Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #277
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 9/11/2005 4:18 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 277
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  reading vs memorizing                 [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
  Memorizing lines                      [ alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  This week in radio history 11-17 Sep  [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: MP3 Dealers                       [ "Jed Dolnick" <jdolnick@[removed] ]
  Go for the gusto? Or no?              [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  The Wheat Emergency ?                 [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
  Acting With Scripts                   [ OTRadiofan@[removed] (Stuart Lubin) ]
  Night Court                           [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
  Sound Accuracy                        [ "Austotr" <austotr@[removed]; ]
  OTR event for next year               [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  9-11 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Milton Berle posting                  [ Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed]; ]
  Mantan Moreland                       [ "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed] ]
  Re: A show a day?                     [ LBohall@[removed] ]
  THE 'OLD' CHIMES                      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:12:46 -0400
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  reading vs memorizing

One additional comment on memorizing vs reading scripts that I don't
think anybody has mentioned: Scripts were often subject to last-minute
cuts, because they were running too long, etc. Memorizing would
definitely have been a disadvantage then! I've also read of a show
(perhaps the US Steel Hour/Theater Guild on the Air) that featured
theater stars playing in radio adaptions of the plays they'd done on
Broadway. Very often the words had been cut, or perhaps even rewritten
somewhat, for the radio version. But sometimes the star would go into
autopilot, reciting the speech they'd performed hundreds of times on
the stage--but which was several minutes too long for the broadcast!

Also, another OTR actor who memorized his scripts was Ricky Nelson. The
reason for this was when he began playing himself on his parents' show
(he'd been portrayed earlier by another actor), his reading skills
weren't good enough to handle the script live. So he memorized his
lines (with help from his mother I believe), but still held a script
during the performance. (Presumably when he got older he was able to
read the script himself--though perhaps by then the show had already
transitioned to television, where memorization was again required.)

I've also read that Gracie Allen found the transition from radio (where
scripts could be read on air) to television (where they had to be
memorized) extremely time consuming and difficult. She not only had
more dialogue than anybody else, but her lines didn't really make
sense, so they were a lot more work to learn. She'd start working on a
new script the minute that week's show was done, and would spend much
of the next week memorizing her lines before once again having to start
over.

Kermyt

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:13:03 -0400
From: alanladdsr@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Memorizing lines

Joseph Julian, in his book This Was Radio, talks of how he almost always
memorized his lines. Said it sometimes disturbed cast members when he did so.

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 19:59:04 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 11-17 September

 From Those Were The Days --

9/12

1938 - [removed] Kaltenborn made broadcasting history by covering a crisis in
Czechoslovakia for CBS beginning on this day. Kaltenborn was so devoted
to his work that he slept in the studio for 18 days while bringing
updates to his appreciative audience.

9/13

1931 - Vaudeville star Eddie Cantor was heard for the first time -- on
NBC. The Chase and Sanborn Hour became one of the most popular radio
shows of the 1930s.

1937 - The first broadcast of Kitty Keene, Inc. was heard on the NBC Red
network.

9/14

1936 - NBC presented John's Other Wife for the first time. Actually,
John's other wife was not his wife at all. She was his secretary.

9/15

1934 - NBC presented The Gibson Family to American audiences. The
program was the first musical-comedy-drama to be broadcast. Ernest
Whitman and Eddie Green were featured members of the cast and were
billed as "network radio's only colored comedians." The show originated
from the studios of WEAF in New York City.

Joe

--
Visit my home page:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 20:00:37 -0400
From: "Jed Dolnick" <jdolnick@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: MP3 Dealers

This is a sore subject with me. I'm in the process of converting my
collection from open reel to CD. I thought I'd save some time by buying CDs.
My collection runs from good-to-excellent; many years ago I culled out
programs that were of lesser quality.

I bought numerous CDs from a dealer, and at least 1/3 of the
episodes are garbage. In fact, I have better versions of some of the
episodes he's selling. He never responded to my offer to let me send him
these better versions, so he really isn't interested.

Another dealer emailed me an audio file sample of one of his episodes.
Again, I had
a better version, and I sent him a clip. He claimed he couldn't tell the
difference.

