Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #300
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/4/2003 10:42 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 300
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Re: Efrem Zimbalist                   [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Jewish humor                          [ Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed]; ]
  Dragnet Shows                         [ lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed]; ]
  Movies about Atwater Kent and George  [ "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed]; ]
  Buddy and Bob                         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  Jack vs Bob                           [ PFornatar@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history 8/4            [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  twilight zone update                  [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
  Another "Junior"                      [ "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@hotm ]
  Mame Trivia                           [ Pratz <[removed]@[removed]; ]
  Who's the Funniest?                   [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  Re: Benny or Bob? Yes!                [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
  Re: Overseas News Transmissions       [ chris chandler <chrischandler84@yah ]
  Phonograph                            [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
  Bob Hope, NBC and knights             [ nemesis@[removed] ]
  Who's [removed] or Bob?          [ "KDK" <kdkalit@[removed]; ]
  Yesterday USA                         [ "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed]; ]
  The Aldrich Family                    [ "Jerry Bechtel" <jerrybechtel@jalc. ]
  You're the best                       [ otrbuff@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:34:36 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Efrem Zimbalist

To answer Jim Cox's question,  violinist Efrem Zimbalist was actor Efrem
Zimbalist Jr.'s father, and shortly before his father's death the two of
them collaborated on a direct-to-disc LP featuring (I seem to recall) the
father playing music written by the son.  Zimbalist Sr.'s wife was famous
operatic star Alma Gluck, and both of them were long-time Victor Red Seal
recording artists.

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:35:11 -0400
From: Jordan Young <jyoung@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Jewish humor

The post-war sensitivity to ethnic humor, and Jewish humor in
particular, was certainly not unique to radio. Spike Jones was
criticized for his record parody of "Tennessee Waltz," featuring Sara
Berner and Earl Bennett with Yiddish accents (the latter doing his
usual imitation of the Benny show's Mt. Kitzel).

It annoyed Jones that Mickey Katz (Joel Grey's dad) could "get away"
with his parodies -- but Katz himself was blasted by the Jewish
editor of Variety for "defiling" the legend of Davy Crockett.

Enough already. As Mickey used to say, I gotta go take a schvitz.

Jordan R. Young

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:35:25 -0400
From: lynn wagar <philcolynn@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dragnet Shows

Hello-

    Is there any one on the digest that could help me
identify 3 Dragnet shows that are miss titled and
have no dates.  I can give a discription of the
story line.  I hope there is a Dragnet specialist
out there to help me.  Please e-mail me.

Many Thanks!!

Lynn Wagar

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 17:36:07 -0400
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Movies about Atwater Kent and George Seldes

I've never heard of this 1941 movie, but Fox Movie Channel is airing "The
Great American Broadcast" on Tuesday Aug 5 at 4 PM with a repeat on
Wednesday Aug 6 at 6 AM.  Time Out New York describes it as a largely
fictional musical inspired by the life of Atwater Kent, tracing the
evolution of radio as a form of early 20th Century entertainment.  Features
John Payne, Alice Faye, Jack Oakie, Cesar Romero, The Ink Spots, and The
Nicholas Bros.  They end by saying "A sequence with a clowning Milton Berle
was filmed but not used in the completed movie."  I wonder if that is a
hint that it might be included here or in a DVD release.  But they don't
say if we'll see it.

There also is a listing for a documentary about commentator George Seldes
"Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press" on the
Sundance Channel on Monday Aug 4 at 3-5 PM.  "Filmmaker  Rick Goldsmith
caught up with Seldes in his final days to gather his opinions on the
inadequacies of journalism, the government's abuse of power and other
topics that are far more relevant today than they really should be."

Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 18:50:40 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Buddy and Bob

Hi Everybody,

in the last digest a question was ask radio show Buddy Ebsen appeared on.  I
ask Buddy this in an interview, and he told me he did not remember any.

