------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 170
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Japs or Japanese? [ Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed] ]
Bela Lugosi [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
WWII [ "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed] ]
Tony Randall dies [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]
Tony Randall [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Bela Lugosi on Radio [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
re: WW II blackouts and OTR [ David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@yahoo. ]
Re: Calvin Coolidge & Photophone [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
Sho dates needed for Theater 10:30 [ "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed]; ]
BBC Sci-Fi and Holmes shows [ "Gareth Tilley" <tilleygareth@hotma ]
TERRY &THE PIRATES [ PGreco2254@[removed] ]
WWII COMMENTS [ <richard@[removed]; ]
5-19 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Tucker Car Radio Program [ "RBB" <oldradio@[removed]; ]
Tony Randall [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Bela Lugosi on Radio [ "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@earthli ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:39:36 -0400
From: Lee Munsick <leemunsick@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Japs or Japanese?
I'm fascinated that so many posters had the same experiences during WW2 as I,
complete with Air Raid Warden dads.
I'm also a little amazed that people think that "Jap" is necessarily a
derogatory term, compared with "kike" and "gook" by one writer, or "wop".
The latter has a far longer history, deriving from "With Out Papers", which
doesn't even necessarily mean Italians.
To me, it just always seemed "Jap" was simply short for Japanese, not even
like the historic "chink" for Chinese. To be sure, during the war people
spoke desparagingly of the Japs, or Japanese, or sometimes even "Nips", again
just an abbreviation. I do recall people referring to "those slanty-eyed
b------s", and that is clearly derogatory, as well as a racial slur. I
always found it interesting during that time that the same term could have
been used to refer to the Chinese, who were on our side (no wonder!). Many
people found it very difficult to tell the difference between the Japanese
and the Chinese, and later the Koreans. Although all come from the same
roots, generally I can tell them apart in films and the like, and of course
their very different names help.
Watching WW2 period films (my period), it's interesting how Hollywood used
actors of Chinese and Japanese descent interchangeably in depicting the
Japanese enemy. At least they got over the grotesque method of making up
solidly Caucasian actors as Charlie Chan. But then, consider how many ethnic
roles including Charlie Chan were cast with J. Carrol Naish. He did just
about every nationality except his own heritage, which was Irish. Of course
his most famous role was as Luigi Basco in "Life With Luigi", which he did
with great dignity and expertise. Talking about mixed casting, consider
"Alan Reed" as Pasquale on that program. Reed's real name was Teddy Bergman,
neither Irish nor Italian! Both, like so many accomplished radio actors,
were fluent in many dialects! And didn't we all so enjoy those remarkable
abilities!
I grew up a child of wartime propaganda, hating the Japanese. By the time I
went to college in 1954, I found that one of my two best friends was a
charming, friendly, intelligent Japanese of my age. It was hard getting over
the earlier conditioning. Not everyone did, and my friend from Kobe was
given a hard time by some. I consider the experience to have been a very
positive one for me; without it, my outlook today may have remained quite
different.
Lee Munsick
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:40:10 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bela Lugosi
Since someone brought up the subject of Bela Lugosi . . .
There's a rumor that a recording of Art Linkletter's HOUSE PARTY with Bela
Lugosi as a guest exists and a friend of mine said he'd like a copy but to
date I have not found someone with a copy of that show. According to my
friend, Mario in Oklahoma, there's a well-distinguished Lugosi scholar who
has it but won't let it go because of some large ransom. But I am familiar
with this scholar in some sense and I suspect he got the recording from an
OTR dealer somewhere along the line. Mario would like to purchase a copy so
if anyone has or knows who has a copy, please let me know so I can give you
Mario's e-mail address.
Martin mmargrajr@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:48:21 -0400
From: "Mark Kinsler" <kinsler33@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: WWII
What I know about WWII all derives from what Iíve been told, what Iíve
overheard, OTR, old magazine advertisements, movies, and books. But since I
was spared the emotional trauma associated with the war, I can perhaps look
upon this remarkable period from a more objective standpoint than those
personally involved.
Childhood polio exempted my father from military service. His brother never
saw combat. Both were heavily involved in war planning and research. My
father worked at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the conventional warfare
equivalent of Los Alamos. There they developed the proximity fuse, and the
trench mortar. Much of the work involved the generation of ëartillery
tables,í for which the very first computers were developed; Eniac was used
for the project.
Aberdeen also evaluated equipment that had been captured from the enemy. My
father recalled the demonstration of a captured miniature German automatic
lathe brought in by a spy early in the war. As they watched it quickly turn
out miniature instrument screws one after the other, the unanimous opinion
amongst the scientists and engineers was that the war was lost.
