Subject: [removed] Digest V2001 #244
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 7/29/2001 1:49 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2001 : Issue 244
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Dollar, Mohr ,Powell etc.             [ ARago17320@[removed] ]
  An Oyster on the half-shell is a ner  [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Who Indeed?                           [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  WKRP                                  [ danhughes@[removed] ]
  OYSTER JOKE                           [ PURKASZ@[removed] ]
  Jack Benny                            [ danhughes@[removed] ]
  Re: Joke Explanation, Please          [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
  Philip Marlowe a "Tough Guy"?         [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
  Mrs. Calabash                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Re: B'Way Is My Beat                  [ Jshnay1@[removed] ]
  who was the best Shadow?              [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
  Less than 30                          [ "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@eart ]
  More on Mohr.                         [ "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@eart ]
  Joke explanation, please              [ jason carr <mouse@[removed]; ]
  Oysters                               [ "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@worldnet. ]
  frank lovejoy                         [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
  Jack Benny Oyster Joke                [ "jstokes" <jstokes@[removed]; ]
  Oysters                               [ Jer51473@[removed] ]
  morecrime fiction                     [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
  Johnny Modero                         [ "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@hotmail. ]
  THE SHADOW ON RADIO NOT FAITHFUL TO   [ "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
  The 39 Steps                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:34:12 -0400
From: ARago17320@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Dollar, Mohr ,Powell etc.

Hi,

Thanks to Michael Hayde and to Doug who emailed me off list to tell me it was
Gangbusters that Jay Novello did the Willie Sutton story on.

I wanted to make reference to Bryan Powell's fine posting that led off Issue
242.

I agree 100% that Gerald Mohr was an excellent Marlowe.  Also, as he said, it
is important to keep the hard boiled detectives separated from the puzzle
solving ones.  The comment that really got to me was about the convoluted
plot lines.  While I enjoy a lot of variety of detective stories, the
"California Noir" style can get annoying after awhile.

I think that is the main reason I enjoy Dragnet, Johnny Dollar, This Is Your
FBI, Tales of the Texas Rangers and Gangbsters so much. They show the
procedural style of following up leads and leg work that makes their cases so
interesting.  The lone wolf PI is fun but doesn't have the depth of the
procedurals. I realize they are totally different styles but I think that is
what makes them, to me anyway, a little less enjoyable.  I would be
interested in others comments on this difference.

While I like Dick Powell a lot, he seems to bring the same sort of "wise guy"
humor or attitude to his roles.  I heard his audition for Johnny Dollar and
it was just like I was listening to him do Richard Rogue or Richard Diamond.

Bob Bailey in my mind was one of greatest performers on radio.  I have not
heard many "Let George Do It" shows but really enjoyed those I did hear.  To
me, his Johnny Dollar was flawless.

Also, Mike Ray in the same digest captured the human quality of the Bailey
version of JD.  He was tough and caring and even the secondary characters
would have a great deal of caring in their makeup.  I listened to "The Forbes
Affair" the night before I read Mike's posting and what he said about JD was
very evident in that 5 part show.

I hope lots of you are finding the thread about why we like shows and the
things we see in them.  I find it always interesting to see what it is that
others see in shows.  Our hobby is enjoyable on so many levels and it is fun
to listen to the shows and then share our thoughts on them.  I hope Mr.
Administrivia agrees and lets this go on.

Take care,

Al Ragonnet

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:36:21 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  An Oyster on the half-shell is a nervous
 oyster."  -- Will Cuppy

Alan Bell asks about a Jack Benny joke, where Kenny Baker asks her to
bring back some oysters.  The punch line is,

Kenny:                Yes, but there's no "R" in Los Angeles.

The joke was and is that oysters are only supposed to be good to eat in
months with an "R" in their names ([removed] October, January, April) but not
in other months (May, June, July).  To this day, some seafood restaurants
put up signs saying, "Oysters 'R' in season," during the appropriate
months.

Sounds a little lame when it's explained.  But I bet the "Laugh" sign was
highly visible when it was uttered.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:37:40 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Who Indeed?

Anthony Tollin, speaking of The Shadow's openings, etc., observes,

How about Frank Readick whose opening and closing signatures ("Who
knows what evil" . . . "The weed of Crime," etc.) open and close all the
Welles SHADOWS and whose laugh is usually dubbed into the stories
themselves?  <snip> Readick was the only actor who truly gave the role an
ethereal "shadowy" quality (as contrasted with the almost Shakespearian
declaration of Bret Morrison)

Well, my enjoyment of the Bret Morrison version of The Shadow was
twofold.  One, as previous mentioned, was that by the time Morrison got
the role, The Shadow's legend had crystallized into something truly like
folklore, and his limits had been defined.  (I believe that once, Walter
Gibson, author [as Maxwell Grant] of the pulp-magazine version of The
Shadow indicated that the mysterious Shadow was written in such a manner
that he could do nearly anything.  The radio limitations, IMHO, were
better.)

