------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2007 : Issue 5
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Patricia Bruder [ Stuart Lubin <stuartlubin6686@sbcgl ]
Silent Film on Radio [ Robert Fells <rfells@[removed]; ]
Frank Stanton [ Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed]; ]
[removed] Joe [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed] ]
Recording of early radio broadcast - [ Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed] ]
A Host for Sirius [ "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed] ]
Silent film and radio [ Larry Telles <ltelles@[removed]; ]
3D film [ Rentingnow@[removed] ]
More praise for XM [ "L. M. Grider" <lancelotlmg@[removed] ]
"The Thing on the Fourble Board" [ "pjh3@[removed]" <pjh3@earthlin ]
1-5 births/deaths [ Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed] ]
Jerry's podcast [ Steve Carter <scarter2@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 13:37:01 -0500
From: Stuart Lubin <stuartlubin6686@[removed];
To: Time Radio Digest Old Time Radio Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Patricia Bruder
The wealth of knowledge and information of our many digesters is
amazing! I am so glad that Andrew Godfrey brought up the subject
of performers crossing over from one medium to another, and
therefore, I just casually mentioned Patricia Bruder.
Thank you, Kathy, for the information on this very charming,
talented, graceful performer. For anyone who did not read what
Kathy sent about Patricia's many credits and her upcoming
appearance on "Kids In The Biz", this is the radio credit that
is mentioned:
Patricia Bruder Debrovner started her career singing on the
radio show Rainbow House, before appearing on Juvenile Jury,
both on radio and television.
I did not know this, and when I first wrote about her being on
radio, I referred only to her appearances on Himan Brown's CBS
Radio Mystery Theatre.
Bottom line: I am sorry I am so far away in Los Angeles that I
will miss seeing Patricia in her upcoming appearance in NYC.
Stuart
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 13:37:48 -0500
From: Robert Fells <rfells@[removed];
To: "[removed]" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Silent Film on Radio
I can't shed any light on Robert Birchard's question in identifying a
photo with famed silent film director [removed] Griffith, but he brings up an
interesting bit of esoterica involving silent films adapted for radio
broadcasts. I have heard of a few, most notably the Lux Radio Theater
1936 and 1947 broadcasts of "The Jazz Singer," the 1927 so-called first
talkie. The film was actually 90 percent silent with a synchronized
music score, but it sprang to life during the brief talkie interludes
with Al Jolson. The 1936 Lux broadcast seems to be lost but the 1947
version actually used the same background music heard in the film. Of
course, both broadcasts starred Mr. Jolson.
Another silent film that got the Lux treatment was another 1927 classic,
"Seventh Heaven" starring Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor. If memory
serves (not from 1927 but from the last time I checked the Lux log) the
radio version was the very first Lux broadcast in 1934. In 1950, Lux had
a reunion and brought back Farrell and Gaynor for an encore
[removed] were pretty much retired from acting by then although
Jack Benny fans will recognize Farrell from his guest appearances on the
show in the late 40s - but in his capacity as owner of a Palm Springs
tennis resort and, as Mr. Benny insisted in a running gag, "the star of
Seventh Heaven." Farrell reinvented himself again in the mid-1950s as
Gale Storm's father in TV's "My Little Margie."
The ill-fated Jean Harlow starred on Lux in December 1936 (a mere six
months before her death) in "Madame Sans Gene" which was a famous Gloria
Swanson silent from the 20s. And [removed] Griffith did make a guest
appearance on Lux around that same time - perhaps that is what Mr.
Birchard's photo documents. I'd have to check the Lux log to pinpoint
the exact broadcast.
Bob Fells
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 13:53:16 -0500
From: Dan Hughes <danhughes@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Frank Stanton
One more point about Dr. Stanton: Several years ago I asked Rosemary
Rice (who had starred in an early CBS tv series, I Remember Mama), if she
had ever met William Paley.
Yes, she said, he dropped by the set often. Then she said, "But he was
so serious, so formal. Dr. Stanton was there a lot, too, and he liked to
play, he was a lot of fun."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 14:02:15 -0500
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: [removed] Joe
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To answer the question asked, [removed] Joe was broadcast on the radio in 1953. In
the NYT, the earliest radio listings I can find are from March 1953 and the
latest are from October 1953.
