------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 86
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
LIGHTS OUT new episode fraud [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Matches and saws [ "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed]; ]
You Can't Make This Stuff [removed] [ seandd@[removed] ]
"War of the Worlds" for ABC Radio? [ StevenL751@[removed] ]
OTR Records (LPs) for Trade [ "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@acs ]
Thanks [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
Virgil Reimer [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
Correct Link [ Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed] ]
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle [ kclarke5@[removed] ]
MBC - Auction - Did Anyone Get Anyth [ "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@acs ]
jack benny 12/7/41 [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:07:58 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: LIGHTS OUT new episode fraud
George Aust commented:
I have a puzzlement! I have a "Lights Out" episode entitled "Nobody Died".
The tape is from Metacom and is dated only 1939. The only log that I can
find ( Jerry Haendiges) shows "Nobody Died" as being from 12-9-36 and also
that it is not available. I can't find that it was repeated later as some
other scripts were. Anybody know something about this?
Sure do. George has fallen victim to the horrible "copy cat" problem that
plagues OTR (but thankfully, little by little, is being shut down). What
George has is a fake recording. I'll explain by going in chronological
order starting in 1938. The following are the only Arch Oboler/Lights Out
broadcasts known to exist in recorded form.
LIGHTS OUT (third, fourth and fifth season)
7/13/38 A Room for the Night
5/12/37 Organ
12/22/37 Uninhabited (also known as the Christmas Story)
3/23/38 The Dream (later dramatized under a different title, "Kill" on
4/20/43)
The March 23, 1938 broadcast is also known as "Darrell Hall's Thoughts"
4/6/38 Cat Wife (with Boris Karloff)
5/11/38 It Happened (also known as Call Her Jean)
4/26/39 The Devil's Due
ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS (this was the series Oboler wrote, produced and
directed)
3/25/39 The Ugliest Man in the World
4/1/39 Mirage
4/15/39 Three short plays: Memorium, Humbug (aka Laughing Man) and Sole
Survivor
4/29/39 The Cliff
5/6/39 The Engulfed Cathedral
5/20/39 Crazy Town
6/10/39 Nero's Wife
6/17/39 The Immortal Gentleman
7/8/39 The Ivory Tower
7/29/39 Another World (also known as The Voice Within Me)
12/16/39 Nobody Died (this is what George mentioned he had)
12/30/39 This Precious Freedom
1/13/40 The Truth
1/27/40 Three plays: Back to the Indians, The Day the Sun Exploded and The
Laughing Man
3/9/40 Johnny Got his Gun
3/16/40 The Most Dangerous Game
Now for a few notes: The 6/3/39 broadcast doesn't really exist. The June 3
broadcast featured three short dramas, one of them was entitled "Steel
Worker." The drama "Steel Worker" was featured on an episode of the Rudy
Vallee program in the mid-1930s with Raymond Edward Johnson and someone
snipped that drama out of the Rudy Vallee recording and have been selling it
as a "partially existing recording" of the June 3, 1939 ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS.
So collectors keep thinking what they have is a partial recording of the
6/3/39 broadcast but what they really have is the drama as it was broadcast
on the Rudy Vallee show.
EVERYMAN'S THEATER
10/11/40 This Precious Freedom
10/18/40 Cat Wife
10/25/40 And Adam Begot
11/8/40 I'll Tell My Husband
11/15/40 The Flying Yorkshireman
12/20/40 The Women Stayed Home
1/24/41 Of Human Bondage
1/31/41 Madame Affamee
2/21/41 Mr. Ginsburg
2/28/41 The Family
3/7/41 Problem Papa
3/28/41 Baby
As I'll explain below in detail, the March 28 broadcast of "Baby" was a
broadcast of EVERYMAN'S THEATER, not LIGHTS OUT. If anyone has a recording
of LIGHT OUT entitled "Baby," it's really the EVERYMAN'S THEATER broadcast
with the opening and closing deleted, replaced with the LIGHTS OUT theme.