Bob Hope mention in a 1975 interview done in England that radio was the most
important part of his career.  It put him on the map.  Take care

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 18:52:23 -0400
From: PFornatar@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack vs Bob
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      First, it's an unfair question since they weren't the same kind of
comedian. When speaking of radio consider my experience. Is it typical?  When
I
listen to a Jack Benny radio show, I'm there, even if I've heard the show ten
times. When I listen to an old Bob Hope radio show, I don't quite take the
trip
back. I find a few things that are amusing but it's not the same.
      As for ad-libbing, neither man is a master. Milton Berle wore that hat
in my opinion. He was funny on radio but not very. Milton was a comedian that
had to be seen in  person. I once saw him at the Chicago Theater do six live
shows in one day. Every show was different. A fly came into view in one show
and Milton did ten minutes on the fly. I''m afraid Jack and Bob needed writers
for something like that.
     I think Benny might have been a better actor, especially in dramas he
did in early televison. I think Bob did one fairly dramatic role in the
movies.
Which leads to Bob's strength: Movies. Say what you like, they were always
fun. Jack's few were mostly just good tries.
    As for television, here again, they weren't the same. Jack was wise in
bringing the radio family to TV because he didn't do stand up. Bob was wise
and
stayed with the things that made him the center. Jack was always on the
outside looking in, and Bob was always on the inside looking out.  Someone
mentioned
that Jack's television shows weren't on TV land. True but neither are Bob's.
However, Jack's TV shows are available on PBS stations late night or on
Sundays.
   As a guest on TV talk shows, Bob had a chance to use his prepared jokes.
Jack on the other hand offered a different side of himself usually.
   They were both great "givers" of their time. No one can deny the great
efforts of Bob.  We who were in the midst of their primes must be thankful for
having had them in our lives.  I met Bob once in 1950 at a big Hollywood Bowl
blast. He was very nice to me, a young man at the time. He introduced me to
Peggy Lee (who was godawful gorgeous) It made my life for quite a few months.
Bob
was a supreme MC that night and many nights on TV and private shows.
Unfortunately, I never had a chance to meet Jack. I would have loved that.
    One last thing, which is probably personal. Try it. When you think of
both men,  I like Bob Hope but I love Jack Benny. Does that make sense? Or,
is it
just  preference? I don't know. I do know, I've collected a lot more Benny
than Hope even though I had more opportunity to get Hope.   Someone either on
this list or another said something to the effect that they both left "Big
footprints, its just that they wore different shoes." I think that's a
wonderful
way to compare two great entertainers, the likes we will not see again.
        Paul Fornatar

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 18:50:52 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history 8/4

 From Those Were The Days ==

8/4

1921 - The first tennis match on radio was broadcast on KDKA in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was a natural since KDKA was the first
commercial radio station in the United States. Within eight months the
powers that be figured out that sports on radio would bring in big sales
revenues. And so, the Davis Cup match between Great Britain and
Australia was aired on the radio; but much to the wonderment of KDKA's
listeners. Tennis anyone? On radio? It rates right up there with radio
wrestling or, maybe, [removed]

1927 - Station 2XAG, later named WGY, the General Electric station in
Schenectady, NY, began experimental operations from a 100,000-watt
transmitter. Later, the FCC regulated the power of AM radio stations to
not exceed 50,000 watts on 'clear channels' (where few, if any, stations
would cause interference with each other).

1940 - Crime Doctor introduced a new kind of radio hero to audiences.
The CBS program presented Dr. Benjamin Ordway, the show's main
character, who was a victim of amnesia. He once was a criminal, but got
hit on the head, and suddenly began to work as a crime fighter. Nice twist.

Joe

--
Visit my homepage:  [removed]~[removed]

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 18:51:16 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  twilight zone update

Kfi did run twilight zone liast night/this morning.  As far as I know,
they ran four Twilight Zone shows starting at one and ending I assume at
five [removed]  My tape ran out after four [removed] so that is all that I can
swear to.  By the time they run all the commercials, there isn't a lot of
show there, but KFI is a good strong station and I am pretty sure they
have a web presence so can be heard all over the world.  Hopefully this
will be on next Sunday morning and hopefully we will remember.  Kurt

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 20:44:47 -0400
From: "George Tirebiter" <tirebiter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Another "Junior"

Jack French wrote:

As you may have guessed, they were father and son. Efrem, Jr. dropped
the "Junior" from his name after his father died. However, his fame by
then had probably exceeded his father's, though they were artists in
different venues.

Another case of this is Fritz Leiber.  Fritz Leiber, Sr. was an actor on
stage and in films. His son, Fritz Leiber, Jr. was a well respected
science-fiction writer.  FL the younger dropped the "Jr." after his father
died in 1950.  And, there is an OTR connection for both.  Fritz, Sr.
appeared in at least 2 surviving OTR programs, a 1936 Lux and a 1937 CBS
Shakespeare presentation.  And at least 3 of Fritz, Jr.'s stories were
adapted for X Minus One in the 1950s.

