November 22, 2008
“My Son Jeep” appears to be a “lost” series with perhaps only one episode floating around old time radio circles. I hope to correct that with a half-dozen examples of the program in coming weeks.
The show is a lighthearted family comedy in the vein of radio’s “Father Knows Best” about a widow, Doctor Robert Allison or “Pop”, his mischievous ten year old son, “Jeep”, and his 13 year old daughter, Peggy. The series was originally broadcast on NBC radio and television in 1953 as a half-hour sitcom; it would return to radio on CBS in 1955-56 in a 15 minute format. Donald Cook plays “Pop” and Martin Houston stars as “Jeep”.
This week, we present the first program of the series, originally broadcast January 25, 1953 on NBC. In this episode, Jeep is smitten with a new substitute teacher at school, Mrs. Miller, eventually convincing Pop to hire her as an assistant in his office. Of course, with Jeep things are never really that simple and Pop has to straighten out a mess before the happy ending. The series is a good example of the 1950s trend towards more “Americana”, “slice of life” comedy on radio and television and away from the “one liner” topical urban humor of shows like Jack Benny or Fred Allen.
One distinctive feature of this disc is the collection of music cues at the end. Often, AFRS would use a specially recorded version of the series theme song to fill out time at then of the show since the commercials were deleted. “My Son Jeep” seems to have used a collection of library music cues rather than a specially recorded music, so AFRS just edited the cues together to fill out the time. (Trust me, if you listen to all six shows I’ll be posting, you’ll get very familiar with them.)
The show was transferred from a set of vinyl AFRS transcription in near mint condition.
Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I was trying to think of a way to connect this week’s shows with a holiday theme. I suppose the only way this one might fit is that it makes you thankful you’re not on the window ledge of a high-rise building with a mad doctor trying to kill you.
In this post, “Suspense”, originally broadcast April 19, 1951 on CBS and presented as program 365 in the “Suspense” series on Armed Forces Radio. Jimmy Stewart plays a businessman who is drawn into helping a young woman who says she is being pursued by a doctor that’s trying to kill her.
The circulating copies of this show are missing the last ten minutes. (This would lead me to believe that they’re dubbed from a network copy of the show that was given to one of the staff or performers or done as an aircheck on 12″ 78 rpm discs and that one of the discs is missing.) This version of the show is complete - a real treat since this particular episode of “Suspense” has an ending that relies on sound effects and great acting to create a tense climax to the story.
The show was dubbed directly from an AFRS vinyl disc. There’s a couple of sections with pops in the disc, but the sound is quite good otherwise.
Lets take a pause to catch up on the news.
Newscasts are something that don’t seem to get much attention from old time radio collectors and listeners except for network coverage of major events of World War II. It’s instructive to give a listen to an everyday newscast from the period to get an idea of how styles of delivering the news have changed and the types of concerns on the people’s minds at the time.
In this August 13, 1947 newscast by Elmer Peterson, sponsored by Planter’s Nuts, the news stories include a summit in Brazil that was being held to consider aid to Latin and South American countries after the War and conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. There’s also a short item on the World Boy Scout Jamboree and how it can help overcome political differences between countries.
The show was transferred from an original acetate line check recording from an unidentified NBC affiliate.
Continuing our look at “Falstaff’s Fables”, a short five minute program featuring the character Falstaff Openshaw that was created for the “Fred Allen Show”, we offer up program 49 in the series.
In this episode, Alan Reed as Falstaff, along with Alan Reed, Jr., tell us all about the origins of why we have turkey on Thanksgiving. The show was originally broadcast on ABC radio in November, 1950 and sponsored by Milky Way candy bars.
The transfer is direct from an ABC acetate of the program.
November 17, 2008
Filed under:
drama,
AFRS — randsesotericotr @ 12:17 pm
Once again we offer up an episode of “Mystery Playhouse”, a “catch-all” Armed Forces Radio series dedicated to mystery and detective shows that often includes some interesting uncirculated or rare material. I love the AFRS openings of this series with a host that’s a bit of a cross between the “Suspense” “Man in Black” and “Inner Sanctum”’s Raymond - “Hello creeps!”
