------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 23
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Various topics [ "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed]; ]
I'm the greatest [ JackBenny@[removed] ]
[removed] Lovecraft [ "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@cfai ]
Greatest Entertainer? [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
Greatest Entertainer [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Bing Crosby - Greatest Entertainer [ "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@earthli ]
On a Note of Triumph [ "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed]; ]
Jerry Haendiges final comments [ Tony Baechler <tony@[removed]; ]
The Greatest Entertainer of All Time [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Greatest Entertainer [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
Weekends with Walden Hughes [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
Re: The Littlest Angel [ Max Schmid <mschmid@[removed]; ]
100 shows for eight bucks? Where DO [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
Re: OTR vendors [ rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed] ]
Re: Court of Missing Heirs [ "Jan Willis" <jlwillis@[removed]; ]
Greatest Entertainer? [ JimBourg@[removed] ]
OTR in [removed] [ "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed] ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 18:39:59 -0500
From: "Derek Tague" <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Various topics
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It's me [removed]
At this time, I wanted to thank everybody who responded to my query
about house pets with OTR nomenclatures both on- & off-list, esp'ly Dan
Hughes's "tail" about the Highes family's recent acquisition of a dog named
"Maxwell Remley."
Sean Dougherty asked for us all to contribute the names of performers
with 20+ years playing the same character as an antidote to the press flacks
who are equating Kelsey Grammer's TV tenure as "Dr. Frasier Crane" w/ James
Arness's "Matt Dillon." How about Ozzie and Harriet Nelson? Does playing
oneself count? "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" went on-air in 1944,
switched to TV in 1952, continued on radio 'til 1954 (all new episodes,
non-simulcasted & non-adapted from the TV episodes), & lasted on the cathode
ray tube 'til 1966--for a grand total of 22 years (24 , if one allows for the
radio/TV overlap). And "The Simpsons" people are bragging that they're now
TV's longest running sitcom now that it's in year #15, beating the Nelsons'
14 years on TV. Don't get me wrong; I actually love "the Simpsons." But come
back when you're approaching 20 seasons & maybe we'll talk about longevity.
Greatest Entertainer of All Time? At first instinct, I'd cast my vote
for Al Jolson [whose widow Erle Jolson Krasna just died this past
week-end]...but then again, I never got to see such great vaudevillians as
Sir Harry Lauder or Frank Fay, nor early recording stars like Billy Murray or
Irving Kaufman.
On the topic of nostalgia vs. history: some post-ers here want to
delineate between the OTR fans who heard all these great shows when they were
fresh and "live" and the latter-day adherents like myself. Please keep in
mind that when it comes to great entertainment, nostalgia can take on a new
life at any age. When I hear particular programmes, I remember my
adolescence when I was borrowing Radiola & Mark 56 OTR LPs from my local
library. Whenever somebody brings up WOTW, I remember my first introduction
to it via that TV-movie "The Night That Panicked America.," which I watched
first-run. Whenever I hear "The Shadow," I think about the days when I was
first introduced to the character in the comic-book medium circa 1974 when DC
Comics revived him for a new generation.
I happen to know that two of the Digest's long-standing residential
experts, viz. Laura Leff and Elizabeth McLeod, are both too young to have
experienced the OTR-era first-hand. But I betcha they both can look back with
nostalgia to the prevailing conditions in their respective lives when they
both discovered Jack Benny and "Amos 'n' Andy," I betcha.
So cut us younger OTRers a break: we may not necessarily qualify to be
legitimately nostalgic for an era that preceded us, but we can defimnitely
fell nostalgic for the days when we all first discovered the joys of OTR.
"There! I've said [removed] I'm glaaaaad!" (Cass Daley).
Yours in the freezing ether,
Derek Tague
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------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 18:53:16 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: I'm the greatest
This discussion reminds me of the anecdote (going by memory) that Frank Fay
was once a witness in court. When asked what his profession was, he
responded,
"I'm the world's greatest comedian." (Or maybe it was the world's funniest
comedian.) When queried later as to why he said that, he responded, "I had
to.
I was under oath to tell the truth!"
--Laura Leff
President, IJBFC
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 19:38:15 -0500
From: "mike kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: [removed] Lovecraft
I've often wondered why more of [removed] Lovecraft work was not done on Radio
(Both OTR and Modern BBC adaptations). I have a younger brother who is a
long time fan of [removed] Lovecraft's work (having mostly his work in Print). He
began reading Lovecraft years ago after listening to the SUSPENSE play "The
Dunwich Horror" and has been reading Lovecraft ever since.
