Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #398
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 12/17/2004 6:51 AM

To: [removed]@[removed]

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 398
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Adventure by Morse                    [ "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@ya ]
      two booklets for sale                 [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      the business of radio                 [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
      OTR novels and movies                 [ "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback ]
      Re: Fibber's closet                   [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      Re: OTR novels and movies             [ "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback ]
      Re: $20,000 a Week                    [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
      Fred Allen Discussion                 [ wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.) ]
      Happy HA-lidays                       [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
      12-17 births/deaths                   [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      OTR Novels                            [ "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed] ]
      WTIC's Golden Age of Radio for Decem  [ "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
      Maryland Broadcast Museum Features H  [ seandd@[removed] ]
      A Merry OTR Christmas from the Ether  [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
      RE: WTIC's "The Golden Age of Radio"  [ "Michael Antonucci" <[removed] ]
      Let's CAROL again, like we did last   [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      big band remotes                      [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:21:49 -0500
    From: "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Adventure by Morse

    I've just discovered "Adventures by Morse".  I fell under the spell of "I
    Love A Mystery" then
    tried "I Love Adventure" but found it kind of hokey (with the "Old Men of
    Gramercy Lane") and the
    serialization was missing.   But "Adventure by Morse" is serialized (with 1/2
    hour episodes!) and
    seems very close in spirit to ILAM.  I'm about 3 episodes into "The Cobra
    King Strikes Back" set
    in French Indochina and it seems much better than "I Love Adventure".

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:22:12 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  two booklets for sale

    Hi Everybody,

    a future guest on my radio show has two different booklets out on the
    market.  One is on the radio show Quite Please with log and cast members
    listing.  The other is the authorize booklet base on the radio show of
    Dragnet with log and cast credit.  He is asking for $10 per book and $2
    Postage and Handling.  You can contact me off list if you need any more
    information.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:23:12 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  the business of radio

    Hi Everybody,

    reading many of the post on Fred Allen raise a question for me.  Does any
    one know if Fred Allen own his own show.  If he did then he would had been
    able to call more of the shots with add agency.  Jack Benny own his owned
    show and left General Food in 1944 after he did not like the way he was told
    to "watch it."  Chuck Schaden broke this story in his interview with Jack
    back in 1970.  Bob Hope was incorparated in the 1940s.  When Stop the Music
    was going against Fred Allen and I understand Bergen had the same problem.
    He stop his show on 12-26-48 and came back on the air  after a period of
    time with a new sponsor.  Krapt Food own the Great Gildersleeve, thus they
    called the shots rather than the stars.  I am wondering if any one knows a
    brake down how many of the shows was owned by the stars, agency, producer,
    or network.  I have been listening to a run of Fibber McGee and Molly in
    1953.  NBC announce that they spent 5 millions dollars this year in
    developing new shows for there radio network that year.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:24:02 -0500
    From: "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR novels and movies

>     Subject:  OTR novels and movies

>     Are there any good fiction books or movies that those of you on the list
>     would recommend where OTR plays a significant role?

    Here's one NOT to see, IMO.  "The Hucksters" starring Clark Gable.  The
    movies promises much to the OTR devotee, but delivers little.  It's supposed
    to be a scathing behind the scenes look at radio advertising circa 1946.
    Sounds great. Unfortunately there just isn't much there, being much more
    concerned with the tepid love story.

    My favorite part comes early and features what must be the most obnoxious
    jingle in the history of radio.  The jingle consists entirely of "Buy Beauty
    Soap, Buy Beauty Soap, Buy Beauty Soap" over and over again.  It's very
    funny, but unfortunately it's the high point of the movie.

    Now, the book it was based on may be much better.  After my mother in law
    died we inheritied he book collection. A paperback version "The Hucksters"
    was one of the books.  Alas, it disappeared before I ever got a chance to
    read it.

      - Phililp

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:23:02 -0500
    From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Fibber's closet

    Joe Salerno asks where the film showing Fibber's closet sound effects came
    from.  He stated: " I speculate that it was staged for the camera, but that
    doesn't mean it wasn't authentic."

    It is from a "March of Time" theatrical newsfilm titled "Radio Broadcasting
    Today" from around 1947.  In the tradition of the radio "March of Time",
    the film producers did not feel any shame in faking film footage.  There
    are a few scenes of real radio programs in it, but most are fake, or are
    recreations, like the Fibber scene.  An example of a fake scene in that
    film is a soap opera that I have seen used in other documentaries as if it
    is real.  The other films cut the scene before the man lurking in the back
    of the studio come up to the microphone, turns it to face him, and intones
    "T I M E . . .  MARCHES ON!!!!!!"  I don't think Westbrook Van Voorhis ever
    was called on to utter that line in any real soap opera.