PLAYS FOR AMERICANS
2/1/42 Johnny Quinn, USN
3/15/42 A Letter at Midnight
6/21/41 Adolph and Mrs. Runyon
LIGHTS OUT (remember I am only listing the episodes known to exist in
recorded [removed])
10/20/42 Poltergeist
10/27/42 Mungahra
11/10/42 Bon Voyage
11/17/41 Come to the Bank
12/1/42 The Story of Mr. Maggs
12/8/42 Scoop
12/15/42 Knock at the Door (aka Mother in Law Story)
12/22/42 Meteor Man
12/29/42 Valse Triste
1/5/43 The Fast One (aka Speed)
1/26/43 The Projective Mr. Drogan
2/2/43 Until Dead
2/9/43 He Dug it Up
2/16/43 Oxycloride X
2/23/43 They Met at Dorset
3/2/43 The Sea
3/9/43 The Ball
3/16/43 The Dream
3/23/43 The Flame
3/30/43 Money, Money, Money
4/6/43 Superfeature (aka Ghost in the Newsreel Negative)
4/13/43 The Archer
4/20/43 Kill
4/27/43 Execution
5/4/43 Heavenly Jeep
5/11/43 Murder in the Script Department
5/18/43 The Spider
5/25/43 Little Old Lady (aka Mrs. Kingsley's Report)
6/8/43 Organ
6/15/43 Prelude to Murder
6/22/43 Nature Study
7/20/43 Profits Unlimited
7/27/43 The Little People (a personal favorite)
8/3/43 Murder Castle
8/10/43 Sakhalin
8/17/43 State Executioner
8/24/43 Sub-Basement
9/7/43 Lord Marley's Guest
9/14/43 The Word
9/21/43 Mirage
9/28/43 The Author and the Thing
EVERYTHING FOR THE BOYS, WWII program which Oboler adapted from some of
Sherwood's stories.
1/18/44 The Petrified Forest
2/1/44 Lost Horizon
2/8/44 Berkeley Square
2/15/44 A Man to Remember
3/7/44 Of Human Bondage
3/14/44 The Ghost Goes West
3/21/44 The Girl on the Road
3/28/44 An Ostrich in Bed
4/4/44 This Living Book
4/11/44 Citadel
4/18/44 The Jarvis Bay Goes Down
4/25/44 Death Takes a Holiday
5/2/44 Holy Matrimony (aka Buried Alive)
5/9/44 This Above All
5/16/44 Blythe Spirit
5/23/44 Quality Street
FOUR FOR THE FIFTH, Oboler's four plays for the Fifth War Loan Drive.
6/3/44 Surrender
6/10/44 High Command
6/17/44 The Laughter
6/24/44 E-Day
ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS (1945 revival)
4/5/45 Strange Morning
4/26/45 The House I Live In
5/3/45 Love, Love, Love
5/10/45 Holiday 194X (not a typo)
5/17/45 Mr. Ten Percent
5/24/45 An Exercise in Horror
5/31/45 An Ostrich in Bed / Report to My Relatives
6/7/45 Night
6/14/45 Mr. Pyle
6/21/45 The Naked Mountain
6/28/45 The Truth
7/5/45 Doctor Bluff
7/12/45 A Gallery of Big Shots: Feminine
7/19/45 Special to Hollywood
7/26/45 My Chicago
8/2/45 Parade
8/9/45 does exist, title not on hand, sorry
8/16/45 Lust for Life
8/23/45 Three short dramas: I Do, Facts of Men and Baby
9/6/45 Mirage
9/13/45 A Gallery of Big Shots: Masculine
9/20/45 Rocket from Manhattan
9/27/45 The Family Nagashi
10/4/45 Mr. Miller
10/11/45 This Living Book
FANTASIES FROM LIGHTS OUT (written by Wyllis Cooper, not Oboler)
7/21/45 Reunion After Death (aka Ghost of Diana, and Reunion)
8/25/45 Man in the Middle
LIGHTS OUT (written by Wyllis Cooper and Oboler)
7/13/46 The Coffin in Studio B (same as 5/11/43)
7/20/46 The Haunted Cell
7/27/46 Battle of the Magicians
8/3/46 The Revenge of India
8/10/46 Ghost on the Newsreel Negative
8/24/46 The Signalman
LIGHTS OUT (stars Boris Karloff, scripts by Cooper)
7/16/47 Death Robbery
7/30/47 The Ring (only the first half is known to exist)
In 1964, Arch Oboler created a short-run syndicated revival of ARCH OBOLER'S
PLAYS (not LIGHTS OUT!) using some old scripts and a few new scripts.
The Word
Visitor From Hades
Special to Hollywood
The Day Sinatra Got Fat (new)
Come to the Bank
The Immortal Gentleman
Big Ben (new)
Rocket from Manhattan
African Story (new)
Revolt of the Worms
Bathysphere
Mirage
Him or Me
>From 1971 to 1972, Oboler re-recorded, produced and directed a revival
series entitled THE DEVIL AND MR. O and at the beginning of each drama,
Oboler had recorded a brief intro explaining how he came about writing the
scripts, and how some special sound effects were accomplished. He did
retitle most of the scripts, so the original titles are in (parenthesis).
