Subject: [removed] Digest V2006 #35
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/3/2006 9:58 AM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2006 : Issue 35
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  William Paley                         [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  re: script fonts                      [ "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed]; ]
  Re: Met Opera Quiz Taped?             [ Martin Fass <watchstop@frontiernet. ]
  February issue of Radio Recall        [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Rochester's Lines                     [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
  Norman Corwin: The Greatest Living O  [ "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed] ]
  re: Robert Benchley                   [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
  Jack Benny in the News                [ seandd@[removed] ]
  Law West of the Pecos                 [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Melody and Madness                    [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Re: Wendell P. Loveless               [ "Don and Kathy Dean" <dxk@ezlinknet ]
  WJSV Broadcast Day                    [ [removed]@[removed] ]
  Karloff show                          [ Illoman <illoman@[removed]; ]
  Emailing: la-oe-morrison2feb02,0,498  [ "apcohen" <apcohen@[removed]; ]
  2-3 births/deaths                     [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  And who disguised as Clark [removed]    [ Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 09:34:24 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  William Paley

Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 14:52:07 -0500
From: Jmeals@[removed]

A man like Bill Paley will, inevitably,  have a large number of
admirers and harsh critics. But I think both camps would  agree
that Bill Paley rarely allowed sentiment to rule his business
decisions.

Actually, I think he did exactly that on occasion.  Keeping otr
around was one example.  There also were TV shows -- The Paper Chase
comes to mind -- which were kept around despite low ratings because
Paley liked them.

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

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 11:20:01 -0500
From: "Bob C" <rmc44@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  re: script fonts

Mark Kinsler commented on script fonts for broadcasting. I think
the huge typeface he might be referring to was called "Orator"
... and it was available as one of those ball-shaped typing
elements on the IBM typewriters and on other ones with the
regular type bars. It was popular for speeches ... just the thing
to help the myopic and other speakers actually see their speech
in low-light levels, etc.

Of course, as news came in on the standard Teletype, it was all
caps with what was called the upper rail reserved for numbers and
other symbols. But I believe most people will tell you that
material in all caps is not the easiest to read ... the words
tend to become boxcars to the eyes and you can lose a sense of
flow and emphasis. It isn't that it can't be done (and wasn't
done by tens of thousands of announcers and rip-and-read
newscasters), but it probably isn't the best way. The
TeletypeSetter form of the Teletype was actually for newspapers
and it did send stories out in caps and lower case as it would
appear when published.

When I worked in a television newsroom, we typed our director's
cues on the left side of the page in caps, but on the right, the
spoken words were all upper and lower case as in standard
writing.

bc

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 13:31:16 -0500
From: Martin Fass <watchstop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Met Opera Quiz Taped?

How marvelous, proof again of the value of the OTR Digest!  (As if
anyone NEEDED proof.)  Two kind people responded to my request for
last Saturday's broadcast.

Silly me, by the way, thinking only in old-fashioned terms of
"taping" the program.  I frequently record from radio on the computer
[removed] the only problem is the ease of doing so, leaving me
with far more special hours than I can possibly listen to.

New question: do any of you have ways to add more hours to the day?

Thanks again to my benefactors.

--Martin Fass

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 14:12:20 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  February issue of Radio Recall

The next issue of Radio Recall is enroute back from the printer and
will soon be mailed to all subscribers. The February issue leads off
with Maury Cagle's historical review of all OTR shows that featured
flying heroes, beginning with "The Flying Hutchinsons" in 1932. Another
featured article is the second of a two-part piece by Cort Vitty on the
radio career of Jessica Dragonette.

Other articles in this issue include an overview of the new OTR
reference book by Susan & David Siegel, an analysis of the 1945 Captain
Midnight code-o-graph written by Stephen A. Kallis, Jr. (a frequent
Digester), "Krautland Calling" in which OTR columnist Jim Snyder
discusses this WW II program produced by American POW's in Germany, and
a factual summary of Fred Foy's career at WXYZ.

