------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2006 : Issue 183
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
#OldRadio IRC Chat this Thursday Nig [ charlie@[removed] ]
WTIC's "Golden Age of Radio" and "On [ "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed]; ]
The faceless woman on the screen [ Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed]; ]
7-5 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Latitude Zero [ ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen) ]
Re: First Day of Commercial Televisi [ Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@sbcglo ]
Re: Early Commercial TV [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
CBS RMT book [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
CBRMT Handbook dust jacket [ Rodney Bowcock <pasttense_78@yahoo. ]
Single detectives [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 02:12:00 -0400
From: charlie@[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 nine years, same time, same channel! Started by Lois Culver, widow
of actor Howard Culver, this is the place to be on Thursday night for
real-time OTR talk!
Our "regulars" include OTR actors, soundmen, collectors, listeners, and
others interested in enjoying OTR from points all over the world. Discussions
range from favorite shows to almost anything else under the sun (sometimes
it's hard for us to stay on-topic)...but even if it isn't always focused,
it's always a good time!
For more info, contact charlie@[removed]. We hope to see you there, this
week and every week!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:29:42 +0000
From: "Scherago" <rscherago@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: WTIC's "Golden Age of Radio" and "One
Night Stand with the Big Bands"
The latest "Golden Age of Radio" programs with Dick Bertel
and Ed Corcoran, and "A One Night Stand with the Big Bands"
with Arnold Dean can be heard at [removed].
Each week we feature three complete shows in MP3 format
for your listening pleasure or for downloading; two "Golden
Age of Radios" and one "One Night Stand." We present new
shows every week or so. The current three programs will be
available on line at least until the morning of July 10, 2006.
Program 56 - November, 1974 - Virginia Graham
After beginning her career in radio during the 1930s Under the
pseudonym Virginia Gotham, she wrote the soap operas Stella
Dallas, based on the novels by Olive Higgins Prouty (1882-
1974), and Backstage Wife. She was the host of "Weekday" on radio. She
later starred in a number of TV shows, including
"The City", "Texas" and "Where Was I?" Her filmography includes The Perils
of [removed] (1986) and Slapstick (Of Another
Kind) (1983). Ms. Graham was one of the co-founders of the
Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
Program 57 - December, 1974 - Christmas Stories on the Radio
Christmas Stories tended to be repeated year after year on radio
and became a memorable part of that era. We'll hear the stories
of and excerpts from "Grand Central Station," "The Couple Next
Door," and Fred Allen's memorable Christmas show about Santa's elves going
on strike.
"A One Night Stand with the Big Bands" With Arnold Dean
The New York Jazz Museum - May, 1973
Have you ever heard of the New York Jazz Museum? Most people have not. Yet
between 1972 and 1977 it was the most
significant institution for jazz in the world!
It was situated in its own two-story building in mid-town Manhattan and had
a small staff, an archive that eventually
numbered about 25,000 items and extensive programs in New York City and
beyond. Some of the programs won awards and most of them were received with
widespread
acclaim in the media and from jazz fans.
An extended power struggle ensued that eventually caused
the Museum's demise. Entangled in the fatal conflagration was the "Jazz
Fraternity," which included the most prominent names in jazz - musicians,
producers, writers,
artists, et al.
In the 1970's WTIC decided that there was a market in
the evening for long-form shows that could be packaged
and sold to sponsors. Two of those shows were "The
Golden Age of Radio" and "A One Night Stand with the
Big Bands."
Dick Bertel had interviewed radio collector-historian
Ed Corcoran several times on his radio and TV shows,
and thought a regular monthly show featuring interviews
with actors, writers, producers, engineers and musicians
from radio's early days might be interesting. "The Golden
Age of Radio" was first broadcast in April, 1970; Ed was
Dick's co-host. It lasted seven years. "The Golden Age
of Radio" can also be heard Saturday nights on Walden
Hughes's program on Radio Yesteryear.
Arnold Dean began his love affair with the big band era in his pre-teen
years and his decision to study the clarinet was inspired by the style of
Artie Shaw.
