Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #26
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 1/19/2003 8:27 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2003 : Issue 26
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Re: Changing Mores                    [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
      B. Rathbone "Christmas Carol"         [ "Michael J. Laurino" <mlaurino@[removed] ]
      OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE for  [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
      Thanks                                [ "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@ho ]
      Lonesome Gal                          [ "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed] ]
      Jackie not James.                     [ gad4@[removed] ]
      Don Quinn, typist                     [ "welsa" <welsa@[removed]; ]
      Pearl Harbor and Sweetie Face's firs  [ "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed]; ]
      Richard Crenna                        [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
      Just the Fax, Mam                     [ Bhob <bhob2@[removed]; ]
      Re: The "Archie" review               [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
      RichardCrenna                         [ Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed] ]
      Good job Charlie and Walden           [ "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@char ]
      Collect                               [ JayHick@[removed] ]
      Molly's illness                       [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
      Radio and facsimile                   [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:05:20 -0500
    From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
    To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: Changing Mores

    Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed]; disagreed with my suggestion
    there are about as many forbidden words today as in OTR, and then
    listed several vulgarities - "gutter language" to use his term - that
    are often heard today on that other medium (there are some words I
    just won't use). I still maintain there are about the same number of
    forbidden words and that they just happen not be the same words.

    Some of those forbidden words I think we're better off without,
    though I am uncomfortable with censorship in general. It's too bad
    ethnic insults aren't as rare in daily life as they are in today's
    entertainment media, but too much political correctness can make for
    a sterility similar to the dearth of "adult" humor in OTR. I recall
    the outrage expressed here a while back over some of the racial
    insensitivity heard in OTR; one example was a reference to Ubangi
    lips. Certainly a remark like that would never be heard on t*l*vision
    today, even though there seemed to be no real racial slur intended,
    just an acknowledgment that members of the Ubangi tribe practiced lip
    enlargement using clay plates (actresses in our more advanced culture
    today use silicon).

    Certainly we can do without some of the stereotypes of the people of
    other nations, but do we really have to pretend, for example, that
    people raised in Italy have no accent when they speak English? Pegleg
    Pete had his name changed (and received a better prosthetic) to
    avoid, presumably, offending handicapped people. Then his name was
    changed again. Were civil rights leaders really outraged that Mickey
    Mouse's archenemy was called Black Pete? Particularly in light of the
    fact that he and Mickey were the same colors (black AND white). That
    feline blackguard - oops; I mean feline villain - is now called Big
    Bad Pete, which, as I've commented before, just means he'll be
    getting mail intended for the Big Bad Wolf.

    In recent years we've seen the spectacle of a government employee
    being fired for brazenly using the word "niggardly" and an employee
    of Taco Bell's advertising division fired for advocating the use of
    "pedagogical methods." She was reinstated after someone explained the
    word to her boss, but that worthy then issued a memo demanding that
    no words be used in memos that could not be found in the daily paper
    (when the employee quit shortly thereafter she assembled her
    resignation from words cut from the paper).

    When I lost part of my vision and some other physical problems
    suddenly manifested themselves, I approached my local disabilities
    resource center for assistance with my job search or retraining. I
    didn't get any of that, but I did get a list of forbidden words
    relating to disabilities, and explanations as to why I should be
    offended by those words, words such as "challenged," "wheelchair
    bound," et cetera. And of course there's the word "handicapped,"
    which is now to be retired in favor of "disabled," a preference that
    baffles me. I'm still "able;" I just have a bit of a "handicap."
    Heck, I understand golfers are PROUD of their handicaps.

    In short - well, a little late for that - and no offense to those of
    small stature - each age has its own sensibilities, and we have our
    own set of taboos and unspeakable words. Maybe today's taboos are
    better.

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:06:28 -0500
    From: "Michael J. Laurino" <mlaurino@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  B. Rathbone "Christmas Carol"

    Randy Watts wrote:

>     Among some tapes I was going through recently there was a full-cast
>     dramatization of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," starring Basil
>     Rathbone as Scrooge and with narration by Harlow Wilcox.  Running time
>     is approximately 23-24 minutes and there's no opening or closing.  The
>     only notation attached to the tape is "source unknown; possibly
>     syndicated or AFRS."

