------------------------------
The Old-Time Radio Digest!
Volume 2004 : Issue 390
A Part of the [removed]!
[removed]
ISSN: 1533-9289
Today's Topics:
Is this real? [ "corganoid@[removed]" <corganoid@jun ]
12-9 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
radio v. TV (and v. reading) [ David Loftus <dloft59@[removed] ]
More Writing the Ranger [ Dave Parker <dave@[removed] ]
Man Called X -- help with titles, da [ "Joseph" <drjoewebb@[removed]; ]
Re: Hermit's Cave [ "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@ya ]
Imagination in Print and Radio [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
Re: Fred Allen for a newbie [ Dixonhayes@[removed] ]
Fred Allen [ "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@attorneyro ]
'Theatre' I Mind [ skallisjr@[removed] ]
12-10 births/deaths [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Billie the Brownie broadcast [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
Lifetime of digital media [ ".dan." <ddunfee@[removed]; ]
fred allen recommendations [ "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed]; ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 15:58:30 -0500
From: "corganoid@[removed]" <corganoid@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Is this real?
I don't know if you guys ever discussed this before, but here [removed]
I was just reading about a a Mercury Theater production called "The
Assassination of Saint Nicholas". This was apparently a mock newscast from
the North Pole which (on the show) was recently invaded by Nazis.
Read about it here:
[removed]
Is this for real? Did this broadcast ever take place? If so, do recordings
exist today?
Considering the source of the article I just don't believe the thing ever
[removed] it did I can only say [removed] were they thinking?
Juno Gift Certificates
Give the gift of Internet access this holiday season.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 16:00:29 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-9 births/deaths
December 9th births
12-09-1897 - Herb Lytton - d. 6-26-1981
actor: Bill Johnson "Gallant Heart"
12-09-1897 - Hermione Gingold - London, England - d. 5-24-1987
actress: "Stagestruck"
12-09-1902 - Margaret Hamilton - Cleveland, OH - d. 5-16-1985
actress: Aunt Effie "Couple Next Door"
12-09-1903 - Brace Beemer - Mount Carmel, IL - d. 3-1-1965
actor: Lone Ranger "Lone Ranger"
12-09-1903 - Matty Malneck - Newark, NJ - d. 2-25-1981
bandleader: "Campana Serenade"; "Duffy's Tavern"
12-09-1905 - Dalton Trumbo - Montrose, CO - d. 9-10-1976
writer: (member of infamous Hollywood Ten); "Arch Oboler's Plays"
12-09-1906 - Freddy Martin - Cleveland, OH - d. 9-30-1906
bandleader: "Penthouse Serenade"; "Fitch Bandwagon"; "Jack Carson Show"
12-09-1906 - Ken Niles - Livingston, MT - d. 10-31-1988
announcer: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Rudy Vallee Show"; "A Date with Judy"
12-09-1909 - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - NYC - d. 5-7-2000
actor: "Silent Men"; "This Is War"; "We Care"
12-09-1911 - Broderick Crawford - Philadelphia, PA - d. 4-26-1986
actor: "Hedda Hopper Show"; "Hallmark Playhouse"; Cavalcade of America"
12-09-1912 - Bartlett Robinson - NYC - d. 3-26-1986
actor: Walter Manning "Portia Faces Life"; Perry Mason "Perry Mason"
12-09-1915 - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Jarotschin, Poland
singer: Austrian Radio
12-09-1916 - Kirk Douglas - Amsterdam, NY
actor: "Doris Day Show"; "Hollywood Byline"; "Screen Director's Playhouse"
12-09-1918 - George Heinemann - d. 8-21-1996
creator: "Faces in the Window"
12-09-1928 - Dick Van Patten - Richmond Hill, Queens, NY
actor: Wilfred Finnegan "Duffy's Tavern"; "Let's Pretend"; Jimmy Dugan
"Reg'lar Fellers"
12-09-1934 - Judi Dench - York, England
actress: Renaissance Theatre Company in association with BBC Radio Drama
December 9th deaths
01-03-1898 - John Loder - London, England - d. 12-9-1988
actor, host: "Crime Does Not Pay"; "Silver Theatre"
01-07-1922 - Vincent Gardenia - Naples, Italy - d. 12-9-1992
actor: "CBS Mystery Theatre"
02-29-1896 - William A. Wellman - Brookline, MA - d. 12-9-1975
film director: "Screen Director's Playhouse"
07-28-1916 - Laird Cregar - Philadelphia, PA - d. 12-9-1944
actor: "Hello, Americans"; "Radio Hall of Fame"; "Suspense"