To best of my knowledge, the only [removed] Lovecraft adaptations are
"The Dunwich Horror" (SUSPENSE)
"Rats in the Walls" (THE BLACK MASS)
"The Outsider" (1970- BBC ?)
"Thing on the Doorstep" (Two Parts)
"At the Mountains of Madness" (ATLANTIC RADIO THEATER - Modern
Dramatization)
"Shadow over Innsmouth" (ATLANTIC RADIO THEATER - Modern
Dramatization)
Someone let me know if I'm overlooking something. I know Cornell Woolrich's
work was widely done on radio. All I can think over of is the fantastic
nature of Lovecraft kept more of it being done on radio.
Mike Kerezman
Macomb, Ok
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 19:50:31 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Greatest Entertainer?
I think it's safe to say that very few of us will be able to
settle on just one entertainer as the greatest of them all.
IMHO, there were many entertainers who fit this category.
Without some very specific criteria, it would be next to
impossible to find one person who everyone would accept as
the overall greatest. What criteria was there to begin with:
appeal, ratings, longevity, involvement in the industry, how
many different mediums they worked it, life achievement, etc?
Or were there categories (like other awards shows):
Best Singer, Best Comedian, Best Dramatic Performance, Best
Host, Best Game Show, Most Recognizable Celebrity, etc?
Let's just agree to disagree and move on.
As ever,
Kenneth Clarke
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 20:13:05 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Greatest Entertainer
As with many others, I think the question is one with no satisfactory
answer.
But my thought: Phinias T. Barnum.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 22:26:59 -0500
From: "John Eccles, Jr." <jeccles@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Bing Crosby - Greatest Entertainer
I want to thank everyone for their interest in my posting about Bing Crosby.
As far as Crosby making the most "studio recordings" as opposed to Billy
Murray one has to take into account the definition of "studio recording",
which is probably what Gary Giddins did when he stated that fact in his
Crosby bio introduction. Exactly what constitutes a "studio recording" is
anybody's guess and open for discussion. Of course Billy Murray made
thousands of records but under so many different names and in an era vastly
different from the one Crosby inhabited. I can not speak for Giddins, but I
think he was comparing Crosby to other 20th century recording artists whose
works have stood the test of time (Sinatra, Como, Bennett, Presley, Nat King
Cole, etc.) In that respect Crosby tops them all, which may have been what
he was aiming for, since all of Crosby's records from 1931 on featured him
as the main attraction on the record.
Murray's voice was distinctive, but I wonder with the primitive acoustic
systems of that era people really could tell the difference on records,
especially in an era where "recording artists" were not as in vogue as they
are today. Joe Venuti was able to get away with adlibbing "Barnacle Bill
the s***head" on the Paul Whiteman record of "Barncale Bill, The Sailor" and
it was released with no one apparently the wiser.
I also was shocked to learn recently that a close friend of mine has two
nieces age 10 and 11 who never heard of Bing Crosby, despite being bombarded
with recordings of "White Christmas" at Christmas time. This reinforced my
desire to introduce the young to OTR. That was why I worked to have the
Absegami Emanon Players, a high school drama club, appear at last year's
FOTR Convention to do a recreation of "The Shadow." They also got to see
Fred Foy appear in a recreation of "The Lone Ranger." The kids loved it. I
was thrilled I was able to help them experience one of "the greats" at the
top of his game. Before the upcoming school year starts I will be working
with the drama teacher to integrate OTR into the dramatics program they have
at Absegami High School in New Jersey. There really is a crying need for
those of us with knowledge of the past to "spread the word" and "plant a few
seeds" with the young people today and introduce them to "the greats" of
OTR.
Thanks again to everyone who responded on the digest or offlist to my
posting.
John Eccles, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 23:05:24 -0500
From: "Nancy Hudson" <hudson@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: On a Note of Triumph
In Digest #19, Chris Chandler wrote:
Weird esoteric question: is there a way to tell the
original 5/8/45 broadcast from the repeat performance
several days later? Anybody know?
Well, how about this:
In R. LeRoy Bannerman's biography of Norman Corwin entitled, "On a Note
of Triumph: Norman Corwin and the Golden Years of Radio," I quote from
page 159:
"In the second broadcast, Gabel stumbled on the line "...big
contributions from a couple of big industrialists"--a minor and the only
fluff in some 120 minutes of air time. A remarkable achievement, it was
later cited by schools of drama as an exemplar of dynamic acting.
Gabel, in fact, improved his performance, projecting even greater
intensity and involvement in the repeated broadcast."
I remember bookmarking this page years ago, in order to listen to the
two broadcasts and to be able to tell them apart. I remembered the
bookmark, but haven't actually done it yet.
