Subject: [removed] Digest V2004 #117
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 4/1/2004 8:36 AM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2004 : Issue 117
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                 [removed]
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      3-31 births                           [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      PhD Thesis on "The War of The Worlds  [ =?iso-8859-1?Q?=22F=B7bio=22?= <fap ]
      Sponsor's booth                       [ <welsa@[removed]; ]
      Re: broadcasting days                 [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
      Hector Chevigny                       [ khovard@[removed] ]
      Re: THE woman                         [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Continued Adventures of Sherlock Hol  [ Wich2@[removed] ]
      John Dunning                          [ "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed] ]
      Re: WLS National Barn Dance           [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
      Bishop Sheen                          [ "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed]; ]
      Terror By Night                       [ "John Orinjok" <JohnO@[removed]; ]
      Actors Associated with Roles          [ "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed]; ]
      Holmes & Watson                       [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
      4-1 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
      The Ultimate Holmes                   [ William Brooks <webiii@[removed]; ]
      Sherlock Holmes on PBS                [ kclarke5@[removed] ]
      Shafter Parker                        [ "awfulE" <emba@[removed]; ]
      Clearance sale on cassettes and cd's  [ Andy Blatt <andy@vintagebroadcasts. ]
      Michigan State University             [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
      1st Day of Air America and a surpris  [ "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed] ]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:35:14 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  3-31 births

    March 31st births

    03-31-1908 - Les Damon - Providence, RI - d. 7-20-1962
    actor: Nick Charles "Advs. of the Thin Man"; Michael Waring "The Falcon"
    03-31-1915 - Henry Morgan - NYC - d. 5-19-1994
    comedian: "Here's Morgan"; "Henry Morgan Show"
    03-31-1918 - Charles Russell - NYC - d. 1-18-1985
    actor: Johnny Dollar "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar"
    03-31-1922 - Richard Kiley - Chicago, IL - d. 3-5-1999
    actor: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
    03-31-1928 - Lefty Frizzell - Corsicana, TX - d. 7-19-1975
    singer: "Grand Ole Opry"; "Louisana Hayride"; "Big D Jamboree"
    03-31-1934 - Shirley Jones - Smithton, PA
    singer-actress: "Calling All Hearts"; "Stars for Defense"; "Special Delivery:
    Vietnam"

    March 31st deaths

    None

    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 09:39:43 -0500
    From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=22F=B7bio=22?=  <fape2@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  PhD Thesis on "The War of The Worlds"

    Dear Friends from the OTR Group,

    I am very glad to tell you that I will be defending my PhD
    thesis called "Radio, Fiction and Reality: a New Approach
    to Orson Welles' "The War of The Worlds" this Friday, at 2
    [removed], at the State University of Sao Paulo (School of
    Communications and Arts).

    Should any of you happen to be in Brazil, please be
    welcome.

    I also would like the OTR group to know that in the
    acknowledgements I thank the OTR group for having helped me
    in gathering information on TWOT, especially through Dennis
    W. Crow, Derek Tague and William L. Abott. Thank you very
    much!

    Below you can read the abstract of my thesis.

