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You Bet Your Life "Secret Word Is Water" (3-15-50) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 06, 2008

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Groucho Marx matches wits with the American public in four episodes of this classic game show. Starting on the radio in 1947, You Bet Your Life made its television debut in 1950 and aired for 11 years with Groucho as host and emcee. Sponsored rather conspicuously by the Dodge DeSoto car manufacturers, the show featured two contestants working as a team to answer questions for cash prizes.

Groucho Marx did 26 movies total, of these 15 were with his brothers Chico and Harpo. Of those 15 movies only 14 were actually released. The first movie was a silent film, that Groucho is said to of cut up the movie into guitar picks, to prevent it's release. Needless to say, he didn't like it. Although students of the cinema still try to find a copy of the film, feeling it has great historical value. They were one of the world's most famous comedy teams. They had their own zany brand of slapstick comedy. That was mixed with quick witted one-liners, usually delivered by Groucho. Some of Groucho's one-liners were often imitated, even by some of todays biggest comedians. You can also find them in some of the old Buggs Bunny cartoons. There were six brothers, all born in New York City. Manfred Marx died in infancy.

Beyond Midnight "The Visits" (1969) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 06, 2008

Show notes

BEYOND MIDNIGHTA replacement series for SF 68, this South African horror anthology was far more successful than its predecessor, running from 1968 through 1969. Its success may have been due in part to producer Michael McCabe - who also produced SF 68 - honing his talents to a higher degree. Little else is known about it, including the number of shows produced. As far as I can discover, there were at least 43 episodes, all in half-hour format.THIS EPISODE:"The Visits" (1969) *Exact Date Is UnknownAn old man who makes regular monthly visits to an abandoned house is the key to a dark secret out of the past.

Baby Snooks "3 Episodes" (1-22-39) (5-11-39) (5-18-39) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 05, 2008

Show notes

THREE EPISODES:"Daddy's An Elk" (1-22-39) "Barking Rabbit" (5-11-39) And "Golf Tea" (5-18-39)The Baby Snooks Show was an American radio program starring comedienne and Ziegfeld Follies alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series began on CBS September 17, 1944, airing on Sunday evenings at 6:30pm as Toasties Time. The title soon changed to The Baby Snooks Show, and the series was sometimes called Baby Snooks and Daddy. In 1944, the character was given her own show, and during the 1940s, it became one of the nation's favorite radio situation comedies, with products from a variety of sponsors (Post Cereals, Sanka, Spic-n-Span, Jell-O) being touted by a half-dozen announcers -- John Conte (early 1940s), Tobe Reed (1944-45), Harlow Willcox (mid-1940s), Dick Joy, Don Wilson and Ken Wilson. Hanley Stafford was best known for his portrayal of Snooks' long-suffering, often-cranky father, Lancelot âDaddyâ Higgins, a role played earlier by Alan Reed on the 1936 Follies broadcasts. Lalive Brownell was âMommyâ Higgins, also portrayed by Lois Corbet (mid-1940s) and Arlene Harris (after 1945). Beginning in 1945, child impersonator Leone Ledoux was first heard as Snookâs younger brother Robespierre, and Snooks returned full circle to the comics when comic book illustrator Graham Ingels and his wife Gertrude named their child Robby (born 1946) after listening to Ledoux's Robespierre baby voices.

Johnny Fletcher Mystery "The Navy Colt" (3-25-46) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 05, 2008

Show notes

The Navy Colt, by Frank Gruber, from Johnny Fletcher Mystery (NBC) aired on March 25, 1946 starring Albert Decker and Mike Mazurki. Book agents Johnny Fletcher and Sam Cragg find their low finances and the Chicago winter incompatible, so they accept an offer of $10.00 to punch James Maxwell in the nose. When the deed is done, the debt remains unpaid, the two are accused of Maxwell's murder, and the only thing which stands between them and destitution is an antique colt revolver.

Escape "The Man From Tomorrow" (8-23-53) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 05, 2008

Show notes

Escape was radio's leading anthology series of high adventure, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with the introduction, intoned by Paul Frees and William Conrad: âTired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!â Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven," George R. Stewart's Earth Abides, Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," John Collier's "Evening Primrose", later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. Vincent Price and Harry Bartell were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key," the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats. The half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze.

