------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2003 : Issue 31
A Part of the [removed]!
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Re: TWTD is Alive and Well [ TWTDchuck@[removed] ]
re: TWTD HELP [ Marty <martyd@[removed]; ]
Re: Converting MP3 files [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
Burns And Allen [ JJiovanazz@[removed] ]
Have Gun - Will Travel [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: Walter Brennan [ Timothy Clough <timothy@[removed]; ]
RE: Help [ ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" < ]
Radio donations beware? [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
Re: Blanc/Gordon feud [ "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self ]
Rex Koury [ Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed] ]
Reference question [ "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@comc ]
Japanese Stereotypes [ John Mayer <mayer@[removed]; ]
Murmuring and Mumbling [ Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed] ]
Off the top of the head [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
Broderick Crawford on Radio [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
Radio Music Box [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
Clarabell on Howdy Doody Show [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
______________________________________________________________________
ADMINISTRIVIA:
Due to an editing error, a small section of yesterday's
"Struts and Frets" doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The
corrections will be made to the web page, and have been to the
archived copy of the issue in question, but the damaged section
of the seventh paragraph _should_ read:
Those big .44s were loaded with 1/4 loads. On the set they went "pop."
When dubbed later they sounded like "BOOM!" Even the 1/4 loads could fire
wadding a considerable distance and that is why the gun was never supposed to
be aimed directly at the actor.
That will teach me to edit without my glasses. --cfs3
______________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:23:10 -0500
From: TWTDchuck@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: TWTD is Alive and Well
Keith Monroe asked why the program "Those Were The Days" is no longer
broadcast.
Well, the reports of our demise is greatly exaggerated!
"Those Were The Days" is indeed alive and well and is broadcast every
Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 pm (Chicago time) from station WDCB, [removed] FM
and live on the Internet at [removed]
We've never been off the air, although for seven months during 2001 we were
broadcasting at greatly reduuced power because of an antenna collapse. But
we're back at full strength (since last July) and going strong.
In fact, this coming Saturday, January 25, we'll have an entire four-hour
program devoted to Edgar Bergen on his Centennial (1903-2003). Lots of
Bergen and McCarthy programming will be presented including a 2-part "This Is
Your Life" Charlie McCarthy program from with Ralph Edwards and Edgar Bergen
from 1950.
And, as usual, we'll have four weeks' worth of Jack Benny material during
February, our "Jack Benny Month" for the past 20+ years.
Those Were The Days has been broadcasting in the Chicago area in the same
Saturday afternoon time slot for the past 32 years. On April 26th we'll
observe our 33rd broadcast anniversary.
We publish a Nostalgia Digest with lots of articles from and about the past
plus our complete TWTD program schedule. Any reader of this old time radio
Digest who would like a complimentary copy of our current issue need only
respond with your name and mailing address and we'll send you our current
February/March issue with no obligation. Our Nostalgia Digest e-mail
address is TWTDchuck@[removed]
Best regards from a "lurker" who really appreciates this forum.
Chuck Schaden
Host and Producer
Those Were The Days
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:33:38 -0500
From: Marty <martyd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: re: TWTD HELP
In Digest V2003 #28, "Keith7350" inquired about Chuck Schaden's "Those
Were The Days" program not being aired. Keith, I don't know what to
say, but I listened to Chuck's show this past Saturday on WDCB, [removed] FM
dial from 1pm - 5pm. I don't know if you meant the internet feed on
[removed] . Since I didn't listen on the internet, I don't
know if that was working or not. But I can guaranteed that the
"on-the-air" portion was broadcast just fine!
Chuck and his crew put on one heck of a 4-hour OTR "marathon" each and
every Saturday afternoon. My Saturday afternoon's aren't complete
unless TWTD is on the radio!
Keith, you can contact me off list if you want and clarify if you were
talking about the on-the-air or internet broadcast.
Marty
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:24:03 -0500
From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Converting MP3 files
EZ CD Creator which is available for the PC, will convert MP3 files to
Audio CDs. You select the type of CD you want to burn. Instead of selecting
DATA, select AUDIO. Then place the MP3 files into the program. When you
burn the CD, the program converts them to WAV files that then play as an
Audio CD.
There are also tons of programs for both the MAC and PC that will convert
MP3 to WAV files. Check out [removed] and do a search on MP3. Many of
the programs are free, some are shareware that cost around $[removed] or less.
Download a few, test them out and keep the one you like.
Fred
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:24:14 -0500
From: JJiovanazz@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Burns And Allen
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
To All OTR Fans,
I am trying to track down a Burns and Allen show that contains a hilarious
skit where George and Gracie were playing bridge. My wife is an avid bridge
player and I would like to include this bit of satire as a birthday gift. I
would appreciate knowing what broadcast contains this skit and if the script
exits.
thanks,
Jim Jiovanazzo
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:37:55 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Have Gun - Will Travel
Ryan Hall asked about Roddenberry's radio credits. So far as I know, Gene
Roddenberry NEVER wrote a single radio script. Many people still insist
that Roddenberry wrote for radio's HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL when in reality,
he was given credit on the show - but he never wrote the script.
