RadioGram for February, 2012

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BOOK REVIEWS • RADIO VS. TELEVISION—YOU BET YOUR LIFE • GROWING UP BICKERSON
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sperdvac
Volume 35 • Number 12
February 2011
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PA
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graciously extends its gratitude to these individuals
who have contributed $50 or more to sperdvac during the past
12 months. If you wish to be a sponsor of sperdvac and join this
select group your tax-deductible donation to sperdvac can be
mailed to Dan Haefele, 13720 Jefferson Avenue, Hawthorne,
CA 90250. Thank you!
sperdvac
• ALICE AKINS in memory of Glen Akins
• DAVE AMAREL in memory of Jim
Harmon
• ARTHUR J.M. ANDERSON in memory
of Orson Welles
• ERIC BAELEN
• JUDIE BARTELL in memory of Harry
Bartell, Ben Wright and Vic Perrin
• PAUL M. BENNETT
• FRED BONDY in memory of the whole
Gunsmoke gang
• GEORGE BRECKENRIDGE
• BUD BRESNAHAN in memory of Richard Crenna
• RICHARD A. BROCKELMAN
• DENNIS B. BURK in memory of Phil
Harper
• CHRIS M. BUZZARD
• GEROLD M. CLEMENSEN
• WARD L. COCHRAN
• BERT H. COHEN
• RICHARD F. COLAVECHIO in memory
of Bryna Raeburn, Craig McDonnell,
Bill Zuckert and Florence Robinson
• JOHN COLLINS
• THOMAS W. COLLINS in memory of
William Conrad
• TOMMY COOK in memory of Arch
Oboler
• IVAN CURY in memory of Bob Novak
• DIX DAVIS
• LLOYD DE LLAMAS
• ROSEMARY DOBBS
• JUNE FORAY DONAVAN in memory of
Hobart Donavan
• WIL DUFOUR
• BOB DUNCAN, JR.
• HERB ELLIS in memory of Larry Dobkin, Harry Bartell and Parley Baer
• HENRY C. ENGELHARDT III in memory
of Michael Meredith
• CARMEN FINESTRA
• ART FORSTER in memory of Gil Stratton and William Conrad
• JACK FRANCE
• BARBARA FULLER in memory of
John Newland, Peggy Knudsen and
Laughter
• JACK GAGNE
• BARRY GERBER
• STANLEY D. GINSBURG
• RICHARD GLASBAND in honor of
Bobb Lynes and Barbara Watkins
• KATHLEEN GRAMS-GIBBS in memory
of Mary Grams
• JOHN F. HALLEY
• HELPING HANDS FOR THE BLIND
• BOB HICKS
• DR. MICHELE HILMES
• STEPHEN E. HOLDEN
• GERALD A. HOLZMAN
• JAMES F. HORNER in memory of The KNX
Radio Drama Hour
• SEAMAN JACOBS in memory of Fred S.
Fox
• ROBERT JANOVICI
• DENNIS C. JOHNSON
• RALPH M. JOHNSON
• SAM KAMLER
• CASEY KASEM
• GLENDA KELLY in memory of Jim
Harmon
• NILAN L. KINCAID
• ALBERT J. KOPEC
• DENIS KRAY in memory of Glenn, Ray,
Marion, Tex, and all the boys in the band
• RON LANGSETH
• JEFFREY J. LEBRUN in memory of all
departed voice artists
• ALFRED LUCAS
• LON McCARTT in memory of Smilin’ Ed
(Froggy the Gremlin) McConnell
• ROBY & JOYCE McHONE
• ESTHER GEDDES McVEY in memory of
my leading man, Tyler McVey
• JAN MERLIN in memory of Frankie
Thomas and Mona Bruns Thomas
• MILLIE MORSE in memory of Jim Harmon
• GEORGE (BOB) & VIRGINIA NEWHART in
memory of Bill Quinn
• DR. WAYNE OTT
• FORREST F. OWEN
• GARRY PAPERS
• DAVE PARKER in memory of Fred Foy
• PHIL PROCTOR
• LEE SMITH
• BRIAN E. RAMSEY
• CHESTER RAWSKI in memory of Carolyn
Rawski
• MARIE RAYMOND
• RONALD M. REISNER, M.D.
• DICK RICHARDS
• D.W. RICHARDSON
• STEPHEN K. SHUTTLEWORTH
• STUART & JANIS SIMON
• CHUCK SIVERTSEN
• LOREN SLAFER
K
• KENNETH L. SLEEPER
• LEE SMITH
• MICKEY SMITH
• C. W. STAUFENBERG in memory of Paul
Rhymer and members of the “Vic and
Sade” cast
• RICHARD STONE
• ROBERT A. SUMMERS
• RICHARD & MADELENE TEPERSON in
memory of Gil Stratton
• JOAN TREMAYNE in memory of Les
Tremayne
• EDMUND TOTMAN
• EUGENE J. WARD
• WASHINGTON OLD TIME RADIO CLUB
in memory of Jim Harmon
• EDWARD C. WEAVER
• BETSY L. WEINBERG
• LESLIE C. WEST
• JAMES C. WORDEN
U
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Y
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RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
sperdvac
Volume 35 • Number 12 • February 2011
The Society to
Preserve and Encourage
Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
president
Bob Steinmetz
•••
Dan Haefele • Dave Struthers
Rex Quinn • Glenda Kelly
Barbara Harmon
Officers
Treasurer........................................................ Dan Haefele
Secretary........................................................ Glenda Kelly
Activities Chair.................................................Bobb Lynes
Acquisitions Chair.......................................... Dan Haefele
Membership Chair......................................... Barry Opliger
Elections Chair............................................ Neil J. Mitchell
Merchandise...................................................Michael Plett
Catalogs...................................................... Bob Steinmetz
New Members................................................... Rex Quinn
Editor
PATRICK LUCANIO
RADIOGRAM is published monthly except December by
sperdvac, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio
Drama, Variety and Comedy, a California nonprofit public
benefit corporation, P.O. Box 669, Manhattan Beach, California 90266-0669. Dues are $25 for first year and $15 for
renewals; $30 American currency for Canadian members.
