Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #193
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 6/16/2001 3:10 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 193
                   A Part of the [removed]!
                           ISSN: 1533-9289


                           Today's Topics:

 Gunsmoke Comparisons                 [ArtsMilitaria@[removed] (Arthur Fun]
 San Quentin on the Air               ["Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];  ]
 More Gunsmoke - Radio verses TV      [bruce dettman <bdettman@[removed]]
 Gildy's middle name                  [JimInks@[removed]                    ]
 For the love of OTR                  ["Dan Panke" <dpanke@[removed];   ]
 "Language of the [removed]"          ["Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed]]
 Re: An easier approach to copyright  ["John <ayer" <mayer@[removed];      ]
 Radio Editors                        [Donna Halper <dlh@[removed]; ]
 New A&A Article Available            [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Dolby recording                      ["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed].]
 Re: San Quentin on the Air?          [Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed]]
 Pat Friday                           [George Aust <austhaus1@[removed]]
 Suspense ending                      ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
 Re: Amari as Freedom Rider?          ["John <ayer" <mayer@[removed];      ]
 additional trivia                    ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
 radio show available                 ["Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm]
 Nagasaki                             [JJJ445@[removed]                     ]

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 15:21:18 -0400
From: ArtsMilitaria@[removed] (Arthur Funk)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Gunsmoke Comparisons

RyanO and Mike Ray both commented on comparisons of the Gunsmoke series
on radio and TV.  I got a Gunsmoke set for Christmas and listened to it
for a week or so as I commuted.  So I was "immersed" in the radio
characters for that time.  When I finished the set I found that I had
reached some conclusions about the characterizations on the two [removed]

Matt Dillon:  As Bill Conrad portrayed him I found him to be a much more
impetuous and angrier man than the Jim Arness portrayal.  Matt Dillon on
TV was a lot mellower though both were compassionate men.

Chester Proudfoot (Good on TV):  I always found the TV character to be
rather uninteresting and flat.  Parley Baer's interpretation is much
more entertaining.  Chester Proudfoot is given to enjoying wine, women
and song, can be a bit mischievous and exhibits an independence that I
don't recall Chester Good.  Chester Good often seems timid and rather
whiney.

Doc:  The radio character comes off, IMHO, as a bit of a bumbler, a
whiner and afraid of his own shadow.  The tv character is, despite his
gruff exterior, a much more sympathetic character who exhibits admirable
wisdom, medical skill and dedication and is rather courageous.

Kitty:  I find the TV characterization to be that of a rather confident,
self-assured person.  On the radio series most of the time Kitty is
hardly more than background.

Festus:  Yes, I know there was no Festus on the radio series.  But I
find Festus to be a really wonderful character who has much in common
with Parley Baer's Chester.  I find the dynamic relationship between
Matt and Festus to be much more satisfying that that between the TV
Marshall Dillon and Chester.  Festus brought much to that series.

I'm one of those who grew up listening to Gunsmoke on radio and also
watching it on TV.  I liked both series but I really find little
similarity between the two except the characters' names and the high
production values.  They're both excellent but very different programs.

One final comment.  I don't want to take anything away from the fine
actors who portrayed these roles.  They pretty much worked with what
they were given by the writers.  The parts were simply written
differently on radio and TV.

Regards,
Art Funk

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 16:44:29 -0400
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  San Quentin on the Air

"San Quentin on the Air" was done by KFRC, San Francisco.  I recall my late
husband Howard Culver telling of some of the occurrances while he did the
show [removed] kidding around of the convicts about their incarceration,
etc.  I'm not sure of Howard's participation, whether as announcer, narrator
of some of the pieces, or actor, as he did all that (plus newsman) at KFRC
at the time.

Lois Culver
KWLK Radio (Mutual) Longview, WA 1941-44
KFI Radio (NBC) Los Angeles CA 1945-47, 50-53
Widow of Howard Culver, actor

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 16:44:31 -0400
From: bruce dettman <bdettman@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  More Gunsmoke - Radio verses TV

I'm a great fan of the radio series and agree that Conrad's Matt Dillon
is a much more complex, dark and intriguing character than the
characterization as created by Arness -- who I nonetheless enjoyed,
particularly during the early years of the series when the black and
white, half hour shows created leaner, tougher western stories.