You can view articles from past issues, and obtain subscription
information, at the web site of the Metropolitan Washington OTR Club at
<[removed]>

Jack French
Editor

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 15:27:52 -0500
From: "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Rochester's Lines
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While I have no specific information on the matter, I will add my opinion as
to why Rochester's lines in Jack Benny scripts were all in capital letters.
Eddie Anderson was the product of the segregated schools of the early part of
the century.  It is possible that his reading skills were not that great.  He
may have been able to read capital letters, resembling printing better than
lower case.
In school, as a white kid, we were taught to print in first and second grade
before we got to handwriting.
    My mother used to talk about an elderly white man she knew as a child who
used to say "I can read readin', but I can't read writin'."  By that, he meant
he could read printing as in a book, or hand-printed, but he could not read
hand writing in script.
    I hope I am not doing offense to the wonderful Eddie Anderson, one of the
beloved talents of old time radio, but it occurred to me as a possibility.
    JIM HARMON

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 15:28:18 -0500
From: "Stuart Lubin" <StuartLubin@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Norman Corwin:  The Greatest Living OTR Icon

In my opinion, Norman Corwin is the greatest OTR person alive today.  In 
today's LOS ANGELES TIMES, his friend, columnist Patt Morrison, has a few 
words about him:

[removed],1,[removed]

Stuart 

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 17:12:16 -0500
From: "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  re: Robert Benchley

I'm not aware of show recordings with Robert in them, but I'm sure someone
else has more info if it's available, but there was a biography in sound
program done on him.
Thanks a lot.
Matthew

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 17:12:39 -0500
From: seandd@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Benny in the News

An interview former Tonight Show sideman Ed McMahon mentions Johnny Carson's love of Jack Benny.

[removed],0,[removed]

This gay news outlet remembers Jack's work with Liberace in a profile of the decline of gay culture:

[removed] (I report, you decide)

A golf joke attributed to Jack appears here:

[removed]

And in other news, here is a review of the Oscar-nominated Edward R. Murrow bio film Good Night, Good Luck, which mentions Jack in passing.

[removed]

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:25:58 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Law West of the  Pecos

On Thursday, February 2, 2006, at 09:35 AM, Andrew Steinberg  wrote:

Is anyone familiary with an OTR show called Law West of the Pecos? This is
the name of the show, not the name of the episode. From the end credits, it
seems to have been on in 1946. Does anyone have more details about it?

"Law West of the Pecos" was one of hundreds of series proposals that 
never got beyond the audition disc stage.  In this case, the audition 
disc is usually accorded the date of 2-3-44.  It starred Walter Brennan 
as a "hanging judge," as you probably know from listening to it.

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:26:55 -0500
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Melody and Madness

On Thursday, February 2, 2006, at 09:35 AM, Cliff Martin wrote:

A Google search says Robert Benchley had a radio show in the late 
30's, "Melody and Madness," the music being furnished by none other
that the famous bandleader, Artie Shaw.  Are there any known recordings?
Looks like something well worth digging for.

Turning to Jay Hickerson's "Third Revised Ultimate History," we learn 
that Benchley had his own radio, first on CBS and then on NBC-Blue in 
the late 30s. It was variously called "Robert Benchley", "Melody and 
Madness" or "Old Gold Program." It was a musical variety show with 
Artie Shaw (in 1938) and Jimmy Durante joined the cast in October 1939, 
two months before the show went off the air. There are four complete 
shows that exist, with a number of partials also.

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:29:46 -0500
From: "Don and Kathy Dean" <dxk@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Wendell P. Loveless

Greetings from the shores of Knox Lake.

A special thanks to Randall F. Miller, Jr and Cliff Martin
for the information concerning Wendell Loveless and the
Moody Network.   I found the information on the organ
to be very interesting.   Thanks again for your responses.
One a lighter note: Buckeye Chuck [an OH four-legged
resident] saw his shadow today.  Six more weeks until
spring.

Kathleen

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 19:30:30 -0500
From: [removed]@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  WJSV Broadcast Day

Andrew Steinberg ask:

Does anyone know whose idea this was or the history behind
this recording?

The fact the recording is being made was mentioned during one of the newscasts.
I think they felt the day would be imporatant day in history because of
President Roosevelt was addressing a joint meeting of the House and Senate.

Paul Urbahns
Radcliff, KY

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 21:17:35 -0500
From: Illoman <illoman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Karloff show
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11-23-1887 - Boris Karloff - London, England - d. 2-2-1969
actor, host: "Starring Boris Karloff"; "Creeps by Night"

Does anyone know if any of these shows (Starring Boris Karloff) still
exist?

Thanks,
Mike

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

Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2006 21:41:09 -0500
From: "apcohen" <apcohen@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Emailing: la-oe-morrison2feb02,0,4989188
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/mixed
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was multipart/alternative

The following link is to a tribute to Norman Corwin in the Los Angeles Times
of 2/2/06.

