October 8, 2009
Now let’s turn back the clock to World War II with another entry in the Armed Forces Radio Network variety series, “Mail Call”, that brought the top stars from movies and radio to perform for the troops.
This is a pretty amazing little half-hour program. Program 93 features hostess Paulette Goddard introducing W.C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd with Edgar Bergen, Virginia O’Brien, Borrah Minnevitch and the Harmonica Rascals and the King Sisters. The announcer for the show is Don Wilson.
The program is dedicated to armed forces personnel from the State of Kentucky, so there’s something of a Kentucky Derby theme going on, at least in the program’s opening and first number by the orchestra, “Kentucky”. The King Sisters sing the War themed tune, “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet” and the Harmonica Rascals do a wonderful arrangement of “Brazil”. (I’m a fan of the Harmonicats, so this was a real treat.)
The highlight of the show is the sketch with W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen. They’re in rare form, with Fields and Bergen tossing in adlibs as Fields gets lost in the script.
The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription. According to the log of the series at otrsite.com, it was recorded May 24, 1944.
By the way - do you recognize the theme the orchestra plays after the intro of Paulette Goddard? It would turn up years later as a main theme used on “The Big Show“. Was this some kind of stock cue in the music score library at NBC?
August 27, 2009
I’m in a rather lighthearted mood this week, so here’s some more comedy, this time with a World War II theme.
“Mail Call” was one of the comedy-variety series produced by Armed Forces Radio and featuring some of the top talent from Hollywood and radio. Program 58 in the series, recorded September 30, 1943 and released in November of that year, is hosted by actor Lionel Barrymore and features Harlow Wilcox with the announcing duties, taking a break from shilling Johnson’s Wax on “Fibber McGee and Molly”. Skinnay Ennis and the OTC Band kick off the show with “This is the Army, Mr. Jones” and Georgia Gibbs sings “Shoo Shoo Baby”. Dennis Day offers a seldom-heard War-themed tune and then we hear Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford in a “Baby Snooks” sketch.
The program was transferred from an original War Department Armed Forces Radio vinyl transcription. Apologies for the digital artifacts in the file - the click reduction had to work overtime on this very scratched disc.
August 13, 2009
Finally this week in our look at the end of World War II, we hear a remarkable broadcast - a special episode of “Command Performance” dubbed “Victory Extra”, prepared for VJ Day and broadcast August 15, 1945 on the Armed Forces Radio Network.
Running a full 100 minutes, the show features an incredible array of actors, actresses, comedians, performers and personalities - almost anyone who was anybody showed up to celebrate the end of the War for our troops. Below, after the jump, is a complete outline of all the program contents for the purposes of indexing and searching for the show, but, if you’ve never heard it, I’d recommend you just listen and be surprised at who shows up.
Of course, since AFRS programs had to be distributed on disc to stations around the world, this special broadcast had to be prepared in advance. It would be interesting to find out how the show was put together - it sounds like it was specially created and didn’t use recycled excerpts from other programs, like some other AFRS programs. Was it done in one recording session? What did they tell the audience? (Or was the audience made up of the performers themselves?)
The program was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription set.
Click “more” to see a complete listing of the show’s performers.
(more…)
Here’s another episode of the long running musical variety showcase, “Kraft Music Hall”. This episode was originally broadcast September 14, 1944 and rebroadcast as program 93 in the “Music Hall” series on the Armed Forces Radio Service.
The program features host George Murphy, Marilyn Maxwell, Eukie, John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra along with guests the Kingsmen and Lum N’ Abner. Murphy and Maxwell kick off the show with “It Had to Be You” and we hear a parody of soaps called “The Cross Family”. A highlight of the episode, and something that fits with this week’s blog theme of the end of World War II, is a routine by Lum N’ Abner about updating to modern post-War conveniences in the home.
The show appears to be a lost/uncirculated program in the series and was transferred from an original AFRS War Department vinyl transcription. Date of the program is from the transcription matrix.
Of course, a more serious issue after the War were the struggles faced by disabled vets after they came home.
In this post, we listen to a drama syndicated by the Disabled American Veterans titled “Riot Squad”. The show features Henry Fonda in the true story of Dave Snyder who lost his legs in the War, but went on to become a member of the “riot squad”, a social club for disabled vets.