    Warm regards from

    Fabio Lacerda Soares Pietraroia

    ABSTRACT

    This research aims at contributing to understand better the
    reasons why approximately one million people panicked, in
    the United States, in 1938, during the radio broadcasting
    of "The War of the Worlds" - a dramatization that was
    adapted by Orson Welles' team and that simulated an
    invasion of Earth by Martians. Unlike most previous
    researches, this one's main focus is neither on the
    characteristics of the radio program itself nor on the
    listeners' profile. Although such factors themselves are
    not underestimated, this research focuses, above all, on
    the interaction of both of them which creates a dialogical
    relationship that, in its turn, gives birth to the process
    of meaning construction.
    Throughout this research, a strict commitment was kept with
    understanding the historical context of "The War of the
    Worlds" in its various aspects, including: the role of
    radio and the ways it used to be employed in the 1930's;
    the context in which the original science fiction novel was
    written by H. G. Wells, and the circumstances in which it
    was adapted to radio; what astronomers knew about Mars in
    those times; the popular belief regarding the end of the
    world, etc.
    A hybrid and never used before method was adopted. It
    combines elements of the human sciences (especially from
    the Marxist philosophy of language) with some knowledge
    that has been recently achieved in the field of human
    neurobiology in what concerns the way memory is generated
    and evocated in people's mind.
    We found out that a multitude of factors concurs to explain
    why so many listeners mistook fiction for reality, giving
    in to panic. But, among them, it should be highlighted the
    fact that a "collective memory of future" about Mars as
    well as about its would-be inhabitants was built. Such
    collective memory of future foresaw that an alien invasion
    of our planet could take place, which provided the radio
    program with a particularly realistic shape, especially if
    we take into account the context it was broadcasted.
    Finally, we argue that other media phenomena (somehow
    similar to "The War of the Worlds") could happen, either
    now or in the future, because their pre-conditions still
    exist. People's sense of reality could be cheated again and
    they would be led to mistake fiction for reality once more.

    =====
    Fabio Lacerda Soares Pietraroia
    Alameda Ja , 150. Ap. 13-A
    01420-000  Sao Paulo-SP
    Brazil

    fones: (11)3262-3435
         e (11)9443-7144

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 10:44:52 -0500
    From: <welsa@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Sponsor's booth

    I have heard that some network radio studios provided special private booths
    for show sponsors to use.  Kind of like sky boxes in today's sports
    stadiums.

    Were these booths equipped for entertaining?  That is, did they cater meals,
    snack, beverages (alcoholic or otherwise)?  Or were they just private places
    to sit and watch (listen) to the show?

    Ted

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:47:52 -0500
    From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: broadcasting days
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    Are any of these broadcasting days commercially available?  I know about the
    one from 1939 and I believe "Radio Yesteryear" once made the D-Day broadcast
    days available, so surely *they* are floating around.  But what about the ones
    from the 1950s and 11/25/60?

    Dixon

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:48:30 -0500
    From: khovard@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Hector Chevigny

     Blue Chevigny asked about her Grandfather, Hector Chevigny's radio shows and
    I have sent her a brief reply.

    We are all familiar with the fact that OTR and radio in general are so
    popular for obvious reasons among (inter alia) blind people. Digest
    subscribers may be intersted to know that radio write Chevigny was himself
    blind.

    Howard Blue (no relation to Blue Chevigny -- but what a pair we might have
    made!

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:48:58 -0500
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: THE woman
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    In a message dated Ray Druian wrote:

>     Also, radio, television, and movies have left open whether Ms. Adler was
>     THE woman or the WOman.

    But the Strand Magazine original print edition does not.

    In my quasi-facsimile edition of same the word *the* is in italics.

    So too does it appear in the popular Doubleday "The Complete Sherlock
    Holmes".

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:50:14 -0500
    From: Wich2@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Continued Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

    From: "Druian, Raymond B SPL" <[removed]@[removed];

>     Furthermore, there is absolutely NO truth to the vicious rumor that Holmes
>     and Ms. Adler had been lovers.

    (Holy hannah - calling a rumor about being lovers "vicious"!?)
    Pastiche writers have run with this ball - even producing progeny! - but not
    ACD.

>     Nobody, however, has ever settled the question of whether Ms. Adler was

    >from the same family that produced Stella and Luther Adler.

    Stella never mentioned it when I was studing with her! (And ACD would have
    probably made mention of the fact, if Irene was a "Hebrew".)

    From: "John E. Sexton" <jsexton@[removed];

>     I think there was at least one person who portrayed BOTH Holmes and Watson.

    Mr. Tollin may weigh in here; off the top of my head: Reginald Owen, on
    screen; Jeremy Brett, onstage.