The Hallmark Playhouse "My Friend Flicka" (11-04-48) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Post Feb 05, 2008

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THE HALLMARK PLAYHOUSE was heard over CBS stations Thursday evenings. This drama anthology of 30-minute shows was sponsored by, of course, Hallmark Greeting Cards. It was preceded by the RADIO READER'S DIGEST, which ran from September 13, 1942 thorugh June 3, 1948. Hallmark sponsored the RADIO READER'S DIGEST from January 13, 1946 to it's end. On Feb. 8, 1953, the series name and format was changed. It was now called THE HALLMARK HALL OF FAME and presented biographal sketches of famous persons, past and present. The new format was used until the end of the 1955 season. THIS EPISODE:This classic story about a boy and his horse still stands strong. It's more an inspiring account of growing up and gaining self-assurance than it is a horse story. Wells is a surprising choice for narrating this book. His voice is urban and sophisticated, with no hint of soft edges that might be more suitable for a novel set in a simpler time in the American West. Fortunately, Wells deftly handles the life lessons discovered by 9-year-old Ken. Through Wells's voice we sense the vast gap between Ken's gentle mother and his demanding father, and what each parent brings to the son.

The Arthur Godfrey Show "Recalling 1948" (4-27-72) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 04, 2008

Show notes

Arthur Godfrey was born in New York City. While his family was originally well off, his mother was unsuccessful as a performer with aspirations to fame and stardom that never materialized, and his father was a failed sportswriter who left the family. With the family in sudden poverty, Godfrey tried to help them survive by going on the road accepting odd jobs, and hoboing. He served in the United States Navy from 1920 to 1924 as a radio operator on naval destroyers. Additional training in radio came during Godfrey's service in the Coast Guard from 1927 to 1930. It was during a Coast Guard stint in Baltimore that he appeared on a local talent show and became popular enough to land his own brief weekly program.

The Amos & Andy Show "New Neighbors" (12-02-51) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 04, 2008

Show notes

Amos Jones and Andy Brown worked on a farm near Atlanta, Georgia, and during the episodes of the first week, they made plans to find a better life in Chicago, despite warnings from a friend. With four ham and cheese sandwiches and $24, they bought train tickets and headed for Chicago where they lived in a State Street rooming house and experienced some rough times before launching their own business, the Fresh Air Taxi Company. With the listening audience increasing in the spring and summer of 1928, the show's success prompted the Pepsodent Company to bring it to the NBC Blue Network on August 19, 1929. At this time the Blue Network was not heard on stations in the West. Western listeners complained to NBC, they wanted to hear the show. Under special arrangements Amos 'n' Andy debuted coast-to-coast November 28, 1929 on NBC's Pacific Orange Network and continued on the Blue. At the same time, the serial's central characters -- Amos, Andy and George "The Kingfish" Stevens -- relocated from Chicago to Harlem. Amos was naÃve but honest, hard-working and (after his 1933 marriage to Ruby Taylor) a dedicated family man. Andy was more blustering, with overinflated self-confidence. Andy, being a dreamer, tended to let Amos do most of the work. Their lodge leader, the Kingfish, was always trying to lure the two into get-rich-quick schemes. Other characters included John Augustus "Brother" Crawford, an industrious but long-suffering family man; Henry Van Porter, a social-climbing real estate and insurance salesman; Frederick Montgomery Gwindell, a hard-charging newspaperman; William Lewis Taylor, the well-spoken, college-educated father of Amos's fiancee; and "Lightning", a slow-moving Stepin Fetchit-type character. The Kingfish's catch phrase "Holy mackerel!" soon entered the American lexicon.

Gangbusters "The Case Of The Quincy Killers" (4-24-48) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Feb 04, 2008

Show notes

Gang Busters was an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered as G-Men, sponsored by Chevrolet, on July 20, 1935. After the title was changed to Gang Busters January 15, 1936, the show had a 21-year run through November 20, 1957. Beginning with a barrage of loud sound effects â guns firing and tires squealing â this intrusive introduction led to the popular catch phrase "came on like Gang Busters."The series dramatized FBI cases, which producer-director Phillips H. Lord arranged in close association with Bureau director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover insisted that only closed cases would be used.

The Green Hornet "The Ghost Who Talked Too Much" (5-25-39) - Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee Three Feb 04, 2008

Show notes

The Green Hornet program began in January of 1936 and played to December 5, 1952. The shows typically ran thirty minutes and ran twice a week in the beginning years. They later reverted to being broadcast once a week. The last season of the show in 1952 the show reverted back to a twice a week schedule. Al Hodge played the role of Britt Reid for seven years. Fran Striker, a co-creator of the Lone Ranger, wrote all of the scripts for the Green Hornet until April 1944. After that, several other writers were brought in to script the show. The writing output of Fran Striker was incredible. While he was scripting the Green Hornet he was also writing the scripts for the Lone Ranger program. Following Al Hodge, three other radio actors played Britt Reid. Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season. Robert Hall played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946. Jack McCarthy finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952. Thus ended a tremendous 16-year radio program full of action, high-speed chases, and the overcoming of evil by the Green Hornet.

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