The other reason that in the OTR version, The Shadow _was_ Lamont
Cranston, wealthy young man-about-town.  And Morrison played a perfect
wealthy young man about town when being Lamont Cranston.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:37:38 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WKRP

Andrew sez:

It may be apocryphal, but there is supposed to have once been a
station in San Francisco that wanted to call itself WKRP, after the TV
[removed]

Well, I was program director / sports director / news director / DJ at
the real WKRP.  It was in Dallas, Georgia (a far-west suburb of Atlanta),
and it was a low-power daytimer at 1500 AM.  It went on the air in Oct
1978, and our format was typical one-horse town radio:  country and easy
listening in the daytime, rock at night, and lots of local high school
sports.

No, those calls were not a coincidence--the TV show was already a big hit
before our station was on the air.  The owners hit upon the idea of
applying for the WKRP call, and MTM Enterprises complained to the FCC.
But the FCC ruled that because MTM held no FCC licenses, they had no
authority to file an objection.  And we got the call letters.  It was
great fun, talking to DJs all over the country (and one from Canada) who
wanted to interview the PD of the real WKRP.

I left the station in 1981 to take my current job (college broadcasting
instructor), and WKRP went dark a couple of years later.  Dallas GA
wasn't big enough to support a station, and Atlanta advertisers ignored
us after the hoopla of our call letters got old.  The calls were picked
up by a rural Indiana station soon afterwards (which I believe has again
changed calls), and there is (or was?) also a WKRP-FM in Warrensburg, IL.

---Dan Hughes, [removed]~dan (spiffy home page)

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:36:09 -0400
From: PURKASZ@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OYSTER JOKE

    In the bad old days before excellent refrigeration, oysters were only
safe to eat in the cooler months of the year, which is to say that summer
oyster eating was out and the quickest way to remember that was that the bad
summer months, when warm waters made oyster beds toxic, were May thru August
and if you look close there is no letter "R" in those months.
    That was the way you remembered when NOT to eat an oyster in the bad old
days before cool refrigeration and clean oyster beds.
    Nowadays I can go to the Grand Central Terminal here in New York and dine
on the little beauties any time of the year, provided my wallet had some
heavy "C" notes in it!
    Hope that helps the oyster man from Michigan.
                    Purkasz

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:37:59 -0400
From: danhughes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny

Somebody said the other day that Rochester was the only regular on the
Benny show who was named by the writers.  My daughter tells me that Mary
was also named by Jack's writers.  She says that the writers created a
character who was president of the Jack Benny Fan Club, and they named
her Mary Livingstone.  Jack's wife played the part, and thereby took Mary
Livingstone as her stage name.

---Dan

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:41:00 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Joke Explanation, Please

     Hey, finally I joke that I get!
     Traditionally, it's considered safe to eat
oysters only in months with an "R" in them; in other
words, the cooler months. Thus no oysters in April,
May, June, July and August.
     People a lot brighter than me tell me that
oysters generate some sort of nerve poison during
these five months.
     The joke on the Benny program revolves around
whether or not is safe to eat oysters in Los Angeles,
since there is no "R" in that city's name. But Beverly
Hills should be okay!

     Personally, the joke strikes me as rather flat.
But it's at least as funny today as it was in the
1930s.

     George Wagner
     GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:40:58 -0400
From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Philip Marlowe a "Tough Guy"?

      Well, sure, but let's not leave it at that,
      This was also a man who'd once studied for the
priesthood and who could still remember his Latin when
the need arose.
      Gerald Mohr was certainly the best RADIO Marlowe
- Raymond Chandler himself maintained that. But the
best Marlowe EVER was Robert Mitchum in the 1978
motion picture version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY. And the
entire film ambiance is simply superb - the story's
set in a cinematographic 1940 so overwhelming and
stunningly and relentlessly and unashamedly 1940 that
you nearly drown in it. It is a time machine.

      George Wagner
      GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:43:01 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mrs. Calabash

Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 13:10:47 -0400
From: "George Coppen" <gacoppen@[removed];

WHO WAS MRS CALABASH ??

It's been covered in this forum before, but in a nutshell, there are two
explanations for Mrs. Calabash.  One is that Mrs. Calabash was Jimmy
Durante's first wife, who had passed on, but, of course, we don't know
where she went in the afterlife, thus "wherever you are."  The other is
that in a script conference, it was felt that Durante needed a distinctive
tag-line, and Mrs. Calabash was named after a calabash pipe that
someone was smoking.  Both explanations could be true.




