Subject: [removed] Digest V2002 #475
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 12/8/2002 1:11 PM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2002 : Issue 475
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Security and OTR in World War II      [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
  OTR info for a friend                 [ "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@hotm ]
  CDRW                                  [ CRic952262@[removed] ]
  The Saint On Radio                    [ Paulurbahn@[removed] ]
  Richard Carpenter                     [ "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@charter ]
  Kay Kyser--dead or alive?             [ "welsa" <welsa@[removed]; ]
  George Reeves                         [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@ezlin ]
  MP3 Boomboxes                         [ Shenbarger@[removed] ]
  Red Channels                          [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  My Little Margie                      [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
  Re: NEMO Defined                      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
  The Six Napoleons                     [ wilditralian@[removed] ]
  On the Busses                         [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  Re: NEMO Defined                      [ BH <radiobill@[removed]; ]
  The Mad Russian                       [ Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed]; ]
  I Was a Communist for the FBI         [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  Re: Dwight Weist & Joan Shea          [ hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 22:27:48 -0500
From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Security and OTR in World War II

A news release about Howard Blue's book, Words At War, indicates that a
program was stillborn because of security measures.  In part, it said,

During World War II, CBS radio almost revealed one of the [removed]'s top
wartime secrets, the breaking of the Japanese code. <snip>  a 1943
broadcast came close to letting the cat out of the bag. <snip>   "I got a
story nobody knows," one Air Force man told [Allan Sloane].  "I was in
the outfit that shot down that SOB Yamamoto." The man, a crew member of a
P-38, was referring to the April 1943 shooting down of a bomber, which
killed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

P-38 aircraft did indeed shoot down the admiral.  Yamamoto was in a
Mitsubishi OB-01 "Betty" bomber, one of two flying with an escort of six
Mitsubishi S-OO-1 "Zero" fighters.  These were jumped by a flight of
Lockheed P-38 "Lightning" fighters in an extraordinary mission where the
American fighters were flying at less than wingspan height for most of
the way between Guadalcanal to Bougainville both to avoid being spotted
by radar and to take advantage of "ground effect" to conserve fuel.

However, the P-38 is a single-seat aircraft, with a pilot and no other
crew.  (FWIW, there was no Air Force in World War II: the organization
was the [removed] Army Air Corps.)

"But that's a land based plane!" Sloane replied with a puzzled look,
not realizing he had stumbled
onto the biggest story of his career. "That's right. That's how we got
him. We knew exactly where he was going to be and when." <snip>  when the
script was submitted to the censors, it was slapped down. "Eliminate all
references to the P-38,"Sloane's boss was told. "We'd love to find out
where you got some of this information." <snip>  Had a Japanese spy heard
the projected broadcast, the revelation might have set back the Allied
war effort in the Pacific by several months.[by revealing that the [removed]
was reading the encrypted messages]

>From the standpoint of minimizing the possibility of compromising the
cryptanalytic ability of the [removed],

"[Admiral Nimitz} sought to minimize the danger by ... a cover story.
This was to the effect that Australian coastwatchers had radioed in the
Yamamoto flight information, probably getting it from friendly natives
around Rabul.  The coastwatchers enjoyed a superexcellent reputation
among airmen and so the story would ring true.  If it got back to the
Japanese, they might not even think about codes.  <snip>  [Vice Admiral
Theodore Wilkinson had expressed concern about this, and] In his reply to
Wilkinson, therefore, Nimitz ordered him to brief all personnel on the
cover story, iterated by his authorization, and added a personal, 'good
luck and good hunting' to the message."   [The Codebreakers, by David
Kahn, MacMillan, 1967, p. 599]

Interestingly, the breaking of the highest Japanese cipher, PURPLE, was
almost compromised more than a year before the reported incident.  On
June 7, 1942, The Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story running a full
column to the effect that the [removed] Navy knew of Japanese strength and
groupings in the Midway campaign several days before the battle
commenced.  Although "codes" weren't mentioned, the details in the story
could only have come from data derived in that fashion.  Fortunately,
this wasn't picked up by the Japanese.  And on August 31, 1942,
Representative Elmer Holland of Pennsylvania made a speech about the
newspaper story, condemning the release of the data, thereby noting, "...
what everyone was trying to hush up: 'that somehow our Navy had secured
and broken the secret code of the Japanese Navy." [ibid, p. 604]  Kahn
pointed out that though the speech was reported in many newspapers, the
Japanese didn't find out about it.

Had  Japanese spy heard the projected broadcast, the revelation might
have set back the Allied war effort in the Pacific by several months.

