Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #171
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 5/19/2004 9:07 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 171
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Harry Shearer Interview / RIP Anna L  [ seandd@[removed] ]
      re: WW II blackouts and OTR           [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
      Terry and the Pirates (1940)          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      More on Blackouts and Associated Stu  [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Radio To the Silver Screen            [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Bela Lugosi on Radio                  [ "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@earthli ]
      Harry Von Zell/Sal Hepatica "blooper  [ jodie <raisingirl@[removed]; ]
      Love, Sidney observation              [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
      Charles Osgood's new book on WWII &   [ "Steve Dillie" <sjdillie@[removed] ]
      Richard Nixon                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Tony Randall                          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
      Re: Bela Lugosi & OTR                 [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
      Re: Tony Randall gone                 [ "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed]; ]
      More West Coast Blackouts             [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      Bela                                  [ Thomas Biddy <t_biddy@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 16:49:32 -0400
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Harry Shearer Interview / RIP Anna Lee

    Two Jack Benny mentions in the news today - an interview with Jack's child
    star Harry Shearer discussing his breaking up Jack in rehearsals (not a huge
    feat as readers of George Burns' autobiography will know, but keep in mind
    that Shearer was about eight years old at the time) as well as a discussion
    of his radio program Le Show, a modern radio comedy program.

    Second, from across the pond comes news that British actress Anna Lee has
    died.  She appeared with Jack in his USO tours as well as many Hollywood
    films.  Radio is not mentioned but I'm sure someone will be able to fill that
    in.

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    PAUL KRASSNER
    New York Press - New York,NY,USA
    ... As a kid on The Jack Benny Show, when the cast was doing a read-through,
    there was one line in the script where, he says, "I just got it in my
    mind to do it ...
    <[removed];[removed];

    ANNA Lee
    [removed] - London,England,UK
    ... for overseas duty with the United Services Organisation, and entertained
    the Allied troops in Africa, Iran and Sicily, first with Jack Benny and
    his wife Mary ...
    <[removed].
    xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/05/18[removed];

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 18:49:43 -0400
    From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  re: WW II blackouts and OTR

    David Phaneuf asked:

>     So here's my feeble attempt to bring things back on topic:  WHAT PART
>     DID [removed] PLAY IN THE BLACKOUTS, if any?

    Well, if your lights were out, you either went to bed or listened to the
    radio or both.

    Bill H.

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 18:51:13 -0400
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Terry and the Pirates (1940)

    TERRY AND THE PIRATES was a long-running radio serial based on the comic
    strip of the same name.  Although little history is known about the serial
    (at least, widely known), Himan Brown was quoted in an interview that has
    been in print for about fifteen years that he created the radio series.  The
    1940 Columbia Matinee Serial Ivan mentioned is "commercially" available on
    VHS (and has been for some time) and just this month being released to DVD.
    The company that put it out is VCI and their prices are usually expensive
    (usually $25 or [removed] for a 2-disc matinee serial).

    The 1940 serial has an interesting history behind it.  Columbia Pictures
    purchased the screen rights to the radio serial and comic strip with the
    intentions of offering two serials.  The first however, was not superb in
    many aspects and it's no surprise that Columbia scrapped the idea of doing a
    sequel.

    Columbia Pictures was not kind to preserving some of their older films,
    including a few Matinee Serials.  One of them, sadly, was the TERRY AND THE
    PIRATES serial.  The end result was that the negative was damaged and very
    little of the serial surfaced in the form of mm reels.  A few years ago, VCI
    went to the trouble of acquiring the best possible picture quality and with
    no sound originating from the reels due to the damage, replaced the entire
    soundtrack with a new one.  That is, they hired actors to supply the voices
    and lip to the action on screen.  As primitive as this may be, it's the ONLY
    known print of TERRY AND THE PIRATES known to exist.  Anyone who has a copy
    of this serial can easily play a chapter and realize that what they are
    listening to is a dubbed sound track with added sound effects and dialogue.
    No one has yet been able to surface a copy in its complete form with the
    original soundtrack.