1. Alley Cat (Cat Wife)
2. Neanderthal Man (Across the Gap)
3. Revolt of the Worms
4. Where Are You? (The Word)
5. Mr. Freak (The Ugliest Man in the World)
6. Gravestone (Poltergeist)
7. Ancestor (The Archer)
8. Nature Study
9. Big Mr. Little (The Projective Mr. Drogan)
10. No Escape (Until Dead)
11. Vacation with Death (Organ)
12. The Hole (Oxycloride X)
13. Live Forever (The Immortal Gentleman)
14. Going Down (Sub-Basement)
15. Balance Sheet (Profits Unlimited)
16. The House is Haunted (Mungahra)
17. Official Killer (State Executioner)
18. The Hungry One (Meteor Man)
19. Three Thousand Dollars (Money, Money, Money)
20. The Chest (The Story of Mr. Maggs)
21. Paris Macabre (The Ball)
22. Rocket From Manhattan (Special to Hollywood)
23. Hollywood Visitor (Lord Marley's Guest)
24. Cemetary
25. Speed (The Fast One)
26. The Shrinking People (The Little People)
Oboler also wrote scripts for numerous program such as THE ROYAL GELATIN
HOUR, FIRST NIGHTER PROGRAM, THE CAVALCADE OF AMERICA, TEXACO STAR THEATER,
GOOD NEWS OF 1940, THE WEIRD CIRCLE, THE COLUMBIA WORKSHOP, CURTAIN TIME,
SCREEN GUILD THEATER, TREASURY STAR THEATER, KEEP 'EM ROLLING, YARNS FOR
YANKS, NELSON OLMSTEAD PLAYHOUSE, SEARS RADIO THEATER, and many others.
Now that I've given a brief rundown (and in rough draft form) of Oboler's
work that exists in recorded form, I'll explain why the recording George
described is baffling him. It's a fake. The script "Nobody Died" was never
broadcast on LIGHTS OUT and is not known to exist in recorded form.
Sometime during the late 1970s, someone meticulously took recorded episodes
of ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS, deleted the opening and closing theme and replaced
it with a LIGHTS OUT theme, thus making people believe that what dealers had
to offer was another never-before-existing LIGHTS OUT episode when in
reality is was an ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS recording. Why? One obvious reasons
is collectors wanted to buy as many LIGHTS OUT episodes for their collection
that they didn't have. There really wasn't much documentation or logs of
the show about that time, at least not widely circulated, so people
innocently purchased what they though were LIGHTS OUT broadcasts when they
were not. During the 1980s and 1990s, both Radio Spirits and Metacom (aka
Adventures in Cassettes) sold recordings under the name of LIGHTS OUT but
the companies were not aware that what they were selling was not legit
LIGHTS OUT radio programs. After all, they too, like all dealers, acquired
their recordings from another collector. Popular examples still floating
about . . . if anyone checks their collection and notices that they have any
episodes entitled "My Chicago," that was only done on ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS
yet it's widely available as a LIGHTS OUT broadcast and if you listen
carefully you can here the soundtrack "cut" between the drama and the theme.
"My Chicago" was never done on LIGHTS OUT so anyone who has that specific
recording has a fake recording - altered to give the appearance that it's a
LIGHTS OUT broadcast. Same for "This Precious Freedom," "Johnny Got His
Gun" and "The House I Live In." Those were not dramatized on LIGHTS OUT.
Why do collectors do this? Obvious reason is the money. If the same script
was performed on both shows, but only one is known to exist, a collector can
easily dub the opening and closing of a show and whola! They now have a
recording from each show. I saw an mp3 disc being sold on eBay last week
that listed 121 HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL radio shows on one disc. Guess what?
Only 106 were recorded and broadcast. Anyone paying close attention to
the list of titles that accompanied the disc would notice that only 106 had
airdates, and 15 were different titles and had no airdates. (Thus the 15
were duplicates with alternate titles. Why didn't the dealer simply delete
the 15 duplicates and advertise it as the "complete series"? Just because
he offers more doesn't mean he has the better product.)
Anyway, I just simply reprinted some info so everyone can get an idea of
what problems Old-Time Radio fans, collectors and researchers have to suffer
with. George, the "Nobody Died" recording you have from the Metacom tape
labeled 1939 is really an ARCH OBOLER'S PLAYS broadcast with the LIGHTS OUT
opener and closer theme replaced. This is why you can't find it on any
LIGHTS OUT logs available.
