Subject: [removed] Digest V2003 #347
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 9/22/2003 5:30 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2003 : Issue 347
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Heritage Radio Theatre Schedule for   [ HERITAGE4@[removed] ]
  Re: Inner Sanctum (Not) episode       [ Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed] ]
  Phil Harris in the Movies             [ Peter Kinder <pdkinder@[removed]; ]
  My week for radio stars in other med  [ welsa@[removed] ]
  SUPERMAN                              [ oldpdb@[removed] (Paul Barringer) ]
  innersanctum that isn't!              [ "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed]; ]
  Ellery Queen                          [ "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed] ]
  Just Plain Bill                       [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  Ellery Queen                          [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  The High and the Mighty               [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  Old radio capacitors                  [ "BH" <radioguy@[removed]; ]
  Help solve the mystery of "The Cinna  [ robert <gudguyus@[removed]; ]
  FOTR bargain                          [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
  Today in radio history                [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Investigating an Inner Sanctum Fraud  [ Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed]; ]
  Re: Souse of z border                 [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]
  Unidentified subject!                 [  ]
  Re: Howard Blue                       [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
  9-23 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  More info on CBS's 75th (76th? 74th?  [ Alec Cumming <arack@[removed]; ]
  Opening to Superman                   [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
  Art Bell                              [ art-funk@[removed] ]

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 15:12:36 -0400
From: HERITAGE4@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Heritage Radio Theatre Schedule for week of
 9/21

Here's our lineup for this week on The Olde Tyme Radio Network
[removed]

Heritage Radio Theatre with Tom Heathwood
1. INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES   NBC  First Show - 1/7/41
"The Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam"
Host, a young sounding Raymond Edward Johnson - Hear him tell about how
Carter's Little Liver Pills can help with depression.
2. THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM   CBS   3/16/52 - "Return Visit
>From The IRS."
3. COLGATE SPORTS NEWSREEL  with BILL STERN - NBC 9/22/44
with guest -  the Amazing "Dunninger, The Master Mentalist."

Enjoy -

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 16:53:02 -0400
From: Gerry Wright <gdwright@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Inner Sanctum (Not) episode

Doug querried,

Does this story sound familiar to anyone? I'm positive that the
hitch-hiker is played by Gregory Peck. The fellow who picks him up sounds
like Ed Begley. They play liscense-plate poker on the road.

The episode is from Suspense and was broadcast Sept. 16, 1948 as
"Hitchhike Poker"

Gerry Wright
ZoneZebra Productions
San Francisco

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 16:53:18 -0400
From: Peter Kinder <pdkinder@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Phil Harris in the Movies

	Stephen Kallis reminded me of a wonderful movie from my childhood,
"Goodbye, My Lady".  I have no recollection of Phil Harris in this movie --
not surprising, since I last saw it at age 10 or 11 45 years ago!  But I
sure remember loving the movie on the big screen at the Old Trail Theater.
Is it available on DVD?

	Harris had a small role in "The Wheeler Dealers" in which James
Garner played his "Maverick" / "Support Your Local Sheriff" - type role.
It's still a hoot 40 years on.  My sons and I watched it a month ago.  Lee
Remick popped their eyes out.  In any case, it looked as if all involved had
a wonderful time making the movie.  In addition to Harris, there are a
number of OTR figures in the movie, including Jim Backus.

Peter Kinder

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 18:05:52 -0400
From: welsa@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  My week for radio stars in other mediums

Earlier this week I reported seeing Phil Harris in a movie.  Last night I
was watching a couple episodes of PETER GUNN, Blake Edwards jazzy TV series
from the late 50's, early 60's.  In an episode from 2/23/59, I kept watching
one of the characters and thinking his face was familiar.   Sure enough,
when the end credits rolled there was the name William (we know him as
Billy) Idelson.  Interestingly, his list of TV guest appearances on IMDB
does NOT include this one.  However, I did note that on 2/17/59 he appeared
in a DRAGNET episode.  Two TV appearances about a week apart.

Ted

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 18:43:04 -0400
From: oldpdb@[removed] (Paul Barringer)
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  SUPERMAN

  Following up on Anthony Tollin's post on Superman:

  The radio program was also responsible for much of the history and
mythology of the character.

  The radio program introduced the character of Jimmy Olsen before he
appeared in the comic book, the same is true for the characters of
Inspector Henderson and Daily Planet Editor Perry White.

  Also, kryptonite was used on the radio program years before it was to
appear in the comic books.

  The cartoons mentioned by Anthony also used voices from the radio
cast.

  The Superman movie serials were adapted from the radio program and not
from the comic book.

  Superman teamed up with Batman and Robin long before they appeared in
World's Finest comic book, published by [removed] comics.

