Monday, March 18, 2024

Radio Recap: Island Venture

Here's an odd one.

Island Venture was a radio adventure program that aired over CBS from November 8, 1945 to June 20, 1946. It starred Jerry Walter and Hugh Rowlands as Gil Perry and Trigger Brett, two former US Navy pilots who had taken up post-war work as pilots in the South Seas ("typical of the men of the Navy who fought through victory and now are bringing their courage, their dauntless spirit and their sound Navy training with them into peacetime enterprises"). Each week would find the duo in some sort of light-hearted adventure.

Although the characters of Perry and Brett were peers, Trigger was characterized as being younger and more hot-headed than the level-headed Perry. Consequently, it sounds a lot like a juvenile adventure program, yet marketed to a grown-up audience - as if the people who made Jack Armstrong tried to break into prime time programming. The series was classed up a bit by narrator Ken Nordine, who would describe the tropical surroundings with flowery prose. The adventures themselves were straight out of the pulps, usually featuring superstitious South Seas natives. For instance, one episode concerned a voodoo cult that tried to eliminate Perry and Brett.

However, the oddest factor in Island Venture is the commercial sponsor. The series was sponsored by Wrigley's Spearmint Gum at a time in which Wrigley's was not selling chewing gum! The earliest episodes of Island Venture feature the commerical spokesman pitching a product that was, at that time, unavailable! In the earliest surviving episode, the pitchman starts his commercial by acknowledging that chewing gum is "probably one of the least important [things] to everyone, except the manufacturers of chewing gum." I have never heard a product pitchman talk like that in radio! He goes on to observe that although Wrigley's wasn't available at the time "there are many good chewing gums on the market" and suggests listeners try one of them until their product is back on the market! How often do salesman suggest you try the competitor's product? Unfortunately for Island Venture, it didn't survive long past the return of Wrigley's Spearmint. It sounds like the gum was back on the market by April, 1946 - and they were cancelled by June.

You can hear the 10 surviving episodes of Island Venture at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Radio Recap: Strange

Strange was a 15-minute radio series that was broadcast on ABC in 1955. It dramatized stories of people's encounters with something unusual - something vaguley supernatural.

The series was written and hosted by pulp writer Walter B. Gibson (best-remembered as creator of the Shadow) and he would claim the stories dramatized on Strange were based on real stories. The ghostly events on Strange sound a lot like the type of stories one finds in those big Time-Life books on ghosts. Still, they're very restrained dramas that tried to sound a bit believeable and inexplicable.

It seems only 4 episodes of this program have turned up. You can hear the 4 surviving episodes of Strange at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Radio Recap: I Deal in Crime

I Deal in Crime was a radio mystery program that aired on ABC from January 21, 1946 to October 18, 1947. The series starred William Gargan as private detective Ross Dolan. It was brought back on Mutual as Ross Dolan, Detective and ran from October 25, 1947 until September 4, 1948.

There are only 3 surviving episodes of I Deal in Crime and zero episodes of Ross Dolan, Detective. Based on the three episodes, I found it to be fairly typical of the genre. Dolan is a very typical tough-guy detective and he gets hit over the head about once per half hour.

The program's greatest strength and failing is, I think, Gargan himself. Gargan had a good voice that was appropriate for the genre; he made much of his career playing tough guys. And yet, he wasn't leading man material. I find his radio delivery to be too sleepy, too disinterested. He sounds bored while reading his lines, somehow detached from the drama surrounding him. He followed up this series with another program, Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator which I find to be about the most boring private eye program in radio. If you like your radio with a tall glass of warm milk, then you probably like Barrie Craig and if so, I Deal in Crime is also fit for your consumption.

You can hear the 3 surviving episodes of I Deal in Crime at the Internet Archive.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Radio Recap: Meet Miss Sherlock

Meet Miss Sherlock was a CBS mystery program that aired on two occasions as a replacement series, first from July-September, 1946 and the second time from September-October, 1947. The series was written by veteran writer E. Jack Neuman.

We have only 2 surviving episodes of Meet Miss Sherlock and they're both from the 1946 version (apparently the 1947 version had a completely different cast). The series starred Sondra Gair as the titular Jane Sherlock and Joe Petruzzi as Peter Blossom, Jane's boyfriend. William Conrad had a recurring part as the local police detective and there were supporting parts by familiar CBS voices like Paul Frees.

Meet Miss Sherlock is not in the same class as other female-led detective shows like Candy Matson. Jane Sherlock was simply an empty-headed blonde dumbbell in the tradition of Gracie Allen. She was an amateur sleuth who would constantly stumble into crimes that her boyfriend (an attorney) would have to solve. She frustrated Conrad's police detective mostly by always greeting with a cute nickname.

It isn't a great radio comedy-detective series; it's basically the same as Mr. and Mrs. North. The presence of talents like Conrad and Frees elevates the material a bit, but the ditzy persona of Miss Sherlock is the most noteworthy aspect of the program.

