Lubango Vlog: Reflections

As we leave Angola, my wife and I reflect on our activities and accomplishments of the previous month.

How Not to Hunt Lions

While in Angola I recorded my Uncle Steve delivering his famous "How Not to Hunt a Lion" story. Now you can see it for yourself!

Lubango Vlog: More Junk Food Testing!

My wife and I made another junk food testing video for your enjoyment!

Radio Recap: The Silent Men

The Silent Men was an NBC program that aired for one season from October 14, 1951 to May 28, 1952. The program was hosted and starred Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Although it was an anthology program, each week Fairbanks portrayed a different character. At least, so he'd claim; all of Fairbanks' protagonists sounded alike, they just had different names and held slightly different jobs. Every episode was about the adventures of a federal agent, all allegedly based on true stories. The series drew on a lot of familiar radio performers, with William Conrad or Paul Frees sometimes appearing as Fairbanks' boss (Conrad would also double as other characters in the same episode).

The Silent Men feels representative of many other law enforcement programs of the early 1950s - programs that were inspired by Dragnet but didn't want to cover the same ground. The Silent Men is especially similar to shows like the FBI in Peace and War and This Is Your FBI, although it featured characters in government services outside of the FBI, such as treasury agents and even the mail!

What holds back the Silent Men is that it's yet another 1950s NBC dramatic show; NBC relied far too much on stock music for all their dramatic shows that resulted in nearly all of them sounding alike (Dimension X and X Minus One were happy contrasts). The music cues are particularly clumsy - they don't punctuate a significant line of dialogue or signal a scene transition - they all have the same weight so therefore nothing is given weight by the music. There aren't that many sound effects employed and although the casts are talented, they're small. Most of the heavy lifting is on Fairbanks as the narrator and star, so if you don't enjoy hearing him talk for 25 minutes, this really isn't a program for you. I found it all right, but it isn't a program to "binge" - simply listen to an episode just now and then.

There are episodes written by some great talent like John and Gwen Bagni but even then... the Bagnis' episode "Blood Money" recycles parts of the script they wrote for the Escape episode "Border Town," suggesting they didn't feel like putting in an effort for the Silent Men.

You can hear the surviving episodes of the Silent Men on the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

Radio Recap: Murder at Midnight

Murder at Midnight was a syndicated mystery anthology program heard from September 16, 1946 until September 8, 1947. It was directed by Anton M. Leader, shortly before he became the director of Suspense and just after working on Words at War.

The program's announcer was Raymond Morgan, who had the unusual background of being a minister who went into show business. He rumbled out the program's title at various points through each episode: "Murderrr! Aaat... Miiidniiight!" In fact, the scripts would often take pains to set events around midnight so that when the announcer interrupted the drama he could remind listeners how near they were to midnight (and whether a murder had happened or was about to happen).

Amazingly, much of the series was recycled from existing scripts. A lot of episodes were reused from Inner Sanctum Mysteries, particularly scripts by Robert Newman and Sigmund Miller. Some of these episodes no longer exist in their Inner Sanctum version, so the Murder at Midnight copies at least give us a performance of the work. Others exist in both forms, such as "Death Across the Board" and "the Dark Chamber."

There's also an episode of Suspense that was recycled on Murder at Midnight - "A Week Ago Wednesday - but the Murder at Midnight version appears to be lost. Most surprising is that many episodes were recycled from the Shadow, meaning they had to edit the character of the Shadow out of the script! You can observe this for yourself if you listen to the Murder at Midnight episode "Trigger Man" and compare it to the Shadow episode "Death Keeps a Deadline."

I've blogged about one episode of Murder at Midnight before -- that would be "the Creeper", the drama of a murderer targeting women. It was first produced on Molle Mystery Theater. Interestingly, some Murder at Midnight episodes were later adapted on Molle Mystery Theater - the episode "Nightmare" became "I Dreamt I Died" (it was also adapted for Murder by Experts).

But amidst all these adaptations there were a number of original scripts. A good chilling episode is "Terror Out of Space" about an extraterrestrial consciousness that possesses a scientist. Or there's "the Heavy Death" about a man who's made himself extremely dense. And there's an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Suicide Club" called "The Ace of Death" that makes a few changes to the story but works pretty well.

I feel Murder at Midnight is of interest primarily to people who like the other shows I've mentioned. If Inner Sanctum Mysteries, the Shadow, Suspense and Molle Mystery Theater are your cup of tea, then you ought to give this series a chance. The program's one great shortcoming is that every episode opens with a brief preview of the upcoming drama, sometimes giving away part of the story's climax! It's a very bad idea and ruins some of the suspense.

You can hear Murder at Midnight using this YouTube playlist created by the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Group.

Radio Recap: Police Reporter

Police Reporter was a 15-minute syndicated program that appears to date back to 1933. It featured dramatizations of what were all apparently true-life crime cases.

