Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #394
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/12/2004 8:39 PM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 394
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      12-13 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      Re: Frank Lovejoy on Superman         [ Gerald Wright <gdwright@[removed] ]
      Re: Dragnet: Radio vs. TV             [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
      Fred Allen                            [ Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed] ]
      Dragnet TV vs. Radio                  [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
      Re: Podcasting & OTR                  [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Re: Frank Lovejoy on Superman         [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Christmas Carols                      [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      More Christmas Carol on Radio         [ James Meadows <walthamus@[removed]; ]
      One more [removed]                   [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
      The Real HERMIT                       [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
      Re: Dragnet: Radio vs. TV             [ "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@ea ]

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 16:27:39 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-13 births/deaths

    December 13th births

    12-13-1887 - Alvin York - Pell Mell, TN - d. 12-2-1964
    world war I hero: "We the People"; "What Are We Fighting For?"
    12-13-1890 - Marc Connelly - McKeesport, PA - d. 12-21-1980
    writer: "Free Company"; "Security Workshop"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    12-13-1897 - Drew Pearson - Evanston, IL - d. 9-1-1969
    investigative reporter: "Listen America"; "Drew Pearson Comments"
    12-13-1905 - Jay Jostyn - Milwaukee, WI - d. 7-24-1977
    actor: Max Tilley "Life of Mary Sothern"; Mr, District Attorney "Mr. District
    Attorney"
    12-13-1910 - Lillian Roth - Boston, MA - d. 5-12-1980
    singer, speaker: "Pleasant Sunday Afternoon"
    12-13-1910 - Van Heflin - Walter, OK - d. 7-23-1971
    actor: Bob Drake "Betty and Bob"; "Philip Marlowe "Advs. of Philip Marlowe"
    12-13-1913 - Jimmy Carroll - NYC - d. 3-19-1972
    singer: "Pot O' Gold"
    12-13-1914 - Larry Parks - Olathe, KS - d. 4-13-1975
    actor: "Kraft Music Hall"; "Faith for Tomorrow"; "Guest Star"
    12-13-1915 - Mark Stevens - Cleveland, OH (Raised: Montreal Canada) - d.
    9-15-1994
    actor: "This Is Hollywood"; "Cavalcade of America"; "Suspense"
    12-13-1917 - David Street - Los Angeles, CA - d. 9-3-1971
    actor, singer: "Music Depreciation"
    12-13-1920 - Don Taylor - Freeport, PA - d. 12-29-1998
    actor: "Indiana School of the Sky"; "Family Theatre"; "Hollywood Star Preview"
    12-13-1926 - Carl Erskine - Anderson, IN
    baseball pitcher: "Baseball: An Action History"; "Dr. Norman Vincent Peale"

    December 13th deaths

    02-15-1908 - Hugh Wedlock, Jr. - d. 12-13-1993
    writer: "Jack Benny Program"; "Lum and Abner"; "That's My Pop"
    02-23-1913 - Jon Hall - Fresno, CA - d. 12-13-1979
    actor: "Texaco Star Theatre"; "Silver Theatre"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
    04-18-1904 - Pigmeat Markhan - Durhan, N - d. 12-13-1981
    comedian: (Originated phrase "order in the court ' cuz here come da judge)
    "Jubilee"
    07-19-1906 - "Tiny" Hill - Sullivan, IL - d. 12-13-1971
    orchestra leader: "Tiny" Hill and His Orchestra"
    09-06-1891 - John Charles Thomas - Meyersdale, PA - d. 12-13-1960
    singer: "John Charles Thomas Program"; "Westinghouse Program"
    11-24-1905 - Harry Barris - NYC (R: Denver, CO) - d. 12-13-1962
    singer (member of The Rhythm Boys) "Paul Whiteman Presents"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:28:42 -0500
    From: Gerald Wright <gdwright@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Frank Lovejoy on Superman

    Kurt E. Yount mentioned.

>     I was listening to the beginning stories of superman and heard Frank
>     Lovejoy as captain anderson.  For me, that would be his earliest
>     appearance on radio.

