Subject: [removed] Digest V2009 #108
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 6/12/2009 8:40 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2009 : Issue 108
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Beyond Tomorrow                       [ "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross. ]
  Re: LASSIE at the mike                [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
  Lassie/Clyde Beatty                   [ Jim Harmon <jimharmonotr@[removed] ]
  Re: Beaumont's 'Requiem for Radio'    [ Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]; ]
  Not all "Greens" are related?         [ Wich2@[removed] ]
  Re: Martin Grams queries              [ "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed]; ]
  GM refrigerators                      [ Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed] ]
  6-12 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  FOTR Photos on Facebook               [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Molly's Illness                       [ Rentingnow@[removed] ]
  "Music Appreciation" programs         [ Jim Erskine <homeway@[removed]; ]

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:42:18 -0400
From: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Beyond Tomorrow

Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 21:20:34 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];

John Campbell Jr. was listed as a technical consultant for this
series, which may or may not have actually aired. He was not the host
as listed above.

I don't know about this episode, but I do know that the series did
air, and on the episodes I have, John Campbell is the host.

--
A. Joseph Ross, [removed]                           [removed]
 92 State Street, Suite 700                   Fax [removed]
Boston, MA 02109-2004           	         [removed]

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:42:25 -0400
From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: LASSIE at the mike

on 6/10/09 10:16 PM, Jack French wrote:

However, it did not stop ABC from distributing publicity shots for
this series with Lassie, front paws on a script on a chair and
emoting her lines (well actually "his" since Lassie was always
portrayed by a male dog) on cue into an ABC microphone. I'm sure this
photo fooled not only the juvenile listeners, but many adults who
were conditioned by the Lassie movies to believe this wonder dog
would have no trouble following a script.

Jack: My understanding was that Pal (the male collie who portrayed "Lassie"
in the MGM films, the TV pilot and the premier television episode) sat on a
stool and barked and whimpered his "lines" in response to hand signals from
owner-trainer Rudd Weatherwax, while Earl Keen stood by at an offstage mike,
filling in when Pal's responses were too slow or when scripts called for
growling or snarling (which the dog had never been trained to do). I'd heard
that sometimes both were heard delivering consecutive barks when Pal was
slow and Keen beat the dog to the bark. This story would appear to have some
ring of truth to it ... that Pal performed in at least the early broadcasts
before a live audience ... since I know that Pal and his descendents were
not trained to growl or snarl and this always had to be dubbed into the
sound tracks of films and TV shows. (Lassie's onscreen fights with German
Shepherds and "wolves" were actually two dogs at play, with growls and
snarls dubbed in later).

(Director Jack Johnstone's dog "Tagalong" had previously voiced his own
lines in 1930s BUCK ROGERS broadcasts in response to two different hand
signals from his master.)

BTW, Jon Provost (aka "Timmy") confirmed to me that reportedly neither the
network nor the studio received any letters when both Timmy's parents
changed over the summer hiatus (when June Lockhart replaced Cloris Leachman
as Ruth Martin) but thousands of letters poured in when Lassie Jr. developed
cancer and had to be replaced by Lassie III (aka "Spook"). Many viewers
immediately noticed that a different dog (with nearly identical features and
markings) had moved into the role ... demonstrating the world's most famous
female impersonator was indeed the star of that show! --Anthony Tollin

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:42:38 -0400
From: Jim Harmon <jimharmonotr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Lassie/Clyde Beatty

