Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #183
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 7/5/2006 10:18 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2006 : Issue 183
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig  [ charlie@[removed] ]
      WTIC's "Golden Age of Radio" and "On  [ "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
      The faceless woman on the screen      [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
      7-5 births/deaths                     [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
      Latitude Zero                         [ ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen) ]
      Re: First Day of Commercial Televisi  [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
      Re: Early Commercial TV               [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      CBS RMT book                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      CBRMT Handbook dust jacket            [ Rodney Bowcock <pasttense_78@yahoo. ]
      Single detectives                     [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]

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

    Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 02:12:00 -0400
    From: charlie@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!

    A weekly [removed]

    For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
    Network, the channel name is #OldRadio.  We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
    and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
    over nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
    of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
    real-time OTR talk!

    Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
    others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
    range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
    it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
    it's always a good time!

    For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
    week and every week!

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:29:42 +0000
    From: "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  WTIC's "Golden Age of Radio" and "One
      Night Stand with the Big Bands"

    The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
    and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
    with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].

    Each week we feature three complete shows in MP3 format
    for your listening pleasure or for downloading; two "Golden
    Age of Radios" and one "One Night Stand." We present new
    shows every week or so. The current three programs will be
    available on line at least until the morning of July 10, 2006.

    Program 56 - November, 1974 - Virginia Graham

    After beginning her career in radio during the 1930s Under the
    pseudonym Virginia Gotham, she wrote the soap operas Stella
    Dallas, based on the novels by Olive Higgins Prouty (1882-
    1974), and Backstage Wife. She was the host of "Weekday" on radio. She
    later starred in a number of TV shows, including
    "The City", "Texas" and "Where Was I?" Her filmography includes The Perils
    of [removed] (1986) and Slapstick (Of Another
    Kind) (1983). Ms. Graham was one of the co-founders of the
    Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

    Program 57 - December, 1974 - Christmas Stories on the Radio

    Christmas Stories tended to be repeated year after year on radio
    and became a memorable part of that era. We'll hear the stories
    of and excerpts from "Grand Central Station," "The Couple Next
    Door," and Fred Allen's memorable Christmas show about Santa's elves going
    on strike.
    "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold Dean

    The New York Jazz Museum - May, 1973

    Have you ever heard of the New York Jazz Museum? Most people have not. Yet
    between 1972 and 1977 it was the most
    significant institution for jazz in the world!
    It was situated in its own two-story building in mid-town Manhattan and had
    a small staff, an archive that eventually
    numbered about 25,000 items and extensive programs in New York City and
    beyond. Some of the programs won awards and most of them were received with
    widespread
    acclaim in the media and from jazz fans.

    An extended power struggle ensued that eventually caused
    the Museum's demise. Entangled in the fatal conflagration was the "Jazz
    Fraternity," which included the most prominent names in jazz - musicians,
    producers, writers,
    artists, et al.

    In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
    the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
    and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
    Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
    Big Bands."

    Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
    Ed Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
    and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
    with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
    from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
    Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970; Ed was
    Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
    of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
    Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.

    Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band era in his pre-teen
    years and his decision to study the clarinet was inspired by the style of
    Artie Shaw.
    When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program
    of big band music. In 1971, encouraged by the success
    of his daily program and "The Golden Age of Radio" series, he began monthly
    shows featuring interviews
    with the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters,
    etc. who made major contributions to one of the great
    eras of music history.

    Bob Scherago
    Webmaster

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:29:51 +0000
    From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The faceless woman on the screen

    We have solved the mystery of the detective's faceless wife:<

     > He was married,but you never saw the wife's
     > face. All you saw were her hands

    A Brass Fig Newton to all those who identified Rocky King on the DuMont
    Network.

