Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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The Lives Of Harry Lime "Too Many Crooks" (8-03-51) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 26, 2007

Show notes

The Third Man (The Lives of Harry Lime) was a old-time radio adventure series that ran in 1951 and 1952. It was based on the 1949 film of the same name. Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime, a perpetually broke confidence man, smuggler, and general scoundrel. He will participate in virtually any criminal activity to make a fast buck, but uses his wits rather than a gun. He draws the line short of murder, blackmail, or drugs. Even so, Harry is an endearing character and listeners love to hear of his one-step-ahead-of-the-law misadventures as he hops around the globe looking for his next pigeon. The zither music of Anton Karas adds a wonderful Viennese ambience to each episode and really makes this show special.

Screen Directors Playhouse "Shadow Of A Doubt" (11-09-50) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 26, 2007

Show notes

From 01/09/49 to 09/28/51 this series was greatly enjoyed by the radio listening audience. It opened as NBC Theater and was also known as The Screen Directorâs Guild and The Screen Directorâs Assignment. But most people remember it simply as Screen Directorâs Playhouse. Many of the Hollywood elite were heard recreating their screen roles over the radio. John Wayne in his rare radio appearances, Cary Grant, Edward G. Robinson, Lucille Ball, Claire Trevor, Tallulah Bankhead and many others were on the air week after week during these broadcasts. Many of Hollywoodâs directors were also heard in the recreation of their movies. The President of the Screen Directorâs Guild appeared on 02/13/49, and Violinist Isaac Stern supplied the music for the 04/19/51 broadcast. THIS EPISODE:Shadow Of A Doubt (An Alfred Hitchcock Thriller) (Stars: Carey Grant) - Uncle Charlie relies heavily on his relationship with his niece and name sake Charlie to make him appear like butter wouldn't melt. However, as soon as Niece Charlie puts two and two together and comes to realise the truth about her Uncle the close relationship between them deteriorates at a rapid pace. But, it is less the fact that niece Charlie realises what her uncle really is, but it is because she is growing into a woman that Charlie doesn't like. In becoming a woman niece Charlie now represents all that her uncle can't abide. And it is this misogynistic streak in Uncle Charlie that compels him to attempt to murder his niece, as opposed to what she knows of him.

Weird Circle "ATerrible Night" (1945) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 26, 2007

Show notes

THE WEIRD CIRCLE was a syndicated series that was heard on Mutualstations November, 1943 through October, 1947 and very briefly inSeptember/October of 1947 on ABC. The show presented 30 minute tales of horror, frequently inspired by classic horror or ghost stories, frequently done by French authors. It opened with the sound of the surf and the chant-like opening, "In this cave by the restless sea, we are met to call from out of past, stories strange and weird. Bell keeper, toll the bell, so that all may know that we are gathered again in the Weird Circle".THIS EPISODE:The Weird Circle. 1945. Program #22. NBC syndication. "A Terrible Night". Commercials added locally. Two friends lost in the north woods seek shelter in the house of the strange "Joel." The date is approximate. Fitzjames O'Brien (author). 24:40.

My Favorite Husband "Sleigh Ride" (12-23-50) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 25, 2007

Show notes

While producing films for Columbia Pictures, CBS offered Lucy a Radio show based upon the book, Mr. and Mrs. Cugat by Isabelle Scott Rorick. Lucy was interested, and she was soon teamed with Richard Denning in My Favorite Husband. This half-hour weekly show revolved around the travails of Liz and George Cugat, a very normal, middle-class couple from Minneapolis. Liz is a dizzy, scheming wife who gets into relatively minor but vexing scrapes that makes life challenging for her long-suffering husband, a banker played by Richard Denning. Gale Gordon was the bank president, the same role that was to be his on The Lucy Show. The characters of Liz and George Cugat soon had their names changed to Liz and George Cooper. Her writers for the show were Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. and the producer-director was Jess Oppenheimer, a connection that would become particularly fruitful in the years to come.

Take It From Here "The Glums At Christmas" (12-25-58) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 25, 2007

Show notes

MERRY CHRISTMASThe Glums first appeared in a regular series of sketches during the 1950s in the BBC radio programme, Take It From Here. In the radio version, Pa Glum (Jimmy Edwards) was a bad-tempered old boozer with a tendency to "rant and rave" at his gormless son, Ron (Dick Bentley). The other regular character was Ron's fiancee, Eth (June Whitfield). The original series of sketches ended in March, 1960. The family reappeared briefly in 1962 as part of Jimmy Edwards' BBC television series, Faces Of Jim. In 1978, Frank Muir and Dennis Norden revived The Glums for a series of short sketches in an ITV variety programme, Bruce Forsyth's Big Night. Jimmy Edwards reprised his role as Pa Glum, with Ian Lavender and Patricia Brake taking over the roles of Ron and Eth. A second series of programmes was screened in 1979, each programme consisting of new versions of two of the original radio scripts from the 1950s.