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 20:45:14 -0400
From: Pratz <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR (Plain Text Only)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mame Trivia

Thanks to all who emailed privately or wrote the Digest regarding the 1966
Broadway musical with the OTR connection. As Jay, Gary, John, Ruby and Ken
all knew - - -

The 1966 Broadway musical was "Mame," starring Angela Lansbury with Willard
Waterman and Bea Arthur. The duet with the partial OTR lyrics was "Bosom
Buddies" sung by Angela and Bea. It mentioned
"Orphan Annie and Sandy and Amos 'n Andy."

The 1974 film "Mame" of course starred Lucille Ball.

A few even mentioned another OTR actress,  Rosalind Russell, who starred in
the 1958 film "Auntie Mame."

OTR folks are not only great, they're smart!

Rich

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 20:46:11 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Who's the Funniest?

In the "Bob Hope versus Jack Benny" thread, Laura Leff noted,

I think a big part of who is better remembered depends on how easily
accessible their material is.  For example, you can turn on TV Land and
see I Love Lucy, but not Jack Benny.  <snip>  So a 20-year old has a
better chance of knowing Lucy than Jack.

This has echoes elsewhere.  The Tampa radio station, WFLA, carries the
Phil Hendrie show.  [For those unfamiliar with the show, Phil Hendrie
"hosts" a talk show, where one of his "callers" is Hendrie; the host
often has arguments with his alter-ego caller persona.  The regular
listeners consider the program comedic]  The station ran a promotion
where it claimed that the Phil Hendrie show was declared to be, "the
funniest show in the history of radio."

I suspect that whoever made the claim wasn't even exposed to, much less
listened to, any of the major radio comedies.  Of course, tastes vary;
however, that claim is an extraordinarily sweeping statement.

Now IMHO, nobody can (or should, for that matter) establish which show
was "the funniest," or any other superfluity for that matter, but I can
think of half a dozen OTR comedy shows that tower over Mr. Hendrie's
show.   However, I suspect that there are people who might share the
sentiment of WFLA radio.  And I suspect that they wouldn't have heard any
of the OTR comedies, either.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 20:46:32 -0400
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Benny or Bob? Yes!
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In a message dated 8/3/2003 5:17:06 PM Eastern Standard Time, argydix writes:

Jack and Bob were [removed]'s enjoy 'em both!

I agree! If I could only choose one, it'd be Jack, for my taste, but the fact
is, we don't have to choose. Celebrate the accomplishments of each and enjoy
the fact that their works are captured for the ages!
Bryan Powell

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 21:24:56 -0400
From: chris chandler <chrischandler84@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re:  Overseas News Transmissions

Elizabeth answers Alan's question about shortwave news
[removed]

It was actually a lot less complicated than this--
in fact, the entire process was strictly regimented
and carefully controlled by the military authorites.

So much so that you can almost count on one hand the
number of truly spontaneous wartime 'breaking news'
events, broadcast live via shortwave:  James Bowen at
the Graf Spee scuttling; Bert Silen at the bombing of
Manila, to name a couple--and neither of these is the
type of "with the troops in the field" reporting
Elizabeth and Alan are talking about.

And while the military press officer was indeed an
onmipresent companion, sometimes the technical
facilities left alot to be desired.  The first
broadcasts from the allied invasion of North Africa in
November, 1942 came from transmitting equipment
sprawled on a hotel room bed, with CBS's Charles
Collingwood reporting for several weeks thereafter he
wasn't sure he was being heard back home (though he
cleverly arranged to time his broadcasts so he knew
he'd be the lead story.  Gotta admire that!)  NBC's
John McVane--after rushing ashore, typewriter in tow,
bullets flying around him--managed to stage a
broadcast from Omaha Beach in the hours after the
invasion of France--but British technicians refused to
put it through because it didn't follow the
agreed-upon arrangements:  a broadcast from the
"British Sector" was supposed to be first, and by God
it was!

An interesting side effect of doing things this way is
that an early radio newscast can seem quite
bewildering to a modern listener.  On what we'd now
call the 'network evening news', the familiar "most
important story first, second story second" system
simply didn't exist, and indeed wasn't possible under
the networks' technical setups.  Thus you almost
always had a remote from London, whether or not
anything was happening there; or a remote from the
Pacific sandwiched between three or four stories about
European fighting; or ten minutes of foreign news at
the beginning of a broadcast when clearly a domestic
story should have been the lead.  It often seems
terribly disorganized, and with the anchorman in those
days being more 'announcer' than 'explainer', there's
often no effort to put anything in a 'big picture'
context, or even say "Hey folks, here's the most
important story!!"

