------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2005 : Issue 386
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
That Story Again ... [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
Hi-Yo ... [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@j ]
Re: "It's a Wonderful Life" on Lux R [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
"And who, disguised [removed]" [ Wich2@[removed] ]
Re: A&A Rehearsing for Trial Episode [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Mad Masters [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]
New Transcription Sales Newsletter [ "HARLAN ZINCK" <zharlan@[removed]; ]
New Burns & Allen film [ Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed]; ]
Re: streaming bit rates [ doug <doug@[removed]; ]
Re: Print Through [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
Re: Jean Shepherd and the Case of th [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Re: Jack Armstrong [ Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed]; ]
[removed] Upgrades and [removed] [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
The American Way [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed] ]
Burns Will LOOK UP IN THE SKY for Si [ "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@earthli ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 20:27:56 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: That Story Again ...
Kenneth Clarke, speaking of "A Christmas Story," notes,
I must have another Christmas story in mind. The one I remember had a
little boy asking Santa for a Red Ryder BB Gun. Obviously, it was a
different story.
Au contraire! Besides getting an Orphan Annie Decoder Pin, Ralphie was
also lusting after a Red Ryder Carbine. His dad got a "work of art" in a
lamp shaped like a woman's leg. There were lots of incidents in the
film. The only reason I concentrated on the "decoded" message was that
the thing was bogus.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 20:22:51 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr" <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Hi-Yo ...
Jim Harmon, writing about "A Christmas Story," observed,
There is a scene in which someone proposes a hard-to-answer question
about radio. The question is: "What is the name of the Lone Ranger's
nephew's horse?"
My memory's a tad hazy, but I think there was a contest to name the
horse, who was Silver's son. (I hadn't known that Silver was even
dating.) Anyway, the horse was named Victor. However, will any real
Lone Ranger expert tell me: didn't that whole Dan Reid and Victor thing
get broadcast after World War II? If so in the film, it's an
anachronism, as the film was supposed to be set in 1940.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:16:32 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: "It's a Wonderful Life" on Lux Radio
Theatre
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In a message dated 12/15/05 5:19:01 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Why was this change made? Was it because radio
was not a visual medium and the sound of a bell would be easier to explain
than the sight of a few rose petals? Was the original version on radio and
the changes were made for the movie?
You may have the "Lux Radio Theatre" version that I have, and yes, George
Bailey has a bell from Zuzu instead of petals. It post-dates the movie for
sure;
the movie came out in 1946 and the Lux version was the following year,
according to the date I have. I always presumed that yes, the bell made a
better
match for an audio medium, and could easily fit the whole "angel gets his
wings"
thing. The petals were always visual, and I'm sure it would've eaten up
valuable time, not to mention sounded lame, if Jimmy Stewart were heard
muttering
under his breath, "Hmmm, I'll just put these petals in my pocket and she'll
think they're part of the flower. Mmmm--there we [removed]"
Dixon
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Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:40:07 -0500
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "And who, disguised [removed]"
From: "Jim Harmon" _jimharmonotr@[removed]_
(mailto:jimharmonotr@[removed])
Apparently, the "fake" star turns that did get on the air were, at least,
not illegal in those days. Perhaps other Digest subscribers have other
examples
I've heard stories from several sources, that Hans Conreid filled in for an
(*ahem*) "ailing" Jack Barrymore, on occasion.
In February, BearManor will release "It's That Time Again -- New Stories
of Old Time Radio -- Vol. 3" edited by me, Jim Harmon, with three stories by
me ... and others, some familiar to readers of these columns
(Or even, perhaps in some eyes, "too familiar?" Did my forward make the cut?)
Order yours in advance from BearManor to be the first kid on the block to
get yours!
Is the public shaming I'm herewith doing of you, and Ben, enough extortion
for me to get a comp?
