The Early Radio Adventures of "THE LONE RANGER"

Just as "Nitrate won't wait" became the rallying cry for film archivists, "Acetate won't wait" has become the mantra for collectors of old-time radio. Widely used for three decades (1930s through the 1950s), then slowly replaced with magnetic tape and other formats, radio broadcasts featuring comedy, music and drama were preserved for both commercial and historical purposes. Fans of old-time radio programs, and fans of The Lone Ranger in general, are fully aware of the 2,600 radio broadcasts from 1938 to 1954 that were preserved thanks to this format. Over 2,000 of those radio episodes have been released commercially thanks to companies like Radio Spirits, which commercially releases CD sets periodically through the months through licensing agreements.

The Lone Ranger was not recorded on a regular basis until February of 1938. Prior, the program aired live over the Michigan Radio Network, the Don Lee Network, and the Mutual Broadcasting System. Therefore, Lone Ranger radio broadcasts prior to February 1938 should not be considered “lost” because they were never recorded in the first place. Thankfully, almost every radio script exists from the series so we have an opportunity to fill the gaps with plot summaries. 

 

It was not until early 1938 that The Lone Ranger radio program was recorded on a regular basis. Prior, the radio broadcasts originating from WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan, were never heard again after the initial broadcast. No sooner did the broadcast conclude, the actors tossed their scripts into a box in the corner of the room and began rehearsals for the next drama (usually The Green Hornet or Warner Lester, Manhunter). As a result, the first five years of the program does not exist in recorded form. Thankfully, we have the radio scripts to consult. Enclosed are plot summaries based on the script pages, "lost" adventures of the masked man and his faithful Indian companion, Tonto.

 

Episode #330, Broadcast March 11, 1935

Plot: Old Barney Bolt prospected for a decade in a spot that he called the Mary Jane Mine, named after his wife who supported him in the endeavors that might one day provide for the remainder of their years. While purchasing supplies at the general store owned by Lem Saunders, The Lone Ranger learns that Jason Parker fronted Barney money to further his quest for gold… the same Jason Parker who was sent to jail in Sanderson two months ago for a crooked swindle deal. The Lone Ranger breaks Parker from jail to see if the man was truly innocent of the scheme, only to discover he misjudged the crook. Though Parker lent $1,000 in return for the same plus interest when the mine pays out, Barney’s gold strike creates a complication. The contract requires paper money on demand – not gold – thus Parker can claim ownership of the mine. In the general store, within the presence of witnesses, The Lone Ranger assures Parker that his demand will be valid when he provides the signed note and the crook runs off to fetch the agreement. While the masked man holds everyone at bay in the store until Parker’s return, knowing it will take Barney three months for his strike to pay out in paper bills, Tonto surprises the four-flusher outside… with Sheriff Larson from Sanderson to take Parker back to finish his year-long sentence.

 

Episode #331, Broadcast March 13, 1935

Plot: Flint Bagley is a hard but honest man, opposed to the marriage of his daughter Caroline, and a young wheat farmer named Jim Brendell. Jim owes on a mortgage to Flint, and knows if the wheat is harvested and sold, Jim will have the funds to make good for Caroline. At the Three Star café, Flint offers Baldy, a farmer who also owes on a mortgage to Flint, a deal Baldy cannot turn down. If Baldy will burn Jim’s wheat so Jim cannot pay off his mortgage, Flint will consider Baldy’s mortgage paid in full. The Lone Ranger, overhearing the scheme, consults Baldy later that evening and proposes a scheme… One week passes and as Jim and Caroline gazed at the wheat field that promised the best harvest in three years, and spoke of their hopes for the future, Flint secretly delights in the lack of rain that allows the wheat to dry. Tonto, working for Baldy, has many Indians to help set multiple fires to ensure the burning of the fields cannot be extinguished. As far as the eye can see, there are small fires blazing increasing in fury with each moment. Jim is aghast at what he sees. Flint secretly hands Baldy his mortgage and Baldy tears it in pieces; he owes Flint nothing. The Lone Ranger gives Tonto the word and the Indian shouts to put out the fires. The wheat was hardly touched by the fire. Instead of setting the fires to the wheat, each Indian cut the wheat down for yards around from where they built a fire, ensuring the illusion. Flint, realizing he lost the game of sabotage, says it looks like Jim is aiming to marry Caroline and there comes a time when a man cannot buck things. Flint gives Caroline and Jim permission to marry. He says Jim owes him nothing on the mortgage. After all, they will need the wheat crop to start their new life together.

