Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #346
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 9/5/2002 9:15 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 346
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  ADMINISTRIVIA: Exciting [removed]       [ Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed] ]
  ILA, ILAM & Carlton E. Morse          [ Brian Misiaszek <brian_misiaszek@ya ]
  Another Bergen in the movies/on the   [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
  Hope-Crosby Feud?                     [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Re:Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Feud          [ gad4@[removed] ]
  New OTR Book                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  free OTR research books               [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Hope-Crosby Feud?                     [ "TIM LONES" <tallones@[removed]; ]
  Verbal Play Comedy                    [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud.            [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
  Godfrey's hours on the calendar & cl  [ leemunsick@[removed] ]

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:08:18 -0400
From: Charlie Summers <charlie@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  ADMINISTRIVIA: Exciting [removed]

   OK, I'll admit it, I'm really excited. I'm pretty sure you will be, too,
by the time I'm finished here.

   But first, a plug. As I've mentioned before, there is an amazingly large
group of OTR collectors out there who don't know this mailing list exists. We
just can't have [removed] those people missing out on the daily dose of OTR
talk and chatter we have here, thinking the smaller mailing lists on the Net
with their low-volume and off-topic postings are all there is. It seems
almost every day I run into someone who is surprised when I mention this list
- we really need to get out the word that this, the oldest and largest
mailing list on the Internet dedicated to Old-Time Radio, exists. I'd
appreciate it if you'd help "spread the word," especially to the new folks in
the hobby. And believe me, _now_ is the time for these new folks to subscribe.

   What seems like a lifetime ago, there was another, smaller mailing list
dedicated to Old-Time Radio called (imaginatively) the OldRadio Mailing List.
It was somewhat different in tone and temperament than this list (there was
much less tangentially-related material); it also ran a series of columns,
including one by everyone's favorite researcher, Elizabeth McLeod.

   In the years since that mailing list was closed down, I have missed those
columns, and the discussions they engendered. I've been toying for a while
now with the idea of resuming them here, while being somewhat reluctant to
ask people to write pieces for the [removed]'s a vastly different thing to
post a note to the list than it is to post a lengthy article which is then
discussed and dissected over the next few days. So for months, I've
vacillated and talked to no one about the idea.

   Separately, encouraged by people like Hal Stone (who's new book is
finished and at the printers, you'll be pleased to hear), Lois Culver, and
yours truly, Harry Bartell has been committing to paper some remembrances of
his time working in Old-Time Radio. Anyone even passingly familiar with OTR
has heard Mr. Bartell in his wide range of roles running from announcer and
narrator to lead, character and dialectician to romantic interest, dashing
hero to cold-blooded killer. Anyone who's heard Dragnet, Gunsmoke, The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and too many other programs to list is
familiar with his [removed] readers of the OTR Digest are familiar with his
too-infrequent postings.

   I have been fortunate enough to read some of the recollections he's
written, and they are fascinating and humorous views of the people he worked
with, the shows he worked for, the friends he's made along the way, and his
thoughts on it all. While reading these pieces, I hear clearly the voices of
those people we know of as stars, and he knows as friends. And I will not
soon forgive him for forcing me into a spit-take when first reading about his
baptism into radio acting.

   But I have to admit, I feel a little guilty, being one of only a handful
of people who have read these short articles. These should be enjoyed by
everyone, not just a few. And, thank heavens, Mr. Bartell has no objections.

   So I am absolutely thrilled beyond words to announce that, beginning next
week, the first of what I hope will be a stable of columns will begin its run
in the Internet OTR Digest with the first installment of, "Struts and Frets,"
written by Mr. Harry Bartell. After these columns run, discussion on them is
encouraged in the pages of the [removed] Mr. Bartell may not directly
respond to all comments, don't be surprised if your discussions provoke
future columns.

   This is good stuff, folks. Invite _all_ your friends, and anyone else you
know interested in Old-Time Radio, to subscribe to the Internet OTR Digest
NOW!

          Charlie

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

Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 22:01:17 -0400
From: Brian Misiaszek <brian_misiaszek@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  ILA, ILAM  & Carlton E. Morse

Jim Kitchen remarked:

I Love Adventure aired on ABC beginning with "The China Coast Incident"
on 4/25/48 and ending with "The Ricardo Santos Affair" on 7/18/48. The
first six episodes have Jack and Reggie fighting international crime as
directed by the Twenty-One Old Men.  In episode 7, "But Grandma, What
Big Teeth You Have" Jack and Reggie reopen the A-1 Detective Agency
assisted by Mary Kay Jones, the cutest Secretary in Hollywood.
Doc Long joins the team in episode #9, "The Girl in the Street" while
Reggie and Mary Kay are on special assignment.

