Wednesday, December 31, 2014

New Year's Eve on Old Time Radio - Quiet, Please & Rain on New Year's Eve (1947)

After working on highlighting Christmas Old Time Radio episodes for the month, I thought I would close out the year with a few focused on New Year's Eve.  In the new year, I will try to get one entry out a week - maybe two.  As you all know by now, I do love listening to Old Time Radio and enjoy that it is available on XM 82 and many resources via the Internet.

Rainy day on Campus

Rainy Day at the University of Michigan - 2008

Quiet, Please was the brain child of Wyllis Cooper, one of the most creative and leading artists on the air.  Cooper and Arch Obler both worked on the great series Lights Out.  Quiet, Please is one of the most creative and unique shows out there.  It ran on the Mutual Network from 1947 to 1948, and then one year on the new ABC Network (the successor to the NBC Blue Network).  Each episode starts with star Ernest Chappell saying "Quiet, Please."  After a few seconds, he repeats that phrase.  Then, a piano plays the second movement of Cesar Franck's Symphony in D Minor - the haunting music that serves as the theme of the show.  Star Ernest Chappell then provides the introduction to the story, and seamlessly opens the story as the main character.  There is a point when Chappell moves from monologue to dialogue - and with that, the lights turn on and the story begins.

It is really one of the most unique shows on the air.  In so many radio series, we can anticipate where the character is going to go based on what we know of him or her.  Be it The Saint, Boston Blackie, Marshall Dillon, or any other regular character, we have a sense of what they are like and what they might do.  But when Ernest Chappell starts an episode of Quiet, Please, we have no idea where he is going to take us.

There have been many great episodes here.  I want to write about the Camera Obscura, a great murder mystery and a seaside attraction that sees all.  But the episode that relates to New Year's Day is Rain on New Year's Eve (December 29, 1947).  This is a typical story in this series, and by that, I mean quiet excellent!

Chappell plays Ramsey, a screen writer working on a B-quality horror film that is still trying to find itself weeks after they were supposed to wrap up filming.  This is how the story opens (from the Quietly Your site):

RAMSEY: It's raining again. Pretty near New Year's and it's raining again. Back east, it's probably snowing different places. Or maybe the moon's out, shining on the snow and people are saying, "Why, it's so bright out you could read a newspaper!" Ya can't read a newspaper by moonlight. Only the headlines. Maybe if you take your newspaper out in the yard and stand in the moonlight, you light find a headline with my name in it. It's been there before. Well, anyway, so there's moonlight. Here, there's rain -- like it was that other New Year's Eve. That's what the rain makes me think of, as if I ever thought of anything else. (MUSIC ... AN ACCENT, THEN IMITATES RAIN UNDER)

RAMSEY: Listen to the rain. [chuckles quietly] I was sitting in my office in the writers' court out there after we'd been on the picture for two or three months. Writing it, that is. They'd been shooting for about three weeks but I was still on the picture because we had a producer that couldn't make up his mind and the director was one of those guys, uh, sort of road company Hitchcock, you know? He makes the picture up as he goes along. Only there has to be a writer filed away someplace where he can find him when he runs out of ideas - which is not more than eleven times a day. So I'm dying. I go on the set and I find actors there I never heard of speaking lines I never wrote in scenes I couldn't figure out. Then the director'd get me in a corner and put the arm on me: [imitates the director] "This thing doesn't seem to quite gel, old man. You know?" And me and my little typewriter go to work to unscrew things while the overtime and the gin rummy games go right on. [chuckles] Great life, that.
Well, so I'm sittin' in my office and the rain is on the roof and the gas heater is frying my ankles while the draft from the window is giving my neck the deep freeze. Mary Lou, my secretary, comes in from her little cubbyhole next to mine.


So the screen writer needs to tweak his monster.  Maybe there is something that only happens on New Year's Eve.  Maybe there is something about the face of a monster.  Maybe the monster is in within.




Please enjoy this New Year's Eve treat from Quiet Please:
Here are some links to programs relating to Quiet, Please:
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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

New Year's Eve on Old Time Radio - New Year's Nightmare (1947) on The Mysterious Traveler

After working on highlighting Christmas Old Time Radio episodes for the month, I thought I would close out the year with a few focused on New Year's Eve.  In the new year, I will try to get one entry out a week - maybe two.  As you all know by now, I do love listening to Old Time Radio and enjoy that it is available on XM 82 and many resources via the Internet.

