------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2002 : Issue 371
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Italian talent show? [ "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed] ]
Underrated/Overrated [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
Re: Marlowe research [ Ga6string@[removed] ]
Re: LONE RANGER music and openings [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
Re:THE SHADOW's origin and Bret Morr [ SanctumOTR@[removed] ]
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ lois@[removed] ]
"Today in radio history" remarks [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
Mr. Keen, where are you? [ Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed] ]
best and worst [ "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@neb. ]
Joe Penner/"Komedy Kapers" [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
A tale of two Tollins [ Derek Tague <derek@[removed]; ]
Re: Pre-1930 Radio Drama [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
Update/Reply [ James Hunt <jameshunt@[removed] ]
No Code In De Head [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
Who Knows? [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:13:12 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Italian talent show?
Anyone have information or sounds from an Italian talent show broadcast on
radio in the 1930s by
Emilino Rica ?
The program was in Italian and may have been broadcast from either Buffalo
or Lackawanna, NY. I have a friend in Minnesota who is writing a book about
Italian immigrants who lived in Lackawanna, NY and will be happy for
anything you can tell him about Mr. Rica.
Ted Kneebone/1528 S. Grant [removed], SD 57401/605-226-3344
OTR: [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:13:23 -0400
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Underrated/Overrated
It seems silly to list one's favorite and least favorite shows without a
word of explanation as to why you feel the way you do. Everyone admits that
the whole idea of revealing one's personal list of overrated and underrated
shows is like "opening a can of worms", yet they go ahead and do it anyway.
If you must, at least mention why you feel the way you do. That might
generate some interesting discussion.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:49:50 -0400
From: Ga6string@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Marlowe research
"Rodney w bowcock jr." writes:
For a research project that I'm working on, I was hoping that someone
could provide me with yearly ratings for the Adventures of Phillip Marlowe.
I'm also looking for any information that could help lead me to any articles
from the years that the show ran critically discussing the show. >>
As a big fan of Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler, Gerald Mohr, etc., I'd LOVE
to see that info as well!
Thanks,
Bryan Powell
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:19:44 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: LONE RANGER music and openings
In a message dated 9/24/02 11:17:46 PM, David H. Buswell writes:
I listened the other evening to
two Radio Yesteryear episodes: (1) "A Page From Mr. Lincoln" broadcast
12/29/41 and (2) "The Masked Man and The Law" (broadcast 1/2/42). In both
instances the opening announcer's expository sequences were not by Fred Foy
and were not as I remember them, [removed], "Nowhere in the pages of history can
one find a greater champion of justice, etc." I was sure that Foy was in
place on those dates, but apparently not In addition, the musical opening
and some of the interludes seemed to me to be interminable. They went on
and on to the point that for a moment I thought I had stumbled upon a
symphonic program instead of the LR.
***Fred Foy didn't begin announcing THE LONE RANGER until the fall of 1948,
which was also around the time what we consider the classic introduction
became standard. There were lots of variations in the intro copy up until
that time. Foy was the last (and best) of many LONE RANGER announcers, and
because he started so late in the run we are still privileged to have him
with us at the beginning of the 21st century,
Regarding the music, remember that listeners at home usually did not hear the
extremely-long stretches of classical music. I suspect what you're
complaining about is the music that was intended to filter under (or be
replaced by) commercials delivered by a local announcer. Many syndication
discs (like the awful THE AVENGER) contain long stretches of music that would
be faded out or under the local announcer, and also allowed the engineer to
fade the music back up after the local commercial before the story resumed.
Today, we're often listening to the full syndication recording, not what the
listener actually heard at home. --ANTHONY TOLLIN***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:21:10 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re:THE SHADOW's origin and Bret Morrison
In a message dated 9/24/02 11:17:46 PM, Chris Holm writes:
The Shadow is a similar character. Driven by guilt over the atrocities he
committed in the East (Nepal? Tibet?), he is desperately trying to make up
for his crimes. (BTW - I've always wondered if he did all this bad stuff to
the
people of the East, why did he come to New York to try and cleanse his soul?
***You're referring to the origin story from the 1994 movie, which has
nothing to do with the origin of The Shadow from Walter Gibson's pulp novels
(in which The Shadow was in reality former aviator and spy Kent Allard) and
very little to do with the radio origin. The Shadow didn't commit those
atrocities in either the pulp or radio versions, but the new movie's
producer's chose to lift part of a new drug-smuggling origin inflicted on the
character by Howard Chaykin in a 1986 comic book miniseries. Part of the
same darkening/character assasination that has plagued Batman, Green Lantern,
MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE's Jim Phelps and other characters in recent years since heroism
went out of style Maybe the success of the new SPIDER-MAN movie and TV's
SMALLVILLE will help bring it back into fashion.***
and chet norris asks:
how come in this SHADOW thread no one has mentioned BRETT MORRISON?
