Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #6
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/7/2002 2:59 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2002 : Issue 6
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Those Were The Days                   [ Larry Gassman <lgassman@[removed] ]
      Gunsmoke Sponsors                     [ AandG4jc@[removed] ]
      Radio Stamps                          [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Re: intellectual property             [ "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed] ]
      Personal Role Fits                    [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      A Rose By Any Other Name              [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Superman's Voice                      [ "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed]; ]
      Article on OTR Radio                  [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      Re: Personal Logs                     [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Casting Decisions                     [ "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@rivnet ]
      recording ra. files                   [ Michael Browning <aquarii2u@[removed] ]
      Today in Radio History                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
      AN EVENING WITH OTR                   [ "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
      Texaco Commercial                     [ "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed] ]
      JOHNNY/PHILLIP MORRIS/AMOS & ANDY     [ "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
      [removed] Dagwood                 [ Alan Chapman <[removed]@verizon. ]
      "And Now the News, 1945"              [ "J. Pope" <jpope101@[removed] ]
      Re: My Favorite Husband               [ GOpp@[removed] ]
      Gunsmoke rehearsal                    [ "James B. Wood, [removed]" <woodjim@ ]
      One Man's Family and Tom Mix          [ Mark Justice <markjustice@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 01:40:26 -0500
    From: Larry Gassman <lgassman@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Those Were The Days

    Hi,
    John and I just had a note from Chuck Schaden  which was written on January
    5, 2002.
    For those of you who remember his Those Were The Days show, you might be
    interested in the following.
    Larry

    You may know that late last year the classical music station I've been on for
    25 years was sold and turned into another contemporary station.  I moved my
    TWTD program --intact-- to another station, WDCB, which is public radio from
    the College of DuPage in the Chicago area.  We moved stations, but stayed at
    the same time, 1 to 5 pm Chicago time, on the same day, Saturday.  We were
    not off the air at all during the transition.

    We still continue to broadcast from the Museum of Broadcast Communications so
    not much has changed.  Our signal is a bit smaller than the old station, but
    we're doing fine.  Our sponsors have changed into underwriters, so everyone
    is happy.

    Our old WNIB was on the Internet with streaming audio -- which was great --
    but WDCB didn't offer streaming audio until just last week -- [removed]
    so now we're almost back to normal.  (Tune in if you get a chance.)

    Normal, that is, except for the fact that two weeks ago strong winds caused
    the 310 foot WDCB antenna tower to collapse and force the station off the air
    for five days.  It happened right in the middle of my program on Sat., Dec.
    22nd!   The station is back on the air, but at much reduced power for the
    next several weeks.  Well, that's radio show biz!

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: We're proud to say that Mr. Schaden is also a subscriber to
    the OTR Digest.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 02:02:10 -0500
    From: AandG4jc@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Gunsmoke Sponsors

    Dale Slack" <dslack@[removed]; wrote

>     There are no commercials,
>     only public service type announcements and plugs for other CBS radio shows.
>     I always thought this was a popular show and I assume it was relatively
>     expensive to produce so why no commercials.  Was this common and if so how
>     did the networks make any money?

    For the first two to three seasons there was no sponsors for Gunsmoke. The
    program was self sustained until a sponsor picked up the program. Usually
    when a program is "sustained" it means that the program is supported by the
    revenue of our hit programs on CBS network. If a program was not picked up it
    would be canceled with in a few weeks.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 02:03:42 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Radio Stamps

    Mike Biel might have already seen this, but regarding his interest in radio
    related stamps, there is an interesting article on this at

    [removed]

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 02:21:43 -0500
    From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re: intellectual property

    Philip Chavin wrote:

>        Today (06 January) on the NY Times web site ([removed]), there's a
>     review of a new book ("The Future of Ideas") which "argues that America's
>     concern with protecting intellectual property has become an oppressive
>     obsession."  The review can be found in the site's Books section.