    An excellent resource for actors credits on OTR is J. David Goldin's
    web site at:

    [removed]

    A search on Frank Lovejoy finds him having been on radio for at least
    three years before his appearance on Superman. His earliest confirmed
    appearance is on "The Adventures Of Jungle Jim" from  September 26,
    1937 and subsequent episodes from the "Afgan Hills" story on Jungle
    Jim. He also appeared on Columbia Workshop, The American School of the
    Air, Arch Oboler's Plays, Your Family and Mine (Frank in the lead), The
    Shadow, and The Gay Nineties Revue all before his appearance on
    Superman in 1940.

    Frank happens to be one of my favorite and recognizable OTR actors,
    Randy Stone for me was one of his best roles.

    Gerry Wright
    ZoneZebra Productions
    San Francisco

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:29:09 -0500
    From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Dragnet: Radio vs. TV

    Thanks, Kirk Gardner, for your affirmation of my
    observations. I've received an email from Dennis
    Townsend who also filled me in quite extensively
    regarding the death of Barton Yarborough due to a
    massive heart attack in 1951 at the start of the
    original TV series.

    You mentioned the tell-tale pattern. I'm beginning to
    see some of it already in the 1st year's episodes, now
    that I've had a chance to listen to them all. Most
    notable is, of course, the "tight tag line" (as you
    put it). I've noticed clearly in the later 1st year
    shows the influence of sponsorship, as Webb, as
    himself, compares the work of "the working detective"
    to the quality of Fatima Cigarettes.  Incidentally,
    I've noticed in many shows "coughs" in the background.
    Not sure if these are intentional sound effects for
    realism, or if they are accidental, but in this show
    sponsored by a tobacco company whose slogan was "It's
    wise to smoke Fatima", I can't help but wonder if the
    "coughs" are smokers coughs, and wonder just how wise
    it really was to smoke Fatimas.

    In doing a little more research I came across this
    link with a succinct bio of Jack Webb. Learned that he
    actually produced the '49 radio show, and that the
    Mark VII Productions was actually Webb's own company.
    Learn something new every day!
    [removed]

    Happy Holidays!
    Dave Phaneuf

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 19:29:48 -0500
    From: Dennis W Crow <DCrow3@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Fred Allen

    Elizabeth's poignant post about Fred Allen, reminded me of one of his
    latter day appearances on the television version of the radio show, "What's
    My Line?".    Producer Gil Fates in his book on "What's My Line?
    [Prentice-Hall, 1978] records this exchange between Allen and the mystery
    guest, which was typical of Fred Allen's acid tongue.

    Allen asks, "Are you a tall comedian who steals my material and goes around
    with a color for a first name?"

    "Yes," answered Red Skelton.

    "Then I pass," said Fred.  (p. 21; broadcast of 9-26-54)

    The television show, which was done live, allowed Allen to be a bit more
    spontaneous than his radio bosses allowed him to be.  I recall with
    pleasure his antagonistic responses to the mystery guests.

    Dennis Crow

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 20:35:28 -0500
    From: BryanH362@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Dragnet TV vs. Radio
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Dave Phaneuf in the last digest compared the Dragnet TV series to the
    Dragent radio series.  Dave noted that the radio series was much more
    realistic.

    The one thing that I wanted to point out is that he seemed to be comparing
    the radio series to the revival Dragnet series of the 60s and not the original
    Dragnet TV series of the 50s.
    There is a BIG difference.
    The 50s TV series was every much the fine program that the radio series was.
    In contrast the 60s version was more campy.  Unfortunately , it is the 60s
    series that everyone seems to recall and the one that is played in reruns over
    and over . Partially because the 60s series is in color.

    -Bryan

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:24:26 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Podcasting & OTR

    At 04:31 PM 12/12/2004, you wrote:

>     I find the whole concept of "podcasting" amusing, since it is
>     nothing more complex than loading an MP3 file into a portable device,
>     something we've been doing for quite some time.