There is a good reason why episode #7 featured Jack and Reggie reopening the
A-1 Detective Agency, the script "But Grandma, What Big Teeth You Have" was
the same script used for the audition/pilot episode for the program.  Many
radio programs recorded an audition for later playback, with the intention
of attracting and gaining a sponsor.

The success of the "I Love Adventure" ABC summer replacement series was
enough to convince MBS network executives to allow Carlton E. Morse a
chance to reprise his famous "I Love A Mystery" series in its entirety,
with a brand new cast using essentially the same scripts he wrote for
the NBC and CBS runs of the show.  A chance to reprise the series a
third time was, alas, unsuccessful, although there exists three
audition episodes for the first three chapters of "The Richard's Curse"
now in circulation among collectors.

Morse was pretty thrifty as a script writer, in that in this second
complete run of the show he even recycled an older *Adventures By
Morse" script, "The Cobra King Strikes Back" as an ILAM story.  Heck,
he was thrifty enough to recycle almost all his earlier "NBC Mystery
Serial" shows, which reappeared again on ABM, too. And many of his
stories show ample evidence where he "borrowed" from himself (ie.
"Secret Passage to Death" and "The Girl in the Gilded Cage").

I personally didn't care much for the ILA series (the name Morse
initially wanted for the show that eventually was named ILAM). While at
the end of the original ILAM series Jack Packard and Doc Long did in
fact lend a hand to help the so-called "military intelligence" as they
went frolicing across French West Africa in "The Twenty Traitors of
Timbuctu", they were essentially loners and mavericks.   It's hard to
think of Jack and his pals siding with the quasi star-chamber of the
"Old Men of Gramercy Park" framing device of much of ILA. And while
Jack isn't exactly a misogynist in ILAM, he certainly wasn't the romeo
he appeared to be in at least one ILAM story.

It's also interesting to note that for the ILA series Morse shared
writing credits with another person, which may partly explain why the
show seemed so clunky and creaky in this 30 minute
one-story-all-in-one-episode format.

::Brian::
The "Unofficial" I Love A Mystery web page
[removed]
[Now, back to [removed]]

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

Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 22:57:54 -0400
From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Another Bergen in the movies/on the air

The digest discussion about Edgar and Candice Bergen appearing on the same
broadcasts a while back was brought to mind when I recently bought a batch
of used videos, one of which was Henry Jaglom's 1990 "Eating." It turned out
that Frances Bergen, Edgar's wife and Candice's mother, is one of the main
performers in this one. As the Internet Movie Database lists a film career
for her stretching back to 1953, and she is listed there as appearing twice
with Edgar on Jack Benny's TV show, I'm curious as to how often she appeared
with Edgar and/or Candice on radio?

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 01:34:21 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Hope-Crosby Feud?

Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2002 18:53:22 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];

The Jack Benny/Fred Allen feud is very well documented. I have not read
anything on the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud. Does anyone know how, why, when
and where it got started?

There was a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud?  Someone please tell us more.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210                 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503           	         [removed]

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 01:37:13 -0400
From: gad4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Feud

The Jack Benny/Fred Allen feud is very well documented. I have not read
anything on the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud. Does anyone know how, why, when and
where it got started?

Im not an expert on this, but my guess is that any "feud" between the two
came out of their teamings in the "road" movies.  I believe that that was
their first teaming together. They cliqued and developed a style of
brotherly rivalty that was so popular, it carried into as series of films,
and into other mediums.

If anyone knows anythng else, please clarify.

Sincerely,
George

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:11:50 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  New OTR Book

I am not prone to promoting my own books on the Digest (can't recall the
last time I ever did so) and usually feel more comfortable allowing others
to post reviews and mentions.  However, for the "limited" reason below, I'm
making an exception.

My latest book, INVITATION TO LEARNING, is due for release from the
publishers anytime now.  (Yes, I just had another OTR book released a couple
months ago.)  INVITATION TO LEARNING was an intellectual panel program
broadcast over the air from 1941 to 1964, for more than 1,200 broadcasts.

The show featured such guests as Norman Corwin, John Houseman, John Huston,
Clifton Fadiman, John Carradine, Alastair Cooke, Eva LeGallienne, Red
Barber, Herbert Hoover, Rex Stout, Archibald MacLeisch, Lillian hellman,
James Thurber, Lillian Gish, and many, many more.