    Michael Biel   mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:24:16 -0500
    From: "Philip Railsback" <philiprailsback@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: OTR novels and movies

    I have in my mind a movie I saw on the late show when I was kid.  It starred
    Claude Rains.  He played a radio performer or DJ who uses his radio job as
    an alibi for murder.  I cannot remember the name of the movie and can't find
    it on the internet.  Anybody else remember this?

    I do remember that I liked it quite a bit, but other than an image of Rains
    climbing out a window to committ a murder while a record plays, that's about
    all I do remember.  And that last part may be completely wrong.

      - Philip

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:25:44 -0500
    From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Re: $20,000 a Week

    On 12/16/04 12:18 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

>     In January 1946 Fred Allen was paid $20,000 a week
>     to come back on radio. Nice treadmill.

    True -- but it's important to keep in mind that that $20,000 was for the
    entire show, not just Allen. Out of that sum, Allen had to pay his
    supporting cast, his orchestra, his associate writers and other support
    personnel, and also each week's guest star.

    On a personal basis, Allen also supported his sickly brother Bob, who
    suffered from an exotic cardiac disorder and required extensive,
    expensive medical treatment. And, to cap it all, he had probably the
    longest list of moochers in show business -- down-on-their-luck old-time
    vaudevillians who had become dependant on Allen's handouts and followed
    him around like a pack of stray dogs.

    So after being cut into so many slices, that $20,000 a week was quite
    diminished by the time Allen got his share. He was grossing about $2000 a
    week for himself, which was still pretty good by 1946 standards -- but he
    gave away at least $500 of that to his retinue of spongers and charity
    cases. And then the IRS was there to take a very big bite out of what
    remained -- personal income tax rates during the war and immediately
    after were, across the board, the highest they'd ever been.

    I think it says much that Allen and Portland never owned a home of their
    own -- they lived in a series of New York theatrical hotels, even at the
    height of their popularity. They never owned a car -- usually they walked
    or took the subway to wherever they needed to get. And they spent their
    summers not at Palm Springs or some other fashionable resort, but up in
    Maine in a cheap rented cabin at Old Orchard Beach. Perhaps it's just the
    extreme thrift that we New Englanders are known for, but I think it's
    safe to say that they were the least ostentatious people in show business.

    A. Joseph Ross asks,

>     He never considered night clubs?

    I doubt he would have, given the environment of the typical nightspot.
    Alcoholism ran deep in Allen's family, and he himself had been a very
    heavy drinker up until the early thirties, when he finally quit. Given
    the free flow of liquor in such establishments I suspect he might have
    felt very uncomfortable in such venues.

    Elizabeth

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 13:18:07 -0500
    From: wa5pdk@[removed] ([removed] L.)
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Fred Allen Discussion

    I have not enjoyed a discussion more than the series on Fred Allen and
    his career. I am so glad we have intelligent, well-informed contributors
    to this column.
    One correspondent said: "Fred may well just have been one of those
    people who isn't happy unless he isn't happy."
    I think that is an interesting thesis to explore because I have known
    people who fit the description.  They probably would not admit it, but I
    have a daily "therapy" session with a sibling who revels constant
    retelling of the unhappy experiences of her life. I expect it is the
    bread and butter of some practitioners of psychotherapy. I view my role
    in this relationship with my sibling as a "compassionate listener" of
    the "non-directive type."

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 14:25:07 -0500
    From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
    To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Happy HA-lidays
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    Happy HA-lidays to all OTR fans.  I offer the following since my predilection
    is
    for the comedies.  Answers tomorrow, although doubtfully needed.

    Where do bad OTR golfers go for a drink after the game?

    Where do OTR fans find bargains?

    Who is the preferred cookie maker of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correlli?

    Which OTR sponsor would be most favored by the Beach Boys?

    Which of their sponsors do you get if you cross Senator Ford, Joe Laurie Jr
    and Harry Hershfield with their jokes?