I do recall, however, that even on TV Matt didn't always give the other
guy(s) a fair chance when he thought the odds didn't favor it. In one
episode Chester and he hide outside a shack where Kitty has been
kidnapped by a trio of bad guys. When they wander outside Matt and
Chester, having given no warning,  simply mow them down. This probably
would never have happened in its later television history.

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 16:58:51 -0400
From: JimInks@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Gildy's middle name

I think the answer to this is simple.  Hal Peary said he lived on
Throckmorton Place and used that as the original basis for the name.  Many
people (me included) have used street names for characters before.  In the
Fibber McGee episode mentioned, the writers either forgot this or correctly
decided that "Place" would not get a laugh, but that "Philharmonic" would.
That's why Willard Waterman confirmed it because he undoubtly knew this name
was used on the air.

My source for Peary's comments come from a 11-3-74 interview with a fellow
named Jerry Perchesky.  I still give the nod to Peary because he ought to
have known.  Either way, Gildy gets the last laugh on us.


-Jim Amash

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 16:58:54 -0400
From: "Dan Panke" <dpanke@[removed];
To: "Old Time Radio Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  For the love of OTR

Mike Ray notes, anent RSI/MediaBay, etc.,

Though I've never met or talked with Carl Amari, I've gotten the
impression that Carl really does care about Old Time Radio. I believe
that some of you have been unfair and are frankly jealous of this man.
After all, this boy wonder was the one with the initiative to understand
how the Copyright game is played. <<

If a person were to 'really' care about Old Time Radio, why would they gain
control of the rights and stop the 'free' circulation of said material?
This doesn't sound look like someone who cares to me.  The person who cares
is the person who digs through their archives, pulls out an old broadcast,
digitizes it and posts it so the recording lives on.  Not someone who claims
rights to a product and sells it to you for profit.  I'm sure Wal-Mart
'cares' about all the products they sell as well.

==========
Dan Panke
[removed]  [removed]

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 18:28:56 -0400
From: "Ted Kneebone" <tkneebone1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  "Language of the [removed]"

Just listened to a two minute diatribe by Dick Tracy on the evils of using
slang.  He was correcting Junior for saying "Takin' it on the [removed]"
Paraphrasing the great detective:  "Using slang will do harm to yourself.
It is the language of the gutter.  It is spoken by those who have no
education.  It is the mark of a lazy brain.  It is unpleasant to hear.  It
is the language of the roughneck, the hoodlum.  And besides it does no
credit to a member of the Dick Tracy Secret Service Patrol!"  (From the
2/21/38 episode)
    We sure have come a long way in our view of slang, what it is and
whether or not to use it!

Ted Kneebone / 1528 S. Grant St. / Aberdeen, SD 57401 / 605-226-3344
tkneebone1@[removed] | OTR:  [removed]
[removed]  |

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 20:29:34 -0400
From: "John <ayer" <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: An easier approach to copyright research?

"Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed]; commented

...the dealer is in the position of having to shut down completely to comply, > > with no
further input from the lawyers -- unless that dealer went through a > lengthy and not
inexpensive procedure of doing the same kind of copyright > search that Amari did to be able
to acquire the rights in the first place.

Maybe Carl actually does research the copyright status of each and every show he offers for
sale. However, I recall that he stated, some time back, either in an interview or on the
internet (don't recall which), that he originally was guilty of violating OTR copyrights
himself. I believe he said that he began naively airing OTR on a college station, and was
surprised when copyright holders contacted him and demanded royalties, which he then proceeded
to arrange.

I would suggest that acting first and waiting for copyright holders to make themselves and
their rights known may have proven to be the most expedient way to acquire this information.
________
John Mayer, catching up

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 21:03:54 -0400
From: Donna Halper <dlh@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Editors

quoting the late great Edythe Meserand (founder of American Women in Radio
& Television), Bhob wrote--

The first radio editor in radio was
a man by the name of Webb Artz for United Press."

