Breaking Walls

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BW - EP128—003: June 1954—News With Frank Edwards On Mutual Jun 05, 2022

Show notes

On June 4th, 1954 at 10PM, The Frank Edwards news program signed on from WOR in New York. During this month there were more than one-hundred-twenty major American cities with significant unemployment. The Secretary of Commerce officially announced the country was in a recession. Meanwhile, Vietnam was given technical independence within the French Union. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (DUH LUSS) felt the U.S would have to send troops to Southeast Asia to prevent Communist expansion. In other news, on June 6th the San Francisco Chief debuted. On June 13th, NASCAR held its first ever event in Linden, New Jersey. It was won by Al Keller. That same day, the last steam locomotive ran on the Maine Central Railroad. And on Flag Day, June 14th, the words “under God” were officially added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

BW - EP128—002: June 1954—The End Of Escape Jun 02, 2022

Show notes

As Escape and shows like it were canceled, there were fewer opportunities for radio’s west-coast actors on network sustained programs. This episode, “An Ordinary Man” was written by Kathleen Hite and starred John Dehner and Virginia Gregg, with Tony Barrett, Edgar Barrier, and Harry Bartell. It aired on June 3rd, 1954. Escape would be canceled on September 25th. Gregg, Bartell, and Dehner would continue to work together on shows like Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, Gunsmoke, Frontier Gentleman, and Have Gun, Will Travel. For more info on John Dehner’s career, tune into Breaking Walls episode 101.

BW - EP128—001: June 1954—The State Of Radio And The Union May 31, 2022

Show notes

By June 1954 network radio drama was facing huge sponsor disinterest. Shows canceled in the first half of the year included The Quiz Kids, Dr. Christian, Front Page Farrell, Bulldog Drummond, Rocky Fortune, Ozzie and Harriet, and The Six Shooter. ABC, CBS, Mutual, and NBC reduced ad sale charges for the sixth consecutive year. It was an attempt to offset TVs broadening market share. It didn’t work. For the first time in sixteen years revenue fell. The only category to see an increase in sales was local advertising, and even that rose less than one percent. In 1948, radio’s top show was heard by roughly twenty-eight million people. In 1950, by twenty million. In 1952, by fourteen million. And in 1954, by roughly nine million. West-coast radio actors, like Herb Vigran and Herb Ellis were moving into TV, but television was already going through budgetary changes. By the summer of 1954, more than sixty percent of U.S. homes had a TV set. I Love Lucy pulled a rating of nearly sixty. Radio’s top show, People Are Funny had a rating of 8.4. Along with oncoming transistor sets, nearly thirty million cars now had radios, but there was still no system to measure this audience. The next year it was estimated that out-of-home listening added an additional forty percent to at-home audiences. People Are Funny’s actual rating was closer to twelve. But these incidentals didn’t matter to the industry’s character actors. Network production habits were changing. More and more documentaries and news were airing from New York, more and more drama was airing from Los Angeles. Things would be tougher by the end of the decade, but we’re not there yet. Tonight, we’ll head to June of 1954 as network radio reaches a point of no return. ____________ As June got underway, the Army-McCarthy hearings dragged on. This early focus was on the continued testimony from McCarthy attorney Roy Cohn, cross-examined by Ray Jenkins. After lunch Vermont Republican Senator Ralph Flanders compared McCarthy, his own party mate, to Adolph Hitler. He accused him of “axe-happy attempts to divide the country and split the Republican party.” He also compared McCarthy to Dennis The Menace. Flanders speculated that if McCarthy were a double-agent for the Communists, he would have been doing a perfect job. Later on McCarthy accused Flanders of being a senile, racist, religious bigot.

BW - EP127: May 1954—A Portrait of The United States May 26, 2022

Show notes

In Breaking Walls episode 127 we keep on with our look at 1954 by picking up in May during one of the most important months of the decade. —————————— Highlights: • The Big Sound in Nashville • Everett Sloane and The 21st Precinct • Ray Milland and Meet Mr McNutley • An Eisenhower Presser and Other Current Events • I Love a Mystery — Born Again • Wild Bill Hickok • Grace Kelly Guest Stars on Bob Hope’s Show • Brown vs. The Board of Education • Lewis and Clark on NBC’s Inheritance • The Army/McCarthy Hearings Continue with Roy Cohn’s Testimony • Bing Crosby on Anthology’s Memorial Day Show • Looking Ahead to June and The End as We Knew It —————————— The WallBreakers: http://thewallbreakers.com Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts. To support the show: http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers —————————— The reading material used in today’s episode was: On the Air — By John Dunning Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg As well as articles from: Broadcasting Magazine and LIFE Magazine —————————— On the interview front: • Parley Baer, Jim Boles, Mercedes McCambridge, Carlton E. Morse, and Russell Thorson, spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com. • Harry Bartell, Himan Brown, Lawrence Dobkin and Virginia Gregg spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com. • Vincent Price spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear this full interview at Goldenage-WTIC.org. • Bob Hope spoke to Johnny Carson • Andy Devine spoke to Betty Rogge —————————— Selected music featured in today’s episode was: • Once I Had a Secret Love — By Dolores Watson • The Battle Cry of Freedom — By Jacqueline Schwab • Bare Necessities — By Matthias Gohl, Jay Ungar, and John Kirk • Morning Prayer — By Matthias Gohl and Ken Littlehawk • Loch Lomond (arranged for Choir) — By Musica Intima —————————— A special thank you to Ted Davenport, Jerry Haendiges, and Gordon Skene. For Ted go to RadioMemories.com, for Jerry, visit OTRSite.com, and for Gordon, please go to PastDaily.com. —————————— Thank you to: Tony Adams Steven Allmon Orson Orsen Chandler Phil Erickson Jessica Hanna Briana Isaac Thomas M. Joyce Ryan Kramer Gary Mollica Barry Nadler Christian Neuhaus Aimee Pavy Ray Shaw