>     However, a friend's father recalls his parents owning a 78 rpm album of
>     "A Christmas Carol" that he thinks, but isn't certain, starred Rathbone.
>     Can anyone confirm the origin of this recording?

    Yes.  Hold [removed]

    [Dashes up stairs to freezing attic.  Scans shelves.]

    Where did I see it?...Ah! [Dashes back down to keyboard, album in hand.]

    It's a Columbia Masterworks three-record set.  The cover reads:

                        Charles Dickens
                    A CHRISTMAS CAROL
                         Basil Rathbone
                     and a Hollywood Cast
                           Set M-521

    The inside front cover elaborates:

           Charles Dickens' [sic]
           CHRISTMAS CAROL

           Adapted by Edith Meiser.
           Production directed by Tom McKnight.
           Incidental music composed and conducted by Leith Stevens.

           SET M-MM-521

                            THE CAST

           SCROOGE:  BASIL RATHBONE
           Fred:  Elliott Lewis
           Bob Cratchet:  Jay Novello
           Marley's Ghost:  Arthur Q. Bryan
           Christmas Past:  Francis X. Bushman
           Scrooge as a Boy:  Tommy Cook
           Little Fan:  Rhoda Williams
           Christmas Present:  Stuart Robertson
           Mrs. Cratchet:  Paula Winslowe
           Peter:  Dix Davis
           Martha:  Lurene Tuttle
           Tiny Tim:  Tommy Cook
           1st Man:  Arthur Q. Bryan
           2nd Man:  Stuart Robertson
           Charwoman:  Paula Winslowe
           Undertaker's Man:  Raymond Lawrence
           Boy:  Walter Tetley
           Narrator:  Harlow Wilcox

    And, hmm, I could have myself some stairs:  Almost all of that information
    can be found on Marcia Jessen's Rathbone site, on the first "recordings"
    page <[removed];.  Oh, well.  Back to the
    attic.

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:06:35 -0500
    From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OLDE TYME RADIO NETWORK SCHEDULE for week of
     1/19/03

    Here's this weeks  offerings from SAME TIME, SAME STATION and
    HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE in hi-fi sound 24/7 streaming audio at:
    [removed]       Now through Sat. 1/25

    SAME TIME, SAME STATION with Jerry Haendiges
    A Salute to Elliott Lewis
    1. VOYAGE OF THE SCARLET QUEEN - 11/20/47   "The Beautiful Girl in the
    Bargain Basement"   Elliott Lewis/Cathy Lewis/Ed Max.
    2. CRIME CLASSICS - 08/09/54  "The Assasinatuion of Leon Trotsky"
    starring: Lou Merrill/Herb Butterfield/Jack Kruschen/Irene Tedrow.
    3. THE PHIL HARRIS-ALICE FAYE SHOW   10/2/49   Frankie borrows
    Phil's chartreuse car.
    4. ON STAGE - 9/23/54   "Fascination"    stars: Elliott & Cathy Lewis.

    HERITAGE RADIO THEATRE with Tom Heathwood
    1. DRAGNET   NBC   3/15/55  "The Big Set"    with Jack Webb.
    2. BOOKSHELF REVIEW - Tom reviews a new OTR book by
    Howard Blue, "The War of Words"    Radio and World War II.
    3. BIG BAND REMOTE     CBS   6/30/46   Harry James & His Orchestra, "Live"
    from The Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
    4. COLGATE SPORTS NEWSREEL with BILL STERN    NBC #318
    6/30/46  with guest, Joe Louis, Heavyweight Champion of the World.