The Japanese had extraordinary faith in their PURPLE system, even in the
face of evidence that it might have been cracked.  "[T]he Japanese
Foreign Ministry never replaced the stepping switches issued with the
first PURPLE machines with newly wired versions.  <snip>  ... meaning
that the United States ... was able to read PURPLE traffic in near real
time throughout the Second World War." [Big Machines, by Stephen Kelly,
Aegean Park Press, 2001, p. 105]

Had the Japanese changed their cipher settings in the 1943 period in
question, it might have taken the cryptanalysts as much as 10 weeks to
break into the new settings.   However, at that time the Pacific forces
were consolidating their positions, so if the Japanese had changed their
settings, while it would have meant lots more work for the crypto teams,
it wouldn't have affected the whole Pacific war effort as much as if
they'd been executing some major attacks.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:27:20 -0500
From: "Martin Grams, Jr." <mmargrajr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR info for a friend

A friend of mine is searching for answers to the following questions.  I was
able to answer many of her questions, but here are the ones I wasn't 100%
certain, so any experts out there able to help her out?  If you know an
answer, just drop me a line.

Amos 'n' Andy -- Which is the correct title: "Amos 'n' Andy" or "The Amos
And Andy Show"?

Andrews Sisters Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch -- Is it "Sisters" or Sisters' (with
apostrophe)?

Kate Smith's programs -- Looks like I have three titles here:
The Kate Smith Show; episode is Jan. 8, 1943
The Kate Smith Hour; episode is June 2, 1944
Kate Smith Sings; episode is Feb. 9, 1947

The Lucky Strike Program -- Is it "Lucky Strike" or "Lucky-Strike"?

She has an AFRS recording of an old-time radio show with a mystery plot
entitled "Dead Ringer," but for the likes of both her and me, we can't
figure out what radio show it belongs to.  It's not Inner Sanctum, not
Suspense, possibly The Whistler?  Anyone know what anthology had an episode
aired between 1940-1946 entitled "Dead Ringer"?

Lastly, she has a broadcast log of Peter Lorre's 1950s series NIGHTMARE and
she has many plots and many titles, and all definite airdates and episode
numbers, but we're both curious to know if someone has already compiled a
complete broadcast log?  If they created a partial, I'll put them in touch
with her, and hopefully both mutual assistance will benefit.

Martin

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:27:27 -0500
From: CRic952262@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  CDRW
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

does anybody here
download shows off the net onto a cdrw

please email 1on1
thank you

Charles

  *** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
  ***                  as the sender intended.                   ***

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:04 -0500
From: Paulurbahn@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Saint On Radio

Let's hear from some Saint fans out there. I left a comment at A&[removed]
requesting that they issue The Saint Black and White Episodes on DVd like
they did all the color episodes. Additionally, I suggested they include a few
episodes of The Saint as "filler" on the DVDs. If you agree leave a similiar
comment at their web site. I understand they are considering issuing the
Black and Whites.
I wonder if The Saint was recorded, or transcribed as they called it back
then. The shows in circulation definately sound from records but if the show
was recorded for broadcast, why would Barry Sullivan have to fill in a few
shows while Vincent Price was in Paris. They could have repeated a recorded
episode. They certainly repeated shows frequently enough as it was according
to the three logs currently available of the show.

Paul Urbahns
paulurbahn@[removed].

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:16 -0500
From: "Michael Leannah" <mleannah@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Richard Carpenter

John Lennon's name popping up on an Old Time Radio list. Imagine!
    Bravo, Richard Carpenter. I share your sentiments.

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 23:28:39 -0500
From: "welsa" <welsa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Kay Kyser--dead or alive?

Kay Kyser (James King Kern Kyser) died July 23, 1985 in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina.  Cremated.

Ted

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:01:31 -0500
From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  George Reeves

In the latest digest Michael Hayde mentioned the following:

Are either of these in circulation?  And does anyone know of any other
programs on which Reeves performed?

I seem to recall he had a bit part in the movie Gone With The Wind (that's
assuming I haven't had one of those senior moments) :-)

Don Dean

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:01:34 -0500
From: Shenbarger@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  MP3 Boomboxes

Today I tested several hybrid CD/MP3 boomboxes. These are all-in-one-housing
units, not towers with separate speakers. Of the half dozen I tested at Best
Buy, two played all my selections. One of those was a no-name brand with poor
audio and awkward navigation. The other is an RCA model RCD128. I liked the
RCA well enough to buy it for a gift. The manual says it plays MP3 recordings
with a bit rate 32 kbps or greater. In use it plays all of the following but
does not show a bit rate in the display for rates lower than 32 kbps -

