Corey's Ramblings

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 7: Duffy's Tavern Christmas with Jeff Chandler (1948)

There is a series that I have never gotten around to showcasing in all my blog entries on Old Time Radio is a pretty big one - Duffy's Tavern. In showcasing this episode from 1948, I am also pivoting from a key actor in yesterday's blog entry (Our Miss Brooks). That actor is Jeff Chandler, who played Phillip Boynton, Connie Brooks long suffering love interest. In today's episode, he plays a characters with a much higher standing in the world. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Kelly's on the Hill (Irish Hills, Lenawee County, Michigan) - July 2011

From 1941 through 1951, Duffy's Tavern was one of the most popular comedies on radio. It appeared on the CBS, NBC and NBC Blue Network (which would become ABC). The show was the brain child of Ed Gardner, who played Archie the bartender for its entire run. As reported in Broadcasting on February 3, 1941:

New half-hour show is being build around Gardner's Archie character which he created on This is New York, CBS sustaining series two years ago. Gardner terminates activities on the Rudy Vallee Show following the Feb. 20 broadcast.

Gardner was the producer on Vallee's show, but gained far greater fame and acclaim as the star of his own show. Each episode would open the same way:

Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speaking. Duffy ain't here. Oh, hello Duffy.

While Duffy does not ever make an appearance, the episodes revolve around Archie and the who's who of celebrities who come to this famous dining establishment. Many of the stars come as themselves, especially Monty Woolley who seemed to be on the program a good number of times.

On December 23, 1948, Duffy's Tavern aired a great Christmas episode staring Jeff Chandler. Its Christmas Eve and Archie is hoping to shut down Duffy's early and head home. He was in the dumps after not getting a Christmas bonus from Duffy. Actually, all he got was a Christmas card with a exclamation to get back to work! Archie's co-workers and Duffy's regulars all tried to cheer him up, but to no avail. But a visitor shows up after he thought the doors were all locked. Jeff Chandler plays the mysterious stranger that could be reminiscent of the episode Berlin, 1945 (Quiet, Please). And when Archie tags along with the stranger for a walk around the neighborhood, he sees all sorts of sights he did not think he would ever see. Their first stop is a church, where Archie goes reluctantly. The church is not only a place to pray, but a place to stay warm - especially when you do not have another place to go. Archie donated a quarter on the way out of church - pretty impressive for someone who only wanted to help himself. They then ran into Jimmy the newsboy. Jimmy sold papers every day - but he couldn't walk. He got his present for Christmas over the summer when he got to see the Yankees play! And when the stranger pointed out that he just sold a newspaper to his hero Joe DiMaggio. He found a way to walk over to his hero (much to everyone's surprise and amazement). That was not the only miracle that Archie noticed when walking around with the stranger.

Joining Gardner and Chandler in the script are: Eddie Green, Charlie Cantor, Florence Halop, Florence Baker, Robert Bruce, Scott Elliott, Bobby Ellis, Frank Gerstle, Betty Lou Gerson, Marvin Miller, Franklin Parker, & Donald Woods. For those keeping score, the script was used two years earlier (not that it matters)! I hope you enjoy this sweet episode from one of the Golden Age's best comedies.

Duffy's Tavern Christmas Episode - December 22, 1948

Here are some links to programs relating to the Duffy's Tavern:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 6: Christmas Clothing Drive with Our Miss Brooks (1950)

And now...the comedies! There are many Old Time Radio comedies that revolve around Christmas and I will definitely get to them. One of my favorites is Our Miss Brooks which I featured the last two years - Holidays with Connie (2014) & Department Store Contest (2015). I covered the Magic Christmas Tree in my 2014 entry. But I found another Christmas episode in this wonderful series and that is what we are focusing on today. Christmas is not only the season when we give gifts to those we love, but hopefully to those less fortunate than us. Food drives, clothing drives, secret Santas are just a few of the ways we help. And when this comes to Madison High, well, it does not turn out completely as expected. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Salvation Army Giving Tree - Briarwood Mall (Ann Arbor, Michigan - 2012)