Merry merry,
-Craig Wichman
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 22:55:25 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: A&A Rehearsing for Trial Episode
On 12/15/05 6:20 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
I have 2 versions of the July 2, 1929 episode Rehearsing For Trial (aka
Getting Ready for Court). The first (which is misdated) has about one minute
of theme at the beginning, then the announcer says "Here we are". It
ends with one minute of theme, then "This is Bill Hayes bidding you all
good [removed](?) to you all."
The second version has no theme music.
Is this theme music and Bill Hayes speaking authentic or added on by some
collector?
No theme music was used on any of the syndicated A&A episodes. The use of
a musical theme began only with the series' move to NBC in August of 1929.
The Bill Hay "Here they are" and closing are goat-gland jobs. They were
actually clipped out of an interview Bill did in the 1970s -- it's his
voice, but not authentic to 1929. What he's saying in this clip is "Good
night --and good nicht t'ye all," a bit of Scots dialect which was never
part of his standard A&A closing, but which he did use in his signoffs at
KFKX in Hastings, Nebraska during the mid-twenties, and which he carried
over to his "Auld Sandy" song-and-storyteller program on WMAQ during the
latter part of the twenties and into the thirties.
The syndicated A&A programs of 1928-29 were recorded and distributed with
no introductory or concluding comments on the discs at all. The announcer
lead-ins were sent on cue sheets along with each shipment of discs, to be
read live by a local announcer at each subscribing station. Bill Hay did
the announcing over WMAQ thruout the syndication period, but wasn't heard
nationally until the series went to NBC.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:17:48 -0500
From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Mad Masters
Andrew Steinberg wrote:
The show that Irene Heinstein refers to "Mad Masters" must be a different
show. She lists the premiere as 7/12/47 - 8:30 Premiere - program listed as
30 minutes w/Tony Freeman Orchestra, Paul Waltie, Tenor
Those Mad Masters was a situation comedy originating on the West Coast.
Mad Masters appears to be some type of musical program.
Andrew,
I apologize for not mentioning that the radio listing for 'Mad Masters' was
identified as comedy, starring Monty and Natalie Masters. Just like many
other programs of the time, [removed] Fibber McGee & Molly, Burns and Allen,
Jack Benny, there were musical interludes But the program I'm discussing
is identified as a comedy program, not a musical program and its stars were
Monty and Natalie Masters. I did an archival search to see if I could
find an earlier version of the program from KPO where it would have
originated, but was not able to find another mention of the show pre-NBC.
Irene
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:31:48 -0500
From: "HARLAN ZINCK" <zharlan@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: New Transcription Sales Newsletter
Hello!
The First Generation Radio Archives deals with a great many radio
transcription disks - mostly 16" lacquer and vinyl recordings, though other
types of disks come our way as well. Once we get them safely cleaned,
cataloged, and transferred into the digital realm, we usually sell them off
to raise funds so we can buy more.
Over the past few years, we have offered disks via eBay -- and our auctions
have, for the most part, been very successful. However, despite our success,
posting auctions on eBay is a time-consuming and often rather pricey process
and, with so many disks to sell, our eBay sales have hardly made a dent in
our inventory.
So, to expedite things, we're starting a new e-mail sales newsletter in
January of next year. It will be a very simple thing -- a "pretty-much
monthly" newsletter listing a variety of disks for sale, along with postage
and payment instructions. If you're a disk collector, or just someone who
might want a transcription or two to hang on the wall, you'll want to send
an e-mail to mailto:director@[removed] and request that your e-mail
address be added to the subscription list.
In most cases, the transcriptions offered will be one-of-a-kind items and
will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. If you sign up for a
subscription, you'll want to watch your in-box on or about January 10th for
the first mailing, and then get your orders in ASAP to avoid disappointment.
Thanks!
Harlan Zinck
First Generation Radio Archives
"Preserving Radio's Past for the Future"
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:32:09 -0500
From: Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: New Burns & Allen film
God only knows (appropriately) how they got financing for it, but
there's a new film called ANGELS WITH ANGLES starring Frank Gorshin
as George Burns--attempting to reunite with Gracie Allen in heaven.