The lists above are a rough draft and not in any way perfect. Some entries
are actually fraudulent recordings but I just have not had the time to clean
the list up by listening to the recordings. I compiled a list of INNER
SANCTUM episodes known to exist in recorded form for Lou Genco's web-site
about a year ago and since that list went up on the web, I receive an e-mail
about once or twice a month from some poor soul who recently purchased mp3s
containing 200+ INNER SANCTUM episodes and recently discovered that many of
the recordings on their discs are duplicates with alternate titles. Yet
even with the list I had posted on the web, people are still suffering from
this problem. (This is why I stubbornly insist that anyone who buys a book
about a particular radio program will have MUCH more definitive info than a
web-site's holdings. Had he a copy of the INNER SANCTUM book that features
a broadcast log, he would be able to read the plots and figure out which
episodes have which titles and airdates. A web-site lists info from some
source, but a book features material cross-referenced and consulted. A book
is worth it's weight in gold.) Anyway, I am WAY too busy to even do the
same for other radio shows like LIGHTS OUT (I'm leaving for the Williamsburg
Film Festival this afternoon) but I hope this list and info helps others
like George solve their mysteries.
Oddly enough, I fell for the same con game when I recently listened to an
episode of SUSPENSE that was supposedly "newly discovered" and it was
labeled as the 1947 broadcast of "Waxworks" with Claude Rains. Alas to my
dismay, even though the opener, closing theme and commercials were of Roma
Wines (who sponsored SUSPENSE in 1947), the drama itself was a one-man
performance with William Conrad which means someone took the 1955-56 version
with Conrad, dubbed in sections of a 1947 SUSPENSE broadcast, and that
dealer sold me (and is presently selling other people) what gullible people
think is the 1947 version.
Martin Grams, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:09:57 -0500
From: "Cynthia Van Cleave" <cvc@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Matches and saws
Laura's anecdote about the similarities between ripping paper and struck
matches reminds me of my only major sound effects discovery (which I
actually discovered long before I knew what OTR was, and not that long after
I even knew what a *radio* was) .... (PS: I don't claim it's original,
either ...)
If you take a long metal zipper, like they used to put in children's winter
coats, and hold the foot of the open zipper, and run the slide up and down
in the correct rhythm, it sounds amazingly like a manual saw.
Cynthia "ChibiBarako"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:10:22 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: You Can't Make This Stuff [removed]
Bob "Gilligan" Denver is launching a radio station in West Virginia and may
inlcude original audio dramas as part of his content.
The news, from Reason Magazine's [removed], follows.
Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]
Hugo Chavez, Maynard G. Krebs, and Other Media Moguls
Venezuela's big media outfits are famously unfriendly to President Hugo
Chavez. So he's finding his friends where he can: The New York Times reports
that he's poised to legalize -- and subsidise -- around 200 low-power radio
and TV stations based in the barrios of the country, many of which were
previously illicit pirate operations.
Meanwhile, Gilligan's Island and Dobie Gillis star Bob Denver is starting a
low-power radio station in West Virginia. Licensed to "The Denver
Foundation," the outfit intends to run "anything that strikes Denver's
fancy," according to The Charleston Gazette. "'I think I'm even going to do
original radio dramas,' he mused. 'The kind with cliffhangers where you have
to tune in next week to see what happens.'"
Posted by Jesse Walker at 11:10 AM | Comments (7)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:26:37 -0500
From: StevenL751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "War of the Worlds" for ABC Radio?
I attended the NYC Opera production of "Sweeney Todd" last week and noticed
that the program bio for star Timothy Nolen contains the following:
Recent directing credits include Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" for
ABC-Disney Radio.
Does anyone know more about this new production? Has it aired yet?
Steve Lewis
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:44:07 -0500
From: "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR Records (LPs) for Trade
All,
A while back I engaged in a trade with someone from this list that was truly
win-win. I offered some Bob Crosby albums to anyone for free (because I no
longer have a turn table). This individual dubbed them to CDs and sent them
to me complimentary.
I am looking for another similar trade here are the LPs that I am willing to
send to whomever wants them (for free) if you can put them onto CDs so that
I could hear them again.
Bing Crosby Greatest Hits - 2 LP Set
Fred Allen Down in Allen's Alley - (Radiola LP)
Texaco Star Theater May 10, 1942 (Radiola LP)
Fred Allen Show April 11 & 25, 1948 (Radiola LP)
Jack Benny The Jack Benny Show (6-18-39, 4-9-50)(Radiola LP)
Jack Benny Story 2 LP Set (Radiola LP)
General The Magic Radio narrated by Fibber McGee and Molly (Radiola
LP)
Bob Hope Show (10-23-45, 12-18-45) (Radiola LP)
Anyone interested in this trade please email off-list. Thank again!
Tom Barnett, PMP
[removed]@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 12:44:15 -0500
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Thanks
Thanks to all who answered my Gunsmoke question, both on and off the list.