08-06-1881 - Louella Parsons - Freeport, IL - d. 12-9-1972
commentator: "Hollywood Hotel"; "Louella Parsons"
08-08-1905 - Nino Martini - Verona, Italy - d. 12-9-1976
singer: "Seven Star Revue"
10-09-1912 - Walter Compton - Charleston, SC - d. 12-9-1959
quizmaster: "Double or Nothing"
11-21-1908 - Mary Young Taylor - Star Lake, NY - d. 12-9-1973
commentator: (The First Lady of Radio) "Martha Deane Show";
11-21-1921 - Vivian Blaine - Newark, NJ - d. 12-9-1995
actress, singer: "Lux Radio Theatre"
12-25-1909 - Mike Mazurki - Tarnopol, Austria - d. 12-9-1990
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 16:20:12 -0500
From: David Loftus <dloft59@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: radio v. TV (and v. reading)
Paul Adomites, speaking of OTR and entertainment, commented:
what's unique about radio is how it lets you create the pictures in
your own head, which involved A) some effort and B) some creativity on
your part. Which could not be more unlike the zillions of dollars
Hollywood spends (and then charges us) to relieve us from the expenditure
of one second's effort. Enjoying radio is much different in every way
from every other kind of entertainment out there now
and Tom L. Barnett responded:
And if you follow that to its logical end, however. Radio relieves us of the
imagination and additional effort involved ni creating the voices and sound
effects that can be present in a great novel. Radio is to reading (in a
loose sense) what television is to radio.
That's a very loose sense. Both radio and television/film are more direct
in communicating their messages -- via sound and sight -- than writing.
The comparison you're suggesting seems to me a little closer to apples
and oranges than apples and apples.
Books filter verbiage through the eye and brain, whereupon an
extremely complex process of conversion to mental imagery and
soundscapes commences, subject to each individual's experiences,
abilities, knowledge base, etc.
Radio and TV/film are more similar to each other in that they feed
material more directly to the senses, and that material is immutable
in itself, but the mind CAN work on it somewhat in the case of radio
material . . . much less so, I think, with TV/film. They also resemble
each other in their "inevitability" -- their inexorable forward progress
(unless, of course, one is making use of audiotapes, videotapes,
and DVDs, I suppose; but in that case, the material is exactly the
same every time you receive it) as opposed to a book, with which
one may move as quickly or slowly as one chooses, double back,
reread with a different level of attention and absorption and
"creative effort."
I do think there's a much greater quality loss when one moves from
radio to video -- at least in this sense of the personal creativity of
the consumer -- than from book to radio. Or rather, the media are
so much more different that comparisons are nearly impossible.
But all of this probably sounds more certain than it is. I'm mostly
just speculating here.
David Loftus
Portland, Oregon
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 16:19:38 -0500
From: Dave Parker <dave@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: More Writing the Ranger
--
Happy Holidays everyone. This is Part 2 of "WRITING THE RANGER", the
information for which came from Fran Striker Sr. back in the early
50's.
Fran was telling me how "he did it" - and I was fascinated. A
once-in-a-lifetime chance to get it right. Soooooo - "As you'll
remember everyone" --Fran had just told me how he fashioned the
characters that inhabited his stories. Ready?
"And when you get your 'good guy' Fran continued, 'You have to give
him something to make listeners like him. Like maybe he loves his
dog, or maybe he's a cripple and can't walk. Or maybe she's a sweet
old lady that some slippery lawyer is trying to deceive. Or maybe
he's a little boy who'se lost his parents."
(Me talking now) And of course, Director Chuck Livingstone knew
exactly who to cast in the many good guy parts. Ernie Winstanley,
Bob Dale, Rolly Parker, Jim Fletcher. And of course, the
super-talented Dick Beals who played so many kids.
Back to Fran "You see, if I deal with stereotyped characters, the
audience knows them and what to expect from them. That saves a lot of
script time which I can use to develop the plot and build suspense.
