Subject: [removed] Digest V2005 #46
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 2/11/2005 1:10 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]

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


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2005 : Issue 46
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  Books about the networks              [ "Steven Jones" <stevpj@[removed]; ]
  Mercedes McCambridge                  [ "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed]; ]
  Nick and Chick                        [ Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@erols ]
  Re: A&A-TV Live Tour                  [ Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed] ]
  A First Post From A Fairly Newbie     [ Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@y ]
  OTR and the Air Force                 [ Richard Fish <fish@lodestone-media. ]
  Radio Memories                        [ lawrence albert <albertlarry@yahoo. ]
  Re: Family Connections                [ "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed]; ]
  Dearth of CBS Radio affiliates        [ "evantorch" <etorch@[removed]; ]
  Mc Gee Breaks Taboo                   [ George Aust <austhaus1@[removed] ]
  Johnny Guitar                         [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  Sam Spade Article                     [ Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed] ]
  magoo?                                [ "Hamm, Mike (hammcm)" <hammcm@ucmai ]
  This Weekend With Walden Hughes on Y  [ BryanH362@[removed] ]
  Karl Haas                             [ "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr ]
  Radio Spirits '60 Greatest Shows' fo  [ "Rodney W Bowcock" <[removed]@ ]
  Valentine Shows?                      [ Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed] ]
  Candy, Robin and the Count            [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  10 most under-rated shows             [ "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed] ]
  Arnold Stang                          [ "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@juno. ]

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 19:45:04 -0500
From: "Steven Jones" <stevpj@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Books about the networks

Hi

Does anyone know of any books about NBC, giving an in-depth history? I have
one each about CBS and ABC, both between 200 and 300 pages. I also have a
similar length book about RCA, but not one specifically about NBC. I've been
unable to find any on the internet or library, apart from the colourful 75th
anniversary book, which isn't what I want.

Any ideas?

Many thanks

Steve

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 19:44:52 -0500
From: "Lois Culver" <lois@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mercedes McCambridge
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      Mercedes McCambridge was the defense attorney on the show of the same
name "Defense Attorney".  Her gentleman friend was a newspaper reporter
played by Howard Culver.

      Mercy was an interesting and talented lady.  On the break in the
rehearsals of Defense Attorney, the cast usually went to the nearest ice
cream parlor, where we got to know Mercy better and found her fascinating.
Unfortunately, she is not still alive.

      Lois Culver
      Mrs. Howard Culver

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Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:05:46 -0500
From: Jack & Cathy French <otrpiano@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Nick and Chick

On Thursday, February 10, 2005 Kenneth Clarke asked:

Wasn't there a program
called "Nick Carter, Master Detective"?  And wasn't there
a character named Chick Carter who was related to him
somehow?  I believe Nick's father's name was even mentioned
on one of the programs.  Does anyone have any further
info on this family bloodline?  Didn't Chick Carter have
his own show on OTR as well?

"Nick Carter" (under various names) was a network radio series which
aired from from 1943 to 1955 on Mutual. At  least one hundred episodes
are in trading currency today.

While Chick Carter was described as either his nephew or his adopted
son (and did get his own radio show) the family background is a little
bit more complicated that than, as I explain in detail in my book,
"Private Eyelashes" in the chapter on Patsy Bowen. Nick Carter began as
a dime-novel hero in 1886 and thus eventually became the American
sleuth with the longest tenure in popular culture. In these 19th
century books, Chickering Carter, nicknamed "Chick," was Nick's
same-age associate, and though they shared a surname, they were not
related. A  young bootblack lad named Paddy Garvan, sometimes called
"Patsy" was another sidekick of Nick's in the novels.

Nearly 50 years later, when Nick came to radio, "Patsy" became Patsy
Bowen, Nick's gal Friday while Chick eventually was introduced as his
nephew (or adopted son)  "Chick Carter, Boy Detective", a spinoff came
by Mutual aired over 500 programs from 1943 to 1945: it was a 5 times a
week 15 minute show. However only 2 audio copies have survived.

Since he was a "boy detective" movie fans must have been jolted when
Chick Carter was the star of a 1946 Columbia 15 chapter serial in which
burly, middle-aged Lyle Talbot played the title lead.

Jack French
"Private Eyelashes" is available at
[removed]

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:06:48 -0500
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: A&A-TV Live Tour

On 2/10/05 8:06 PM [removed]@[removed] wrote:

I never
heard of this 1950s touring version of the show. Does anybody have any
additional
information? Were Messrs. Moore, Childress, Williams, and Stewart involved?