 [removed],0,[removed]

Al Cohen

[server removed an attachment of type application/octet-stream which had a name of la-oe-morrison2feb02,0,[removed]]

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

Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 00:51:36 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  2-3 births/deaths

February 3rd births

02-03-1883 - Clarence Mulford - Streator, IL - d. 5-10-1956
creator of Hopalong Cassidy
02-03-1890 - Charles Correll - Peoria, IL - d. 9-26-1972
actor: Andrew Brown "Amos 'n' Andy"
02-03-1890 - Larry MacPhail - Cass City, MI - d. 10-1-1975
baseball executive: "Information, Please"; "Bill Stern Colgate Sports
Newsreel"
02-03-1895 - Nick Kenny - Astoria, NY - d. 12-1-1975
columnist, songwriter: Reader of inspirational verse
02-03-1903 - Martin Block - Los Angeles, CA - d. 9-19-1967
announcer, disc jockey: "Make-Believe Ballroom"; "Chesterfield Supper
Club"
02-03-1907 - James Michener - New York, NY - d. 10-16-1997
author: "You and the World"
02-03-1907 - Paul Laven - d. 5-1-1950
writer: "The Bob Hope Show"
02-03-1910 - Nelson Case - Long Beach, CA - d. 3-24-1976
announcer: "Hour of Charm"; "New Carnation Contented Hour"
02-03-1916 - Joey Bishop - The Bronx, NY
actor: "Monitor's Salute to Jimmy Durante"
02-03-1924 - Leslie Stevens - Washington, [removed] - d. 4-24-1998
film director: "Stagestruck"
02-03-1925 - John Fielder - Platteville, WI - d. 6-25-2005
actor: Homer Brown "The Aldrich Family"
02-03-1926 - Shelley Berman - Chicago, IL
actor: "Family Theatre"
02-03-1928 - Frankie Vaughan - Liverpool, England - d. 9-17-1999
singer: "Al Jolson Centenary"
02-03-1929 - Russell Arms - Berkely, CA
singer, actor: "Have Gun, Will Travel"
02-03-1932 - Peggy Ann Garner - Canton, OH - d. 7-21-1982
actress: Esther Smith "Meet Me in St. Louis"
02-03-1933 - Suzan Ball - Jamestown, NY - d. 8-5-1955
actress: Intermission Guest "Lux Radio Theatre"
02-03-1950 - Morgan Fairchild - Dallas, TX
actress: "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"

February 3rd deaths

01-03-1907 - Anna May Wong - Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA - d. 2-3-1961
actress: "Campbell Playhouse"; "Hollywood Hotel"
01-04-1916 - Lionel Newman - New Haven, CT - d. 2-3-1989
conductor, composer: (Brother of Alfred) "Hollywood Star Time"
01-05-1893 - Ace Brigode - Illinois - d. 2-3-1960
bandleader: "White Rose Gasoline Show"; "Jersey Cereal Show"
01-28-1911 - Donald Briggs - Chicago, IL - d. 2-3-1986
actor: Frank Merriwell "Advs. of Frank Merriwell"; Stanley Holton
"Portia Faces Life"
03-06-1900 - Jay C. Flippen - Little Rock, AR - d. 2-3-1971
actor: Sergeant "Rookies"
03-18-1916 - Jody Gilbert - Fort Worth, TX - d. 2-3-1979
actress: Rosa "Life with Luigi"
04-01-1904 - Sid Field - Birmingham, England - d. 2-3-1950
comedian: Freelance
05-26-1893 - Edward MacHugh - Dundee, Scotland - d. 2-3-1957
singer: "Gospel Singer"
06-14-1900 - June Walker - Chicago, IL - d. 2-3-1966
actress: (Mother of actor John Kerr) "The Rudy Vallee Show"
09-07-1936 - Buddy Holly - Lubbock, TX - d. 2-3-1959
singer: "Sunday Party"; "Buddy and Bob Show"
09-30-1891 - Fabien Sevitzky - d. 2-3-1967
director: "The Indianaoplis Symphony Orchestra"
10-24-1930 - J. P. "Big Bopper" Richardson - Sabine Pass, TX - d.
2-3-1959
Early Rock and Roll disc jockey
10-25-1912 - Al Lewis - d. 2-3-2002
director-writer: "Our Miss Brooks"
11-21-1902 - Frank Hursley - d. 2-3-1989
writer: "American Women"; "Cousin Willie"; "Those Websters"; "The
Truitts"
11-30-1890 - Ramsey Hill - Georgetown, Guyana - d. 2-3-1976
actor: "Escape"; "NBC University Theatre"
12-16-1895 - Andy Razaf - Washington, D. C. - d. 2-3-1973
lyricist: "Music for Millions"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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

Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 11:58:23 -0500
From: Rick Keating <pkeating89@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  And who disguised as Clark [removed]

A. Joseph Ross wrote:

I'm not so sure that the origin in the comics was all that much
better at that point.  The legend has changed over time.