Yes, this is the same Gene Roddenberry who later created STAR TREK (it's
proper pronounciation is TREK, not TRAK). Roddenberry wrote numerous
scripts for the television series HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL and a year after
the TV show premiered, Norman MacDonnell wanted to do a radio series
counterpart, using radio scripts adapted from the television scripts. As
John Dehner recalled a few weeks before his death, the idea was okay, but it
didn't prove to be a success, so after twenty-some radio broadcasts, the
producers began dramatizing original radio scripts, tossing away the idea of
taking the TV scripts and making them into radio dramas.
Case in point: the episode Ryan talked about, "The Hanging Cross," which was
one of the best episodes of the first season on television, but when adapted
for radio - it sucked. The television program had more feeling and emotion
captured, and the ending was particularly wonderful because as Paladin began
riding out, the shadow of the gallows being torn down, cast on the ground
was in the form of a cross - the symbol of what Christmas really means.
That was a visual that could not be displayed in any radio drama.
The episode "Maggie O'Bannion" has extreme moments of charm. In "Helen of
Abajinian," Harold Stone debates the price with Paladin, and that scene is
superb - couldn't be copied as beautifully in the radio series. In fact,
the only radio episode based on a Roddenberry television script that is
decent enough to warrant listening to is "Ella West." All the others were
just plain dull. Anyone who has access to those HGWT television episodes,
watch them and see what I mean. The radio versions do not do those stories
justice.
Now I'm not debunking the radio program. Radio's HGWT was superb in many
counts, especially the ones scripted by sound man Ray Kemper, and the
braodcasts of late 1959 to early 1960. But I highly recommend true western
fans and nostalgia fans to watch the television episodes and listen to the
radio episodes and judge for yourself. "In an Evil Time" is one of the best
television episodes ever made and why they even did that for the radio
series is beyond me. I almost shed a tear at the end of "In An Evil Time"
but the radio drama made me laugh.
For the record, the following are the only radio episodes based on Gene
Roddenberry's TV scripts:
EPISODE #2 "ROAD TO WICKENBERG" Broadcast on November 30, 1958
Recorded on November 30, 1958, 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm.
Cast: Lynn Allen as Sue Jack Edwards as Keystone
Victor Perrin as the Sheriff Harry Bartell as Sol
Frank Gerstle as Jim Eve McVeagh as the lady
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell.
Based on the teleplay "The Road to Wickenberg" by Gene Roddenberry and
adapted for radio by John Dawson.
Commercials: CBS News; Kent's Filtered Cigarettes; and Lysol Pine-Scented
Disinfectant
There are four of you gentlemen and I've only one bullet left in my
derringer. So my choice is very simple. I'll kill the first man who
speaks.
Story: same as television episode #46, broadcast on October 25, 1958.
EPISODE #3 "ELLA WEST" Broadcast on December 7, 1958
Recorded on November 15, 1958, 8:00 to 8:25 pm.
Cast: Virginia Gregg as Ella West Sam Edwards as Tracy Calvert
Harry Bartell as Tom Carter Lawrence Dobkin as Breed
Lynn Allen as Clarisse Barney Phillips as the driver
Harry Bartell as the barkeep Ben Wright as the manager
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell.
Based on the teleplay by Gene Roddenberry and adapted for radio by John
Dawson.
Commercials: CBS News; Kent's Filtered Cigarettes; and Traffic Laws, Driving
Safely and the [removed] Post Office (Public Service Announcements).
Sound effects were supplied by Bill James and Cliff Thorsness.
I promised I'd avoid a gunfight if possible. But it looks as though it
isn't possible. I have one bullet left. You may draw when you're ready.
Story: same as television episode #17, broadcast on January 4, 1958.
EPISODE #5 "THE HANGING CROSS" Broadcast on December 21, 1958
Recorded on December 13, 1958, 6:30 to 7:00 pm.
Cast: Victor Perrin as Beecher Jess Kirkpatrick as Tater
John James supplied ad libs Dick Beals as Chiwah
Ann Morrison as Maudie Virginia Christine as the lady
Ralph Moody as Cah Ben Wright as Pete
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell.
Based on the teleplay by Gene Roddenberry and adapted for radio by John
Dawson.
In all my life, I've only seen a dozen real killers. But I've seen ten
thousand people who will sit back and let murder happen. Which is the
greater evil?
Story: same as television episode #15, broadcast on December 21, 1957.
EPISODE #7 "HELEN OF ABAJINIAN" Broadcast on January 4, 1959
Recorded on December 27, 1958, 6:30 to 7 pm.