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Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 14:02:24 -0500
From: Andrew Steinberg <otrdig2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Recording of early radio broadcast - 1910
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There is a recording of a (possibly) very early radio transmission of morse
code from 1910 at [removed]
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Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 15:08:45 -0500
From: "Karen Lerner" <[removed]@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest (E-mail)" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: A Host for Sirius
>From your lips to Sirius' ears, Al Girard! I contacted Sirius about a year
ago proposing that they needed a host for their Radio Classics channel. I
even went so far as to offer my own services in that regard. After all,
their listeners are already used to hearing my voice in some of the Radio
Spirits commercials! It was to no avail, however. But, perhaps in the new
year they will change their [removed]
Karen Lerner
Radio Spirits, Inc.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 16:57:16 -0500
From: Larry Telles <ltelles@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Silent film and radio
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Yes, Frank McGurn was correct about Al Jolson as host/star of "Shell
Chateau" in 1935 & 1936 and not in the 1940's as I described. Also
"Kraft Music Hall" from August, 1933 to August 1934 and 1946. I got my
generalities and specifics mixed up at that late hour when I wrote the post.
<>For Robert Birchard and his picture of [removed] Griffith at a KHJ
microphone is a slightly more difficult one. Many of the United Artist
stars, Fairbanks, Pickford, Barrymore, Del Rio, Talmadge, Swanson and
Griffith had done a radio broadcast together. The closest day is said
to be a year before the release of "Way Down East" (August 21, 1921).
Griffith did a 13 week radio show during the winter of 1933-34. It was
two fifteen-minute broadcasts a week, sponsored by Hinds Honey and
Almond Cream, a hand lotion. The show was called, "Hollywood as
Griffith Knew It," which he was paid $450 a week. In between the 1920
and 1933 radio appearances, [removed] participated in an experiment called
television. On February 3, 1929 he went to WGY, Schenectady, to read a
fifteen-minute speech on "his success in the movies." I guess he didn't
have much to say. So, the radio shows were possibly both done in
Hollywood, but the TV was New York.
Larry
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Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 18:02:23 -0500
From: Rentingnow@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 3D film
The Strand Capitol at 50 N. George Street, York, PA 17401
[removed] will be playing CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON in 3-D
format. It was originally shown in theaters in 3-D in 1954 and although it
really isn't HOUSE OF WAX quality, it's still a classic.
I saw the original and then recently a little - as much as I could stand -
on TV. I was a projectionist at a theater in Powell Wyoming which had shown
it as well as other 3-D movies. The still had the special equipment stored
in
a closet when I was working there.
It was a difficult process. At that time it had to be put together into one
long reel. Or rather 2 long reels as they were shown simultaneously. The
problem was synch. If it was out of synch even one frame there were
problems.
If the film broke, a spacer frame had to be inserted to make up for any
frame(s) that might be lost in repairing the film.
This was the Polaroid system which allowed one projected image to be seen by
one eye and the other on the other eye. And it made the color of "House"
richer particularly during the burning scene.
This was not the 2 color system which was very inferior although that system
required only one projector and solved the synch problem.
I think that there are some amusement parks which use them. Imax has a 3-D
system but haven't seen it and don't know what their system is.
But 3-D is fun particularly when things are thrown into the audience. If my
memory serves me there was one film - House of Wax?- in which the director
had only one eye. To say the least there were problems in the shooting of
the
film.
Larry Moore
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 19:14:22 -0500
From: "L. M. Grider" <lancelotlmg@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: More praise for XM
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Hi everybody! I have two subjects on top of my soapbox: First I'd like to get
on board the bandwidthwagon of praise for XM Radio's channel 164, their Old
Time Radio station. It is hosted by the remarkable Mr. Greg Bell, who
introduces nearly every show with a bit of usually fun, but always reliable,
information. That station, in fact, was the sole reason I got XM to begin
with; I have since come to enjoy too many other stations they have to
unsubscribe. Unfortunately, since I've subscribed for over a year, I have now
heard nearly every program they have. This brings me to my first question for
discussion: If these programs are in the public domain, why does anyone have
to pay a fee to broadcast them? And to whom is the fee paid? The network? The
producers? I won't get into the Sirius vs. XM debate, though if Sirius does
not have an on-air host, it would make it impossible to switch, for me anyway.
My second item is about my all-time favorite show Fibber McGee and Molly.
