------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 341
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
undated Benny episode [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
AFRS [ Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed]; ]
10-23 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Re: Are We Certain They Were Black? [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
Jack Benny and Race [ "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@ya ]
Re: Jack Benny Joke [ Thomas Bray <orderinfo@piecesoftime ]
superheroes [ "Jim Harmon" <jimharmonotr@charter. ]
Second Honeymoon [ Ken Dahl <kdahl@[removed]; ]
Anyone have Hangman Won't waitt? [ "Matthew Bullis" <matthewbullis@run ]
RE: Gunsmoke program "I Don't Know" [ "Stewart Wright" <stewwright@worldn ]
Good and bad soap operas [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
Portable Radios and transistors [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:10:57 +0000
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: undated Benny episode
I need help dating a Jack Benny episode. My copy says only "1944". Jack
is trying to get a date to the premiere of "The Horn Blows at
Midnight", and asks Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Jinx
Falkenburg, and Jeanne Crain -- of whom eventually accept. The copy I
have might be AFRS--all the commercials are cut out. All supporting
players besides Rochester are excised, as well, suggesting this is a
heavily edited ("butchered") copy. I haven't bought 39 Forever, vol 1
yet--in the meantime, can anybody suggest a date for this episode?
Thanks,
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:11:07 +0000
From: Kermyt Anderson <kermyta@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: AFRS
I find that when I listen to AFRS shows, I'm more conscious than I used
to be of the absence of the commercials. This is especially true for
comedy programs with integrated commercials (Jack Benny, Burns & Allen,
etc), where you're not just missing the ad but a lot of jokes as well.
On the flip side--I'm sure there are many shows that survive only
because the AFRS made copies! Which got me to thinking--how many shows
would that be? Does anybody have a rough guess as to what proportion of
extant episodes exist only in the AFRS version? 10%? 15%? Maybe as high
as 20%?
I know the AFRS retitled programs to avoid mentioning the sponsors. In
many cases this was easy--The Lucky Strike Program became The Jack
Benny Show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour became The Charlie McCarthy
Show, etc. (Once you're used to it, you can tell from the opening
announcement whether it's an AFRS program.) What did they do for things
like Lux Radio Theater or Campbell Playhouse, where the sponsor's name
was so tightly integrated into the title? Abbreviated names like "Radio
Theater" or "Playhouse" sound too generic!
Kermyt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:11:20 +0000
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 10-23 births/deaths
October 23rd births
10-23-1884 - Cesar Saerchinger - Aix-la-Chapelle, France - d. 10-10-1971
news correspondent: "Story Behind the Headlines"; "America's Town Meeting of
the Air"
10-23-1901 - Arthur Jacobson - NYC - d. 10-6-1993
actor: Kirk Harding "Woman in White"; Anthony J. Marleybone "Affairs of
Anthony"
10-23-1904 - Ford Bond - Louisville, KY - d. 8-15-1962
announcer: "Cities Service Concert"; "Manhattan Merry-Go-Round"; Highways
in Melody"
10-23-1904 - Margaret Speaks - Columbus, OH - d. 7-16-1977
singer: "Voice of Firestone"
10-23-1904 - Oliver Barbour - d. 4-11-1968
producer, director: "Life Can Be Beautiful"; "Parker Family"; "When a Girl
Marries"
10-23-1906 - Lucy Monroe - NYC - d. 10-13-1987
singer: (The Star-Spangled Soprano) "Hammerstein's Music Hall"; "Manhattan
Merry-Go-Round"
10-23-1911 - Martha Rountree - Gainesville, FL - d. 8-23-1999
co-founder, moderator: "Meet the Press"
10-23-1922 - Coleen Gray - Staplehurst, NE
actress: "Lux Radio Theatre"
10-23-1923 - Frank Sutton - Clarksville, TN - d. 6-28-1974
actor: "Couple Next Door"
10-23-1925 - Johnny Carson - Norfolk, NE
disc jockey: "Johnny Carson Show"
10-23-1931 - Diana Dors - Swindon, Wiltshire, England - d. 5-4-1984
actress: "Earplay"
October 23rd deaths
01-31-1872 - Zane Grey - Zanesville, OH - d. 10-23-1939
writer: "Rudy Vallee Hour"
05-10-1909 - Maybelle Carter - Nickelsville, VA - d. 10-23-1978
singer: (Queen of Country Music) "Grand Ole Opry"
05-26-1886 - Al Jolson - Srednick, Lithuania, Russia - d. 10-23-1950
singer: (The Jazz Singer) "Shell Chateau"; "Kraft Music Hall"
08-04-1897 - Abe Lyman - Chicago, IL - d. 10-23-1957
bandleader: "Jack Pearl Show"; "Lavender and New Lace"; "Waltz Time"
12-02-1915 - Adolph Green - NYC - d. 10-23-2002
songwriter: "Columbia Presents Corwin"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 17:11:31 +0000
From: "Brian L Bedsworth"
<az2pa@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Are We Certain They Were Black?