    Thanks for mentioning it.  Any mention of the author's name?  Sounds
    like the same thing the director of Project Gutenberg has been saying
    for years. The big question remains _whose_ intellectual property we're
    talking about? Laws change but law doesn't always equal justice --
    especially in the case of OTR.  Literature has always been around and
    will always be around.  But OTR was more than that ... a time in history
    that came and went ... and it's always seemed a bit unfair that any
    company (or group of companies) should have a stranglehold on history or
    that the rights of 'product' should supercede the rights of
    'posterity'.  Hopefully, the book addresses that and I'll see if I can
    find it.  Again, thanks.

    Regards,
    J. Alec West

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:11:24 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Personal Role Fits

    The idea of an actor being "born to play" a certain OTR (or any other)
    role is something that can only be subjective.  However, IMHO, there are
    some people who made a role special.  A few come to mind.

    Most particularly, there was Brace Beemer as The Lone Ranger.  His
    delivery made the Ranger larger than life, but still a person.  The stuff
    of legends, if you will.

    Then there was Bret Morrison as ... Lamont Cranston.  Not the most
    effective Shadow, to be sure, but a near perfect "wealthy young man about
    town."

    Last, but far from least, was Bennett Kilpack as Mr. Keen.  I don't know
    what the Humerts might have had in mind for the character, but The Kindly
    Old Investigator was a perfect fit for Mr. Kilpack.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:11:41 -0500
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: A Rose By Any Other Name

    George Wagner, speaking of Weird Circle, notes,

>     Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" is transformed from
>     one of history's truly frightening horror classics into a turgid soap
>     opera featuring "Rod" and "Madge" Usher and their remarkably
>     uninteresting lives.

    This reminds me of something that happened in AFRS in 1952 at Camp
    Sendai, Japan.  In those days, there was a relatively famous dance team
    of Marge and Gower Champion.  They were appearing in a film, and the
    announcer would mention the picture, starring "Madge and Grover"
    Champion.  He used these names consistently for more than a week.  Now
    this _was_ AFRS, but I wonder how many equivalent mispronunciations of
    that sort abounded in the good old days.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:12:31 -0500
    From: "Michael Hayde" <mmeajv@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Superman's Voice

    Spence wrote:

>     I remember, as a kid, listening to and often imitating Bud Collyer's change
>     of voice when our guy went from mild-mannered-reporter Clark Kent to
>     save-the-day-hero [removed]  It's interesting to note that neither
>     George Reeves on TV nor Christopher Reeve in the movies used that change of
>     voice during his transformation.

    Well, there was no need for the line to be used in movies or TV (although
    George Reeves used it once, semi-humorously, in "The Birthday Letter"),
    since we could *see* when Kent was about to change identities.  However, in
    the *earliest* episodes of TAOS (which did not air in the order they were
    filmed), Reeves does indeed pitch his voice lower as the Man of Steel.  It's
    most notable in the very first half-hour episode to be produced, "The Case
    of the Talkative Dummy."  Over the course of the first season, it became
    less pronounced and eventually disappeared entirely.

    FYI, for those who can find it, the book "Superman at Fifty" contains an
    excellent essay by Phillip Skerry about the TV series and the reason why
    Reeves played Kent and Superman so similarly.

    Michael

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:12:58 -0500
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Article on OTR Radio

    That article that Jim Widner called to our attention in Saturday's
    Courier-Journal seemed to carry at least one small misnomer.  Its writer
    claimed that Amos 'n' Andy (1928-60) was the longest-running radio
    program ever.  What would the folks at the Grand Ole Opry, the
    Metropolitan Opera, the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Renfro Valley Barn Dance,
    CBS World New Roundup, Paul Harvey News and -- by extension -- The
    Guiding Light and Meet the Press have to say about that?  It's an issue
    we've considered on this forum many times and the fact remains, there
    were several series that outlived A 'n' A by multiple decades, no matter
    how much we reveled in the hilarity that duo offered.  There are probably
    more examples of longer running series that could be given, but the
    writer obviously missed an a credible part of aural history.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:13:46 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Re: Personal Logs

    Martin Grams wrote:

>     Does anyone know of any other producers/directors/writers who may have
>     actually compiled, week by week, their own broadcast log during their tenure
>     on the air?