44,100 samples/sec - 128, 96 and 64 kbps, stereo, joint stereo and mono
24,000 samples/sec - 32 kbps mono
22,050 samples/sec - 64, 32, 24 and 16 kbps, mono
16,000 samples/sec - 32 and 24 kpbs, mono

The player includes an infrared remote control. Some of the controls are
awkward, but that seems to be the norm. The skip button is also the fast
forward button. To use fast forward, push and hold the button. That's fine
except sometimes the remote gets interpreted as a short push and the thing
skips on to the next selection. Otherwise the remote is useful. The manual
says it plays Windows Media Audio (WMA) files, but I have not tested those.
It will play CD-RW disks and I did confirm that. The display shows four
programs in stop mode, scanning a disk is quick. I was able to go from the
top to the bottom of about 200 selections in 30 seconds or so. The sound
quality is fair and respectable for OTR. It runs on batteries if desired or
plugs into the wall. So far I like the RCA unit considering its price but
prefer the Rio Volt with small powered speakers because that remembers where
you turned it off. The RCA forgets where you were. The RCA unit includes an
AM & FM tuner but no tape deck.

There is one recording the RCA player was unable to completely play. It
stopped at 13 minutes into the recording. That same recording plays correctly
on other players I have. My thought about that is the RCA may be more
sensitive to disk errors or disk quality than other players I have,
otherwise, I can't explain why it would stop part way through. I have not
tried to evaluate that failing. The recording that failed is a 192 kbps [removed]
recording about 2 hours long. It's a 150 MB file and a little out of the
ordinary.

Price of the RCA player was $90 less a $20 instant (at the cash register)
rebate at Best Buy. I had to go to two stores to find one in stock. RCA sells
the same unit on their web site for $80.

[removed],2588,PI700272-CI700026,[removed]

The three Sony boomboxes I tested failed to play all the selections with
various results from stalling to playing machine gun type loud noise to
gracefully skipping unplayable selections--so gracefully you would not notice
it had skipped a selection unless you paid attention.

I recommend testing any MP3 player you are looking at with your own samples,
whether it's DVD, portable, boombox or other. All of the players lack
something, especially in ease of use, and choosing is a matter of personal
preference. In choosing the RCA, I determined simple and reliable to be
important considering who I am giving it to. It does have some complicated
features, but they can be ignored.

I am retired and don't work for any of the electronic equipment makers.

Most of my posts to this mail list have been technical, but I do enjoy OTR
greatly and all the stories I read here. Hopefully my long winded technical
stuff doesn't burn too many ears. If it does, let me know and I can make them
short.

Don Shenbarger

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:24:43 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Red Channels

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 17:38:47 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];

Clark's list, in turn, was drawn from an assortment of old FBI memos,
hearsay, and various published sources.  A number of the organizations
listed by Clark were defunct groups which had advocated wartime aid to
Russian refugees, while others were Depression-oriented groups which had
been defunct since the 1930s. Still others had seen the peak of their
activity in the 1920s or even the 1910s.

This is all the more support for the proposition that the entire phenomenon known rightly or 
wrongly as "McCarthyism" really had nothing to do with national security and had everything 
to do with power trips, money, and people covering their behinds.  And quite a few careers 
and lives were destroyed before some people like John Henry Falk, Edward R. Murrow, and 
others got up some courage to challenge it.

I read an article in "Sky and Telescope" magazine a few years ago about how an astronomer 
at Harvard was passed over for Observatory Director over this sort of nonsense.  Exactly how 
the political beliefs of an observatory director can have anything to do with national security 
is a bit hard to fathom.  The man, fortunately, ended up in better shape than most.  He 
moved to Australia, where he specialized in the study of the Southern Milky Way.

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 01:25:03 -0500 From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed]; To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: My Little Margie
Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 10:50:07 -0500
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];

1952 - My Little Margie, starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, made its
debut on CBS.

I remember that one on both radio and television.  Was this one of the handful of shows that 
started first on television and then went to radio? Or did the radio and TV versions start 
simultaneously?

-- A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed] 15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed] Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:51:19 -0500 From: BH <radiobill@[removed]; To: [removed]@[removed] Subject: Re: NEMO Defined From: "Bill Orr" <billorr6@[removed]; says:
During my early days in broadcast (late 40's), I was told that NEMO was
derived from the Greek meaning "far away, remote".  It took up little space
on a patch panel where space was at a premium.

I have come to doubt the "Greek connection" but I also doubt that it is
(was) an acronym.  So, back to square one.

Here you can see its use.
[removed]
Scroll about half way down the page to the picture of the
Telechron clock used to controll the NBC Chimes.

Bill H.

