moved to check on developments on
the Senate side of the Capitol. Later, Lewis
apologizes for breaking the rules, though he doesn't
really sound very sorry!
What as the actual sequence of events here, and were
there any repercussions later? It is ironic that NBC
is the only network that "followed the rules" here,
and as a result its coverage turned out to be the
weakest of the three networks.
((As an aside, Lewis also mentions the Press/Radio
Gallery at the Capitol was his idea, and he apparently
went to some lengths to get it installed. Anybody
been up there? Is it named after him?))
chris
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:40:29 -0400
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: Lucy Didn't Love Herself?
Sean Dougherty posted a link about the new 'Lucy' bio:
It says she was unhappy all the time and had a bad
relationship with her family. It avows that Jack
Benny thought she needed a psychiatrist.
That last reference comes from a story told by Herbert
Kenwith, a TV director who worked with Ball near the
end of her series career. He says Benny phoned him to
commiserate about Ball's extremely prickly on-set
demeanor; most famously, in Benny's case, Ball is said
to have repeatedly denied Jack a footstool rehearsing
a bit of physical business for a "Here's Lucy"
episode, only to have the elderly comedian sure enough
go spilling onto the floor.
>From what I've read of this latest tome, it doesn't
appear to break any new ground, and indeed doesn't
even seem terribly necessary. Tales of Ball's
latter-day on-set harangues have been widely reported
and were covered extensively in Kathleen Brady's
controversial-but-extensively-researched LUCILLE,
which was denounced by both Ball children and which
featured a nude photo of (supposedly) Lucy in her
pre-redhead modelling days; also in the
Sanders-Gilbert DESILU, which had the co-operation of
the family but is, even so, not terribly flattering in
its portrayal of Ball's show business dotage. There's
also Jim Brochu's somewhat creepy 1990 LUCY IN THE
AFTERNOON, a memoir of Lucy's final days as seen
through the eyes of a self-aggrandizing hanger-on who
seems unduly interested in outing gay movie stars and
figuring out how to inject himself into every
anecdote. There are a few good stories there, though.
There seems little question Lucille was no "Lucy" in
her later life, and there seems almost no connection
between radio's high-spirited Liz Cooper and the
real-life actress who, decades later, is reported to
have directed an airplane seatmate to "tell (the
stewardess) I don't talk to the help". The story of
what happened between is fascinating and quite, quite
poignant, and if you can stomach some unflattering
news about a well-loved icon, any of the above works
are definitely worth checking out.
chris
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:41:46 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lux Radio Theatre
is Art Pierce book on Lux Radio Theater is still around, and does any one
have Art email? Take care,
Walden Hughes
Yep, Art's book is still being sold through McFarland at McFarland's
EXPENSIVE price - last I saw it retailed $[removed]
Art can be reached at his web-site, [removed].
Incidentally, Art's book about the LUX RADIO THEATRE is a must-have for
anyone who loves reading in-depth abotu OTR shows. Only flaw with the book
is that he listed which episodes exist in recorded form and which ones do
not. The book was published over a decade ago and I believe almost 100
shows that the book says does not exist is readily available. (Which is
actually the main reason why I have not and will not make a list of existing
episodes in any of my books . . . case in point.)
Regardless of the out-of-print "existing episodes" notations, Art's book
comes highly recommended.
Martin
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:42:04 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Roma Wines
Jeff Weaver's response got me thinking, because I've
often wondered about the fates of both Roma and Petrie
wines. I did a quick google search and found the
following link -- scroll down to the bottom and
there's a fat paragraph with some interesting
information:
[removed];posts=7
Other than that, I can't find much about the fate of
these companies. Makes sense that they were swallowed
up by larger corporations as time went on.
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:42:14 -0400
From: Sandy Singer <sinatradj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I LOVE LUCLLY
Lucile Ball thought John Ritter was the funniest person on the face of
this earth -- further reason she needed the couch.
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:42:48 -0400
From: james h arva <wilditralian@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: JOE MACKEY'S SOS ENTRY
11 AUG 03
Joe Mackey wrote that:
From Those Were The Days --
1909 -- The international distress call, SOS, which replaced CQD (All
stations -- distress!), was first used by an American ship on this day.
He might be interested in knowing that the name of the ship was "The
Arapahoe". and it was out of Cape Hatteras, NC.
Jim Arva
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:43:18 -0400
From: Richard Fisher <w9fjl@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Question regarding the Hour of Charm
My good friend Shawn Wells of "The Old Time Radio Shop" fame just
finished taking several 16" transcription discs I had and putting them
on CD for me.
Among the discs was an Hour Of Charm from the middle to late 30's on a
gold General Electric label with, of course, GE commercials.
I am probably the one and only Hour of Charm fan in the world - at least
that is what Ted Davenport of Radio Memories tells me. He says all Hour
of Charm discs are uncirculated only because no one else in the world
wants to hear them but me!!! (Unfortunately, he is probably correct!!)
I had read in Dunning that Arlene Frances was the Mistress of Ceremonies
for a time on the show but had never found an available show on which
this was true. The disc that Shawn did for me does have her as the MC.
I am not sure that any other discs survive where she was on the show.
My question - does anyone know (or care!!) during what years she was on
the show?
Dick
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:43:45 -0400
From: ilamfan@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed] (OTR Bulletin Board)
Subject: "Great" Suspense Show?
As far as great Suspense shows go, I have seen "The Diary Of Sophronia
Winters" listed in many different places as being a top-notch show. I have
listened to it a few times in the last couple of years, and don't really know
why it's considered to be so good.
