Radio Recap: A Salute to the Law

A Salute to the Law has been indexed online as "the Nick Harris Program" but the Old Time Radio Researchers insist a Salute to the Law is the more accurate title of this series. They also say that this program ran from 1923 until 1942 which would make it the earliest radio program I've featured in my Radio Recaps!

What we do have of the program is dated 1934-1940. It was a 15-minute syndicated show introduced by Nick Harris, a real-life private detective. Harris would present stories that were supposedly drawn from true cases, although it's always hard to know for certain with programs such as these.

A Salute to the Law, then, was a crime program. Each episode dramatized a case, sometimes from the perspective of the law, other times from the perspective of the perpetrator. It was never, however, sympathetic to lawbreakers. Indeed, one episode opens with Harris going on a virtual tirade against the release of repeat offenders, closing his speech with a call for repeat offenders to be jailed for life.

The show sounds a lot like one of its contemporaries, Police Reporter, especially when it dramatizes scenes of murder. There's one particular episode titled "the Female Ogre" about a horrific series of murders committed by a woman that sounds just as sensationalistic as anything on Police Reporter. It's early radio and often primitive - not as nuanced as even Calling All Cars, much less Dragnet or 21st Precinct.

You can hear all the surviving episodes (dated from 1934 up to 1940) of a Salute to the Law in this YouTube playlist created by the Old Time Radio Researchers.

Radio Recap: The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen

"The Scarlet Queen, the proudest ship to plough the seas, bound for uncharted adventure! Every week a complete entry in the log and every week a league further in the strange Voyage of the Scarlet Queen!"

The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen was a radio adventure series that aired on Mutual from July 3, 1947 to February 14, 1948. The titular Scarlet Queen was a ketch under the command of Philip Carney (Elliott Lewis), aided by his first mate Red Gallagher (Ed Max). It was written by Gil Doud and Bob Tallman, produced by James Burton.

As the series involves a ship at sail it should be noted that this was not a historical program - it was set in contemporary times, with nearly every episode set somewhere in the Pacific, particularly at Asian ports of call.

Unusually for a non-juvenile adventure series, the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen had some continuity between episodes. The series kicked off with Carney in San Francisco, receiving an assignment from a Chinese man named Ku Chei Kang which promises to lead Carney to a fortune - however there's a rival group led by a man named Constantino who want the fortune for themselves. Constantino's people kill Carney's first mate in the first episode, resulting in Red Gallagher joining the crew; Gallagher is himself one of Constantino's agents but by the end of the pilot had swapped sides to serve faithfully under Carney's command. Interestingly, there was still a bit of friction for the first few episodes as Gallagher's allegiance to Carney was tested; but eventually the search for Kang's fortune was wrapped up, yet the series kept going with a variety of done-in-one episodes before it was cancelled. The final episode brought up Kang again, a fitting conclusion to the series.

In the audition, Lewis was Red Gallagher - Howard Duff had the role of Philip Carney. By the time it became a series, Duff was busy with the Adventures of Sam Spade, which must be why Lewis was promoted to the lead role. Listening to the audition (which was redone for the broadcast version) it is a big distracting to hear Duff as Carney as the role is played straight with none of Duff's usual sarcasm. For that matter, it's a bit hard to accept Lewis in the role of the tough and brawny Gallagher; the recasting definitely served to the show's benefit. In 1950 an attempt was made to recreate the series as the Log of the Black Parrot with Elliott Lewis again in the lead and Gil Doud writing alongside producer Antony Ellis but this time the pilot did not lead to a series.

Lead writer Gil Doud was a busy writer whose work appeared in One Out of Seven, the Adventures of Sam Spade, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Pursuit, Escape, Suspense, Gunsmoke and Fort Laramie. His Escape credits include the episode "Port Royal," which was also set at sea (I rather like that episode). Co-writer Bob Tallman also wrote a few episodes of Escape, Suspense and the Adventures of Sam Spade.

The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen is a series I tried repeatedly to listen to over the last 2 decades yet something always held me back - I couldn't account for it. Gil Doud's writing, Elliott Lewis' acting, sea-going adventure - heck, those elements make it sound like a spin-off from Escape, right? But it wasn't until I resolved to write up the series on this blog that I made a determined effort at listening to the entire series.

There are some problems with the show, mainly that it was set primarily in Asia yet the Asian characters were all cast with white men doing bad "yellowface" accents. I like Bill Johnstone and William Conrad a lot but their Voyage of the Scarlet Queen characters are regrettable footnotes in their radio careers. Still, the series was wise enough to cast Barton Yarborough in a few episodes as a Texan, permitting him to act in the accent he did best (his first character was killed off; the series then brought him back as the first character's brother!).

Still, it is a strong series with a lot of good work being done; it's least-offensive when it steps away from the Asian characters as in the pilot and in the episode "The Jewel Thieves and The Straw Filled Dummy" in which Lewis' wife Cathy Lewis held a memorable role as a romantic interest for Carney.

The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen's run is mostly intact, which is unusual for Mutual shows; they were rebroadcast by the Armed Forces, who account for most of the surviving episodes; you can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection in this YouTube playlist!