Jello Again -- I have to disagree with Jack French on the Lassie radio show.
As usual, I am relying on my memory, not hard dug research. I heard the
Lassie show. The episodes I heard featured a REAL DOG, presumably one of the
dogs who played Lassie in the movies. An actor would say "I don't think you
trust this man, Lassie." There would be a slight hesitation, a scuffling of
clawed feet and in a second or so you could hear a real dog growling --
presumably on cue from her trainer. Similar situations calling for barking,
whinning, et al. There was also a studio audience, primarily of children and
you could hear the children responding to the presence of a real dog. They
would probably have been disappointed by a human impersonator. Probably there
was an animal effects guy standing by, in case Lasse missed her cue, and that
may have happened. But for many of the animal noises, perhaps most, a real
dog provided them. In the story, Lassie was not usually called Lassie but
played the parts of many different kinds of dogs, such as a German shepherd
named Duke or a spaniel named Freddy. Those are hypothetical examples -- I
don't really remember the exact breed and name of dogs Lassie portrayed.
Just as Tom Mix never appeared on the radio show named for him, Clyde Beatty
did not appear on "The Clyde Beatty Show". He was impersonated by radio actor
Vic Perrin, who actually looked a bit like Clyde Beatty, a good-looking small
man. Perrin posed for some convincing publicity shots (although you would
have thought Beatty himself could have done that). Beatty did appear as a
radio actor in stories about himself on the air, but on Smilin' Ed's Buster
Brown Gang. Once a year he would guest on the show, in a story of one of his
real-life adventures. Even after the Beatty show went on the air with Perrin,
Beatty did one of these guest shots, and in the closing the announcer urged
the kids to listen to Beatty on his own show. But if perceptive at all they
would hear it was not the same Beatty. The real Clyde Beatty was far from
being the actor Perrin was, but he approached being adequate. Presumably
doing three half hour shows a week would have taken up too much of his time,
taking him away from his circus appearances with his big cats.
-- JIM HARMON.

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:43:42 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Beaumont's 'Requiem for Radio'

This appears to have been printed in an issue of PLAYBOY but no
reference to the specific issue. Anyone know what issue (month
and date) this appeared in?

Martin,
It was in the May, 1960 issue.

Jim Widner

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:44:15 -0400
From: Wich2@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Not all "Greens" are related?

 From: "Martin Grams, Jr."  mmargrajr@[removed]

(in) GREEN LANTERN comic books ... radio station WXYZ  continues to turn up
... is (this) related to the same station owned by  George W. Trendle?

Martin, I'd think Anthony T. might have info here  - but I doubt there's a
connection? At least, from Trendle's side - as just  mentioned in these
pages, he was a far from sharing sort!

I'd guess it  was an accidental duplication ("WZYX" being an easy choice),
or else a writer at  DC doing an in-joke tribute to The Ranger and/or The
Hornet?

Best,
-Craig

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:46:01 -0400
From: "R. R. King" <kingrr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: Martin Grams queries

Anyone know what issue (month and date) [Charles Beaumont's "Requium for
Radio"] appeared in?

May 1960

Does anyone know if [use of WXYZ in recent Green Hornet comic books is]
related to the same station owned by George W. Trendle used for THE
LONE RANGER?

Ron Fortier, who wrote the books, says in an interview that he did a lot of
research on previous incarnations of the Hornet, including the radio version,
and that he also read up on the history of WXYZ. Here's part of the interview:

[removed]
[removed]

I just listened to a radio broadcast from the summer of 1937 and a crime
fighter actually arranged for a wire tap on the phone lines for the
suspected criminals to learn their activities. I know today the police
cannot post a tap on a phone line without a warrant but I was wondering
what the police procedures were in the summer of 1937. Was that illegal
at that time?

There weren't any federal anti-wiretap laws in the 1930s and state laws
varied. A January '31 Washington Post editorial mentions that twenty-eight
states "have laws making it illegal to tap wires." An October '34 United
Press article describes AT&T's frustration with states that had no formal
policy: "Only a month or so ago somebody tapped a phone line in Maryland, but
the only charge the company could bring was malicious destruction" of
property.

Even where a state had a ban, it's not clear that these were very effective
or evenly enforced. There was quite a bit of private tapping going on for all
sorts of reasons -- everything from union busting to monitoring cheating
spouses. In March '36, the New York Times reported that a school in Tarrytown
was tapping students' phones: "The school officials admitted they had been
tapping calls under certain conditions for the last few years and that most
girls' boarding schools were believed to do likewise" to prevent the girls
from running away, eloping and other problem behavior.