There are so many comedies from Old Time Radio that just do not hold up well to today's tastes and humor. One that I think does the trick (and is one of my favorites) is Our Miss Brooks. From 1948 through 1957, Eve Arden played the lovelorn English teacher at Madison High, Connie Brooks. This series is one of the very best comedies that we have from Old Time Radio days. Arden leads an all-star cast in this well written series on CBS Radio that actually holds up well, even today. Between never having enough money, job responsibilities that seem to change from week to week, a cat that is a character all to herself and a love interest who is more fixated on frogs than women...Eve Arden's Connie Brooks always maintains her grace and charm. The show also featured Jeff Chandler as Mr. Philip Boynton (Connie's long suffering love interest), Jane Morgan as Mrs. Margaret Davis (Connie's landlord), Gale Gordon as Mr. Osgood Conklin (Madison High School's principal, and Richard Crenna as Walter Denton (a student at Madison High).

The episode on December 17, 1950 brings us to Madison High where Miss Brooks is in charge of a clothing drive for the needy. As she likes to point out on this series, there are some people less fortunate than teachers - though few are paid as poorly! She even wondered if the needy should have a clothing drive for teachers? In the process of both planning the clothing drive and picking up the clothing, she ended up collecting something else....shopping lists from friends. As you might imagine, a huge mix up occurs and the money given to Connie to purchase gifts ended up in Mr. Conklin's new suit - and that ends up as part of the clothing drive. When Mr. Conklin learns that he inadvertently also left some jewelry in that suit....he jumps into action as well! In an effort to get the suit back, Connie Brooks, Philip Boynton and Osgood Conklin negotiate with the person who claimed the suit. That person is Cosmo Ferguson - who was played by Gunsmoke's Parley Baer. All's well that ends well - as typically is the case at Madison High! All of the regulars joined Baer in the Al Lewis written script including Eve Arden, Gloria McMillan, Richard Crenna, Gale Gordon, Jeff Chandler, & Jane Morgan, The script was used again five years later (on December 18, 1955) as was the norm in those series. While played for laughs, please remember those who are less fortunate than you are this holiday season. And enjoy this classic episode of Our Miss Brooks.

Madison's Christmas Clothing Drive (Our Miss Brooks - December 17, 1950)

Here are some links to programs relating to the Our Miss Brooks:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Monday, December 5, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 5: A Christmas Story from Quiet, Please

The other day, I highlighted a Wyllis Cooper script that focused on soldiers at the end of World War I in Paris who embark on a journey similar to that of the Three Kings (Three Men from NBC's Radio City Playhouse). With this entry, we head to end of the Second World War in another Wyllis Cooper penned script in his brilliant Quiet, Please series. (I will get some comedies soon - promise!)

Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Wintry Mix at the Ross School of Business (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
February 20, 2014

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, or Gunsmoke's 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 was a little different script used on December 26, 1948 when Quiet, Please presented a reprise of the previous year's Christmas story, Berlin, 1945. The setting is painted in very few words at the start of the program:

Announcer: This is Christmas Day two years ago. Christmas Day, 1945, in a ruined house in Berlin, in Germany.

Five soldiers around a table, beginning their Christmas dinner.

Staff Sergeant John Plattner was carving.

This is pretty much all you need to know. Five soldiers enjoying a Christmas Dinner in peace, after many years of war. They all tell stories about Christmas past, what they have gone through, and what the holidays were like back home - like in Peoria. The stories and food on this Christmas Day were interrupted when a displaced person, or DP, arrived. Among the first things he said, was this: "Nothing, sir. I was just looking around. At the... destruction. It's terrible." The stranger or displaced person, in a twist, was played by Ernest Chappell, who normally opened the show. As the soldiers welcomed the stranger into their lives, they began to realize something special about this person. This episode showcases Wyllis Cooper at the height of his art and should definitely shared with friends and strangers to spread the true meaning of the season. Joining Ernest Chappel was Frank Thomas, James Goss, James Monks, Melville Ruick, Warren Stevens, and Ed Latimer as the other voice actors. Wyllis Cooper served as the host, writer and director.