    Enjoy ---   Tom & Jerry

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:06:59 -0500
    From: "steven kostelecky" <skostelecky@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Thanks

    Many thanks to Harlan Zinck for taking the time to address my Gildy and
    Neiman/Marcus questions. I know he is busy at the archives and appreciate
    his taking the time.
    Speaking of which, I have to plug the First Generation Radio Archives. I
    have recently become a member and can think of nothing I've done in the last
    year that made me feel like I am really doing something to keep this hobby
    going (besides financially supporting this Digest that is). I urge everyone
    to do the same if they can at all do so.
    As for my Gildy question, one last push to see if anyone knows where the
    Laughing Coyote show from 3/18/45 came from. I keep getting people saying it
    is that show in the logs, but it seems pretty obviously from another time,
    so I'm wondering if it is a remake that is plugged into the original show.
    Thanks again, Harlan and everyone.
    Otr fans are the best.
    Nussbaum

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:07:07 -0500
    From: "Andrew Godfrey" <niteowl049@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Lonesome Gal

      One more question about the Lonesome Gal. Was she ever seen without her
    mask? I had heard she wore the mask at personal appearances. Wondering if
    anyone else has any idea what her son did with the recordings that he said
    he had in his possession.
      Andrew Godfrey

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:07:20 -0500
    From: gad4@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Jackie not James.

    Martin Grams wrote:

>     James Gleason substituted an ill William Bendix for one LIFE OF RILEY radio
>     broadcast.  Slight amuzing cast note because Gleason at the time was
>     television's Chester Riley.

    Im sure hundreds of other people are going to write this in, but it was
    Jackie Gleason who played Riley in the television series first dumont season.

    James Gleason was connected with Life of Riley though. He played Riley's
    friend Gillis in the 1949 movie.

    Sincerely,
    George

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:07:59 -0500
    From: "welsa" <welsa@[removed];
    To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Don Quinn, typist

    Al Girard wondered about what kind of typist Don Quinn was.  I have seen
    many original scripts and on almost all of them there was a single letter in
    the lower (usually) left corner of each page.  My understanding is that is
    the initials of the typist.  And in one single episode of a show, you might
    find several different initials.

    Perhaps the writers did type the original, perhaps they didn't.  But I think
    it is safe to say that nearly always the networks bank of typists re-did
    them in the right format for broadcast.  Also, many times these scripts were
    revised.  The script Al refers to is marked "Revised" on every page.  I
    doubt the writers had to re-do these.

    And how could you ever perform a script written by Fred Allen?  Allen never
    used the space bar on a typewriter.  All his words ran together!

    Ted

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:08:20 -0500
    From: "Bob Watson" <crw912@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Pearl Harbor and Sweetie Face's first name.

    Since I have long held a fascination for Dec. 7, 1941, I was wondering if
    anyone could tell me where I might be able to purchase the Mutual broadcasts
    from that day.  While I'm asking, does anyone know where I can find the rest
    of the NBC broadcasts from after Midnight on Dec 8th.

    Now to a question that has bugged me for years.  I seem to recall somewhere
    that on Fibber McGee and Molly, Wallace Wimple's wife at one time was named
    Cornelia.  Cornelia??  I don't know where I got that.  But I actually seem
    to recall hearing Wallace refer to her by that name.  I don't know if it is
    a faulty memory or a very bad dream that has stuck with me for years.  I
    hope someone can put this conception, or misconception, to rest.

    Thanks,

    Bob Watson

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:08:39 -0500
    From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Richard Crenna

    Radio, television and film star Richard Crenna has passed away from a fight
    with pancreatic cancer.  Crenna is a veteran radio actor including his role
    as Oogie in Date with Judy, Our Miss Brooks and many other roles.

    Jim Widner
    jwidner@[removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:09:11 -0500
    From: Bhob <bhob2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Just the Fax, Mam

    Princess Marconi speaks to the space station from Cape Cod (although the
    site of the original 1903 Marconi transmission is now underwater due to
    erosion):
    [removed];slug=Marco
    ni%20Centennial

> >     "In this same spirit of his achievement, and also from Cape Cod, I

    send this wireless greeting to you in space. Cordial greetings, and good
    wishes," Princess Elettra Marconi told Kenneth Bowersox, commander of
    the international space station. "It is amazing how far society and
    radio communications has come in the last 100 years. It is wonderful to
    hear your voice across the radio waves," Bowersox told the princess, who
    spoke from an auditorium filled with about 200 people. The site is about
    five miles from the coastal bluff where Marconi sent the first wireless
    trans-Atlantic message: a Morse code greeting from President Theodore
    Roosevelt to King Edward VII of England on Jan. 18, [removed];<