There are other scraps of evidence, and much of it depressing. Some years
ago, I heard Richard Nixon, once a lieutenant in one of the war planning
departments, discuss how wage and price controls did not work during the war
and only encouraged corruption. Iíve read contemporary articles about
massive fraud in ration coupons, and heard stories about it.
I read an account of the deliberate, albeit necessary, sacrifice of troops
in combat; US troops run over by US tanks in the hedgerows of Normandy.
There were union troubles, unto strikes, in defense plants. Manpower became
so short that there was serious talk of drafting women, if not for combat,
then for support operations overseas. There were draft dodgers, harassment
of conscientious objectors, and corruption in war industries.
My parents emphasized that there was no sense that, except in the speeches
of Roosevelt and Churchill, victory would be won through Destiny. People
worked hard because they were scared, and people mulled over how they might
protect their families and generally hedge their personal decisions in the
event of defeat.
All of which is to say (and what Iíve heard of OTR seems to bear out) that
WWII was our finest hour and our worst nightmare. As one wise general
observed, it certainly was the finest hour for many individuals, who found
themselves in important positions for the first and only time of their
lives. It was also a time that people could work together and feel good
about it after eleven years of economic depression.
The ultimate victory, and the general grace with which we handled it, gives
testimony to the courage of the ordinary, inherently-flawed people who won
it. Itís easy for gods to win wars, but it was just our parents.
M Kinsler
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:49:04 -0400
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tony Randall dies
Tony Randall, who played Reggie York (Yorke?) on the
later version of I Love a Mystery (and probably some
other radio work as well, but I don't know it off the
top of my head) has died. Here's the link to the AP
obituary that ran in the Detroit Free Press.
[removed];SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
To the general public, of course, he's probably best
known as Felix Unger on the Odd Couple, and more
recently (within the last decade), he and Jack Klugman
did some "man on the street" TV commercials for Eagle
potato chips in which Randall would approach Klugman,
whom he told the TV audience was a complete stranger,
with Eagle and another brand (Doritos I think) to take
part in a taste test. Klugman would taste the Eagle
brand, but not the other, prompting Randall to insist
he try both, and then say, in a low voice, "Jack,
you're ruining the commercial."
I think they did a few different commercials along
that same theme.
Rick
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 12:12:09 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Tony Randall
Just heard the sad news that Tony Randall died in his sleep in a NYC
hospital after a long illness. Another link lost, but not only to OTR but
to early TV.
The TV Land Moguls series had just done a section about the creation of The
Odd Couple TV series, and just last month I had found and watched with my
daughter the videotape I had made of the pilot film "Sidney Schorr" Randall
had made that was turned into the series "Love Sidney." You might remember
that this was the series where his character was supposed to be gay--and
the character was openly gay in the film--but by the time the series was
made NBC had backed down from that position. Now it seems almost every TV
series is required to have a gay character. I had been trying to contact
him to ask about a Playhouse 90 he had done with Margaret O'Brien that I
had seen on the air in 1959 and does still exist on videotape, but is not
listed in the bios of any of the performers, writers, or producers. It
seems that in a scene in a fit of rage his character rips down the front of
Margaret's dress while her back is to the camera. We had always thought it
was an accident but watching the videotape it seems obvious that it had to
have been staged as part of the planned action. It was not a live program
and they could have retaped the scene or cut away from the scene early.
Now we will have to see if Miss O'Brien will talk about it. The two of
them do have some very passionate kisses earlier in the program, and it
seems very daring for 1959 TV.
Michael Biel mbiel@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 12:12:32 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Bela Lugosi on Radio
Lugosi appeared on many radio programs, though usually for publicity
purposes for the movies he starred or co-starred in.
He was on The Abbott and Costello Show in 1948 to promote ABBOTT AND
COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. He was a guest on The Gloria Swanson Show, The
Tex and Jinx Show, The Baker Broadcast, (those three have yet to be
documented in any Lugosi book I've read), and he co-starred with John
Carradine in a radio audition program entitled MYSTERY HOUSE entitled "The
Thirsty Death." Lugosi was guest on numerous NY afternoon radio talk shows
in 1950, appeared on SUSPENSE "The Doctor Prescribed Death" (same script
formerly dramatized on THE WHISTLER), and the popularly-circulated CANDID
MICROPHONE (widely-circulated due to the Radiola release from Radio
Yesteryear in the early 1980s). Lugosi did a lot more radio shows, these
are just a few that I know of off the top of my head.
MG
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 13:02:35 -0400
From: David Phaneuf <david_phaneuf@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: WW II blackouts and OTR
I think it was Bill Orr who raised the issue that
perhaps the thread about blackouts during WW II might
find closure soon since the posts are not strictly OTR
related.
So here's my feeble attempt to bring things back on
topic: WHAT PART DID [removed] PLAY IN THE BLACKOUTS, if
any?