The book also lists the cast for the first broadcast: Martin Gabel
narrated, with Ludwig Donath, Peggy Rae, Joan Lorring, Elliott Lewis,
Merton Koplin, Lucille Meredith, Raymond Lawrence, Alex Hartford, George
Sorel, Dick Nelson, Bob Bruce, Joe Worthy, Lurene Tuttle, Regina
Wallace, June Foray, Pat McGeehan, Harry Bartell, Jim Nusser, Peter
Witt, Fred Essler, Norbert Muller, Ramsey Hill, Irene Tedrow, Eula Beal,
and Johnny Bond.
Music by Bernard Herrman, conducted by Lud Gluskin
I have a second printing of the 1945 book, "On a Note of Triumph" by
Corwin.
It's still a great read, as much as it is a great broadcast.
Trust this helps.
Russell S. Hudson
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:50:28 -0500
From: Tony Baechler <tony@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jerry Haendiges final comments
Hello. These are my final comments on Jerry. I don't want to get into
bashing him either and I cannot force anyone to change their minds. I am
not supporting Terry or Ted as far as being better dealers, I just
recommend them and I have been happy with their service.
I did visit him at his home in May 2002. We had a good experience and I
was hoping that past order problems would be resolved but that did not
happen unfortunately. I agree with W. Gary W. who said that his logs can
be useful but do have errors. I personally do not like mp3, but when I
talked to him about the mp3 format he did not seem that strongly against
them. He agreed with me that the quality was poor and that was about
it. I am not going to start the mp3 thread again.
Someone had mentioned that he is fine for filling gaps in
collections. That is generally correct. Small orders usually went fine
with him. However, he obviously thinks differently. If you look at his
weekly specials, he often used to offer huge collections of shows, such as
the same "Lone Ranger" set I bought. What bothered me is that he
advertises thousands of shows but cannot deliver in a timely manner. If
you are just too busy, say so. Terry told me that he was too busy for a
very large custom order and that was fine. (The custom order was not
listed on his site and would have been several hundred shows.) He must be
doing OK, though, if he can get four tables at the SPERDVAC
convention. Yes, he did contribute a lot to OTR. He was a founder of
SPERDVAC among other things. Somehow the quality has got much worse over
the years unfortunately.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:51:05 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: The Greatest Entertainer of All Time
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 00:54:19 -0500
From: JackBenny@[removed]
I haven't been following this discussion closely, but how can you
pick the greatest entertainer "of all time" when we only really know
the work of people since the advent of recorded sound?
I understand that Groucho Ben Nun, Joshua's younger brother, did a
great job entertaining the troops during the Israelite invasion of
Canaan. His fame spread to the point where his jokes appeared
regularly on CNN (Canaanite News Network).
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston,MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:51:19 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Greatest Entertainer
I've got to agree with all the others who have named Bing Crosby as
their choice for the Greatest Entertainer.
In addition to all the acheivements and talents named by others, I would
add comedy. The man had unbelievable timing and whether reading from a
script or acting in the movies he delivered comic lines perfectly. And
in addition he could and did ad-lib so well, that he would give and take
with the best comedians.
One other thing he shared the spotlight with other entertainers and did
all he could to make them look good, unlike some others who have been
suggested who hogged the spotlight seemed to be all about themselves.
I'm a Sinatra fan, but I think that Crosby made the biggest impact and
changed the business more than anyone else in my lifetime.
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:51:39 -0500
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Weekends with Walden Hughes
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[removed] for live streaming . Fri , Sat, Sun 7:30 PST/ 10:30
EST
Friday 1-16-04
Hal Stone . A recent interview at Frank Bresee's studio.
Saturday 1-17-04
A. (via request) replay of the Dusty Rogers interview.
B. To honor George Burns birthday on 1-20- Walden will air the 1964
birthday show for
George Burns (special from NBC monitor. )
C. 3 hour salute to Walter O'Keefe by Bobb Lynes and Frank Bresee.
Sunday 1-18-04
A. Dr. Biels
B. Laura Leff talk about the 1-10-37 Jack Benny show.
C. Tribute to Perry Como by Don Cornell, and Frankie Laine
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:52:10 -0500
From: Max Schmid <mschmid@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: The Littlest Angel
At 06:39 PM 1/15/04, you wrote:
Would anyone know on which program Helen Hayes would have narrated the
story?
According to the logs of the notorious Jerry H., That would be on The Inner
Sanctum, on December 25, 1945.
Regarding Jerry, I have had nothing but great dealings with him. Fast
turn-around, good quality. If anything, my problem with him is remembering
to send the check AFTER I receive the tapes. And spelling his name right
without looking it up. As to his logs, there isn't a week that goes by
that I'm not using them for research. My biggest problem with his logs is
the occasional series that isn't included (Vic & Sade, for example).