Radio Recap: Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries

Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries was a syndicated program that aired during September 6-December 20, 1937. It starred Peggy Allenby as the titular detective Phyllis Coe and none other than Bud Collyer (later of the Adventures of Superman) as her sidekick Tom Taylor. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that "Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries" was a big advertising campaign for Philco radios, similar to Majestic's Master of Mystery serving as a lengthy advertisement for Majestic radios.

Yet, Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries had a gimmick - listeners were invited to help solve the mysteries heard in each episode! Although the programs featured a complete drama that always ended with Phyl identifying the criminal, it lacked the typical radio detective scene where they would expound upon the clues which pointed to the criminal's guilt. Philco dealers provided booklets for listeners to gather the clues for themselves, then mail in their own reasoning for what tipped off Phyl to the criminal's identity, with correct responses leading to cash prizes. That's a pretty great gimmick!

The gimmick is the best part of the series; it's of interest that Phyl is an early female protagonist in the radio mystery genre but the stories themselves are very average radio mystery stories. Still, they're very breezy and easy to listen to.

12 of the 16 episodes of Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries can found in the Old-Time Radio Researchers Library.

Radio Recap: Dark Venture

"Over the minds of mortal men come many shadows; shadows of greed and hate; jealousy and fear. Shadows which fog the minds of men and women which urge them on into their venture in the dark..."

Dark Venture was a mystery anthology program heard over ABC from May 30, 1945 until February 10, 1947. For part of its run it was sponsored by Wildroot Cream Oil. It was produced in ABC's San Francisco studio like other shows of the time such as Pat Novak, for Hire. The series was narrated by John Lake, directed by Leonard Reeg and produced by J. Donald Wilson.

If that last name sounds familiar, it should - J. Donald Wilson was the original producer of the Whistler for CBS and took up Dark Venture after leaving that series. Wilson also produced the 1930s Adventures of Charlie Chan and the New Adventures of Nero Wolfe.

J. Donald Wilson must have had some interest in the idea of getting into the psychology behind crimes, just as the Whistler got inside the heads of each episode's would-be criminal. Dark Venture promoted itself as being interested in secenarios that "solve the outcome by applying psychology." Like the Whistler, there were often surprise endings but the series played pretty fair with the audience, usually relying on a protagonist who lacked a vital piece of information which would lead to his defeat (or, if wrongly accused, vindication).

The series drew from a lot of great California radio talent, with episodes led by the likes of Elliot Lewis, William Conrad, Marvin Miller (who was also the announcer on the Whistler), Howard McNear, Bill Johnstone and Lurene Tuttle. Many episodes were written by Larry Marcus, who also wrote for the Whistler, Suspense and Night Beat.

I rather like Dark Venture - it is, certainly, reminiscent of the Whistler, but that's not a detraction. The focus on characters' psychological torment gives the series a feel that's totally unlike the bulk of mystery/crime anthology shows.

My pick for the best of Dark Venture is "Eclipse," in which Elliot Lewis portrayed an amnesiac man who discovers a small fortune hidden in his clothes and a white-suited man hot on his trail! "The Miser" could have been produced on the Whistler, concerning itself with a clerk who schemes to pocket money from the register following a robbery and the escalating trouble that brings him. "Hideout" is a pretty rote criminal-on-the-run story elevated by William Conrad's terrific performance as the lead character. Easily the least-conventional story is "Ten Dollar Bill," which follows a $10 bill that falls into various hands through both crime and circumstance.

We only have 15 surviving episodes of Dark Venture in circulation, several of them through the Armed Forces' Mystery Playhouse program. Here's a YouTube playlist created by a fan with those 15 episodes.

Another "Lost" Suspense Found!

Once again I am delighted to note that a "lost" episode of Suspense has been found! This time it's the episode from January 3, 1956: "The Eavesdropper." Unlike the last "lost" episode that was found ("The Beetle and Mr. Bottle"), this is a script that was only ever performed once, which makes its discovery all the more terrific!

Now, the premise is a little bit like the Suspense episode "Pigeon in the Cage," in which a man stuck in an elevator became witness to a murder - but this story plays out a bit differently than that episode.

Here's a post on the Suspense Project blog with more details about the broadcast!

Radio Recap: The World's Greatest Short Stories

The World's Greatest Short Stories was a 15-minute program heard on NBC 1939-1942. The series starred Nelson Olmsted, who narrated from short stories both contemporary and classical.

This was one of several shows Olmsted created over the decades in which he read from popular literary sources. He was, in his day, an ancestor to audiobooks. The stories he read on the World's Greatest Short Stories were dramatized only through Olmsted's voice and a bit of musical accompaniment. Fortunately, Olmsted's voice carried itself well even in live radio, his voice deftly moving between narration to spoken dialogue, adopting accents where appropriate and moving a falsetto when he had to speak women's dialogue. Olmsted worked in quite a few radio programs as a dramatic performer, including the Chase and X Minus One but he's best-remembered for his readings of short stories such as heard on this program and in his 1940s series Story for Tonight and his 1950s series Sleep No More.