Barbara
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 15:45:39 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Virgil Reimer
Mark Kinsler asks:
Well, Frank Nelson's appearances on the Benny show go all the way back to
June 1, 1934. He played various characters over time, including football
announcers, sound man Virgil Reimer, etc.
You mean that there really wasn't a sound-effects man named Virgil Reimer?
Good question, and I don't know for absolute certain. The part was played by
Frank Nelson on air, but then again, Mel Blanc played Twombley the sound man.
Gene Twombley was a very real person, married to Bea Benaderet. So I
wouldn't be surprised if Virgil was real as well, with just another person's
voice
at the mike (not unlike Frank Remley, I suppose).
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 15:45:55 -0500
From: Conrad Binyon <conradab@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Correct Link
Can't tell ya how that bad link slipped into here, as
we all know these computers work like a charm all of
the time. *Grin* The below will reveal what I wanted
to share with the readers re Luis Van Rooten.
[removed]
Sorry 'bout the [removed]
=====
---
conradab@[removed] (Conrad A. Binyon)
Encino, CA
Home of the Stars who loved Ranches and Farms
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 15:48:25 -0500
From: kclarke5@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
I recently came across some tapes from 1951 of
"Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle". I'd like some details
on it if at all possible.
1. Who was the sponsor of the show during its run on OTR?
2. Were the characters of "Jane" and "Boy" just on the
movie version or were they also in the OTR version?
3. Were there any premiums connected with the show?
4. How long was the OTR program's run?
Kenneth Clarke
Another OTR Fan
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 17:13:33 -0500
From: "Barnett, Tom L" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: MBC - Auction - Did Anyone Get Anything?
Were there any great finds at the MBC Garage Sale?
Tom Barnett, PMP
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2004 17:19:05 -0500
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: jack benny 12/7/41
Well, I started this thread, so figured I better chime
in [removed]
I'm not sure where the story (legend?) of the WMAQ
Benny recording came [removed] can trace it back as far
as people claiming to have heard it on Chuck Schaden's
Chicago broadcast several years ago. I think he
checks this list from time to time, maybe he can weigh
in?
However, the recording that everybody has described
*here* (Laura, George, and Jim) in the past few days
almost certainly did originate at KFI, Los Angeles.
The nature of the local news bulletin during the first
musical number, the quality of the network line
recording, and the known history of Benny airchecks
from that source--in total, they make pretty steep
evidence, though we could still be wrong.
This recording *is* part of the "official" NBC set,
and not a "ringer" or latter-day substitution by OTR
dealers. The 12/8/41 "Cavalcade of America" broadcast
is the only other piece of the roughly 72-hour-total
Red and Blue net material that's a higher-end line
recording, and not from the clunkier Memovox reference
discs.
As to the original [removed] the tantalizing
CBS 'first bulletins' at
[removed]#news
are genuine, I am still skeptical. The John Daly
"east coast" version contains the precise wording,
vocal inflection, and misprouncing of the word "Oahu"
as the 1948 "I Can Hear It Now" [removed] has
rather clearly been doctored. And there seems little
reason for separate east coast/west coast feeds if the
program sponsor was the same, as in both clips.
Finally, one clip has Albert Warner starting at
2:30:30, which would (I think, somebody check me on
this) put the 2nd "bombing of Manila" bulletin on the
air before it actually came in!
Also, the WW2-era CBS publicity book "From Pearl
Harbor To Tokyo" has the first CBS bulletin broadcast
at 2:31, not 2:30. So the problems here are the same
as ever, unfortunately: somebody, somewhere,
sometime, had alot of fun doctoring up the extant CBS
Pearl Harbor material--pasting intros onto segments or
reports where they don't belong, splicing together
segments that were actually hours apart--to the point
it's tough to know what's what. And of course Murrow,
Friendly, Daly, and Trout didn't help anything with
their unnecessary ICHIN shenanigans. There are whole
confirmed 'real' chunks of CBS Pearl Harbor coverage
from 2:30 PM, 5:45, @6:30 PM, and 11:30 PM. I'd take
pretty much anything else with a grain of salt.
chris
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #86
********************************************
Copyright [removed] Communications, York, PA; All Rights Reserved,
including republication in any form.
If you enjoy this list, please consider financially supporting it:
[removed]
For Help: [removed]@[removed]
To Unsubscribe: [removed]@[removed]
To Subscribe: [removed]@[removed]
or see [removed]
For Help with the Archive Server, send the command ARCHIVE HELP
in the SUBJECT of a message to [removed]@[removed]
To contact the listmaster, mail to listmaster@[removed]
To Send Mail to the list, simply send to [removed]@[removed]