    The matinee serial has since passed into the public domain (as well as the
    short-lived 1952 TV series) so copies of the 1940 serial and the 1952
    television episodes have been floating about very easily - but regardless of
    collectors and dealers who insist that their print is film chained from a 16
    mm or 35 mm master, it's really the VCI release.  Every time I see a dealer
    offering the series at a convention I attend, I ask to have it played on a
    TV screen and half of the time dealers say theirs came from a 16 mm print
    but when I listen to the sound track, I have always noticed it's the new one
    dubbed so to date, the ONLY print is the VCI.

    I rarely endorse VCI for their releases cause 90% of what they offer are
    public domain titles and you can get those very same episodes for a lower
    price elsewhere (and on some occassions, a better picture quality print) but
    for anyone wanting the BEST possible print of TERRY AND THE PIRATES, the
    1940 serial on DVD format, VCI is presently the only place to go.

    (The plot and the dialogue is witless so don't expect a top-notch
    [removed])
    Martin

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 18:55:22 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More on Blackouts and Associated Stuff

    Anent blackouts, on the thread started by Chris Holm, blackouts were
    certainly part of World War II.  The world was a different place in those
    days.  Materials restrictions prevented the manufacture of metallic radio
    premiums from 1942 (those issued after the start of the war had been
    manufactured prior to Pearl Harbor).  Most wartime premiums were
    nonmetallic.  Little Orphan Annie, under Quaker Puffed Wheat Sparkies
    sponsorship, offered two cardstock "decoders."

    Many premiums were made of paper or cloth,  Terry and the Pirates and
    Captain Midnight both offered "plane spotters" -- identification
    silhouettes of friendly and enemy aircraft.  Terry's was simpler, but
    both did the job.

    But connecting the subject to blackouts, some of the premiums were
    "blackout kits."  They incorporated luminous sheets of paper that could
    be snipped into small pieces to help locate things in the darkness of
    blackouts -- doors, steps, light switches, and the like.

    Nowadays, people can buy night vision glasses, but there was a charm
    about blackouts.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 20:05:07 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Radio To the Silver Screen

    Speaking of radio programs turned into movies, Pete Greco notes,

>     I am sorry to report but the Captain Midnight serial falls into the
>     same mix.
>     Its a shame because the lead David O'brien was a former stuntman turn
>     actor, who does look  the part, but that's a far as it goes.

    Columbia movie serials of radio/comic stories generally had only a
    passing acquaintance with the original material.  In the case of the
    Captain Midnight serial, the title character was a masked alter identity
    for the hero, there was no Secret Squadron (save as a dumb throwaway
    line), no Code-O-Graphs, or any of the things familiar to listeners.
    Joyce Ryan in the film was an inventor's daughter, not really part of the
    team.

    But then, most serials were lots more dependent on action and less on
    thought.

    The Captain Midnight serial was closer to the radio show than the Fawcett
    comic book, but that's not saying much.

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

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 21:17:47 -0400
    From: "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bela Lugosi on Radio

    Regarding Martin Gram's posting about Lugosi's radio work the book "Lugosi"
    written by Gary Don Rhodes mentions the Baker's Broadcast show in the
    chapter on Lugosi's radio work.  There is no mention of the Gloria Swanson
    show or Tex and Jinx.  Does anyone know what Lugosi did on the Gloria
    Swanson Show?  The thought of Norma Desmond and Count Dracula on the same
    broadcast boggles the mind.

    John Eccles, Jr.

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 00:04:14 -0400
    From: jodie <raisingirl@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Harry Von Zell/Sal Hepatica "blooper"

    hello all --

    Bill H. wrote:

>     I was listening to a clip from a Fred Allen show where Harry Von Zell is
>     doing a commercial and cannot remember the name of the product, Sal
>     Hapitica, and I was wondering if this was scripted.

    If it's the same one I've heard (on one of the old Radio Reruns "50
    Great Commercials" tapes), it sure sounds like a "scripted" blooper to
    me.  Of course, I could be [removed]!

    Jodie Peeler

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:19:53 -0400
    From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Love, Sidney observation

    Dr. Michael Biel spoke from his lectern:

>     You might remember
>     that this was the series where his character was supposed to be gay--and
>     the character was openly gay in the film--but by the time the series was
>     made NBC had backed down from that position.  Now it seems almost every TV
>     series is required to have a gay character.