Seldom do we have a really complicated personality, or a surprise
switch in a character.
"The fact is that people want to have 'good guys' and 'bad guys' in
real life too. Suppose you take a girl to a baseball game. She
doesn't know anthing about baseball, but when an outfielder catches
her eye and grins--why then she's for his team.
"It's instinctive to choose sides" Fran added
About the Lone Ranger himself, Fran said "If I were describing the
kind of man the Ranger is, I'd say that he's fearless, strong, clean
living. He hates evil ad is so wrapped up in his 'mission' to
capture crooks that he doesn't have time for friends or romance.
"He feel the future of the country is in the west so he's on the side
of anyone who wants to build in the west --like the railroads. And
of course he"s very patriotic. and believes in the right of every man
to work at what he wants to do and to profit in proportion to his
work"
Fran told me that the character of the Ranger was developed over
time, but from the first it was determined that he would always speak
correct English, never shoot to kill, be tolerant of all things
good. And of course, he could outwit, and fight any bad guys who
crossed his path.
End of Part 2.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 20:44:20 -0500
From: "Joseph" <drjoewebb@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Man Called X -- help with titles, dates?
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
I have 2 shows that I suspect are from the 1952 run. One is about rescuing a
scientist from a slave labor camp in Czechoslovakian uranium mines. The other
is about an escaped Nazi scientist who is planning to release nerve gas at a
NATO meeting is Lisbon. Any help would be appreciated. I don't think these
shows are in broad circulation, but I think I traded them about 20 yrs ago to
a very limited number of collectors. RegardsJoe WebbHarrisville, RI
_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - [removed]
The most personalized portal on the Web!
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 20:44:40 -0500
From: "jazmaan@[removed]" <dmf273@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Hermit's Cave
Melanie wrote:
I just listened to 16 episodes
Ok, so which were your favorites?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 20:44:57 -0500
From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Imagination in Print and Radio
Tom Barnett wrote:
Radio relieves us of the imagination and additional effort involved
in creating the voices and sound effects that can be present in a
great novel. Radio is to reading (in a loose sense) what television
is to radio.
A very good point, and a very interesting comparison! A slightly
different take on this is the following:
"I really believe that had the great poets of yore been around today, or
men of their caliber, they would opt for radio because radio is a medium
that sets up the listener as a collaborator. Whereas television, which
is by far the richer and more potent medium today, is very literal.
Radio demands, requires the collaboration, just as a good book does: the
collaboration being between the writer and the reader. Here it is
between the writer and the listener." -- Norman Corwin
Adapting a story from print to radio means just that, adapting --
changing things. Otherwise, you end up with an audiobook, which is
something else again, kind of 'neither flesshe nor fowle," as it were.
I'd like to toss out two general questions for anyone:
What do you think are the best (or alternatively the worst!) examples of
adaptations of print for radio?
In a general sense, what do you think of audiobooks, compared to
dramatized adaptations?
Richard Fish
--
"Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 22:06:00 -0500
From: Dixonhayes@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: Fred Allen for a newbie
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
In a message dated 12/8/04 3:01:21 PM Central Standard Time,
[removed]@[removed] writes:
Please recommend outstanding Fred Allen episodes for a neopyhte?
Two essential shows are the 1940 "Eagle" show, where the eagle gets loose in
the studio, and the "King For a Day" sketch with Jack Benny. After that, you
ought to look for the "Town Hall Tonight" shows from the 1930s and the
mid-1940s shows sponsored by Blue Bonnet Margarine and Tenderleaf Tea, those
were
always my favorites.
Dixon
*** This message was altered by the server, and may not appear ***
*** as the sender intended. ***
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 01:42:42 -0500
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Fred Allen
Please recommend outstanding Fred Allen episodes for a neopyhte? Thanks.
The best one I've ever heard was the last show, on 29 June 1949. It features
Jack Benny
and makes him twice as cheap as he ever was on his own show.
--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed] [removed]
15 Court Square, Suite 210 lawyer@[removed]
Boston, MA 02108-2503 [removed]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 08:22:26 -0500
From: skallisjr@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: 'Theatre' I Mind
Tom L. Barnett, speaking of Paul Adomites' observation that the unique
quality of OTR's ability to stimulate the imagination's images, noted,
And if you follow that to its logical end, however. Radio relieves us
of the imagination and additional effort involved in creating the voices
and sound effects that can be present in a great novel. Radio is to
reading (in a loose sense) what television is to radio.