NBC had come closest to remedying this by the end of
the war, giving over the first few minutes of its
morning and evening ("News of the World") roundups to
a broad summary that made the later overseas remotes
make alot more sense.  CBS's nightly 'World Today'
program was hindered by the fact that, for much of the
war, it didn't run a full quarter hour; CBS lopped off
the last few minutes for a commentary program which it
sold to a different sponsor. This left even less time
for actual news, in any form.

Finally, there's the great irony, seldom discussed,
that *none* of this brouhaha was necessary, if only
CBS and NBC had allowed recordings on their air.
Feeding reports to NY for later playback would have
eliminated technical glitches, and would have allowed
program content and story order to be determined on
editorial, instead of technical, grounds.  Mutual
routinely did this, and the world still turned.  And a
program like BBC's 'Radio Newsreel' is a marvelous
example of the kind of thing the American networks
could have done every single night--but refused.

chris

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 21:25:40 -0400
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Phonograph

Sometime a while back, someone posted a link to a phonograph player
available at [removed] that had a phono jack you could hook up to your
computer for the purpose of transferring vinyl records to CDs.  I'd
appreciate it if anyone who has that link would drop me a line off-list
because I've looked all over the website and have come up with nada.

Thanks in advance,
Ivan

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

Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 23:35:38 -0400
From: nemesis@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Bob Hope, NBC and knights

I drove by NBC studios in Burbank yesterday (Saturday).  There's a
four-story sign honoring Bob Hope:  "Thanks for the Memories" with
photos--hanging on the building.

I believe non-Brits do get knighthoods.  A friend of mine was part of the
crew that located the Titanic and was awarded a knighthood.  He told me he
was "Sir" only in the UK.  There's other terms here in the [removed]

Linda T.

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

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 00:37:49 -0400
From: "KDK" <kdkalit@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Who's [removed] or Bob?

argydix said:

When there are two excellent comedians whose styles were so influential in
all types of [removed] does there have to be a choice between one
or the other?  All of us have been influenced (and moved) by their comedic
[removed] can't we just appreciate their gifts and just enjoy them both?
Rocket scientists need to analyze and [removed] when it comes to
[removed]'t we just appreciate those who have it?
Jack and Bob were [removed]'s enjoy 'em both!

Well said!  My sentiments exactly.  I was going to say something similar but
feared the negative reaction, so I said nothing.  They were both with us for
a long time.  Both were very funny.  Both were masters of their craft. They
both left us with many happy memories and thru existing OTR episodes, we can
relive many of those  memories as often as we wish.    To choose one over
the other is like choosing McIntosh apples over granny smith apples or
scrambled eggs over sunnyside up -- everyone will have their own preference
and to them, their preference is the best!   Ken

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

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 09:22:22 -0400
From: "Walden Hughes" <hughes1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Yesterday USA

Hi Everybody,
some of the highlight that will be heard this week on Yesterday USA at
[removed]

Wednesday replay of the interview we did with Kathryn Crosby

Friday Frank Bresee feature his KFI special with Jack Haley, and plays
highlights of band remote from Stata canlina Island.

Saturday interview with Phil Holdman with the Bowers, and the rerun of the
interview that the Gassman did with Dick Joy

Sunday rerun of the interview with Peggy Webber, and Jimmy Weldon.

All time is 7-30 Pacific.  Take care,

Walden Hughes

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

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 11:23:01 -0400
From: "Jerry Bechtel" <jerrybechtel@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Aldrich Family
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I'm making my annual plea for anyone out there that may be able to help
me fill in my Aldrich Family collection. This collection is for my own
enjoyment and personal use only. In the 40's this was my favorite radio
show and I've spent years trying to collect all the shows. If you have
any sources of information, shows that you might share or just advice on
how to go about finding additional shows, I sure would like to hear from
you. Anyone else enjoy this show as much as I did? Thanks for your help!

Jerry Bechtel

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

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 11:24:08 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  You're the best

In addition to at least five responses to my inquiry into the possible
connection between Efrem Zimbalist and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. provided on
the digest by knowledgeable readers, to date I've received 10 personal
replies on that matter.  My thanks to one and all.  I've known for years
that we have some of the most generous intellects anywhere among this
crowd and once again you've sustained my faith.  I'm grateful to all who
were able to share.

Jim Cox

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #300
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