Umm, well maybe.  But I think the nice lady mis-remembered, since this
interview was transcribed many years after the events in question, and as
we have discussed on this list, the concept of "first" is a tricky
one.  Ms. Meserand knew the men who covered the networks-- and in that, she
is probably correct that Charlie Butterfield (Associated Press) and Webb
Artz of UP (later UPI) were the two who did the syndicated columns in New
York.  But I strongly doubt that either gentleman were first, for one very
important reason.  Associated Press had a major (and often nasty) rivalry
with radio-- and even sued stations that tried to use AP copy in their
newscasts.  As early as 1922, the General Manager of AP, Frederick Roy
Martin, issued a directive warning newspapers that owned radio stations (or
that allowed their reporters to read news over a local station) NOT to use
any Associated Press material.  I have researched this issue and found that
stations generally ignored him, but if he caught you, you absolutely did
get fined, as Editor & Publisher reported on a number of occasions in the
20s.  The entire battle came to a head in the 30s with the so-called
"Press-Radio War," but that's an e-mail for another time.  My point is that
it is doubtful either Mr Butterfield or Mr Artz were first, since only
Heart's wire service (International News Service) was willing from day one
to permit radio to use its reports.  More likely, AP sort of came on board
for a while in the late 20s, and then jumped off board when AP
re-considered and decided radio was taking away too many ad revenues.

In Boston, Guy Entwistle is the first radio editor I know about-- in
February of 1921, he began a regular column for the Boston Traveler, and it
was not just about technical stuff.  Guy was a ham radio fan, and he was
also friends with all the folks at our first station 1XE/WGI.  While in
some cities, male editors were hostile about women on the air, Guy from the
beginning was very supportive of Eunice Randall, the first woman announcer
in Massachusetts radio.  And in New York, another well-known ham radio
legend, Jack Binns, writing under the name of "Pioneer" (which he was),
wrote a radio column for the Tribune circa mid 1921.  I am sure both of
them came way before either Mr Butterfield or Mr Artz.

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:05:09 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  New A&A Article Available

Amos 'n' Andy enthusiasts may be interested in "Amos 'n' Andy By The
Numbers," a new addition to my A&A in Person website. This article
analyzes the ratings popularity of the program over a twenty-five year
span from 1930 to 1955, and in doing so attempts to puncture certain
myths about the ebb and flow of the program's ratings. The article may be
found at [removed]~[removed].


Elizabeth

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:56:36 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Dolby recording

Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 19:19:46 -0400
From: "J. Alec West" <Alec@[removed];

What it is "meant for" is all well and good.  All I know is that the input
file
was incredibly noisy and the output file was not.

This reminds me of a scene in the movie "Apollo 13."  There's a meeting of
engineers who have to come up with some way that the astronauts aboard
Apollo can survive to get home.  The boss engineer says, "We don't care
what something was =designed= to do.  We only care about what it =can= do.


 A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                        [removed]
 15 Court Square                     lawyer@[removed]
 Boston, MA 02108-2503      [removed]~lawyer/

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:56:35 -0400
From: Robert Kirk <kirk@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: San Quentin on the Air?

[This got rejected from the last issue since I forgot to remove the
styling; thus Bob Keldgord's message on the same subject in the last issue
should be a little less cryptic [removed] Bob Kirk]

Bob Keldgord mentions the old San Quentin prisoner produced  radio
broadcasts and their theme song, "Time on My Hands".  Coincidentally,  I
was looking into the same topic a few weeks ago for a different reason, and
I had remembered hearing the story essentially as he mentions it below: a
show made inside the walls of San Quentin by the yeggs, but broadcast some
way to the world outside.  I'm sure it's authoritative because of Kelgard's
thesis work and the direct help from Warden Duffy.

But when I did some searching on the internet, I found a short bio of
Duffy, written by his brother,  which says:

Through all of the trying times at the beginning, and also throughout his
entire career as Warden, Gladys, his wife was a constant consultant and
loving support. When a closed communication system was installed in the
prison, Gladys put on a weekly program for the inmates. It was very well
received and highly regarded. Her theme song was Time on My Hands.

There was no mention of a felonious broadcast to the outside world.  I
assume the two different versions means that the in-house closed circuit
show done by the warden's wife **for** the cons came first, and that later
the inmates took over the asylum and broadcast to the world themselves.  At
least, that might reconcile the versions. Bob Keldgord  or anyone know for
sure?