You can hear the 2 surviving episodes of Meet Miss Sherlock at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

RIP: Paul Neary

I've been very busy in recent weeks, but I wanted to note the passing of comic book creator Paul Neary a little more than 2 weeks ago.

Neary was best-known as an artist; he also worked as an editor and he wrote a few stories. Most of his work was published in the UK, but he made a major inroad into US comics when he became the artist of Captain America during writer J. M. DeMatteis' last year on the title (#291-300). In fact, the 1st issue of Captain America I ever owned was Neary's 2nd issue on the series, #292. He drew the series during DeMatteis' big Red Skull story that led up to #300.

Captain America editor Mark Gruenwald assumed the writing duties after DeMatteis and Neary remained on board as artist until issue #331. During that time, Neary helped Gruenwald revitalize the title as they worked especially hard to expand Cap's rogue's gallery, the most significant additions being the Serpent Society and Flag-Smasher. The issue after Neary's departure - #332 - was a major turning point for the series, starting the storyarc in which John Walker became Captain America; Neary's exit helped mark the change in direction.

In time, I think Neary became better-known as an inker than he had been as a penciler. He became Alan Davis' inker for many years and helped make Davis' work on Excalibur so appealing. After Davis, he became Bryan Hitch's inker. I've never been too fond of Hitch's photorealistic approach to comic art, but I credit Neary for making Hitch's work more fluid and rounded (more like Alan Davis, frankly).

Neary will be remembered for his decades of work; Rest in peace, Mr. Neary.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

M3 Memories

It had been more than a dozen years since my last visit to the USA; I wasn't particularly eager to see the USA again. At first, when I heard my Uncle Steve was the keynote speaker at the Moblizing Medical Missions (M3) conference in Houston, I thought of it only in terms of what I should share with his supporters, in case any of them wanted to connect with him during his brief visit to the USA.

But when I learned M3 was being held by Lakewood Church, which my wife had attended online regularly during the pandemic, I told my uncle how enthused she was to hear of his role in the conference. He came back suggesting to his parnters at Hope for Angola that it would be a great idea if I attended to give away copies of the Benefit of Steel, the biography I wrote of my uncle.

It took some careful arranging, but my wife and I were able to join my uncle at M3. We took in the entire conference, gave away 160 signed copies of the Benefit of Steel and help connect a number of people to what my uncle is doing in Angola. Hopefully some of these people will eventually visit Angola for themselves and participate first-hand in the work we're doing there. For myself, I've agreed to work more closely with Hope for Angola in the future, in addition to the other roles I'm holding in Angolan mission work.

It was a brief visit and not exactly a vacation, but my wife was thrilled to see Lakewood Church and attend their Sunday service in person. We came away impressed by the helpfulness and generosity of the many people who helped solve logistical problems for us (transportation) or paid for our meals. It was a very special visit.

My Uncle Steve delivered this talk, which is available via YouTube:

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Radio Recap: One Out of Seven

I've been examining the early years of Jack Webb's career lately and perhaps the most arresting piece of work he delved into in his first year on the radio (and that's saying something, in a year in which he starred in the Jack Webb Show and Pat Novak, for Hire) is One Out of Seven, a 15-minute program produced at ABC's San Francisco office from February 6 to March 20, 1946. Although the series' title referred to the news story "most worthy of retelling" from the previous week, appropriately One Out of Seven broadcast only 7 episodes total.

One Out of Seven was a news commentary/opinion program. It was directed and produced by Gil Doud, who was likewise just starting out in radio (he went on to write for the Voyage of the Scarlet Queen, the Adventures of Sam Spade, Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar). The program was produced on a low budget, like the other San Francisco ABC programs Webb was involved in; for One Out of Seven, Webb was the only voice actor in every episode.

But One Out of Seven was, as I stated, an arresting program. You're not liable to forget it once you've heard an episode. I was treated to the 1st episode (a portrait of Senator Theodore Bilbo) over 20 years ago and I've never forgotten it, particularly Webb's echoed phrase (dripping with sarcasm): "Theodore Bilbo is an honorable man, and we do not intend to prove otherwise." One Out of Seven is utterly unlike other radio dramas from the time that you've heard because it had opinions on social problems of the day -- and pulled no punches in sharing them. Chief among the program's focus were the racial issues in the USA, especially those of the southern states. Of the 4 surviving episodes, 3 are concerned in some way with racism. This was simply not a topic other radio programs of the time were willing/able to confront.

You might feel uncomfortable listening to One Out of Seven; because Webb was the only performer, he had to adopt a lot of dialects, so that includes performing as black men. He also utters the n-word slur in one episode. But if you think of Webb as a stodgy old vanguard of conservatism (which his 1960s Dragnet TV show certainly helped promulgate) you might be surprised to find that 1946 Jack Webb was apparently a very liberal man for his time. One Out of Seven wasn't an angry program but it was certainly razor-sharp in its analysis of the USA's shortcomings.

You can hear the 4 surviving episodes of One Out of Seven at the Internet Archive (the episode labeled "Free Men" is identical to the "Anti-Negro South" episode).