Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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Chicago Theatre Of The Air "Bittersweet" (4-29-50) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 10, 2008

Show notes

The Chicago Theater Of The Air was a rather unique program that was created in 1940, during a time when operas and dramas were popular. The show attempted to add a degree of high culture to American entertainment. The operas were translated into English. A few examples of high end creations were Madame Butterfly, The Vagabond King and The Merry Widow.

Life Of Riley "Monohan Spends A Week" (5-22-48) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 09, 2008

Show notes

The Life of Riley, with William Bendix in the title role, was a popular radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film and continued as a long-running television series during the 1950s. The show began as a proposed Groucho Marx radio series, The Flotsam Family, but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for the comedian. Then producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in the movie The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). The Flotsam Family was reworked with Bendix cast as blundering Chester A. Riley, riveter at a California aircraft plant, and his frequent exclamation of indignation---"What a revoltin' development this is!"---became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker.

Dimension X "Pebble In The Sky" (6-17-51) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 09, 2008

Show notes

These were stories written by well-known science fiction authors dramatised by very high quality actors. It was a thirty-minute adult science fiction drama series with 45 episodes being broadcast before it was later revived as X Minus One. The shows were narrated by Norman Rose, perfecting the combination between authoritative resonance and dark irony.SPONSORS: General Mills for Wheaties CAST: Art Carney, Jack Grimes, Jack Lemmon, Santos Ortega, Norman Rose, Jackson Beck, Mandel Kramer, Peter Lazer, Larry Haines, Everett Sloane, Joan Alexander, Jan Miner, Claudia Morgan, Ralph Bell, Raymond Edward Johnson, Bryna Raeburn, Patricia Wheel, Joyce Gordon, Ronald Liss, Leon Janney, Luis Van Rooten ANNOUNCERS: Bob Warren, Fred Collins PRODUCERS/DIRECTORS: Danny Sutter, Ed King, Fred Weihe WRITERS: Ray Bradbury, Earl Hamner, Jr SOUND EFFECTS: Sam Monroe, Agnew Horine

Nightwatch "Nude Prowler" (4-05-54) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 09, 2008

Show notes

Nightwatch - January 7, 1954. CBS network. Audition program. Real police recordings, no actors are used. Car 54 and police reporter Donn Reed answer the first all, a Code 2 alert that a burglary is taking place. A woman is pushed in the bathroom by an alcoholic young man wearing a tie. He's captured in another house...wearing no clothes! A patrol through Culver City. Later, two witnesses to a homicide are interviewed. The suspect is captured and confesses on the air. Chief W. N. Hildebrand tells how the cases were resolved. Sterling Tracy (supervisor), Donn Reed (police reporter), W. N. Hildebrand. 25:34

Arch Oboler's Plays "The House I Live In" (4-26-45) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 08, 2008

Show notes

Arch Oboler's Plays was a radio drama series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939 to March 23, 1940 and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945 to October 11, 1945. Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Gale Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco.THIS EPISODE:April 26, 1945. Mutual network. "The House I Live In". Sustaining. A man's son is in a Japanese prison camp, and the neighborhood doesn't seem the same. Program #3 of a series of twenty six. Arch Oboler (writer, host), Raymond Massey, Mercedes McCambridge, Hester Sondergaard, Ann Shephard, Alfred Ryder, Sylvan Levin (conductor). 1/2 hour.

Diary Of Fate "Trina Crowley" (3-09-48) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 08, 2008

Show notes

Diary of Fate is a mystery and horror program where âFateâ narrates and always wins by the end of the story. These are great suspense filled stories about average people who are subject to the mysteries of their âFateâ. In This episode, March 9, 1948. Program #13. Finley syndication. "The Entry Of Trina Crowley". Commercials added locally. Book 74, page 309. A mysterious and wealthy man checks into a rundown motel in the Mojave desert. Could he be the murderer with $20,000 in the trunk of his car? The date is subject to correction. No cast credits given. Larry Finley (producer). 26:46.

Beyond Midnight "The Party" (1950) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 08, 2008

Show notes

BEYOND MIDNIGHT - Let us journey âinto the land that lies beyond midnight,â into a world of ghost hunters, men going mad, and DEATH DEATH DEATH! Written by the masterful Michael McCabe, these well-done South African radio shows will capture your attention and keep you up listening to them well beyond midnight.

CBS Radio Workshop "Jacob's Hands" (4-13-56) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 07, 2008

Show notes

CBS Radio Workshop - April 13, 1956. CBS network. "Jacob's Hands". Sustaining. A good story about a farm hand who discovers he has the power to heal. Aldous Huxley (author), Christopher Isherwood (author), Hans Conried, Harry Bartell, Helen Kleeb, Herb Butterfield, Janet Stewart, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Parley Baer, Vic Perrin, Virginia Gregg, William Conrad. 1/2 hourJacob Ericson is a shy, enigmatic, and somewhat inept ranch hand who works for crotchety Professor Carter and his crippled daughter, Sharon, on a ranch in California's Mojave Desert in the 1920s. One day he learns that his hands possess the mysterious gift of healing, a gift he uses to cure animals (whom he adores). Sharon (whom he also adores) then persuades him to heal her.

Gunsmoke "Incident At Indian Ford" (3-15-59) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 07, 2008

Show notes

Gunsmoke - Some listeners (such as old time radio expert John Dunning) have argued that the radio version of Gunsmoke was far more realistic than the television program. Episodes were aimed at adults, and featured some of the most explicit content of the day: there were violent crimes and scalpings, massacres and opium addicts. Miss Kitty's occupation as a prostitute was made far more obvious on the radio version than on television. Many episodes ended on a down-note, and villains often got away with their crimes.THIS EPISODE:March 15, 1959. CBS network. "Incident At Indian Ford". Commercials deleted. Marshal Dillon and Chester meet up with eight cavalry soldiers traveling with Mary Taber, who has just been ransomed back from the Arapahos. The script was used on the Gunsmoke television series on December 2, 1961. William Conrad, John Dunkel (writer), Howard McNear, Georgia Ellis, Jeanne Bates, Jack Moyles, Vic Perrin, Parley Baer, John Meston (editorial supervisor), George Walsh (announcer), Norman Macdonnell (producer, director). 25:09.

The Jack Benny Show "Jack Gets A Haircut" (1-13-52) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod May 07, 2008

Show notes

The Jack Benny Program - Benny had been only a minor vaudeville performer, but he became a national figure with The Jack Benny Program, a weekly radio show which ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS, and was consistently among the most highly rated programs during most of that run. With Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a sponsor, Benny came to radio on The Canada Dry Program, beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933. Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with sponsors General Tires, Jell-O and Grape Nuts. Lucky Strike was the radio sponsor from 1944 to the mid-1950s. The show returned to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's notorious "raid" of NBC talent in 1948-49. There it stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955. CBS aired reruns of old radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny.

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