Olmsted had a particular love for the works of Edgar Allan Poe and among the surviving episodes of the World's Greatest Short Stories he narrated several of his tales: "the Raven," "the Case of Monsieur Valdemar" and "the Tell-Tale Heart."

Olmsted had a terrific knack for finding interesting stories to share. Some of episodes of the World's Greatest Short Stories feature favourites of mine like the Poe stories listed above, or the likes of Fitz-James O'Brien's "What Was It?", Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "the Man and the Snake" or Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappacini's Daughter." But several of the stories he presented were previously unknown to me and quite good, especially the story "Quality" by John Galsworthy, the story of an old-fashioned shoemaker who creates quality material but can't compete in a marketplace that values speed above all.

Here's a YouTube playlist of the surviving episodes of the World's Greatest Short Stories, collected by a fan.

Radio Recap: MGM Theater of the Air

MGM Theater of the Air was an hour-long syndicated program which featured adaptations of MGM films. It ran from October 14, 1949 to December 7, 1951.

MGM came very late to radio. At the same time they syndicated MGM Theater of the Air they were also syndicating Crime Does Not Pay, Dr. Kildare, the Hardy Family and the Adventures of Maisie. I've heard from various radio scribes that the studio saw radio as part of their competition and so didn't normally want their stars or film adaptations to appear on radio. This was supposedly radio's loss because MGM was simply the greatest studio.

...Except I don't buy that; I like MGM's films just fine but I personally feel that MGM only obtained a reputation as the finest studio because they invested so much of their public relations money into convincing people that's what they were.

The MGM Theater of the Air kind of proves my point; by the time it entered the scene, Lux Radio Theater had long since established how to successfully adapt feature films into an hour-long radio drama. Lux Radio Theater featured adaptations of most of the greatest films that were made in the 30s, 40s and early 50. By the time of the MGM Theater of the Air they didn't seem to have that much left in their vaults that radio listeners hadn't heard done elsewhere, what with programs such as Screen Directors' Playhouse and Academy Award Theater appearing.

This is not to say that the MGM Theater of the Air is a bad program, just that you won't find the same verve and energy that the other three aforementioned programs had. Host Howard Dietz is an acceptable voice but lacking the hammy performance Cecil B. DeMille gave as host of Lux Radio Theater.

Most of the stories adapted on the MGM Theater of the Air seemed to be stories of marital troubles and drawing room conversations (ie, Riptide, Vacation from Marriage). It's exactly the sort of stiff, stuffy material I associate with MGM.

However, there are a few comedies, with Charles Laughton returning for an adaptation of the Canterville Ghost and Celeste Holm in an amusing version of Slightly Dangerous.

I'm a bit surprised that only 33 episodes of the show's 78-episode run. As it was a syndicated series, I'd imagine that most of the series must still exist in some OTR collector's vault, neglected and unloved. Perhaps one day they'll appear and I might then have to reassess the series, as the missing episodes include an adaptation of the films Escape with William Holden, the Count of Monte Cristo with Jose Ferrer, High Wall with John Payne and the Man in the Iron Mask with Brian Aherne.

You can hear the MGM Theater of the Air at the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

Radio Recap: A Life in Your Hands

"You never know when you may be called upon to testify to an act of violence to which you have become involved quite innocently. Even now, there may be a crime in the making."

One of the earliest old-time radio shows I recall hearing was an episode of the series a Life in Your Hands but I never knew much about it until I decided to revisit it as a Radio Recap. It's basically a courtroom drama program; it was created by Erle Stanley Gardner, who was best-known as the creator of Perry Mason. It was around the same time that he created the series the Adventures of Christopher London. Apparently Gardner was keen on creating radio programs although it doesn't appear that he actually wrote for them himself.

A Life in Your Hands spent it's entire existence as summer replacement program, on two different networks no less! First it ran on the summer of 1949 as a replacement for People Are Funny on NBC; then it reappeared in 1951 as a replacement for the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ABC; finally it came back to NBC for the summer of 1952 to replace Father Knows Best.

A Life in Your Hands featured as its lead character lawyer Jonathan Kegg (portrayed at various times by Ned LeFevre, Carleton KaDell and Lee Bowman). Kegg was an amicus curiae, which, as every episode explained, was a "friend of the court" who worked for neither the defense nor prosecution. Kegg was always involved in criminal cases on the program and would explain that he could afford to work for free as an amicus curiae because of his wealth. There is something reminiscent of Horatio Alger in Kegg's character.

Now, you might be wondering about the "Your" in the series title. Since we have a lead character, you might think it refers to Kegg. Actually, it refers to the listening audience. The narration in a Life in Your Hands would frequently address the listener and ask them if they could recall the details they heard earlier in the drama. The use of Kegg as protagonist seems to me at odds with the narration, which continually tells the listener to put themselves in the shoes of the cases' witnesses or jurors - but really, it doesn't come down to them so much as it does Kegg.

As neither defense or prosecution, Kegg would basically swing at all sides. When a witness made a guarded response he'd impuign their character, even badger them (apparently an amicus curiae isn't bound by the behaviours expected of regular counsel?). But when witnesses are reluctant to speak he could be quite friendly.

