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She was a generous, loving human being," Ellis said of Kitty. Macdonnell, in a 1953 Time interview, put it bluntly: "Kitty is just someone Matt has to visit every once in a while. We never say it, but Kitty is a prostitute, plain and simple."
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John Dunning |
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But soon the characters underwent a strange metamorphosis, a process that always happens as props become flesh and blood. Chester became more humorous, Dillon more understanding, Doc less bloodthirsty, and Kitty emerged as the quietly understood love interest. She and Dillon had their understanding: "There was no forgiveness to be given," said Ellis, "because I don't think Kitty was available to anybody but Matt." The relationship between C..
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John Dunning |
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This is the way I work," said Meston in 1955. "I decide that it's time for an Indian story, or an Army story, or maybe a Civil War vet returning home. Then I think of the people I knew as a kid in Colorado. And I think of what I've read about the west of 1870, and I put a character together. Let's say I decide on a man who can't take the land, it's too rough for him and he wants to get back east. Then I have my character and can build a sto..
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John Dunning |
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Dennis Weaver would be given a wooden leg and a greater drawl as Chester. Two things amused Parley Baer in later life: that the new people would find it necessary to change Chester's surname (from the Baer-coined Proud-foot to Goode) and that Dennis Weaver eventually came to hate the role. Isn't it interesting, Baer was asked in 1984, that what was the highlight of his professional life became for Weaver a limiting, confining trap, like the..
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John Dunning |
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Hilliard Marks, Mary's brother and longtime Benny producer, then got his script and began lining up supporting talent, which might include Mel Blanc, Frank Nelson, Artie Auerbach, Veola Vonn, Sheldon Leonard, or Elliott Lewis.
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John Dunning |
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He studied everything on the air, "listened to radio until it was coming out of my ears, getting the feel of it." This was a brand new ball game: "it wouldn't do any good to roll your eyes or clap your hands" to capture an audience. He decided to rope in the studio audience and let them laugh--on microphone--at his gags. This was unknown territory: before Cantor, studio audiences were sternly warned to make no noise of any kind while the sh..
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John Dunning |
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His son Keenan made that point years later in a taped interview. Wynn was a clown, a vastly different breed of entertainer. A comedian made you laugh: a clown could make you cry. In a way, Keenan Wynn regretted that his father had ever tried his hand on radio. "Suddenly he was locked in to coming up with 55 jokes every week. Basically he was visual, a very gentle man who was put under great stress by everyone. He did the best he could. He w..
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John Dunning |
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The pairing of Dick Haymes (who had made his name as a popular singer) and George Fenneman (one of radio's smoothest announcers) as actors in an adventure series was unusual. As Crane, Haymes played a pilot whose seat-of-the-pants operation included one old DC-4, appropriately named "the Flying Eight-Ball." The opening signature gave ample evidence of content: Flight 743 calling La Guardia Field ... Is that you, Crane? What're you bringing ..
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John Dunning |
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It should be admitted at the outset: even today, I Love a Mystery weaves a spell over its fans that is all but inexplicable to an outsider. It is simply the most-sought of all radio shows, the one most fraught with rumors. For years collectors have believed that discs to both Hollywood and New York runs have been hoarded by a California miser, who refuses to release them.
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John Dunning |
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Together they were the three musketeers of the airwaves: all for one, one for all. They had met during China's war with Japan, when all three had enlisted in the Chinese cause. After the war they returned to California to form the A-l Detective Agency. Their office was just off Hollywood Boulevard, one flight up, but they were seldom found there. Their cases took them to exotic locales, the titles themselves (The Fear That Creeps Like a Cat..
