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

[removed] Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 354

Table Of Contents: 

	 Re: WJSV broadcast day
	 Alfred Bester 
	 Pat Novak quotes
	 Jack Armstrong
	 SCROOGE & THE SHADOW
	 Bruce, your memory's fine + Chet's apology
	 Re: Bill Neubacher/JACK ARMSTRON serial
	 Superman's Baseball Career
	 Jack Armstrong

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 01:27:21 -0400
From: ErikS74342@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: WJSV broadcast day
Message-ID: <960926012718_111192861@[removed]>

In a message dated 96-09-18 08:42:12 EDT, Eugene F. Kasper writes:

<< A final question before this group regarding "America Before
 Television"...any thoughts whether the 6:00 am to 6:30 am program block
 was deleted for the collection or whether there was no programming at
 that time despite later indications that broadcasting started at 6:00 am
 and not at 6:30 with the Arthur Godfrey [removed] >>

Why doesn't this set include the first half-hour of programming? I think the
answer is clear -- but first a word of explanation for those who might not
know what this set is about. WJSV on 9/21/39 decided to record a full
broadcast day, start to finish, and donate the recordings to the National
Archives. It now is available as a set of 12 90-minute cassettes for a
quite-reasonable $[removed] through the Radio Spirits catalog. 

Although the recording quality leaves something to be desired during the
early-morning hours, the too-loud recording levels seem to be corrected by
about noon. I posted a message about this unique recording earlier this year,
the first time I heard it (making a few mistakes in the process).  Let me
just say that it's a recording that will change your understanding of
old-time-radio, and that everyone who enjoys OTR ought to have a copy. 'Nuff
said.

As to the missing first half-hour, I have it. These recordings actually have
been making the circuit for years, and several years ago I acquired an
open-reel copy of the first four hours. After the announcer opened for the
day -- an announcement that is included in the America Before Television set
-- the station played a half-hour of really boring 78-rpm records in hideous
fidelity, without a human being behind the mike. I remember that one of the
records was "Dance of the Hours" -- that ought to give you an idea. Listening
to this segment of the recording is a struggle. 

Obviously, the marketers of the set had to drop a half-hour somewhere in
order to make the programming fit on 12 90-minute tapes. Trust me, you're not
missing anything.

By the way, I got a number of messages from collectors a few months ago when
I mentioned I had this first half-hour, but I have to tell you, I am not a
good source -- I'm sort of tied up with the election right now, and besides,
my copy was dubbed from a tape that was entering its "degradation squeal"
phase.

Erik Smith
Kennewick, Wash.
 

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 01:59:17 -0400
From: ErikS74342@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Alfred Bester 
Message-ID: <960926015915_111211777@[removed]>

In a message dated 96-09-20 23:34:34 EDT, Chet Cox writes:

<< Chet sez:  Mr Bester got around.  Like Siodmack (sp?  DONAVAN'S
 BRAIN, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN fellow), he was everywhere.  He
 even shows up as a "villian" in a Spider Robinson "Callahan's Saloon"
 story which might be titled "the Farmer's Daughter" (since I can't
 remember the real title).  Not only did he do a bit of writing (and, if it's
the
 same fellow, casting) in radio, but he also wrote some Green Lantern
 comic strips in _All-American Comics_ and I _think_ he did some work for
 Fawcett on their Capt Marvel stories.  >>

I wondered the same thing when I read a previous posting about an Alfred
Bester's involvement in an OTR show. Bester wrote some of the most terrific
science fiction of the early 1950s, most notably the novel "The Stars My
Destination." He also was responsible for a novel of the early days of live
television -- "Who He?" -- published while the "early days" were still the
present. His short stories were finally collected in a Science Fiction Book
Club hardcover about 1978 or 1979, titled (I think) "Starlight, Starbright."
Sometime in the late '50s, he became an editor of Holiday magazine. 

Bester was one of my favorite authors of my teenage years when I was
discovering science fiction. I had no idea he was involved in the OTR era
until I started reading these posts, but there's one observation worth making
(which I've made before in the Digest). Sometime around 1978, he adapted at
least two of his '50s-vintage science fiction stories for the CBS Radio
Mystery Theater. One, I believe, was titled "Kruger'' -- the story of the
most brilliant man in the universe, tarnished only by his unreasoning hatred
for anyone with that name. The other bore a title I can't remember, simply
because it was an astronomical number -- something like "6,197,874,001." (I
know I have it wrong, but that ought to give you an idea). This one was the
story of an artist who is forced to live out his fantasies -- like being the
last guy on earth with healthy sperm -- so that he can achieve maturity.