 

Notes: The name of Caroline’s mother changed from Jessie to Jennie in the script. It is not certain which name was used but is can be assumed that the oversight was caught during the rehearsals and adjusted accordingly.

 

Episode #332, Broadcast March 15, 1935

Copyright Registration #34,353, script received at Registration Office March 15, 1935.

Plot: In a camp near the Rio Grande River, the border of the United States and Mexico, are a number of Texas Rangers led by Captain Hawks. These men of sterling courage and keen intellect are hoping to capture the ruthless outlaw gang led by the half-breed named Lobo. Texas Ranger Grant, who knows Lobo well, thinks there is something wrong. The trail to the border is too easy to follow. At the border, Lobo will be trapped between two forces wanting to capture him, the Texas Rangers and the Mexican Army. The Lone Ranger disguises himself as Captain Hawks and creates a scenario whereupon he gets captured and taken to the island hideout across the river.

 

TONTO: This heap dangerous thing you do! You mebbe die!

 

RANGER: Danger Tonto? The man that is afraid to die, has not the right to live! I will come back Tonto…but… if anything should happen, Kemosabe, take care of Silver!

 

The disguised Lone Ranger finds himself bound tightly and Killer Gurkin gloats over the capture. When The Lone Ranger taunts him about his obedience to Lobo, Gurkin slugs the Ranger. Gurkin shows Lobo that his hand has color from the captive’s face; he has something spread on his face. Lobo starts to wipe the makeup off the unconscious face but never finishes his task. When Captain Hawks asks who is the man that stopped him, Tonto says he is Tonto’s fine friend! “Him mebbe not come back.” Hawks is observant: “My heaven! Can it be… see here… is that a tear in your eye?” Tonto straightens out: “No! Not baby! Not woman! Me Injun! Me Tonto!”

 

Tonto, on top of Silver, races to the rescue through fifty yards of shallow water. Silver’s mighty hoof stomps on Lobo, who is knocked down but not badly hurt. The Texas Rangers follow Tonto and begin making arrests. Before his identity can be exposed, The Lone Ranger leaps upon his mighty steed and rides away.

 

Episode #335, Broadcast March 22, 1935

Plot: Ben Barton is known as the richest and meanest man this side of the Mississippi River, having gained his wealth by crooked means. As a passenger on a stagecoach rolling toward Deadwood, a masked robber stops the stage and orders Barton to exit before sending the stage on its way. The stage, meanwhile, arrives in Deadwood and hearing the news of the kidnapping, The Lone Ranger and Tonto race out to find Barton’s dead body, a fired gun inscribed with Barton’s name, and tracks and blood leading away from the scene of the crime. Bob Sanders was the masked robber who accused Barton of killing his father, with intent on seeking revenge, and explains to his mother that Barton pulled a gun on him and he was forced to shoot in self-defense. The sheriff, however, entered into the records Bob as an outlaw, posting a reward dead or alive. Many days pass while Bob is hidden in a cave and cared for by The Lone Ranger and Tonto. After the Indian learns the sheriff has been cattle rustling, The Lone Ranger convinces Bob to sneak into the camp of Texas Rangers and steal two of their horses, with the assistance of Tonto. Pursued by the Rangers, they are guided by The Lone Ranger astride Silver to a narrow gap which leads to a valley, where the crooked sheriff and his outlaw partners are caught with possession of stolen horses. The Texas Rangers learn how the sheriff and Barton conspired together. The death of Barton and leading the law to the guilty culprit cleared the good name of Bob Sanders, and the governor appoints Bob as a Texas Ranger, like his father always hoped for.

 

 

NOTES: These plot summaries were reprinted from The Lone Ranger: The Early Years, 1933-1937, by Terry Salomonson and Martin Grams, Jr.