We only have a few episodes of a Life in Your Hands and several of them (including the episode I first heard) lack their musical bridges. Well, at least that means I can't complain about the stock NBC filler music! The lack of music suggests the recordings aren't the broadcast versions of those episodes.

Here's a YouTube playlist of surviving episodes of a Life in Your Hands as compiled by a fan.

Radio Recap: Candy Matson

"Did you ever know a girl private detective? Perhaps not, they're pretty rare. Well, we've got one: Candy Matson is the name and she's both pretty and rare! Figure? She picks up where Miss America leaves off! Clothes? She makes a pesi dress look like opening night at the opera! Hair? Blonde, of course, and eyes? Just the right shade of blue to match the hair. You're expecting more? All right, let's meet her..."

Candy Matson (also called Candy Matson YUkon 28209) was a private detective series that started on NBC in June 30, 1949 and lasted until April 29, 1951. It was a quirky series and very unlike most of NBC's detective fare; for starters, the leading lady Candy Matson (played by Natalie Masters) was a female private eye which remains a scarce commodity even to this day; and the series was produced in San Francisco, giving a flavour closer to Pat Novak for Hire than any of NBC's usual Hollywood flair.

There were no familiar voices on Candy Matson but the roles were carried out with aplomb, including Candy's pal Rembrandt Watson (Jack Thomas), a somewhat effete photographer who would do a lot of Candy's legwork for her (his temperment and role was very similar to Pat Novak's Jocko Madigan) and police lieutenant Ray Mallard (Henry Leff), who would appear to scoff at Candy's capabilities then ask her out on a date.

The series was written, produced and directed by Monty Masters, who happened to be Natalie Masters' husband. Monty apparently had a love for smart-aleck dialogue and Candy Matson is full of it; sure, there were plenty of private eyes in late 40s radio with a quick wit (Richard Diamond, Private Detective comes to mind) but Candy Matson's dialogue veers nearest to the Adventures of Sam Spade in the way it was willing to break the fourth wall, such as when Candy reacts to one verbal pun by asking, "Who writes this dialogue?" Knowing that Monty was her husband also casts a certain light on the frequent admiring remarks made by most male characters about Candy Matson's beauty.

The series apparently had trouble sticking to a timeslot as NBC shoved it all over the place, which is never a means to build an audience. The show's final episode was dubbed "Candy Matson's Last Case" and it's exactly that; Candy investigates a case that involves Lt. Mallard, who won't explain his strange behaviour. In the climax, Mallard reveals he's been promoted to captain and proposes marriage to Candy, telling her to give up her private detective job and become his wife. The show ends with Candy awkwardly trying to deliver her usual outro but realizing that since her career is coming to an end it doesn't quite fit.

The series made one more attempt at returning in 1952 with a new pilot called "the Allison Gray Case" (also known as "the Fortune Teller"). That episode ignored the events of the final episode but it didn't matter - the pilot wasn't picked up.

I quite like Candy Matson. It helps that it was set in San Francisco, a city dear to my own wife's heart and the episodes frequently mention famous streets, neighbourhoods, the cable cars and the ferry boats. The series also has a great Christmas episode called "Jack Frost" that I recently blogged about.

Unfortunately, there appear to be only 14 surviving episodes of Candy Matson. You can hear the Old-Time Radio Researchers' collection of Candy Matson episodes in this YouTube playlist!

Radio Recap: The Adventures of the Thin Man

I was a bit surprised to discover the Adventures of the Thin Man had a very long run on the radio. I mean, it's one of the most famous properties created by Dashiell Hammett, what with the six movies William Powell and Myrna Loy made from 1934-1947 and a 1957-1959 TV series. Since the set-up of the series involves a witty, urbane couple who indulge in romantic and sarcastic dialogue while solving crimes, it's a perfect scenario for a weekly radio series.

And the series did have a very long run; first it was heard on NBC for Woodbury Soap from July 2, 1941-December 23, 1942; then it motved to CBS for General Foods from January 8, 1943-December 26, 1947, with a brief return to NBC for June 16-September 8, 1944. After that it returned to NBC with Pabst Beer from June 22-September 22, 1948; then to Mutual from October 28, 1948-January 20, 1949 and finally to ABC and sponsor Heinz June 23-September 1, 1950. The series toured all of the networks!

Over that herky-jerky decade Les Damon, Les Tremayne, David Gothard and Joseph Curtin took turns as Nick Charles; Claudia Morgan was usually Nora Charles. Through it all, the series' producer-director was none other than Himan Brown, better-known for Inner Sanctum Mysteries and CBS Radio Mystery Theater among many, many others (such as the Private Files of Rex Saunders).

Yet for all that, there's shockingly little of the Adventures of the Thin Man that exists in circulating collections today and what there is hasn't been well-researched or organized, just kind of thrown out there. Many of the surviving episodes are from the Armed Forces Radio Theater's series Mystery Playhouse with Peter Lorre as host. I've listened to what there is and it sounds pretty good, all the comedy, romance and dead bodies you'd expect from their film counterparts. It's too bad most of it appears to be lost for all time.