The government, of course, also did a lot of wiretapping. Big city police
used it to monitor criminal and other activity (like labor organizing), pick
up leads, prepare for raids, et cetera. The feds used it against bootleggers
during Prohibition. Under FDR, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau made a
point of saying, when asked at a press conference in '34, that he had no
qualms about it: "You can't get dope peddlers by acting in a sissy manner."
The government was even using it against the government -- in early '38, a
Senate committee revealed that the Interior Department was extensively
tapping its own people, a policy that one Washington Post editorial compared
to Nazi and Soviet police tactics.

Despite a lot of opposition from the public, all of this was pretty routine,
apparently. See, for example, this 1938 article about wiretapping in New York
City: [removed]
(Incidentally, the second-to-last paragraph describes the use of bugged home
radio sets by private detectives.)

There's no mention of court orders or warrants in the article or in any of
the other 1930s articles I looked at. In the late '30s, New York state
officials and lawmakers proposed a law requiring a court order for a tap but
it didn't pass until the early '40s. The [removed] Attorney General banned tapping
by the Justice Department briefly in '40 because of the lack of safeguards
until FDR directed otherwise. From then on, the FBI was only supposed to tap
with the AG's authorization (which didn't always happen). By '41, the AG had
to sign a certificate for each wiretap case indicating that he knew of the
necessity for the taps.

There's an odd radio connection in all this. A big issue in the '30s was
whether or not wiretap evidence could actually be used against you. In '28,
the Supreme Court ruled that wiretapping didn't violate the Fourth Amendment
-- so it was essentially declared constitutional. This was one of those
unpopular, highly controversial 5-4 decisions. In late '37, the Supremes
effectively banned the use of wiretap evidence in federal court with a ruling
based on an interpretation of a section of the 1934 Federal Communications
Act -- even though that was not the intent of the law, which was, in fact,
originally part of the Radio Act of 1927 and was supposed to apply to radio
stations that retransmitted signals. This and subsequent rulings meant that
the feds could tap your phone but they couldn't use the evidence against you
in court. And, again, things varied at the state level.

Time Magazine has an interesting 1954 article on Cold War-era wiretap policy.
It points out that even "where state bans exist, they do not prevent police
tapping, which occurs in all big cities with large nests of organized crime"
-- and that seems to have been true in the '30s as well. It also says that,
by the '50s, the "two biggest wiretapping agencies in the [removed]" are the FBI
and the New York City Police Department -- and that anybody above the rank of
a Sergeant in the NYPD can get a court order for a tap relatively easily.
Here's the whole article:

[removed],9171,860190-1,[removed]

Since Martin seems to be asking about a '37 Green Hornet broadcast, I tried
to find out something about wiretapping in 1937 Detroit. The closest thing I
found was a 1940 New York Times story about Ford Motor Company employees
testifying before the National Labor Relations Board that the company tapped
the phone of a United Auto Workers lawyer in 1937 as part of an effort to
prevent labor organizing at a plant in Dallas, TX.

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:46:15 -0400
From: Brian Johnson <chyronop@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  GM refrigerators

The last digest posted the question, "Remember when General Motors made
refrigerators?"

The companion question is, "Remember when Kelvinator made CARS?"

Nash-Kelvinator made the Nash Rambler and after acquiring Hudson Motors
eventually formed American Motors. AMC made some horrific autos in the '70's
(Anyone want a Pacer or Gremlin?) and eventually sold out to Chrysler who
wanted to get a hold of the popular Jeep name.

Kelvinator still operates under the Swedish Electrolux banner.