Birds in the Snow (Saline, Michigan) - December 31, 2013

New Year's Eve is for the Birds
From last year on December 31, 2013 - Saline, Michigan

Here is an entry from The Mysterious Traveler, a great old time radio series focused on the supernatural.  This series was broadcast on the Mutual Radio Network and recorded in the studios of WOR in New York City.  The show was the brainchild of Mutual Network's Robert Arthur
and David Kogan.  They also produced other series including Dark Destiny, The Strange Dr. Weird and The Sealed Book.  The Strange Dr. Weird was a 15 minute show sponsored by Adam Hats, and often was a trimmed version of a story on one of their 30 minute series.  The Sealed Book is one of my favorites - despite being pretty campy!  I will definitely write about that later.  The series was directed and co-produced by Sherman 'Jock' MacGregor.

Each episode of the Mysterious Traveler starts off with the following introduction:

This is the Mysterious Traveler inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip! And that it will thrill you a little, and chill you a little. So settle back and get a good grip on your nerves - if you can!

 The Mysterious Traveler was played by Maurice Tarplin, a very well known radio actor.  Tarplin also played the often frustrated Inspector Faraday on Boston Blackie, one of my favorite Old Time Radio series.  His wonderful voice sets the mood so perfectly on the show, though he is only on air in the beginning and end of each episode.  In each of these episodes, strange and mysterious happenings take place.  There would be an explanation offered, if there was one!  The show was so popular that it even inspired a series of comic books that started in 1948 (that are also on the Internet Archive) and a magazine starting in 1951.

On January 5, 1947, The Mysterious Traveler offered a tale called New Year's Nightmare.  Drinking on New Year's Eve is a right of passage.  And sadly, drinking too much is also par for the course.  So when Chris's fiance gives him back the engagement ring on New Year's Eve to protest his excessive drinking, he has nothing holding him back.  So when he awakes in a hospital, the mystery is just starting.  I hope your New Year's Eve celebration is less...adventurous!

New Year's Nightmare (January 5, 1947)



Here are some links to programs relating to The Mysterious Traveler:

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    Monday, December 29, 2014

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 29 - Hotpoint's The Man Who Came to Dinner (with Jack Benny)

    Working on sending out one blog entry each day in December to showcase great Old Time Radio for the Christmas season.  Yeah, yeah, yeah....its 25 days...and yet here is day 29.  Day 29 is for Hotpoint's The Man Who Came to Dinner (with Jack Benny).  I enjoyed it when I heard it the first time, you can see below that I might not have been in the majority opinion.

    And with this, I will wrap up the OTR Christmas Series. Here is a link to all the entries.  But tomorrow, Wednesday and on New Year's Day, I will have entries about the changing of the calendar!  Then slow things down...not sure I could do one every day!

    If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#82). I heard this for the first time on Greg Bell's XM 82 and always love the variety he plays.  He has a number of great programs available throughout the month of December on his great show.  You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web. One place to find these shows is the 500 OTR Christmas Shows from the Internet Archive. This is a great resources for many of these wonderful radio shows!

    158/365/1619 (November 16, 2012) - The Man Who Came to Dinner (Saline High School, November 16, 2012)

    The Man Who Came to Dinner - Saline (Michigan) High School - November 16, 2012

    The Man Who Came to Dinner is one of the most well known theatrical comedies from the first half of the 20th Century.  It was written in 1939 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and adapted into a movie in 1942 starring Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan and Monty Woolley.  The story involves the visit of a noted New York critic to the house of a small town businessman in Ohio just before the holidays.  When the critic (Sheridan Whiteside) slips on ice outside the businessman's house, he becomes laid up there and a not so welcome house guest.  The show had an all-star cast performed by the "The Actor's Company" and sponsored by Hotpoint, the appliance manufacturer.  The amazing cast was directed by Mel Ferrer and featured Jack Benny (as Sheridan Whiteside), Charles Boyer, Gene Kelly (as Banjo), Dorothy McGuire, Gregory Peck, Rosalind Russell, Willard Waterman, and Henry Fonda as the narrator.

    And while I enjoyed the recording, the people at Variety (the entertainment weekly newspaper) were not as impressed.  In their review of the performance on December 28, 1949 (page 26), they wrote:

    A flock of film names may make an impressive radio draw, but not necessarily a good air show.  this was demonstrated anew Sunday (25), when for its Xmas Day celebration, Hotpoint offered the Actors' Co. of Hollywood with a star-studded cast in an hour-long adaptation of the Kaufman-Hart stage comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner."  Probably few air shows have had such a galaxy of names running through it in lead, characters or bit parts.  Bit it didn't come off.  Trouble wasn't with the play, which is still fun and sharp satire after years of presentation.  Fault lay in the adaptation and especially in the performances.  With few exceptions, filmites lacked the legit feel, and the opus sounded lifeless and flat.