Berlin, 1945 (Quiet, Please - December 26, 1948)

Berlin, 1945 Script (from Quietly Yours site)

Here are some links to programs relating to Quiet, Please:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Sunday, December 4, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 4: Johnny Dollar's Missing Mouse Matter (1956)

This is my fourth entry for this year's Old Time Radio Christmas. I thought it would be good to head back to one of my all-time favorite series, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. I have twice featured this series during the last two years with the Nick Shurn Matter (one of my favorite five-part series) and his stint as a Department Store Santa. So, I thought I should go back to see what Johnny Dollar is up to. And with this colder weather settling in over much of the country, we might be seeing more mice around the house. If there were a way to pull these two needs together???? There is! Thank you Johnny Dollar.

Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

193/365 (December 21, 2008) - The Best Christmas Tree Ornament

Cosmo the Cat in the Christmas Tree (and CMO - Chief Mouser Officer) - December 2008

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar started out in 1949 as a basic 30 minute detective series. Dick Powell did the audition show for Johnny Dollar, but he opted to do the great series Richard Diamond (with many scripts written by a young Blake Edwards). With Dick Powell turning down the role, CBS went with Charles Russell who played Dollar for the first year. Many people took the role, but most fans like the episodes voiced by Bob Bailey. He took over the role at a time when the format changed from a once weekly 30 minute episode to daily 15 minute series. Most were five day series and allowed the writers and producers to create more in-depth stories. After this experiment lasted around a year, they went back to the 30 minute format, still with Bob Bailey. He would star in the series until the moved the production to New York City in November 1960.

While Johnny Dollar is a basic detective program, the gimmick was that it revolved around his expense report. Johnny Dollar provided the exposition around the expenses incurred during the case. At first, I could not believe that they had a show featuring an insurance investigator with an expense report. But it quickly became one of my favorite series.

On December 23, 1956, CBS aired the "The Missing Mouse Matter." Johnny Dollar is getting ready for the holidays when he received a call. There is a problem reported by a Rhode Island eccentric millionaire Mr. Gillis who had previously purchased an unusual policy for something small, precious, valuable and irreplaceable. It was not a diamond...but a mouse. In fact, it was an "unusually talented" mouse. Its name was Gulliver and he could sing. Normally, the insurance company would not cover it, but they had so much business with Mr. Gillis that they could not say no. But when the mouse goes missing....they needed to call in the best investigator they knew - Johnny Dollar.

So move over Willie the Whale - these men have found a singing mouse - who sings at a level where humans can hear. While Mr. Gillis was sure that a former entertainment agent was the guilty party, it might have been simpler to figure out when a cat shows up, with a prize between its paws. Turns out that the ending is much sweeter for everyone, including the cat! Joining Bob Bailey in this fun Christmas episode are Gunsmoke's Howard McNear and Parley Baer. Charles Smith wrote the script and it was directed by Jack Johnstone. On the same evening, CBS featured McNear and Bear in a Gunsmoke episode called "Beeker's Barn", that I featured last year as well.

Missing Mouse Matter (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar) - December 23, 1956

Here are some links to programs relating to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Saturday, December 3, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 3: Three Men from NBC's Radio City Playhouse

This is my third entry for this year's Old Time Radio Christmas. So I wanted to find something that made sense....maybe something that comes in a set of three...what around the holidays comes in sets of three....? Got it! Wise men!

Thanks to Radio great Wyllis Cooper, we have a great retelling of the story of the three kings. Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

Nativity at St. Paul United Church of Christ (Saline, Michigan) - December 2011

Some of my favorite series on Old Time Radio offered up a unique story with each episode. Rather than starting with a set of characters that you are familiar with, these episodes start from scratch. Some of my favorites include The Whistler, Suspense, The Columbia Workshop just to name a few. Radio City Playhouse is a program that I had not come across with my interest in the Golden Age of Radio - but it looks like one that I will have to visit again. NBC produced this great anthology series for just two years (1948 to 1949), but it allowed Wyllis Cooper to share one of the great Christmas stories ever heard over the airwaves.