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John Dunning |
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Hildegarde was a singer of uncertain nationality, the product of an intense publicity campaign to give her a deliberate international flavor. As her Current Biography entry noted, she was known as "the little Hollander" in France, was written about as "the Viennese star" in a Dutch newspaper, and had left the British press wondering whether she was "an American with a French accent or French with an American accent." --
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John Dunning |
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In fact, she was Hildegarde Loretta Sell of Milwaukee, Wisc. Her persona was almost total fiction, concocted with the aid of her friend and agent, Anna Sosenko. Sosenko was relentless in promoting her, creating stories of her escapades and feeding them to a hungry American press. She had learned to sing in French, Russian, Italian, and German, as well as in English: she developed "a precise diction which made every word clearly audible and ..
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John Dunning |
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THE FRONT PAGE, lighthearted crime drama, based loosely on the play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. BROADCAST HISTORY: May 6-Sept. 16, 1948, ABC. 30m, Thursdays at 8. CAST: Dick Powell as reporter Hildy Johnson. William Conrad as his nemesis, managing editor Walter Burns. Hollywood radio players in support.
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John Dunning |
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The opening signature of Frontier Gentleman defined it: Herewith, an Englishman's account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual accounts. But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories. What the signature didn't say was that Frontier Gentleman was a solid cut above most westerns on radio or television in a western-filled decade...
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John Dunning |
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FU MANCHU, serial melodrama, based on the stories by Sax Rohmer. BROADCAST HISTORY: 1929-31, Blue Network.
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John Dunning |
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Commercial firms turned out Claghorn shirts and compasses (the needles always pointed south, son); Delmar cut two Claghorn records, I Love You, That Is and That's a Joke, Son, and Warner Brothers pirated the concept for use in a series of cartoons. The strutting cartoon rooster, Foghorn J. Leghorn, was an obvious steal from Delmar: the cutting irony, he said years later, was that the cartoons were copyrighted, so that, from then on, "in ord..
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John Dunning |
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The Hermit's Cave became nationally known, spreading from its local origin through the syndication of its Detroit version to many large markets. "The Mummers" co-titled their show "The Little Theater of the Air," a rather literary moniker for such a blood-and-thunder spook show. The framework is memorable almost sixty years later: howling winds and the rusty-as-nails voice of the Hermit. Ghhhhhoooooosssssstttttt shories! ... Weeeeeiiiiirrrr..
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John Dunning |
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By 1943 more than 1,500 clues had been broadcast, sometimes as many as six per show. The tally that year was 286 "armed and extremely dangerous" men who had been brought to justice by Gang Busters."
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John Dunning |
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Now it was called The Texaco Star Theater; the Mighty Allen Art Players became the Texaco Workshop Players, and the show opened in the traditional Texaco manner, with a siren and a bell. The opening was toned down after Dec. 7, 1941, because of growing public tension and the use of sirens to warn of air raids.
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John Dunning |
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Later, Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf (whose son would become a hero half a century later in the Persian Gulf War) was brought in as interviewer. Schwarzkopf had been superintendent of the New Jersey State Police during the investigation of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and had battled Hoover for jurisdiction of the case. Having Schwarzkopf on the show would be a double bonus for Lord: it would continue the au..
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John Dunning |
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In the fall of 1945, Valentine stepped down as police chief and became the regular Gang Busters narrator. In 1946 he left the show at the request of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who wanted him to reorganize the police departments in defeated Japan.
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John Dunning |
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Popular stories and bestselling novel adaptations: Let the Hurricane Roar, by Rose Wilder Lane; Kitty Foyle, by Christopher Morley; etc. Leading
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John Dunning |
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He was hired at WOR in March 1925 and a few months later was asked to fill in for Bernarr MacFadden, who had a calisthentics program. Gambling's smooth baritone voice contrasted well with MacFadden's gravelly, authoritarian approach, and he got the job permanently when MacFadden left the station a few months later. The original show was 90 minutes long, beginning at 6:30 A.M. Colgate Toothpaste became a sponsor soon after Gambling took over..
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John Dunning |
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Gambling retired in 1959 and died in 1974. He left his show to his son, John A. Gambling, who had first appeared on Gambling's 1934 Christmas Eve broadcast. John A. retired in 1990, leaving the show to his son, John R. Gambling. It was cited as the longest-running radio show in the Guinness Book of World Records.