     While they did not like Jack Benny's performance, they did give them props for this:

    Some of the new business was good, as when Benny got a wire from Monty Woolley (play played the role originally on Broadway), and Benny refused to read the telegram, merely emitting a revelatory "Oh, well."

    There were no other performances I could find of the Hotpoint Holiday Hour.  Like many specials, it had a short life.  But this is a fun recording and interesting to hear some of the biggest names in Hollywood on the air.

    The Man Who Came to Dinner (Hotpoint Holiday Hour - December 25, 1949)


    Here are some links to programs relating to Jack Benny:
    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas:
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    Sunday, December 28, 2014

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 28 - CBS Radio Workshop's All is Bright

    Working on sending out one blog entry each day in December to showcase great Old Time Radio for the Christmas season.  Here is a link to all the entries.  Here is day 28 - CBS Radio Workshop's All is Bright.  This is another telling of the story behind Silent Night.  Earlier in December, I shared The Story of Silent Night from the Hallmark Playhouse.  This is from the CBS Radio Workshop, the program from the mid-1950s that was created to honor their great work in the 1930s and 1940s on the Columbia Workshop.

    If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#82). I heard this for the first time on Greg Bell's XM 82 and always love the variety he plays.  He has a number of great programs available throughout the month of December on his great show.  You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web. One place to find these shows is the 500 OTR Christmas Shows from the Internet Archive. This is a great resources for many of these wonderful radio shows!

    CBS Columbia Square (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) - October 31, 2013

    CBS Columbia Square, home of the CBS Radio Workshop
    (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) - October 31, 2013

    CBS Radio was the home of some of the most innovative programs on radio.  From the Columbia Workshop days and Norman Corwin, right through the end of big-time programs Gunsmoke and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, CBS Radio was the innovation leader over the air.  In 1956, CBS returned to the airways with a program that would cement their network as the home for innovation.  And this all happening while television was growing in popularity and affordability in the mid-1950s.

    Starting in January 1956, the CBS Radio Workshop would be on the air for 86 episodes through September 1957.  The CBS Radio Workshop was designed not to be commercially lucrative, but to find a place where the network could put on cutting edge works that might not match with a sponsor's goals.  As was said on every episode, the CBS Radio Workshop was "dedicated to man's imagination, the theater of the mind."  I have a number of pieces that I want to showcase in the coming months, including The Storm, Light Ship, and numerous others.

    On December 23, 1956, the only Christmas episode of the CBS Radio Workshop aired.  The piece was a accounting of how the song "Silent Night" came into being.  The story takes place on a cruise ship sailing on Christmas Eve, and a famous Austrian conductor interrupts the playing of Silent Night on the ship.  It was being played extravagantly, when in reality it was a simple and modest song.  While he is called up to lead the orchestra in this famous song, he embarks on telling the story on how the song was written and how it became popular.  He then leads the group in a performance the way that it was intended to be played.  Like with all CBS Radio Workshop episodes, the quality of the broadcast is excellent, as are the production values.

    All is Bright (December 23, 1956)


    Here are some links to programs relating to CBS Radio Workshop:
    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas:
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    Saturday, December 27, 2014

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 27 - Let George Do It Christmas Episodes

    Working on sending out one blog entry each day in December to showcase great Old Time Radio for the Christmas season.  Here is a link to all the entries.  Here is day 27 Let George Do It Christmas Episodes.  Yeah...so it continues.  Why not - these are great episodes from one of my favorite radio actors, Bob Bailey.  I have a few more I'd let to get in before the new year...fingers crossed!

    If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#82). He has a number of great programs available throughout the month of December on his great show.  You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web. One place to find these shows is the 500 OTR Christmas Shows from the Internet Archive. This is a great resources for many of these wonderful radio shows!

    Scenes from Reagan National Airport (Washington, D.C.) - Tuesday November 5, 2013

    Not that George...Here is the Washington Monument
    View from Reagan National Airport, November 2013.

