------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 242
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Little Men [ Wich2@[removed] ]
Why two transcriptions? [ Vntager8io@[removed] ]
OTR Films [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Re:Seven Nights a Week [ Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed]; ]
Re: Scarlet Queen Like TV Series [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
OTR ET's [ "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed] ]
Re: Martin Gabel and Arlene Francis [ "Mary Anne Morel" <morel@planetmail ]
Chet Atkins birthplace [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
For Penne Yingaling [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
Re: Edgar Bergen [ Roo61@[removed] (Randy Watts) ]
repackageing [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
Voyage of the Scarlet Enterprise? [ "Alain Altounian" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Monster Bash Inner Sanctum [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Edgar Bergen [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: popularity of Bergan [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
RE: Partial "Suspense" shows [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
XM Radio update [ John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@a ]
Car radios of old [ John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@a ]
Who played Ed? [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:07:27 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Little Men
Folks-
I came across a question lately, and thought you'd be the go-to guys for the
answer: I was looking into Richard Matheson's book THE SHRINKING MAN, basis
of the 50's film THE [removed], and an old memory came bubbling up.
I recall hearing a half-hour OTR show years ago, that was simpler but
similar. In fact, I seem to remember some folks conjecturing that Matheson
was influenced by it. But I can't seem to locate it.
If memory serves, it wasn't from one of my favorites, SUSPENSE or ESCAPE. It
may have been from the next tier: LIGHTS OUT, or THE WHISTLER, but my hunch
is that it was from a C-level show: WITCH'S TALE, WEIRD CIRCLE, etc. Almost
certainly not QUIET, PLEASE - I usually remember Ernest Chappel.
Does this ring a bell?
Hope to hear from you soon.
All the best,
Craig Wichman
[removed] Gordon Payton, are you out there? If he, or one who knows him, is,
please contact me.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:08:47 -0400
From: Vntager8io@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Why two transcriptions?
Martin Grams, Jr. asks:
<< Now this has always puzzled me - and I am sure there is some logic to it,
but why were many programs recorded on two separate transcription discs ? >>
Just as you suggested, 30-minute shows were usually recorded on two discs to
facilitate a smooth transfer from one side to the other both in recording and
playback. Since a 16" transcription disc at 33 1/3 rpm holds approx. 15-20
minutes per side using "standard grooves" (not microgrooves), more than one
side
is required for recording a program longer than 15 minutes. Most radio
stations had at least two record/playback transcription machines. Usually on
transcription discs of OTR programs, the sound at the end side one cuts off
abruptly
and the beginning of side two starts just as abruptly, as if someone threw a
switch to send the outgoing signal to the transcription cutters instantly from
one to the other. This would require great skill to piece together again as
the
program was rebroadcast. For some transcriptions, however, I've seen discs
where about a minute or two of the sound at the end of a transcription disc
side
duplicates the material at the beginning of the next side, indicating that
for a while, both discs were recording the same material simultaneously. This
ensures an even smoother transfer from one disc to the other when playing back
on-the-air; for a show with a studio audience, it would be easy to get the
turntables going in sync and crossfade from one disc to the other during
applause.
Transcriptions could be recorded in two ways: outside-in or inside-out
(simply put, does to groove start at the disc edge and spiral towards the
center of
the disc, or does it start at the center of the disc and spiral out?). Since
sound quality is generally worse towards the center of the disc, many
engineers
would alternate between outside-in and inside-out cutting on disc sides to
avoid a noticeable change in quality ([removed], if side one were recorded
outside-in, side two would be inside-out so that when the change was made
from side one
to side two, the audio quality of the end of side one would match that of the
start of side two).
At the same time, hour-long shows like Lux Radio Theatre are often only on
two discs, but the sides are paired like this: 1&3 and 2&4, the idea being
that
after the initial change from disc one to disc two, the engineer has fifteen
minutes to flip the first disc over and reset the cutting head. Then after
side
two is cut on the second disc, he changes to side three on the back of the
first disc while flipping the second disc to record side four. Make any sense?
(It's easier to show something like this rather than tell about [removed])
Hope this helps!
Bryan Wright
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:22:07 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: OTR Films
Walt Baker, speaking of contemporary films, notes,
SOMEone said that the modern audiences enjoyed the recent movies of The
Phantom and The Shadow. If that were so, why were they complete flops.
