Subject: [removed] Digest V2007 #37
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/1/2007 10:14 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2007 : Issue 37
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Why there was a silver mine           [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
  Re: The Lone Rangers First Name       [ "Dee" <deeatthedigitaldeli@earthlin ]
  Mr. Keen Redux                        [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
  Barney Beck                           [ <verotas@[removed]; ]
  Re: Mr Keen                           [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Barney Beck                           [ stevenl751@[removed] ]
  Re: The original Lone Ranger discs?   [ Al Lingley <fpdw3@[removed]; ]
  Alan Reed                             [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  Three OTR questions                   [ "Grant & Sally Shorten" <shorten@ro ]
  I Love A Mystery and MP3s             [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Alan Reed                             [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  BARNEY BECK                           [ "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed] ]
  Nightbeat -- and the [removed]    [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 08:43:22 -0500
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Why there was a silver mine

On the radio
show, the Secret Squadron was a US Government group; on TV, it was a
private organization.

But if it was a private organization, how was it funded?  What
private citizen could have afforded that mountaintop real estate, the
headquarters facility, the Silver Dart, and all of that gadgetry, not
to mention food and clothing for the three people who lived there?
I'd say it was a government-funded front otganization -- especially
given Captain Midnight's easy access to high-level officials.

I suppose that the writers used to cast their eyes to the heavens when asked
to discuss
this sort of thing.  The Lone Ranger's silver mine was an excellent
superhero-finance device,
but as kids grow up, they always ask more and more questions, and it would
be interesting
to see the correspondence that the networks sent out when kids wrote in with
them.

The old Superman comic books had a 'Letters to Superman' section, and it was
just splendid.  "How could Superman," read a typical letter, "see that there
was money in the strongbox with his x-ray vision without setting the money
on fire?"  Well, said the likely answer, what you didn't know was that
Superman can modulate the intensity of said x-ray vision, thus enabling him
to see the currency without incinerating it.

I don't know why nobody ever thinks to do a scholarly comparison between
Letters to Superman and mainstream discussions of theology: maybe the
parallel is too obvious.  But I think that it's interesting--and perhaps
indicative of a gentler age--that writers and network people chose to
address such questions from kids, and even encourage them.

M Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St. Lancaster, Ohio USA 43130 740-687-6368
[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 09:21:12 -0500
From: "Dee" <deeatthedigitaldeli@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re:  The Lone Rangers First Name

According to John Dunning (page 406), it was the 20th Anniversary program of
The Lone Ranger that disclosed Texas Ranger Captain Dan Reid's younger
brother's name as 'John'  (John Reid was also in The Rangers, although his
rank wasn't disclosed.)

Having been the last survivor, as older brother Dan lay in his younger
brother's arms, he elicited a pledge from younger brother John, to take care
of Dan's wife and son, Danny (later to become 'Dan Reid', father of Britt
Reid, [removed], The Green Hornet.

However, I have just finished listening to that 20th anniversary episode,
and there is no mention of "John" anywhere.  Where did Dunning get his
(apparently) mis-information, and Jerry H. do you really have an episode
that supposedly gives a first name?

 Dee

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:07:56 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mr. Keen Redux

Jim Cox, speaking of the Kindly Old Investigator, notes,

Does anybody recall that the inscrutable Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost
Persons also had a well-hidden first name?  While you never heard it on
the air, he was "born" with a given name besides "boss," "kindly old
investigator," "kindly old tracer," "eminent" and "famous."  Do you know
what it was?

If memory serves, it was (or is) Westrel.

Bob and Ray did a neat parody of him, "Mr. Trace, Keener than most
persons."  In the parody, he was also referred to as "the surly old
investigator,"

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:36:54 -0500
From: <verotas@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Barney Beck

The news of Barney Beck's passing strikes Charlotte and me as that of a close
relative.  Barney was a dear friend.  He was in a Senior home on Long Island
which apparently closed down, and try as I could, I was never able to find
out where he went, or any of the other residents for that matter.  It just
closed, sold the property, and all disappeared.

Barney had an incredible sense of humor and many guffaw-producing stories to
tell.  I shall relate just one.

He told of a time where he was to do SFX for some radio program which was to
be directed by a FILM director.  Barney knew there would be trouble from the
start, as film people are attuned to visuals from without, not within.  At
one point Barney was instructed to provide the sound for a lady walking by
the scene of the action.  Barney stood on tip-toe, and walked across slapping
his toes on the wooden floor in a perfect enactment of a woman's footsteps
with leather soles.

The director tore into Barney and told him it was all wrong, didn't make the
point that it was a woman, etc.  So Barney did exactly the same thing again,
but he borrowed an actress's handbag, slung it over one arm, and did the walk
with exaggerated hip-swaying, mincing and sashaying across the floor, which
of course changed the un-radio visual, but not the sound one iota.

THAT'S IT!  cried the director.  The entire cast of radio veterans broke up
and applauded, and the guy never had a clue why.