    A number of sources date the invention of the fax machine back to
    Alexander Bain (1818-1903) in 1843 with Arthur Korn (1870-1945) faxing a
    photo from Munich to Berlin in 1907:
    [removed]

    However, I am able to locate only a single Internet mention of William
    Finch's Fax Newspaper: [removed]

> >     Finch took an interest in FAX machines in 1920 and amassed 200 patents

    while he worked for Hearst's International News Service. In 1935 he set
    up a company to sell his own FAX system. His design had a lot in common
    with Bain's machine. A light swinging on a pendulum moved over a
    slow-moving paper strip, four inches wide. It picked up and transmitted
    a hundred lines of light and darkness per inch. The big push to sell the
    machine took place right after WW-II. Finch set out to place a FAX
    machine in every living room. He meant to bring newspapers into our
    homes [removed];<

    When I was a child, I used to spend hours reading my grandmother's set
    of THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE, an edition published in 1920 or 1922. One page
    that fascinated me featured an opaque wash illustration of the newspaper
    machine of the future. The picture showed a middle-class living room and
    hallway with the device for printing the daily newspaper on a table in
    the hallway.

    Does anyone have any more information on William Finch and his Fax
    Newspaper?

    Bhob @ OTR @ [removed]

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:09:40 -0500
    From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: The "Archie" review

     Derek Tague just posted;

>     I'd very much would like to share with everybody the following
>     review from the "Radio Reviews" pages from the Wed., Oct. 13th, 1943 issue of
>     VARIETY, which I serendipitously stumbled upon while doing some OTR-related
>     research  here in NYC.
>     The bad news [removed], read the review.
>     The good news [removed] Stone wasn't in it.

    Phew! Thank God for small favors. I certainly dodged a bullet. If I had been
    the victim of such a bad review, I'd be too embrassed to ever show my "face"
    on the Digest [removed] AGAIN.

    But what an interesting document you unearthed, Derek.

    But to digress briefly, I have a sort of cute story to relate, which will
    have a bearing on my further comments about that review.

    Prior to the last FOTR Convention in New York, Howard Blue kept e-mailing
    me, asking if I'd perform in a presentation he was going to do at the
    convention to promote his book, "Words at war".

    I jokingly responded that I had some misgivings, in as much as I'd also be
    promoting the sale of my just published book "Aw, Relax, [removed]"
    at the Convention, and asked if we wouldn't be at cross purposes.

    Howard told me that if I helped him, he would pass on to me all sorts of
    tricks he learned about promoting book sales.

    Like I said, much of our back and forth repartee was with good humor. I did
    help Howard with his presentation, but I never learned any new promotional
    tricks from him until recently. And it seems to work. So, borrowing a page
    from Howard's technique, anytime a topic gets mentioned on the Digest that I
    cover in my book, I'll call it to your attention. Thanks Howard. :)

    OK! Back to the that 1943 Review that Derek unearthed. Wow! It was certainly
    negative.

>     'Archie Andrews,' based on the comic strip
>     character, premiered Friday (8) as a half-hour nighttime sustainer to be
>     presented every Friday. Obviously patterned after the Henry Aldrich show,
>     dealing humorously with the trials and tribulations
>     of adolescents, 'Archie,' on the basis of the initial stanza, falls far short
>     of his prototype in both humor and originality.

    Obviously, when NBC decided to shift the show to Saturday Mornings, a new
    broom swept clean, and no one from that Friday night cast survived.

>     As Archie, Jackie Grimes gave an adequate portrayal as a much harassed
>     highschool juve who winds up at the big dance with his mother as his date.
>     Kid
>     was handicapped by poor material, as were the others, who on the whole well
>     well cast.

    I worked with Jackie on a number of occasions. He was a fine "Child Actor"
    who spent many years on Lets Pretend, and as he matured, worked fairly
    steady in the business. He was, I think, past his teenager years at the time
    he was playing "Archie" on this earlier version of the program.