The largest collection I've found online of the Adventures of the Thin Man is this YouTube playlist a fan put together; it has 10 full episodes, 3 fragments and 2 Lux Radio Theater film adaptations. It's a surprisingly small selection of episodes from a long-running and popular property!

White Christmas, the Musical That Feared the Future

During the holidays I was re-watching the 1954 musical-comedy White Christmas. I remember watching that film with my family in the 1990s and it became a family tradition to watch it every year around Christmas-time. The funny thing is, the contents of the film are only loosely tied to Christmas. Although the entire film is set around Christmas and features the titular song "White Christmas" near the beginning of the picture and again at the climax, the rest of the film is a series of songs and comic situations that could have been told at any time of the year.

But the most recent time I watched the film, I noticed an odd connection between two of the Irving Berlin songs: "Minstrel Number" and "Choreography." The entire "Minstrel Number" is a nostlagic piece about how much fun minstrel shows were (thankfully, unlike the film Holiday Inn where "White Christmas" debuted, there's no blackface to accompany this number). "Choreography" is some kind of diatribe against avant-garde theater, with Danny Kaye as a satirical choregraphed dancer contrasted against Vera-Ellen's traditional stage dancing; wouldn't you rather watch Vera-Ellen tap dance than see Danny Kaye spin his arms around like a clock? (if you would, then I don't get you)

Now, I like both of those numbers - they're both very silly and Danny Kaye is top-notch in both productions. What I find interesting is that "Minstrel Number" is pining for the past - for a mode of entertainment that hadn't been in vogue for, at the time, decades. And also, you have "Choreography," which is suspicious and disdainful of what was popular on stage at the time. Irving Berlin's heyday began in the 1920s; perhaps his tastes calcified then and never really kept hep with changing tastes.

For another instance, you could look to the film the Band Wagon, which went to cinemas a year before White Christmas. That one features Fred Astaire as a performer who's enlisted into a deep re-interpretation of Faust that ultimately flops on the stage. The performers then rally together ("Gosh, with all this raw talent around, why can't us kids get together and put on ourselves a show! Maybe, we could find ourselves a barn or something.") and put on a production that's what audiences really want to see... another big song and dance show.

Now, the Band Wagon is really elevated by "the Girl Hunt Ballet," an impressionistic dance number based on Mickey Spillane's pulp fiction. But taken together, White Christmas and the Band Wagon give me the sense that musical producers in the 1950s were a bit worried about how to continue appealing to audiences. They knew what worked in the past - and those movies both succeeded at the box office - but perhaps they knew the writing was on the wall? The 1950s are remembered as the last really great decade of movie musicals, as the 1960s would be littered with so many high-profile musical flops that it seemed to taint the entire genre of films.

Knowing what lay ahead of musical films, I kind of want to reach into White Christmas, slap Irving Berlin in the face and tell him to stop pining for those ancient minstrel shows. Those creative decisions are so much of their time that I had no clue what "Minstrel Number" was pining for when I first saw it (answer: really racist old-timey humour) and I'm still unclear as to what exactly was being spoofed in "Choreography." The singing and dancing that accompanies those numbers overcomes their lack of relevance.

Radio Recap: The Crime Files of Flamond

"Flamond! The most unusual detective in criminal history! Flamond, the famous psychologist and character analyst! Flamond, who looks beyond laughter and tears, jealousy and greed to discover their basic origins!"

You, like me up until a few weeks ago, may have never heard of the detective series the Crime Files of Flamond, despite a long run on the radio. It began as a syndicated program that ran 1944-1948, then was revived on Mutual in 1953 for a few months, then again for a year from 1956-1957.

The hero of this drama, Flamond, was portrayed by a few actors, including Arthur Wyatt, Myron Wallace and Everett Clarke. You might know Myron Wallace better as Mike Wallace, the name he adopted as a news broadcaster! Flamond was accompanied by his gal friday and secretary Sandra Lake, who was portrayed by Patricia Dunlap and Muriel Bremner.

There isn't much that makes the Crime Files of Flamond stand apart from other radio detectives except for the hero's profession. As a psychologist, his solutions to crimes would always be rooted in pscyhology. But otherwise, it followed the same beats as other detective shows. Typically, Flamond would identify the criminal and turn him over to the police, then explain to Sandra what tell-tale clue led him to his deduction; Sandra would then sum up the program and give it it's title ("the case of...").

Despite being on the air for about six years all told there's very little of the Crime Files of Flamond still in circulation. Here's a YouTube playlist created by a fan that contains 10 surviving broadcasts from the 1940s (mostly with Myron Wallace as Flamond). As the series was syndicated in the 40s it's always possible more from that era will emerge in years to come.

"Lost" Suspense Episode Found!

One strange thing about the old-time radio hobby is that it can be difficult to determine what exactly is available out there. Resources like the Old Time Radio Researchers Library try to acquire copies of all that there is, but they've been known to overlook certain episodes. And even then, when a "lost" episode is found, unless you're actively part of that program's fan community it could be some time before you learn it exists. That was the case last year when I suddenly realized a number of "missing" episodes of Inner Sanctum Mysteries and the Whistler had been found yet I'd been ignorant of it.