I bought one CD from someone on Ebay, just as an experiment. Same low
quality. When I complained, he said that this was OTR, and I shouldn't
expect stereo. Oh please, I started collecting in [removed] I know the score.

One thing these three had in common: their CDs were identical. That is, a CD
would have the same episodes, even the same "extra features". They were all
selling the same stuff.

So I decided to just bite the bullet and convert all of my own material. It
will take a while, but I know that the quality will be unquestionable.

Jed

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 21:59:45 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Go for the gusto? Or no?

From: "Ted Kneebone" _tkneebone1@[removed]_
(mailto:tkneebone1@[removed])

If  I were in the business of selling OTR, I would do a minimum of
enhancement on  those shows, especially for the old timers who heard these
programs  live.

Dear Ted-

I hear and understand [removed]

To us (slightly!) younger folk, it's akin to the warm, fuzzy feeling of  deja
vu that I get, when a local PBS station runs a well-battered, from-16mm,
copy of a beloved film; all the familiar splices, crackle, & cuts of
childhood!

But then, I see a non-compressed DVD, taken from the original negative, and
observe rich blacks & clean whites, & hear all of the room ambience, w/o  the
futz, & say,

"What WAS I thinking?"

So, leave of the "enhancement;" but yes!, do find the original discs,
transfer well, & restore carefully (as do folks like FGRA, Ed Carr,  etc.)

I'll take hearing Orson's breathing, & Ray Kemper's leather creaking,  over
static & fading any day!

Best,
-Craig

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:00:05 -0400
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Wheat Emergency ?

On Saturday, September 10, 2005, at 10:11 AM, Gary Young wrote:

Pillsbury ad on 8-24-46 talked about flour now being available that
the Wheat emergency is over. I am curious about this
and was hoping someone could expand on the subject.

Be glad to.

With the end of World War II, hundreds of products formerly in short
supply because of overseas shipment to the military, were now available
to the American public again. So the flour shortage (or "Wheat
emergency" in Pillsbury's view) was over.

It would take a page to list all the items in short supply during that
war. Some of them could be bought only with rationing stamps
accompanying the purchase price (gasoline, meat, sugar, etc.) while
many more were tough, or even impossible, to find and therefore not
rationed (soap detergent, radios, lard, nylon stockings, butter,
various forms of tobacco.)

Many companies continued to advertise products they could not even
produce, due to military contracts, but they wanted to keep their
products in the public eye. Others trumpeted their patriotism,
occasionally on shaky grounds,  [removed] the makers of Lucky Strike, who
changed their package from green to white and claimed "Lucky Strike
Green has gone to war!"

By the fall of 1946, most firms had returned to pre-war production
levels and they could declare that "The (Pick your choice) Emergency is
over."

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL

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

Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:00:29 -0400
From: OTRadiofan@[removed] (Stuart Lubin)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Acting With Scripts

Lee Munsick tells us that radio actors acted with more than their
voices.  What are we talking about?  Are we referring to our watching
them at the microphone at an old time radio convention?   Or are we
referring to what old time radio actors did as a profession?  When I
think of radio actors, I think of their portrayals coming through a
radio SPEAKER, usually at home, in which they have only their voices to
give either a sterling, mediocre, or poor performance. There is no doubt
that, at the microphone, their body language may or may not enhance a
performance ending up at the radio set.  This body language is no
guarantee. They have to know how to employ the voice.  Some of them did.
Some of them didn't.  In my sixty years of being a fan of radio, I never
heard one radio fan say: "He/she was a great radio actor!  I just loved
to watch him/her perform at the mic."