This Is Your FBI "Shotgun Hadley" (4-20-45) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 25, 2007

Show notes

This Is Your FBI was a radio crime drama which aired in the United States on ABC from April 6, 1945 to January 30, 1953. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover gave it his endorsement, calling it "the finest dramatic program on the air." Producer-director Jerry Devine was given access to FBI files by Hoover, and the resulting dramatizations of FBI cases were narrated by Frank Lovejoy (1945), Dean Carleton (1946-47) and William Woodson (1948-53). Stacy Harris had the lead role of Special Agent Jim Taylor. Others in the cast were William Conrad, Bea Benaderet and Jay C. Flippen.

Lux Radio Theater "It's A Wonderful Life" (3-10-47) - Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod Dec 24, 2007

Show notes

MERRY CHRISTMASIn October of 1934, "Lux Radio Theater" debuted in New York on NBC's Blue radio network. Presenting audio versions of popular Broadway plays, the show failed to garner an audience and soon ran out of material. After switching networks to CBS and moving to Hollywood, Lux found its true market. The show began featuring adaptations of popular films, performed by as many of the original stars as possible. With an endless supply of hit films scripts and an audience of more than 40 million, Lux enjoyed a prosperous run until the curtain fell in 1956.THIS EPISODE:March 10, 1947. CBS network. "It's A Wonderful Life". Sponsored by: Lux Soap, Spry. Tired of his life on Earth, a man finds out what it's like never to have been born. Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Victor Moore, William Keighley (host), John Milton Kennedy (announcer), Louis Silvers (music director), William Johnstone, John McIntire, Leo Cleary, Edwin Maxwell, Janet Scott, Noreen Gammill, Cliff Clark, Norma Jean Nilsson, Edward Marr, Norman Field, Franklyn Parker, Ann Carter, Charles Seel, Doris Singleton (commercial spokesman: as "Libby"), Susan Blanchard (intermission guest), Frances Goodrich (screenwriter), Albert Hackett (screenwriter), Jo Swerling (screenwriter), Frank Capra (screenwriter), Philip Van Doren (author), Fred MacKaye (director), Sanford Barnett (adaptor), Charlie Forsyth (sound effects). 1 hour.

The Green Hornet - Torpedo On Wheels (11-14-42) - Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee Two Dec 24, 2007

Show notes

On January 31, 1936, the Green Hornet radio program aired on WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. Al Hodge played the part of the Green Hornet from 1936 through January of 1943. The program was created by George W. Trendle, the same man associated with the creation of the Lone Ranger radio show. The premise of the Green Hornet was that of a modern day Lone Ranger. The main character was Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day and the Green Hornet by night. Britt Reid was the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger. Britt Reid's war against crime was an extension of his family history. The Green Hornet fought crime with his high-powered car, the Black Beauty. He also utilized a gun that fired knockout gas instead of bullets. His fists also came in handy on a regular basis. He was assisted by his Filipino valet, Kato. Kato would drive the Black Beauty, keep watch out for the police or the bad guys and sometimes lend a helping fist to the fighting. The Green Hornet pretended to be a villain while really battling the forces of crime in the big city.

Baby Snooks - 3 Episodes (6-01-39)(6-08-39)(2-22-40) - Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee One Dec 23, 2007

Show notes

"Gone Fishing" (6-01-39) "Violet_Ray" (6-08-39) and "Missing Dollar" (2-22-40)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.

The Beulah Show "Honorary Santa" (12-23-53) and (12-24-53) - Boxcars711 Saturday Matinee Three Dec 23, 2007

Show notes

The Beulah Show, the first radio and television sitcom to star an African American. The show was broadcast on radio from 1945 to 1954 and seen on TV from 1950 to 1953. Originally portrayed by Caucasian actor Marlin Hurt, Beulah first appeared in 1939 when Hurt introduced the character on the Hometown Incorporated radio series. In 1943, Beulah moved over to That's Life and then became a supporting character on the popular Fibber McGee and Molly radio series. In 1945, Beulah was spun off into her own radio show, The Marlin Hurt and Beulah Show, with Hurt still in the role. Beulah was employed as a housekeeper and cook for the Henderson family: father Harry, mother Alice and son Donnie. After Hurt died of a heart attack in 1946, he was replaced by another white actor, Bob Corley, and the series was retitled The Beulah Show.When black actress Hattie McDaniel took over the role on November 24, 1947, she earned $1000 a week for the first season, doubled the ratings of the original series and pleased the NAACP which was elated to see a historic first: a black woman as the star of a network radio program.McDaniel continued in the role until she became ill in 1952 and was replaced by Lillian Randolph, who was in turn replaced for the 1953-54 radio season by her sister, Amanda Randolph.

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