    Not to get this off into a non-OTR stream, I have to disagree with Charlie
    on this. What he is leaving out is that whole new forms of "broadcasting"
    (to use the radio/TV term) are popping up. What I have set up at my web
    site are probably poor examples because I do not do any direct "podcasting"
    of my own. There are multiple non-OTR related examples out there (which I
    address more at the web page I outlined in the second email of the last
    digest - [removed])

    Better examples of what "podcasting" is about would be the following
    scenario: Imagine someone such as a Walden Hughes, Jerry Haendiges, Tom
    Heathwood, or multiple other examples of "radio" shows being broadcast via
    the Internet create a program that is not streamed live via the Internet.
    Suppose I decide to create a "radio" interview program in which I interview
    veteran radio actors, play some old time radio, talk about the history of
    radio, etc, [removed] Now I choose not to stream it via a live setup such as
    Walden Hughes does every weekend via YesterdayUSA or Chuck Schaden does
    weekly via regular radio airwaves. Instead, I decide to only offer it via
    an RSS feed (I tried to avoid these terms in my last emails though I touch
    upon them more in the web page cited above). Using special software on your
    Mac or PC and best connected via broadband, you have this special software
    set to go out regularly and check for any new shows I might have created -
    automatically download them and upload them to your portable music player
    (such as an iPod, Rio Carbon, etc). You can have it do this overnight, so
    the next day you get up, grab your music device head off to work or play
    and listen to the show.  This is "podcasting."  Like a form of Tivo, it
    frees you of any specific schedule of the broadcaster AND gives you the
    freedom to listen where ever you like.

    What Charlie refers to can indeed be accomplished. It requires you
    "manually" going out to to a specific site, and going through some hoops to
    download the file while you are at your computer, then "manually" uploading
    it to your device. A big difference. The non-technical person can easily
    use the special software and hook up their device and leave it over night.
    "Podcasting" can be a non-technical dream versus the current method of
    pulling down files.

    Yes, if only I offer example files such as the Terry and the Pirates,
    Charlie points toward. A better example would be the trial files I offer
    via the WTIC website featuring the old Dick Bertel interviews from a number
    of years ago. Imagine Dick had just recorded this file and only offered it
    as an mp3 via an RSS feed so you could hear it at your leisure where ever
    you wanted.

    It is not such a wonderful new technology that I am espousing (I like it
    and there are some great non-OTR programs being offered that are available
    no where else). Yes, one can get them in a method that Charlie mentions, I
    am not saying that is not possible. But from a convenience standpoint and
    as a potential challenge to some of radio, I suspect there is more to it
    than Charlie seems to accept. BBC as well as NPR are experimenting with it.
    I doubt it will ever replace radio, but then is Tivo replacing
    television?  No, but it is definitely having an impact.

    Charlie, thanks for indulging me if you have allowed this to go onto the
    digest. I felt I deserved an opportunity to reply to your comments.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

    [ADMINISTRIVIA: I'd love to explain why Jim is, in my opinion, dead wrong,
    but there are two problems; one, this is NOT the place to discuss
    "podcasting" so I shouldn't have done what I did in the last issue in the
    first place, and two, I already know from my email there are a bunch of you
    who don't care a whit about it anyway. So I have responded to him in a more
    appropriate forum, my blog. If you're interested in the discussion, go to:

    [removed]

    ...and feel free to _join_ the discussion by posting a comment about my
    comments. If you _aren't_ interested in the [removed], there you go.
    --cfs3]

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:25:20 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Frank Lovejoy on Superman

    At 04:31 PM 12/12/2004, you wrote:

>     I was listening to the beginning stories of superman and heard Frank
>     Lovejoy as captain anderson.  For me, that would be his earliest
>     appearance on radio.  I can't vouch for that, but that was the earliest
>     appearance I have heard.  Kurt