Me, I feel that when a "lost" episode of a program you like is found, you owe it to your fellow fans to spread the word because you can't trust that they follow the same websites that you do. To wit, a few days ago the Old Time Radio Researchers released a "lost" episode of the series Suspense! It's titled "The Beetle and Mr. Bottle" and first aired August 23, 1955. If it sounds a little familiar to you, well, we already had the rebroadcast version from September 20, 1959. But that version was from the latter days' New York version of Suspense - this is from the period where Suspense was still being produced in Hollywood with the familiar CBS cast of performers.

Here's the episode!

Radio Recap: Bold Venture

"Adventure, intrigue, mystery, romance, starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean! Bold Venture!"

Bold Venture was a syndicated radio adventure series produced by Ziv that appeared from 1951-1952. The series starred the Hollywood couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, which was a pretty big deal. Bogart had tried to create his own radio series in 1949, resulting in an audition recording of him in "Dead Man" but it didn't result in a series. I blogged about "Dead Man" last Halloween.

The successful launch of Bold Venture with Bogart and Bacall demonstrated how syndicated radio was reliable enough that two major Hollywood stars could record more than a year's worth of programs while continuing their film careers. It used to be that Hollywood stars had to scramble to fit in live radio appearances and struggle to show up for the rehearsals.

In the series, Bold Venture was the name of the boat owned by Bogart's character, Slate Shannon. Shannon also ran the hotel Shannon's Place and was aided by Sailor Duval (Bacall), a young woman who was the daughter of an old friend. Slate was supposed to be looking out for her even though, as the series would demonstrate time and again, Duval was perfectly capable of taking care of herself (even when Duval would occasionally be held at gunpoint her voice never changed register; she and Shannon were perpetually sober and sardonic regardless of circumstances).

The series was definitely drawing from Bogart and Bacall's first film together - Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not (1944), which was also set in the Caribbean and in which Bogart was also a chartered boat owner who engaged in romantic banter with Bacall. To Have and Have Not was not really a very good movie but Bogart and Bacall's chemistry in the film is so good that I've watched it many, many times. Similarly, Bold Venture is a pretty average adventure series but the banter Bogart and Bacall indulged in keeps renders it very pleasant to listen to.

I recall when I worked for my hometown newspaper (the Mountaineer) and accompanied another (much older) employee in delivering the paper to all the local shops and post office, that one day the two of were discussing old movies because I'd mentioned to him that I was becoming a classic film buff. For some reason he took a moment to complain about "all those movies" Bogart and Bacall made together. It was only later that I looked it up and saw they only really made four films together: To Have and Have Not may not have been that great, but two of the others - the Big Sleep (1946) and Key Largo (1948) are still considered all-time great films. I'm very fond of Dark Passage (1947) too (it's the one where the opening scenes are shot from Bogart's POV). But consider this: Bogart and Bacall's 26+ hours worth of Bold Venture episodes is considerably greater than the runtime of those four films!

The duo of Slate and Sailor were joined by King Moses, portrayed by Jester Hairston. King Moses would engage in calypso music on the guitar, sometimes to open an episode but frequently he would drop in on the middle of the episode, recapping the plot of the first half of the story through song - he seldom had much to do with the actual plots on Bold Venture other than comment on what Slate and Sailor were doing.

The series was written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Fine and Friedkin had a long association together as writers, including scripts for the Philip Morris Playhouse, Gunsmoke, the Line-Up, Suspense, Crime Classics and Escape. Aside from Bold Venture, their other great long run together was writing Elliott Lewis' police program Broadway Is My Beat - in fact their writing for those two shows overlaps. The series was directed by Henry Hayward, who also directed the Ziv syndicated program I Was a Communist for the FBI.

Fine and Friedkin were great radio writers, but I do wonder if Bold Venture pushed their faculties a little too far; so many episodes of Bold Venture sound alike. In fact, I don't recommend Bold Venture so much as a series as to say it's worth hearing a few episodes of the program - they're pretty much the same quality but none are above average.

Maybe the most unusual episode is titled "Russian Roulette." It opens with Slate and Sailor taking care of a wandering heiress; there are two criminals trying to cheat her out of her family fortune, so Slate and Sailor take her out aboard the Bold Venture to avoid them. The two criminals pursue them; so far, a very familiar premise for a radio adventure drama. Then, about halfway through the premise changes entirely; they run aground on a reef and find themselves on the island of a man who is basically running a version of "the Most Dangerous Game" and forces them to participate in a game of Russian Roulette with him each day. The sudden shift feels so bizarre - like Fine and Friedkin were each working independently on two different scripts then somehow wrote them into a single production.

There are 57 episodes of Bold Venture currently circulating and you can hear them all in this YouTube playlist! The other 21 episodes should appear sometime later this year.

2024 Review: Books

I don't read as much fiction as I once did, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Focus (1945) by Arthur Miller, which was apparently the only novel Miller wrote. The story concerns a man who has just started wearing glasses and his old acquaintences all think he looks 'Jewish' but rather than say that to his face, simply discriminate against him. That the problem is one that every character is aware of but no one can bring themselves to say aloud makes for a very tense situation. It's not only a study of prejudice but also of the power of unspoken, unchallenged beliefs.