Annual subscriptions to Radiogram only are $15 in the U.S.,
Canada, and Mexico, and $20 in all other countries. Editorial submissions are welcome, but the publisher assumes
no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. All
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are not necessarily the opinions of sperdvac All rights to
letters sent to Radiogram will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication unless otherwise stated. The
publishers make every effort to ensure the accuracy of
information published in editorial and advertising material
but assume no responsibility for inconveniences or damages
resulting from editorial error or omissions. Publisher is not
responsible for typographical errors. All photographs and
illustrations are believed authorized for reproduction as set
forth within. Entire contents are copyright © 2011 by the
Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety
and Comedy. All rights reserved. Nothing contained in this
issue may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means,
including the Internet, without prior written permission from
the publisher.
EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS should be sent to Radiogram,
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e-mail
[email protected]
sperdvac
PLEASE join us March 12 at the Midvalley Library in North Hills for our big
special election meeting. Our special guest will be famed musician Van
Alexander, author of From Harlem to Hollywood: My Life in Music, which our
own Barbara Harmon described as “a sharp autobiography of an interesting life and a wonderful recounting of the big band era.” Van will share his
memories of being at the beginning of the swing era. We are also cleaning
house. We’re giving away lots of OTR material including cassettes and LPs;
we also have some CDs and lots of other OTR material. There will be a gift
for everyone! Meeting starts at 12 noon sharp so don’t be late!
FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
3
Bio is as Robust and Multi-layered as Verna Herself
Autobiography
Tells of Life
‘From Harlem to
Hollywood’
4
If you don’t know the name, you do know
the music, starting with “A Tisket, a Tasket.”
His name is Van Alexander, a gold member
of sperdvac, who has written a detailed story
of not only his life but
the big band era itself
in From Harlem to Hollywood: My Life in Music
(BearManor Media).
Van Alexander was
born May 2 1915, to middle-class Jewish parents
in Harlem. His mother
was a classically trained
professional pianist who in turn trained him.
As a high school student he attended the
big band dances in Harlem, gave an arrangement to Chick Webb, and started a musical
career that spanned a lifetime. But arranging
for big bands was not precisely the musical
career his parents had in mind. This wasn’t
The Jolson Story but the money was good and
his sensible parents didn’t insist on his staying
with the classics.
From Harlem to Hollywood is not an ego
book but a sharp autobiography of an interesting life and a wonderful recounting of the
big band era. Van Alexander writes about his
work with all the greats, and how he came up
the musical ranks with Chick Webb and Ella
Fitzgerald, and even worked with contemporary celebrity Michael Feinstein. Van went
on to lead his own band, and composed for
films and television including scores for such
diverse fare as Baby Face Nelson, The Private
Lives of Adam and Eve and Tarzan and the
Valley of Gold. His television scores include
Hazel, The Farmer’s Daughter and Bewitched.
His story is nicely intertwined with the
happenings in the big bands, with photographs
of the people and places of the era, and a
discography.
The book, written with Stephen Fratallone, is well-organized—and what you would
expect from one of America’s foremost arrangers.
— Barbara Harmon
RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
How often do we pick up an item, check
its sell-by date and base our purchase decision
on a time stamp? Fredrick Tucker’s extraordinary tribute to Verna Felton titled simply
Verna Felton has no sell-by
date. Sometimes we just feel
the need for laughter or the
simple desire to lose ourselves
in a make-believe place. The
author has obviously felt that
urge; clearly Verna has served
as Tucker’s guide.
If you asked the average
passerby on the street to identify the name Verna Felton, it
would be a safe bet you would
receive a puzzled stare and an
incorrect answer. The average
person on the street inhabits
the here and now universe of the likes of
Lady Gaga not the more nostalgic realm of
Verna Felton.
Verna Felton is a substantial book in more
ways than one; it runs to 760 pages. The author candidly admits in a note at the beginning
that his decision to write a book on the life of
Felton was constantly challenged by friends
and associates. Why write an entire book on a
secondary player? Why devote such time and
effort chronicling the life of a second banana?
And the author’s response: Why not write a
biography of Verna Felton? In the pages that
follow, Frederick Tucker admirably justifies
that decision. Here we have a detailed account of the life and career of someone who
was comfortable in the limelight but not
someone who craved or hogged center stage.