The live performances were organized in 1956, featuring a rotating cast
of about 16 performers. Williams, Childress, and Moore were the
headliners, and they were joined by various other members of the cast as
time and schedules permitted. Williams and Moore worked up original
material from their own show-biz backlogs, since CBS owned the rights to
the actual scripts from the TV series, and the shows were backed by a
choir led by Lillian Randolph (who also appeared in the skits as Madam
Queen.)

The tour played mostly small cities and towns across the South, appearing
in lodge halls, community buildings, neighborhood movie theatres, and
similar venues, and attracted a lot of interest, often performing under
the sponsorship of local civic clubs as a fundraising event.

CBS's intellectual property lawyers put an end to the tour. The actors
protested that they were performing their own material, and weren't
violating CBS copyrights, but the network argued that they were
capitalizing on the A&A characters, who were fully owned by CBS, and thus
were violating the network's trademark. The actors tried to negotiate
with the lawyers, but there was no room for discussion, and the
performances came to an end.

Billy Preston's mother, Robbie Lee Williams -- who died just a couple
weeks ago -- was a songwriter/choral music director/keyboardist for
various Los Angeles churches, and I've never heard of her having any
connection to A&A, or any career as a comedy performer. I'm not saying it
couldn't be true --but given what I know of her, it seems rather unlikely.

Elizabeth

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:35:08 -0500
From: Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  A First Post From A Fairly Newbie
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    Hi all,
          As a fairly new member of the Digest( since October ) I have
refrained from posting before since , frankly, I didn't have much to say that
I thought could add to the quality of each issue( which I eagerly anticipate
every day ).  But I've been feeling a bit like a moocher lately. I mean there
are so many great posts that I've been enjoying these past 2 months and me
sitting here silently.
          But what to say?  Simply [removed] you!  Thank you to Charlie
for putting this all together and helping us to connect.  And to all of the
wonderful folks who post. From my good friend Derek Tague( and his creative
puns ) and the great Hal Stone to Bobb Lynes and Barbara Watkins, two of the
finest people you will ever meet. I'd like to give a special Thank you to
Elizabeth McLeod. Her posts are always so delightful and informative.
          And finally, I'd like to say a general "Thank you" to everyone on
the list. I like to think of the OTR hobby as a family. FOTR in Newark is
like a yearly family reunion for me. It's nice for me to meet so many members
of our "family" thru this Digest.
         I'll pop in every once in a while to say something, although I can't
imagine it'll add much to things. I do, however, have quite a bit of
knowledge about baseball on the radio during the Golden Age, and have many
broadcasts dating back to 1934.  So if anyone ever has a question on this
topic, please ask.  And thanks again to all!
                                                                Ken Stockinger
                                                                Cliffwood
Beach, NJ

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:35:34 -0500
From: Richard Fish <fish@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  OTR and the Air Force

Bruce Forsberg's suggestion about visiting the Wright-Patterson Air
Force Museum while in Cincinnati is a wonderful idea! I've been there a
couple of times and it's truly a fabulous place.

Just to repeat, [removed]

Wouldn't it be great if there could be some synergy between the OTR
Convention and the Museum?

For instance, [removed], suppose the conventioneers gathered
together all the OTR programs they could find that had anything to do
with the US Air Force -- or the US Army Air Forces -- or the US Army Air
Corps -- or airplanes in general -- and presented a collection of the
best available copies to the Museum?

There'd be some publicity there, along with the satisfaction.

And maybe the Museum would put in an exhibit featuring OTR.

Talk about Air Power!

Of course, maybe this has already been done, but it seemed worth
mentioning -- I didn't see any such thing when I was there.

If it's too short notice to get it together this year, maybe it's a
theme idea for next [removed]

Heck, doesn't Captain Midnight (among others) deserve a place in the Air
Force Museum?

Richard Fish
--
"Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit
by postponing it pretend." -- Norman Corwin, 1945

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

Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 23:00:06 -0500
From: lawrence albert <albertlarry@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Memories
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This past Saturday in the Seattle area a special one day only event was held
at the at the Emerald Heights Retirement Center. It was called Radio Memories
and was conducted under the REPS banner as sort of a mini convention. There
were no dealers, dinners (although a box lunch could be ordered) or awards.
It was simply a time to watch some recreations, schmooze with some OTR actors
and have a fun relaxing day immersed in the hobby. The whole thing ran from
10:30 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon.
 85 paid attendees made the event a financial success and four wonderful
entertainers from the golden age made it an artistic one, Gil Stratton, Dick
Beals, Hal Stone and the lovely, talented Anne Whitfield. And since the
program was being done in his neck of the woods Jim French and several of his
Imagination Theatre actors took an active and enjoyable part in the
proceedings.
Because of the day's success REPS members are looking forward to the coming
Showcase in June and, who knows there just might be a Radio Memories II.
On a personal note, I want to thank Gil, Annie and Dick, especially Dick, for
all the hard work and time they gave to make this day a truly great memory.
And a very special thanks to my friend Hal Stone a man with the rare talent
of finding humor and connection in spite of what could, in other hands, be a
gulf to deep to bridge. Thanks Jug.
       Larry Albert