Actually, it's a tad unfair to contrast different entertainment media.
Superman for example, began as a comic book, but also translated to OTR.
Captain Midnight originated on the radio and translated (fairly
successfully) to a newspaper comic strip and (Gawdawfully) to a comic
book (Fawcett). Many science-fiction magazine stories were adapted to
OTR.
I, for one, am a little tired of the "theatre of the mind" reference; one
doesn't use the term when speaking of reading stories. OTR is OTR, a
unique art form. I enjoy listening to OTR recordings. I enjoy watching
films. I like to read books. But, IMHO, comparing the different art
forms critically isn't a productive exercise.
Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 11:38:26 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: 12-10 births/deaths
December 10th births
12-10-1889 - Arthur Vinton - Brooklyn, NY - d. 2-26-1963
actor: Killer Kane "Buck Rogers"; Commissioner Weston "The Shadow"
12-10-1889 - Ray Collins - Sacramento, CA - d. 7-11-1965
actor: Doc Will Hackett, "County Seat"; member of The Mercury Theatre
12-10-1903 - Una Merkel - Covington, KY - d. 1-2-1986
actress: Adeline Fairchild "Great Gildersleeve"; "Johnny Presents"; "Texaxo
Star Theatre"
12-10-1911 - Chet Huntley - Cardwell, CO - d. 3-20-1974
newscaster, producer: "They Burned the Books"
12-10-1913 - Morton Gould - Richmond Hill, NY - d. 2-21-1996
conductor: "Music for Today"; "Original Amateur Hour"; "Cresta Blanca Carnival"
12-10-1914 - Dorothy Lamour - New Orleans, LA - d. 9-21-1996
singer, actress: "Chase & Sanborn Hour"; "Front and Center"; "Sealtest
Variety Show"
12-10-1914 - Jean Dickenson - Montreal, Canada
singer: (Nightingale of the Airwaves) "American Album of Familiar Music";
"Hollywood Hotel"
12-10-1920 - Dennis Morgan - Prentice, WI - d. 9-7-1994
actor, singer: "Lux Radio Theatre"; "[removed] Steel Hour"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
12-10-1960 - Kenneth Branagh - Belfast, North Ireland
actor: Renaissance Theatre Company in association with BBC Radio Drama
December 10th deaths
02-02-1901 - Jascha Heifetz - Vilnius, Lithuania - d. 12-10-1987
classical violinist: "Telephone Hour"; "Soldiers in Greaspaint"; "Concert Hall"
02-25-1932 - Faron Young - Shreveport, LA - d. 12-10-1996
country singer: "Town and Country Time"; "Country Style [removed]"; "Country
Hoedown"
05-05-1899 - Freeman F. Gosden - Richmond, VA - d. 12-10-1982
comedian: "Sam 'n' Henry"; Amos Jones "Amos 'n' Andy"
05-08-1895 - Bishop Fulton J. Sheen - El Paso, IL - d. 12-10-1979
preacher: "Catholic Hour"
06-13-1894 - Mark Van Doren - Hope, IL - d. 12-10-1972
pulitzer prize winning poet: "NBC University Theatre"; "Invitation to Learning"
07-15-1919 - Eve McVeagh - OH - d. 12-10-1997
actress: Harriet Beatty "Clyde Beatty Show"
08-02-1892 - John Kieran - The Bronx, NY, New - d. 12-10-1980
panelist: "Information Please"
08-02-1912 - Ann Dvorak - NYC - d. 12-10-1979 - d. 12-10-1979
actress: "Movietone Radio Theatre"
08-05-1915 - Peter Lisagor - Keystone, WV - d. 12-10-1976
chicago daily news [removed] bureau chief: "Meet the Press"
08-26-1907 - Jack Berch - Sigel, IL - d. 12-10-1992
singer: "Kitchen Pirate"; "Sweetheart Serenade"; "Jack Berch Show"
09-26-1908 - Sylvia Marlowe - NYC - d. 12-10-1981
harpsichord virtuoso: "Lavender and New Lace"; "Sylvia Marlowe and Richard
Dyer-Bennet"
10-04-1884 - Damon Runyon - Manhattan, KS - d. 12-10-1946
short story writer: "Good News of 1940"; "Damon Runyon Theatre"
10-13-1903 - Patsy Moran - PA - d. 12-10-1968
actress: Martha Hoople "Major Hoople"; Hilda "Junior Miss"
12-11-1914 - Marie Windsor - Marysville, UT - d. 12-10-2000
actress: "Escape"; "Suspense"; "Lux Radio Theatre"
--
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 11:39:13 -0500
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio List <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: Billie the Brownie broadcast
For those of you who live in the Hartford, Wisconsin area, on the 24th of
December four members of the NightMARE Players, namely Mark Higgins, Ralph
Luedtke, Carol Boettcher and yours truly will be doing a "live" recreation of
a November 27, 1932 "Billie the Brownie" radio script. The show on which it
will be performed is "The Ron Krause Show" and is on from 9:45 AM until 12
noon. Sorry I cannot be more specific, but we will be on in that time frame.