Bob Kirk


[...] When I
wrote my master's thesis, one of my subjects was the wartime broadcast series
called "San Quentin on the Air" . It was a remote out of the prison, carried,
I believe, by KFRC in San Francisco. The show was produced entirely by
inmates, many of whom were very talented.[..]Duffy, who became a member of
the CA parole
board and who is now deceased. HE helped me with my thesis, and told me that
he had, personally, selected the show's theme song which was "Time on My
Hands".[...]  bob keldgord

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

Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 23:43:02 -0400
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Pat Friday

Hello all

I was gone for 5 days at the Glenn Miller Birthplace Society Festival in
Clarinda Iowa. It was just great as usual with so many big bands that we
lost count. Great music from 7am to very late at night.
Now that I'm home I am trying to get caught up with everything including
the digest and just not making any headway. I retired two weeks ago
today and I've never been so busy with so little spare time.
I just read Randy Story's post from last Sunday asking about Pat Friday.
As it happened on that very day I was in Iowa talking to Pat Friday! She
is little bit of a thing and a sweeter lady you've never known.
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to find too much out about her
career but I will tell you what I know.
Without a doubt her most famous work occurred in the spring of 1941 when
she dubbed in the voice of Lynn Bari singing with the Glenn Miller band
in "Sun Valley Serenade", then again in the spring of 1942 when she
performed the same service for Miller's film "Orchestra Wives". She says
that she never even met Miller or any of the band, as dubbing in voices
was done in secret by the studios in those days. She was escorted into
the recording studio at 20th Century Fox thru the back door and was not
allowed to talk to anyone. They put her in a closet sized glass booth
and she had a mike and some head phones. She could hear and see the band
across the studio but didn't even know if they could see her. When she
was done with all the songs they escorted her out and off the sudio lot
the same way. By the early 50's it became general knowledge (especially
among Miller fans) That it was Pat Fridays voice in those films.
She talked about how during the war she would go down to Long Beach,
from North Hollywood where she lived, to meet the hospital ships that
came in from the Pacific. She said that military red tape would keep the
men on those ships waiting for hours and hours for who knows what
reasons when many of the men knew that there families were on the piers
waiting for them. She would go aboard and sing for the men and talk to
them, some of them with horrible wounds . It was still hard for her to
talk about these experiences, and I think she was proud and happy that
she could do her duty in this manner.
Pat was included in a forum of people who knew or worked with Glenn
Miller and it was all very interesting. My wife was most impressed with
her so when I saw her in the crowd the next day I snagged her telling
her that my wife would like to talk to her. She was very gracious and
they spent a few minutes huddled together. Unfortunately someone else
came along and I got caught up in another coversation. I will try to
find out if she has an email address and get in touch with her to find
out more about her career particularily in otr.

George Aust

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 00:45:34 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Suspense ending

Dennis Crow wrote:

I'd be interested in Martin telling us what the original ending was , if
June Havoc confided this information to him.  I have always accepted the
ending to the radio play as totally Lucille Fletcher's creation.

Dennis,
After June Havoc told me of this interesting fact, I did ask what the
original ending was, before Spier made Moorehead the victim.  Sadly, she
could not recall the original ending.  Course, since the original idea was
never even broadcast (to the best of my knowledge), it would seem likely
that unless the actual first draft surfaces, the only ending we will know is
the one we're most familiar with.

I did write to Lucille Fletcher (who lived about 100 miles south of me), who
at that time was known as Lucille Wallop, and received a letter back but
with no answer to the question about whether or not it was true that Bill
Spier changed the ending to "Sorry, Wrong Number" to what we're all familiar
with.  Perhaps the Library of Congress holds a first draft?

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 01:05:30 -0400
From: "John <ayer" <mayer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Amari as Freedom Rider?

"Steven Lewis"  suggested:

The OTR culture has been built around the exchange of OTR programs for free
among enthusiasts or for a nominal fee from an assortment of mom-and-pop
vendors. Along comes Carl Amari and his company to threaten lawsuits if many
of these activities continue. Of course, the established OTR culture is
irate at this outside interference, as were southern Americans in the 1960s
when the Feds stepped in to say "no more apartheid."

As both a longtime collector of OTR and a Southerner, I have to wonder if you
know anything about either one. First, it's patently ridiculous to compare Amari
with Martin Luther King or Medgar Evars or Rosa Parks. Secondly, there was no
monolithic regional "apartheid" in the South; in many parts of the South,
including my native Knoxville, integration was barely noticed. And before you
start feeling too superior by virtue of living above the Mason-Dixon line, recall
that in the most massive Ku Klux Klan rally ever held, in DC around 1929, 90% of
the marchers were from the North. Also, we must acknowledge that the black
stereotypes we all deplore from that era in radio and movies originated primarily
in the entertainment and broadcast centers of the North and West. And, as I
recall, bussing for racial balance in the North did not go all that smoothly back
in the 70's, when, surely, we, as a nation, all knew better.