Goldin lists a series titled “Disabled American Vets Make Good“, but the series title isn’t identified on the label for this program, so I’m not sure if it’s from the same series. (Goldin lists the program on its own under the “Riot Squad” title.) The show was transferred from an original WOR vinyl transcription, matrix number 12885A.
Continuing our examination of the end of World War II, we turn to “Home Is What You Make It”, a sustained NBC public service series focused on issues related to the War and the home front. Only a couple of examples of the show are listed at Goldin.
In this post, we’ll hear the first half of the episode of April 20, 1946, “Promised and On the Way”, the 74th program in the series. Ben Grauer hosts a dramatized tour through the amazing new conveniences on the way for American home makers in the post-War period.
Mixing bowls in Technicolor! Washing machines that make your wearables clothesline fresh! Streamlined kitchen cabinets and ovens with timers that cook for you! It’s all coming, courtesy of the millions of dollars of industrial research and development! Of course, the post-War period would also bring us the Cold War, McCarthyism, sprawling suburbs and rock n’ roll, but that’s a different story…
The show was transferred from an original line check lacquer from John Keating Studios, Portland, Oregon, probably at KGW, and includes the NBC opening system cue. The program was previously lost and the second half, unfortunately, doesn’t survive.
A few weeks back, I posted some local programming from radio station KGW, an apple picking contest and an excerpt from a local music program.
From the same set of discs, here’s an interview with a Captain Stasson, who was an assistant for Fleet Admiral Halsey. Stasson toured the country with the Admiral after the War and was interviewed on KGW about what they were seeing and the general mood; the topics include the housing shortage and concerns about preventing another war in Europe in the future.
The interview was transferred from an original KGW lacquer transcription and is undated. It was likely recorded for use on one of KGW’s programs so that the interview could be brought to listeners “transcribed”.
This week’s posts on the blog are devoted to the end of World War II. August 15 marks the anniversary of VJ Day, the date when the Japanese surrender was announced, ending a long struggle by the Allies to overcome the Axis powers. Our first post is a previously lost special program carried on NBC on April 23, 1946 to promote the United Jewish Appeal. The program features reporter Quenton Reynolds hosting a dramatization of the plight of European Jews after the War. Former Treasury of the Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. makes some brief remarks in the program.
Recently, the otr mailing list discussed Jews on radio, prompted by the recent release of a documentary about Gertrude Berg. Outside of news or commentary programs, dramatic shows that address the dislocation and suffering of the Jews during the War seem to be relatively rare. The Goldbergs, however, did include material about current events in Germany and Europe that impacted Jews.
“VE Plus 350″ was transferred from an original unlabeled line-check laquer recorded at KGW, Portland and includes the NBC network id and chimes. According to newspaper listings from the period, the program was broadcast at 7:45 pm Eastern on the some outlets on the network and at 10:15 pm Pacific on others.
August 7, 2009
For you Lum and Abner fans out there, here’s a bit of an oddity.
“Melody Round-Up” was a fifteen minute country music series that took different forms in its run on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Some programs in the series were reduced versions of regional country music programs or shows by personalities like Gene Autry. Others, such as the one you’re about to hear, were more like dee-jay shows.
Program 533 in the series is hosted by Chester Lauck and Norris Goff, radio’s “Lum n’ Abner”, spinning tunes by the Riders of the Purple Sage and reading dedications to Armed Forces personnel. The first song on the show is “Following the Sun All Day”.
This previously lost episode of the series was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.
Again, my thanks to listener Michael Utz for his donation of the disc to my collection!
June 26, 2009
Gracie Fields was a well-loved English-Italian actress and comedienne who first gained fame on stage and screen in her home country. During World War II, because of her Italian citizenship, she chose to live in the United States since she would have been detained in Britain. She spent the War years entertaining the troops and appearing here in the US.
Originally broadcast on NBC as a summer replacement series for “Charlie McCarthy”, here’s an episode of the seldom heard “Gracie Fields” program of July 9, 1944. In this episode, Jack Carson banters with Gracie about getting her started on a career in Hollywood and they do a sketch about an American boy calling on a British girl for a date. Along with Gracie Fields and guest Jack Carson, we hear Lou Bring and His Orchestra and announcer Bill Goodwin.
The show was transferred from an original AFRS vinyl transcription.
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