That is a distinction worth noting.
Clearly, the author, a history teacher by
profession, set out on an extensive expedition
in order to produce this volume. Verna Felton
is well-packed with illustrations: publicity
stills, and personal photos. The biography
assumes a traditional chronological path as
Verna’s life and career is revealed to the
reader.
Verna Felton left us forty four years ago.
When she departed, she took several memorable characters with her. Characters who
“THE CASE OF
entertained
audiences and made them laugh
THE FOOLISH
during some
particularly unfunny and stressFATHER”
ful moments in our country’s past. They are
Archives Library
all chronicled
1626 in these pages, the characters
into which Verna breathed life and spirit and
hersperdvac
personal sense of identity. Verna Felton
offers readers a chance to reacquaint them-
selves with some of her stellar inventions or,
in many cases, meet these notables for the
first time. Verna and her many incarnations
parade unceasingly through the pages of
Tucker’s homage. We meet
the formidable Mrs. Day, Jack
Benny’s nemesis and Dennis
Day’s on-air mother. Once
again the Mean Widdle Kid’s
Na-maw takes a bow. The
feisty Hilda Crocker takes one
more curtain call. The Queen
of Hearts, Mrs. Potts, Pearl
Slaphoople, Blossom Blimp
and a legion of Verna’s alter
egos from stage, screen, radio
and television are documented
between the covers. As a special bonus, the reader is treated
to a richly annotated guide to the December
Bride television series in which Verna Felton’s
inestimable Hilda Crocker convulsed an entire generation of television viewers.
Filled with a wealth of detail and a sense
of respect and admiration, Verna Felton defines not only a remarkable character actress
but also showcases the industry of which she
was a part during its days of splendor.
A successful biography offers the reader
an intimate glimpse of the author’s obsession.
This volume clearly accomplishes that goal.
We meet “Little Verna Felton,” age ten,
making her debut on the stage of Fischer’s
Concert House, San Francisco in 1900. The
reader figuratively stands in the wings observing the vast body of Verna’s radio work, the
reason for Radio Life presenting Verna with
its Distinguished Achievement Award as the
“outstanding feminine supporting player”
during 1945-1946. And the reader comes to
understand why Verna was selected honorary Mayor of North Hollywood for six terms.
Verna Felton the biography is fully as robust, as entertaining and as multi-layered as
Verna Felton the actress. The doubters who
questioned the wisdom of an entire volume
devoted to Felton were wrong. In an era
where audiences applaud the likes of Lady
Gaga there are still some of us who would
rather warm up the Philco and sit back and
laugh as Mrs. Day assails Jack Benny, one
more time, for only paying Dennis a miserly
$35 a week.
The book is available from Bearmanormedia.com or by calling 580-252-3547.
— Gary Coville
sperdvac
In an ongoing effort to update sperdvac’s
bylaws, the Board of Directors recommends
that the last sentence in Bylaws, Article IV,
Section 7 (Responsibilities of Officers), (d)
Treasurer, be deleted. The sentence reads:
“The treasurer will see that a blank tape report
is filed monthly by the cassette librarian, by
the Archives Librarian and by the blank tape
chairman.” The consensus of the Board is
that this requirement is no longer needed and
should be eliminated.
The Board is scheduled to vote on this
change at the first Board meeting after the
recommendation is published in Radiogram.
Be Sure to “Read Radio”
SCRIPTS AND PRINTED MATERIALS LIBRARY
sperdvac
Have your sound recordings, cassettes,
reel-to-reel tapes transcriptions, LPS, 78s
and wire recordings digitized, de-noised
and sweetened professionally with the
complete Cedar System. Oh, yes, it’s also
affordable. Far, far less than any government programs.
Contact Audiophonic Corporation, Cook
Recording Laboratory, for details at (719)
687-6357
audiophonic corporation
cook recording laboratory
william s. cook
president
FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
5
Critic John Crosby Sets Radio Against Television — YOU BET YOUR LIFE!
T
he Groucho Marx television
show, You Bet Your Life, is
identical with the Groucho
Marx radio show except that television adds the moustache, the cigar,
the eyeglasses, the widely-rolling
eyes, the ferocious eyebrows and
the rest of Marx’s disheveled countenance.
“I had a hobby hooking rugs,” one
girl told him.
She got a long eloquent look. “You
had a hobby hooking rugs?” inquired
Groucho. “Where from—department
stores?”
“I got so good at it I started to teach.”
This time Groucho put the cigar in
operation, twirling it, puffing it, all but
swallowing it. “A Fagin—
Groucho is an expert
teaching little children to
at the use of all these
T V has imposed hook rugs.”
personal props and they
And soon Groucho
its curious require- can belt a pun around for
contribute a great deal to
the humor of the program.
ments on Mr. Marx minutes at a time withThere is a certain loss
out it ever touching the
though. The Marx show
and his producers, ground. I’m prepared
originally acquired fame
to believe he can do this
the main require- extemporaneously but I
as the quickest and best
ad lib operation in the
ment being that the somehow can’t quite bebusiness.
lieve the contestants can
It became less and less
contestants be rea- handle their straight lines
of a quiz show, which
without prior warning.
sonably fetching to
is all right with me, and
Of course the Marx
more and more a gag
TV show, like the radio
look at.
show. However, the ad
show, is a rather special
libs began to sound too
operation. It is film reround, too firm, too fully packed to be cording which is to say it isn’t kinescope.
quite ad libs.