***Actually, I did in my previous posting on this thread. In a message dated
9/21/02 4:03:46 PM, I wrote:
I also feel that Bill was better suited to the rolethan Bret Morrison, who
came off a little too elegant at times. Also, Bret was naturally a tenor
who
had to play The Shadow in the bass range, whileJohnstone was a natural
baritone.
***Actually, I have tremendous respect for Morrison's talents, and there's no
denying that he starred in the series during its most popular years when it
was broadcast over more than 300 stations. He was a true renaissance man:
actor, writer, director, artist, songwriter and composer. And I agree with
MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER-director David Kogan that Bret was one of the top
dramatic actors in New York radio. Just listen to Bret's incredible job of
doubling in THE MYSTERIONS TRAVELER 08/28/51: "Fire in the Sky" (included in
RSI's recent 40-show MYSTERY collection). That's Bret doubling as the aged
professor Jeremiah Jones). And my late friend Bob Steel related to me that
he once recruited Bret to portray a grandmother when an actress didn't show
up - with no one the wiser. I own a large quantity of Bret Morrison's
professional archives, including the opera cape he wore in publicity photos
as both Mr. First Nighter and The Shadow.
--ANTHONY TOLLIN***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 04:52:08 -0400
From: lois@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: #OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Night!
A weekly [removed]
For the best in OTR Chat, join IRC (Internet Relay Chat), StarLink-IRC
Network, the channel name is #OldRadio. We meet Thursdays at 8 PM Eastern
and go on, and on! The oldest OTR Chat Channel, it has been in existence
over five years, same time, same channel!
Our numerous "regulars" include one of the busiest "golden years" actors in
Hollywood; a sound man from the same era who worked many of the top
Hollywood shows; a New York actor famed for his roles in "Let's Pretend" and
"Archie Andrews;" owners of some of the best OTR sites on the Web;
maintainer of the best-known OTR Digest (we all know who he is)..........
and Me
Lois Culver
KWLK Longview Washington (Mutual) 1941-1944)
KFI Los Angeles (NBC) 1944 - 1950
and widow of actor Howard Culver
(For more info, contact lois@[removed])
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:25:39 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: "Today in radio history" remarks
Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed]; writes in "Today in radio history":
1921 - KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started one of the first daily
radio newscasts in the country. The broadcast came from the city desk of
The Pittsburgh Post.
As a lot of you know, KDKA is credited with making the first
commercial radio broadcast in the USA, in 1920 - in a shack on the roof of
the Westinghouse headquarters building - of the Harding-Cox presidential
election results.
That broadcast helped sell Westinghouse radios, and presaged the creation
of the Westinghouse Network.
Since KDKA is one of only a few (two?) commercial stations east of the
Mississippi whose call letters don't start with "W", I've won quite a few
bar-bets with the basic facts (although twice I had to return with my
Encyclopaedia Britannica to prove the point).
1953 - Jimmy Stewart debuted in The Six Shooter on NBC. He played Britt
Ponset on the radio Western.
Question: I like this show. The opening is so convincing that I've
often wondered if Jimmy Stewart's character is based on a real person.
Anybody know?
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:26:09 -0400
From: Herb Harrison <herbop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Mr. Keen, where are you?
Kenwyn Steel, speaking of overrated shows, notes,
1) Mr. Keen - I find this show to be the worst of them all. Terrible
acting and scripts.
I remember listening to this show when I was about 10 years old. I thought
it was keen.
However, I remember almost nothing about the show itself, so I might agree
that it was terrible if I could hear it now.
Anybody know if it's webcast online, so I could judge if it's good, bad, or
"campy"?
Thanks,
Herb Harrison
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:26:23 -0400
From: "Ryan Osentowski" <rosentowski@[removed];
To: "old time radio" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: best and worst
Hi all:
Just adding my two cents to this thread.
Best shows: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (five-part shows), Dragnet
(1949-1951), Gunsmoke, The Whistler (Bill Foremann), The Green Hornet,
Gangbusters, Dimension X, Night Beat, Escape, Tales of the Texas Rangers,
Phil Harris and Alice Fae, Fort Laramie, X Minus One, The Six Shooter, The
Shadow (Orson Welles and Bill Johnstone), Lights Out and The Bickersens
Worst shows: Inner Sanctum, The Man Called X, Boston Blacky, Have Gun Will
Travel, This is Your FBI (you can tell Mr. Hoover rubber-stamped this one)
and My Favorite Husband.