During my first year of featuring Old Time Radio shows about Christmas, I showcased a 1937 story from Arch Oboler's Lights Out called Uninhabited (from December 22, 1937). I did not know if it was from Arch Oboler or Wyllis Cooper, the two visionaries behind the great series, Lights Out. Eleven years later, Wyllis Cooper presented this script on the Radio City Playhouse (which helped me figure out who wrote it). The story is really fantastic and provides a retelling of the three kings at the birth of Jesus. It was Christmas Eve 1918 and the fighting in Europe during World War I had stopped. We find three Allied officers heading on a train for a long needed rest. The three solders were very different, one from France, one from Australia and one from America. These three officers dozed off, and simultaneously dreamed about being the three Magi, looking for the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem nearly two thousand years earlier. I love the story because it is a beautiful telling of the three Magi. It also has a nice message about race relations from the perspective of the 1930s.

On the Radio City Playhouse, Wyllis Cooper brought this great story back to life. Reusing scripts was a common occurrence during this time and it allowed people to catch programs they might have otherwise missed. The show features Bill Lipton, Grant Richards, Ian Martin, and John McQuade, Thanks to the Internet Archive, you can listed to this 1948 version and compare it with the 1937 original. Either way, a beautiful story for the Christmas season. Be sure to check out Wyllis Cooper's Script for Three Men (as originally performed on Lights Out in 1937).

Three Men (from Radio City Playhouse - December 20, 1948)

Here are some links to programs relating to Old Time Radio and Radio City Playhouse:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)

Friday, December 2, 2016

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas - Day 2: The Story of Christmas Seals from Cavalcade of America

For over 100 years, Christmas Seals have not only added an attractive picture to letters and packages at the holidays, but also generated much needed donations to support those with tuberculosis, Later, the American Lung Association would use these monies to help combat lung cancer and asthma. The story of Christmas Seals was featured in an early episode of the Cavalcade of America - and a great entry for the second entry in my 25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas.

I will once again try to get these out every day (though I will probably miss some here and there and repeat some of my favorites). Here is a link to all the previous OTR Christmas entries. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get close to Christmas.

114/365 (October 3, 2008) - Wonderful Day at the Pittsburgh Zoo (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Sleepy seal at Pittsburgh Zoo - October 3, 2008 (see what I did there...)

The Cavalcade of America is a great series sponsored by DuPont. The purpose of the program has been one of great study and I am definitely glad that I have a few episodes to talk about it. The long-running show ran from 1935 to 1953 and then had a second life on television. Starting first on the CBS Network, it moved to NBC in 1939. This 30 minute program provided a great platform to showcase some of the lesser known incidents and people who made the country great. Not only was this series a great source of historical dramas, there were numerous fictional stories brought in as well. From the Internet Archive page (see link below), "The company's motto, 'Maker of better things for better living through chemistry,' was read at the beginning of each program, and the dramas emphasized humanitarian progress, particularly improvements in the lives of women, often through technological innovation."

On December 9, 1936, the Cavalcade showcased the history of Christmas Seals and how they were introduced into the United States. While they were first used in Denmark, they came to the United States thanks to the work of Emily Bissell. She was an officer for the American Red Cross in Wilmington, Delaware, a writer and fundraiser who made a name for herself supporting the fight against tuberculosis. Bissell sought a way to raise money to help a Delaware sanatorium raise money to ensure that they can serve the numerous children with tuberculosis. In 1907, she designed these seals and sold them at the post office for a penny each. With a very modest goal of $300, she ended up selling over $3000 work of seals that year. The popularity of this program grew so great that they could credit Christmas Seals with raising $83 million dollars over the first 29 years. The Christmas Seals were synonymous with fundraising by the American Lung Association and its predecessor organization - National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis.

The episode provides a dramatized recounting of Emily Bissell's work to bring Christmas Seals to the United States and and end to tuberculosis. Two things of note. First, Emily Bissell was in the studio audience and gave a brief statement at the end of the program. Second, Emily Bissell is also closely associated with the anti-suffragist movement in the late 19th Century. I am personally very glad that she was more successful at the former than the latter! Hope you enjoy this episode from The Cavalcade of America.

The Story of Christmas Seals (Cavalcade of America - December 9, 1936)

Here are some links to programs relating to Old Time Radio and Cavalcade of America:

Another 25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2016) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)