That means it is filmed in front of a studio
Television has taken this process even audience and the filming can go on as
farther. “So you’re a photographer,” long as possible. Then the editors get to
Groucho asks a pretty lady contestant. work, cutting out the dull spots and mak“If you were covering a murder what ing both Groucho and the contestants
would you do first?”
appear at their best. They still sound as
“I’d shoot the corpse.”
if they’d been rehearsed.
“That’s redundant. What’s the next
TV has imposed its curious requirething you’d do?”
ments on Mr. Marx and his producers,
“I’d shoot the witness.”
the main requirement being that the con“You’ve shot everyone in sight. Who testants be reasonably fetching to look
do you work for? Tripod—a magazine at. Groucho has a lot of assets but good
of Murder Inc.?”
looks are not among them. Parading in
As you can see it sounds a little too front of the cameras you’ll find a lot of
practiced, a little too forced to be quite pretty babes, who are not overburdened
real. Still, Groucho, an expert at milk- with information. You never needed an
ing lines till they’re dry as sunbeams gets awful lot of information to run up a pretty
more out of that material than you’d good score on the Marx show. However,
believe possible.
the current crop of pretties, especially
selected for television, I presume don’t
seem to have any information at all
tucked away in their handsome noodles.
The other night the contestants had
no idea where Gettysberg was or the
names of the capitals of Austria or Cuba.
Two pairs of contestants wound up broke
whereas the old radio contestants used to
average $100 or so apiece. Fortunately,
the quiz angle doesn’t intrude much.
You Bet Your Life is fundamentally a
tour de force for Groucho—his moustache, his sliding walk and his puns—and
it’s a very funny show—even if they do
rehearse those ad libs.
Ultimately, I expect the ad lib show
will wind up with four high-priced writers and a full two-week rehearsal. They
might even teach those pretty blondes
where Gettysberg is.[
One of the “pretties” who graced TV’s
You Bet Your Life, Mrs. Housing Development of 1960, an elaborate
promotional stunt created by the program’s producer, John Guedel.
Radio in Review • December 26, 1950 • East Liverpool Review, East Liverpool, OH
6
RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
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sperdvac
FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
7
Was the famed Shadow
the host and narrator of
a love stories? The fact is
the Shadow appeared only
at the conclusion of each
broadcast, in a commercial
pitch to promote the new
Shadow magazine.
8
RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
sperdvac
by Martin Grams, Jr.
FROM 1930 TO 1931publishers Street & Smith sponsored an anthology series titled Detective Story Magazine
Hour, the publisher’s attempt to promote their mystery magazine using
the medium of radio. Every story dramatized had one thing in common: a
detective (or someone playing detective) sets out to solve a mystery and
clear the name of an innocent. The horror host, the Shadow, was so popular
that he overshadowed the program and spawned a series of his own, The
Shadow magazine. After the conclusion of the 52 contracted broadcasts,
Street & Smith, attempting to boost circulation for Love Story magazine,
decided to sponsor a series of romance tales for the radio.
B
eginning the evening of October 1,
1931, months after Detective Story
Magazine Hour ceased broadcasting, Love Story Magazine Hour
premiered over the CBS, originating from the
WABC studios in New York. As a footnote
for clarification, a few reference guides say the
title of the program switched from Love Story
Drama to Love Story Hour beginning with the
broadcast of October 15, 1931. This, however,
is inaccurate. The source of this information
may have originated from newspapers that
often failed to report the correct or full title
among the radio listings. The correct title
was Love Story Magazine Hour and never
changed during the 52 weeks the half-hour
program was on the air. Love Story Magazine
Hour should not be mistaken as an hour in
length and part of the Brevities program that
preceded it.
Hoping to replicate the success they had
promoting Detective Story magazine and the
newly published Shadow magazine through
radio, the dramas were adaptations of stories selected from the pages of Love Story,
designed to attract an audience that preferred
tales of romance rather than mystery and horror. Could readers of the mystery magazine
seek a similar interest in romance stories? The
crossover might be slim, but the September
20, 1930, issue of Detective Story featured
a letter reprinted in the editorial column,
revealing at least one faithful reader of both
magazines.
One has to wonder if the magazine editors gave little thought in cross-promoting the
Love Story radio program with the weekly
counterpart. The magazine sported no editorials so this left only advertisements placed
within the pages, listing the major cities
where the program could be heard. It would
not be until the October 31 issue that a logo
would appear on the cover of the magazine,
promoting the radio series. A number of issues in September of 1931 promoted the new
Shadow magazine but the same issues did not
feature an ad promoting the Love Story radio
program. The February 24 and 21, 1931, issues
of Love Story promoted the Shadow contest
that was so heavily promoted in the Detective
Story magazine.
Broadcast Thursday evenings from 9:30 to
10 p.m., EST, Love Story Magazine Hour ran
a full year with the final presentation on the
evening of September 22, 1932. This was the
same day and time slot in which the Detective
Story Magazine Hour was previously aired. The
same cast members from the former Shadow
broadcasts were also featured in the romantic
tales: Elsie Hitz, Alan Reed (billed on-air
as Teddy Bergman), Dick Osgood (billed as
Elmer Cornell), Ned Wever, Adele Ronson
and Veronica Wiggins.