    I suspect this might have been more common than not, at least for
    performers-writers-producers who were responsible for their own material.
    For example, Charles Correll kept a written log for the half-hour Amos
    'n' Andy series from 1943 to 1953, listing programs by date and script
    title (the titles were usually very simple descriptions like "Bank Show,"
    "Brother-in-Law Show," etc.) A copy of this log, obtained by the First
    Generation Radio Archives, was one of the sources used in the preparation
    of my own A&A sitcom log. This log may have been maintained as a
    byproduct of the process of copyright registration: C&G registered their
    scripts in batches, and the log was probably a tool for keeping track of
    what had been registered when. They also retained two sets of bound
    copies of all of their scripts, with a third copy going to the Copyright
    Office.

    Fred Allen may well have had some sort of personal index -- he kept a
    bound collection of his scripts on his office bookshelf, and consulted
    them frequently with an eye to reworking bits of material here and there.
    Allen kept his scripts -- which were large black volumes taking up a
    great deal of shelf space -- next to a small one-volume collection of the
    complete works of Shakespeare, as a constant reminder of how
    insignificant his great bulk of work really was.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:14:00 -0500
    From: "David H. Buswell" <dbuswell@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Casting Decisions

    Spence asked if there were any other regrettable decisions regarding actors
    and roles.  In Hollywood, the history of casting decisions shows that
    inspired casting was often the result of the producer's second or third
    choices.  I'm sure that the same was true for OTR. While somewhat off point,
    here are just a few motion picture examples of the first choices for various
    roles:

    1.   Paul Muni not Bela Lugosi in Dracula
    2.   Clark Gable not Johnny Weissmuller in Tarzan
    3.   Mae West not Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
    4.   Doris Day not Anne Bancroft in The Graduate
    5.   Paul Newman not James Dean in East of Eden
    6.   Tuesday Weld not Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde
    7.   Rip Torn not Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider
    8.   Montgomery Clift not Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront
    9.   Olivia DeHavilland not Vivian Leigh in Streetcar Named Desire
    10. Grace Kelly not Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
    11. George Raft not Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon
    12. Claudette Colbert not Bette Davis in All about Eve
    13. Cary Grant not Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady
    14. [removed] Fields not Frank Morgan in The Wizard of Oz
    15. Joan Crawford not Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:14:09 -0500
    From: Michael Browning <aquarii2u@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: recording ra. files

    I have been an avid listener to otr ever since I was
    around 15 years old.  Now that I'm in my 50's, that
    puts it at many years that I have listened to otr.  I
    grew up with the begining of television, so I know
    what video has gone through the last 50 years. Thanks
    to some of the channels that you can get on cable and
    satellite you can watch a lot of the old movies from
    the 30', 40's, 50's etc.  But no mater what has
    evolved with video, it sure can't take the place of
    otr.  With radio you had to use your own mind to
    create the situations that you heard and for every
    person it might have been different. So when radio
    drama disappeared it took away the imagination of
    everyone living today that didn't have the chance to
    listen to it.  Across the country there are radio
    stations that do broadcast otr and it is once again
    people can once again use their imagination. Then
    again if you were lucky enough to have a computer and
    be able to get onto the internet you are able to get a
    whole lot of different stations that broadcast otr.
    Now to get to my little problem.  Ever since around
    1970 I started to record otr off the radio onto
    cassette tapes and do have a lot of programs on these
    tapes. Also I bought cassette tapes of otr when I was
    able too.  Then a miracle happened to me about three
    months when I had gotten a computer and was able to
    get onto the internet.  I was amazed at all the
    programs that you are able to get on the internet.  So
    since my computer had a cd-rw drive, I have been able
    to record otr programs onto my own cd's and am glad
    about it because disks last longer than tapes.  Now
    comes the area that I have had a little problem.
    Being new to the computer and the internet, I have
    found out that there are two different formats that
    programs are recored at.  There is the mp3 format and
    the ra format. I have been able to record the mp3
    format by changeing the mp3 files to wav. files.
    There are software programs out there that you can get
    that you can change the file from mp3 to wav.  But is
    there a program or way to change a ra file to one that
    you can record
    those programs too.  I have yet been able to find one
    that will let me be able to do it.
    So if there is someone out there that can help me with
    this little problem, I would appreciate it.
    Michael Browning
    aquarii2u@[removed]

