Boxcars711 Old Time Radio

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The General Electric Theater "Sometime Every Summertime" (8-27-53) Aug 18, 2007

Show notes

General Electric Theater featured a mix of romance, comedy, adventure, tragedy, fantasy and variety music. Occupying the Sunday evening spot on CBS following the Toast of the Town/Ed Sullivan Show from 1 February 1953 to 27 May 1962, the General Electric Theater presented top Hollywood and Broadway stars in dramatic roles calculated to deliver company voice advertising to the largest possible audience. Despite a long technical and practical experience with television production, GE's previous attempts to establish a Sunday evening company program had fared poorly. In the fall of 1948 GE entered commercial television for the first time with the Dennis James Carnival, a variety show dropped after one performance. A quiz program entitled Riddle Me This substituted for twelve weeks and was also dropped. In April 1949 GE returned to Sunday evenings with the musical-variety Fred Waring Show Produced by the Young & Rubicam advertising agency under the sponsorship of GE's Appliance, Electronics and Lamp Divisions, the program occasionally included company voice messages. In November 1951 GE transferred television production to the Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn (BBDO) advertising agency, under whose direction the General Electric Theater debuted 1 February 1953 as an "all-company project" sponsored by GE's Department of Public Relations Services.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Casey Crime Photographer "Blonde Lipstick" (11-06-47) Aug 17, 2007

Show notes

The adventures of Casey, crack photographer for The Morning Express, were told in this series, which moved to television after a highly successful run on radio in the 1940âs. Casey hung out at the Blue Note CafÃ, where the music was provided by the Tony Mottola Trio, and was friendly with Ethelbert, the bartender, to whom he recounted his various exploits. Richard Carlyle and John Gibson portrayed the roles when the series premiered in April, 1951, but by June they were replaced by Darren McGavin and Cliff Hall. Ann Williams, a reporter on The Morning Express, was Caseyâs girlfriend. During the summer of 1951 he acquired a partner in cub reporter Jack Lipman, who wrote copy to go with Caseyâs pictures. This live series was set in and broadcast from, New York City.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Brownstone Theater "Lion And The Mouse" (2-01-45) Aug 17, 2007

Show notes

The Brownstone Theater. February 21, 1945. Mutual net. "The Lion and The Mouse". Sustaining. 9:30 P. M. (EWT) The first show of the series. The story of a powerful man and a more powerful woman. The program originates from The Longacre Theatre. Gertrude Warner, Jackson Beck, Jock MacGregor (producer, director), Clayton Hamilton (host), Charles Klein (author), Peggy L. Mayer (adaptor), Sylvan Levin (music director). 28:44.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Whistler "Seeing Eye" (11-12-45) Aug 16, 2007

Show notes

The show first broadcast its fantastic thirty-minute crime mystery series in May 1942 and did not finish until September 1948. There were more than 450 shows of murder and intrigue in all. Although it ran for 6 years it was broadcast for only one year on a national network. The show opened to the sound of footsteps and an eerie whistle, which went on throughout the introductory music. The Whistler always began the show with the opening lines; I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak??

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Campbell Playhouse "Showboat" (3-31-39) Aug 16, 2007

Show notes

The Campbell Playhouse was a sponsored continuation of the Mercury Theater on the Air, a direct result of the instant publicity from the War of the Worlds panic. The switch occurred on December 9, 1938. In spite of using the same creative staff, the show had a different flavor under sponsorship, partially attributed to a guest star policy in place, which relegated the rest of the Mercury Players to supporting cast for Orson Welles and the Hollywood guest of the week. There was a growing schism between Welles, still reaping the rewards of his Halloween night notoriety, and his collaborator John Houseman, still in the producer's chair but feeling more like an employee than a partner. The writer, as during the unsponsored run, was Howard Koch.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Tales Of Tomorrow "The Old Die Rich" (3-26-53) Aug 15, 2007