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:46:23 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  6-12 births/deaths

June 12th births

06-12-1884 - William Austin - Georgetown, British Guiana - d. 6-15-1975
actor: Professor of the English Department "Jack Oakie's College"
06-12-1890 - Junius Matthews - Chicago, IL - d. 1-18-1978
actor: Grandpa Eph "David Harum"; Ling Wee "Gasoline Alley"
06-12-1893 - Evelyn Varden - Adair, Oklahoma Territory - d. 7-11-1958
actor: Dorothy Stewart "This is Nora Drake"; Mother Malone "Young Dr.
Malone"
06-12-1893 - Mal Hallett - Boston, MA - d. 11-20-1952
bandleader: "Spotlight Bands"
06-12-1898 - Dick Hartman - Burlington, WV - d. 4-15-1962
country: (Tennessee Ramblers) "Crazy Water Crystals Barn Dance"
06-12-1901 - Ben Welden - Toledo, OH - d. 10-17-1997
character actor: "Family Theatre"; "Railroad Hour"; "Roy Rogers Show"
06-12-1902 - Al Donahue - Dorchester, MA - d. 2-20-1983
bandleader: "Al Donahue and His Orchestra"; "Matinee at Meadbrook"
06-12-1903 - Drue Leyton - Somers, WI - d. 2-8-1997
broadcast from Paris during WWII on "Voice of America"
06-12-1909 - Archie Bleyer - Corona, NY - d. 3-20-1989
conductor: "Arthur Godfrey Time"; "Casey, Crime Photographer"
06-12-1910 - Leon Carr - Allentown, PA - d. 3-27-1976
composer: "Voices of Vista"
06-12-1912 - Janet Fox - Chicago, IL - d. 4-22-2002
actor: "Cavalcade of America"; "The Big Story"
06-12-1914 - Herbert C. Kenny - d. 7-11-1992
singer: (Member of the Ink Spots) "The Four Ink Spots"; "Let's Go
Nightclubbing"
06-12-1914 - Sydna Scott - Chicago, IL - d. 6-23-1996
actor: "Luke Slaughter of Tombstone"
06-12-1914 - William Lundigan - Syracuse, NY - d. 12-20-1975
actor: "Lux Radio Theatre"; announcer in early radio
06-12-1915 - Priscilla Lane - Indianola, IA - d. 4-4-1995
singer: "Fred Waring Show"
06-12-1915 - Robert Forster - NYC - d. 11-15-2003
announcer: "CBS Radio Workshop"; Gangbusters"; Twenty-First Precinct"
06-12-1915 - Zeke Zarchy - NYC - d. 4-12-2009
lead trumpet: "Benny Goodman Band"; "Artie Show Band"
06-12-1916 - Ivan Tors - Budapest, Hungary - d. 6-4-1983
producer: "Bud's Bandwagon"
06-12-1917 - Constance Ernst Bessie - NYC - d. 3-19-1985
producer: "Theatre [removed]"; "Voice of America"
06-12-1917 - Wendell Barcroft - d. 3-25-1974
newscaster: KGGM Albuquerque, New Mexico
06-12-1919 - Uta Hagen - Gottingen, Germany - d. 1-14-2004
actor: "Big Show"
06-12-1920 - Peter Jones - Wem, Shropshire, England - d. 4-10-2000
actor: narrator "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"; "In All Directions"
06-12-1924 - Dave Parker - Fresno, CA
actor: Young Good Guys "Lone Ranger"; "Green Hornet"; "Challenge of
the Yukon"
06-12-1924 - George Herbert Walker Bush - Milton, MA
[removed] president: Saturday morning presidential broadcasts
06-12-1924 - Howard E. Goldfuss - The Bronx, NY - d. 11-7-2007
judge: "Tell It to the Judge"
06-12-1926 - Bob Pfeiffer - Iowa - d. 4-22-2003
announcer: "Answer Please"; "The Bickersons"
06-12-1927 - Henry Slesar - Brooklyn, NY - d. 4-2-2002
writer: "Voice of the Army"; "CBS Radio Mystery Theatre"
06-12-1928 - Vic Damone - Brooklyn, NY
singer: "Saturday Night Serenade"; "Stars in Khaki 'n' Blue"
06-12-1941 - Chick Corea - Chelsea, MA
keyboardist: "White House Jazz Festival"; "Jazz Alive"