    Let George Do It is a radio drama that played on the West Coast of the United States. It was aired over the Don Lee-Mutual Network and sponsored by Standard Oil of California and later by Chevron Supreme Gasoline.  You might think of it as a poor-man's Whistler...if you can.  The series stared Bob Bailey as George Valentine, a former GI who did odd jobs, but of a special variety.  He was less of a handyman, than a man who was very handy to get you out of a situation.  Most of the messages stated off with Bob Bailey saying "Personal notice: Danger's my stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me. George Valentine."  The next thing you heard was the letter that was sent into to George.  It reminded me of Box 13 (staring Alan Ladd), which is one of my favorite series.  George Valentine was accompanied on his work by his secretary, confidant, companion and quasi-partner, Booksie (full name Claire Brooks).  Brooksie was played by a number of actresses, but most my favorite was Virginia Gregg.  When you hear the confidence that Bob Bailey provides George Valentine, you can see why he was the very best Johnny Dollar actor who ever took over that part.

    These Christmas episodes are from 1949, 1950 and early 1951.  The series would run from 1946 through 1954, though the last Bob Bailey episode (known) was December 1952.  He would play a variety or roles until starting as Johnny Dollar on October 3rd, 1955.

    Follow That Train (December 19, 1949)

    Summary:  When George gets a letter, he normally takes it very seriously.  On the week before Christmas, George received a letter from Santa Claus!  They found that it was sent from a department store, and went there to see what was going on.  But in the mix, Brooksie gets kidnapped?  What is happening - is the big guy behind it?  The episode also includes CBS stars Wally Maher, Lawrence Dobkin, Herb Butterfield, and John Dehner.

    Santa Claus in Glass (December 25, 1950)

    Summary: If you have a job that's too tough to handle, well that is not George Valentine's problem on Christmas!  When he gets roped into a case on Christmas that has jealousy, murder, stolen packages...and just about everything on your naughty Christmas list.

    Christmas in January (January 29, 1951)

    Summary:  When a famous movie star buys a painting for someone she hates...people like George Valentine begin to wonder.  But when she spends a great deal of money for a counterfeit painting, the intended recipient, the columnist Fracis Xavier Wick who famously celebrates Christmas in January, delights in embarrassing her. And when murder becomes the surprise, someone has to fix it.  Also stars Lawrence Dobkin, John Dehner, Ted de Corsia, Shirley Mitchell, and Lee Patrick.

    This is a fun series and I hope you enjoy it!

    Here are some links to programs relating to Let George Do It:
    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas:
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    Friday, December 26, 2014

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 26 - Five Days Off For Christmas with Night Beat

    Working on sending out one blog entry each day in December to showcase great Old Time Radio for the Christmas season.  Here is a link to all the entries.  Here is day 26 - Five Days Off For Christmas with Night Beat.  So you might be thinking....uhm....how can you have 26 items on a list that clearly has room for 25.  Well....seriously...I have more things to share.  I have a few more I want to get out before the new year...so sue me!  This is a great story about ancient history...when there were these things called newspapers.  Hard to believe, right?  But it goes out to all the people who work on Christmas Eve, Christmas and other holidays.

    If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#82). He has a number of great programs available throughout the month of December on his great show.  You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web. One place to find these shows is the 500 OTR Christmas Shows from the Internet Archive. This is a great resources for many of these wonderful radio shows!

    Scenes from The Magnificent Mile & River North (Chicago, Illinois)

    Inside the Tribune Tower (Chicago), April 2012

    Night Beat is a pretty interesting show.  It stars Frank Lovejoy, a very popular and well known radio actor.  Night Beat was on the NBC radio network and it was sponsored by Wheaties, the "Breakfast of Champions."  Frank Lovejoy plays Randy Stone, reporter for the newspaper Chicago Star.  Randy Stone canvases the evening hours in Chicago looking for stories ranging from kidnappings, to crimes, to personal stories and other accounts of the bustling city in the wee hours of the morning.  What makes this show so great is that it is not really formulaic.  While the stories do wrap up in the 30 minute window, they are wide ranging and cover so many different types of activities in the city.  So they are not just crimes, but people struggling with bigger life issues.  The way each of them ends is clever.  It flows from the actual characters conversing to a voice over by Randy Stone, in the way that he would have finished up the column for the newspaper.  The last words spoken by Randy Stone are the same, as he calls out "Copy Boy!"