Both were seen for about two weeks and then faded into obscurity. I
think - that was because the distributors did not back them with enough
marketing and (in the case of The Shadow) the quality was lousy.
In the case of The Shadow, I suspect part of the problem was that the
introduction of the film was adapted from a comic-book origin addition to
the basic Shadow story, and it formed the basis for the film. The film
attempted the difficult task of trying to merge ("synthesize," in the
Hegelian sense) the pulp and OTR aspects of The Shadow. My recently
departed mother saw the show with me in a theater and swore that the
decor and feel of the era was exactly right, and she lived through the
period depicted. (She especially liked the Cobalt Club.) Admittedly,
she was a member of a small percentage of the population, but she enjoyed
it thoroughly.
One of the difficulties of introducing a whole new generation to a
character in a medium other than the original to a new generation is that
they're not grounded in the original mythos. Recently, we've had a
thread about which OTR shows, if "done RIGHT" could transition to current
TV. I had a lively exchange off-line with an OTR enthusiast as to why
Captain Midnight couldn't make the transition to an hour TV show. What
after a bit emerged in my perception was that some shows could not
maintain the original mythos in the new medium.
"Simplifying" or revising the original character in many cases leaves the
viewer with at best a stick-figure of the original, and usually an
entirely different character sharing only the name of the original.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:22:45 -0400
From: Steve Gibbs <stevegibbs@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:Seven Nights a Week
From: Penne
Subject: Seven Nights a Week
I never heard of "MBS". It was apparently right up there with the other
three, as it listed well-known shows of the time. Just wondering what
the"M" stood for.
MBS was the Mutual Broadcasting System, wasn't it? A
big player, indeed!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 22:38:42 -0400
From: Shenbarger@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Scarlet Queen Like TV Series
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
In a message dated 6/19/2003 7:43:37 PM Central Daylight Time, Doug Leary
writes:
I would love to see a quality presentation of Voyage of the Scarlet Queen,
although possibly this series was already transplanted to television in the
form of the original Star Trek series.
Consider: the ship arrives in a different port every show. The captain and
first mate go ashore, immediately run into trouble, get in a fight or two,
solve the problem, get back on the ship and leave. Troubled, exotic women
who throw themselves at the captain usually end up dead or incarcerated. And
each show begins and ends with the captain's log entry.
ABC's "Adventures in Paradise" (1959-62) was similar to "The Adventures of
the Scarlet Queen". The schooner Tiki in the series was actually the
"California", built by the uncle of a friend of mine. The California was used
for several
years in San Diego as a harbor cruising cocktail lounge until it burned.
>From one of the books in my library - " ... The schooner, Tiki, ranged across
the area from Hong Kong to Pitcairn Island with all sorts of adventurers,
schemers, and island beauties [removed] in the cast were young
Tahitians
and other lovely young women who seemed to abound in this series."
The original story was written by James A. Mitchner, but he had little or
nothing to do with the TV screen plays.
Don Shenbarger
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 23:17:07 -0400
From: "Read G. Burgan" <rgb@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR ET's
Martin Grams Jr. asks about the procedure of recording programs on 16 inch
electrical transcriptions. There were some differences in how the
recordings were made. Generally, two recording lathes were used if the
program was longer than 15 minutes (prior to the introduction of microgroove
ET's in the 1950's). The recording lathes were usually connected to a
common source with a switch determining which lathe was receiving the
signal. As the first lathe neared the end of its recording capacity, the
second lathe was started with the cutting stylus lowered on the disc. At an
appropriate point in the program, the engineer would flip the switch so that
the second lathe was now receiving the signal. It is not uncommon to find a
silent groove for as long as 30 seconds at the beginning of a second ET as
the engineer waited for an appropriate time to make the switch. Hour long
programs were generally recorded with sides one and three on one ET and
sides two and four on the other.
Because the equalization was adjusted as the cutting stylus approached the
center of the disc, some would record the first disc outside-in, and the
second one inside-out so that the sound would match when playing the ET's
back. The opposite was also true, [removed]: the first disc could be recorded
inside-out, and the second one outside-in. I have at least one set of ET's
with the first disc recorded outside-in and the second disc recorded
inside-out.