Another good work of fiction was the Disenchanted (1950) by Budd Schulberg, which I sought out after enjoying Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run the previous year. This one was a fictionalized version of Schulberg's relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald and how the two men tried to write a screenplay together, only for Fitzgerald's alcoholism to scuttle the entire assignment (I watched the resulting film - Winter Carnival - and it is lousy). It's a good novel, yet the Fitzgerald character's continued debasement over hundreds of pages gets to be one-note; I realize all the scenes are inspired by events that really happened to Schulberg but on some level it might have made a superior short story.

My interest in film lead me to Alfred Hitchcock Storyboards (2024) by Tony Lee Moral, a terrific coffee table book; the author's commentary wasn't that illuminating but the samples of production art from Hitchcock's films looked terrific. And Opposable Thumbs (2023) by Matt Singer was a great look at the Roger Ebert/Gene Siskel team and how they functioned, it even inspired me to check out a few of the films that were mentioned in passing!

I suppose it's because of events transpiring among my neighbours to the south that I've become interested in understanding fascism, because in the last year I read the fictional work It Can't Happen Here (1935) by Sinclair Lewis which imagined how fascism could come to the USA; then there's the non-fiction Prequel (2023) by Rachel Maddow which explores the various fascist movements that flourished in the USA in the 1930s, as well as They Thought They Were Free (1955) by Milton Mayer, which was a study of men from a German town who had all either willingly or reluctantly conspired with the Nazis.

Others: On Writing (2000) by Stephen King inspired me in my own writing efforts; The Early Worm (1927) by Robert Benchley was another funny collection of essays; The Day the Revolution Began (2016) by N. T. Wright was a great historical look at the time of Jesus' life; The Jesus I Never Knew (1995) by Philip Yancey was a very good series of meditations on Jesus (which also referenced the above book Focus); and Muito Favorecidos (2019) by Stuart Foster, was a Portuguese version of his book Highly Favoured, a good book on the basics of faith for a primarily African audience.

2024 was also the year in which we lost science fiction author Vernor Vinge.

And that's what I enjoyed the most in 2024; I hope you yourself found some diversions - fiction or non - to enjoy in the year past and wish you good reading, watching or listening in the year ahead.

2024 Review: Television

I don't include a rundown of which television shows I watch each year, but in 2024 I watched a lot more television programming than in recent years - no doubt due to my wife's influence. By far the highlight has been slowly going through the entire series of Columbo! I knew all about Columbo but had never watched a single episode until last year; now we're 6 seasons in with several more to go and it's been a lot of fun. It's also inspired me to introduce my wife to other detective films and TV shows that I've enjoyed that have a similar bend (that is, fiction where the criminal's identity is known but the means by which the detective will catch him is unclear).

We also quite enjoyed the sitcom series How I Met Your Mother, which impressed me by its earnestness - that amidst some very good sitcom jokes there was genuine emotion and romance. Frequently I enjoyed the series as much as a drama as I did as a comedy.

We also watched a few seasons of Wallander (British version), the Kenneth Branagh series about a Swedish police detective who's good at his job yet unable to make his personal life work.

And we went back to some older shows, watching a lot of the detective series Law and Order: Criminal Intent and the sitcom Cheers which were welcome to revisit. And we finished up viewing the entirety of Alias; I summarized my feelings about the series in this post.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed X-Men '97, the sequel to the 1990s animated series. I reviewed the series twice, my first impressions here and a follow-up post here.

I suppose the only sour note of 2024 was the Star Wars series The Acolyte, which was bad, although mostly bad in the same ways I found the Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka to be bad. I wrote a brief dismissal of the series in this post.

2024 was also the year we lost actorCarl Weathers, whom I enjoyed the most on the television series Arrested Development.

Tomorrow: wrapping up 2024 with books!

2024 Review: Movies

Although my wife and I had a few free movie passes, it took us a while to find reasons to visit the cinema - 2024 just wasn't a great year for titles that were good enough to draw us out. In fact, when we did go to see Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes I was extremely irritated that two people in the row in front of me repeatedly pulled out their phones throughout the entire running time of the movie; movies are expensive, yet viewers don't seem too engaged, I guess?

That makes the best cinema experience of 2024 Furiosa, directed by George Miller. I reviewed the movie here and while I enjoyed it, it does suffer in comparison to Mad Max: Fury Road and unfortunately constantly wants the audience to compare the two films.

We also went to see Gladiator II directed by Ridley Scott, which was kind of trashy and dumb but we did have a good time with it (also, no one was checking their phones!).

From older films, I watched It's in the Bag (1945) directed by Richard Wallace, a Fred Allen movie. I've never been that interested in Allen's comedy but this was a very witty film with terrific dialogue and fun interactions between Allen and a multitude of guest stars (including Jack Benny himself!).

Another older one I checked out was No Man of Her Own (1950) directed by Mitchell Leisen, an adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's terrific crime novel I Married a Dead Man, with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead role as a woman who allows a grieving family to believe she's a dead man's fiancee.