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 01:05:29 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  additional trivia

[removed] Wolfe is correct, when she listed the Suspense airings of Sorry, Wrong
Number:
He're some more detailed info.  The original title of the play was "She
Overheard Death Speaking."  The early broadcasts were actually done twice,
once for the East Coast, and a second time (usually about two hours later)
for the West Coast.  The initial airing is the one that had an error in it.
On the May 25, 1943 East Coast version, the punch line was delivered half a
minute early, and listeners were not able to understand what happened at the
end.  So the same drama was performed a few months later in August of 1943.
It's the August 1943 broadcast that brought SUSPENSE to America's attention.
  Seems like more people tuned in to the repeat performance and not the
initial one.  There does exist both the East Coast and West Coast version of
the May 1943 broadcasts, which feature the different endings.  Some
collectors out there offer both versions.

May 25, 1943 East Coast Version
May 25, 1943 West Coast Version
August 21, 1943
February 24, 1944
September 6, 1945
November 18, 1948 - still remember that up to this time, the show was still
being broadcast twice a night, once for each coast so there is was
technically more than one performance per date.
September 15, 1952  - this is the only version not known to exist.
October 20, 1957 - this was the last time Agnes Moorehead performed the role
in "Sorry, Wrong Number."  Believe-it-or-not, the next broadcast, dated
February 14, 1960, would actually offer a recording of the 1957 version,
with a couple minutes edited out.  If you have both the 1957 and 1960
version, listen to them and you'll not only notice the same cast, but play
them both at the same time and you'll see they're the same.

"Sorry, Wrong Number" was also performed with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt
Lancaster on THE LUX RADIO THEATER.  Stanwyck also reprised her movie role
in a spoofed-up version for an episode of radio's JACK BENNY PROGRAM.  If
anyone has the premiere episode of RADIO CITY PLAYHOUSE, entitled "Long
Distance," listen to it and see if you don't hear shades of "Sorry, Wrong
Number" being copied . . .

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 01:21:06 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  radio show available

Chris wrote:
I do not see how given these facts that anyone can maintain that there is in
circulation from May 25, 1943 both an East Coast and West Coast version of
"Sorry Wrong Number".

Ted Davenport, if I am not mistaken, offers both versions on one audio
cassette, in his catalog.  Same cast, same production credits, just the
ending differs.

Scout wrote:

The 'flub' episode is the first one on the list. The following week
preceding Banquo's Chair was an explanation of the mistake.

Scout's correct.  In the episode following, entitled "Banquo's Chair," the
man in black announced "The producer of SUSPENSE felt that it was incumbent
to reply to the many inquiries to the solution to last week's story of the
woman on the telephone titled 'Sorry, Wrong Number.'  Due to a momentary
confusion in the studio, an important line cue was delivered at the wrong
time and some of our faithful listerners were uncertain to the outcome of
the story.  For them [East Coast] they knew that the woman, so remarkably
played by Agnes Moorehead, was murdered by a man whom her husband had hired
to do the job.  We should also like to announce that in response to many
hundreds of requests, this SUSPENSE play will be repeated within a few
weeks."

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 11:31:49 -0400
From: JJJ445@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Nagasaki

According to ASCAP's Index of Performed Compositions (a handy publicly
available tome listing all compositions and their composers as well as owner
of current copyright - ah,  wouldn't OTR have it easier with such an
equivalent!) the song Nagasaki was written by Mort Dixon (w) and Harry Warren
(m) in 1928. It was introduced by  Paul Friar's Society Orchestra on the Okeh
label.  Memorable recordings include Don Redman (Brunswick), Fletcher
Henderson (Columbia), Glen Gray (Decca) and Cab Calloway (Brunswick). Doris
Day sang it in the movie My Dream is Yours in 1949. RemicK Music Corp. is the
publisher.

 ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) was formed in
1914 to license the public performances of various compositions. To show how
serious they are about protecting copyright, in addition to lists you'd
anticipate in finding of popular songs, you'll also find entry after entry of
music cues and stings for various radio, television, motion picture and
commercial productions.  Yes, even those little nonsensical noises made
between Seinfeld segments are protected by copyright.

In addition, you'll find multiple entrys for public domain songs in which
embellishments were made to the point someone has sought copyright for that
change.  Be careful the next time you sing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" in a
public place. You may be treading on someone's copyright. ASCAP lists over
100 protected versions.

John Jensen
Federal Way, WA

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #193
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