June 12th deaths

01-01-1917 - Ted Cott - Poughkeepsie, NY - d. 6-12-1973
announcer, emcee: "So You Think You Know Music?"; "Music You Want"
01-27-1888 - Harry "Singin' Sam" Frankel - Danville, KY - d. 6-12-1948
singer: (The Barbasol Man) "Reminiscin' with Singin' Sam"
02-29-1904 - Jimmy Dorsey - Mahanoy, PA, - d. 6-12-1957
bandleader: "Kraft Music Hall"; "Your Happy Birthday"
03-08-1906 - Franklyn MacCormack - Waterloo, IA - d. 6-12-1971
announcer: "Caroline's Golden Store"; "Jack Armstrong"
04-05-1916 - Gregory Peck - Lo Jolla, CA - d. 6-12-2003
actor: "Doctor Fights"; "Sealtest Variety Hour"
05-06-1882 - William E. Scripps - Michigan - d. 6-12-1952
Founded WWJ in Detroit, Michigan
06-01-1915 - Johnny Bond - Enville, OK - d. 6-12-1978
singer, comedian: "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch"; "Hollywood Barn Dance"
07-07-1898 - Arlene Harris - Toronto, Canada - d. 6-12-1976
actor: Mrs. Higgins "Baby Snooks"; Human Chatterbox "Al Pearce and His
Gang"
07-10-1917 - Don Herbert - Waconia, MN - d. 6-12-2007
actor: "Captain Midnight"; Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy"
07-20-1898 - J. E. Mainer - Weaversville, NC - d. 6-12-1971
country: (Mainer's Crazy Mountaineers) "Crazy Water Crystals Barn Dance"
08-11-1900 - Norma Shearer - Montreal, Canada - d. 6-12-1983
actor: "Everyman's Theatre"; "Louella Parsons"
10-14-1893 - Hal Burdick - Osceola, WI - d. 6-12-1978
actor, writer: "Do You Believe In Ghosts"; "Dr. Kate"
10-20-1884 - Thomas Chalmers - NYC - d. 6-12-1966
actor: Sam Young "Pepper Young's Family"
11-08-1900 - Franklin Parker - Filmore, MO - d. 6-12-1962
actor: "Gene Autry's Melody Ranch"; "Big Town"
11-19-1923 - Eugenie Baird - d. 6-12-1988
vocalist: "Kraft Music Hall"; "Forever Top"; "Sing It Again"

Ron

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:27:13 -0400
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  FOTR Photos on Facebook

Hey everyone, I've joined Facebook and added my photos from the 2008 FOTR
Convention to the site.

Facebook members on this list, please join my network for access.  I'll also
be posting information about the 2009 Friends of Old Time Radio Convention
there from time to time as well.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:27:27 -0400
From: Rentingnow@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Molly's Illness

I, like many, wondered about Molly's  illness.  As mentioned, the BBC
discussed it.  There was a BBC program  series which dealt with major women
comedienne. Molly was one.  It  mentioned her mental illness.

I happened to listen to the program when  she returned. She got an
exceedingly warm welcome from the audience.  She  was a little shaky on her
delivery
but was generally OK.

My guess is that  the audience knew about the reason for the absence.
People are curious  about such things. Her warm welcome is the key to me and
somehow I got a feeling  of understanding from them.  This may be my
imagination because the cause  was known to me.

The copy of her return was on a podcast and my copy has  long since been
sent to electronic oblivion. Maybe someone (Charlie?) could post  it to see if
there is agreement on the reaction as well as how well she did on  her
return.

Larry Moore

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

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:28:06 -0400
From: Jim Erskine <homeway@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Music Appreciation" programs

I am looking for any OTR programs that might fall under the theme of
"music appreciation" or "music education"... programs / stories about
musical instruments, composers, famous songs, etc.

Here's what I've found so far -some Cavalcade of America programs, a few
episodes of the Minnesota School of the Air about different instruments,
and a series called The Story Behind the Song. Would anyone have any
other suggestions?

Thanks for any leads you could send my way.

Jim Erskine
homeway@[removed]

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2009 Issue #108
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