There are plenty of other programs about true-life cases, but what sets Police Reporter apart is that the cases were frequently gruesome. There are some infamous true crime stories like that of the "Vampire of Dusseldorf and Burke and Hare and they retain a lot of details that later programs such as the Black Museum would never speak of. Easily the biggest departure from what you're used to in radio violence is the episode "A Gruesome Murder," which is exactly what it says on the tin.

The 15-minute running time keeps every episode of Police Reporter very brisk and easy to listen to, even when the crimes themselves are quite awful. There's little time devoted to thinking and pondering the clues to solving a crime, instead every scene is driven by incident and the dialogue is snapped out by the actors with urgency. If you're a fan of Rick Geary's Treasury of XXth Century Murder graphic novel series, you'll probably really like this radio program.

You can hear the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Group collection of Police Reporter on the Internet Archive.

Lubango Vlog: Mural Painting, Days 6-8

Here are 3 days' worth of my wife and I making progress in the CEML mural repair!

Proof: On TV?

My friends Riley Rossmo and Alex Grecian have recently had their comic book series Proof optioned as a television series! This isn't the first time they've had a TV option picked up but this one sounds more certain to pan out. I'm very happy for my friends! I myself contributed a few character profiles of Proof cast members to their last story, "Endangered." If this means my old profiles will get reprinted with their stories, so much the better!

Lubango Vlog: Canadians Test Coffee in Angola!

We don't only eat junk food in Angola - we also like our coffee! in this video, my wife and I sample coffee from the local stores!

Lubango Vlog: Ministry Updates

Updates on the work my wife and I are doing in Angola, including English lessons, art classes and mural repair!

Lubango Vlog: Canadians Try Junk Food in Angola

My junk food videos about Angola are one of the quirky ideas I had to get friends interested in what I was doing in Angola. Now that I'm in Angola with my wife, there are two of us with opinions to share!

Radio Recap: The Blue Beetle

Leaping down upon the underworld to smash gangland, comes the friend of the unfortunate, enemy of criminals, a mysterious all-powerful character. A problem to the police, but a crusader for law; in reality Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman. Loved by everyone, but suspected by none of being, the Blue Beetle! As the Blue Beetle, he hides behind a strange mask and a suit of impenetrable blue chain armor, flexible as silk but stronger than steel!"

The Blue Beetle was a 15-minute twice-a-week serial that aired on CBS from May 15, 1940 until September 13, 1940. It was adapted from Fox's Blue Beetle comic books. The comic book super hero, of course, was much later revived and reworked by Charlton comics in the 1960s and revamped by Steve Ditko into a beloved super hero; the Charlton version was eventually bought by DC Comics.

But this program was years before Ditko; Fox were trying to promote their comic book hero (they couldn't have been blind to the success of DC's Superman) and had branched him out into a comic strip. It seems as though the Blue Beetle comic book was more a product of committee than anyone's passion project; Fox didn't credit many of their creators. The Blue Beetle might have been created by Will Eisner and Charles Nicholas, but that's not entirely certain. He debuted in the first issue of 1939's Mystery Men Comics but didn't even land the cover spot until the 7th issue, which shipped just months before the radio show started. I'm baffled as to why Fox decided the Blue Beetle should be their marquee property - it feels very random.

Well, not too random. In his 1st appearance the Blue Beetle was rip-off of the Green Hornet. He wore a suit with hat and mask; he drove around in a fancy car; he pretended to be a criminal; there was an over-confident comedy relief Irishman who wanted to unmask him (Mike Mannigan, a Mike Axford rip-off). Heck, what is the Blue Beetle but just another color-themed insect codename? I feel Fox wanted to ride the coattails of an existing popular radio hero franchise.

The radio version gives the Blue Beetle something he lacked in the comics - a proper origin. The first issue of Blue Beetle's own series came out just ahead of the radio show and featured his origin but although it went into great detail as to hero Dan Garrett's upbringing and police training it never actually explained why he wore a costume and made his hangout a local pharmacy (his costume wasn't said to be bulletproof until Mystery Men Comics #10). The radio version does this in the first two-parter as Dr. Franz saves the life of dying policeman Dan Garrett by giving him the 2X super vitamin. Mystery Men Comics #13 came out the same month as the radio series launched and had a hastily-pasted caption in the first panel that claimed the comics hero also used this vitamin. It certainly wasn't the most elegant cross-media adaptation.

Speaking of cross-media, just as the Adventures of Superman radio program was the place where Kryptonite, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen first appeared, Blue Beetle contained the debut of Joan Mason, a lady reporter who went on to appear in the Blue Beetle comics and became the star of her own adventures. Of course, introducing a lady reporter character also invites comparisons to Superman...

There were other cross-media adaptations; a two-parter called "Sabotage and Liquidation" was also told in Blue Beetle #2; the two-part story "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" about a crooked race horse scheme might be adapted from another story in Blue Beetle #2; Mystery Men Comics #7 had a story about criminals impersonating the Blue Beetle which was also the plot of "Crime Incorporated"; and a story in Mystery Men Comics #8 about mad bombers might have inspired a similar story in "Blasting the Dynamite Ring."