When he joined WTIC in 1965 he hosted a daily program
of big band music. In 1971, encouraged by the success
of his daily program and "The Golden Age of Radio" series, he began monthly
shows featuring interviews
with the band leaders, sidemen, agents, jazz reporters,
etc. who made major contributions to one of the great
eras of music history.
Bob Scherago
Webmaster
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:29:51 +0000
From: Bill Jaker <bilj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: The faceless woman on the screen
We have solved the mystery of the detective's faceless wife:<
> He was married,but you never saw the wife's
> face. All you saw were her hands
A Brass Fig Newton to all those who identified Rocky King on the DuMont
Network.
There's another instance of "hands-on" acting on TV and it has a good OTR
connection.
In 1951 Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding came to NBC television Bob & Ray were
well-established in radio with their multiple voice characterizations and
they carried this effectively to visual radio. Ray did most of the female
voices and when he had to appear on screen as Mary Margaret Mc Goon all you
saw was an apron and two hands. He could have been dressed up with a wig
and some earrings but there would still be a problem. Ray had a mustache.
It was during the early moments one of Bob and Ray's live TV shows, while
both were full-face on the screen, that a man suddenly appeared, took Ray
by the arm and led him off with a remark like, "let's go to the barber
shop." When Ray reappeared a few minutes later the mustache was gone.
Bob & Ray's career continued mostly on radio but I don't believe the facial
foliage ever grew back.
-- Bill Jaker
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:00 +0000
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 7-5 births/deaths
July 5th births
07-05-1879 - Wanda Landowska - Warsaw, Poland - d. 8-16-1959
harpsichordist: "New York Philharmonic"
07-05-1898 - Richard P. Condie - d. 12-22-1985
director mormon tabernacle choir: "Music and the Spoken Word"
07-05-1899 - Tim Ryan - Bayonne, NJ - d. 10-22-1956
actor: "Tim and Irene Show"
07-05-1903 - Hester Sondergaard - Minnesota - d. 2-26-1994
actor: (Sister of Gale Sondergaard) "Columbia Presents Corwin";
"Studio One"
07-05-1904 - Don Goddard - Binghamton, NY - d. unknown
news commentator: "The Goodyear Rubber Company's Farm Radio News"
07-05-1905 - John Abbott - London, England - d. 5-24-1996
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
07-05-1908 - Don Dunphy - NYC - d. 7-22-1998
boxing play-by-play broadcaster: "Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn
6-18-1941"; "Navy Relief Program"
07-05-1911 - Richard Newton - Vancouver, Canada - d. 1-13-2006
actor: "Now Hear This"
07-05-1921 - Mort Fega - d. 1-21-2005
long time jazz disc jockey in New York
07-05-1930 - Tommy Cook - Duluth, MN
actor: Little Beaver "Red Ryder"; Alexander Busmtead "Blondie"
07-05-1934 - Katherine Helmond - Galveston, TX
actor: [removed] Theatre Works "Night Mother"
07-05-1936 - Shirley Knight - Goessel, KS
Sang with the Horace Heidt Orchestra on Wichita Radio at the age of 8
July 5th deaths
01-01-1919 - Carole Landis - Fairchild, WI - d. 7-5-1948
actor: "Warner Brothers Academy Award"; "Command Performance"
01-16-1924 - Katy Jurado - Guadalajara, Mexico - d. 7-5-2002
actor: "George Fisher Interviews the Stars"
01-19-1905 - Anne Hummert - Baltimore, MD - d. 7-5-1996
producer: "Backstage Wife"; "American Album of Familiar Music"
01-25-1901 - Mildred Dunnock - Baltimore, MD - d. 7-5-1991
actor: "Theatre Guild On the Air"
03-15-1916 - Harry James - Albany, GA - d. 7-5-1983
bandleader: "Spotlight Bands"; "Call for Music"
05-26-1911 - Ben Alexander - Goldfield, NV - d. 7-5-1969
actor: Frank Smith "Dragnet"; Bashful Ben "Great Gildersleeve"
08-30-1918 - Ted Williams, San Diego, CA - d. 7-5-2002
baseball superstar: Several interview shows
10-03-1898 - Leo McCarey - Los Angeles, CA - d. 7-5-1969
judge: "This Is My Story"
12-08-1915 - Ernest Lehman - NYC - d. 7-5-2005
writer: "Forecast"
12-25-1914 - Peter Kalischer - d. 7-5-1992
news correspondent: "Muhammed Ali vs. Sonny Liston"
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Home state of Don Stanley
Stoughton, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:08 +0000
From: ilamfan@[removed] (S Jansen)
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Latitude Zero
From the last issue of the OTR Digest:
> I've just listened to the first episode of Latitude Zero, a 1941 SF
> adventure series. Unfortunately, it may be the only one I'll ever
> hear. According to John Dunning's ON THE AIR, "nearly all we know about
> this series comes from one surviving disc". However, this series ran from
> Feb 11 to Sept27, 1941 so there could possibly be some additional episodes
> out there somewhere. Does anyone here know of any? How about the scripts?