    I thought this was an interesting point, given that NBC is the home of Will
    & Grace--but it should be pointed out that while NBC was skittish about a
    gay character, ABC was not.  Billy Crystal was playing Jodie Dallas on the
    sitcom Soap for around four years at that time.

    Ivan
    ----
    OTR Ramblings and Musings at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:27:17 -0400
    From: "Steve Dillie" <sjdillie@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Charles Osgood's new book on WWII & OTR

    I noticed today that Charles Osgood of CBS radio and TV has a new book
    titled "Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack: A Boyhood Year During
    World War II."  I have not read it, but thought it was timely.

    The following is a small portion of the Publishers Weekly review I found on
    Amazon.  "Osgood's memoir of growing up in Baltimore's Liberty Heights
    neighborhood circa 1942 echoes with the same measured cadence and
    disarmingly simple structure that the anchor uses in his CBS radio and TV
    broadcasts. The Emmy Award winning broadcaster pulls readers into a
    seductive world, as he relates his obsession with baseball, his love of
    radio programs (which had a "profound influence" on him) and his experiences
    with other slices of Americana. Yet the war news affected Osgood, too, if in
    a minor way: he built a stink bomb with a friend ("weapons of mass disgust
    to waft at the enemy"), pinned a tiny Japanese flag over Manila on the map
    mounted on his bedroom wall and wondered "just how much of Africa needed
    liberating."

    Best regards,

    Steve

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:49:19 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Richard Nixon

>     Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:48:21 -0400
>     From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];

>     There are other scraps of evidence, and much of it depressing.  Some
>     years ago, I heard Richard Nixon, once a lieutenant in one of the war
>     planning departments, discuss how wage and price controls did not work
>     during the war and only encouraged corruption.

    How ironic.  In 1971, as President, he imposed wage and price controls to control inflation.

    Then again, my father remembered FDR promising not to send American Boys off to any
    foreign war.

    --
    A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
     15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
    Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:49:50 -0400
    From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Tony Randall

    I remember Tony Randall best on the 1950s TV show "Mr. Peepers," in which Wally Cox
    played the title character, a junior high general science teacher.  Tony Randall played his
    friend, Harvey Weskit, the history teacher.

    I saw a kinescope episode around 1985, and it held up fairly well.  It was a gentle comedy,
    and it's too bad that reruns don't seem to be available today.  And, back in the 1950s, when
    gender stereotypes were in vogue, that episode depicted Mr. Peepers' sister as an
    astronomer.

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 01:50:32 -0400
    From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Bela Lugosi & OTR

     A quick check of my own files shows, in addition to many of the programs
    listed by other respondents, a Command Performance from the fall of 1944
    with Lugosi and (host) Bob Hope which was rebroadcast in the fall of 1946.
    Also, the GOLDINdex notes Lugosi's presence on a 1939 pre-Fred-Allen Texaco
    Star Theatre appearance, a 1944 Mystery House syndie ep and a 1949 Crime
    Does Not Pay show.

    [removed],+Bela&ArtistNumber=02253

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 02:07:21 -0400
    From: "Jan Bach" <janbach@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Tony Randall gone

    Hello again --

    So sad that Tony Randall has gone; he had such an active life, establishing
    what he hoped would be an American national theater (every other country
    seems to have one!) after so many movies, television shows, and of course I
    Love a Mystery as Reggie York.

    I am the proud possessor of a letter from Mr. Randall, written in his
    scratchy longhand nine years ago when he was making a guest appearance at
    the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland. Several years earlier he had
    been interviewed by Chuck Schaden, pooh-poohing his role on ILAM and
    criticizing most dramatic radio shows as "nothing but reading," (with which
    I'm sure Elliott Lewis and Joe Kearns -- to name only a couple of excellent
    radio actors who gave their roles "their all" -- would vehemently disagree),
    clinching his argument with the statement that "Vic and Sade was the only
    good program to come out of the radio." As a die-hard V&S fan, and a member
    of the "Friends of Vic and Sade" fan club, I wrote thanking him for his
    comments and enclosing a cassette of six of my favorite V & S broadcasts. To
    my great delight, he wrote back, saying in part:

    Thanks for the tape. They tried putting V&S on TV some years ago but it
    wasn't good -- the scripts are vignettes, no action, no structure, no
    climax. BUT -- Art Van Harvey, Bernadette Flynn, Billy Idelson! I first
    heard them when I was a kid in Tulsa. We did I Love a Mystery from NY (it
    was the second time around. The first cast broadcast from S. F.)