Wiggins played the lead in “Leeanna Signs
a Contract” on the premiere episode, a tale
about Leeanna Leigh, vacationing on a cruise
and her attempt to romance Norman Penfield,
a Hollywood director. Her purpose is to get a
motion picture contract and she succeeds only
to fall in love with the director. She accepts the
contract and discovers that she must not only
be a good actress to get the attention of the
audience but also good enough to convince
Penfield to give her a marriage contract.
The advertisements for the radio program promised romance, thrills and happy
endings—but such catchphrases promoting
the series blended perfectly with a menacing
laugh: To her, love was a means of advancement—the easiest way to stardom. He saw
love through the jaded eyes of Hollywood.
Then fate stepped in . . . .
For the broadcast of November 26, 1931,
Elsie McBride’s “Heart’s Desire” was dramatized. Described in the press release as “a
romance tale of the South,” the story concerns
Lucy Merton’s efforts to keep her job as a
secretary for a law firm and win the heart of
Neal Blodgett. When a jealous employee at
the firm, Alice Price, learns about Lucy’s date
with Neal she forces Lucy into a situation that
jeopardizes her relationship with her boss and
eliminates any chance of success with Neal.
But her boss proves to be understanding and
creates a ruse that convinces Neal that he was
wrong about the whole affair. It ends with a
surprise: Neal has been secretly married for
months and his affection for Lucy was unethical, to say the least.
Conrad Charles Smith’s short story “Keep
‘em Guessing” was dramatized for the broadcast of December 3, 1931. Romance blooms
as Edith discovers her one true love, David
Logan, is about to be framed for a crime he
did not commit. One of his business partners,
Alvan, leaves behind evidence accusing David
of stealing bonds, which were cashed earlier
in the afternoon. Alvan forces Edith to leave
Martin Grams is the author of the new book, The Shadow: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954, available in
March from OTR Publishing. The author acknowledges special thanks to Jo Bagwell, Mike Henry and Michael Hayde.
sperdvac
FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
9
town with him and spend the hundred thousand, but Edith fights brilliantly by throwing
the car keys into the high grass and locking
Alvan up for the police. The law assumes
Edith and Alvan were planning to run away
until David appears to ask the police a favor:
he’s about to marry Edith and he knows she is
innocent of the crime. Edith agrees to David’s
terms—marry him that night.
But amidst the romantic stories came
a highlight to attract radio listeners: David
Ross, whom a media chronologist once
pegged as “one of the great ‘golden-voiced’
announcers of radio’s early days.” Known as
a dramatic poet, Ross was hired to recite a
poem or two as a highlight on the weekly Love
Story broadcasts. On the day Love Story premiered, a columnist remarked: “David Ross
has one of the nicest voices on the air—and
yet he is not a singer. Many prefer the full,
musical sounds of his speaking voice reciting verse to the accompaniment of subdued
orchestral strains, to the static vibrations of
certain professional songbirds.”
Ross entered radio in 1926 in an unplanned, unintended manner. He was visiting
WABC one day when there was a sudden
lapse in programming with no available
entertainment on hand. He volunteered to
provide a short dramatic reading on the air.
As a result, he was offered a post as a full-time
staff announcer with occasional poetry reading inserted into the station’s schedule. By the
time Love Story Magazine Hour premiered,
Ross was a series regular on numerous radio
programs: Tommy McLaughlin’s program;
the popular Arabesque; To the Ladies, which
premiered four weeks before Love Story;
The Old Curiosity Shop, a product of his own
pen; and top billing on Poet’s Gold, where
Ross spent considerable time reciting poems
with musical background provided by Emery
Deutsch’s ensemble. Also serving as an announcer at WABC, Ross was able to negotiate
his pay for each program that wanted him
added to their lineup.
David Ross possessed a rare humor,
and he and Heywood Broun became great
friends when the latter began broadcasting
over the Columbia network. Few people
were in the studios at the comparatively late
hour when Broun went on the air, and there
was frequently a lot of good natured repartée between the two men. One night, in the
course of one of his informal talks, Broun
chided radio announcers for their almost
painfully precise diction. He grinned gleefully
at Ross as he talked into the microphone.
Ross took it without a murmur. At the end
of the broadcast, however, he stepped up to
the microphone, assumed a hard-boiled tone
of voice, and closed the program thus: “Ladees and gents, dis is de way Heywood Broun
would like us radio announcers tuh talk, and
dis concludes his broadcast dis evenin’. David
Ross announcin’ over de Columbia Broadcastin’ System.”
On November 13, just a few weeks into the
Love Story run, Ross received an honorable
mention during a national diction contest
sponsored by the American Academy of Arts
and Letters, of which Dr. Nicholas Murray
Butler was president. One year later on November 10, 1932, David Ross was the winner
of the 1932 award. With his accomplishments
and popularity among the daytime and evening programs, Ross became more popular
than The Shadow, though he had no magazine
to bear his name.