>     More, about an upcoming live NYC recreation of Edith Meiser's first non-Doyle

    script

    Taking shape: at the Episcopal Actors's Guild in May, a double bill of a
    "Fibber McGee" script, directed by and starring the Mercury's Arthur
    Anderson; with the Holmes "Adventure of the Hindoo in the Wicker Basket",
    with Quicksilver's Craig Wichman, Joseph Franchini, and Katie Nutt. Sfx by
    Bill Nadel.

    Best,
    CW

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 12:47:41 -0500
    From: "George M. Kelly" <gkelly1@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  John Dunning

    I learned yesterday that John Dunning was here in Jackson, Mississippi, this
    past Saturday promoting his new book, Bookman's Promise.  I need to keep up
    better with local events.  Anyway, thought I'd inform  you, if you didn't
    already know, that John Dunning is making personal appearances across the
    country.

    George Kelly

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:27:07 -0500
    From: Shenbarger@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: WLS National Barn Dance
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    In a message dated 3/31/2004 Jim Harmon wrote:

>     The correct name is the National Barn Dance.

    As a youngster, I recall my mother taking me to the National Barn Dance radio
    show where I heard Homer and Jethro sing "Screen Door", a musical corruption
    of "Green Door", the number 1 record in August and September of 1956. It's the
    only recollection I have of the songs and entertainers that evening. I also
    was impressed by the size of the studio audience. According to the WLS history
    page, the Eighth Street Theater held 1,200 people and 3 million people saw the
    show in its 26 year run at that location. The first show was broadcast on
    April 19, 1924, the first Saturday night of the station's operation.

    [removed]

    Look at the additional pages (link at bottom) for short bio's on the
    performers. There are many familiar names there.

    Don Shenbarger

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:27:40 -0500
    From: "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Bishop Sheen

    In Digest No. 113 Hal Stone opined re the bishop:

>     Word was out that even Non Catholics watched him, just because he was
>     fascinating to watch, had a great sense of humor, and never boring.

    No doubt about that.  My staunchly Southern Baptist grandmother was a
    devoted fan.  Her favorite shows were Bp Sheen, Liberace, wrestling and her
    "stories" (soap operas).

    To keep this "on-list" she had a beautiful large Zenith radio which got
    moved from the living room into a spare bedroom when my uncle bought her a
    24-inch (I think) table model Muntz TV.

    Regards to all,
    Art Funk

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:45:24 -0500
    From: "John Orinjok" <JohnO@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Terror By Night

    Since the digest has been talking about Sherlock Holmes, I was wondering if
    anyone could tell me how the movie ended.  I only taped 3/4 of it when it
    aired on TCM.

    Thanks

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:46:05 -0500
    From: "Arthur Funk" <Art-Funk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Actors Associated with Roles

    In Digest No. 115 Fred Berney offered:

>     I believe that you relate to the actor who you first saw or heard playing
>     the role. For me Sherlock Holmes will always be Basil Rathbone, James Bond
>     is Sean Connery and The Shadow is Bret Morrison.

    I agree with those three.  But having listened to The Lone Ranger first on
    radio and later having watched on TV, when I conjure up the Ranger in my
    head I hear Brace Beemer's voice and see Clayton Moore's face.  Same goes
    for the Gunsmoke characters.

    Regards to all,
    Art Funk

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 14:25:36 -0500
    From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Holmes & Watson

     To my ear the best Holmes and Watson on radio will
    always be Clive Merrison & Michael Williams of the
    BBC. They play the characters as concieved by Sir
    Arthur. What usually spoils most audio Holmes episodes
    for me is the fact, as in the case of Hobbs & Shelly,
    the actors sound much too old for the roles. Or as in
    the case of Nigel Bruce, Dr. Watson is not played for
    his intelligence.
      Call me a purist, but the duo were in their late
    20's when they met and Holmes' was in his late 40s or
    early 50s when he retired. In most American
    productions Watson sounds a like a stuffed shirt old
    enough for retirement. In some of the UK series he is
    made to sound like a complete twit.
      Yes I have a bias toward the characters. I want them
    done correctly. While Rathbone is an excellent Holmes,
    Bruce played Watson in such a way that Sir Arthur was
    probably turning over in his grave.
      I couldn't get enough of Jeremy Brett's Holmes and
    Edward Hardwick, although not physically right, was an
    outstanding Watson. Merrison and Williams bring the
    same truth to the roles on radio.
                         Larry Albert