>     Single exception was Archie's boy friend, who, in an obvious
>     attempt to ape Homer of the Aldrich series, with his changing voice, only
>     succeeded in sounding remarkably like Tom Howard of the Howard and Shelton
>     vaude team.

    Ouch!

    In my recently published book, "Aw Relax, [removed]",I mention the
    early years of the show, and include Photographs of Jack Grimes and Cameron
    Andrews, (the "Jughead" of the review). And I go into quite a bit of detail
    about the pains that NBC took to re-cast the Characters. In particular, to
    find someone to play the part of "Jughead" that did not in any way sound
    like "Homer" on "Henry Aldrich".

    NOW I KNOW WHY TONY LEADER (THE DIRECTOR DURING THE CASTING SESSIONS) WAS SO
    INSISTANT ON THAT POINT.

    To make a long story short, It was obvious that NBC was not interested in
    aping Henry Aldrich (CBS) and have the "Archie" show compete as a "prime
    Time" counter part. They determined to take the popular Comic Book
    characters, and turn it into a highly popular program designed for less
    mature audiences. They (we) succeeded, and it eventually became the highest
    rated Saturday Day Time program on the air back then. (If you believe the
    NBC press releases).

    If your interested on learning more, here comes the sell. :) Go [removed]

    [removed]

    OK, enough crass commercialism. Derek finished up his posting with a cute
    play on words.

>     "Archie" became more "Swift" & more of a "Premium" as it went along
>     ("frank"ly
>     speaking). Wouldn't you say so, Jughead, er, I mean Hal?

    That's because the program had a writer that exercised more "Kraft". (Better
    not forget that sponsor, Derek.   :)

    Hal(Harlan)Stone
    Jughead

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:10:10 -0500
    From: Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed];
    To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RichardCrenna

    Hi,
    If you haven't seen the Los Angeles Times article on Richard Crenna, point
    your browsers to:
    [removed]
    You'll have to register, but it only takes a few minutes.
    The article is sprinkled with his radio work as well as with the memories
    of many who worked with him, including Janet Waldo.
    I received a call a few weeks ago from the author of the article and we
    spoke about Richard Crenna.
    I met him for the last time at a SPERDVAC convention a few years ago when
    we did A Date With Judy with Louise Erickson.
    He was not able to appear in the show but came to see Louise and his other
    friends at the rehearsal.
    We had spoken many times over the years about doing an interview for the
    radio shows, and also for SPERDVAC.
    I found him to be a very genuine man  with a lot of natural class.
    He will be missed.
    Larry Gassman

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:10:19 -0500
    From: "glen schroeder" <gschroeder10@[removed];
    To: "otr" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Good job Charlie and Walden

    Hi all.

    I heard a great interview last night done by Walden Hughes of our fearless
    leader Charlie on Yesterday USA.  Our number should swell after that
    broadcast. Keep it up Walden, and keep it up Charlie.

    Love dis list

    Glen Schroeder

    Madison WI

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:10:31 -0500
    From: JayHick@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Collect

    Bill Owen was asked:  what radio person said:

     "Some People collect coins; some People collect old violins; I collect
    murders."  Send the answer to me and I will tell Bill

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:10:47 -0500
    From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Molly's illness

              Someone mentioned to me that there were several OTR
    actors and actresses who experienced "mike fright".  I have
    a general idea of what it is, but would like to more.  They also
    mentioned that Marian Jordan ("Molly") was one of the OTR
    actresses who suffered from it.   She always seemed so in
    control of herself and the character she played on "Fibber
    McGee and Molly".

              I'm sure there were others, but who were they?  Any examples?

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:11:10 -0500
    From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Radio and facsimile

    Several contributors to our Digest have mentioned the radio facsimile
    service offered by WOR.  I have a recording that tells about that service.
    It was broadcast sometime in 1938 from WOR and lasts about nine minutes.
    The explanation of how the system worked is interesting.  I downloaded this
    from Misty Dawn Lane's website.

    Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
    OTR: [removed]

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #26
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