> Do they survive anywhere?
>
> Curt Phillips
I've asked this here on the list before, got no replies - so,
evidently there are no surviving episodes or scripts. The audition episode
sure does set a great pace: adventure, mystery, science [removed] cool.
BUT - out on one of my nostalic convention searches, on the bootleg
dvd table, I found a movie titled "Latitude Zero". The fellow running the
booth didn't know anything about it other than the badly translated text on
the back of the case.
"Latitude Zero! An action-packed sci-fi spectacle! Three scientists
and a journalist venture deep into the sea exploring an underwater jet
stream when an underwater volcano erupts and throws their research vehicle
far away from the mother boat. Amazingly, a good-looking couple in
Flippers comes by and rescue the stranded explorers. But how can this
be? They're thousands of fathoms below the surface of the Pacific! It
seems that manking has been no outer space, that we've neglected no
investigate our own oceans. Far beneath the surface there is an advanced
undersea kingdom, Latitude Zero, run by a community of benevolent
geniuses. But there is a snake in the grass, the evil Malic (Cesar Romero)
and Lucretia (Patricia MEdina). They're determined to destroy Latitude
Zero, the only thing standing between them and world domination!" (sic)
This was one of those 1960's Japanese-American joint movie ventures:
directed by Inoshiro (Godzilla) Honda, music by Akira (Godzilla) Ifukube,
starring Joseph Cotten (!), Cesar Romero, Richard Jaeckel, and Patricia
Medina. This 1969 movie was co-written by, and based on the story
"Latitiude Zero" by Ted Sherdeman. Hmmmmmm!
Overall, the movie is not really that bad - it's also not really that
[removed] are pretty dated and mediocre, the dialogue is stunted, the
acting wooden (sigh)...
My guess is that the serial radio adventure was used as the basis for
the movie, that's why it seems so broken-up, and doesn't have quite the
story arc connection that most movies have.
I can picture a few of the better parts of this movie done as radio
adventure, and think that they would have been [removed] image that my
mind would conjure up of a person's brain being transplanted into the body
of a winged lion, the beast growing larger and larger, flying around
attacking everyone, tearing them apart, dropping their corpses from midair
to smash to bits on the rocks [removed] MUCH better than what any movie
would show, let alone this rather tepid venture.
I'm still hoping for some recordings or scripts to show up, I'm sure
that this show was a real humdinger.
Anybody out there remember the show? Let's see, you'd probably be
about 75 or 80 years [removed](sigh)...
I'll keep hoping for some scripts to show [removed]
Stephen Jansen
--
Old Time Radio never dies - it just changes formats!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:30:55 +0000
From: Don Shenbarger <donslistmail@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: First Day of Commercial Television
On 7/4/2006, George Tirebiter wrote:
> Russ Butler asks about programming on NBC on the first day of commercial
> broadcasting, 7/1/41. Every source I see says a version of TRUTH OR
> CONSEQUENCES was [removed];nbsp; I believe this was a specially made for TV
> version, not a simulcast of the radio show, but perhaps someone will
> correct me. Does anyone know what else (if anything) was broadcast that day?