    Melanie Aultman

    otrmelanie@[removed]
    If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

      *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
      ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 17:32:43 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  12-17 births/deaths

    December 17th births

    12-17-1895 - Rudolph Anders - Germany - d. 3-27-1987
    actor: Dr. VanMeter "Space Patrol"
    12-17-1896 - Arthur Fiedler - South Boston, MA - d. 7-10-1979
    conductor: "Robert Merrill with the Boston Pops Orchestra"; "Boston Pops"
    12-17-1900 - Katina Paxinou - Piraeus, Greece - d. 2-22-1973
    actress: "Suspense"; "Hallmark Playhouse"
    12-17-1902 - House Jameson - Austin, TX - d. 4-23-1971
    actor: Sam Aldrich "Aldrich Family"; Inspector Douglas Renfrew "Renfrew of
    the Mounted"
    12-17-1903 - Erskine Caldwell - Morland, GA - d. 4-11-1987
    playwright: "Information Please"; "Short Story"
    12-17-1913 - Herbert Nelson - Stillwater, MN - d. 7-19-1990
    actor: Ralph Fraser "Dan Harding's Wife"; George Lawlor "Romance of Helen
    Trent"
    12-17-1919 - Edward "Shrimp" Wragge - NYC - d. 12-22-1992
    actor: "Gold Spot Pal"
    12-17-1927 - Richard Long - Chicago, IL - d. 12-21-1974
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Proudly We Hail"

    December 17th deaths

    01-01-1909 - Dana Andrews - Collins, MS - d. 12-17-1992
    actor: Matt Cevetic "I Was A Communist for the FBI"
    07-04-1895 - Irving Caesar - NYC - d. 12-17-1996
    lyricist: "Biography In Sound"; "Perspective"
    07-10-1889 - Noble Sissle - d. 12-17-1975
    songwriter, orchestra leader: "Freedom's People"
    07-11-1892 - Thomas Mitchell - Elizabeth, NJ - d. 12-17-1962
    actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "Cavalcade of America"
    08-28-1907 - Sam Levene - NYC - d. 12-17-1980
    comedian: "Fred Allen Show"
    10-09-1913 - John Guedel - Portland, IN - d. 12-17-2001
    producer: "You Bet Your Life"; "People Are Funny"; "Pillsbury House Party"
    12-31-1921 - Rex Allen - Wilcox, AZ - d. 12-17-1999
    country/western singer: "Country Music Time"; "Country Hoedown"

    --
    Ron Sayles
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 17:33:00 -0500
    From: "James Yellen" <clifengr3@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  OTR Novels

    In a message dated 12/14/2004 11:18:26 [removed] Eastern Standard Time,
    [removed]@[removed] writes:

>     Are there any good fiction books or movies that those of you on the  list
>     would recommend where OTR plays a significant role?

    I suggest that you try my on-line novel with an OTR theme.
    It's called THE WISTFUL RADIO CHRONICLES.

    [removed]

    Jim Yellen

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 17:33:12 -0500
    From: "Bob Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
    To: "Old Time Radio" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  WTIC's Golden Age of Radio for December 16

    This month's "WTIC's Golden Age of Radio" with Dick
    Bertel and Ed  Corcoran features the following two
    programs:

    Program 6 - September, 1970 - John Gibson, noted
    Network Radio actor who portrayed Ethelbert on
    "Casey, Crime Photographer."  We'll hear excerpts
    from that show, plus clips from "Nick Carter," Milton
    Berle Show," "Terry and the Pirates," and "The
    Magnificent Montague."

    The second show is a departure from the regular
    schedule - we'll skip to Program 57 from December,
    1974.

    Christmas Stories tended to be repeated year after year
    on radio and became a memorable part of that era.
    Listen to this offering from thirty years ago featuring
    "The Couple Next Door,"  "Grand Central Station,"
    and "The Fred Allen Show."

    [removed]

    After Christmas, we'll present Program 7 from
    October 1970 - a  two-hour special featuring
    Rudy Vallee.

    In the 1970's Dick Bertel created the program for
    WTIC in Hartford, CT. The idea came  to  Dick
    after he interviewed radio collector-historian Ed
    Corcoran a few times. It was  first broadcast in April,
    1970; Ed was his co-host.

    For the next seven years the program featured interviews
    with radio actors, writers, producers, engineers and
    musicians from radio's early days. In addition, each
    show featured excerpts from Ed's collection.

    Bob Scherago
    Webmaster

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 17:33:26 -0500
    From: seandd@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Maryland Broadcast Museum Features Holiday
     Fare

    I didn't even know there was a radio-tv museum in Bowie, MD.

    But there it [removed] no link was available with this story but you can probably
    find it by Googling the [removed]

    Sean Dougherty
    SeanDD@[removed]

    Christmas past - dial it up in Bowie
    Baltimore Sun (subscription) - Baltimore,MD,USA
    ... "The 'Santa Broadcast' will [include] a whole range of both radio and
    television programs, including old shows by Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Phil
    Harris, the ...