BW - EP127—010: May 1954—Bing Crosby On Anthology's Memorial Day Show May 22, 2022

Show notes

At 3PM on Sunday, May 30th, 1954, Anthology signed on NBC. Directed by John Malcom Brennen, produced by Steve White, and announced by Harry Fleetwood, Anthology offered dramatic readings of famous and lesser-known plays. Memorial Day weekend’s episode featured Agnes Moorehead reading “Barbara Fritchie,” and Frank Lovejoy and Bing Crosby performing “The Man Without a Country.” Anthology would air into June of 1955 when it was canceled in favor of the debuting Monitor. For more information on that, tune into Breaking Walls episode 116.

BW - EP127—009: May 1954—The Army-McCarthy Hearings Continue With Roy Cohn's Testimony May 19, 2022

Show notes

On Friday May 28th, 1954 as beaches and public parks opened for Memorial Day weekend, families hopped in their cars, turned on the radio dial, and heard the continuing testimony of McCarthy’s Attorney Roy Cohn during the Army-McCarthy Hearing. CBS radio was there. Cohn played a major role in McCarthy’s crusade. He helped create the Lavender Scare, which claimed overseas Communists blackmailed closeted government employee homosexuals into passing on secrets. Convinced that the employment of homosexuals was now a threat to national security, President Eisenhower signed an executive order on April 29th, 1953, banning homosexuals from working for the federal government. Cohn also saw that colleague G. David Schine receive special treatment when he was drafted in the U.S. Army in 1953. He contacted military officials from the Secretary of the Army down to Schine’s company commander and demanded that Schine be given light duties, extra leave, and exemption from an overseas assignment. It was this behavior that hastened McCarthy’s downfall, as during these hearings both Cohn and McCarthy claimed the Army was holding Schine “hostage” to squelch McCarthy’s Communist investigations. Cohn testified from May 27th through June 2nd.

BW - EP127—008: May 1954—Lewis And Clark On NBCs Inheritance May 17, 2022

Show notes

Inheritance was a joint production of NBC and The American Legion at the height of The Red Scare. It first took to the air on April 4th, 1954. The American Legion was at the forefront of The Red Channels pamphlet which outed alleged communist sympathizers. The Legion’s connection to The Red Channels had long been disclosed by the time Inheritance took to the air. It has been speculated that perhaps both NBC and The Legion hoped to distance themselves from McCarthyism as criticism for his tactics was rapidly growing. Fifty-seven episodes were produced featuring the best west-coast radio actors available. The writing staff spanned both coasts and included Ernest Kinoy and George Lefferts. This episode on The Lewis and Clark expedition aired on Memorial Day weekend: Sunday, May 30th, 1954 at 10PM eastern time.

BW - EP127—007: May 1954—Brown Vs. The Board Of Education May 15, 2022

Show notes

On Sunday May 23rd, 1954 at 6PM Eastern, The American Forum of the Air signed on Mutual with a discussion on the Supreme Court Decision of Brown versus The Board of Education. On May 17th, The Court ruled that racial segregation within the U.S. public school system was unconstitutional. It repealed the “separate but equal” doctrine from 1896. By the early 1950s the NAACP was filing lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs in South Carolina, Virginia and Delaware, with Thurgood Marshall as attorney. In the most famous case, Oliver Brown filed suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied access to Topeka’s all-white elementary schools. Brown claimed it violated the fourteenth Amendment. This case and four others eventually went before the U.S. Supreme court in December of 1952. At first, the justices were divided on how to rule. Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson felt the 1896 verdict should stand. But, he died in September of 1953 and President Eisenhower replaced him with California governor Earl Warren. Eisenhower knew this appointment would help overturn the nineteenth century verdict. In the decision, issued on May 17, 1954, Warren wrote that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place,” as segregated schools are “inherently unequal.” Days after that decision, there was considerable debate in the media over whether desegregation was fair. In this episode of The American Forum, the debate is between Democrat Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois and Democrat Senator Price Daniel of Texas. The American Forum of the Air’s roots were planted in Gimbels department store in 1928. Gimbels owned WGBS. Theodore Granik, a young law student who worked for Gimbels, did continuity, wrote dialogue, and reported sports events. He had an idea for a panel discussion on all kinds of legal issues. When the station was sold, WOR gave Granik a similar job. The American Forum of the Air premiered in 1934. By 1943, it had become a staple for those looking to stay abreast of socio-economics and politics. The format was tight. Proponents and opponents were allowed an opening statement; a panel discussion followed, questions were taken from the audience, and closing summations wrapped it all up. It was the only radio show printed verbatim in the Congressional Record and won a Peabody Award in 1949.