Because the show is not very popular (has anyone on this digest even heard
of the show?) - it was given a brief mention in Dunning's guide but very
brief - I doubt the book itself will be any more popular.  So unlike any
other book I've written, INVITATION TO LEARNING will have a limited printing
of 500 copies (WAY less than any other book I've ever written), no more, no
less - and hand numbered on title page, specifically printed.  This has been
advertised for some time now.

The reason I'm bringing this up on the Digest is because there were many
guests on the show who were College and University Professors, Presidents
and Deans and because of this, numerous College and University libraries
will probably be snatching up a copy or two for their library shelves within
the next month or two - have to market books any way possible.  (I just
can't see the library at Rutgers College turning down the opportunity to buy
a limited printing book that documents the radio appearances of the man who
was once the Dean of their College).  As such, there is a good chance the
entire print run of 500 will be sold within the next couple months.

But I did write the book not specifically for College and University
Libraries, but to document an aspect of OTR that has yet to be documented
for OTR fans.  As such, I'm making this passing mention so OTR fans can get
a first chance dib into getting a copy before the Libraries cause the books
will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis.  I'd rather sell to OTR
fans as a priority as they will appreciate and flip through the pages far
more than dusty book shelves at Universities.

To the good many people on this Digest have already purchased their copy in
advance, as soon as the books arrive, they'll be shipped out asap.  I myself
am waiting for them to arrive at the door.
Book is 220 pages thick, sells for $[removed] plus postage - Invitation to
Learning Book, Po Box 189, Delta, PA 17314.  Should also be available at
[removed], [removed], in another month or so.
Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:12:32 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  free OTR research books

Now the other shameless pitch.  As any OTR author/researcher is aware, there
is a multi-volume set of books entitled The Readers' Guide to Periodical
Literature (also known as The Abridged Readers' Guide to Periodical
Literature).  This set, each volume divided into specific months and years,
indexes THOUSANDS of magazine articles under various subjects. Thus, if you
looked up "radio programs", you'll find a large index of MANY articles
written in old magazines about shows like Duffy's Tavern, Gangbusters, Sez
Who, Bennett Cerf, Mr. Keen, Arthur Godfrey, etc.  Each entry is listed in
alphabetical order, and under dozens of subjects such as "radio, US", "radio
broadacsting", "radio censorship," as well as other topics besides radio.

These cannot be found on on-line bookstores and the older volumes do not go
into reprint.  This is not something any library intends to get rid of.  My
local library, with the IQ of a marshmellow, three years ago, was getting
rid of them so I took the volumes out of their hands and dragged them home.
I've used them as reference since then, many times.  Curious to learn
anything about Boston Blackie, all I needed to do was look up Boston Blackie
in each volume and simply get a list of all the magazine issues and pages
that featured articles about BB.  It was that simple.

Sadly, in moving to my new house, I am finding that I must get rid of some
things to make room - and that means out goes the volumes of Periodical Lit
Guides.  A College library an hour south of me has them on their shelf so I
won't really be losing these volumes on any permanent basis.  Rather than
throw them away in a dumpster, I'd rather give them to an OTR
researcher/author who would like to have them for themselves, especially if
they have found themselves using these volumes many times in the past - but
now at the comfort of their own home!

If anyone wants them, they are yours.  First come, first serve.  (If I get a
lot of e-mails from researchers, I may not have the time to reply to
everyone so if you don't hear back, please assume the volumes are already
taken).  Three catches.  1. You must pay for the shipping in its entirety,
and I will ship UPS because that will be the cheapest method.  We are
talking about 30 volumes here.  2. I will not bring them to a convention for
pickup, too many volumes to cart around and I want to get them out of my
living room within the next week or so.  If you drive to my house, you can
save shipping fees, but I won't leave my house to deliver them anywhere
other than the dumpster.  3. You must get the entire darn set.  They start
at volume 6 (July 1946) and go all the way up to volume 40 something which
ends around late 1984.  If you are only interested in a specific couple of
years or volumes, no.  All or nothing.  Even if you are not looking up
articles about OTR, you can find hundreds of thousands of other subjects.
If anyone is willing to round the number up a little for my time and
trouble, it would be greatly appreciated as packing these in multiple boxes
will take a while, require inconveniencing my father to drop them off at
UPS, etc., but this is not required - the postage fees is the only thing I
ask you pay for.
If you want them, you can e-mail me privately.
Martin

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:12:39 -0400
From: "TIM  LONES" <tallones@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Hope-Crosby Feud?