The LONE RANGER Fan Club

Did you know there is an official LONE RANGER fan club? I was among the first many years ago to sign up. With membership #10, I have my membership card and certificate framed and hanging on the wall with pride. Every three months I received a printed newsletter in the mail and the benefits from the club were enjoyable for fans of the masked vigilante.

Well, the club has a new president now who is presently revising the website to be more interactive, more rewarding, and even blog entries with brief articles and trivia. The newsletter is also going through a major rehaul with informative articles about the history of the radio and television series. Just last week I received a sneak peak at the next issue and I was greatly impressed. The newsletter, whether hardcopy or digital, will be worth the cost of membership.

For a limited time, membership is half price so now you have a major incentive to sign up and become a member. You can sign up within minutes on the website.

https://thelrfc.org

The Lone Ranger Little Golden Book

With so many Lone Ranger books produced for children, it comes as no surprise that no reference guide has yet to document them all. Thanks to today's digital age, we can acquire a copy in PDF format with the click of a button. For your entertainment, enclosed is a link for a Little Golden Book featuring the masked rider of the plains. This link will be active for only a few weeks so do not delay. Enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/04ap1ep5d1g0hff/The%20Lone%20Ranger%20book.pdf?dl=0

Boris Karloff and LIGHTS OUT: The 1938 Proposal

It was the spring of 1934. Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy had been on the radio waves for only eight months and the script writer, having completed over 100 scripts of the radio serial, was showing signs of wear. Executives at Blackett-Sample-Hummert, Inc., the advertising agency representing the sponsor, General Mills, was seeking a new script writer to take over the assignment. In May of 1934, Arch Oboler, then a resident of Chicago, Illinois, where the children’s radio program originated, was approached with an offer to take over the scriptwriting chores. 

Oboler listened to the program for a week, reviewed sample radio scripts, and provided a critique. Oboler claimed the Jack Armstrong program lacked the lighter, humorous touches that were so characteristic of high school activities and proposed (should he be accepted for the assignment) to introduce a new character to the program for comic relief: Sammy “Fat” Wells. Sammy would, as it turns out, become the best football player Hudson High ever had, despite the fact that Sammy was full of harmless pranks and bubbling with laughter. Oboler wrote a multi-page “General Synopsis of Future Story Development” and submitted it to the ad agency. The agency promptly declined. Oboler’s proposal was not off the tracks, but certainly not in the direction the producers (and the sponsor) were looking for. Oboler never wrote for Jack Armstrong.

Historical hypotheticals applied, this was perhaps for the best for Arch Oboler’s future would soon be cemented with a radio horror program called Lights Out. Had Oboler received the assignment from the agency, and wrote for the daily serial, he might not have ventured into the field of radio horrors… and Lights Out might have become a different program than we know it today.

Today, as fans of old-time radio often associate Oboler with the horror anthology, he has been erroneously cited as the creator of Lights Out. That duty should properly belong to Wyllis Cooper.

According to an article in the November 28, 1933, issue of Variety, Wyllis Cooper conceived the idea of “a midnight mystery serial to catch the attention of the listeners at the witching hour.” Radio station WENR, a Chicago affiliate of NBC, agreed to give Cooper a 15-minute time slot at midnight, while the competing radio stations were primarily focused on music. More fantasy and supernatural than mystery, Cooper’s tales generated a number of letters from radio listeners concerned about the spooky offerings. The network reviewed those letters and confirmed what they were curious to know: were people listening at such a late-night hour? Within four months the program expanded to a 30-minute time slot and the station sought sponsorship from a local business. After a year of terrifying late-night bedtime stories, and no sponsor having signed on the bottom line, the program was dropped in order to ease Cooper’s scriptwriting workload – especially since another of Cooper’s programs, Immortal Dramas, was sponsored by a major advertising company. The Lights Out program was brought back to the airwaves a few weeks later in spotted increments, including an unsuccessful tryout in New York City to take the program nationwide, and finally picked up nationally in April 1935 over NBC. Cooper remained the role writer through May of 1936, when he accepted an offer to go to Hollywood and write screenplays.