    There's another instance of "hands-on" acting on TV and it has a good OTR
    connection.
    In 1951 Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding came to NBC television Bob & Ray were
    well-established in radio with their multiple voice characterizations and
    they carried this effectively to visual radio. Ray did most of the female
    voices and when he had to appear on screen as Mary Margaret Mc Goon all you
    saw was an apron and two hands. He could have been dressed up with a wig
    and some earrings but there would still be a problem. Ray had a mustache.

    It was during the early moments one of Bob and Ray's live TV shows, while
    both were full-face on the screen, that a man suddenly appeared, took Ray
    by the arm and led him off with a remark like, "let's go to the barber
    shop." When Ray reappeared a few minutes later the mustache was gone.

    Bob & Ray's career continued mostly on radio but I don't believe the facial
    foliage ever grew back.

    -- Bill Jaker

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:00 +0000
    From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  7-5 births/deaths

    July 5th births

    07-05-1879 - Wanda Landowska - Warsaw, Poland - d. 8-16-1959
    harpsichordist: "New York Philharmonic"
    07-05-1898 - Richard P. Condie - d. 12-22-1985
    director mormon tabernacle choir: "Music and the Spoken Word"
    07-05-1899 - Tim Ryan - Bayonne, NJ - d. 10-22-1956
    actor: "Tim and Irene Show"
    07-05-1903 - Hester Sondergaard - Minnesota - d. 2-26-1994
    actor: (Sister of Gale Sondergaard) "Columbia Presents Corwin";
    "Studio One"
    07-05-1904 - Don Goddard - Binghamton, NY - d. unknown
    news commentator: "The Goodyear Rubber Company's Farm Radio News"
    07-05-1905 - John Abbott - London, England - d. 5-24-1996
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
    07-05-1908 - Don Dunphy - NYC - d. 7-22-1998
    boxing play-by-play broadcaster: "Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn
    6-18-1941"; "Navy Relief Program"
    07-05-1911 - Richard Newton - Vancouver, Canada - d. 1-13-2006
    actor: "Now Hear This"
    07-05-1921 - Mort Fega - d. 1-21-2005
    long time jazz disc jockey in New York
    07-05-1930 - Tommy Cook - Duluth, MN
    actor: Little Beaver "Red Ryder"; Alexander Busmtead "Blondie"
    07-05-1934 - Katherine Helmond - Galveston, TX
    actor: [removed] Theatre Works "Night Mother"
    07-05-1936 - Shirley Knight - Goessel, KS
    Sang with the Horace Heidt Orchestra on Wichita Radio at the age of 8

    July 5th deaths

    01-01-1919 - Carole Landis - Fairchild, WI - d. 7-5-1948
    actor: "Warner Brothers Academy Award"; "Command Performance"
    01-16-1924 - Katy Jurado - Guadalajara, Mexico - d. 7-5-2002
    actor: "George Fisher Interviews the Stars"
    01-19-1905 - Anne Hummert - Baltimore, MD - d. 7-5-1996
    producer: "Backstage Wife"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
    01-25-1901 - Mildred Dunnock - Baltimore, MD - d. 7-5-1991
    actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
    03-15-1916 - Harry James - Albany, GA - d. 7-5-1983
    bandleader: "Spotlight Bands"; "Call for Music"
    05-26-1911 - Ben Alexander - Goldfield, NV - d. 7-5-1969
    actor: Frank Smith "Dragnet"; Bashful Ben "Great Gildersleeve"
    08-30-1918 - Ted Williams, San Diego, CA - d. 7-5-2002
    baseball superstar: Several interview shows
    10-03-1898 - Leo McCarey - Los Angeles, CA - d. 7-5-1969
    judge: "This Is My Story"
    12-08-1915 - Ernest Lehman - NYC - d. 7-5-2005
    writer: "Forecast"
    12-25-1914 - Peter Kalischer - d. 7-5-1992
    news correspondent: "Muhammed Ali vs. Sonny Liston"

    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Home state of Don Stanley
    Stoughton, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:08 +0000
    From: ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen)
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Latitude Zero

     From the last issue of the OTR Digest:

     > I've just listened to the first episode of Latitude Zero, a 1941 SF
     > adventure series. Unfortunately, it may be the only one I'll ever
     > hear.  According to John Dunning's ON THE AIR, "nearly all we know about
     > this series comes from one surviving disc". However, this series ran from
     > Feb 11 to Sept27, 1941 so there could possibly be some additional episodes
     > out there somewhere.  Does anyone here know of any?  How about the scripts?
     > Do they survive anywhere?
     >
     > Curt Phillips

          I've asked this here on the list before, got no replies - so,
    evidently there are no surviving episodes or scripts.  The audition episode
    sure does set a great pace: adventure, mystery, science [removed] cool.
          BUT - out on one of my nostalic convention searches, on the bootleg
    dvd table, I found a movie titled "Latitude Zero".  The fellow running the
    booth didn't know anything about it other than the badly translated text on
    the back of the case.

          "Latitude Zero! An action-packed sci-fi spectacle!  Three scientists
    and a journalist venture deep into the sea exploring an underwater jet
    stream when an underwater volcano erupts and throws their research vehicle
    far away from the mother boat.  Amazingly, a good-looking couple in
    Flippers comes by and rescue the stranded explorers.  But how can this
    be?  They're thousands of fathoms below the surface of the Pacific!  It
    seems that manking has been no outer space, that we've neglected no
    investigate our own oceans.  Far beneath the surface there is an advanced
    undersea kingdom, Latitude Zero, run by a community of benevolent
    geniuses.  But there is a snake in the grass, the evil Malic (Cesar Romero)
    and Lucretia (Patricia MEdina).  They're determined to destroy Latitude
    Zero, the only thing standing between them and world domination!" (sic)

          This was one of those 1960's Japanese-American joint movie ventures:
    directed by Inoshiro (Godzilla) Honda, music by Akira (Godzilla) Ifukube,
    starring Joseph Cotten (!), Cesar Romero, Richard Jaeckel, and Patricia
    Medina.  This 1969 movie was co-written by, and based on the story
    "Latitiude Zero" by Ted Sherdeman.  Hmmmmmm!
          Overall, the movie is not really that bad - it's also not really that
    [removed] are pretty dated and mediocre, the dialogue is stunted, the
    acting wooden (sigh)...
          My guess is that the serial radio adventure was used as the basis for
    the movie, that's why it seems so broken-up, and doesn't have quite the
    story arc connection that most movies have.
          I can picture a few of the better parts of this movie done as radio
    adventure, and think that they would have been [removed] image that my
    mind would conjure up of a person's brain being transplanted into the body
    of a winged lion, the beast growing larger and larger, flying around
    attacking everyone, tearing them apart, dropping their corpses from midair
    to smash to bits on the rocks [removed] MUCH better than what any movie
    would show, let alone this rather tepid venture.
          I'm still hoping for some recordings or scripts to show up, I'm sure
    that this show was a real humdinger.
          Anybody out there remember the show?  Let's see, you'd probably be
    about 75 or 80 years [removed](sigh)...
          I'll keep hoping for some scripts to show [removed]

    Stephen Jansen

    --
    Old Time Radio never dies - it just changes formats!

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:55 +0000
    From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: First Day of Commercial Television

    On 7/4/2006, George Tirebiter wrote:

     > Russ Butler asks about programming on NBC on the first day of commercial
     > broadcasting, 7/1/41. Every source I see says a version of TRUTH OR
     > CONSEQUENCES was [removed];nbsp; I believe this was a specially made for TV
     > version, not a simulcast of the radio show, but perhaps someone will
     > correct me. Does anyone know what else (if anything) was broadcast that day?