Stuart Lubin  OTRadiofan

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:32:25 -0400
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Night Court
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

Rick Keating is absolutely correct -- Jay Jostyn was on "Night Court (USA)",
not "Divorce Court".
Actually, I wrote "Night Court" first, and then I thought there probably
couldn't be two shows with the same name, witness the fairly recent sitcom
"Night Court" and that I must be misremembering it.
I hadn't remembered the full title with the added "USA" at all.  So I thought
it must have been "Divorce Court", another program of the era.  When I started
on radio writing, I had to mostly rely on my own memory, and that of people I
knew.   There weren't the excellent books by people like Hal Stone, Jim Cox,
Martin Grams Jr, Jon Swartz, etc.   I should have "looked up" the title of
that Jostyn show.  I'll have to try harder in the future.
    -- JIM HARMON

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

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:37:43 -0400
From: "Austotr" <austotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Sound Accuracy

In issue #270 Michael Biel pointed out sound issues like playback speeds
that have plagued OTR listeners and Collectors alike, tape, reel or mp3.

"I've written here before how I am still amazed at how many
OTR collectors will tolerate (and sometimes prefer!) the wretched sound
quality of some recordings that started off in glorious near-hi-fi sound on
the original discs.  (Fortunately there are now some collectors who are as
concerned with preserving sound quality as I am.)"

I am aware of a group of dedicated mp3 collectors who have formed an OTR
Researchers Group and are taking the sound quality as well as episode
identification and accuracy very much to heart.  I am amazed at the
dedication of these people as well as the large number of very active
members.

Whilst to my way of thinking it would be far better to educate the people
with the original recordings to really improve sound quality and stop
releasing 'speed impaired' episodes (politically correct term?), at least
there are people that even though they have no access to the originals,
still want to hear the episode in the best possible sound and know that the
episode is really what it is named.

Ian Grieve - Disclaimer, I am an honorary member of the group to advise on
identification of Australian Series,  they have more experienced folk for
the nitty and gritty work.

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:37:58 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  OTR event for next year

Hi Everybody,

if you know of an OTR event or convention that will is planning to happen
next year.  Please email me the information and we will put it on the
Yesterday USA Radio Network web site.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 10:38:08 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-11 births/deaths

September 11th births

09-11-1862 - O. Henry (Wm. Sydney Porter) - Greensboro, NC - d. 6-5-1910
short story writer: "Alias Jimmy Valentine"; "The Cisco Kid"
09-11-1887 - Gus Arnheim - Philadelphia, PA - d. 1-19-1955
orchestra leader: "Woodbury Soap Show"
09-11-1908 - Elisebeth A. Heisch - Madison, WI - d. 8-17-2003
writer: "The Cinnamon Bear"
09-11-1909 - Anne Seymour - New York City, NY - d. 12-11-1988
actress: "Mary Marlin "Story of Mary Marlin"; Francie Nolan "Tree Grows in
Brooklyn"
09-11-1923 - Betsy Drake - Paris, France
actress: Muriel Blandings "Mr. and Mrs. Blandings"
09-11-1928 - Earl Holliman - Delhi, LA
actor: "Hollywood Radio Theatre"

September 11th deaths

01-04-1881 - Norman Field - Montreal, Quebec, Canada - d. 9-11-1956
actor: Glen Hunter "One Man's Family"; Uncle George "Meet Corliss Archer"
02-04-1912 - Erich Leinsdorf - Vienna, Austria - d. 9-11-1993
conductor: "NBC Symphony Orchestra"; "Pioneers of Music"; "Musicians Off Stage"
02-12-1915 - Lorne Greene - Ottowa, Canada - d. 9-11-1987
host Western Night: "Sears Radio Theatre"
02-16-1901 - Chester Morris - New York City, NY - d. 9-11-1979
actor: Boston Blackie "Boston Blackie"; Great Merlini "Great Merlini"
02-17-1897 - Harry Tugend - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-11-1989
writer: "The Fred Allen Show"
02-18-1913 - Dane Clark - Brooklyn, NY - d. 9-11-1998
actor: Perry 'Quiz' Quisinberry "Passport for Adams"; Flamond "Crime Files of
Flamond"
03-05-1893 - Dorothy Sands - Cambridge, MA - d. 9-11-1980
actress: Mary Ann Clarke "Barry Cameron"; Margot "Backstage Wife"
04-11-1907 - Paul Douglas - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-11-1959
announcer, sportscaster, actor: Lawyer Feldman "Meyer the Buyer"
05-23-1898 - Frank McHugh - Homestead, PA - d. 9-11-1981
actor: Fairchild Finnegan "Phone Again Finnegan"
06-07-1909 - Jessica Tandy - London, England - d. 9-11-1994
actress: Liz Marriott "Marriage"; Mildred Rogers "Of Human Bondage"
07-19-1889 - Max Fleischer - Vienna, Austria - d. 9-11-1972
cartoonist: "Popeye the Sailor"
09-04-1898 - Charlie Cantor - Worchester, MA - d. 9-11-1966
actor: Clifton Finnegan "Duffy's Tavern"; Levy Soloman "Abie's Irish Rose"
09-13-1896 - Laidman Browne - Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England - d. 9-11-1961
actor: Sherlock Holmes "Corner in Crime"
10-18-1914 - Louise Fitch - d. 9-11-1996
actress: Debby Spencer "Two On a Clue"; Betty Adams "Woman inWhite"
10-18-1914 - Louise Fitch - Iowa - d. 9-11-1996
actress: Dale Locke "Manhattan Mother"; Carol Evans Martin Brent "Road of Life"
11-12-1922 - Kim Hunter - Detroit, MI - d. 9-11-2002
actress: "Medicine USA"; "Philco Radio Playhouse"; "CBS Mystery Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:07:34 -0400
From: Philip Chavin <pchavin@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Milton Berle posting