Hey, I remember these shows -- I heard them when they were first broadcast.

Erik Smith
Kennewick, Wash.

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 02:36:15 -0700
From: dean allchin <dallchin@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Pat Novak quotes
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Dear radio lovers

Let me offer up some quotations, as has been suggested by charlie
(scharlie@[removed]) in digest #353.  Lou Genco, Mr. OTR himself,
pointed out to me that Richard Breen is the author of all these great lines
from Pat Novak for Hire.  Many, many more will appear on a web page I intend
to create.

It doesn't make any difference whether you're a man or a mouse because down
here on the waterfront in San Francisco, they build the traps both ways.

He was full of fizz and the sort of guy who got a bottle of hand lotion for
his birthday.

She was wearing green lounging pajamas and you've seen bananas in looser skins.

Her lips were a pale red colour and moist enough to put a desert on its feet
and you could tell she thought she used them to talk when you got tired of
everything else.

When I left, she was over by the window, leaning back against a table, as
shy as a runaway boxcar and you got the idea she'd be fun to know if you had
a lot of money and a oxygen tent.

And the way his pants fit him when he walked, you got the idea someone had
sewed an anvil in the lining.

Hellman was wandering around like smoke in a drafty room.

The way things were going, I couldn't beat a vagrancy rap with a pocketfull
of annuities.

Pat Novak:     "What makes it worth a thousand bucks?"
Rhoda Warren:  "You're imagination."

Hellman:    "You got him down there?"
Policeman:  "Yeah, we're passing him up, grab a hold there."
Hellman:    "Yeah, I'll get him."
Policeman:  "All right, pull."
Hellman:    "Yeah, here he comes,....there."
Pat Novak:  "Well, that water sure changed him, Hellman."
Hellman:    "There's a mistake.  He read his identification, he said it was
Earl              Hayes."
Pat Novak:  "It's another plant, Hellman, he's the laundry clerk."
Hellman:    "What was he doin' out in the Bay?"
Pat Novak:  "Maybe that's the way they do the laundry now."

Hellman asked only question, that laundry clerk was an innocent guy, wasn't
it too bad he got knocked off? Oh, I don't know, when you think of how many
buttons you lose in a year, it doesn't seem so bad.


These were all taken from the episode containing the laundry clerk and the
mixed bundles of clothes, and represent only a tiny fraction of the whole.
As I have said before, any information about the radio series, Pat Novak for
Hire, would be appreciated extremely.

Sincerely
Dean Allchin  

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 03:58:07 -0700
From: "JACK MANN" <jmann@[removed]>
To: <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Jack Armstrong
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hello Digest:
Vintage Audio, owned by our very own Tom Martin, has a pretty good
selection of Jack Armstrong in his large catalog. Contact him at
[removed]@[removed]   or (518) 584-1112

Jack

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

Date: 26 Sep 1996 04:01:24 GMT
From: kg@[removed] (KEN GREENWALD)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: SCROOGE & THE SHADOW
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

Hello!
About Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge:
Though Barrymore played Scrooge on the Campbell Playhouse, he 
only performed it once on that show.
Barrymore had a very popular radio show at the time called MAYOR OF THE TOWN.
It was on this show that he continued to play Scrooge every Christmas in the
Mayor time slot. His regular show was set aside for that one Christmas
broadcast each year. That once a year show with Barrymore as Scrooge was a
staple of radio and was always looked forward by the listening audience. And,
it was very well done.
About The Shadow:
Back in the early 50's, when I was in my teens, I used to go 
downtown to a used bookstore that sold pulp magazines. It was there 
I purchased, over a year period, every issue of The Shadow Mystery 
Magazine for the enormous sum of10 cents a copy!
What I discovered was this: Walter Gibson (ne' Maxwell Grant) wrote 
The Shadow mysteries with a far more complicated story line than 
the radio series could encompass. Here was revealed to true story of 
Lamont Cranston as The Shadow. 
Now, I direct this question to Anthony Tollin:
Anthony, do you remember the original story of The Shadow in the 
myster magazine? It involved Kent Allard who (if my memory 
serves me) was the REAL Shadow, assuming Lamont Cranstons role so Cranston
could go off to Tibet and study the ancient mysteries. Since my mother
wouldn't allow me to keep those pulp editions when we moved (I went ballistic
on this one, but could do nothing), only my memory serves me; and that was a
long time ago, so I'm not sure of the story line any longer.
Anthony, if you do remember the REAL story of The Shadow, would 
you be so kind as to reveal it here on the Digest?
Thanks.
Ken G.