Thanks for the great years of our friendship, Barney.  We shall miss you, but
you will remain with us to our ends.  We just know you'll be breaking us up,
as we come toward you in that great Studio 8-H in the sky.

Charlotte and Lee Munsick

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:37:56 -0500
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Mr Keen

Does anybody recall that the inscrutable Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons
also had a well-hidden first name?  While you never heard it on the air, he
was "born" with a given name besides "boss," "kindly old investigator,"
"kindly old tracer," "eminent" and "famous."  Do you know what it was?

You can also find it by looking up the original novel by Robert W.
Chambers, which I believe is in the public domain and thus on the
Internet. His name was Westral.

Jim Widner

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:37:43 -0500
From: stevenl751@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Barney Beck
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Barney died Jan 30 at the age of 85.   For those who attended our convention
10 or more years ago, you will remember Barney as a fine sound man and good
friend.

Barney was a good man and a good friend to the Gotham Radio Players in our
early days.  Much of what I know about sound effect technique I learned from
him and Terry Ross.  It was always a pleasure to see him and work with him at
FOTR, and we've missed him in the years since.  To me he will always be one
of the icons of the golden age of radio.  Our performace at FOTR this October
will be dedicated to his memory, with thanks and fondness.

Steve Lewis

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Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 12:13:35 -0500
From: Al Lingley <fpdw3@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: The original Lone Ranger discs?
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Ken Greenwald wrote:

Please, someone, tell me how Terry Salomonson can have the original
discs ----

It probably depends on how one defines original recordings.

  I have a stack of 16 and 17 inch lacquer Lone Ranger recordings from the
early 1950's.
Engraved in the lacquer and also typewritten on the sleeve are the program
number, date, time, and matrix numbers that look like RCA Victor numbering
codes.  Also typwritten on the sleeve is a copyright notice.

  I would guess that these are possibly line recordings made for RCA
pressings.
  Could these be called original recordings? Yes.  Are they studio masters?
Probably not.

  - Al

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 13:14:03 -0500
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Alan Reed

Jason Loviglio inquires:

Does anyone out there know much about the life and career of Alan
Reed--best known as Fred Flintstone on TV?
He played "Shrevie" on The Shadow and many other radio parts. I'd be
grateful if anyone can point me in the direction
of any information about his career on the radio.

Ah yes, Jason and other interested parties, you'll find no fewer than 23
column inches of intricate details on this busy actor and announcer (born
Teddy Bergman) in my just released text, "Radio Speakers," a compendium of
almost 1200 entertainers.  Order from [removed] or 800-253-2187.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 15:34:26 -0500
From: "Grant & Sally Shorten" <shorten@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Three OTR questions

Hi gang,

Wasn't the theme song for  "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons" , "Somewhere
I'll find you" ?

Does anyone have bio info on Paul Hughes the gruff, unmistakable voice of so
many characters on "The Lone Ranger" radio series. I remember hearing this
voice over and over when I was a youngster and always wondered who he was.
Thanks to Walden who told me Paul had an egg farm near the mansion studio
and would supply the actors with eggs.

I lived in Mason, Ohio, north of Cincinnati, home of the 500,000 watt, WLW
transmitter. Another claim to fame was that there is a Boop family who are
long time residents. They have always claimed there was a contest for the
name of the character being developed and someone in the family sent in a
picture of aunt Betty and suggested her name. Does anyone have knowledge of
the origin of Betty Boop which verifies or dispels this? If you saw the Boop
family you would see the similarity.

Thanks,

Grant
Carlsbad CA

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 15:37:44 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  I Love A Mystery and MP3s

Travis commented:

Tonight I discovered that the date attributed to one of the circulating
Mutual episodes of "Murder Is The Word For It" is incorrect.  The episode
attributed to 12-19-51 is actually 12-20-51, per the Mutual scripts.

That is very likely and Travis is expert enough to tell the difference, so
it would wise for anyone who has that recording to change the date
accordingly.  When I read all of the I LOVE A MYSTERY scripts years ago, and
composed a plot description for every episode, I suspected a couple
recordings in circulation were mis-dated.  This is very common with any
radio program in serial form.  Unless the disc the recording originated has
a date attatched, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact date.  In Morse's
"STAIRWAY TO THE SUN" serial, which was broadcast from June 7, 1943 to July
16, 1943, (the first serial Morse started suffering from writers cramp),
Jack Packard, Doc Long, Dr. Karl Haugemann and his daughters Frieda and
Gretchen spend 15 of the episodes exploring jungles of Venezuela to reach
the top of a pre-historic plateau.  Unless I turned to the scripts myself,
almost any episode of those 15 could easily be mistaken for any of the 15
broadcast dates, since the plot didn't vary much during those three weeks.
it could be narrowed down a bit, but that's still a task.

Travis also commented:

Interesting that a lot of dialog seems to have been chopped out of the
broadcasts compared to the scripts, at least on 2 Mutual eps I've listened
to while reading along.