    Five Days Off For Christmas (December 21, 1951)


    In the Christmas episode from December 21, 1951, Randy Stone gets a rare gift.  He is given the night off by his editor.  He learned about it at their Christmas Eve party, where he was handed an envelope with a 50 cent piece and a note to visit a family on Christmas.  Thinking it was a gag, Randy tried to work out plans with someone in Decatur.  But when that did not work out, he ended up at a bar, just wanting to avoid going home.  He paid for the drink with his new found money, but the bartender, voiced by Bill Conrad, pointed out that it was counterfeit.  When a boy tried to deliver him a similar letter, that opened up a whole new adventure for Randy Stone.  He ended up spending part of Christmas Eve in the newspaper library looking at his old stories.  A Christmas story that includes a library cannot be all bad!  In the end, he is on the case, and finds something more than a good story.

    Enjoy this great Christmas episode!

    Here are some links to programs relating to Night Beat:
    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas:
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    Thursday, December 25, 2014

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 25 - Elgin Watch Christmas Specials


    Working on sending out one blog entry each day in December to showcase great Old Time Radio for the Christmas season.  Here is a link to all the entries.  Here is day 25 - The Elgin Watch Christmas Specials.  The Elgin Watch Company sponsored two hour specials on Thanksgiving and Christmas.  In many ways, they served as the beginning and closing of the Christmas shopping season.  Last year, I wrote about the Thanksgiving Specials (there are two that are still available).  There are three Christmas specials that are available now.  I hope to write more about these wonderful specials...someday!

    If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#82). He has a number of great programs available throughout the month of December on his great show.  You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web. One place to find these shows is the 500 OTR Christmas Shows from the Internet Archive. This is a great resources for many of these wonderful radio shows!

    44/365/1870 (July 25, 2013) - My Great Watch

    My favorite watch - Definitely not an Elgin

    One of the really cool shows I recently discovered were the Elgin Seasonal Specials for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the 1940s. These were also known as Elgin's "2 Hours of Stars."  The shows were sponsored by the Elgin Watch Company of Elgin, Illinois. Starting in 1942 for the soldiers overseas, the Elgin Holiday Specials were two hour programs that featured the brightest stars in radio and the movies. Heard on these programs is Bing Crosby, Mario Landa, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope and were all hosted by Don Ameche. The Internet Archives has five total shows (see the link below). One of the real treats takes place one hour into the show from 1945. Jack Benny gave a twisted performance of Sorry Wrong Number, one of the most iconic episodes of Suspense. Also, given that the program runs 2 hours, these are not commonly played on current radio programs like XM 82.

    The shows have great Christmas music, and some pretty funny comedy bits.  In the 1944 show, there is long skit between singer Ginny Simms, Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson about how they were rehearsing for this song on the Elgin special.  As a great variety show that lasts two hours, it is a perfect thing to have on your radio (or computer) as you cook the Christmas meal.  It has been on the radio in my kitchen these last few years over the holidays.

    Here are links right to the Elgin's Christmas Shows:

    Elgin's 3rd Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1944)

    Summary:  The show features and all star list of radio and movie actors including: Ginny Simms, Eddie Anderson, Jack Benny, Louis Silvers and His Orchestra, Manny Klein, The Swing Wing, The Charioteers, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Carmen Miranda, Joseph Szigeti, The Les Paul Trio, Barbara Jo Allen, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby.  The great Don Ameche served as the master of ceremonies.  I think it is totally great to hear any early performance by Guitar great Les Paul and his Trio!  Bing Crosby also went off the Christmas script and sang "Don't Fence Me In."  The routine between Bob Hope and Bing Crosby was fantastic as well.

    Elgin's 4th Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1945)

    Summary:  The show stars  Don Ameche as the masters of ceremonies and a all star cast including:  Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Ginny Simms, Red Skelton, Bob Crosby and The Bobcats, Barbara Jo Allen (as "Vera Vague"), Allan Jones, Artur Rubinstein, Ella Logan, Alan Reed, General Omar Bradley, The Charioteers, Larry Storch, and The Elgin Orchestra conducted by Louis Silvers.

    Elgin's 7th Annual Christmas Show (December 25, 1948)

    Summary: The show stars  Don Ameche as the masters of ceremonies and a all star cast including: Sandra Berkova. Lauritz Melchior, Al Jolson, Danny Thomas, Red Ingle, Jack Kirkwood, Jo Stafford, Edgar Bergen, Sandra Berkova (a 15 year-old violinist), Cass Daley, Ozzie Nelson, Harriet Hilliard, Robert Armbruster and His Orchestra, and Jane Morgan.

    Enjoy these wonderful recordings!

    Here are some links to programs relating to the Elgin Watch Specials:
    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas:
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