> In the early 40s, there were frequent subtle (and not-so-subtle)
> references to Rochester's skin color on the Jack Benny program.
> Rochester didn't do black dialect, of course, but in the earlier days
> he did engage in stereotypical "coloured" behaviors, such as a love of
> gin, shooting craps, and loose women, and in his spare time he could be
> found on Central Avenue (or in Harlem whenever he was in New York).
> Jokes about these traits only made sense because everybody knew
> Rochester was black.
That's the view that gets expressed most frequently. Yet how true is it
really? Would jokes about a Benny character having a fondness for liquor,
women and gambling =really= only make sense if the character were known to
be (fill in your own preferred term for Eddie Anderson's "race" here)?
Then explain Phil Harris. Benny's Harris was (always) a bigger drinker,
(until his marriage) a far greater womanizer, and every bit as big a bettor.
Yes, he was a musician, and there were similar stereotypes bandied about
musicians in those regards. But the Benny show worked because it exaggerated
to (some might say well past) the point of absurdity these sorts of
stereotypes, causing the stereotypes to cease to have any real meaning and
creating real people beneath those stereotypes. Past the bluster, Harris was
a warm-hearted family man who adored his kids and was devoted to his music
(even if he didn't have enough formal education to actually =read= any of
it). Even with Bill Morrow and Ed Beloin writing him in the early 1940s,
Rochester was portrayed as the one who ran the Benny homestead (and many of
Jack's business ventures, as well), and was given lines that presume a
status level within the household that =no= domestic character of any race,
color or gender would again approach until the 1970s (Soap).
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was generally known to the public to be
Black/Negro/Colored/African-American/whatever because he made public
appearances, acted in films (mainstream and "race"), and made print
endorsements featuring his likeness. NOT because there was something so
monolithically stereotypical about his character that he just "had" to be
non-White.
> Incidentally, Jack mentioned in his autobiography
> that he was glad when these traits disappeared from Rochester's
> character after the war.
Which was not quite accurate. The most extreme aspects of the early
Rochester character (the lazier, superstitious, razor-fighting Rochester, if
you will) were generally gone by the late fall of 1942 (not coincidentally,
within weeks of the removal of Morrow/Beloin as head writers), but he still
was prone to more than a few late night soirees on LA's Central Avenue long
into the television era, the occasional nip/swig/downing of demon liquor,
and devoting a not-insignificant portion of his efforts to looking for his
fair share of potential Mrs. Van Joneses.