My question here is why did Jim and Marion Jordan never make it to
television? I have done some research on this, and several times throughout
the 1940s, Time magazine stated that 'as soon as the war ended,' the most
popular radio shows, like FM&M were certain to get onto TV. I found mention
of FM&M doing this as late as 1949. Yet nothing happened until 1959, when a
truly dreadful program calling itself Fibber McGee and Molly, but without the
Jordans, fouled the airwaves for 13 weeks before being mercifully axed. My
theory on this is: If you have seen their four Hollywood movies, it is not
too surprising that the FM&M format would not work on video. Radio and video
are distinct media, and all of Don Quinn's wonderful word toys that
commandeer radio's theater of the mind are random flotsam in the
image-demanding media of film or TV. But why did so many other OTR stars make
this transition, and not
the Jordans? Why did the Jordans never hit the guest star circuit for Burns
and Allen or Jack Benny or the variety shows? I grew up in the 60s, and I
never heard of the Jordans until I got into OTR in the late 1970s. Was Marion
Jordan's health the issue? I'd be interested in hearing someone else's
insight on this. OTR fans are really the greatest resource for the facts.
Until later, keep your closet stuffed!
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[ADMINISTRIVIA: We are not going to discuss the rights or lack thereof of
[removed]'s _way_ too early in the year to go down that road. I haven't
yet finished off the nog. --cfs3]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 19:32:26 -0500
From: "pjh3@[removed]" <pjh3@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: "The Thing on the Fourble Board"
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Dennis Crow asks: "When did "The Thing on the Fourble Board" become so
highly regarded; when did its reputation start to build, and more to the
point, why?"
I'm a newcomer to OTR - just 3 or 4 years of listening and reading and
learning, so I'm in no way qualified to even take a swipe at the OTR aspect
of the question. But I'm a professional writer, and - with the hope that I'm
not being presumptuous in a maiden message to the digest - I have some
thoughts to offer for consideration from the writing perspective, ones that
may speak to the "why" that Dennis Crow asks about.
The first time I heard this show, it took over my senses. It's a masterful
piece of writing and an equally masterful delivery, which I think are the
two elements that make this show an OTR classic.
Among the outstanding and memorable qualities for me that I think have kept
it on top:
1 - The first-person narrative is compelling. In a perfectly executed
technique, the writer has assured the reader that this main character is
safe. At least not dead. We're pretty confident this must be so because the
person central to the story is narrating it. He survived whatever is going
to happen in the story. So our brains are free from the intrusive
will-he/won't-he anxiety that accompanies many eerie tales.
2 - The performance includes segments of two-person exchanges, flashbacks
that add a gripping sense of realism. It erases the "campfire stories"
quality that can dilute a tale.
3 - The sound effects are a maestro's blend of the real and unreal. Real
enough to make us believe, unreal enough to scare us and make us imagine.
4 - The "word pictures" are so vivid that they electrify
the finger
the
ring
the shiver of fear when he talks about spiders (a subtle yet powerful
foreshadowing).
5 - The writing and the narration are flawlessly understated. Wyllis Cooper
left ALL the fill-in-the-blank work to the listener. We are free to imagine
what this creature looks like, what it must feel like to be smothered by the
black blanket of night, what kind of jacket or shirt he's wearing, how the
sizzle of the pork chops punctuates the silence, what kind of unearthly
creature could squeal like a kitten lost in a maze.
6 - The actor, Ernest Chappell, is superb in his matter-of-fact delivery.
One of the most destructive characteristics of entertainment today is the
apparent premise that louder is better, and a hammerlock on the listeners'
ears is the route to effective punch lines. None of that tainted "The Thing
on the Fourble Board." Quiet, modulated, deliberate, slow. Every word
counts. No filler. No fluff.
7 - The ending stunned me. I'm pretty good at thinking ahead to the twist
that will come at the end of a story, but I could never, EVER have imagined
['imaged'] the conclusion. Another element of masterful writing. There was
not a hint of the story's end during the narration.
The writer asks a lot of the listeners. They must pay attention. Must. No
distractions, no daydreaming, not even for a minute. If we miss a sentence,
maybe even a specific word, we risk missing some of the story itself. So
it's not a surprise to me that it could take two, three or more times of
listening to knit the whole thing together. I had the luxury of first
listening to it in the deathly quiet of the middle of the night. Not
everyone does.
Distilled version of my opinion of all this: It's not so much the idea that
makes a story great as it is the art of telling it. I think that's behind
the celebration and endurance of "The Thing on the Fourble Board."