Program 129 is a rebroadcast of NBC’s “Molle Mystery Theater” from October 5, 1945. In this episode, “Angel Face”, a murdering woman finds her latest victim returning from the grave.
The show was transferred directly from an original AFRS transcription. Note that there’s groove damage in the first half-minute or so of the disc, but the sound is quite good otherwise.
Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg were hosts of an early light entertainment morning program that mixed chat with interesting guests with music, much in the manner of television’s “Regis and Kathy Lee”.
This program, from September 3, 1947, is from a summer replacement run of the series that was aired in evening primetime on NBC. The episode features Broadway star Nancy Walker very early in her career; tennis star Jack Kramer; and a Russian actress and singer, Kirov Petroskiva, who was a sniper during World War II and was hoping to make a career in the States. The show was sponsored by Ipana Toothpaste and Ingram Shaving Cream.
Jinx Falkenberg was a model and actress and, with her journalist and public relations specialist husband Tex McCrary, started their popular morning show in 1946 and published columns in the New York Herald Tribune. You might remember Nancy Walker from her work in 1970s sitcoms, but I like to recall her only directorial credit, helming the film “Can’t Stop the Music, a major studio flop that was a vehicle for the Village People.
The segment with Kirov Petroskiva is quite interesting; she talks about entertainment and life in the Soviet Union in the early days of what we’d later call the Cold War. Petroskiva was one of a handful to Russian women who married GI’s during the War that were being allowed citizenship in this country. One wonders what happened to her after she immigrated to the US.
The program was transferred from an original line check Audiodisc acetate recorded at an unknown local NBC affiliate.
Here’s another episode of the charming 1937 Transco syndicated series, “Komedy Kingdom”, which evolved from a local show on KRFC, San Francisco.
In program 2, titled “Marriage”, vaudeville veteran Al K. Hall talks about his marriage and Morey Amsterdam (later of “Dick Van Dyke Show” fame) compares a typical marriage to a prize fight. Music includes “The Girl in the Garden (and the Boy at the Gate) from the chorus and Mabel Todd singing “You’re Not the Kind of a Boy (For a Girl Like Me)”.
The show was transferred from an original shellac Transco transcription disc. The First Generation Radio Archives has released a cd set comprising the entire series transferred from unplayed file copies of the shows.
This program contains racial stereotyping themes that may be offensive to some listeners.
We come to the end of our brief run of “The Adventures of Jungle Jim”, originally broadcast in early 1936 and syndicated by Hearst Newspapers to promote their Sunday comics supplement.
In program 18, run February 29, 1936, Jungle Jim and Reverend Chalmers continue their battle with the nefarious Bat Woman. Chalmers’s daughter interrogates one of the Bat Woman’s henchmen as Jim and the Reverend work on the Bat Woman’s right hand man of uncertain nationality, Jacques Lebatt.
The show was transferred directly from an original RCA Victrolac pressing, matrix number MS 98995.
Once again, we visit poet Falstaff Openshaw with another edition of “Falstaff’s Fables, a series broadcast in 1950 on ABC sponsored by Milky Way candy bars and based on a character created for the Fred Allen Show.
In program 48 of the series, probably broadcast November 1950, Falstaff and Falstaff Jr (real life father and son Alan Reed and Alan Reed, Jr.) tell the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin.
The program was transferred from an original ABC radio acetate.
November 10, 2008
Once again we spend another quarter hour with comedians Gill and Doemling as they play host to “Nonsense and Melody”, a syndicated Transco program from 1935-36.
In program 25 of the series, the ship’s tour is in the Alps, so we get some comedy about yodeling, avalanches and skiing, including a yodeling number by a couple of Swiss kids.
The Jack Tars do a really nice arrangement of “The Object of My Affection” and Jean sings “Your Guess is Just as Good As Mine”.
The transfer was made directly from an original red vinyl Bruce Eeels and Associates transcription, probably pressed for re-release of the series in the 1940s.
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