By then, though, =all= the cast's earlier stereotypes had long since been
exaggerated out of relevance except as gag lines or very occasional plot
points, to the point where using an earlier script (the situation to which
Benny's autobiographical allusion responds) in which characters are not as
fully realized would seem jarring and even bigoted. That goes not just for
the earlier Rochester, but also for the much more shrewish and man-crazy
Mary of the earlier era, and even the angrier (the 1938-40 Benny was apt to
snap at anyone for anything, or nothing much at all) confrontationally
parsimonious Jack. The traits were still there, but they no longer defined
the characters so completely.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:17:08 +0000
From:
"jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Jack Benny and Race
Today I happened to hear the episode where Butterfly McQueen and her
"uncle" Rochester are in the
audience as shills to laugh out loud at Jack's bad jokes. Butterfly and
Rochester, what a
pairing of unique comedic black voices!! Jack does a lengthy skit about
Brazilians, only it seems
more like he's doing generic Mexican south-of-the border siesta shtick
about how "lazy" they are
about everything. I usually can't stand Dennis Day's vocal interludes but
I must admit he gave a
pretty nice rendition of "Brazil". And then Jack comes in and plays the
violin with a hilarious
vocal chorus behind him singing a "Grape Nut Flakes" jingle set to the tune
of "Brazil".
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:17:38 +0000
From: Thomas Bray
<orderinfo@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Jack Benny Joke
On Oct 22, 2004, at 1:13 PM, Chris wrote:
> I remember one particular episode (sorry, can't remember date) where Jack
> is complaining about Rochester's relatives who had come to visit. Jack
> said something along the lines of I should plant some cotton to give them
> something to do." I remember being astounded when I heard [removed] I mean,
> wow, I wasn't expecting that.
Chris:
While I understand the reaction (the joke is certainly NOT PC and is,
through our more enlightened prism, even in bad taste), as an old comedy
writer, were I to transport my self through time back to the days of the
Benny show, I might have actually pitched that joke.
It's actually very much in character for Jack; one, much of what he said
had a streak of the ridiculous about it, and when taken through the famous
JACK IS CHEAP filter, it has a much more acceptable through line of logic
to it. Think about the joke again and remember how tight Jack is with a
buck--the joke takes on an added dimension.
Please, no floods of angry mail. By today's standards, it is tasteless. But
there is more to the joke than meets the eye; I believe it was very much in
character and quite a smart, if not bold, Benny joke for that time.
Thom Bray
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:17:52 +0000
From: "Jim Harmon"
<jimharmonotr@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: superheroes
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Hello -- Besides Superman, someone has pointed there was the Blue Beetle who
had super-strength and many of the same powers as the more famous Man of
Steel. Then there is the matter of the Green Lama. In comic books, he could
fly and let bullets bounce off of him, but on radio if he had such powers he
never USED them and just acted as an ordinary detective.
Then there is the matter of Captain Marvel. A number of people have said
they heard Captain Marvel on the radio briefly. I am sure I saw a listing of
it in a radio log in an old magazine, but I was not able to find that magazine
again. MAYBE he was on radio until the owners of Superman brought pressure.
In comic books, Captain Midnight and Batman (guest star on Superman radio)
are often said to be superheroes so I guess that would extend to their radio
appearances. The same could be said of the Green Hornet.
The Avenger could, like The Shadow, become invisible (the Avenger used a
secret gas to do the trick). Many would call both superheroes.
Tarzan was one the earliest heroes on radio, and continued into the
fifties. Certainly his powers were beyond those of a mortal man.
Question to somebody: Why do I always get a notice to send "plain text"
emails to the OTR letterzine? I AM sending plain text with no doodles. -- JIM
HARMON
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:18:01 +0000
From: Ken Dahl
<kdahl@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Second Honeymoon
A few weeks ago Max Schmid had a posting to the OTR Digest requesting
information on specific radio programs. One of the programs he listed was
Second Honeymoon. I advised Max off line that I had attended a broadcast
of Second Honeymoon and informed him, as best as I could remember, details
about the program. He thanked me for the information and encouraged me to
post the details to the Digest. What follows is almost a word for word
posting of what I sent to Max.