  Also in one radio episode when Superman was working with Batman, Clark
Kent told Bruce wayne he signed his name (Clark Kent) right handed and
signed Superman's name left handed, so as to disguise his dual identity.
Later Batman and Robin, in their comic books started using this same
procedure.

  So as you see, the radio program had a lot to do with the character in
establishing many many of the comic book tales.

Paul

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 19:28:55 -0400
From: "Kurt E. Yount" <blsmass@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  innersanctum that isn't!

One of the incarnations was called hitchike poker.  Whether this one is
or not I can't remember.  Surely (I know, don't call me Shirley),
somebody with a better memory or a log will furnish you with the air
dates.  However, it definitely is a Suspense show.  Kurt

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 20:43:13 -0400
From: "Dave Mills" <otrdave@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Ellery Queen

The Ellery Queen series was supposed to end with "The Finishing Stroke" in
1958. Some novels after this were taken from Dannay short stories adapted,
such as the above mentioned, or simply wrote by others with the Ellery Queen
title. The difference in quality is [removed] fact, after reading a few of
the "imposters" I decided they are not worth it. The early books of course
are [removed] am sad that I have read them all because there is no
more fun ahead for [removed] Then we have Barnaby Ross of course and the four
excellent Drury Lane novels written by the cousins. If any OTR folks out
there enjoy Mystery and Detection with solid witting then I strongly suggest
trying Ellery Queen [removed]"The Egyptian Cross Mystery" might be a good
place to start. Dave Mills

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 21:25:41 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Just Plain Bill

Joe Mackey gives us  insightful walks down memory lane.  His facts about
Just Plain Bill were incredibly on the money, save one.  "Bill" didn't land
on the air on September 19, 1935 as stated, giving him but 20 years to pull
the locals out of trouble.  The early hairstylist of Hartville turned up
instead on September 19, 1932, becoming the Hummerts' (and radio's) first
true serial with "staying power."  In fact, that success--and two more
washboard weepers to follow in 1933 (The Romance of Helen Trent and Ma
Perkins)--established a pattern that the intrepid pair of aural creatives
would repeat successfully again and again.  Their whole empire, I maintain
in "Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory," actually rested with those
three, and the beginnings of it were vested in Just Plain Bill.  "Bill,"
incidentally, lasted to September 30, 1955, when NBC had "a better idea" and
canceled it and several other daytimers to clear the way for its Weekday
magazine.  Ten months later, never admitting its colossal mistake, the
network quietly replaced Weekday with soap operas, since few were listening.
But the longstanding tradition with America's housewives had been
broken--they had TV soap operas then, and the legacy of Hartville and many
other mythical hamlets was abandoned.  The chimes chain would never regain
its regal splendor during weekdays.  Too late somebody relaized that Just
Plain Bill's contribution was more than minor.

Jim Cox

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 21:28:55 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Ellery Queen

Sorry about the late posting - just got electric an hour ago - first time
I've seen the light in three days.
Some woman named Isabel came through, tore up the property and took away the
power.
Anyway . . . now that I can read my e-mails . . .

Kermyt Anderson asked:

How did they manage to have Ellery Queen as a guest,
since "Ellery Queen" was the pseudonym of two cousins,
Fred Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, who wrote mystery
novels? I read someplace that one of the cousins would
do masked appearances as Ellery Queen in public,
before their identities as the authors of the EQ books
had been revealed. By 1944, however, I presume
everybody knew that there was no such person as Ellery
Queen. So who was pretending to be him?

Actually it was the character of Ellery Queen, not the creators who made the
guest appearance.  Sydney Smith took over the role of Ellery in August or
September of 1943 and less than a year later, the producer of the radio
program THE ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN decided to contract Smith to go and
make a number of appearances on other radio programs to promote the series -
mainly for publicity reasons.  As a publicity gimmick NBC was keeping the
identity of the actor who played Ellery a secret, and in newspaper stories
dealing with the series he was usually photographed with his back to the
camera.  More interesting was one photo that appeared in an early magazine
article (RADIO MIRROR if I recall) that actually featured Hugh Marlowe
(radio's first Ellery Queen)!  But shortly after that, NBC pretty much kept
the identity of the actor a secret.

During the summer of 1944, the character of Ellery Queen made a guest
appearance on THE TEXACO STAR THEATER starring Fred Allen.  As Kermyt
mentioned, another apperance was THE COLGATE SPORTS NEWSREEL starring Bill
Stern, broadcast September 1, 1944.  Ellery was even a guest detective on
the radio quiz program QUICK AS A FLASH for at least two broadcasts, January
21, 1945 and October 21, 1945.

The character of Ellery Queen was a pseudonym of two cousins, Fred Dannay
and Manfred B. Lee.  Shortly after their novels became a big hit, they did
make a number of book signings, but during their early years only one of
them would show up at the signing, keeping his face under a black mask to
keep the readers involved in the mystery of what Ellery Queen looked like.
But their mystery could not be contained for long.  Columbia Pictures was
the first to catch in on the commercial property and by the mid-1930s, they
released two movies (one with Donald Cook in the role) and by that time,
many people (not all of them) realized that the Ellery Queen character was
not a real life person.