See the entries for July 1, 1941 on
[removed]
Don Shenbarger
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:13 +0000
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Re: Early Commercial TV
On 7/5/06 12:18 AM [removed]@[removed] wrote:
>Russ Butler asks about programming on NBC on the first day of commercial
>broadcasting, 7/1/41. Every source I see says a version of TRUTH OR
>CONSEQUENCES was telecast. I believe this was a specially made for TV
>version, not a simulcast of the radio show, but perhaps someone will
>correct me. Does anyone know what else (if anything) was broadcast that day?
The NBC schedule for the first night of *paid* commercial programming was
--
1. Lowell Thomas News (Sun Oil)
2. Uncle Jim's Question Bee (Lever Bros -- Spry)
3. Truth or Consequences (Lever Bros -- Ivory Soap)
The evening began with a spot announcement for Bulova watches -- a tight
shot of a watch face with no voiceover. Other spot ads that evening were
for Botany ties (a series of art cards featuring the cartoon lambs then
featured in Botany's print ads) and Adam hats (a slow camera pan of a
simulated window display of the sponsor's product.)
Audio recordings of the evening's programming exist at the Library of
Congress, but no visual recordings exist.
>Of course, that was the beginning of COMMERCIAL television. NBC started TV
>as a regular service on 4/30/39 with the opening ceremonies for the 1939-40
>World's Fair. Just think, if you were one of the few people lucky enough
>to have a TV set then you could have watched for 26 months before you saw
>your first commercial.
There had been experimental, non-paid advertising on television as far
back as 1930. NBC's earliest non-paid commercials may have been those
seen in the first major league baseball game ever telecast, a game
between Brooklyn and Cincinnati, on 8/26/39. In order to secure the
rights to show the game, NBC allowed each of the Dodgers' regular radio
sponsors at the time to have one commercial during the telecast, and
these were done by Dodger announcer Red Barber. For Ivory Soap, he held
up a bar of the product, for Mobilgas he put on a
filling-station-attendant's cap while giving his spiel, and for Wheaties
he poured a bowl of the product, added milk and bananas, and took a big
spoonful.
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:26 +0000
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: CBS RMT book
Frank asked:
> I'm a newcomer to the email list and am enjoying it tremendously. I do
> have a request to anyone out there who might have the dust jacket for the
> CBSRMT Handbook by Martin Grams Jr and Gordon Payton. I noticed that
> Martin Grams Jr is a frequent visitor here. I have the book but am
> missing the dust jacket.
Sorry Frank, the publishing company, McFarland, never had a dust jacket
made just as they never made a dust jacket for most of their other
hardcover books. Though in recent years they have begun putting images on
the cover of their books as they discovered it helps increase sales.
Martin
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:31:39 +0000
From: Rodney Bowcock <pasttense_78@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: CBRMT Handbook dust jacket
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
> I do have a request to anyone out there who might have the dust jacket for
> the CBSRMT Handbook by Martin Grams Jr and Gordon Payton. I noticed that
> Martin Grams Jr is a frequent visitor here. I have the book but am
> missing the dust jacket.
This book, like most hardcover books published by McFarland does not
have a dust jacket. Perhaps you could create one yourself using the design
from the currently in print paperback version, but I'm not sure.
Rodney
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Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:32:00 +0000
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Single detectives
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
What about "Candy Matson"? She played house with Detective Ray Mallard
until he finally got wise, got promoted, and proposed. What about Jane
Sherlock?
She did all of her sleuthing while fiance Peter Blossom proposed. I wouldn't
be
surprised if he dumped her. What about "Mr. and Mrs. North" or "The Adv.
of The Thin Man"? Both of these couples (Pam and Jerry North as well as Nick
and
Nora Charles) were married.
Of course, "Perry Mason" had Della Street, in much the same way that Ellery
Queen
had Nikki Porter. Not ALL detective and detecting teams were single or had
ambiguous relationships. Some either got married or were married.
Another OTR Fan,
Kenneth Clarke
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--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2006 Issue #183
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