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 15:54:18 -0500
    From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
    To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  4-1 births/deaths

    April Fool's births

    04-01-1886 - Wallace Beery - Kansas City, MO - d. 4-15-1949
    host: "Shell Chateau"
    04-01-1909 - Eddy Duchin - Cambridge, MA - d. 2-9-1951
    bandleader: (The Ten Magic Fingers of Radio) "Lasalle Style Show"
    04-01-1912 - Lou Merrill - Canada - d. 4-7-1963
    actor: Thomas Hyland "Crime Classics"; Aaron Saul "Point Sublime"
    04-01-1917 - Leon Janney - Ogden, UT - d. 10-28-1980
    actor: Danny Stratford "Life of Mary Sothern"; Richard Parker "Parker Family"
    04-01-1923 - Bobby Jordan - NYC - d. 9-10-1965
    actor: (The Dead End Kids) "Texaco Star Playhouse"; "Wheatenaville Sketches"
    04-01-1926 - Jack Grimes - NYC
    actor: Archie Andrews "Archie Andrews"; Homer Brown "Aldrich Family"
    04-01-1929 - Jane Powell - Portland, OR
    singer: Judy Foster "A Date with Judy"; "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "Stars of
    Tomorrow"
    04-01-1932 - Debbie Reynolds - El Paso, TX
    actress: "Stars Over Hollywood"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    04-01-1934 - Don Hastings - Brooklyn, NY
    actor: "Theatre Guild on the Air"; "Studio One"; "Radio City Playhouse"

    April Fool's deaths

    01-17-1884 - Noah Beery, Sr. - Kansas City, MO - d. 4-1-1946
    actor: "Campbell's Playhouse"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
    01-18-1902 - Helen Lynd - NJ - d. 4-1-1992
    actress: Miss Duffy "Duffy's Tavern"
    05-13-1902 - David Broekman - Leiden, The Netherlands- d. 4-1-1958
    conductor: "Mobil Magazine"; "Texaco Star Theatre"
    05-20-1909 - Jerry Hausner - Cleveland, OH - d. 4-1-1993
    actor: "Lum and Abner"; "Silver Theatre"
    05-25-1907 - Barbara Luddy - Helena, MT - d. 4-1-1979
    actress: Carol Evans "Road of Life"; Janet Munson Adams "Woman in White"
    03-15-1956 - Charlie Summers - York, PA - d. 4-1-2004
    maintainer, list; owner, blog
    11-16-1896 - Jim Jordan - Peoria, IL - d. 4-1-1988
    comedian: Mickey Donavan, "Kaltenmeyer's Kindergarten"; "Fibber McGee "Fibber
    McGee and Molly"
    12-15-1873 - Harry Humphrey - San Francisco, CA - d. 4-1-1947
    actor: Old Ranger "Death Valley Days"; Horace "Ma and Pa"
    --
    Ron Sayles
    For a complete list:
    [removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:17:32 -0500
    From: William Brooks <webiii@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  The Ultimate Holmes

    Allen Wilcox posted that in his opinion Clive Merrison is the
    ultimate Sherlock Holmes on radio. I've been reading the digest and
    wondering when someone would mention him. The entire Holmes Canon
    with Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson is the very
    best representation ever done of Doyle's characters. The production
    values and acting are wonderful.

    In my opinion the duo who comes in a close second are curently in
    production, and airing nation wide on Imagination Theatre. This
    series ( The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) in written and
    produced in Seattle by Jim French as has John Patrick Lowrie playing
    Holmes and Lawrence Albert ( a frequent contributer to this digest)
    as Watson. Lowrie has an edge to his character and Albert plays
    Watson not as a bumbler ( as done by the loveable Nigel Bruce) but as
    a competent, and accomplished man. The supporting cast is also
    wonderful. These shows are available via [removed].