Incidentally, by the time the ELLERY QUEEN program went off in 1948, at
least six different actors had played the lead.  As for whether the entire
listening audience knew that there was no such person as Ellery Queen, it's
doubtful.  My younger sister once thought that Ellery Queen was a woman
until I explained it to her.  And many people still insist that Alfred
Hitchcock wrote and directed all of the episodes of the television series
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESNETS when the truth is, he never wrote a word, and only
directed eighteen during the ten years.  (People still think Alfred
Hitchcock wrote all the forewards for his magazine and books when in fact he
never did.)  The ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERY MAGAZINE is still published today and
for a few decades, there was always an introduction written by Ellery Queen
for each issue - always penned secretly by the editor in chief of the
magazine and signing an Ellery Queen signature at the bottom of each
introduction.

Source for info above: THE SOUND OF DETECTION: ELLERY QUEEN'S ADVENTURES IN
RADIO by Francis M. Nevins and Martin Grams, Jr.

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 21:29:55 -0400
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The High and the Mighty

Ted commented:

Last night I was watching the 1954 movie, "The High and the Mighty."  Phil
Harris is in the cast.  A rather minor role but a major billing in the
opening credits.  I really was not impressed with his work in this film.
Does anyone know if by 1954 was he in need of this kind of bit movie work?
Was he still on radio at all then?  Or, was he trying to take his career in
a new direction?  Maybe it would have been different if he had been in a
comedy.

Ted, was this a video you were watching or a TV station?  To the best of my
knowledge, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY is one of the only John Wayne movies that
has been for the last few decades, tied up in legal battles.  Two different
entities (one being the John Wayne estate) claim to own the rights to the
movie.  It has been shown on TV on occasion but on VERY RARE occasions.  No
TV station would dare play the film without securing some permission from
someone and if that was so, I'd be curious to know what station so I can
drop an e-mail and see who they paid licensing for - I'd be curious to know
if the legal battle has been settled.  It's not a bad movie really, Ted, but
you apparently got a chance to see one of the truly rare John Wayne movies
ever filmed - it's not easy to come by.
Martin

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 22:29:22 -0400
From: "BH" <radioguy@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Old radio capacitors

Don Shenbarger commented:

I don't believe it is necessary to replace ceramic or mica
capacitors.

Don is correct, the mica capacitors seldom fail,  In all the
radios I have restored I may have had occasion to replace three or
four mica capacitors. I should have been more specific, usually
when a radio restorer referers to "all the capacitors", the
reference is to all the electrolytic and paper capacitors. Thanks
for pointing that out Don.

Bill H.

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

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 23:04:01 -0400
From: robert <gudguyus@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Help solve the mystery of "The Cinnamon Bear"

In the children's fantasy "The Cinnamon Bear", all the
cast members are named except one,-the actor who
played "Jimmy Barton".

Does anyone know the true identity of this person?

I'll bet that one of you knows who played opposite
Barbara Jean Wong -as "Judy Barton", as her brother
"Jimmy Barton".

John Dunning's "On The Air" lists the actor as "unknown".

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:55:43 -0400
From: otrbuff@[removed]
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  FOTR bargain

Anyone going to FOTR who may be struggling over costs might be interested in
a current promotion Sheraton is conducting, 3 nights for the price of 2.
The Sheraton at 128 Frontage Rd., Newark, telephone 973-690-5500, less than
a half-mile from the Holiday Inn headquarters hotel, offers Starwood
Preferred Guests with a MasterCard luxurious rooms for $158 for 3 nights
when checking in Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  You can join Starwood if you
aren't a member.  The rate for 3 nights at Holiday Inn is $270 unless you
find a discount.  Hope this helps somebody who might be waffling over the
money issue.  Book online at [removed]

Jim Cox

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:55:52 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otrd <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Today in radio history

 From Those Were The Days --

1943 - Singer Kate Smith finished her War Bond radio appeal. For 13
continuous hours Smith had stayed on the air, collecting a whopping $39
million dollars in bond pledges.

1957 - The CBS Radio Workshop was silenced after 18 months of what the
critics said was "ingenious radio programming."

Joe

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

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:56:02 -0400
From: Jeff Weaver <jweaver@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Investigating an Inner Sanctum Fraud

I believe that the show is Suspense and it is on the collection of
Hollywood Stars on Suspense by Radio Spirits. Jeff

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:56:35 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Souse of z border

 Ms. Brittain   brittain@[removed] [removed]

Now for my question (finally!) Are there episodes in any of your collections
where the on air personalities went south of the border?
Comedic pieces would be [removed](Snip)

Stop right there. For a Latin beat, I recommend obtaining a copy of Al
Jolson singing "The Spaniard that Blighted my Life". (I seem to think it was
set to a Bolero tempo, but I could be wrong. In any event, you could cobble
a Latin dance number around it.