Granted, my copy is awfully poor - it's the one (?) with Agnes
Moorehead. I am not sure, but I THINK that the height of the episode (Don't
read on if you don't want the ending to SPOIL your enjoyment of the show!) is
a point where she buries an axe in the skull of the antagonist. I'm not
sure, because it's very plainly NOT CLEAR. The sound effect might be that
murderous axe, but it might be something else, also. The action isn't
foreshadowed well, or referred to clearly in the next few scenes.
Maybe there is a different version of this show (surely a couple,
right?) where the script is a bit different, and the shocking ending is
obvious to the listener? Surely this story isn't a widely-known classic - I
could see Poe's "Cask Of Amontillado" being done with poor "radio eyes",
because all of us are so familiar with it already.
Or are all of the versions from the same script? Is that common
for "big" shows like Suspense (a way to save money)? Or would there actually
be different scripts for alternate dates? How come "Sophronia" is so good?
What am I missing?
Stephen Jansen
--
Old Time Radio never dies - it
just changes formats!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:46:11 -0400
From: "Jack Sayre" <kylongboy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Roma Wines
Hello,
Roma winery was in buisness from 1890 till today (under another label). Roma
survived prohibition by providing cerimonial wines to catholics and jews. It
then competed with Petrie Wine as a low/mid-grade wine during the depresion.
Roma sored in the 1940s and 1950s and was the sponsor for the imensley
popular Radio Mystery series "Suspense" put out by the Columbia Broadcasting
Corporation. It was the key advertiser with"Suspense" from the mid 1940s to
the early 1950s (Autolite Sparkplugs held the contract prior). TV signaled
the death of dramatic radio and Roma and "Suspense" parted ways. Roma was
purchased in 1971 and became Paradis wines in 1999. Roma produced all
variety of wine, champagne, port and Sherry. It can still be purchased
rarely at vintage wine auctions in the USA. Roma has a very interesting
history. If you are interested in wine history in particualr wine marketing
in the 1940s I highly recommend going to: [removed] and
order "Suspense" Volumes 1-3 which include all of Roma's wine advertisments
and even their mailing adress. Also order "the new adventures of Sherlock
holmes" Which sponsored Petrie Wine from the late 1930s until the late
1940s. The radio lady's product is top notcha and worth every penny; I would
easily pay 10x as much for this product. I got this from the internet,
JacK Sayre
[ADMINISTRIVIA: Or, of course, you could download the same shows from the
USENET groups and other places on the [removed] --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 19:40:57 -0400
From: "Jim Widner" <widnerj@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bob Hope and Writers
Walden Hughes mentions about Bob Hope:
2. Bob mention at one time during his career that he had 13 writers
under contract.
The story I heard on the number of writers was that he had fired
something like 5 writers out of 7 but had to give them a two week
notice. So in order to maintain some continuity since he was paranoid
about making sure he had lots of jokes, he hired 5 replacements (the
numbers may be all wrong) and thus for two weeks had 12 or so writers
until the fired one's left.
This was from one of his long time writers.
Jim Widner
jwidner@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:13:44 -0400
From: JJLjackson@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: War of the Worlds
Along with a lot of people, I'm several weeks behind in reading the Digest. I
don't dare delete the entries unread, because I never know when that one
topic will pop-up that has the most crucial information needed.
Perhaps others touched on this later on, but there's one thing I noticed when
I was researching War of the Worlds. In 2000, REPS produced a re-creation of
Orson's original show, and I was lucky enough to have a good quality version
of it in the REPS Cassette library--provenance unknown.
As the producer/director of the REPS version, I became aware of the pauses
that follow certain sections of script, and they add up to another character.
Each time there's a pause, you learn that something horrific has happened.
It's a timing of suspense. And they build up to the final "2-X-2-L" cry of
"is anybody there?"
In a lot of other versions, those pauses of dead air are usually deleted.
That could account for the shortened time of the versions. I had to fight
hard to keep KIXI-AM 880 (Seattle radio station), who was broadcasting my
show, from cutting the dead spots.
The War of the World's tape that is part of REPS' cassette lending library is
close to 59 or 60 minutes. My show ran longer, because I included some
history of the aftermath that followed the original broadcast.
Joy Jackson
Radio Enthusiasts of Puget Sound
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 21:44:57 -0400
From: "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: His Masters Voice in America
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Just out of curiosity I did a search on my favorite used books website ---
[removed] --- and came up with one copy offered for sale at the ever so
modest price of <GULP> $[removed] That's right folks --- three-quarters of a
grand!
Regards to all,
Art Funk
[removed]
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:09:36 -0400
From: Bill Miles <bmiles@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Shadow OTR opening theme
Hi! I just heard a classical music selection this afternoon which had a
section that sure sounded like the theme music under the Shadow's
opening remarks ("What evil lurks, etc." I didn't catch the selection
intro. Can anybody give me the selection title? Danke!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 01:16:13 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: suspense, cypress canyon
For my money, the story is skewed towards the werewolf. It is the
atmosphere that gets you, but what makes it creepy is that ending, I know
it's coming and it still gets a shiver, just because of its
inevitability. That's what sells it, and why it sticks in the mind. It
is a different creepy scary than say the long night, which is inevitable
in a different way. The ones you mentioned all have that hook, that
capability of staying in the mind, but to me it's knowing that there is
no escape and the way the dialog stutters but it doesn't matter that
makes it memorable. As for being commercially available, that may be
true, but my vantage point is as a collector, since I didn't know it was
commercially available and I already had it. Again, that's what keeps
suspense so popular. It also gives us something to talk about while we
are trying not to bake in this wonderful California heat wave. Kurt
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #309
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