In more recent films, I enjoyed the courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (2023) directed by William Friedkin. I reviewed the film (with some other movies) in this post.

My wife and I also checked out Les Miserables (2012) directed by Tom Hooper, which is the first time I've ever actually experienced the musical version of Victor Hugo's novel, having previously read the book and watched two non-musical film adaptations.

And I checked out some very good documentaries too - Helvetica (2007) directed by Gary Hustwit is easily the best documentary I've seen about design (a subject dear to my wife). The Line King (1996) directed by Susan W. Dryfoos is a documentary about artist Al Hirschfeld and was a very good biographical picture. I also enjoyed the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind (2019) directed by Ira Steven Behr and the biography film Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024) directed by Ron Howard.

2024 was also the year that directorNorman Jewison passed away.

Tomorrow: 2024 in television.

2024 Review: Comics

Although I no longer read as many comic books as I once did, 2024 saw a slight increase as I found a number of new titles to follow, along with quite a few trade paperbacks and graphic novels.

It takes something pretty impressive for me to pay attention to my one-time employers at Marvel, but Al Ewing has consistently proved worthy of my attention. I read the first year of his new series Immortal Thor with artists Martin Coccolo, Ibraim Roberson, Greg Land and Carlos Magno and it's a brilliant examination of Thor and his nature as a walking myth. As in Immortal Hulk, Ewing has an amazing knack for wielding continuity in unexpected ways, such as his reinterpretation of Thor's mother Gaea and her motivations. There's also plenty of satire as Ewing's use of Roxxon mocks not only Marvel themselves but a certain thin-skinned billionaire too.

I also read Avengers, Inc. by Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk which was, strangely, a continuation of stories Ewing had begun in previous mini-series starring Ant-Man and the Wasp. This one was basically a science fiction mystery series.

The first big new series for me is Public Domain by Chip Zdarsky, a fascinating dramatic series about the tug-of-war between a comic book creator, the publisher who own his creation, his family and all the messiness of dealing with the comic book marketplace. I reviewed the first trade paperback here.

I tried the new Image series Free Agents by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza and Stephen Mooney on the strength of the Busiek/Nicieza writing team whom I've enjoyed in the past. I read through several issues of this series and it just didn't click for me; I hope to write a blog post about it in the future so that I can puzzle out why it feels cold to me.

Superman: Lost by Priest and Carlo Pagulayan was an excellent Superman mini-series by Priest, exploring how Superman might cope with the trauma of being lost in space for years, only to return to Earth shortly after he'd departed. Priest always used complain that no one would let him write Superman so it's a small triumph that this series existed at all!

I also read Le Horla by Guillaume Sorel, a fine adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's short story. I reviewed the graphic novel here.

And finally, there are the series that I continued with in 2024, including the mini-seriesSilver Surfer: Rebirth - Legacy by Ron Marz and Ron Lim; I reviewed the series here. And Image continued the new run of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero by Larry Hama, Chris Mooneyham and Paul Pelletier, which continues Hama's sprawling storylines from IDW. Finally, Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow by Stan Sakai is the latest Usagi Yojimbo series and it was up to Sakai's usual quality of excellence.

2024 was also a year in which several of my favourite comic book creators passed away, including Peter B. Gillis, Tom Luth, Paul Neary, Don Perlin and Trina Robbins.

Tomorrow: 2024 in film.

The Trend of Christmas Music on the Radio

As the Christmas season has just recently ended, I'm reminded of a remark someone made about the kind of music played on the radio around Christmas time - that it's the only time of year you're likely to hear lyrics such as "whoop-de-do and hickordy dock, don't forget to hang up your sock" on the radio. Not only is the singer unashamed to sing those lyrics, the listener is unashamed to listen to them.

I have friends and relatives who complain about how quickly our culture is saturated by Christmas advertising and programming. Certainly this past year, the radio was playing 24-hour Christmas songs as of November 1st, but most radio stations stopped playing Christmas songs around December 27th. Never mind that those famous 12 days of Christmas start on December 25th, just as there's a rush to start celebrating Christmas early, there's also a rush to stop celebrating well before New Year's.

What we call "Christmas" songs aren't even all concerned with Christmas - some are simply winter songs (ie, "Winter Wonderland") that, in a snowy city like mine, would play just as well in January/February as they do in November/December. But once Christmas Day is past, local radio stations seem to forget it's winter outside and go back to playing the same type of music heard in August.

And that's what I find really remarkable about the 2-month marathon of Christmas programming that I hear on the radio. The other 10 months of the year, pop radio stations play love songs, break-up songs and get-back-together songs. That is, songs about romantic relationships. But for 2 months each year they temporarily stop and instead play songs that are (mostly) about a non-romantic love for others - love for strangers, love for the world and the giving of gifts.

Call it hokum, schmaltz or treacle, but for 2 months radio stations set aside their typical fare to celebrate friends, family and humankind. So although I expect in the future I'll continue to hear complaints about how early those Christmas songs appear on the radio, I won't be joining that chorus.