Third Round of Clyde's Favorite OTR
Here we go again! How about another round of Clyde's Favorite Old Time Radio shows? I can't help myself folks. There are just so many shows that I enjoy, and I love to share with you. Today I've been working hard to update all the streams with my favorite old time radio.
Briefly the main stream is playing:
King Kong. 1963. Commercial release. The story of the big-but-lovable ape dramatized on Golden Record LP151. This is a record label for kids, but the story it quite well-told and follows the movie closely. Not a broadcast. I just discovered this information. For years I had thought it was a rare OTR broadcast from 1938. The label on the mp3 file reflects that. But as it turns out it's from the 60's. Regardless, I know you'll enjoy it, if you haven't heard it played on MPIR before. A true treasure and follows the movie closely!
The Black Museum Aired 1952, The murder mystery series was based on true life cases from Scotland Yard's files. Each episode was based on an item or items of evidence in the museum. Orsen Welles hosted and narrated the shows. Mr. Welles opened each show slightly differently but followed a standard format. For example:
"This is Orson Welles speaking from London." (Big Ben starts to chime in the background). "The Black Museum, repository of death... Here, in this grim stone structure on the Thames which houses Scotland Yard, is a warehouse of homicide, where everyday objects, a piece of wire, a chemist's flask, a silver shilling, all are touched by murder." (dramatic music)
Following the opening, Mr. Welles would introduce the museum's item or items of evidence that was central to the case, leading into the dramatization. He also provided narration during the show and ended each show with his characteristic closing from the days of his Mercury Theater of the Air, remaining "obediently yours". Orson Welles telling a story, none better!
Bold Venture Aired 1951 -1952 was a syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions. Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean." After you listen to a few episodes. I am sure you will be reminded of the movie To Have And Have Not that starred Bogart and Bacall.
Escape. Aired November 19, 1947. CBS net. "Casting The Runes". Sustaining. A good story about a medieval curse in London that seems to be working quite effectively! I don't know why, but I really love this episode of Escape! Old Time Radio can be educational. The first time I heard this show. I was on the internet looking up casting the runes! Those things really existed folks.
Favorite Story. 1947. Program #17. KFI, Los Angeles origination, Ziv syndication. "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde". A physician discovers how to divide the soul into its "good" and "bad" parts...with murderous results. The "favorite story" of Alfred Hitchcok. Ronald Colman (host), Robert Louis Stevenson (author), William Conrad doubles in both leads. Another of my favorite episodes, especially for the outstanding performance of William Conrad. When you listen, you really see in your mind the transformation!
The MPIR History Capsule stream is playing:
I've gotten into this patriotic mood, and have put up several educational shows.
The Columbia Workshop. Aired April 11, 1937. CBS net. "The Fall Of The City". Sustaining. When a conqueror approaches, the inhabitants of "The City" fall victim to their own human frailties. Told in verse and allegory (possibly interpreted as being about Hitler and Europe) and a cast of two hundred.
Fourteen August, A Message For The Day Of Victory. Aired August 14, 1945. CBS net. Sustaining. A moving and dramatic anti-war reading. The program was written on short notice; after the detonation of the atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan. Norman Corwin (writer, director), Orson Welles.
On A Note Of Triumph. Aired May 13, 1945. CBS net. Sustaining. An excellent V-E Day production making full use of the creative medium of radio. This is possibly a rebroadcast shortly after the original May 8, 1945 air date, or is from the phonograph records that were sold of the program.
We Hold These Truths. Aired December 15, 1941. Pool feed, Mutual net aircheck. Sustaining. A "Bill Of Rights Day" broadcast. The story of the first ten amendments to the Constitution is told, 150 years after they were enacted. A superb production in the Corwin tradition. Lionel Barrymore, Orson Welles (narrator), Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, Bob Burns, Walter Huston, Marjorie Main, Edward G. Robinson, Rudy Vallee, Leopold Stokowski and His Symphony Orchestra, Franklin Roosevelt (from Washington, D.C.), Norman Corwin (writer, producer, director), Jimmy Stewart (narrator), Bernard Herrmann (composer), Elliott Lewis, Dane Clark.
The Lux Radio Theatre. Aired February 22, 1943. CBS net. "This Is The Army". Sponsored by: Lux, Vimms. The program has a cast of over 200 soldiers. Irving Berlin delivers a message to the head of Army Emergency Relief, in Washinton, D. C. Major General Irving Phillipson replies from Washington. Cecil B. DeMille (host), Ernest Newton, Herbert Wright, George Gramlich, Homer Hall, Hubert Reed, Kenneth Rundquist, Robert Bradford, Stewart Bair, George Nickson, Enrico Ricardi, Lois Collier (commercial spokesman), Bea Benaderet (commercial spokesman), Paula Winslowe (commercial spokesman), Casey Robinson (screenwriter), Claude Binyon (screenwriter), Irving Phillipson (intermission guest: head of Army Emergency Relief), Irving Berlin (composer, performer), Louis Silvers (conductor), Rudy Schrager (arranger).
The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theatre. Aired October 19, 1942. CBS net. "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Sponsored by: Lady Esther Cosmetics. The first show of the season, the first show sponsored by Lady Esther. A good flag-waver about the life of George M. Cohan. Roosevelt is nicely imitated; Cagney makes a fine after-story curtain speech. James Cagney, Jeanne Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf, S. C. Sokol, Charles Irwin, Truman Bradley (announcer), Wilbur Hatch (music).
Big Band Remote Feeds. Put on your dance shoes and get ready to do some serious swing dancing! I've placed several big band remote feeds from the 1940's.
Whats playing on the MPIR Comedy OTR stream:
More Jack Benny, Fibber McGee and Molly, Fred Allen Town Hall Tonight, Father Knows Best, and lots more to provide you with lots of belly laughs!