The January 9, 1932, issue of Love Story
magazine offered a list of radio stations carrying the Love Story radio program every
Thursday night over the Columbia Broadcast-
But amidst the romantic stories came a highlight
to attract radio listeners: David Ross, whom a media chronologist once pegged as “one of the great
‘golden-voiced’ announcers of radio’s early days.”
10
RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
ing System: Akron WADC 9:30 ES, Kansas
City KMBC 8:30 CS, Baltimore WCAO 9:30
ES, New York City WABC 9:30 ES, Boston
WNAC 9:30 ES, Philadelphia WCAU 9:30
ES, Buffalo WKBW 9:30 ES, Pittsburgh
WJAS 9:30 ES, Chicago WGN 8:30 CS, Providence WEAN 9:30 ES, Cincinnati WKRC
9:30 ES, St. Louis KMOX 8:30 CS, Cleveland
WHK 9:30 ES, Syracuse WFBL 9:30 ES,
Detroit WXYZ 9:30 ES, Toledo WSPD 9:30
ES, Fort Wayne WOWO 8:30 CS, Wash. D.C.
WMAL 9:30 ES Hartford WDRC 9:30 ES.
Street & Smith promoted the program
with full-page advertisements in Love Story
featuring an artist’s rendition of James La
Curto as the Shadow, from the brief time La
Curto played the role in the earliest broadcasts of Detective, before he was replaced with
Frank Readick. Why? Because the Shadow
had proven to be so popular on The Detective Story Magazine Hour that the sponsors
insisted he appear on the Love Story program!
Regardless of the numerous reference guides
that state the Shadow was a narrator/host of
Love Story Magazine Hour, this statement is
incorrect. The fact is the Shadow appeared
only at the conclusion of each broadcast, in a
commercial pitch to promote the new Shadow
magazine. The Shadow’s appearance on Love
Story began in mid-season, following the swift
and sudden demise of The Perfect-O-Lite
broadcasts in early February 1932, in which
he was the host. The mistake apparently originates from The Shadow Scrapbook (Harvest/
HBJ Book, 1979) because there is no printed
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EPISODE GUIDE • MacGREGOR & SOLLIE TRANSCRIPTIONS
1. Love on a Sun Deck
2. Two Diamond Bracelets
3. Love at Midnight
4. Gay Red Cape
5. Bitter Triumph
6. Tiny Pink Elephant
7. Such a Charming Young Man
8. Streak of Moonlight
9. Hostage of Love
10. Unexciting
11. Trapeze Girl
12. Just Another Blonde
13. Flash Girl
reference guide pre-dating the Scrapbook stating the Shadow was a host of Love Story. Every
reference guide that follows simply reprinted
the same information, failing to research numerous archives across the country to verify
the facts. Proof that 15 books can be wrong.
There should be no blame against the Scrapbook since this author until a couple years ago
would have also assumed the Shadow was a
host until the evidence was weighed.
Walter Gibson and John Nanovic attended the 1981 Pulpcon convention in
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14. The Last Dance
15. Army Kisses
16. Untamed
17. A Prince Arrives
18. A Toast to Cinderella
19. The Difference Between
20. The June House Party
21. Devil Wind
22. Forgotten Girl
23. Weekend Party
24. Accent on Perlita
25. Nola Says
26. Some Men Are Different
Cherry Hill, NJ. There, they consented to an
interview on stage and to inquisitive attendees. Both Gibson and Nanovic insisted the
Shadow was the host of Love Story; however,
it has been proved that the recollections of
those who participated in the Golden Age
of Radio are not always accurate. And to
be fair, Gibson had no involvement with the
Love Story program, or most of The Shadow
programs for that matter. Nanovic had similar
involvement—except for occasionally listening to the broadcasts like John Q. Public.
One mystery remains unsolved. A radio
historian has claimed for years that he has a
clipping from a magazine that features the
following comment from a radio columnist:
“What a loss to fandom when the Shadow
tottered from his underworld throne into
those Street & Smith love stories.” When
asked to provide a copy of the clipping, the
historian has failed to provide it. When this
author went through every issue of the magazine in question, seeking the comment for
his own verification, the search led to a dead
end. Nothing has been found to verify such a
comment was made and even if the clipping
truly exists, the comment fails to mention the
Shadow as the host and narrator.
In short summary, there has been nothing that states the Shadow was even a host or
narrator for the series. There are no reviews,
editorial columns or advertisements that claim
the Shadow was a host or narrator. Only one
ad found in Love Story magazine says he was
on the program, again no reference to the
hooded figure being the host or narrator.
A number of historians, having looked over
the evidence (including existing scripts for
Love Story Magazine Hour) firmly believe the
Shadow was not the host of a weekly romance
Continued Page 14
FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
11
by Millicent Borges-Accardi
Paulette Rapp’s uncle, Philip Rapp, created the old-time radio show, The Bickersons. Her father, John Rapp, was one of its writers, and John and Blanche Bickerson were named for her
parents. In fact, she says, “You could say I was a Bickerson!”
RADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2011
than a disagreement over what color to paint youth and her looks to live with a man who
the kitchen, what costumes their sons should rattles himself to sleep like a lot of old bones
wear for Halloween, or why the neighbors did in a bag. What do you think I’m made of,
not invite them over to play bridge.