In 1949 I was in New York City with my parents in preparation for a 5 month
trip to Norway. We stayed at the Paramount Hotel and one of the bellboys
gave us tickets to attend a broadcast of the Second Honeymoon program which
was, as I recall, at another hotel. The broadcast studio had the
appearance of a large conference room with rows of folded chairs. Perhaps
200 people could have been seated. At the front of the studio was a raised
stage and to the side of the stage was a glass enclosed room where an
engineer sat. About 20 minutes before airtime, a couple of producers went
into the audience and asked for married couples to raise their hands if
they wished to be contestants on the program. Perhaps about a dozen
couples responded. The producers then asked each couple too briefly tell
why they deserved a second honeymoon. The producers then got together and
selected either 2 or 3 couples who then went on stage and during the
broadcast each couple told their story as to why
they deserved a second honeymoon. It was quick paced as I believe the
program was only 15 minutes long. The winner was detemined by audience
applause. The winning prize was a getaway weekend for the couple that
won. On exiting the studio we were given a ballpoint pen. It was the
first such pen we had ever seen. Remember, this was 1949.
That is my memory of the program.
Regards,
Ken Dahl
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:18:12 +0000
From: "Matthew Bullis"
<matthewbullis@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Anyone have Hangman Won't waitt?
Hello, I got halfway through this Suspense program, only to find my file
incomplete. Does anyone have this show which they can send me?
Thanks a lot.
Matthew
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:18:23 +0000
From: "Stewart Wright"
<stewwright@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: RE: Gunsmoke program "I Don't Know"
Matthew asked:
> Hello, is this show from December 6, 1952 really supposed to be called I
> Don't Know, or is it someone saying "I don't know what this show should be
> called, so I'll just say I don't know?" It sure seems like a lame title to
> me, even though these titles are made up by collectors anyway.
> Thanks a lot.
The title for the episode in question is actually "I don't Know."
The episode titles for GUNSMOKE Were Not " made up by collectors." GUNSMOKE
is one of many series that did not broadcast episode titles, but did have
episode titles on the scripts. Unlike many other series, documented proof
of the GUNSMOKE episode titles has survived.
In the last few years, I was working on a GUNSMOKE research project and got
to view over 350 scripts from the radio series. Each script had an episode
title on the cover page of the script.
Also, SuzAnne and Gabor Barabas wrote an extensive book called "Gunsmoke A
Complete History and Analysis of the Legendary Broadcast Series with a
Comprehensive Episode-by-Episode Guide to Both the Radio and Television
Programs." The authors had access to the scripts and other series-related
documentation. The titles for the radio and television are listed in the
book.
Signing off for now,
Stewart
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:18:35 +0000
From:
<otrbuff@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Good and bad soap operas
Irene Heinstein postulates:
> Do any of you know which soaps were the best? and the worst? Were all
> the Hummert soaps as bad as 'Backstage Wife'.
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there are probably some on
this list who could dub Jack Benny, McGee and Molly, Fred Allen, Suspense,
and Johnny Dollar as "bad." It's a matter of personal preference, wouldn't
you agree?
Backstage Wife, in spite of its repetitive Hummert style of addressing a
character by name every two or three sentences so the listener could never
doubt who was speaking to whom, was a delightful story. Particularly so if
you were to hear the near- consecutive broadcasts in widespread circulation
that run for many more than 100 episodes. They concern the usual cat and
mouse chases but they also dissolve into a murder mystery with poor Larry
Noble the accused, spouse of beleaguered heroine Mary. It's a stirring
narrative, tidbits of the yarn being gradually meted out to a captivated
audience that's just itching to discover "what happens next?" I'll grant
you that any serial (or series) can have a "bad day" or even a "bad
sequence." But please don't judge a chapter play that ran for 24 years
(from 1935-59) by a single installment. Given that there were nearly 300
soap operas, it was probably one of the best.