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 08:10:02 -0600
From: Chet Cox <CHCOX@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bruce, your memory's fine + Chet's apology
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

<<Actually, come to think of it, I think it was the Campbell's theatre or
something to that effect. It was hosted by Orson Wells, I know that.

Bruce>>

Your memory's working just fine, Bruce; it _was_ the Mercury Theatre
under a different name.  When they finally got a sponsor, it was
Campbell's soup, bringing a name change to the show.  Same people and
the same quality; a difference which makes no difference is no
difference.

...and now that I have a post (didn't wanna clutter up the digest with a
separate post) here, wanna apologize in public for doing a Dumb Thing in
public a few issues ago.  Answered a private e-mail in the digest, thanks
to being called away from my desk and then forgetting what I was doing
when I came back.  Whoops!

*jeep!
~~~~Chet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote of the day:  "It is a mistake that there is no bath that will cure
people's manners, but drowning would help."  --Mark Twain
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 11:11:25 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Bill Neubacher/JACK ARMSTRON serial
Message-ID: <960926111124_111418218@[removed]>

The 1947 Columbia chapterplay of JACK ARMSTRONG, THE ALL-AMERICAN BOY starred
John Hart as Jack Armstrong.  That's the same John Hart who later starred on
television as THE LONE RANGER and HAWKEYE, and in the movie serial THE
ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICA (which was originally filmed as THE PHANTOM; all
of John's close-ups and dialogue for the 15-chapter serial had to be
reshot--in ONE week--with Hart in the new costume).  John Hart will of course
be recalling "those thrilling days of yesteryear" at the Friends of Old-Time
Radio Convention (October 17-19, Holiday Inn North, Newark Airport).  Email
Jay Hickerson<JayHick@[removed] for more information.  The JACK ARMSTRONG radio
series was created by Robert Hardy Andrews and was later written for a season
or so by the great pulp epic-adventure novelist, Talbot Mundy.  Jim Jewell,
the original director of THE LONE RANGER, directed the series during its
heyday.  Jack was portrayed briefly by St. John Terrell and later by Jim
Ameche, Stanley Harris, Charles Flynn and Michael Rye (aka Rye Billsbury) who
portrayed "Mark Dillon, [removed] Marshall" in the original GUNSMOKE audition
program and later was the voice of THE LONE RANGER in the 1960's TV cartoon
-- Anthony Tollin  

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 11:27:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Stephen J. Ferenchick" <sferench@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Superman's Baseball Career
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

In response to the comment on the Superman baseball [removed]

> (2) Baseball. Pardon me if someone has mentioned this during my recent
> absence, but there was a terrific Superman sequence involving baseball, circa
....
> And in due course he made his professional debut as a pitcher named Bud 
Smith.
....
> Obviously, though, Superman would have regained his memory in some
> fashion, and given up his baseball career because he was needed to Fight
> Crime. Also, it wasn't really fair to use his superpowers to throw a baseball
> so hard nobody could hit it -- or, if anyone accidentally got his bat on the
> ball, the bat would break.


And if no one got his bat on it, well I pity the poor catcher.

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

Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 13:57:46 -0700
From: PETER GRECO <pgreco@[removed]>
To: radio digest <otr@[removed]>
Subject: Jack Armstrong
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi,
   Bill mentioned the Jack Armstrong serial made in [removed] starred
John Hart as [removed] is appearing at the FOTR convebtion here in
New Jersey,next [removed] have the serial,but I always felt that John Hart
was a bit old for [removed] I listened to it on radio when I was a kid
I always pictured Jack as being around [removed] think that was the main
trouble they had when they tried to go from radio to pictures or tv,
we all had our own mental picture of our [removed] first time I saw a
picture of Ned Weaver,Dick Tracy never seemed the same [removed]
got an thoughts about that?......Pete




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End of [removed] Digest V96 Issue #354
*******************************************