With regards,
Patricia
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Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 22:03:47 -0500
From: Ronald Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 1-5 births/deaths
January 5th births
01-05-1893 - Ace Brigode - Illinois - d. 2-3-1960
bandleader: "White Rose Gasoline Show"; "Jersey Cereal Show"
01-05-1901 - George Price - NYC - d. 5-10-1964
actor: "Hildegarde's Raleigh Room"
01-05-1902 - Eve Sully - NYC - d. 8-7-1990
comedianne: appearedd with husband Jesse Block on radio
01-05-1910 - James Doyle - St. Paul, MN - d. 7-1-1980
announcer: "The Great Gildersleeve"; "Rogue's Gallery"
01-05-1910 - Lumpy Brannum - Sandwich, IL - d. 4-19-1987
bass: "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians"
01-05-1911 - Jean-Pierre Aumont - Paris, France - d. 1-30-2001
actor: "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Philip Morris Playhouse"
01-05-1916 - Alfred Ryder - NYC - d. 4-16-1995
actor: Sammie Goldberg "The Goldbergs"; Carl "Easy Aces"
01-05-1938 - Lindsay Crosby - California - d. 12-11-1989
actor: "Bing Crosby Show"
January 5th deaths
02-02-1912 - Burton Lane - NYC - d. 1-5-1997
composer: "Columbia Presents Corwin"; "Voices of Vista"
02-17-1914 - Arthur Kennedy - Worcester, MA - d. 1-5-1990
actor: "Best Plays"
03-20-1908 - Stuart Metz - Buffalo, NY - d. 1-5-1994
announcer: "Pepper Young's Family"; "Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons"
03-26-1916 - Vic Schoen - Brooklyn, NY - d. 1-5-2000
music: "The Andrews Sisters"
03-29-1902 - Onslow Stevens - Los Angeles, CA - d. 1-5-1977
actor: "Great Plays"
04-11-1921 - Toni Darnay - Chicago, IL - d. 1-5-1983
actor: Evelyn Winters "Strange Romance of Evelyn Winters"
04-15-1915 - Hans Conried - Baltimore, MD - d. 1-5-1982
actor: Professor Kropotkin "My Friend Irma"; Schultz "Life with Luigi"
04-22-1922 - Charlie Mingus - Nogales, AZ - d. 1-5-1979
jazz bass player: "Here's to Veterans"
04-27-1896 - Rogers Hornsby - Winters, TX - d. 1-5-1963
hall of fame baseball player: "Play Ball"; "Tops in Sports"
06-08-1913 - Ray Morgan - d. 1-5-1975
announcer: "Counterspy"; "Gangbusters"; "Murder at Midnight"
06-24-1912 - Brian Johnston - Little Berkhamsted, England - d. 1-5-1994
entertainer-commentator: "In Town Tonight"; "Down Your Way"
07-10-1896 - Slim Summerville - Albuquerque, NM - d. 1-5-1946
actor: "Hollywood Star Time"
08-08-1905 - Ross Graham - Benton, AR - d. 1-5-1986
bariton-bass: "Cities Service Concert"; "Show Boat"
08-11-1904 - Jess Stacy - Bird's Point, MO - d. 1-5-1994
jazz piano player: "Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts"
09-27-1913 - Hugh Rowlands - Racine, WI - d. 1-5-1978
actor: Trigger Brett "Island Venture"; Jimmy "Tom Mix"
xx-xx-1858 - Lottie Blair Parker - d. 1-5-1937
writer: "Way Down East"
xx-xx-1888 - William Lynn - Providence, RI - d. 1-5-1952
actor: Casper Milquestoast "The Timid Soul"; Mac "Tillie the Toiler"
Ron Sayles
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 23:33:16 -0500
From: Steve Carter <scarter2@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Jerry's podcast
bismass said:
In the beginning Jerry's podcasts were standard mp3 files. Apparently
you can only use Itunes to get them, which puts those without ipods out
in the nether darkness. It is really cold and quiet out here! Kurt
You don't have to have an iPod to use iTunes. You just download the
software (mac or pc) and use it. You can then listen to the content
on your computer.
I have a Mac but I've never had an iPod. For about 3 years I have
been using a little iRiver digital audio player. I bought that
instead of an iPod because it has a FM tuner in it.
Steve
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2007 Issue #5
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