It opens in [removed] 12/16.
Jordan R. Young
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:33:09 -0500
From: doug <doug@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: streaming bit rates
Jim Widner wrote:
My wife is an almost fanatical listener to BBC Radio 7 and records them
regularly. We often listen back to them and they are fine. We use Total
Recorder and save them at about 192 kbits. If you are saving them at a
lower bitrate, then it is entirely possible you'll get bad quality
recordings.
I think most streamcasts run at 128kbps or lower to conserve bandwidth. I
don't know about BBC7, but you might want to check on that to be sure you
aren't wasting space by recording at 192.
Doug Leary
Seattle
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:00:51 -0500
From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Print Through
At 06:21 PM 12/15/2005, you wrote:
Jim Widner asked:
Is there anyway to clean up the sound coming from an old reel tape that
is experiencing the "print through" effect? That is, can this somehow
be removed or minimized to the point of near extinction?
Way back in the 1950's someone came up with a way of using a very low
power magnetic to remove print through. I remember reading about it
in one of the Audio Engineering Journals.
Fred
Check us out for old time radio & TV shows & Movie Serials
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:01:48 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jean Shepherd and the Case of the Stolen
Line
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In a message dated 12/15/05 5:19:01 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
I have another beef with that film and I presume the original book by Jean
Shepherd, although I have never read it.
There is a scene in which someone proposes a hard-to-answer question
about
radio. The question is: "What is the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's
horse?"
I first made up that question, and the line was stolen from me.
It may just be in the movie. I have the book "In God We Trust All Others Pay
Cash," and I don't remember, and can't find, that line in the book. It's
actually a collection of short stories, and "A Christmas Story" was adapted
from
various stories in that book. Most of it comes from the opening chapter,
"Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid," which deals
with
Ralphie hoping for a BB gun for Christmas. (This one originally appeared in
Playboy after Shepherd read it on his radio show.)
Another chapter, "My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award That Heralded
the Birth of Pop Art," deals with the newspaper quiz and the leg-shaped lamp
he
won, but makes no mention of the Lone Ranger, or his nephew or nephew's
horse. (This story probably came straight from Shepherd's radio show.) Bits
and
pieces of the movie came from other stories; the bit about the neighbors' dogs
invading the family kitchen actually took place on Easter and involved a ham,
and came from a story about a group of hillbillies. A few bits were made up
just for the movie, including the part where Flick gets his tongue frozen to
the
lamppost. Still, I believe Shepherd and his then-wife Leigh adapted the
screenplay.
Dixon
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:02:15 -0500
From: Fred Berney <fsberney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Jack Armstrong
At 06:21 PM 12/15/2005, you wrote:
I hope some of you on the list can help. A friend of mine is looking for some
copies of Jack Armstrong for her grandfather, as it was his favorite show as
a boy. Does anybody have any recommendations of dealers that sell good
quality copies? I'm not a big Jack Armstrong fan myself, so I wasn't sure
where to send her.
Jay Sweet asked about Jack Armstrong. I have one excellent show
that I recorded directly from a transcription disc I had many years
ago. I also have 102 shows in MP3 format that I purchased from a
dealer a while back. I have not listened to these shows, so I don't
know the quality.
I've already written to Jay about this, but if anyone else is
interested in these shows, please email me and I'll check out the
quality. In MP3 format they all are on one CD.
I don't normally deal in MP3, but I was interested in seeing what
this dealer had.
Fred
Check us out for old time radio & TV shows & Movie Serials
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 10:38:02 -0500
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: [removed] Upgrades and [removed]
Folks;
I've been busy as a little beaver over the last few weeks, taking care of
boatloads of things I should have handled long before now. It's a good
feeling to be catching up, although I doubt I'll ever actually _be_ ahead of
the [removed] ;)
Anyway, I wanted to brag a [removed] [removed] you all know
about some of the changes happening in our little corner of the Web. First
off, as you should know, the first Digest distribution of OTR has taken
place, with rousing success! The "rush" is over, but I'm going to leave the
torrent running until shortly after Christmas so if you haven't pulled the
ZIP file containing over thirty-five of Norman Corwin programs, hit
[removed] - and much thanks to the "seeders" who
downloaded the show early and left their downlaod window open. It saves
bandwidth on the [removed] server while making downlaods faster for
everyone - folks, my great thanks!