 A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 15 Court Square, Suite 210          lawyer@[removed]
 Boston, MA 02108-2503           [removed]

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:42:58 -0400
From: Jshnay1@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: B'Way Is My Beat

I agree with Ryan Ostenkowski about the writing on "Broadway Is My Beat."
That's the work of Morton Fine and David Friedkin, who set a style and tempo
that is unmistakable.  IMHO their collaboration with Elliott Lewis on "Crime
Classics", a year-long series in 52-53, is one of the best programs I hever
ever heard. They also scripted the Bogart-Bacall "Bold Venture" series as
well as a large number of "Suspense" programs. Their scripts had a
world-weary sense to them, spiced with dark, and sometimes sarcastic humor.
Their "Crime Classics" series made sound effects a vital part of the drama.

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:42:56 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  who was the best Shadow?

HI all:
I must say that it was fascinating to see Anthony Tollin's post about The
Shadow.  Difficult for me to argue, since Mr. Tollin has done quite a bit of
research on this program.  I own the "Voices of the Shadows" cassette and I
love it!  Still, I will give my opinions, purely from an interpretive
viewpoint.
First, my least favorite Shadow is John Archer.  I've only heard two
broadcasts, but he seems just like a guy with a radio voice who is imitating
the Shadow.  No real acting here, in my opinion.
Then, there's Brett Morison.  This is ironic, because Morison was the best
radio actor to play the Shadow.  He had a wonderful cadence to his voice and
I've heard him on other programs, doing accents and other characters.  He is
a great "voice actor."  Still, what drug him down were the plots.  Morison's
Shadow seems actually to be Lamont Kranston, Detective.  He only pulls the
Shadow out of his pocket at the end of each program when it's time to solve
the crime.  The plots are often recycled and are a bit more predictable than
the average predictable juvenile adventure should be.  Also, I always felt
that the producers never found a Margot to play opposite of Morison, who
didn't come off as whining, neurotic and just plain stupid.
I have to admit that I really do enjoy the Welles programs.  I must agree
with those who say that Welles Kranston came off as a very callow guy, but I
did like his interpretation of the Shadow role.  In all of the programs I've
heard, Welles does do the Shadow laugh and he gives it a sinister feel.  The
Shadow also seems to play more of a major role in the Welles broadcasts.
I've heard many an episode where the Shadow has been trapped and must find a
way to get out of a predicament.  In these instances, he has remained as the
Shadow for over half the program.  A very good example of this is a program
called, "The Society of the Living Dead."  If you haven't heard it, check it
out.  Not only do we get to hear the Shadow in a bind, but we go into an
examination of death at one point.  It is also interesting to note that, in
both the Welles and Johnstone versions, about 99 percent of the criminals
wind up getting killed at the end of the show.  Often times, the Shadow has
a direct hand in their death.  It seems that the Shadow considered himself
not only to be a defender of justice, but an executioner as well.
My favorite Shadow is Bill Johnstone.  When he first took over the role, it
seemed like he overdid his "good guy verses evil" thing a bit.  At the end
of each program, he would launch into a long monologue about, "how he should
have used his talents for good, instead of evil."  Backed up by rising organ
music in the background, this was very corny!  But this all changed when
Marjory Anderson took over the role of Margot in 1939.  Johnstone lightened
up a bit and the banter that often passes between Lamont and Margot is cute
and sometimes witty.  Although it is still safe to say that Margot was often
less than wise about getting herself into bad situations, Anderson brought a
sarcastic, almost defiant edge to Margot's personality.  Lamont would often
say to her, "Margot, stay here!  It's too dangerous for you!"  She would
respond with something like, "Yeah right, Lamont!"  While Lamont usually
turned out to be right and had to rescue her from the clutches of some evil
villain, I really liked the vinegar in her blood.  For a woman of the
1940's, she was a tough cookie.  What a shame we had to lose Marjory in a
car accident in 1944.  Also, the supporting players used during the
Johnstone years deserve recognition.  Everette Slone, Arthur Vinton, Alan
Reed, Richard Widmark, James Vandike, Frank Lovejoy, Alan Devit and others
make these shows all the more fun to hear.  And let's not forget Kenny
Delmar as the bumbling Commissioner Weston.  He makes any Margot Lane look
like a college grad.  My favorite Johnstone Shadow episode is, "Death in a
Minor Key."  Give it a listen and compare it with the 1946 version with
Morison.
With that, I am done.  Thanks again for reading.
ryanO


"Life is an unrelenting comedy.  Therein, lies the tragedy of it."
Dean Koontz

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:42:54 -0400
From: "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
To: "OTR DIGEST" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Less than 30

I too Agree with RyanO with regard to story development as time went on. I
acquired many JD 30 min Bailey shows before I ever obtained one five part
show. When I did, I was pleasantly surprised. However, there are few shows
that made good use of the time limitations. One example for me that comes to
mind is the SUSPENSE show from 1959 "Script By Mark Brady" which makes
excellent use of the three commercial breaks to tell a story from three
points of view. I think the Big change came when all production shifted to
NEW YORK. I can notice the diference at least in respect to stories on
SUSPENSE.