    See the entries for July 1, 1941 on
    [removed]

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:13 +0000
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Early Commercial TV

    On 7/5/06 12:18 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

     >Russ Butler asks about programming on NBC on the first day of commercial
     >broadcasting, 7/1/41.  Every source I see says a version of TRUTH OR
     >CONSEQUENCES was telecast.  I believe this was a specially made for TV
     >version, not a simulcast of the radio show, but perhaps someone will
     >correct me.  Does anyone know what else (if anything) was broadcast that day?

    The NBC schedule for the first night of *paid* commercial programming was
    --

    1. Lowell Thomas News (Sun Oil)
    2. Uncle Jim's Question Bee (Lever Bros -- Spry)
    3. Truth or Consequences (Lever Bros -- Ivory Soap)

    The evening began with a spot announcement for Bulova watches -- a tight
    shot of a watch face with no voiceover. Other spot ads that evening were
    for Botany ties (a series of art cards featuring the cartoon lambs then
    featured in Botany's print ads) and Adam hats (a slow camera pan of a
    simulated window display of the sponsor's product.)

    Audio recordings of the evening's programming exist at the Library of
    Congress, but no visual recordings exist.

     >Of course, that was the beginning of COMMERCIAL television.  NBC started TV
     >as a regular service on 4/30/39 with the opening ceremonies for the 1939-40
     >World's Fair.  Just think, if you were one of the few people lucky enough
     >to have a TV set then you could have watched for 26 months before you saw
     >your first commercial.

    There had been experimental, non-paid advertising on television as far
    back as 1930. NBC's earliest non-paid commercials may have been those
    seen in the first major league baseball game ever telecast, a game
    between Brooklyn and Cincinnati, on 8/26/39. In order to secure the
    rights to show the game, NBC allowed each of the Dodgers' regular radio
    sponsors at the time to have one commercial during the telecast, and
    these were done by Dodger announcer Red Barber. For Ivory Soap, he held
    up a bar of the product, for Mobilgas he put on a
    filling-station-attendant's cap while giving his spiel, and for Wheaties
    he poured a bowl of the product, added milk and bananas, and took a big
    spoonful.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:26 +0000
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CBS RMT book

    Frank asked:

     > I'm a newcomer to the email list and am enjoying it tremendously.  I do
     > have a request to anyone out there who might have the dust jacket for the
     > CBSRMT Handbook by Martin Grams Jr and Gordon Payton.  I noticed that
     > Martin Grams Jr is a frequent visitor here.  I have the book but am
     > missing the dust jacket.

    Sorry Frank, the publishing company, McFarland, never had a dust jacket
    made just as they never made a dust jacket for most of their other
    hardcover books.  Though in recent years they have begun putting images on
    the cover of their books as they discovered it helps increase sales.

    Martin
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:39 +0000
    From: Rodney Bowcock <pasttense_78@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CBRMT Handbook dust jacket
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

     > I do have a request to anyone out there who might have the dust jacket for
     > the CBSRMT Handbook by Martin Grams Jr and Gordon Payton.  I noticed that
     > Martin Grams Jr is a frequent visitor here.  I have the book but am
     > missing the dust jacket.

       This book, like most hardcover books published by McFarland does not
    have a dust jacket.  Perhaps you could create one yourself using the design
    from the currently in print paperback version, but I'm not sure.

       Rodney

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

    Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:32:00 +0000
    From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Single detectives
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    What about "Candy Matson"?  She played house with Detective Ray Mallard
    until he finally got wise, got promoted, and proposed.  What about Jane
    Sherlock?
    She did all of her sleuthing while fiance Peter Blossom proposed.  I wouldn't
    be
    surprised if he dumped her.  What about "Mr. and Mrs. North" or "The Adv.
    of The Thin Man"?  Both of these couples (Pam and Jerry North as well as Nick
    and
    Nora Charles) were married.

    Of course, "Perry Mason" had Della Street, in much the same way that Ellery
    Queen
    had Nikki Porter.  Not ALL detective and detecting teams were single or had
    ambiguous relationships.  Some either got married or were married.

    Another OTR Fan,

    Kenneth Clarke

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    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #183
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