In #272 ("[removed] Show performers") I included a link
to a page for a free mp3 download of the 9-23-47
Milton Berle broadcast I asked about in the posting.
(No one has responded to my questions about it - yet.)

Anyway, may I say belatedly: That web page dates the
Berle broadcast as "1949".  That date is wrong, which
is obvious if one listens carefully to what is said on
the broadcast. Sorry if that confused anyone who
wanted to download the 23 Sept. 1947 broadcast.

That link again, if anyone's interested:
[removed]

-- Phil C.

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:46:54 -0400
From: "Henry R. Hinkel" <hinkel@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mantan Moreland

I was discussing old time movies with a guy (Charlie) I used to work with
and asked him "What was the name of the fella who played in the Charlie Chan
movies who" ......

"Mantan Moreland" he replied before I finished my question.

Charlie grew up in Harlem in the 40's and said that whenever Mantan Moreland
came to New York City, he stayed at a boarding house a few doors down the
street from him.  When he came out, he was always dressed in a flashy suit
with a big brimmed hat and smoked a big cigar.  He would slowly walk down
the street passing out dimes to the kids for ice cream, and waved and
greeted everyone he passed calling most by name.  Charlie said he didn't
know if Mantan Moreland actually knew everyone he called by name, but
everyone greeted him back.  He would go to the local barber shop for a
shave.  Wherever he went, he would stop and talk to people on the street
telling stories.  It didn't take long for the whole neighborhood to know he
was there and everybody loved him for his friendliness and humor.

That talk with Charlie was over 20 years ago and I haven't forgotten Mantan
Moreland's name since then.

Hank Hinkel

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:35:16 -0400
From: LBohall@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: A show a day?

In a message dated 9/9/2005 4:46:33 PM Central Daylight Time, Dan Hughes
writes:

Stage actors rehearse for weeks, sometimes months,  before
they open, and then they do the same show over and over until the  run
ends.  Radio actors did a new show every week (or every day!) and  had no
time to memorize scripts.  There was plenty enough that could go  wrong in
a live broadcast - with words in hand, the chances of disaster  were
lessened.

A show a day? I'm not an expert, but many of  the "regulars" in OTR did
several shows a day. Phil Harris comes to [removed]  does Dennis [removed]
William
[removed] Perrin, Parley Bear, Virginia Gregg,  Jeanette Nolan, John
Dehner,
Howard [removed] almost seems like the "show a  week" ideal was a dream for
most OTR actors.

Larry
My novel,  Martyr's Cry, is available now! Go to: [removed]
for more  [removed]

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

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:35:47 -0400
From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  THE 'OLD' CHIMES

They were made by Dega, and used as dinner chimes for many years--
almost impossible to find.

Actually Deagan "dinner chimes" can be found quite oftern on eBay
on-line action.

Bill Harris

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #277
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