Very little survives from the Chicago-Wyllis Cooper era but a number of his 1934-1935 radio scripts would later be recycled for use on Fantasies from Lights Out (summer of 1945), two additional revivals of the series in the summers of 1946 and 1947, and a number of episodes of Quiet Please (1947-1949). Cooper’s style of more often a first-person narrative, sometimes with a stream-of-consciousness approach. 

Beginning with the broadcast of June 3, 1936, Arch Oboler would take over as the new script writer for Lights Out. Oboler, hoping to maintain the style of Cooper, carried over the stream-of-consciousness technique for many of his radio scripts. Oboler would be paid $50 for every half-hour script he provided to NBC, later contracted to $75 beginning November 18, 1936, then $100 by September of 1937. Oboler would not be the only script writer for Lights Out during this time period, but he certainly wrote the majority of the scripts.

Oboler’s first script for Lights Out would ultimately become the most talked about over the years, “Burial Services,” broadcast June 3, 1936. Because a recording is not known to exist, we have only the radio script to consult. Following the signature opening of 13 chime notes, the audience is introduced to two grave diggers who were asked to prepare a coffin for services. The young girl, Jeanie, died of apparent heart failure on the morning of her wedding day. In the background, the pleas of the young girl who lay comatose, paralyzed, unable to speak or move, begged to be heard or observed. But the casket remained closed as the men and women who gathered for the burial service, exchanged words of encouragement to each other. For the benefit of the audience, the inner thoughts of those same characters revealed a different story. Jeanie’s mother wanted the girl dead to inherit a fortune. Tom Randolph, Jeanie’s fiancé, now finds himself the adoration of Jeanie’s sister, Irene. The only kind words spoken during the drama was that of the minister, who delivered his speech. At the conclusion of the drama, Jeanie gave one last attempt to alert the men and women who attended the burial service, but the casket was closed shut. As the casket was lowered in the grave, and the minister delivered the final words, one of the undertaker’s assistants remarked, “Gosh, Joe! She did look alive!”

Following the broadcast, the network received letters from multiple listeners who felt the horror was too realistic and should not have been broadcast. Despite the fact the program was a late-night horror offering designed for a specific clientele, it would be this incident that Oboler would later be prompted to issue a warning before every Lights Out broadcast that he scripted during the 1942-43 season. (“Lights Out brings you stories of the supernatural and the super-normal… dramatizing the fantasies and the mysteries of the unknown. We tell you this frankly so if you wish to avoid the excitement and tension of these imaginative plays, we urge you, calmly but sincerely, to turn off your radio now.”)

Arch Oboler and Boris Karloff

Like Cooper, Oboler would soon make the trip out to Hollywood to write for numerous programs including the Rudy Vallee variety program, The Chase and Sanborn Program starring Edgar Bergen, Your Hollywood Parade, The Texaco Star Theatre program, and the Good News program. Among the many dramatic sketches which Oboler would provide for the guest stars on those programs, Oboler would pen the now-historically-notorious “Adam and Eve” sketch that featured Mae West in the lead.

In the spring of 1938, Boris Karloff signed contract to make five guest appearance on Lights Out, a program which rarely had any celebrities make guest appearances. Known for playing killers and ghouls on the silver screen, the actor’s appearances on any horror program were considered gold for both sponsors and the network. Arch Oboler was being paid $500 per Lights Out radio script in 1938, and the network agreed to pay $750 per script if Boris Karloff played the lead. (Contract between Oboler and NBC was dated March 28, 1938.) The five broadcasts originated from WMAQ, the radio studio in Chicago, where Karloff was in town for the stage production of The Tell-Tale Heart.

Among those five consecutive broadcasts were two that are noteworthy to mention for the fact that the radio broadcasts do not exist in collector hands. In “Three Matches” (April 13, 1938), young Sally Taylor is slated to marry the wealthy Eric Marden (played by Boris Karloff), whom no one in society likes. Marden is 30 years older than Sally. At the cathedral Marden waits impatiently for Sally to arrive, only to discover she was a no-show. A telegram arrived indicating that she was appreciative for him helping her, and Sally’s sister, Jean, but she could not marry Marden on the grounds that she truly loved Vincent Rogers. When the members of the family learn the news, Marden is subjected to laughter and embarrassment. 