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:14:19 -0500
    From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
    To: otr-net <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Today in Radio History

      From Those Were The Days --

    1926 - A famous marriage that endured for many years is remembered this
    day. It’s the wedding anniversary of
    George Burns and Gracie Allen who were married by a Justice of the Peace
    in Cleveland, Ohio.

    1940 - The gate to Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch opened. The ‘singing
    cowboy’ would entertain on CBS radio for the next 16 years.

    1941 - The NBC Blue radio network presented the first installment of The
    Squeaky Door. You might not remember the show by its original title, but
    how about when it became known as Inner Sanctum?

    1950 - Ernest Tubb made his first appearance at The Grand Ole Opry in
    Nashville, TN. Ernest also did a 15-minute radio program each day that
    became very popular in West Texas. So popular, in fact, that he bought
    the radio station that had aired the program for years and years: KGKL
    in San Angelo, Texas.

      Joe

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

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:14:50 -0500
    From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: AN EVENING WITH OTR

    I wish to extend an invitation to anyone on the digest living in the MD, DC,
    PA, DEL & VA area, to attend "An Evening With OTR," as the Golden Radio
    Players will present 2 radio dramas: Gunsmoke, "Chester'a Inheritance," and
    a production of Theatre Of Romance: "Death Takes A Holiday,"  to be
    presented on Sat., [removed], 7:30 pm, at the Regular acheduled meeting of
    the Golden Radio Buffs Of MD., Inc.  For details on locarion  and furthur
    infornation, contact me at the email address above.

    Owens

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:15:25 -0500
    From: "Russ Butler" <oldradio@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: Texaco Commercial

    Perhaps someone can direct a reply to this television inquiry I received.
    Sandy Hedges is looking for a copy of a Texaco TV commercial featuring
    mid-stream refueling that aired on the
    "Huntley-Brinkley" NBC news from 1960-1962.

    The pilot was Capt. Luster Perry in the commercial who was her husband's
    Grandfather and she would like to obtain a copy for her husband and family.
    Her e-mail address is Hedges_Sandy@[removed]
    to reply directly with any suggestions or sources.
    Many thanks.

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:14:35 -0500
    From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: JOHNNY/PHILLIP MORRIS/AMOS & ANDY

    Can ayone on the list help me with some info for research for articles for
    our Newsletter?  I need the web site for Little Johnny, who was the
    spokesperson for Phillip Morris and opened all programs sponsored by them on
    radio (and) TV.   ****   Also does any one have the web site for the Amos &
    Andy that was posted here a few months ago (Elizabeth, I believe it was
    you).  Thanks in advance for any help youu can give.

    Owens

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 13:37:58 -0500
    From: Alan Chapman <[removed]@[removed];
    To: Old-Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject: [removed] Dagwood

>     Penny Singleton were too old to play the youngish Bumsteads
>     by 1968, which was the year that series started.  And >Barbara Billingsley
>     did not play [removed] Harty
>     did.