John?
Then, The Bickersons arrived!
J: Old bones.
Beginning in 1946, and starring Don
From the beginning, John and Blanche
Ameche as John Bickerson and
actress/singer Frances Langford as
his wife, Blanche, The Bickersons
started as a skit on The Chase
and Sanborn Hour, moved to The
Charlie McCarthy Show, then on
to their own show. The feuding
couple spent most of their days
and nights at each other’s throats
in relentless, witty, verbal battles.
To a few, this was a sour viewpoint
about the institution of marriage,
but, to many others, it was pure
delight.
Known famously as the first
squabbling radio family, their
fights and wry quips were legendary and, for the time, a delicious
respite from the sugar-coated
angelic couples of yore, such as
Father Knows Best. The Bickersons
were a revelation and an innovation to all those in radio land who
had less than perfect families. For
one thing, they were honest about
their downfalls.
A typical episode begins with
the couple in bed in their cramped
Manhattan studio apartment. It’s
3 a.m. John is snoring. Blanche
is awake.
John and Blanche Rapp share a happy moment
J: (The famous John Bickershortly after their marriage. Philip Rapp often
son snore.)
named his characters after members of his family,
B: There isn’t another woman
as he did with John and Blanche Bickerson.
in the world who’d sacrifice her
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photos courtesy of Paulette Rapp
12
Paulette Rapp is careful to explain The
Bickersons is not directly based on her mother
and father but on a
combination of the
two families, mixed
up with a lot of creative flair. However,
both brothers married strong, dominant
women and her uncle
and her father led
artistic, creative lives
where they could exist as free spirits while
their headstrong spouses tried desperately to
tame them.
In short, her upbringing was very similar
to a Bickersons episode long before The Family Guy, The Simpsons, Married with Children
and the seminal television series with Jackie
Gleason, The Honeymooners. Well before
Al Bundy ignored Peggy’s advances in the
1980s, Homer made fun of Marge, or before
Jackie Gleason threatened to send his wife
Alice “to the moon,” old-time radio couples
were sweetness and light, filled with love and
catchy phrases and flirty teases. The Phil
Hartmans, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and
even Lucille Ball’s first series, My Favorite
Husband, starred the cheerful Coopers who
lived at 321 Bundy Drive in the fictitious city
of Sheridan Falls as “two people who live
together and like it.”
Before flat screens, iPods, XBoxes, cell
phones, DVDs, cassette tapes and 8-tracks,
was an era when people flocked to their radios
to listen not just to music or news, but comedy
and drama. For two generations, families
gathered around the RCA or General Electric
box to hear about happy, loving couples who
got along and never had conflicts more taxing
Bickerson were different. The formula of something unacceptfighting spouses equaling laughter changed able in a script, in which
the face of comedy. The Bickersons paved case, it just wouldn’t have
the way for generations to come with its own been used,” says Rapp,
brand of raw humor, witticisms and clever who believes the huquips, often playing on the couples’ weak- mor resonated with so
nesses.
many people because
Rapp has lived in Topanga Canyon for 17 “the Bickersons poryears and feels that she was led to the Canyon trayed the dark side of
by fate: “I was headed to Malibu with my real marriage presented with
estate agent. We passed Tuna Canyon and I humor. I think people
[said] why don’t we see what is available.... I could identify.
fell in love with the house but mostly with the
“The two families
area and the vibe of peace and tranquility. I spent a lot of time tosaid, ‘I don’t know where we are, but I know gether. My aunt and
I want to live here.’”
uncle had a ranch in
Eventually, she settled into the Post Of- the Valley before it was
fice tract, moving from a condo to a place built up where they had
where she could have some land and a garden. horses, and back when
Philip Rapp (right), the creator of The Bickersons, shares a
She is devoted to her yoga practice and active the only way to get there
light-hearted moment with his brother and Paulette’s dad,
in the Topanga Women’s Circle (TWC), an was Sepulveda BouleJohn, also a writer on the show.
“organization of volunteer women who help vard. We spent many
the neediest of families by furnishing their weekends there.
control the money and I remember thinking
new housing with the little necessities we take
“My father was like a teenager. He drove that was unusual for the time.”
for granted.”
a convertible, had a whistle installed—a wolf
Two threads recur throughout The BickerRapp’s latest career was in the music whistle perhaps, but I’m not sure. And he used sons: snoring and money. Continually Blanche
business where she worked at A&M Records to keep a pair of drum brushes that he used to nagged her husband about money or time or
for Jerry Moss as his executive assistant. Al- play on his steering wheel while listening to the way he did things. The arguments are witty
though Moss founded A&M records, today the car radio. The car was salmon-colored, a and mean and sharp but also often speckled
“he is probably better known as the owner, Ford. It might have been a Fairlane.
with affection:
along with his wife, Ann, of Zenyatta, Amer“I was often my father’s ‘date.’ My mother
J: I love you.
ica’s racehorse darling who won 19 straight liked to stay home so he used to take me to
B: How much do you love me?
races,” she says.
screenings, various dinners, etc. Nothing
J: How much do you need?
As for “growing up Bickerson,” she says, especially memorable, other than the joy of
B: Fifty dollars.