BW - EP127—006: May 1954—Grace Kelly Guests On Bob Hope May 11, 2022

Show notes

Bob Hope joined NBC’s red network in December of 1937. For the next ten years he starred on The Pepsodent Program, racking up the top-rated show five consecutive seasons between the fall of 1942 and the spring of 1947. Then, as radio’s ratings were hitting an all-time high, Hope opened the fall of 1947 to harsh reviews. Both the critics and public were bored with his formula. Ratings dropped and Hope responded with a shakeup the following year. Gone were Vera Vague and Jerry Colonna: the show became more of a situation comedy. It was the radio itself that had begun to fade. Hope spent two seasons being sponsored by Swan Soap, and then by Chesterfield, Jell-O, and American Dairy. His top show fell to fifth overall, then seventh, then tenth, thirty-third, and finally to forty-seventh in 1953. In 1954 his Friday at 8:30 rating was under 3.3. On May 14th his guest was the twenty-four year-old actress Grace Kelly. She’d won the Academy Award for best actress in Country Girl two months prior. Her fourth starring role, Dial M For Murder was about to premiere. Grace Kelly would appear in seven more films over the next two years. She retired after her marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Her last film was High Society, opposite Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. By 1954 Hope was appearing on TV. He did commentary for NBC’s coverage of the 1952 political conventions, and although he never had a regular TV series, he starred in two-hundred seventy two TV specials between 1950 and 1996. In later years he became the network’s senior statesman and his theme song, “Thanks for the Memory,” became synonymous with his comedy.

BW - EP127—005: May 1954—Wild Bill Hickok May 09, 2022

Show notes

James Butler “Bill” Hickok was born on May 27th, 1837 in LaSalle County, Illinois. An excellent marksman from a young age, in 1855 he became a Kansas Abolitionist Jayhawker. From there he became a constable, joined the Pony Express parent company, was badly wounded by a bear, and committed his first justifiable homicide. This was all before the age of twenty-five. During the Civil War, Hickok became a Union Army teamster, a wagon master, joined the Kansas Brigade, and became a spy for the provost marshall of Missouri. He was also a gambler and drinker, known to carouse for days at a time. On July 21st, 1865, Hickok took part in his first duel, killing a man named Davis Tutt. He shot Tutt through the heart from seventy-five yards away. A subsequent interview with Harper’s New Monthly Magazine labeled him Wild Bill for the first time. Rather than become an outlaw, Hickok became a lawman. He was soon a deputy Marshal at Fort Riley, and scouted for Custer’s Seventh Cavalry. By December of 1867 he was a Marshall in Hays City, and later sheriff of the same town. In April of 1871 he became Marshall in Abilene, Kansas. That October, Hickok justifiably killed a saloon owner named Phil Coe. But, during the fight, Hickok saw a man running towards him. He wheeled and fired, killing what turned out to be his own deputy. The event haunted Hickok the rest of his life. It was the last time he was ever involved in a gunfight. Radio’s version bore little resemblance to the real man. The format was the same used by the producers of Hopalong Cassidy and The Cisco Kid. Bill’s comic sidekick, Jingles B. Jones was voiced by the famed Andy Devine. Guy Madison was Wild Bill. Hollywood regulars supported. It was directed by Paul Pierce. The show first aired over Mutual on May 27th, 1951. On May 14th, 1954 the episode was called “Dangerous Advice.” Wild Bill Hickok aired until New Year’s Eve 1954. Mutual brought it back the following July. It ran until February of 1956. In early 1876 Hickok was diagnosed with glaucoma. Fearing blindness, he joined friends Charlie Utter and Calamity Jane Cannary in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. On August 2nd, 1876 he was playing poker. He’d badly beaten a man named Jack McCall the night before at cards. Although Hickok usually sat facing the door, no such seats were available. That afternoon he was playing five-card poker and holding a pair of Aces and Eights. Jack McCall walked in and shot Hickok in the back of the head from point blank range. Wild Bill died instantly. He was thirty-nine.

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