    The 1968 Dagwood was played by Will Hutchins ... a member of our RADIO
    CLASSICS LIVE family in Brockton, MA (the 13th annual RCL is coming up
    May 3-4, 2002).  Will also has a regular web radio show -- GOLDEN
    MELODY SALOON  -- which can be heard at
    [removed]

    Alan Chapman

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: And for those of you who were at last October's FOTR
    Convention, he's still looking for his script.  --cfs3]

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 14:25:50 -0500
    From: "J. Pope" <jpope101@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: "And Now the News, 1945"

        I read this book over the holidays, and being a young'un who only
    knows WWII from history class, it made quite an impact.  Now I realize
    just how different those times were from any I've known.  For someone who
    - up until 9-11 - only knew the Gulf War, which had total casualties of
    around 250, reading of 15,000 killed and wounded in one DAY is a huge
    eye-opener.  The scale is absolutely mind-blowing.
        This book also brings home what the people on the homefront were going
    through, even when the war was obviously coming to an end in the Allies'
    favor.  Suddenly the calls to buy war bonds, plant victory gardens, etc.
    on 'Fibber McGee and Molly' and 'Jack Benny' seem as vital as they really
    were.  And a new dimension is added to the humor of such shows; knowing
    what was happening in their "real world," it's amazing to me that they
    could be so consistently light-hearted and entertaining.
        This book takes history and makes it reality.  Any youngster
    interested in OTR, or who wants to know what that time was really like,
    should read it!

    [removed]

    Jennifer

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 15:16:11 -0500
    From: GOpp@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Re:  My Favorite Husband

>     Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 13:33:10 -0500
>     From: "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed];
>     To: <[removed]@[removed];
>     Subject: My Favorite Husband----again.

>     Oddly enough, I had never really thought about this, until Gregg answered my
>     question about the Cugat/Cooper name change, but did Jess Oppenheimer ever
>     speculate whether or not the CBS brass would have gone ahead with My
>     Favorite Husband with Desi Arnaz in the lead had George and Liz's name NOT
>     been changed from Cugat????  Or was the brass so adamant that it wouldn't
>     have mattered??

    Apparently it didn't matter, because the first 26 shows
    (From July to December 1948) aired with the names
    "George and Liz Cugat" and CBS refused Lucille Ball's
    request to cast Desi as her radio husband. Despite the
    name "George Cugat", the character was supposed to be
     a polo-playing white bread type from a wealthy
    midwestern family.

    Interestingly, when CBS moved the "My Favorite
    Husband" series to TV, starring Barry Nelson and
    Joan Caulfield (a couple of years after "I Love Lucy"
    got started), they retained the names "George and Liz Cooper."
    You might think this was because they wanted
    to follow the radio show closely (rather than the
    book "Mr. & Mrs. Cugat"), but the guy who created
    the TV show (Sol Saks) says he never even heard the
    radio version.  According to Saks, "I never heard
    'My Favorite Husband' on radio. I knew CBS owned
    the property and the title. Iknew it was a husband
    and wife show, that's all. I went up there and I said,
    "Look, I'd like to do a pilot for 'My Favorite Husband.'
    They said 'Go ahead.'"

    - Gregg Oppenheimer

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 16:04:14 -0500
    From: "James B. Wood, [removed]" <woodjim@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: Gunsmoke rehearsal

    Dale Slack posed a question about Gunsmoke advertisers, which prompts me
    to ask another, unrelated question about that series.  A friend gave me a
    recording of a Gunsmoke rehearsal, in which the actors began clowning
    around quire irreverently.  Are recordings of rehearsals common in OTR
    collections?

    Jim Wood
    Brea, CA

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

    Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2002 16:04:11 -0500
    From: Mark Justice <markjustice@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject: One Man's Family and Tom Mix

    A few days ago, I posted a request for episodes of One Man's Family and Tom Mix. I
    received several helpful responses and I want to especially thanks Ed Humphrey,
    most generous OTR fan who mailed episodes of both shows to me ...along with photos
    of the casts! What a great hobby!
    Best,
    Mark

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #6
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