Show notes

The 1950's saw both the twilight of the Golden Age of Radio and the birth of the science fiction radio series. Science fiction was not new to radio before 1950, but it was either targeted to juvenile audiences or were shows in a broader series, for example, ESCAPE's "The Time Machine". On March 15, 1950, the first show of Mutual's 2000 PLUS aired, becoming the very first true science fiction series in the US. DIMENSION X followed shortly on April 8, 1950 over NBC stations. TALES OF TOMORROW was the third dedicated science fiction series, over the stations of the American Broadcasting Corporation, following DIMENSION X by almost 2 years. The host of the show was Raymond Edward Johnson, of INNER SANCTUM fame. Mr. Johnson handled TALES OF TOMORROW openings in a similar fashion to INNER SANCTUM openings, but with a "science fiction" flavor, instead of a "macabre" sense.The shows of this series were quite good, borrowing ideas from stories in "Galaxy" magazine. Some of the story titles may seem familiar, like "The Stars Are The Styx", "The Girls From Earth" or "The Old Die Rich". These titles would appear later in CBS's X MINUS ONE. "Watch Bird" would later be done in South Africa, in a series entitled SF68. But radio was on the decline. TALES OF TOMORROW lasted only until April of that year, airing only 15 shows.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Adventures Of Maisie "Hitchiking To Bartonsville" (1-26-50) Aug 15, 2007

Show notes

Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison,who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction. From the first, MGM wanted Ann Sothern to play Maisie. She began in Hollywood as an extra in 1927. "Maisie and I were just together - I just understood her," Sothern, born Harriette Arlene Lake, said after several of the films made her a star. Throughout the 1930s and '40s, Ann Sothern and Lucille Ball, like many performers in Hollywood, had not one but two careers - one in motion pictures and one on radio. MGM Studios had created the series of ten motion pictures based on a brash blonde with a heart "of spun gold." Maisie, the first in 1939, was from the book "Dark Dame" by the writer Wilson Collison, who did decades of scripting for the silver screen along with Broadway plays and magazine fiction.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Hall Of Fantasy "Return From Death" (11-29-44) Aug 14, 2007

Show notes

There were four series under the HALL OF FANTASY banner, all produced by Richard Thorne. The first HALL OF FANTASY originated from radio station KALL in Salt Lake City, Utah. Richard Thorne and Carl Greyson were announcers for the station and produced the rather barebones shows, possibly late in 1946 and into 1947. The series consisted of 26 shows. Broadcast dates for the shows are not known. The shows were written or adapted by Robert Olson and directed by Mr. Thorne. Most were classic murder mysteries with traditional endings; the evil-doer got his just rewards. The series was sponsored by the Granite Furniture Company, although existing shows are missing the commercials, apparently because they were inserted live.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Green Hornet "Stuffed Panda" (10-04-45) Aug 14, 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. This would make for some interesting plot twists as the Green Hornet would be actively avoiding detection by the police while at the same time attempting to destroy criminal activity in the city. Many times the Green Hornet would lead the police to believe that the Green Hornet had been the mastermind of the case at hand. The police would receive an anonymous tip of where they could pick up the now subdued crooks with the Green Hornet just barely making his escape from the scene. The Green Hornet would be alerted to criminal activity through his job as editor of the Daily Sentinel. The crime stories would lead Britt Reid to transform into the Green Hornet to battle crime at night.

Boxcars711 Sunday Matinee - The Lux Radio Theater "Cheating Cheaters" (8-31-36) Aug 12, 2007

Show notes

THE LUX RADIO THEATER was first heard on NBC October 14, 1934 as a Sunday afternoon show. On July 19, 1935, it moved to CBS and into it's long running Monday night time slot. All shows were one hour long. Less than a year after it's arrival on the air, the series' ratings began to drop. Danny Danker, an executive working for the advertising agency handling the Lux account, was given the responsibility to improve the show. What the show needed was extravaganza, and what the show got was Cecil B. DeMille. With DeMille as host, THE LUX RADIO THEATER brought in big name stars and brought the show back up to the top of the charts. DeMille became an institution on the show, conveying an almost frantic "the show must go on" attitude. Mr. DeMille left after the Jan. 22, 1945 show. The role of show host changed a number of times through the remainder of the show's history. William Keightley was the last host, remaining for the show's last curtain call on June 7, 1955. The CBS series ran through the Summer initially. It was off for the Summer every season after the first season. In 1953, CBS offered the Lux Summer Theater, a series of 14 hour-long shows, that aired in the same time slot as the regular Lux series. Both times that Lux was heard on NBC was for a single season.

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