Morse wrote his scripts like most script writers.  He wrote more than could
actually be broadcast, as it's easier to delete lines and whole or partial
scenes rather than add more material.  Actors could ad-lib and change lines
during rehearsals and read-thrus, but those were brief passages.  It was the
job of script writers to write more material than was needed so when the
drama was timed, the script could be trimmed.

Travis closed with:

And people probably already knew this, but to clear up any confusiion
-  some of the mp3s floating around of ILAM are completely mislabeled, such
as "Blood On the Cat".  No audio is known of that, as well as some other
"lost" storylines mistakenly listed in some mp3 collections.

The explanation is simple: it's the same reason why 106 episodes were
recorded and broadcast of HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL and MP3s offered by vendors
on-line still prefer to sell discs containing 130+ episodes, each with a
different title (and not surprisingly, why only 106 of the 130+ have
broadcast dates).  I met a man last year who started making an effort of
cleaning up MP3s he was buying at conventions and from vendors on-line.  He
would download the material in his computer and rename the files so they had
the correct broadcast dates and correct script titles, and then reauthor the
material on a blank disc so he could have a better collection.

Like many authors of OTR out there, I too research and compose broadcast
logs in hopes that collectors would clean up the mess.  True, some shows
like HAVE GUN never had on-air titles, so we were all stuck with what title
and airdate was assigned to each recording.  But within the past few years,
a number of authors have compiled logs with more accurate information.
After all, if a broadcast log that lists the date and time of when an
episode was recorded, as well as broadcast, and cites the original scripts
as their source, claims the fourth episode of a series is entitled "The
Paper Hanger" when tons of other collectors have been labeling the episode
"Hanging with a Thief," I would assume that the more accurate and detailed
log should be used to confirm the title, [removed] "The Paper Hanger."

When I wrote THE I LOVE A MYSTERY COMPANION, I composed plot descriptions
for each and every episode broadcast, hoping that if any lost recordings
were ever discovered, and a broadcast date could not be determined, the log
in the book would be used to help clarify the episode's exact title and
airdate.  Thankfully, Travis has done us a service with his discovery.  I
just wish MP3s would be reauthored more often to be accurate.  I would also
like to know where and how existing MP3s in circulation are continuing to
add more titles that are merely duplicate episodes.  I've seen HAVE GUN WILL
TRAVEL discs with more than 130 episodes and will still be scratching my
head when, next year, no doubt, I will be seeing vendors selling 140
episodes of that series.

Or . . . when someone buys an MP3 from a vendor containing 50 episodes of a
series do they actually go back to the same vendor years later when the
vendor has a revised disc of the same series, containing 70 episodes?
Especially when only 45 episodes are known to exist and the additional 20
some episodes on the revised discs are duplicate episodes with alternate
titles?

Martin Grams Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 20:01:34 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Alan Reed

On Thursday, February 1, 2007, at 08:45 AM, Jason Loviglio of Univ of
MD wrote:

Does anyone out there know much about the life and career of Alan
Reed-- I'd be grateful if anyone can point me in the direction
of any information about his career on the radio.

OK, Jason, I'm [removed] Jim Cox's latest book, "Radio Speakers"
(McFarland, 2007) It certainly contains the radio career of Theodore
Alan Reed (aka Teddy Bergman) in the greatest detail thus far in print.
Jim devotes nearly two full pages to this prodigious OTR star.

And if the University of Maryland doesn't have this book, they should
have.

NOT THE USUAL DISCLAIMER: :  I respect my pal, JIm Cox, and admire his
tremendous talent  (and I've always suspected he feels the same about
me.)

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>

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

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 21:28:09 -0500
From: "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  BARNEY BECK
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I was at the Newark convention taking photos when I saw Barney
setting up the
some of his equipment. I said we have one of these
conventions in Cincinnati.
He said without looking up, "I'm available".
I later ask him how he was going
to get all his stuff to Cincinnati, and
he said he would have a van by then.
The next year we became a real convention with Barney doing
the sound, and
Don Ramlow doing the directing.
Each year his sound effect skills plus his
sense of humor made his
workshops on sound very entertaining. It was always
a pleasure
to have Barney around.
Bob Burchett

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Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 21:28:40 -0500
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Nightbeat -- and the [removed]

I am looking for better copies of "Nightbeat" with Frank Lovejoy.  Most of
the ones I have are from "Golden Age of Radio Theater" with Victor Ives and
have breaks for commercials, etc.  Does anyone have shows they want to
trade?  You can see my catalog by going [removed]

    [removed]

There are chapters in books like "Words at War" and others telling something
of the "red scare" after WW II.  "I was a Communist for the FBI" is the
program that comes to mind.  Are there others that consider the "Communist
threat"?   Did "David Harding, Counterspy" deal with the Communists?

I do have the movie audio of the Army-McCarthy hearings, the Bob and Ray
parody of those hearings in Skunk Hollow, and the CBC version called "The
Investigator."

Ted Kneebone / 1528 S. Grant St. / Aberdeen, SD 57401
[removed]~stmarkch/

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #37
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