    There is at least one earlier example, Kurt. If Mike Martini of WVXU
    doesn't say anything on this, I wanted to mention that there is a Frank
    Lovejoy clip from "A Christmas Carol" when he was a resident radio actor at
    WLW Cincinnati - his first foray into radio before he returned to the East
    and began his "national" radio career. The clip is from December 1936 and
    appears in a two-CD set called "Cincinnati Radio: The Nation's Station"
    that can only be gotten (if still available) by becoming a member of
    WVXU.  It is a wonderful collection, by the way and was produced by Mike
    Martini and Mark Magistrelli - two gentleman the station is very fortunate
    to have along with their boss, Dr. Jim King. I have spent some time with
    all three and they are very talented guys.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:25:32 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Christmas Carols

    Hi Everybody,

    Derek ask were there any major star who gave Lionel a run alternative lead
    in the Christmas Carols.  Ronald Colmand played the role on radio and
    records.  Sam Frank explain this in details on Same time Same Station back
    in the 1990s.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:27:05 -0500
    From: James Meadows <walthamus@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  More Christmas Carol on Radio

       A recent radio version of Charles Dickens' "A
    Christmas Carol" is on the series "Focus on the Family
    Radio Theatre". British actor Tenniel Evans takes on
    the role of Ebanezer Scrooge. I've caught pieces of
    the broadcast at Christmas time on Christian radio
    station. With a little searching on the Web, I found
    that it's available for sale, and that "Focus on the
    Family Radio Theatre" can be heard online for free, at
    [removed]

    Jim Meadows

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:29:38 -0500
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  One more [removed]

    Forgot to mention E. G. Marshall's version of the Old Skinflint on CBS Radio
    Mystery Theater, dated 12/24/80, and possibly repeated.

    One of my all-time favorite Christmas shows is "Holiday Visit" on CBSRMT.
    It has a perfect atmosphere for Christmas.  And one of my favorite things --
    that we never had at my house at Christmas time!     (12/25/80 and 12/25/81)

    "Very Private Miracle" was someone else's take on the stingiest man in the
    world.  Another drama that has the real Christmas spirit, if you don't mind
    Santa being thrown into the mix.  (12/24/74)

    And don't forget "The day they gave babies away" on the Columbia Workshop,
    12/46.  A poignant, unforgettable story -- that probably couldn't happen
    today.

    Last year REPS sold a neat mp3 collection of Christmas programs from OTR.
    Does anyone know if they are doing another one?  It also included shows from
    Thanksgiving and New Years.

    Ted Kneebone / 1528 S. Grant St. / Aberdeen, SD  57401

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:30:18 -0500
    From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Real HERMIT

    Excerpted from Mike Ogden's posting in the OTR Digest # 393

>     Walden stated:

> >     the Hermit was played by John Dehner in the early 1940s.

>     Actually, Dehner played the Hermit in the mid-1940s. The Beverly Hills
>     version of THE HERMIT'S CAVE at KMPC ran from 1940 to 1944. Mel Johnson

    was

>     the original Hermit. Dehner, after his discharge from the military,

    replaced

>     Johnson. I don't have an exact date, but probably sometime in 1943.

    The Hermit was my all time favorite when it came to spooky radio drama's. It
    used to listen
    it all the time when I was a youngster and I beleive it was on Sunday
    evenings and it came
    out of Detroit. I beleive that is where it originated. I have posted the
    following in times past
    on the Digest but in case you missed it. On July 6, 1978 I recorded an
    interview with Toby
    Grimmer, the original voice of The Hermit on The Hermit's Cave, on WJR,
    Detroit. The
    reporter from WJR was at a rest home in Detroit and the interview lasts
    about 12 to 13
    minutes. Toby was celebrating his 95th birthday. Toby tells how he was
    picked to do the
    voice and he apparently was up in years when he did this. He said he was
    born March 5,
    1881, served in the Spanish American War, was in vaudeville, and he sings
    one of the
    original songs he wrote. He also gives the famous laugh and lead in of the
    Hermit. His voice
    is definitely the one I remember listening to. So I'm assuming Toby was The
    Hermit when
    it originated in Detroit and Mel Johnson first when it moved to the west
    coast. Does anyone
    have more data on this particular program, when and where it started
    originally and date of
    the last broadcast, who played the role of The Hermit beginning with first
    to last, [removed]  I
    think I have all  the programs that are in circulation which isn't to many.
    When I listened to it
    as a boy (a little over 70 now) I recall that The Olga Coal Company was the
    sponsor. Don't
    remember any others.