I disagree with respect to Larry Thor.  Thor, the long tume announcer of
ROCKY JORDAN could do more than just annouce and  can be heard playing a
different kind of part in the ESCAPE show "Incident in Quito".

I also think THE MAN CALLED X is a cut above the other spy shows DANGEROUS
ASSIGNMENT and COUNTERSPY. Director Jack Johnstone, who would later send
Johnny Dollar globetrotting brought an excitimg new locale each week. The
only problem I had was the moralizing, at the end of each show usually with
respect to communism. While I understand the purpose, It got to be
redundant.

Mike Kerezman

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:42:52 -0400
From: "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
To: "OTR DIGEST" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  More on Mohr.

I was wondering if anyone has heard the ADVENTURES OF PHILIP MARLOWE "The
Anniversary Gift" broadcast on 4-11-1950. In this episode William Conrad
fills in for Gerald Mohr as Marlowe. It provides an opportunity for an
interesting comparison.

Mike Kerezman

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 10:42:50 -0400
From: jason carr <mouse@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Joke explanation, please

From: Alan Bell <bella@[removed];

Jack:		Oysters? Kenny, can't you get oysters right here in town?
Kenny:		Yes, but there's no "R" in Los Angeles.

It is said that oysters are only edible in months which have an "R" in them.
So oysters from LA would, by extension, be inedible.

[removed], jc
work - [removed]
play - [removed]~mouse/
OTR  - [removed]

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 11:06:37 -0400
From: "Brian Johnson" <CHYRONOP@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Oysters

I don't know if science backs this up but the conventional wisdom used to be
that the only months you could eat oysters and not get sick were those with
the letter "R" in them. Oyster "season" began in SeptembeR and ended in
ApRil. To that end, by the writers' logic it must be safer to eat oysters
from New YoRk.

Brj

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 11:06:35 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  frank lovejoy

 This question has bugged me for a long time and maybe its been addressed on
the digess, if so please excuse. Frank Lovejoys voice is identical, imo, to
another actor that i have heard on the radio and seen in movies. I think the
other guy is Charles Mcgraw. I cannot tell one voice from the other.
Question- are they related? they have to be. (i hope charles mcgraw is who im
thinking of)

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 11:32:24 -0400
From: "jstokes" <jstokes@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jack Benny Oyster Joke

The Jack Benny Oyster joke is an elaborate play on "R" words.   Here is
what's going on.   The joke was, no doubt, in rehearsal and most likely an
extra joke since all scripts are padded in case a show runs short.   No
doubt the joke was longer and more involved, so the audience got it in
rehearsal.   And this was the punch line.
    Here is how it goes.   The thickest New York City accent would add an
"R" to oyster and drop another "R," so it would sound like --

                       "Oyrstah"

    Therefore, you can't get an "oyrsah" in "Lars Angeles."   But you can
get it in New York because that's how they say it there!  :)
    And there's a bit of ethnicity in there as well, mit der "Oy" in oyster.
:)

Jim Stokes
NaturaLite Pictures,
producers of THERE'S DANGER IN ROMANCE, coming soon!

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 11:32:28 -0400
From: Jer51473@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Oysters

 Until recent years, and maybe still true to some degree, oysters were most
plentiful in the months that had R's in them. I live not too far from the
Chesapeake Bay and throughout my life , oysters were only available in jan,
feb, mar, april, sept, oct. nov, and [removed] these were the months they were
harvested i guess. Not as true nowadays with quicker shipping and freezing
techniqes.  Real oyster lovers though, stiil wouldnt think of ordering them
unless they were "in season".  Please excuse the bold type, something
happened to my board. Guess ill go get my wife to fix it for me.