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:05:41 -0500
From: "Brian L Bedsworth" <az2pa@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Family Connections

kclarke5@[removed] asked:

Wasn't there a program
called "Nick Carter, Master Detective"?

Sure was. Ran on Mutual for a bit over twelve years, from Apr 1943 through
Sept 1955.

And wasn't there
a character named Chick Carter who was related to him
somehow?

Sure was, Chick Carter was a young boy, adopted by Nick. According to some
reports, the Chick Carter character was a holdover from the Nick Carter pulp
stories' cast. (Having never read these myself, I'm in no position to judge
the accuracy of these reports. Nevertheless, Chick was present in the radio
ensemble pretty much from the beginning.)

Didn't Chick Carter have
his own show on OTR as well?

Sure did. Chick Carter, boy detective, did indeed have his own series of
adventures entitled, strangely enough, "Chick Carter, Boy Detective", which
ran two full years between July 1943 and July 1945 as a daily 15-minute
serial. Despite being an alleged family unit sharing the same lodgings,
father and son rarely crossed paths while both series ran simultaneously;
indeed, if not for the occasional bit of name-dropping (and the =very=
occasional actual cameo appearance) to remind listeners otherwise, it would
be very easy to presume both series operated in completely independent
universes.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:05:57 -0500
From: "evantorch" <etorch@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Dearth of CBS Radio affiliates

Michael wrote of the dearth of CBS Radio afiliates. The explanation is
simple. The CBS orbit, as was the case with Mutual, came too close to the
Westwood One deathstar,killer of all that is romantic or individual in
network radio. Now if Infiniti buys ABC Radio, there will be a completely
lifeless landscape.
Evan Torch
Atlanta

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:06:50 -0500
From: George Aust <austhaus1@[removed];
To: OTR Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Mc Gee Breaks Taboo

Even as a boy I always thought it was silly that one couldn't mention
another network while on the air, so I was really surprised when I was
listening to a Fibber Mc Gee and Molly from 1-13-48 .

 It was an episode where Mc Gee is inventing a car radio that you can
remove from the dashboard and use it as a portable radio.( I think that
Pontiac actually had such an option a number of years ago. Sportable?)
Anyway McGee is explaining how he will do it to Molly and said "It's as
simple as ABC, if NBC will pardon the reference, and if they give me a
hail COLUMBIA, I'll give it right back and that'll make it MUTUAL!"
Also regarding bloopers that happened on live radio: in this same
episode Fibber is explaining to Molly how the radio will work in
technical jargon(all jibberish of course) and he goes on and on when we
hear the door open and Harlow Wilcox says "Hello Molly, Hello Mcgee. The
thing is that the doorbell never chimed! Apparently the sound effects
man was having a problem so he just opened the door and said hello. Mc
Gee said Hello Jr. Glad you came in, you're a little late! By this time
everyone is laughing and of course you can hear Molly guffaws over the
audiences laughter.

George Aust

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:07:33 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Johnny Guitar

Mercedes McCambridge wrote about her experience working opposite Joan
Crawford in her autobiography.  Working from memory, her summary was that
Joan Crawford was one of the most awful people you possibly imagine, wasn't
all that talented and was painful to work and socialize with.

The book ("The Quality of Mercy") was interesting in that it showed how
depressed and upset McCambridge was most of the time after she left radio.
She never achieved the level of stardom she felt her talent demanded.  It's
amazing for us radio fans because we think of her as one of the greatest
radio actresses ever but she never starred in a TV show or movie and spent
the second half of her life being upset about that.

That said, the book only touches on her radio career.  There is a lot more
in the book about "The Exorcist" than about "I Love a Mystery."

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:07:52 -0500
From: Sean Dougherty <seandd@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Sam Spade Article

An article on the 75th Anniversary of the publication of "The Maltese
Falcon" appeared in yesterday's Wall Street Journal (link here:
[removed]).  It mentions the long-term
influence of the Sam Spade character but overlooks Howard Duff and the radio
show.