    Don Dean - N8IOJ

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

    Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2004 22:32:45 -0500
    From: "Michael J. Hayde" <michaelhayde@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Dragnet: Radio vs. TV

    I greatly understand (and enjoyed) Dave Phaneuf's comparison between the
    earliest DRAGNET radio episodes to the 1967-70 television version of which he
    is most familiar.  Of course, long-time DRAGNET fans know that there is a
    bridge between these two extremes - one that was only hinted at in Kirk
    Gardner's reply: namely, 276 television episodes of DRAGNET that aired
    between 1951-59, and in reruns (as BADGE 714) until the '60's version came
    along.

    Therein is the key to how and why DRAGNET changed between 1951 and 1967.

    Joe Friday's first partner, Ben Romero, did indeed die at the end of 1951,
    but not in the line of duty.  Romero, like the actor Barton Yarborough who
    portrayed him, suffered a massive, fatal heart attack while at home.
    Tragically, Yarborough only lived long enough to play Romero in the first two
    TV episodes.

    Jack Webb found himself in a quandary when Yarborough passed away; not only
    contracted to continue the radio series, but also to deliver television
    episodes on schedule.  He quickly cast Barney Phillips as Sgt. Ed Jacobs and
    introduced him in "The Big Sorrow" (12/27/51), my personal favorite DRAGNET
    radio episode.  Jacobs became the partner in the fourth TV episode.  The
    Jacobs character really didn't have much flair, either on radio or TV, and it
    happened that Webb chose some of the darker storylines from his script
    archive to dramatize on television.

    Consequently, a lot of letters came in from viewers requesting more humor.
    Even John Crosby, one of the most esteemed critics of the day, complained
    that the goings-on were too heavy-handed in his review of the earliest
    episodes.  Webb, who honestly believed that each letter represented the
    feelings of 100 viewers, resolved to partner Friday with a humorous, yet
    still believable, character with whom he could engage in some light comic
    banter.

    Enter rotund, cheerful Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith; hired at the
    start of September 1952 specifically for the television series, but who also
    took over the role on radio before the month was over.  Kirk Gardner
    described the character as being almost identical to Harry Morgan's Bill
    Gannon.  I might argue that he was more of a bridge between Romero and
    Gannon, but that opinion is based on viewing the first three seasons of the
    TV version - and in most episodes, Alexander is working from scripts that
    featured Ben Romero on radio.  By the time Alexander began playing Smith on
    radio, DRAGNET's best writer, James Moser, had departed to create MEDIC, and
    DRAGNET was penned primarily by Frank Burt, who was pretty good, and John
    Robinson, who was not.

    Meanwhile, viewers who were enjoying the light comedy of the early TV
    episodes, wrote still more letters encouraging Webb to bring more and more of
    it into DRAGNET.  By the time the show ended production, Frank Smith truly
    did become almost as neurotic as Gannon was 8 years later.  (In fact, Webb
    would have brought Alexander back with him, had the latter not already been
    cast in ABC-TV's FELONY SQUAD.)

    It's worth remembering that the first 100 DRAGNET TV episodes were
    brilliantly produced and directed, and are considered minor works of film
    noir.  Certainly Webb was hailed as TV's earliest "genius," and by 1953
    DRAGNET competed only with I LOVE LUCY for the top of the ratings - the only
    two shows to draw more than forty million viewers weekly.  I find it
    fascinating that, of those who cherish the radio series, Ben Romero is
    considered Friday's best partner; while for the boomers who grew up watching
    it during the fifties, Frank Smith is the favorite.

    In any [removed] David, Kirk and anyone else who has not read my tome on
    DRAGNET, "My Name's Friday," and would like to obtain a signed copy direct
    from me, for 20% off the cover price ($15), please contact me off-list.

    Sincerely,
    Michael J. Hayde

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #394
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