A few programs -- the Old Fashioned Revival Hour among them -- eventually
went to a system where the final 1 minute of each disc was duplicated at the
beginning of the next disc. That way the playback engineer could choose
where he wanted to make the change over from one disc to the next. Part of
the reason for that is programs like the OFRH often were in the middle of a
musical number at the switchover point. I have some earlier discs where a
disc ends in the middle of a musical syllable. It would have been pretty
hard to mate the two discs precisely under those conditions.
Read Burgan
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2003 23:26:40 -0400
From: "Mary Anne Morel" <morel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Martin Gabel and Arlene Francis
Greetings to all,
I've come out of lurk mode to ask if the radio and stage actor Martin Gabel,
mentioned in Ron Sayles' much-appreciated daily birth/death column, was the
one married to Arlene Francis. Did they do any radio work together in the
'30s and '40s? I remember Arlene principally from the TV game show, What's My
Line? but have read that she did a lot of radio work in game shows, soap
operas and dramatic programs. I always liked Arlene Francis--she seemed a
warm, elegant and approachable person--and wonder if she appeared in any of
the radio series often discussed on OTR, as a guest or principal player.
Sign me "Just Curious",
Mary Anne Morel
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:17:06 -0400
From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Chet Atkins birthplace
In Digest #241 Ron Sayles listed Chet Atkins birthplace as such:
06-20-1924 - Chet Atkins - Luttrell, TX - d. 6-30-2001
guitarist: "Boone County Neighbors"; "Grand Ole Opry"
Chet was born in Luttrell, TN (Tennessee) not Luttrell, TX (Texas)
In fact, I could not find a Luttrell in Texas.
Don Dean
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:17:39 -0400
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: For Penne Yingaling
MBS was the other network -- Mutual Broadcasting System
And no, there were none of those offensive talk shows on at that time.
Lois Culver
KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
Widow of Howard Culver, actor
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:19:08 -0400
From: Roo61@[removed] (Randy Watts)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Edgar Bergen
Jerry was a much better ventriloquist, since
Bergen's lips always moved.
Edgar Bergen's talent as a ventriloquist has gotten a bad rap because
his lip movements were sometimes quite noticeable. There was actually a
practical reason why Bergen adopted that habit. There are certain vocal
sounds that ventriloquists cannot make without moving their lips. They
get around this by substituting similar sounds that can be made without
lip movement. Watching a ventriloquist perform, audiences are
distracted by the visual aspects of the act and don't hear these
substitutions. Bergen was unable to do this on radio, where the
audience couldn't be led away from any vocal sleight-of-hand that was
going on by watching his interaction with the dummy. He had to allow
his technique to get sloppy so that he could speak all of Charlie and
Mortimer's words correctly. Listeners would been very aware that
Charlie was saying "vasevall" rather than "baseball." Watch any of
Bergen's 1930s Vitaphone one-reelers (they turn up on Turner Classic
Movies from time-to-time) and you can see in those that he was in fact
an excellent ventriloquist. Presumably, by the time he began appearing
on television, the sloppier technique he had adopted for radio had
become too much of a habit to break.
Randy
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:19:26 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: repackageing
Hi Everybody,
I been listening to the Cambel Playhouse this week, and recalled that in mid
to late 1980s that cambel Soup responder their old shows, and had Helen
Hayes do new commercial for the show. Does any one else recall if any other
repackaging an old show with the same sponsor acored beside Cambel? Does
any one recall who was person who came up with that good idea back in the
1980s. Take care,
Walden Hughes
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:21:55 -0400
From: "Alain Altounian" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Voyage of the Scarlet Enterprise?
Interesting similarities were brought up between "Voyage of the Scarlet
Queen" and "Star Trek".
I thought of at least two more ;
1. In both, the introductory captain's voiceover is done over the backdrop
of their ship in motion and accelerating to top speed.
2. The lead's in both series often refer to their "ship" as the woman they
like most and will always be faithful to(!)
The one and only quote i know from Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry, is
his semi-well-known comment that he sold Star Trek to the TV network by
pitching it as "Wagon Train to the stars"
Alain.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:54:56 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Monster Bash Inner Sanctum
For anyone near the Pittsburgh, PA area, check out the web-site
[removed]
and check out the Monster Bash convention information.
The Monster Bash is a horror convention for those who like old time movies
and nostalgic horror.
Satellite Media will be there with their radio shows and DVDs, I'll be there
signing books, and on Saturday night, a little before midnight, they are
playing on the big screen one of the best INNER SANCTUM movies from the
1940s, WEIRD WOMAN with Lon Chaney, Jr.