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John Dunning |
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a "Dragon's Eye Ring" that glowed in the dark, 1940, one champ seal and ten cents. There was also a wartime "Write-a-Fighter Corps," whose members pledged to send at least one letter a month to fighting servicemen. The Corps collected scraps of paper, rubber, and tin, sold war bonds, and planted victory gardens. On each broadcast, members received urgent-sounding instructions, making them feel an integrated part of the war effort." --
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John Dunning |
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The beginning of the end came in 1947, when ABC vice president Ed Boroff canceled the quarter-hour format. Boroff had been critical of juvenile cliffhangers for some time, and one particular Armstrong episode contained all the elements he had long disdained. Jack had bailed out of an airplane wearing a suit of armor and a parachute. The chute didn't open, but wait!--there was a backup chute! When the second chute failed, there was Jack, enc..
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John Dunning |
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Far more important was the arrival of Phil Harris on the first show of the new year, Oct. 4, 1936. Harris was the fourth cog in the Benny formula, a swaggering blowhard whose demeanor might have been, in real life, as offensive as Benny's, but on the air was touched with the Benny magic, making him one of the show's most popular personalities. Harris drubbed Benny about being vain and cheap, but he shared the vanity and added a layer of rio..
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John Dunning |
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He was used intermittently until June, when Rochester Van Jones was first mentioned, beginning his long-running role as Benny's valet. His part was usually confined to scenes at home--preparing the frugal courses for Benny's dinner parties, deciding which of Benny's moth-eaten suits was suitable for dinner at the Colmans--and to driving Benny's automobile, that model of dilapidation known as the Maxwell.
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John Dunning |
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Hollywood Hotel was the first major network show to broadcast from the West Coast. The film capital was rich in nationally known talent untapped by radio. It had remained untapped because of a telephone company policy that cost the networks up to $1,000 to reverse radio circuits: everything then was geared to broadcast from east to west, and it was sometimes said that a producer could bring a film star east for a five-day train trip for les..
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John Dunning |
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I Can't Stand Jack Benny Because-- He fills the air with boasts and brags And obsolete obnoxious gags. The way he plays the violin Is music's most obnoxious sin. His cowardice alone, indeed Is matched by his obnoxious greed. And all the things that he portrays Show up my own obnoxious ways.
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John Dunning |
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Then Wolff thought of Ronald Colman. He had long been Colman's friend and agent, and he knew that Colman was a natural. But Colman had shown little interest in weekly series radio: only in recent years, with semi-regular appearances on The Jack Benny Program, had Colman shown himself to be a master of dry comedy. His Benny shows, usually in company with his wife, Benita, were critically acclaimed as high spots of the Benny seasons.
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John Dunning |
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CAST: Barry Fitzgerald as Judge Bernard Fitz of the Vincent County District Court. Bill Green as Sheriff McGrath, "Vincent County's own little Hitler," a frequent antagonist of the kind-hearted judge. Barbara Fuller as Susan, the judge's lovely young niece. Leo Cleary as the bailiff. Dawn Bender as little Mary Margaret McAllister. WRITER-PRODUCER-DIRECTOR: Carlton E. Morse. ANNOUNCER: Frank Martin. ORCHESTRA: Opie Cates. This show bore many..
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John Dunning |
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The Helen Hayes Theater was considered prestige drama, but it was heard sporadically and never built the reputation or the audiences of the great theaters of the air. Appearances with Orson Welles's Mercury troupe in 1939 confirmed her belief that, "next to the stage, radio is the best medium for drama." Her Lipton Tea series, beginning the following year, was her best and longest forum. She supervised the entire production, playing the lea..
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John Dunning |
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HERCULE POIROT, mystery drama, based on the novels by Agatha Christie. BROADCAST HISTORY: Feb. 22-Oct. 14, 1945, Mutual. 30m, Thursdays at 8 until Oct. 7; then Sundays at 9. April 1, 1946-Nov. 21, 1947, CBS. 15m, weekdays, various evening timeslots. Mystery of the Week. Continuations told in five-chapter stories, concluded each Friday. Procter & Gamble. CAST: Harold Huber as Poirot, the supposedly ingenious but decidedly immodest Belgian de..