The origin in the comics hasn't changed that much. In
1938, when Superman debuted in _Action Comics_ #1, the
very brief origin told us that before Krypton exploded
a scientist placed his infant son in a rocket and sent
it to Earth. A couple named Kent found the boy and
took him to an orphanage. A few days later they
adopted him, and named him Clark. Both died when Clark
was on the cusp of adulthood. Before his father died,
he told Clark to use his great powers for good.

Over the years, we learned the name of Superman's home
planet (Krypton), his biological parents' names
(Jor-L, later Jor-EL, and Lara) his own Kryptonian
name (Kal-L, later Kal-EL), and the Kents' names
(originally John and Mary, but ultimately established
as Jonathan and Martha; on the "Adventures of
Superman" TV show, for some reason, they were Eben and
Sarah). But the basic facts about his origin have
remained the same since 1938: Sent from Krypton to
Earth, raised by the Kents.

To the best of my knowledge, the radio show is the
lone exception- with Supes arriving on Earth as an
adult (though he left Krypton as an infant), and being
given the name Clark Kent by two strangers. Why the
radio show chose to take this route, instead of
establishing that he'd been found and raised by the
Kents I've no idea. Maybe the writers were just
anxious to get Supes into action. Even so, they
probably could have covered that in one minute of
narration at the top of episode 2. For example:

"The ship from the doomed planet Krypton landed in a
farmer's field. The farmer and his wife found the
infant son of Jor-L and raised him, calling him Clark
Kent. Now, years later, Kent is ready to help others
with his great powers."

Cut to the scene with the professor and his son. Supes
rescues them as before. They might still suggest he
work as a reporter, but obviously wouldn't suggest a
name. Other than Superman, that is.

The biggest change in the comicbooks came with the
1986 revamp of Supes origins, _The Man of Steel_
written by John Byrne. That established that Jonathan
and Martha Kent are still alive. In every other
permutation of the origin (except on radio, where they
didn't exist), one or both- usually both- died when
Clark was either in college or just before he went off
to college. The TV series _Smallville_ has embraced
that aspect of the origin with the death of Jonathan
Kent last week.

The other major change established in _The Man of
Steel_ (a concept put forth by Marv Wolfman) was
making Lex Luthor a powerful business mogul, who like
Professor Moriarity appears to be a respectable
citizen on the surface. He sees Supes as a threat to
his power as the number one man in Metropolis. During
the "Silver Age" of comics, Lex's animosity for Supes
dated back to their teen years. Both lived in
Smallville, and Lex and Superboy were good friends.
Then a lab fire occurred when Lex had just created a
protoplasmic life form. Superboy blew out the fire to
save Lex (destorying the protoplasmic life form in the
process), and the resulting fumes made Lex's hair fall
out. From that day forward, Lex hated Supes, and
insisted that the action had been a deliberate result
of Superboy's jealousy.

Oooookay. Let me get this straight, Lex. You're not
angry with Superboy because his efforts to _save your
life_ inadvertantly destroyed _a life form you'd just
created_. You're angry because you've lost your hair?
Buy a toupee and move on.

Talk about mixed up priorities. The Luthor as business
mogul was much better on so many levels, though it's
too bad that meant losing the "former best friend has
become deadly enemy" theme of the Lex/Supes
relationship.

For the record, the current version of Lex in the
comicbooks lost his hair by natural means, and the
original "Golden Age" Lex Luthor had a full head of
red hair. He also first met Supes as an adult.

The series _Smallville_ establishes Lex and a young
Clark Kent as friends (though that friendship has
begun to strain), while Lex's father, Lionel, has
inherited many of the "business mogul" characteristics
of the comicbook version of Lex.

You are correct that when "The Adventures of Superman"
aired, showing Clark first operating as an adult,
there were _Superboy_ stories in the comics. But keep
in mind, Superboy didn't come along until almost a
decade after the character of Superman first appeared.
Until about 1949, Clark Kent's backstory was that he
first began using his powers- at least publicly- as an
adult. But then someone at DC Comics (then called
National Periodical Publications) decided that stories
about Superman as a boy would be just as popular, if
not more so with young readers.

And thus, the origin was tweaked to establish that
Clark had operated as Superboy in his teens.
Everything else pretty much remained the same.

In the current DC Comics universe there is a Superboy
(and has been since 1992). He's not a young Superman,
but his clone.

A planet on the other side of the sun was a fairly common device in
those days.  There was even a comic strip, "Twin Earths," on that
theme.  The idea was that we wouldn't know about the planet, at least
not until we had a visitation from there.

So I take it there was either a scientific theory or a
popular fictional convention that there could be two
hypothetical planets on the same orbital plane?

Rick

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