I don't theink there was a Hope-Crosby "feud" per se,  but there was what I
might call "contrived competition" between the two based on their well-known
broadcast personalities defined over the years.  Bing the self-assured
ladies man Bob the brash talking though cowardly personality.  These
differences were developed  in radio guest appearances on each other's
programs and other special appearances.  Of course the "Road" Movies
cemented their differences.  The back and forth banter between Hope and
Crosby are the highlights of most of these movies.  of course Bing most
always "got the girl"
One of my favorite movie series.

Tim Lones
Canton, Ohio

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:13:05 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Verbal Play Comedy

Wayne Boenig asks,

I remember listening to a comedy team from the mid-1930s doing a
routine that was remarkably similar to Abbott & Costello's "Who's On
First".  Can anyone tell me what show or team I may have been listening
to?

It could have been Abbott & Costello. :-)

There were several routines similar to "Who's On First" that comedy teams
did, probably derived from Vaudeville stage routines.  A couple of them
were preserved in other Abbott & Costello films.  One was a horseracing
one (in The Noose Hangs High)  where there's some confusion because
Abbott tells Costello about the performance characteristics of one of the
racehorses by noting that, "He's a mudder," meaning a horse that can
still run well when the racetrack is muddy, whereas Costello takes that
to mean that the stallion has given birth.  Another routine they did
involved a confusion on the part of digging tools (in A&C Meet the Mummy)
where Abbott says, "Take your pick," and Costello grabs for a shovel
("The shovel is my pick, says Costello; whereas Abbott wants him to use
an actual pick).  I'm sure one or two such routines have slipped my mind.
 But they used such routines in their radio show.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:13:24 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud.

Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; wrote:

I have not read anything on the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby feud. Does anyone
know how, why, when and
where it got started?

I may be wrong, but I don't think there was a "feud" as such. I think it
was more like good-natured ribbing that grew out of the characters that
they played in the "[removed] " pictures. They were both very successful in
their separate careers.

Herb Harrison

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

Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 11:14:34 -0400
From: leemunsick@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Godfrey's hours on the calendar & clock

Jim Cox takes Joe Mackey to task for short-shrifting Arthur Godfrey in his
mention of "The Old Redhead".  By the way, Mr. Godfrey hated that
appellation!   Honest, folk, I did not put Jim Cox up to this!  But I thank
him for the opportunity to expand on his point.

Arthur Godfrey was born 99 years ago on August 31, 1903.  Next year we hope
to make a big thing out of the centennial.  For one thing, a request has
been made to the USPS for a commemorative stamp to honor Mr. Godfrey.  This
will also serve to honor radio and television broadcasters in general, as
well as conservationists, aviators of all types, small agri-business,
animal protectors, equestrians, and ham radio operators!

Please get behind this!   We need to convince the USPS that there is a
loyal audience out there interested in seeing the stamps appear, and then
buying them!

It will help if each and every one of you would please send an Email
indicating that you'd like to see such a stamp commemorating Arthur
Godfrey.  We can add it to the many petitions the Arthur Godfrey Memorial
Foundation already has received.

Please send to:   arthurgodfreyfdtn@[removed]       or
to:  leemunsick@[removed]

A letter to the stamp selection committee would help also.  Please flood them:

Arthur Godfrey Stamp Proposal
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
% Stamp Development
[removed] Postal Service
475 l'Enfant Plaza SW, Room 5670
Washington  DC  20260-2437

Please send a copy to me:
Lee Munsick
RR 1 Box 134B
Pamplin  VA  23958-9465

Now, to put a quantitative figure on the amount of broadcasting per week by
Arthur Godfrey at the peak of his activity and popularity.  I am listing
simulcast times (simul.)as doubled, because they do involve two audiences,
two rate-card incomes for CBS, two schedule log listings:

Monday thru Friday 90 minutes (simul.) 7-1/2 hours x 2 = 15 hours
"Arthur Godfrey Time" ed. to 30 minutes weekend radio = 1/2 hour
Monday night "Talent Scouts" 30 minutes (simul.) 1/2 hr x 2 = 1 hour
Wednesday "[removed] and Friends" TV only variety show  = 1 hour
Tues. & Thurs. 15 mins each TV Ukulele Lessons 15 m x 2 = 1/2 hour

This totals actual studio time of [removed] hours per week of live activity (not
counting the untold many hours of rehearsal, musical arrangements, writers'
activities, etc.).   But adding up the broadcast time with simulcasts as
doubled time, the total comes to:

18 hours of broadcast schedule time per week, all live except for the taped
weekend "digest".

I've done the math a couple of times, and hope my figures are correct!  A
lot of time, and all of it happily sponsored, of [removed] wonder Messrs.
Paley and Stanton could smile every morning when they came to work,
listened to the morning show, and knew that the bills were paid!

Lee Munsick

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #346
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