As a my humble submission to this question, let me say
that I have renewed my collecting of OTR memorabilia,
such as premiums, and thus have been watching eBay.
Noticed just recently a set of Captain Midnight's
Blackout Posters (a set of glow-in-the-dark papers
that could be used for entertainment, or to provide
low-light aids to mark things during blackouts. Two
papers were provided in each kit: One to use for fun,
and one to save for use in a blackout.
The item on eBay had one paper left, in it's original
packaging and I think mailer. (Highest bid at close
of auction was $[removed] The reserve was not met, so
id didn't sell, which I thought was extremely
interesting. Wonder how much that reserve price was
set at?)
Here at least was one way in which OTR contributed to
the war effort, and specifically to the Blackouts.
Humbly,
D W Phaneuf
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 13:13:17 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Calvin Coolidge & Photophone
Tom Hood mentions visiting
a site that had a 27 second clip of what was
said to be a Pallophotophone recording of Calvin Coolidge speaking on WGY
Dec 24 1922. I have never heard of this early air-check before. It
predates the Woodrow Wilson recording by almost one year.
The Pallophotophone was a device developed by General Electric's Charles
Hoxie to make sound recordings on motion picture film. Vice-President
Coolidge's Christmas message, along with those of Secretary of War John W.
Weeks, and Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby were recorded on film in
advance of the Christmas Eve broadcast. So, although it predates the
November 10, 1923 Woodrow Wilson Armistice Day Address broadcast, it is a
recording that was made FOR broadcast, while the Wilson recording is OF a
live broadcast. That is a very important distinction. The Coolidge
recording is not an air-check. Radio stations were playing phonograph
records all the time, and even if you know specifically that a certain
record was played by a certain station at a certain time, this record would
also not be an air-check. BUT, these WGY Pallophotophone recordings were
specifically made for broadcast, and ONLY for broadcast. Therefore they do
have a distinction--that of predating the Amos 'n' Andy syndication
recordings by more than 5 years.
GE recorded other personalities on the machine for later broadcast,
including Dr. Charles Steinmetz, Thomas Edison, Pope Pius XI, General
Pershing, David Sarnoff, Marconi, and child star Jackie Coogan. Sarnoff
recalled the erie feeling he had listening to himself on the air several
months after having made his recording. It is ironic that NBC specifically
refused WGY's offer to play some of these historic recordings on the
network in the 1930s, even Marconi's at the time of his death.
For those of you interested in the technology and the corporate
relationships of early broadcasters, I'll add this information. The
Pallotrope part of the device was a light-ray microphone which operated via
a vibrating mirror and an electric eye. This was used briefly by Brunswick
Records in 1925 for some of its early electrical recordings. The
Photophone part of the device was the variable-area sound-on-film device
that was developed into the RCA Photophone system. Hoxie had also
developed an electrical recording head for phonograph records and this was
also utilized by Brunswick for its electrical recordings. Brunswick also
was the first to market an all-electric phonograph in 1925, called the
Panatrope. All of this was in competition with AT&T's Western Electric
recording system which was being used exclusively by Victor and Columbia,
and was not available to Brunswick. The additional OTR tie-in is that
Brunswick had cemented its relationship to GE/RCA with the start of a
Brunswick sponsored radio series on RCA's WJZ in December 1924, while
Victor had elected to go with AT&T's WEAF for its radio series which
started January 1, 1925. (Victor's series moved to WJZ in the fall of
1925, AT&T sold its radio stations to RCA in the fall of 1926, RCA bought
Victor in late 1928-early 1929, GE had to sell its interest in RCA in late
1929-early 1930, and throughout the 1930s RCA's variable-area Photophone
competed with Western Electric's variable-density sound-on-film system.)
All of this, including the Coolidge and Wilson recordings, is discussed in
my dissertation "The Making and Use of Recordings In Broadasting Before
1936."
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 14:32:27 -0400
From: "Bill Scherer" <bspro@[removed];
To: ""old-time radio digest">" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Sho dates needed for Theater 10:30
Hi all I have 4 Theater 10:30 shows and I'm wondering if someone has dates
for them?
They are:
Long Shadow on the Lawn,
The Crystal Egg,
The Green Cockatoo,
and The Icon of Elijah.
Thanks for any help.
Bill
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:36:05 -0400
From: "Gareth Tilley" <tilleygareth@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: BBC Sci-Fi and Holmes shows
Hi Everyone
People may like to know that Saturdays Archive Hour on BBC's Radio 4 was
about Sci-Fi on radio. It featured clips from the likes of Dimension X and
War of the Worlds as well as some early BBC Sci-Fi plays. Go to
[removed] to hear it.