The Forums at The Nostalgia Pages have moved, been upgraded, with the
underlying software changed. If you haven't stopped by lately, check out the
changes at [removed] (the old
[removed] URL still works, too); posters need
to register for a free account (just to keep out the spam)...so you know,
_all_ messages posted to the forums, over the five years or so they've been
in operation, are _all_ available and searchable, including Stewart Wright's
series of "Repeat Myths" on the Gunsmoke forum. And if there's an Old-Time
Radio, Modern Audio Drama, or Nostalgic Television program not there that
you'd like to chat about with other fans, drop me a note and we'll see if we
can get it added!
The Nostalgic Rumblings blog has been updated, too, but it still has its
minimal design, allowing the _browser_ to select the font and font [removed]
won't find any three-point gotta-squint-to-read type on there like most blogs
nowadays. As to whether or not the content is worth reading, well, that has
to be your determination. Check it out at [removed] and
don't forget to register there and post comments about _my_ comments,
especially when I stray away from OTR [removed] breakfasts? And after the
upgrade, there's even a little space available on the [removed] server
for additional [removed]
And speaking of forums, the discussion forum for XM Satellite Radio's The
Bob Edwards Show is up and running, with a searchable database of _all_
guests on the program from the very beginning. It was this forum that was
used as a test platform for the Nostalgia Pages Forums, and we're well
pleased with the ease of operation and navigation. Check it out at
[removed] - although discussing contemporary radio, Edwards
continues the great tradition of quality interviews with heads of state,
authors, entertainers, and the off-beat. THe Edwards Show will also be heard
in the new year on a terrestrial public radio station near you, repackaged as
Bob Edwards Weekend. (And don't miss the "XM Equipment/Service Deals" forum,
where registered users can find out about some amazing deals - right now, a
brand-spankin'-new RoadyXT is _free_ with the secret code and three months
service pre-pay!
*Whew* I'm ready to take a nap after getting all that done in the last few
[removed] I can't, since there's lots more to do. I have some new
fundraiser discs I need to add to the store at [removed]
(although I will probably wait until after Christmas, since I think we're
_all_ shopped-out right about now!), and some other ideas for ways to provide
support and fun to Old-Time Radio hobbists. If there's anything _you'd_ like
to see The Nostalgia Pages provide, drop me a note; I'm always willing to
provide some space and bandwidth on the machine for OTR-friendly stuff!
Charlie
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 12:56:52 -0500
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The American Way
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I was listening to an episode of the American Way from Oct 1, 1953, and
comparing it with the script for the show at [removed] and I saw
that the winner of the musical competition on the show was in the script. Can
anyone confirm that the scripts for the show are actually transcripts of the
show as broadcast?
Visit [removed] for OTR program title and date corrections
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 13:39:01 -0500
From: "joe@[removed]" <sergei01@[removed];
To: "OTR List" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Burns Will LOOK UP IN THE SKY for Singer
I hope they spend at least a little time on the radio version of the
[removed]
According to Variety,
- ----
Bryan Singer has set documentary director Kevin Burns to direct the
film LOOK UP IN THE SKY: THE AMAZING STORY OF SUPERMAN.
Burns and Singer will executive produce the feature length project,
which they hope to get a theatrical release for via Warner Bros. and
even show it possibly on TV before SUPERMAN RETURNS opens.
Singer told the Hollywood Reporter, "I have such an admiration for
the evolution of the character and what Superman has represented over
nearly eight decades. I wanted a document that respects the legacy
and the collective consciousness of Superman."
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #386
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