RyanO
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:26:35 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Joe Penner/"Komedy Kapers"
Hi Gang:
Radio's most overrated & underrated shows? I'll gladly listen to anything
from the OTR era, for, IMHO, even the worse OTR programmes are infinitely
better than anything presently being offered by the "vast wasteland."
Anyway, I've only encountered two shows that I actually hated, both
allegedly being "comedies."
I never saw the appeal of Joe Penner. In spite of the fact that I always
strive to allow for a different mindset that existed in the 1930s,
I just don't get it. The only lasting legacies that Penner gave us were a
coupla over-used catch-phrases ("Wanna buy a duck?" & "You nasssty man!),
and giving Mel Blanc his first big break in network radio (for that alone, OTR
fans should be eternally grateful). I actually find"Egghead," the Warner
[removed] "Tex" Avery cartoon caricature of Penner,
more endearing than Penner himself--at least Egghead's stories were good.
The other show in which I failed to see the humour was a 15-minute show
called "Komedy Kapers." I had never heard of this bit of obscuriana
until I bought a cassette of it at last year's FOTR convention. Figuring that
since the show spelled both "comedy" & "capers" with "K's," I ventured to
think that it just HAD to be [removed]
Boy, was I mistaken. Does anybody have any more info on the producers &
performers of this programme, including other OTR credits? If so, then I can
proceed with caution whenever purchasing future tapes.
Yours in the ether,
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:26:53 -0400
From: Derek Tague <derek@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: A tale of two Tollins
Jell-O Again, Digest-ers:
I address this to my buddy Texas Tony Tollin:
Your family history was quite interesting, but would you please clarify
something? Is the pronunciation TOE-lin, or TAH-lin. I've heard both. Which do
you personally prefer?
Maybe only "The Shadow [removed]"
Derek Tague
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:27:06 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Pre-1930 Radio Drama
On 9/25/02 12:17 AM OldRadio Mailing Lists wrote:
This is only part of the problem. Numerous dramatic presentations were
on the air before Sept. 24, 1933.
The WGY Players began the first regularly-scheduled series of radio
dramas over WGY, Schenectady in September 1922. This was an anthology
program presenting adaptations of stage plays, enacted by a group of
actors gathered for the most part from community theatre groups around
the Albany-Troy-Schenecdady area, and was supervised by one Edward Smith.
The first American drama to be written specifically for radio was
probably "When Love Wakes" by Fred Smith, program director of WLW
Cincinnati, and first broadcast in April 1924.
The first dramatized program to feature continuing characters was "Sam
'n' Henry" by Correll and Gosden, beginning over WGN, Chicago on 1/12/26.
The program was primarily a drama with comic leavening, not straight
comedy.
The first network dramatic program was probably "Famous Characters in
Literature," a Thursday night half-hour anthology program heard on the
Red Network during 1926, even before the formation of NBC.
The first network dramatic program to feature continuing characters was
"Real Folks" by George Frame Brown, beginning in August 1928 -- a weekly
half hour revolving around the residents of the small town of
"Thompkinsville," and centered on the general store run by the town's
mayor, Matt Thompkins. The series was a thinly-veiled reworking of "Luke
Higgins' Main Street Stories," a series Brown presented as a local
feature on WOR, Newark in 1927-28
The first network serial program was "Amos 'n' Andy" by Correll & Gosden
moving to NBC Blue
on 8/19/29 after eighteen months as a syndicated feature. Like "Sam 'n'
Henry," the program in its original form was more drama than comedy.
Other important dramatic features on network radio before the end of the
1920s included "The National Players"(1927), "Bible Dramas" (1927),
"Soconyland Sketches"(1928), "The True Story Hour"(1928),"The Empire
Builders" (1929), "Johnson and Johnson Melodramas"(1929), "The True
"Harbor Lights"(1929), "Mystery House"(1929), "Arabesque"(1929),
"Mountainville True Life Sketches" (1929), "Heroes of the World" (1929),
"Ken-Rad Cabin Nights" (1929), "Forty Fathom Trawlers"(1929), "McFadden
Red Seal Hour" (1929), "The Family Goes Abroad" (1929) "Famous Loves"
(1929) and "True Detective Mysteries" (1929). This isn't an exhaustive
list by any means, but you get the idea -- while drama wasn't the
dominant form during the early years of network radio, neither was it
neglected.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:27:25 -0400
From: James Hunt <jameshunt@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Update/Reply
After reflecting on my comments that appeared in the previous issue
regarding the inculcating of the sound
patterns of the horses' hooves on "The Lone Ranger", I now realize that this
procees evolved over the
years. When the show debuted on radio in the early thirties the actors
and/or sound technicians were
slapping their chests, [removed]
At some point in time the sand box together with the pebbles/rocks and
plungers was introduced and remained
a permanent fixture from then on.