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 15:49:14 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  morecrime fiction

Hi all:
I apologize for posting twice in one issue, but I will be gone for the next
week, so this kind of makes up for it.
Finishing off the thread on detective and crime fiction, I have a couple
more programs I'd like to mention.  Gangbusters doesn't really fit into
detective fiction, since there are no running characters in the show.
However, it does dramatize the world of "cops and robbers," so I guess it
qualifies in some regard.  I think this program had its best years post
1945.  These seem to be the shows that are the most widely circulated.
Folks like Mandel Kramer, Ralph Bell, Larry Haines, Elspeth Eric, Frank
Readick, Walter Vaughn and Paul Stuart are very convincing gangsters.  There
is an interesting psychology employed in the program, because even though it
touts the message, "crime does not pay," I always find myself rooting for
the bad guys.  I think that's what the writers wanted.  The American
gangster has always been romanticized and Gangbusters made no exceptions.  I
also love the fade-in, fade-out technique used to transition between scenes.
Another interesting element to this show was the way the writers seemed to
humanize the gangsters in many ways.  Oh, they were bad guys, but some of
them had soft spots for their women, or relatives, etc.  When Stanley Niss
and William Sweets (sp) were doing the program, they had a way of using
dialogue and sound effects that made for great radio drama.  Unfortunately,
there are relatively few of these shows in circulation and if anyone has
Gangbusters to sell or trade, I would be eternally grateful.
On the flipside, This is Your FBI is *very bad*!  Of course, it's easy to
say this using hind-sight, but still, the show was very pretentious and
preachy.  Stacy Harris was the only thing that made the show classy.  I
think this was an official program of the FBI, unlike The FBI in Peace and
War.  I've only heard two of these programs, but there seem to be few
available.
One more program I enjoy, although it's not very good, is The Falcon.  I
don't [removed] enjoy Les Damon's smooth, suave style and a lot of the same
Gangbusters crowd shows up to beat up on Mike Waring every week.  There is a
light and breezy writing style used that is fun, even though the plots are
predictable.
With that, I am done.  See everyone next week.
RyanO


"Life is an unrelenting comedy.  Therein, lies the tragedy of it."
Dean Koontz

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 15:49:10 -0400
From: "B. J. Watkins" <kinseyfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Johnny Modero

Hi detective fans. I just want to correct the misspelling of Jack Webb's
character name. Somehow the wrong spelling has been perpetuated throughout
the hobby for years. I've been told it even appears in the new book by
Michael J. Hayde. It is not Madero, it is M-O-D-E-R-O, with two o's.
Thanks,
Barbara

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 15:49:07 -0400
From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  THE SHADOW ON RADIO NOT FAITHFUL TO PULPS

I do not know if this subject was posted before I joined the Dijest or not,
but here goes.  I just watched my Video of The Shadow Movie, and while doing
so, I wondered why the radio version did not faithfully follow the
Gibson/Grant Pulps, which is what the movie did.  In fact the scene on the
bridge, where the shadow saves the Chinese man was from the very first
Shadow Novel.  And the story of Kawin was taken from another novel.  Also
the Network of Agents to aid the Shadow was not used on radio (with the
exception of Cab driver Shreevy).  In the radio version, we never learned
bout Lamont's past, as it is only mentioned in the opening introduction to
the radio play.  I am surprised that Grant/Gibson (whom I presumed was alive
when the Sghadow first made its debut on radio), did not insist that the
radio play be true to the Novels.

I wonder if this would have made an entirely different type of radio
program. All this aside, I would like to say that The Shadow Movie really
did not take "Dramatic Liberty" with the story and gave us a  "Novel For The
Movies."  If there are any Shadow experts out there, I would like to know if
you share this opinion about the radio version of The Shadow.

Owens Pomneroy

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

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 15:49:00 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The 39 Steps

I've been away from e-mail for almost a week, my appologies for the delay:
Someone asked about other "The 39 Steps" radio dramatizations, here are five
I came up with.

The Lux Radio Theatre  (December 13, 1937) with Ida Lupino and Robert
Montgomery.
Philip Morris Playhouse  (May 21, 1943) with Madeleine Carroll.
The Hour of Mystery  (September 1, 1946) with David Niven.
Studio One  (March 23, 1948)  with Glenn Ford and Mercedes McCambridge.
Suspense  (March 3, 1952) with Herbert Marshall and Ben Wright.

Interesting piece of trivia: The title of the Hitchcock movie is "The 39
Steps" and the title of the novel is "The Thirty-Nine Steps."  The
difference is one has a number 39 and the other is spelled thirty-nine.
Which radio version is an adaptation of the movie and which is off the novel
can be debated (even by the title of the script since the numbered title
wasn't observed by script writers - "who cares about numbering or spelling
out the title?").
My only amazement would be how many of the dozens and dozens of radio
adaptations of Lowndes' "The Lodger" were based on the novella, and how many
from the movie versions?

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End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #244
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