Cast: Lawrence Dobkin as Abajinian Richard Crenna as O'Riley
Lillian Buyeff as Helen Abajinian Virginia Christine as Marga
Lynn Allen as the woman
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell.
Based on the teleplay by Gene Roddenberry and adapted for radio by John
Dawson.
I've been employed to bring you back, and that's just what I'm going to do,
Mr. O'Riley, like it or not.
Story: same as television episode #16, broadcast on December 28, 1957.
EPISODE #20 "MAGGIE O'BANION" Broadcast on April 5, 1959
Recorded on March 21, 1959, 6:30 to 7 pm.
Cast: Virginia Gregg as Cookie Lynn Allen as Marg
Harry Bartell as Cyrus Barney Phillips as Jake
Ben Wright as Pete Virginia Gregg as the sexpot
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonnell.
Based on the teleplay by Gene Roddenberry and adapted for radio by John
Dawson.
I'm offering you a choice. To fight with knives or guns. But just remember
this. Whichever way you choose, the loser will be a long time dead.
Story: same as television episode #67, broadcast on April 4, 1959.
Excerpts from the Have Gun - Will Travel broadcast log found in THE HAVE GUN
- WILL TRAVEL COMPANION, written by Les Rayburn and Martin Grams, Jr.,
published in 2000.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:39:28 -0500
From: Timothy Clough <timothy@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Walter Brennan
From: "timl2002" <timl2002@[removed];
Walter Brennan, The Star of the Real Mc
Coys was also an accomplished Movie actor (3 academy awards) and Radio
performer.
Can anyone give me a list of radio shows in which Walter Brennan was in?
The reason I'm interested is because his wife was some sort of cousin of
mine (second cousin once removed?).
Thanks in advance.
Timothy Clough
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:40:33 -0500
From: ""Cynthia \"ChibiBarako\""" <cvc@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: RE: Help
Keith was asking if Those Were the Days is still being broadcast.
YES!! Not only can you pick it up on [removed] FM WDCB (although the signal
is stronger the closer you are to Glen Ellyn; I can't get it well north
of the Northwest Tollway), but you can also download it through the
College of DuPage Radio (WDCB) website
[removed] using RealAudio (with all the
appropriate caveats). (WDCB's website itself is [removed] with a
link to the same page.)
See you on the radio!
Cynthia "ChibiBarako"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:41:13 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio donations beware?
I was reading a radio script this afternoon and came across a curious bit of
dialogue that got my head buzzing for a moment. I assume it's a temporary
brain fart but here goes [removed]
The script read:
"Landor revealed that he is contact for the Czech underground movement; and
Willie has refused to help his countrymen by so musch as one dollar. When
Miss Kovin told that Wade, as Mr. "V", had actually give some half a million
to the cause, landor's apology was cut short by the indignant Wade."
Now this was July of 1944 and I am assuming that Mr. "V", the character's
charitable alias, stood for V for "Victory." But this has caused my brain a
stir. I recall in January of 1945 Cecil B. DeMille would not pay his one
dollar donation to aid the American Federation of Radio Artists as a matter
of principal (thus sacrificing his million-dollar per year LUX RADIO THEATER
hosting chores) but his non-donation had nothing to do with any Czech
underground movement. my question is this. Was there any such Chech
underground movement in mid-1944? Was this an in-joke something the writer
snuck into the script? Or is this just a long-shot that means my brain is
over-worked?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:57:48 -0500
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Blanc/Gordon feud
I've not read the Lucy book, but I do know that in his biography (That's
Not All Folks!) Blanc said that Gordon was one of the only radio actors
that he did not care for. I took alot of Blanc's book with a grain of
salt, but in this case, coming from multiple sources, they must have
really not liked each other. Blanc related a couple of instances of
rudeness on Gordon's part, but I've heard no examples about the other way
around. No matter, I think they were both good actors at their
respective roles, and many people have had nothing but nice things to say
about either of them.
Rodney Bowcock
Past Tense Productions "Classic movies and TV for $7"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:57:56 -0500
From: Larry Gassman <lgsinger@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Rex Koury
Hi,
Having interviewed and spent time with Rex Koury over the years, I do
remember that he did write several songs for organ. I don't recall titles,
but my guess is that the Rex Koury referred to is the same one.
Larry Gassman
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 21:58:42 -0500
From: "Ivan G. Shreve, Jr." <iscreve@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Reference question
1) Here is line Stretch Snodgrass has.
STRETCH: Gee, Walter, you got a mind like Mack LaBelly.
At least, it sounds like he says Mack LaBelly. Anyone know who or what this
refers to?
I believe Stretch is referring to Machiavelli, famed political philosopher
and author of "The Prince."