David Buswell was commenting on and seeking responses to a different
voice(es) that he heard narrating a 1941 Ranger
show. Someone other than Fred Foy. Also about a totally different intro than
the one Foy used.
There were at least four or perhapes more anouncers/narrators that preceded
Fred Foy. Mr. Foy was not heard until
July of 1948 and remained until the last "Live" broadcast in 1954.
Fran Striker/ or some member of his staff wrote a variety of different
introductions to "The lone Ranger" from the 30's
through most of the 40's no doubt for a variety of reasons. I am not privy
to the details on this. But i do know that Fran
Striker's ending credit as "Editor" Is there for a reason. While I have
reason to believe that he personally wrote the
majority of The Ranger scripts he was doing the same for "The Manhunter"
series, which, I think, was on WXYZ
when "LR" debuted in 1933. Also further down the road he had a hand in
creating and began scripting "Challenge Of
The Yukon/Sgt, Preston" and "The Green Hornet".
I have noticed in recent years while watching the black and white reruns of
the "LR" tv series-on the end credits i read
"Based on an original radio play [removed]" Many times a name other than
Striker's appears.
As far as the music on the "Lone Ranger"radio series in the early years is
concerned, I kow that I am treading on dangerous
turf here but I believe that "The William Tell Overture" was Not Necessarily
The first choice of "The Powers That Be".
Although I was not around then it is my understanding that the issue was
resolved before the show went on the air.
Yes different musical bridges Were Used early on. I have some very early
shows where "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee"?
and some of "Borodine's" music later associated with "Challenge-Yukon" is
heard.
Dave's list of some other classical excerpts used on "The Ranger" is right
on the money.
Don Hunt.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:27:41 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: No Code In De Head
Robert J. McKee, reminiscing on the virtues of OTR, notes,
It was difficult waiting for the day the mail brought the latest
decoder ring or other involving accessory.
I feel it incumbent upon me to point out that there never was a "decoder
ring" radio premium in the OTR period (an FM station in California last
year offered a modified version of the Ovaltine Secret Decoder Ring, so
that _is_ a radio premium). That urban legend is beginning to take on a
life in the OTR hobby, which should know better.
However, rather than just letting it go at that, I think it would be
constructive to discuss OTR "decoders." Many of these were badges; some
were pocket items; and I repeat, none were rings.
To a cryptologist, most of the premiums weren't code devices; they were
cipher items. A _code_ is a series of letters taken as a unit, or some
other symbol or representation to represent a word or phrase. Thus, the
code "SOS" means "I am in trouble and need assistance," as does the
spoken word, "mayday." The skull-and-crossbones symbol on a bottle
represents "poison."
By contrast a _cipher_ is a message where every letter of a message is
replaced by another letter or a number. Using the Radio Orphan Annie
Telematic Decoder Pin set at "22," the message "24-17-6-3 6-3 19
12-6-10-17-18-14" deciphers to "This is a cipher." Most of the cipher
devices used number substitution for letters.
Shows that broadcast cipher messages favored the letter-number
substitution. I suspect that the reason for this was because there is
less likely to confuse numbers than letters (E, C, D, B, and V, for
example), particularly with the delivery of someone like Pierre Andre.
Ovaltine had a thing for crypto devices. Radio Orphan Annie's pins, and
Captain Midnight's Code-O-Graphs spanned fifteen years, if we include the
first ROA cipher in the 1934 ROA manual. Little Orphan Annie had two
more "decoders" when Quaker Puffed Wheat Sparkies picked up sponsorship.
Additionally, Red Ryder had a "decoder," and there were a few others.
Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters had two code offerings. The Six-Gun
Decoder Basdge, a 1941 premium, was a badge with a movable pointer,
shaped like a revolver. Pointing the barrel to one of the icons on the
front would cause a coupled pointer on the back to indicate a word or
phrase. In 1946, the Tom Mix show offered a set of pinback buttons of
various characters on the show. On the front was an identifying photo;
on the back, a word. "Look on the back of your Mike Shaw button" meant
that the answer to the question the announcer had posed was "No."
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 12:27:59 -0400
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Who Knows?
Chet Morrison asks,
how come in this SHADOW thread no one has mentioned BRETT MORRISON?
Beats me. I think he sounded precisely like the "wealthy young man about
town" that Lamont Cranston should be.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #371
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