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:54:02 -0500
From: wilditralian@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Six Napoleons

08 DEC 02

Good morning,

I am presently doing research for a book involving radio, silver-screen,
and television versions of the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Six
Napoleons".  I presently have copies of the following"  [1] 03-07-48,
Mutual, John Stanley and Alfred Shirley;  [2] 12-07-54, BBC Light
Programme, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson;  [3] 12-05-66, BBC
Light Programme, Carlton Hobbs and Norman Shelley;  [4] 1986, Granada TV,
Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke; and,  [5] 09-08-93, BBC Radio Four,
Clive Merrison and Michael Williams.
	I know that there was at least one other broadcast on American radio.
It was first broadcast on May 25, 1931, and then again on June 22, 1932,
and starred Richard Gordon as Holmes.  There was also a silent film done
in 1922 starring Ellie Norwood.  If anyone knows of the existence of
copies of either of these, I would be most appreciative if someone could
put this old Hound of the Baskervilles on the scent.

Best regards to all,

Jim Arva

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:54:16 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  On the Busses

Talking of BBC shows on radio-TV  I loved "On the Busses" and wonder if any
st's available and/or if it ever went to radio like Dad's Army (another
great [removed] the
greatest.)

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 14:51:29 -0500
From: BH <radiobill@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: NEMO Defined

Forgot to add, the web page states it comes from a telephone term
(Not Emanating Main Office).

Bill H.

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:02 -0500
From: Kenneth Clarke <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Mad Russian

          The character  of the Mad Russian was played by
comedian Bert Gordon.  It seems to me that he used to
have appearances on shows like "Duffy's Tavern" and
others, but I seem to have memories of him doing skits
with Eddie Cantor.  He may have been a guest on "The
Eddie Cantor Show" or one of the shows Cantor hosted.
I'm not sure.

          As I recall, the line most identified with the Mad
Russian is 'how do you do' in a heavy Russian accent.

Kenneth Clarke

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:07 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "otr message" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  I Was a Communist for the FBI

The whole blacklisting business continues to fascinate me and I try to read
see and hear all I can about it. What does it mean that almost all of the
radio and film personalities that I admired for their talent and work were
blacklist victims? What does it say about me, I wonder. And so many of the
vocal patriots in radio and film I never cared for,
never made me laugh and I never liked!? Tis a puzzlement. I know my liking
or disliking did come before I was aware of their politics so I don't think
my own politics were a factor.

To try and keep the focus on otr, does anyone have anecdotes on the I Was a
Communist For the FBI series or Matt [removed] life during the series and
afterwards.

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2002 15:10:59 -0500
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Dwight Weist & Joan Shea

My OTR compadre Bill Murtough raised two interesting points. He told the
story about a sounds effects man, when he commented about the strong
chemical odor emanating from a sound proof "filter booth.

When he came out he leaned into the cast mike and commented on the smell and
added "they must have had a communist meeting in there last night". The
entire
cast as one gave him a "dirty look". Apparently they were all comunist
members. Jim came into the control room and stated that he would never do
that
again.

I wasn't sure about how to interpret your statement contained in that story,
Bill.

"Apparently they were all comunist members".

Were you being serious? Or facetious? That was an interesting reaction on
their part.

Bill goes on to say;

Dwight Weist was a close friend and a flying buddy of mine. He was joined
by my one time girl friend, actress Joan Shea, when they spearheaded an
action by their union at a West coast AFRA convention to oust Murray
Wagner from their union.

Wow, what a small world. Dwight Weist was a close buddy? I applaud your
choice of friends. And Joan Shea was your one time girlfriend????

I bet I loved her more than you did. (Just kidding, Bill). Joan was a very
frequent performer on the "Archie Andrews" show. I had the biggest teen age
crush on her. (Right on up to the present day). Of course, she never knew it
until I confessed that fact to her at an OTR Convention some 10 years ago
(featuring an Archie Cast reunion). Bob Hastings  and I were standing around
reminiscing with her, when I confided that fact to her. Hastings chimed in
that he too had a "crush" on her back then. But I then confronted Joan, and
said, "Go on, tell Hastings the truth. YOU LOVED ME MORE THAN YOU LOVED HIM,
RIGHT? We adored her because she was so charming, not to mention good
looking. (By the way, in the section of my book that talks about Joan, there
is a couple of picture of her to illustrate just how lovely she was.

I don't mean to pry [removed] What led to the break-up of your
"romance"? I didn't have anything to do with her extreme political views did
it? Wow. I discovered another truly wonderful person was interested in
exposing communists in the business. I wonder. Was Joan "responsible" for
the death of anyone. I bet you will proclaim loud and clear. NO WAY!!!

Hal(harlan)Stone
Jughead

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2002 Issue #475
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