Anyone who lives within driving distance of Pittsburgh, stop by and check it
out. It's lots of fun.
Martin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:54:53 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Edgar Bergen
Herb Harrison asked:
[removed] what made Bergen & McCarthy, etc. so popular on radio, and in movies,
and on TV?
By the way, did Bergen have a TV show of his own?
Bergen was filmed for his own TV show. Two TV pilots for his program was
filmed but neither was any good and failed to gain a sponsor so they never
went any further than the two pilots. I have them on VHS and watched them
myself, while the Thanksgiving episode isn't bad, the other one was not
impressive.
Bergen was the host of a television quiz show called DO YOU TRUST YOUR WIFE?
and his puppets were the panelists but it only lasted a few months.
Eventually the producer had to change the title near the end of the series
because of Christian groups complaining about the title of the show.
Bergen was guest on numerous television series (especially programs produced
by his good friend Dick Powell) so Bergen can occassionally be seen in
reruns of Burke's Law and Star Playhouse - which Powell produced. He was a
guest on THE WALTONS, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and other programs.
If you want a neat radio guest appearance Bergen did, he was in a broadcast
of RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE where both Edgar and his wife (sans
Charlie) appeared in a radio broadcast. It exists in circulation, I heard
the broadcast and was shocked to hear them playing a straight lead instead
of comedy, but don't recall the title at the moment.
Both Lou Genco and Terry Salomonson will be featuring a lengthy broadcast
log of all 730+ CHARLIE McCARTHY radio broadcasts on their site shortly.
The episode guide/broadcast log should be up on the web in a couple weeks -
I'll drop a line on the Digest to let people know when it's up. The log
also lists Bergen's other radio appearances, TV appearances, movies and so
on. Very lengthy.
Martin Grams, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:54:50 -0400
From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: popularity of Bergan
In my opinion, what made Edgar Bergan so great wasn't his talents at throwing
his voice (which I admit he wasn't the best at) but his ability to develop
characters. Charlie McCarthy was a wonderful character, and listening to the
show at it's peak really proves it.
I never cared for Effie Klink, but we're all entitled to a miss now and
[removed]
rodney.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 12:21:40 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RE: Partial "Suspense" shows
Richard Carpenter helpfully listed several Suspense
episodes that exist only in imcomplete form. One of
these, 1951-04-26 The 13th Sound (not 1952 at Richard
states), is a rebroadcast, and you can hear the full
version (starring Agnes Moorehead) from 02/13/47. The
others don't appear to have been recycled within the
series. However, the first two on the list (1943-02-09
Hangman Won't Wait, 1943-02-23 Will You Walk Into My
Parlor) were both written by John Dickson Carr, who
had a habit of reusing his scripts elsewhere. Perhaps
they were broadcast on a different show, and those
versions survive?
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 12:50:49 -0400
From: John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: XM Radio update
Well, it was bound to happen, yesterday I heard my first
repeat show on XM; it was an episode of Imagination
Theater. Considering that I got XM in November and they
only have two stations devoted to our kind of shows, that's
not too bad. It sure beats this past season of TV shows.
They also had an all day tribute to Bob Hope on his
birthday.
Of course, I don't live in my car 24/7 so there probably has
been plenty of other repeats, but this was my first. I hope
the this summer is not a repeat of last winter's schedule;
we'll see. I have to admit that since I've had XM, I
almost always listen to OTR, I can count on one hand the
number of times I've listen to a rock station since
November.
John Mac
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:01:26 -0400
From: John Francis MacEachern <johnfmac@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Car radios of old
Hi.
I've got a question for the folks of the Digest who are old
enough to have heard the original broadcasts. Were car
radios common? I know some cars had radios in the 30's and
40's, did most or were they only in luxury cars? If you had
one in your car and arrived at your destination before the
program was over how did you handle it, did you stay in the
car and listen or shut it of and go about your business?
Did you plan trips or errands around the times when the
shows would be broadcast?
With my XM radio, since the shows are not on CD or tape, I
find myself sitting in parking lots, way to often for my
convenience, waiting to hear the conclusion of the show.
Was it the same back then?
Thanks.
John Mac
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 14:35:21 -0400
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Who played Ed?
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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Arlene Osbourne asked?
Which brings to mind my question, who played Ed?
That was Joe Kearns.
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
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End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #242
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