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:34:40 -0500
    From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  A Merry OTR Christmas from the Ether!
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    For All Old Time Radio Digest Subscibers:

         Once again the Christmas season is upon us, and, once again, I'd like to
    share with all my friends here on the Digest the happiness,
    the warmth, and the hope the Christmas and Chanukah seasons engender.
         My wishes for all of you in the New Year [removed] 2005 are pretty much the
    same I wish every year: continued joy in the OTR hobby, and the valuable
    friendship I likewise feel  every time a new issue of the Digest appears in
    the in-box.
         May the true spirit of the Christmas season move you  all to do something
    extraordinary for someone special in your life like what Andy Brown did for
    his goddaughter Arbadella Jones. May you always hold on to some sort of
    childlike belief in Santa Claus just like Clifton Finnegan down at Duffy's.
    If you know someone spending Christmas alone, try to bring Christmas cheer to
    him or her as Fibber, Molly, and the gang once did for ol' Doc Gamble. If you
    find yourself  bringing Christmas to the less fortunate as once Brit Ponset,
    the Six-Shooter, did for a poor family, may your blessings in the new year  be
    tenfold. And finally, if the misfortunes in your life have soured you on the
    true meaning of Christmas as once happened  to Archie, the Bartender, before
    he found his "Miracle in Manhattan," rest asssured that Sgt. Joe Friday is on
    the case.
         I have to admit that the spoken-word recording "May You Always," by the
    late Dave Garroway in the 1960s was the true inspiration for this missive.
    Therefore, I feel the most appropriate way to sign off  is a la Mr.
    [removed] "Peace."

    Derek Tague

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 21:11:01 -0500
    From: "Michael Antonucci" <[removed]@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  RE: WTIC's "The Golden Age of Radio"

    Hi All,

    As a seldom contributor but always a reader of these posts I just wanted to
    urge everyone not to miss the programs that Bob Scherago has graciously put
    up in his web site [removed] . These shows are a treasure for
    any one interested in OTR. Just a personal note. In the past folks have
    written about how they became interested in OTR. In my case it was these
    shows. I was thirteen when this series began and fell in love with the
    history of radio and the shows. The strange thing is that after all these
    years I remember some of these broadcasts and even quotes in the interviews.
    I remember Dick Bertel at WTIC- always a real pro and a joy to listen to.
    Again, thanks to Bob Scherago and Dick for allowing me to hear these
    wonderful shows again.   Mike.

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

    Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2004 21:33:22 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Let's CAROL again, like we did last winter-

    Dear Dixon & Carolers-

    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]

>     The one time I sat down to hear (years later, by recording) a Mercury
>     Theatre presentation of "A Christmas Carol," I actually heard "A Christmas
>     Carol," with Lionel Barrymore.

    This PARTICULAR turn by Lionel was in '39, WITH The Mercury (He was slated to
    do it the year before, by Orson subbed. It's probably THE classic one, of
    Barrymore's many - perhaps because of its eternal Charlie Michaelson
    syndication.  That's what allowed my sister & I, in the 70's, to hear it - we
    would sneak away from the family gathering on Christmas Eve, to listen in on
    WOWO.

>     The Campbell's Soups commercials were *not* done by

    anyone in character (which would've been woefully out of place in a Mercury
    production), just the announcer, Ernest Chappell.

    I believe that this was the standard practice, after "The Mercury Theater on
    the Air" became "The Campbell Playhouse." (Of course, it'd been born as
    "First Person Singular.")

    In The Carol's case, the spots, and Welles's customary gassing on at the head
    & tail, result in a shortened story. But other than that, it's a quite
    wonderful production - not the least blessing of which, is Orson's narration.
    To my mind, he & Jackson Beck were the Masters of such.

    Merry merry,
    -Craig "Once - and Future(?)- Scrooge" Wichman

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

    Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 08:41:11 -0500
    From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  big band remotes

    Hi Everybody,

    does any one know how I can find a contact for Ed Burke who is a well know
    Big Band Remote collector who lived in Cooper City FL.  Frank
    Bresee would like to get in touch with him.  Ed started to collect the
    transcription disc of the remote broadcast over 60s years ago and had over
    10,000 of them.  He was thinking about donating them to the Library of
    Congress at one time.  I know some of his recordings has been put out on CD
    over the years.  Take care,

    Walden Hughes

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #398
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