    If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes and wish to listen to accurate
    portrayals of Holmes and Watson get yourself some of the BBC
    production with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams and compare them
    to The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with John Patrick Lowie
    and Lawrence Albert. Both series are excellant.

    Bill Brooks

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 17:24:39 -0500
    From: kclarke5@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Sherlock Holmes on PBS

           There was a series on PBS a few months ago,
    which showed the development of the Sherlock Holmes
    character.  It centered around Arthur Conan Doyle
    as a young medical student and one of his professors.
    He'd join this professor on many of his outings and
    ask questions of him, much like Watson did.  His
    professor, I forget his name, was very big on using
    deductive reasoning and logic, and left no stone unturned
    when it came to solving a case. (Much like Sherlock
    Holmes did in his cases.)

           It was very good and I hope PBS will continue
    the series in the future.  I'm not sure who played
    the roles of Arthur Conan Doyle and the professor who
    influenced him, but they were both very good!

           Although fictionalized, I'm sure, it raised some
    theories which made me appreciate the nature of Holmes
    and the way he worked his cases on OTR and in films.

    Kenneth Clarke

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 18:41:30 -0500
    From: "awfulE" <emba@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Shafter Parker

    [removed]@[removed]>

    Does anyone remember a program in the 1935-37 time frame (west coast) either
    named "Shafter Parker" or the the star was 'Shafter.'  I heard one or two
    eps. and that's it.  The plot:  Parker was rich.  He had just purchased a
    circus and the train to move it.  He had no idea what he was doing and that
    was where the laughs started.  There were lots.
    I don't know why this has stuck with me through the years?  "Maybe I am
    waiting for the next ep?"
    awfulE  >emba@[removed]<

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 23:27:00 -0500
    From: Andy Blatt <andy@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Clearance sale on cassettes and cd's

    For a limited time I'm having a clearance sale on cassettes and cd'[removed]
    Grab Bag sale of sorts.

    Each cassette with label and box is 99 cents (no minimum) and cd's are $[removed]
    and  Shipping and handling of $[removed] for media mail or $[removed] for priority
    mail + tax where applicable (CT).  At these prices I cannot guarantee show
    or title but if you'd like all comedy or all drama or a little bit of
    everything, please let me know.  I can accept all forms of payment as well
    as all major credit cards.

    All cassettes come with label and box and cd's are labelled and come in an
    envelope with "glassine" window.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I will donate
    some of the money earned
    by this sale to the listmaster to help defray the cost of maintaining this
    list.

    Thanks.
    Andy

    VINTAGE BROADCASTS
    [removed] 3257
    Milford, CT 06460-3257
    866-783-1923
    [removed]

    andy@[removed]

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

    Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 23:27:57 -0500
    From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Michigan State University

    A Special Collections Department at the Michigan State University has a
    series of comic books on mircofilm for viewing, based on a popular radio
    program.  Alas, I am too far from Michigan to take a drive out there, but if
    anyone on this Digest happens to live within driving distance of the
    University and wouldn't mind checking out their comic book collection and
    write down a little info I need from some of the issues, I would be more
    than glad to financially reimburse for their time and trouble.  Feel free to
    drop me a line.
    Martin Grams, Jr.
    mmargrajr@[removed]

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

    Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2004 09:31:57 -0500
    From: "Irene Heinstein" <IreneTH@[removed];
    To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  1st Day of Air America and a surprising

    I am listening to the stream from the first day of broadcast of Air America
    and was surprised when Al Franken introduced a funny remote presumably from
    Heathrow Airport with Wally Ballou reporting.

    It sounded just like Bob Elliott - and it turns out it was he.

    Quite a treat to hear that voice again.  'Wally Ballou' will be 'reporting'
    from time to time on Franken's show.

    Irene

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #117
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