“I think Uncle Phil took names from everyone being with him and sharing his ‘light.’”
Back in the day and on XM radio now,
close to him in his life and used them in his
Rapp’s memories are often triggered, listeners still find The Bickersons’ snits and
shows. He did a series once where he named such as when she was on a walk and saw a dog backstabbing funny. A cult following seems
a monkey Paulette. But the show didn’t make named Topper. “On the TV show, Topper, to have grown up around them. In August
it and he never used my name again.”
that my uncle created, the St. Bernard that 2007, an adapted version of Breakfast with The
On more than one occasion, her own fam- was called Neil was named after my brother. Bickersons premiered as a puppet show at the
ily had a revolving door of household help. In That’s just a little side note about growing up Edinburgh Fringe Festival; references to The
one episode of The Bickersons, John gets up in in my family. For sure, my father was involved Bickersons appear in the UK’s long-running
the morning and finds that the maid is gone. in the writing but it needs to be clear that Phil soap opera, Coronation Street; and there are
“This really did
Rapp was the creator parody skits on YouTube.
happen many times,”
and main writer. I think
Could it be time for a rebirth of The
Rapp says. “We would
the show was based on Bickersons’ unique, intelligent, witty, biting
“Even though The
go to sleep with one
both his and my par- brand of humor?
Bickersons brought
housekeeper (we had
ents’ marriage.
“Since people still seem to remember the
the sort who lived in)
If she had to pick show that was presented first as a radio show,
a lot of laughter to
and the next mornone scene from The then a TV show with a different cast, on casing there would be a
Bickersons that illus- sette and on CD, it seems logical to bring it out
so many people, I
different one serving
trated her parents’ again in another vehicle,” says Rapp. “It’s so
breakfast. My mother
marriage, Rapp says it simple. No computer-generated extravaganza,
would say they were
was very finicky and
would be her mother’s no puerile humor, just a relationship between
extremely difficult to
constant complain- two people with witty reparté. I could see it as
a lesson in how not
please, so she was aling about the snoring. a TV cartoon à la The Simpsons. A play would
ways firing them.”
My father’s distinctive be another good way to experience them.
to be within a
Having the charsnoring was a big is“The Bickersons were the primogenitor of
relationship.”
acter of Blanche Bicksue in our home. My all shows like this, copied by The Honeymoonerson named after her
mother was always ers, and all antagonistic relationships on TV,
didn’t seem to faze her
complaining about it such as Friends and even to this day Modern
at all, even when some
and how she couldn’t Family, possibly stem from or were influenced
of her experiences were used as the basis sleep. Also, there were a few mentions of by the relationship between the Bickersons.
for comedy. “Occasionally, she would find his asking for some money. My mother did I can see the Bickersons played by Courtney
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FEBRUARY 2011 • RADIOGRAM
13
Love Story Magazine Hour
drama—only as a commercial spokesman
for his own magazine. This also means that
Frank Readick was also in the supporting cast
of the Love Story dramas. It
is believed that promotional
material appearing in newspapers in January and February of 1932 for The Perfect-OLite series were more than
likely misinterpreted at one
time as part of the Love Story
program. Newspaper publicity for The Perfect-O-Lite program mentioned the Shadow
was making a return to the
microphone, having been off
the air for several months.
Keeping in mind that Love
Story premiered months before Perfect-O-Lite, the press
release would certainly be accurate.
In 1936, following the success of a transcribed series of quarter-hour radio broadcasts of Doc Savage and The Shadow, Street
& Smith convinced MacGregor & Sollie, a
syndicated transcription company, to produce
a series of 26 Love Story episodes. Like the
prior “live” broadcasts originating from New
York in 1931 and 1932, this new radio series
offered adaptations of short stories that appeared in Love Story magazine from March to
August of 1936. No poets, no music and no
Growing Up Bickerson
Cox and Matthew Perry or possibly Julia
Louis Dreyfus.”
Rapp tended to like shows that were about
the ideal family: “I loved the shows Family,
Ozzie & Harriet and Family Ties. They were
the antidote to growing up in the house of
the Bickersons.
“Even though The Bickersons brought a
lot of laughter to so many people, I would say
they were a lesson in how not to be within a
relationship. Even though I felt the underlying feeling between them was love, having
grown up in a similar household, I would have
preferred to feel more love.”[
Shadow. Syndicated throughout late 1936 and
most of 1937, the new Love Story drama aired
across the country at various days and times.
Sponsor magazine reported
all three series (Doc Savage,
The Shadow and Love Story)
were distributed to stations
“without charge.” Why?
Because Street & Smith’s
magazine was promoted on
the program, simulating a
fifteen-minute commercial
for the publishing firm.
The cast the MacGregor
& Sollie transcriptions remain unknown, but paperwork in the MacGregor &
Sollie Archive at the Library
of Congress suggests Bea
Benaderet, Jean Clark, Dean
Maddox, Monte Mohn, Harold Peary, George
Rand and Dorothy Scott. According to paperwork in the same archive, MacGregor &
Sollie were supposed to destroy the recordings, more than likely at the request of Street
& Smith who did not want the discs played on
radio stations without prior approval. Thankfully, the discs do survive and all 26 episodes
are available in collector hands.[
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