It's been noted by many that the cheerful, upbeat character on the radio
show had zero in combination with the world-weary down-on-his-luck gumshoe
of the novel and movie so that might account for the writer not mentioning
it.

Sean Dougherty
SeanDD@[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:08:07 -0500
From: "Hamm, Mike (hammcm)" <hammcm@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  magoo?

I listened to an episode of Suspense entitled "Life Ends at Midnight" in
which the main character, while commenting on the accommodations, states:
"You'd have to clean up the whole south side to get the magoo out of this
fleabag".  Magoo?  Did I hear that right?  Was this a slang term used in the
forties?

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:08:17 -0500
From: BryanH362@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  This Weekend With Walden Hughes on
 YesterdayUSA

Walden Hughes is heard Friday , Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 PM Pacific Time /
10:30 PM Eastern.
As always YesterdayUSA can be heard via the internet at [removed].

Some Highlights of this weekends program are listed below.

Friday 2-11-05

A.  Interview with Jimmy Duante

Saturday 2-12-05

A.  Clifton Famerman interview with Fred Allen

B.  John Dunning classic interview with Uncle Fetcher of Vic and Sade

C.  OTR

Sunday 2-13-05

A.  Laura Leff  presents  Jack Benny 2-11-45 .

B.  Mike Biel

C.  OTR

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:08:56 -0500
From: "Randall F. Miller Jr." <rfmillerjr1@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Karl Haas

I Fondly remember Karl Hass, We air his program on Saturday and Sunday's at
7:00 am.  We fondly call it breakfast with Karl Haas.
Some years ago he came to the station and did several piano programs with a
live audience.  Many in the the audience were "of the older generation" and
had difficulty hearing.  He began each of his three shows the same way.
He would walk on stage and give his trademark "HELLOO, everyone."  And then
just pause and wait for the audience.  There would be a lot of murmuring and
usually someone in one of the front rows in what they thought was a whisper,
but wasn't,  would say "I thought he looked different".  He would let this
die down and then say in that deep German voice.  "I didn't know what you
looked like either".  The audience loved it and it was his audience from
then on.
Randy Miller - Senior Engineer WITF-TV/FM/Radio PA.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:09:16 -0500
From: "Rodney W Bowcock" <[removed]@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Radio Spirits '60 Greatest Shows' for trade

I recieved the Radio Spirits set of the '60 Greatest Radio Shows of the
20th Century' on cassette as a gift last night.  Unfortunatly, I already
have the set on CD.  I was hoping that someone may be willing to trade
something that I don't have for it.  If not, I'll probably part with it for
a small amount of cash.

Thanks,

Rodney Bowcock
[removed]

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:58:34 -0500
From: Melanie Aultman <otrmelanie@[removed];
To: OTRDIGEST <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Valentine Shows?
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Are there lists/suggestions for OTR Valentine shows?

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Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:58:52 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Candy, Robin and the Count

Phil C's candy site was terrific. Whatever happened to "Old Nick" candy
bars? Orange wrapper, hard to chew, but great! I have a Robin Morgan show,
9/27/46, WOR, 15m, that I got from Goldin back in the 70's. I remember her
from TV's "I Remember Mama." And I have 4 "Count of Monte Cristo" shows but
have not found any others.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:59:06 -0500
From: "Don Frey" <alanladdsr@[removed];
To: "OTR" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  10 most under-rated shows

Thought you would like to know the 10 most under-rated shows from those
great days.
This is a scientific poll conducted by me about an hour ago. I was the only
respondent. The following have never gotten the attention they deserve. In
no particular order: Frank Merriwell, Hop Harrigan, Life In Your Hands, The
Lineup, Mysterious Traveler, Crime Classics, Tales of the Texas Rangers,
Judy Canova, Lora
Lawton, Cloak and [removed] you have it and now you know.

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

Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:14:43 -0500
From: "kclarke5@[removed]" <kclarke5@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Arnold Stang

     In a recent mailing list, someone mentioned an
actor named Arnold Stang.  Didn't he perform on the
"Henry Morgan Show" on OTR?  If it's the same actor
I'm thinking of, I believe had a bit part opposite
Frank Sinatra in the movie, "The Man With The Golden
Arm".  For some reason, I don't recall any other OTR
programs in which he had a part. Clarification?

     His voice sticks in my mind, however, as that
of "Top Cat" in the 60's.  I have this vision of him
as a short man with glasses.  I could be wrong.
Is he still living?

Another OTR Fan,

Kenneth Clarke

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V2005 Issue #46
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