Also for those Sherlock Holmes fans out there, a new series of plays has
just started for Tuesday afternoons - go to
[removed] to listem to them.
Cheerio
Gareth
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:36:34 -0400
From: PGreco2254@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: TERRY &THE PIRATES
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Hi,
I have seen and own the Terry & the Pirate serial. If you
like to purchase a comedy movie this one will fit the bill.
If you want to see a creation of a radio show, stay away.
Everything about this serial is bad, the actors, and the story.
I am sorry to report but the Captain Midnight serial falls into the same mix.
Its a shame because the lead David O'brien
was a former stuntman turn actor, who does look the part, but that's a far
as it goes.
One last word on Jean Shepard, I saw so many e-mails pointing out his
errors in A "Christmas Story". I have been a
Shep fan for a long time, this was one of his things he would do, make
glaring errors to see how many people would respond, so even after all theses
years,
people are still responding. Pete
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:36:42 -0400
From: <richard@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: WWII COMMENTS
It is so interesting to read of all the WWII memories about what happened in
the US,
Some comments before Charlie bans us all.
General Eisenhower was suppose to have said that "One way to shorten the war
by 2 years is to take Admiral King out and shoot him"
General Pile, Chief of Anti Aircraft Command, the only UK General to hold
the same command in the UK all through WWII, after the black-out commenced
took a flight over London at night and was appalled by what he saw. On
landing he said London looked like a Swiss cheese.
I think the most often heard expression at night in the UK was an Air Raid
warden shouting "Put that light out"
We lived not far from the London Zoo, and while most of the smaller animals,
like the children, were moved out to the countryside, the larger animals
could not and many of them dies of shock during air raids. I was in a
nursery far outside London while my mother stayed in London and was bombed
out 2 times.
Not a happy period, I always remember the food parcels from the USA,
Australia, and South Africa given out to us at school after the war. We
can never thank you enough for your help during these times.
[removed]
(Lifebuoy Soap)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:36:49 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 5-19 births/deaths
May 19th births
05-19-1870 - Wright Kramer - Somerville, MA - d. 11-14-1941
actor: Walter Jamison "Showboat"
05-19-1909 - Bruce Bennett - Tacoma, WA
actor
May 19th deaths
02-09-1891 - Ronald Colman - Richmond, Surrey, England - d. 5-19-1958
actor: William Todhunter Hall "Halls of Ivy"; "Jack Benny Program"
02-12-1867 - Joe E. Howard - NYC - d. 5-19-1961
singer, composer: "Gay Nineties Revue"
03-31-1915 - Henry Morgan - NYC - d. 5-19-1994
comedian: "Here's Morgan"; "Henry Morgan Show"
06-28-1895 - Kelvin Keech - Hawaii - d. 5-1977
announcer: "Popeye the Sailor"; "Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing"
06-30-1910 - Frank Gallop - Boston, MA - d. 5-1998
announcer: :Milton Berle Show"; "Gangbusters"; "Stella Dallas"
07-29-1869 - Booth Tarkington - Indianapolis, IN - d. 5-19-1946
writer: "Maude and Cousin Bill"
08-04-1914 - Dick Todd - Montreal, Canada - d. 5-1975
singer: "Avalon Time"; "Your Hit Parade"; "Rinso-Spry Vaudeville Theatre"
08-19-1902 - Ogden Nash - Rye, NY - d. 5-19-1971
poet: "Three Ring Time"; "Kaleidoscope"
11-16-1916 - Daws Butler - Toledo, OH - d. 5-19-1988
actor: "Sears Radio Theatre"; "Stan Freberg Show"; "That's Rich"
12-12-1913 - Winston Burdette - Buffalo, NY - d. 5-19-1993
newscaster: (protege of Edward R. Murrow) "CBS World News Round Up"
--
Ron Sayles
For a complete list:
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:37:02 -0400
From: "RBB" <oldradio@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Tucker Car Radio Program
This was included in the current email bulletin of The Tucker Automobile
Club of America ([removed]) about the 1948 automobile (the one with
the "cyclops headlight" design) :
"April of 1948 was also when the Tucker Corporation's weekly radio show and
contest began on eighty-five American Broadcasting Company stations, with a
overwhelming response."
Does anyone know what the entertainment format was or who the host was on
the weekly radio show heard on 85 ABC stations in 1948? Any airchecks
available? Thanks.
Russ Butler oldradio@[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:37:09 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Tony Randall
Tony Randall passed away on Monday May 17, 2004.
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:58:14 -0400
From: "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bela Lugosi on Radio
Bela Lugosi also starred on an episode of "Suspense" entitled "The Doctor
Prescribed Death" broadcast 2/2/43. There are many copies of this show in
circulation.
John Eccles, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #170
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