The rest of the show however will be a retrospect of the "Billie the Brownie"
show. It is a call in show, it should be fun. The Hartford station call
letters are WTKM and it is on [removed] on the FM dial and 1540 on the AM dial.
TKM stands for The Kettle Moraine.
By the way you may have recognized the name of Mark Higgins, he is a regular
contributor to the digest.
Who sez "live" radio is dead?
If you have any question, feel free to email me off line.
Ron Sayles
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 13:54:40 -0500
From: ".dan." <ddunfee@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Lifetime of digital media
same
This comes up from time to time when thinking of archiving material or
purchasing disks, will it last and/or what affects the life of the product:
[removed]
xv
ic|xc
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2004 15:43:06 -0500
From: "W. Gary W." <wgaryw@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject: fred allen recommendations
jazman asked for some recommendations on fred allen
shows. here are my picks - the ones with a star in
front are very well known episodes.
--w. gary w.
Town Hall Tonight:
- 1937-12-22 Santa Claus Sits Down Jack Benny
- 1938-05-18 The House That Jack Built
- 1939-03-22 One Long Pan - Murder At Madison Square
Fred Allen Show (60 min., Ipana):
- FA 1939-10-11 Bert Lahr - Satire On Surveys
- FA 1939-12-27 Robert Benchley
- * FA 1940-03-20 An Eagle Escapes Into The Audience
- FA 1940-03-27 Guest T Hee - Reaction To Eagle Escape
- FA 1940-04-24 Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
(Incomplete)
Texaco Star Theater (60 min.):
- 1941-04-02 One Long Pan - Charlie Chan's Murder
- 1941-05-21 What's Wrong With Radio
- 1942-05-10 Marlene Dietrich
Texaco Star Theater (30 min.):
- 1942-10-04 Charles Laughton - Poor Old Charlie
- 1942-12-06 George Jessel - First Allen's Alley
- 1943-01-03 Peter Lorre - One Long Pan Vs Mr Moto
- 1943-01-10 Jack Benny - The Substitute Violinist
- 1943-01-31 Oscar Levant - Concert With Jack Benny
- 1943-02-28 Phil Baker - Reclaiming Lost Air Time
Fred Allen Show (30 min.):
- 1945-10-07 Charlie McCarthy - New Partner
- 1945-10-21 Frank Sinatra - Charlie McCarthy Sues
- * 1945-10-28 Charlie McCarthy - Trial Of The Century
- 1945-11-11 Monte Wooley - Charlie The Chicken
- * 1945-11-25 Leo Durocher - 'Brooklyn Pinafore'
- 1946-01-20 George Jessel - Movie Of Fred's Life
- * 1946-05-26 King For A Day W Jack Benny
- 1946-10-13 Tony Martin - The Radio Mikado
- * 1946-10-27 Tallulah Bankhead - Breakfast Show
- * 1947-03-16 Beatrice Lillie - Picadilly
- 1947-10-- 19 James Mason - One Long Pan
- 1948-06-27 Jack Benny - Stop The Music
- * 1949-06-26 Last Show W Jack Benny & Henry Morgan
--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2004 Issue #390
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