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:53:10 -0500
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 100 shows for eight bucks? Where DO I sign?
Ruk77@[removed] asked this $64 question:
Who wouldn't rather have 100 shows for $[removed] rather than 2 shows for
$[removed]
[removed] don't [removed] wouldn't, for starters.
I take a little bit of pride in my OTR collecting and that's why I purchase
shows from top quality vendors like Terry Salmonson and and the fine people
at First Generation Radio Archives. Call me crazy, but I'm sorta picky
about listening to programs that sound like they were recorded with two tin
cans and a piece of string.
If you prefer purchasing mp3's, then peace be with you, my brother. But you
shouldn't BUY shows from people who dislike mp3's--that's why God created
Usenet.
[removed] : MP3'S RULE!!! you can't fight technology
[removed] that's "technology," thank Heavens I'm still a Luddite.
Ivan
----
OTR Ramblings and Musings at Thrilling Days of Yesteryear:
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 09:56:40 -0500
From: rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: OTR vendors
Yes he has an increadible
collection but he has prbably made hundreds of thousands of dollars
off of OTR.
This is a ridiculous statement. I don't care how big his collection is, or
how many people that he's ripped off, he has NOT made that much money off of
this hobby. It's practically impossible.
[removed] : MP3'S RULE!!! you can't fight technology.
Do we have to have this argument again? Not all of us prefer the MP3 format,
in fact, some of us down right loathe it, due to the frequent poor quality
that is offered.
Rodney.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 12:30:58 -0500
From: "Jan Willis" <jlwillis@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Court of Missing Heirs
Paul Urbahns asked:
Does anyone know what University or repository
might have the files (scripts,disks, etc) for this
CBS program?
I know there was at least one book written on the
subject and I assume it contains some of the cases
mentioned on the show. I would like to hear from
anyone having access to that book.
Paul:
I assume the book you are referring to is
James F. Waters' _The Court of missing heirs_
Modern Age Books (1941).
In the book's "subject heading" information
is a reference to "Court of missing heirs (Radio program)."
Just in case nobody here
has it in their collection, let me mention
that I see that it's at over two
dozen libraries in the country.
Your own local library should be able to easily interlibrary loan it for
you, from one of the
libraries below.
Note: while 26 libraries "offically" own it,
some of course may no longer
have it in their collection, but ..._somebody_ will
be able to provide it.
Just tell your local librarian that the book
has the following "OCLC number": 2815095
He/she can then use that number to do a very
quick search and start the interlibrary loaning
process for you.
CA
RIVERSIDE PUB LIBR
UC, IRVINE
UCLA
CO
THREE RIVERS LIBR
CT
BRIDGEPORT PUB LIBR
DC
GEORGETOWN UNIV, LAW LIBR
GA
GEORGIA STATE UNIV
UNIV OF GEORGIA, LAW SCH
ME
BANGOR PUB LIBR
MN
UNIV OF MINNESOTA, MINNEAPOLIS
MO
CENTRAL BIBLE COL
MS
UNIV of MISSISSIPPI
It's sitting on the shelf, right now, at Ole Miss:
[removed]
UNIV OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
NC
UNC, CHAPEL HILL
NY
NY PUB LIBR RES LIBR
ROCHESTER PUB LIBR
OH
CLEVELAND PUB LIBR
DAYTON METROP LIBR
PUBLIC LIBR OF CINCINNATI
PA
CARNEGIE LIBR OF PITTSBURGH
RI
BROWN UNIV
TX
MIDWESTERN STATE UNIV
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIV
VA
UNIV OF VIRGINIA
WA
UNIV OF WASHINGTON, GALLAGHER LAW LIBR
Good luck,
Jan Willis
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 12:33:15 -0500
From: JimBourg@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Greatest Entertainer?
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Would we include the likes of Frank Gorshin and Rich Little? We then could
have them all. Bing, Frank, Satchmo, Dean, Duke, whoever we like.
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 14:25:42 -0500
From: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: OTR in [removed]
In digest #22, Ian Grieve said:
We do need more examples of how OTR is used in a
classroom as well as ideas on how it *could* be
used.
I'm afraid this doesn't help Ian much, but I always felt that
Cavalcade of America would be a great US classroom resource, especially in a
history or government class. People are naturally storytellers, and
dramatizing historical events always seemed like a good way to fix the event
in the student's minds, and then deeper and more thorough study would stick
better now that the event seemed a little more 'real'. Plus the half hour
format fits into a single class session very well.
I don't know if Australia had an equivalent show, but dramas of
historical events might be a good idea.
-chris holm
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #23
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