In addition, I recently played Pancho at an OTR recreation of "The Cisco
Kid" a few months back (REPS in Seattle).There is a scene in it where Pancho
is dancing with a Senorita, and stepping on her toes. You might use that to
seque into a Latin Dance number.

Sounds like a interesting project you are working on. I love ballroom
dancing. Particularly. the "Tango". They don't call me "Twinkle Toes" for
nothing. :)

Hal(Harlan)Stone
Jughead

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

Subject: Unidentified subject!


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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:57:28 -0400
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Howard Blue

A slight correction to my last post. I was reminded that the correct
location of our epicurean delight was Le
Marchee de B'Oston.

Fred
[removed]

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 10:57:36 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  9-23 births/deaths

September 23rd births

09-23-1889 - Don Bestor - Longford, SD - d. 1-13-1970
bandleader: "Nestle Program"; "Jack Benny Program"
09-23-1897 - Walter Pidgeon - East St. John, New Brunswick, Canada - d.
9-25-1984
actor: "Hollywood Calling"; "Screen Guild Theatre"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
09-23-1920 - Mickey Rooney - Brooklyn, NY
actor: Andy Hardy "Hardy Family"; Ralph J. 'Shorty" Bell "Shorty Bell"

September 23rd deaths

02-16-1914 - Jimmy Wakely - Mineola, AR - d. 9-23-1982
country singer: "All-Star Western Theatre"; "Hollywood Barn Dance"
04-05-1917 - Robert Bloch - Chicago, IL - d. 9-23-1994
writer: "Stay Tuned for Terror"
04-19-1900 - George O"Brien - San Francisco, CA - d. 9-23-1985
actor: "Anchors Aweigh"
09-12-1894 - Billy Gilbert - Louisville, KY - d. 9-23-1971
actor: "NYA Varieties"; "Rudy Vallee Rehearsal"
10-19-1930 - Wally Flaherty - The Bronx, NY - d. 9-23-1998
host: "Open Line"
12-28-1905 - Cliff Arquette - Toledo, OH - d. 9-23-1974
comedian, actor: Thaddeus Cornfelder, "Myrt and Marge"

Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Hometown of [removed] Kaltenborn and Mr. District Attorney

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 11:16:54 -0400
From: Alec Cumming <arack@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  More info on CBS's 75th (76th? 74th? 55th?)

>From [removed]:

"CBS, which just celebrated its 50th birthday on-air in 1998, will throw
another anniversary bash this November. 'CBS at 75: A Primetime Celebration'
airs live Sunday, Nov. 2, from New York's Hammerstein Ballroom. Three-hour
special will include the usual round of black-tie celebs and packages
recounting the company's history from radio to TV.

"'CBS at 75' will be handled by Cates-Doty Prods., with Gil Cates on board
as exec producer. Louis J. Horvitz, the Emmy-winning director behind the
Academy Awards, will direct the special.

"But just as ABC recently played it loose with the timeline for its 50th
anniversary special, CBS is technically celebrating its 76th birthday this
year.

"The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting Co. (as the radio network was then
called) actually launched on Sept. 18, 1927, as a merger between nascent
network United Independent Broadcasters and the Columbia Phonograph Co.,
according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

"CBS instead is recognizing January 1929 as its start date, when William
Paley bought the company and renamed it the Columbia Broadcasting System."

(Wait. According to their own definition, won't CBS be 74 on November 2nd?
Then again, wasn't their 50th birthday just 5 years ago? Discuss.)

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:15:11 -0400
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Opening to Superman

          I may be showing my age a bit, but I remember the
opening to "Superman" being slightly different.  (Of course,
I may be remembering the classic  TV version.)  The one
I remember went something like this:

          "Faster than a speeding bullet.  More powerful than a
locomotive.  Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
[removed] in the [removed]'s a bird, it's a plane, it's Superman!
Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet
with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men."

          When I think of  "Superman", I remember the closing
lines (which might have been used on radio or not)  which
said Superman 'fought a neverending struggle for truth, justice,
and the American way!'  (Was this just on TV?)

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:16:47 -0400
From: art-funk@[removed]
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Art Bell

Kurt Yount wrote:

As of tonight, Saturday, twilight zone has been canceled on KFI.  There
will be a new Art Bell show from 10 [removed] to 5 [removed]  Thought everybody
would like to know.

Before I sought treatment for my sleep disorder I used to listen to Art Bell
as I lay awake at night.  I must say that much of the program content on Art
Bell could well be the basis for episodes of Twilight Zone.

Regards to all,
Art Funk

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #347
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