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:01:43 -0500
From: John Mayer <mayer@[removed];
To: OldRadio Mailing Lists <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Japanese Stereotypes
"Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed]; mentioned anti-Japanese
stereotypes in the OTR ear. Which reminds me of absolutely the only
thing I remember from the revival of the old Batman serials during
the Batmania period. Batman and Robin are, as I recall, searching an
empty carnival grounds while a Winchell-like narrator (could it
actually have BEEN Walther Winchell?) intones, "...ever since a wise
government rounded up its shifty-eyed [removed]" referring, of course,
to the internment camps.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:01:56 -0500
From: Al Girard <24agirard24@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Murmuring and Mumbling
What were some of the things that actors would say when there was a crowd scene
such as this in a Western?
Ring-leader - "Okay, boys, we've got him"
Crowd - "Murmer, mumble, etc."
Ring-leader - " I say we hang him!"
Crowd: - "Murmer, murmer"
I heard somewhere that they just said "Rhubarb, rhubarb" but I don't know
if that's true. Do any of you know the answer?
Al Girard
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:02:19 -0500
From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Off the top of the head
A few sips of hot chocolate ago, Elizabeth McLeod stated that Fulton Lewis,
Jr.'s only rival as an extemporaneous speaker in OTR days was probably H. V.
Kaltenborn. Much as I hate to brush aside a fellow Wisconsinite such as
Hans, I can think of three others who were better than he and as good as
Fulton: on a national level, Bob Trout of CBS and Alex Dreier of NBC, and
locally in Chicago, Paul Gibson of WBBM. (And, yes, Elizabeth, I still have
these blasted Gibson airchecks I promised to send you three years ago, but I
keep losing your snailmail address and am usually too embarrassed to keep
asking for it yet again. Apologies.)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:03:05 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Broderick Crawford on Radio
Bob Taylor asked if Brod Crawford ever did any radio. He certainly did
during WWII. He went into the [removed] Army in Nov. 1942 as a Pvt. and was
assigned to the Army Air Force Training Command Radio Unit then HQ'd in
Atlantic City [removed] in May 1943. This was the unit commanded by the very
famous bandleader Glenn Miller. Crawford did announcing duties as well
as acting in mini plays on Miller's show "I Sustain the Wings". These
were well written and professionally produced plays often dramatizing
the importance of a particular job in the Air Force or the story of an
act of heroism etc. This continued thru 1943 up until June 1944 when the
Miller band was given orders to go overseas.
On July 4th 1944 Crawford was assigned to temporary duty to AFN Radio in
London. I don't remember exactly what he did there, but I'm sure it
involved acting again. Back with the band again in May 1945 after
Miller's disappearance he remained so until he was discharged in
November 1945.
Many of the recordings of the Miller Air Force Band survive and show not
only what a great band Glenn Miller had in the service but also what a
really good actor Brod Crawford was. All or nearly all of the scripts
for "I Sustain The Wings" have been published in Edward Polic's book
"Sustineo Alas/ I Sustain the Wings vol. 2".
George Aust
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:03:33 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Radio Music Box
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 14:44:28 -0500
From: "MICHAEL BIEL" <mbiel@[removed];
But the statement does not mention the memo at all, just the receiver and
it specifically says that a receiver had been made.
It said that the receiver was Sarnoff's "brain child" not his "handiwork." It nowhere implies
that Sarnoff himself made the receiver, only that it was Sarnoff's idea.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210
lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503
[removed]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 07:03:35 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross"
<lawyer@[removed];
To:
[removed]@[removed]
Subject: Clarabell on Howdy Doody Show
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 13:15:54 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
Wasn't Clarabell portrayed by Bob Keeshan, the same
man who later made Captain Kangaroo famous?
Clarabell was portrayed by Bob Keeshan, from the character's creation sometime in 1948
until late 1952. There are various accounts of what happened, but apparently Keeshan and
three other cast members tried to negotiate for higher pay as a group of four. The show's
producers refused to deal with them that way, claiming that it was a violation of union rules
for them to try to bargain collectively without being a recognized bargaining unit.
In any event, according to various accounts, things remained at an impass until Christmas
eve afternoon 1952, when Buffalo Bob called a meeting, with the entire cast and crew sitting
in the peanut gallery and stated that since these four had threatened to quit if they didn't get
their way, they should now take their belongings and leave. They claimed they were fired,
Buffalo Bob claimed they quit. Whatever.
Bob Nicholson took over the role of Clarabell "temporarily." Two years later, he said to
Buffalo Bob, "I thought you said this was temporary." So Lew Anderson, who was a member
of the band in Bob Smith's radio show, was tapped to take over the part. Anderson
continued to play Clarabell until the end of the show, and again in the mid-1970s revival and
in the 40th anniversary special in 1987. He also made road appearances with Buffalo Bob
until the latter's death in 1998.
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2003 Issue #31
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