What were some examples of "good" soap operas? Irene pondered. Depending on
one's preferences I'd list among them (strictly based on literary qualities,
directing and acting) in no particular order Ma Perkins, Wendy Warren and
the News, Hilltop House, One Man's Family, Perry Mason, Backstage Wife,
Stella Dallas, The Right to Happiness, Life Can Be Beautiful, Pepper Young's
Family, Against the Storm, The Second Mrs. Burton, The Brighter Day, Road of
Life, Big Sister and Lorenzo Jones. Most (but not all) omitted the pathos
and romantic triangles found elsewhere and some sounded pretty close to
normalcy.
And the worst, you ask? Again, it depends on one's definition. If we can
acknowledge that the Hummerts majored on quantity instead of quality, then
their serials become suspect. Most historiographers claim their factory
produced more banal dialogue than all the rest put together. Thus, similar
fates awaited the heroines of Lora Lawton, Amanda of Honeymoon Hill, Our Gal
Sunday, The Romance of Helen Trent, Young Widder Brown, John's Other Wife,
Betty and Bob and scores of others. (The Hummerts initiated more than 60
daytime serials.)
Backstage Wife was an example of their work, yet pursued a pretty
mesmerizing plotline about a famous matinee stage idol and ongoing
voluptuous vixens vying for his attention. Just Plain Bill and David Harum
were pretty good tales from the same camp. Possibly the most stellar of the
Hummert features was Stella Dallas. While it was totally implausible,
nevertheless it could hold fans spellbound as the Boston seamstress went
after anybody who maligned her Lolly-Baby, pursuing them around the globe if
need be. It was so unreal it seemed plausible at times (like Jack
Armstrong, Sky King and The Cisco Kid about an hour later), and you could
chuckle to yourself at Stella's ridiculous, yet comical antics.
Don't judge a book by its cover, and don't think you've figured out a serial
after hearing one quarter-hour episode, I would humbly beg.
Jim Cox
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 11:20:06 +0000
From: BH
<radiobill@[removed];
To:
<[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Portable Radios and transistors
From: Tom Greenli
> I just read an interesting article on the MSNBC about
> the first transister radio. Can you believe that was
> 50 years ago? If you are interested check out:
>
[removed]
As usual, the media never quite gets the facts straight.
"But the people at Regency based their radio on a product from a company
called Texas Instruments — the transistor."
Regency did not develope what was to be known as the TR-1 the first pocket
transistor radio, that was done at Texas Instruments. A member of the
Vintage Radio & Phonograph Society of Irving, Tx., was the project engineer
on the pocket transistor radio. He gave a talk some years ago at the VRPS
Convention awards banquet about the development of the set. He had a hand
wired prototype for display. Many components like Intermediate Transformers
and output transformers had to be hand made by the engineers as there were
no units small enough available.
Texas Instruments approached RCA about marketing the transistor radio but
RCA wasn't interested, so TI contacted the Regency Division of IDE
(Industral Development Engineering - Indianapolis, Indiana) and TI
contracted with them to manufactur the sets.
"Legend has it that the boss at IBM was so enamored by the unbelievable
idea of the world's first pocket radio that he bought a bunch of them
for other movers and shakers at his [removed];nbsp; He wanted them to be able
to be informed and get breaking news before anyone else."
Thomas Watson Jr. of IBM was impressed with the transistor and had the
foresite to see that transistors could replace tubes in computers, greatly
reducing size and power requirements. He ordered that after June 1, 1958,
no more IBM machines were to be built using tubes. Many engineers were not
convinced of the usefulness of transistor, so when one expressed doubts, he
handed them a TR-1. So it wasn't for breaking news he purchased a number of
the radio, it was the fact he wanted to show the engineers what the
transistor was capable of.
At the VRPS banquet, the TI engineer told a story of how they took a
prototype to Indianapolis and could tune in WBAP in Ft. Worth, TX at night,
even though the set only use four transistors.
Bill H.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #341
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