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John Dunning |
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Hap Hazard spent most of his time on this series rescuing guests from the hazards of the hotel. Its floors creaked, the doors wouldn't shut, the water taps dripped, and when the president of the chain came and wanted to look at the books, Hap could only ask, "Fiction or nonfiction?"
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John Dunning |
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The premise of Heart's Desire was simple: people wrote in asking for things; the better the cause, the better their chances of getting it. Up to 50,000 letters a week came in, to be read and judged by staff. The goal was, first of all, entertainment: letters that would make good air copy. This usually meant a tug at the heartstrings, a hearty laugh, or something bizarre (one woman wanted a washing machine so she wouldn't have to wash her hu..
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John Dunning |
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THE HALL OF FANTASY, horror-supernatural dramatic anthology. BROADCAST HISTORY: Aug. 22, 1952-Sept. 28, 1953, Mutual. 30m, Fridays at 9:30 until Sept. 26, 1952; returned Jan. 5, 1953, Mondays at 8:30. CAST: Chicago radio performers including Harry Elders, Eloise Kummer, Carl Grayson, and Maurice Copeland. WRITER-CREATOR-PRODUCER-DIRECTOR: Richard Thorne, who also played many of the character roles. DIRECTOR: Leroy Olliger; also, Glenn Ranso..
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John Dunning |
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Well-known stories from literature with top Hollywood actors: Cimarron, by Edna Ferber, starring Irene Dunne; Elmer the Great, by Ring Lardner, starring Bob Hope; The Prairie Years, by Carl Sandburg, starring Gregory Peck;
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John Dunning |
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The Hallmark Hall of Fame has become the grandfather of all prestige shows, a dignified though increasingly expensive promotion for the slogan that was a standard even in 1948: Remember--a Hallmark Card, when you care enough to send the very best.
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John Dunning |
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Hedda Hopper had had several careers before moving into radio and becoming one of the two major outlets for Hollywood gossip. She was born Elda Furry, June 2, 1890. She was a chorus girl, a silent-screen actress, and a real estate saleswoman. She had married comedian De Wolf Hopper and changed her name to Hedda, though she was occasionally confused with Edna Wallace Hopper, who gave beauty tips on the networks ca. 1930-32. In 1936 she decid..
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John Dunning |
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She seemed to take herself less seriously than did Parsons, though she was considered more accurate and more willing to personally check out her tips. "On the radio, Miss Hopper cheerfully admits her errors by giving herself the bird with a gold-plated mechanical canary," wrote Current Biography in 1942. Her feud with Parsons was real, and in most popularity contests she came out the winner, pronounced by Life "infinitely more liked by the ..
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John Dunning |
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Questions of violence will continue forever: the same charges aimed at radio in the '30s are here for television to answer in the '90s. The difference, then, was the certainty that right would prevail and the hero would survive on Monday. Jack had a third chute tucked up under all that armor. If Boroff had been among the faithful, he'd surely have known that.
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John Dunning |
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Benny died at 80 on Dec. 26, 1974. He was followed in death by the others: Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Feb. 28, 1977; Don Wilson, April 25, 1982; Mary Livingstone, June 30, 1983; Dennis Day, June 28, 1988; and Phil Harris, Aug. 11, 1995."
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John Dunning |
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HOSTS: Raymond Edward Johnson until May 22, 1945; Paul McGrath beginning Sept. 28, 1945. Also: House Jameson. CAST: Film stars known for the macabre--Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, etc.--in lead roles, ca. 1941-42. New York radio performers in subsequent leads and in support: Richard Widmark, Larry Haines, Everett Sloane, Lesley Woods, Anne Seymour, Stefan Schnabel, Arnold Moss,
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John Dunning |