Another aspect from the comics that was faithfully adapted to radio is Blue Beetle's over-confidence. Usually near the end of each part 1, the Blue Beetle will confront the villains. He will then be caught unaware as one of them creeps up behind him and knocks him out. That seemed to happen in just about every Blue Beetle comic book story in 1939-1940. Unique to the radio version, however, is a repeated conversation wherein he confronts criminals who sputter, "The Blue Beetle--!?" he likes to respond, defiantly, "Yes, the Blue Beetle, and I'm going to nip you!" It's really not intimidating but the man says it with conviction.

In the comics, the Blue Beetle had a habit of suddenly revealing he was carrying objects to help him overcome his obstacles, such as revealing his belt buckle contains a lockpick. Other times a pistol would just suddenly appear in the Blue Beetle's hand in-between panels so he could execute his enemies (certainly he couldn't conceal one in his skintight costume); it's easy to fight crime when the artist helps you cheat! In the radio version his chief weapon was his "magic ray gun." Dr. Franz would frequently come up with new sci-fi inventions to help him out. I can understand a pharmacist inventing a miracle vitamin, but on the radio Dr. Franz comes up with an invisibility formula, a poison detector ring and a portable television set! Usually these were tossed off in a line of dialogue such as, "Oh, by the way Danny, you might as well test the portable television set! It may come in handy!"

Dr. Franz had a very soft, kindly voice with a hint of accent that made him sound like Geppetto. He was also incurably naive and would constantly need Dan to explain things to him very carefully, such as why people would cheat on horse races. It was clunky dialogue clearly meant for the juvenile audience but then, it was a juvenile serial. I found the dialogue on Blue Beetle much more juvenile than that of the Adventures of Superman - in fact, it was written with the same kind of dialogue you'd find in comic books of 1939-1940. I guess I'm saying once again that it's a very authentic adaptation?

In the first 10 episodes, Dan was portrayed by Frank Lovejoy, very early in his career; Lovejoy would go on to greater things but he definitely put some vigour his performance on this radio series. Unfortunately we don't know who took over the role after Lovejoy exited.

Again, this was a very juvenile program but good for it's time; it's certainly an interesting curio that, for a brief window, the Blue Beetle was being promoted as one of comicdom's big names. It probably helped him maintain recognition to audiences in the years and decades to come, long after the radio program itself was forgotten.

You can hear all 48 episodes of the Blue Beetle using this YouTube playlist created by the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Group.

Radio Recap: The Black Hood

"Criminals, beware! The Black Hood is everywhere!"
"I, the Black Hood, do solemnly swear, that neither threats, nor bribes, nor bullets, nor death itself shall keep me from fulfilling my vow: To erase crime from the face of the Earth!"

The Black Hood was a 15-minute daily serial program heard over Mutual from July 5, 1943 until January 14, 1944. It was based on the Archie Comics super hero. We have only one episode of the Black Hood that still exists. In his book On the Air, John Dunning asserted that the radio version of the Black Hood wore a mask that granted him supernatural power. If that's so, it isn't from the comics (in the comics the Black Hood had no super powers) and the mask isn't said to have any powers in the sole surviving episode.

The series starred Scott Douglas as policeman Kip Burland, alias the Black Hood. The cast also included Marjorie Cramer as newspaper reporter Barbara Sutton, Burland's lovely sidekick, who was the Black Hood's love interest in the comics as well. Kip's fellow policeman Sgt. McGinty is likewise a comics character who made the jump to radio. In the surviving episode, Kip and Barbara were investigating crimes connected to voodoo.

The Old-Time Radio Researchers' Group has a copy of the sole surviving episode, which you will find at this link (it's part of their "singles and doubles" collection).

A final radio super hero adaptation will be tomorrow's recap and it's a big one!

Radio Recap: The Green Lama

The Green Lama was a pulp magazine hero whose adventures were published from 1940-1943. He was clearly in the shadow of... well, the Shadow; like him, he was a white man (Jethro Dumont) who gained mystical powers from his time in Asia. In fact, Dumont became an actual Tibetan lama.

It's not clear to me why the Green Lama became a radio hero very briefly in 1949; his pulp adventures had ceased by then and so had his comic book stories. But somehow, the Green Lama aired over CBS from June 5 to August 20, 1949 as a summer series. It lasted just 11 episodes and we only have 4 of them now.

What makes the Green Lama interesting - beyond the super hero trappings that were atypical for prime time radio - is that the series starred Paul Frees. Frees was, of course, one of radio's finest performers. He could deliver the character's catchphrase - "Om manipadme hum! The Green Lama strikes - for justice!" with conviction.

Many familiar CBS performers can be heard on the show, notably Ben Wright as the Green Lama's servant Tulku. The episode "the Last Dinosaur" featured a great guest appearance by William Conrad as a Hollywood film producer; it's great fun to hear Conrad as a slick, fast-talking huckster. Norman MacDonnell produced the series (he would later produce Escape and Gunsmoke), so the quality is overall much higher on the Green Lama than that of most radio adventure hero programs.

You can hear the 4 surviving episodes of the Green Lama on the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library.

Another radio super hero recap tomorrow!