     Randall contributed so much to so many movies (including some serious
    ones -- remember "No Down Payment"?), television shows, and appearances on
    Tonight with Johnny Carson (he made Johnny so self-conscious about his
    smoking that eventually Johnny wouldn't smoke while Tony was on camera) and
    David Letterman, who said that "Tony was always good for a laugh."

    Thanks for the memories, Tony. And thanks, OTRers, for allowing me this bit
    of reminiscence.

    Jan Bach

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 02:07:59 -0400
    From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  More West Coast Blackouts

    Someone asked  how headlights painted over except for a small slit would
    keep the enemy from spotting the light in a blackout.
    I think that goes back to the eastcoast problem of all the light aiding
    the U-Boats off shore in seeing the shipping  along the atlantic coast
    at night, and the idea was to reduce the amount of light all night long.
    Here in California we didn't seem to have the same problem and I never
    saw a car with it's headlights painted over. And even though I was a
    child I was into cars in a big way (still am) and I would have been
    aware of it. The main threat here was attack by aircraft, so a total
    blackout was necessary as any light would have been seen from above.
    Also most of our backouts were of relatively short duration. Planes were
    over head for only a few moments and then they were gone. As a result I
    never knew anyone who had backout shades or curtains here in So.
    Calif.(Though I'm sure that there may have been some who had them) When
    the air raid sirens went off, which happened alot, especially during the
    early part of the war, we simply turned off all the lights. In our house
    we could see enough by the light of the radio dial, plus we had a floor
    lamp that had a small bulb in the base of the lamp which was covered by
    a plastic lense( remember those?) that we turned on and it allowed
    enough light that we didn't fall over things in the house.
    Someone also mentioned the camouflage consisting of netting and chicken
    feathers that covered Consolidated Aircraft in San Diego. I think we may
    have discussed this sometime ago on this list, but for those who weren't
    here then I can tell you little about that.
    Both my mother and my uncle worked there in 1942-43. The netting covered
    all of the aircraft factory buildings and Pacific Coast Hwy which ran
    right down the middle of the factory. From the top (from the air) it
    would appear that it was undeveloped rolling landscape with  palm
    trees(fake) scattered about. Underneath it was constantly "snowing"
    chicken feathers and provided no end of enjoyment for this then six year
    old boy. My mother who was a draftsman there(yes she was a draftsman for
    her entire career, as the word draftperson had not been thought up yet,
    this for the benefit of all the pc freaks out there)  complained
    however, that the chicken feathers brought fleas with them and that
    everyone in the aircraft plant had bites all over there legs. She said
    that there was a man who did nothing but walk around and spray insecticide.
    I believe that Boeing Aircraft in Seattle had a similar camouflage
    treatment and possibly there were others.
    I also remember the battle of LA as we lived in the Highland Park
    section at that time and we sat in the dark and listened to all of the
    shooting and mysterious bangs seemingly right outside the house. That
    blackout seemed to last along time but my sense of time at that age was
    not reliable. My mother still claims to this day that the goverment
    covered up something that happened that night as she says that something
    was "bombed" just a few blocks from where we lived and it was never
    reported. But who knows!
    It has just occured to me that we who were children then will be the
    last who lived through those days and can give first hand reports on how
    it was. The young adults of the war years are rapidly leaving us. It's
    sad that we are losing the greatest generation.

    George Aust

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 02:12:01 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over six years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 19 May 2004 03:07:45 -0400
    From: Thomas Biddy <t_biddy@[removed];
    To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bela

    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 12:12:32 -0400
    "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed]; said

>     ...yet to be documented in any Lugosi book I've read)...

    Please let me know the titles and authors as I would like to read these, too.

    =====
    Have a GREAT day,
    Thomas

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #171
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