One month later, the newlyweds return from their honeymoon. To show no hard feelings, Marden invites the lovebirds to his cabin high up in the mountains, away from society. The countryside was lonely and desolate. When Vincent and Sally share a laugh, the psychotic Marden Marden takes the laughing personal and pulls a gun, shooting Vincent and Sally dead. After arranging for the car to go over the cliff and explode, burning in a rubble, Marden laughs madly as he plans to marry Jean Taylor. 

Weeks pass and Marden woos the young lady, then arranges for marriage. After the wedding, the two venture to Marden’s lonely countryside cabin. Jean flees into the storm to escape, realizing she made an error in judgement. Marden, however, in trying to stay warm and figuring Jean will return when she realizes she has nowhere to go, lights a number of matches to get a fire started in the fireplace. Every time he lit a match, he caught a glimpse of Sally and hears her ghostly voice. When the ghostly figure shows up at the door, Marden beckons her in. He soon discovers that, as she held him in embrace, her wedding dress was on fire. Her face turned into flames. Eric Marden suffers a horrible and agonizing pain. As his body, scorched and dead, lay on the ground, the voice of Sally could be heard with a triumphant finality in the way she speaks: “Eric… Now there’s nothing left of you… to rot!”

In the episode titled “Night on the Mountain” (broadcast April 20, 1938), Karloff played a convicted felon named Roger Thomson who, having been found guilty of murder, was electrocuted in the chair – but not before begging for a second chance. Lying in the morgue, Thomson discovers the electric that coursed through his veins never killed him but instead made his blood bubble. Thomson was now a walking vampire who bit the neck of the doctor, the prison guard and anyone else who stood in his way. Drinking the blood of his victims, to stay alive, the killer hid in a cave up in the mountains, where bats flew out to feed. Thomson waited until the police dragnet died down and then made for the cabin in the woods. Hoping to seek revenge against a woman named Ruth, who Thomson loved and killed for, the walking vampire wandered the forest and grew so weak that at one point he had to attack a young boy and drink the youth’s blood. During his climatic encounter with Ruth, Thomson discovers she was indeed in love with him – not the man he killed who he thought was her secret lover. Not wanting to exact revenge against her, Thomson returned to the prison where the warden once again had to walk his condemned man to the electric chair – and this time Thomson is begging for the electric current.

Boris Karloff’s friendship with Arch Oboler remained more professional than personal. Karloff enjoyed acting before the microphone as it never affected his screen career and such acting assignments added income to his bottom line. After a brief discussion, Oboler and Karloff agreed to continue a series of horror dramas, penned by Oboler, using the Lights Out! name, if Oboler would be able to get a sponsor to afford Karloff’s fee.

In a letter dated May 18, 1938, Oboler told Karloff that “the fantasy series is still doing well; they tell me it should happen by the end of July.” On August 30, Oboler wrote to Karloff: “Believe it or not, the R and R agency is even more enthusiastic about the program than ever. I’m to have a conference with the sponsor sometime within the next few days at which time definite plans for the fall are to be made.”

Sadly, the deal never went through. On December 23, Oboler wrote back to Robert Kendall of NBC notifying the network that “I am cancelling the agreement dated March 28^th, 1938, authorizing you to sell my services on a program titled Lights Out starring Boris Karloff.” Sadly, the proposed weekly series with Karloff in the lead never met fruition.

THE GREEN HORNET: The Case Study About Muggs

Even fans of The Green Hornet radio program may not be aware of a recurring character known as Muggs, who made his first appearance on the program with the broadcast of November 17, 1936, revealing his prior association with Mike Axford, who resented the shady character. Muggs was only on the program for a year and because the first two years of the radio program was not recorded on a regular basis, few are aware of Muggs. Here is a quick rundown about the character.

Britt Reid took advantage of Muggs when he made his second appearance on the program (December 1, 1936), framing him for a crime he did not commit in order to see a large-scale racketeer sent to prison. Ed Lowry, who made it his business to know a number of underworld informants, later confessed that Muggs was one of them. A shady but lovable Damon Runyon-style character on the series, Muggs was small in size and often repeated that he was always misjudged, a child of fate. “I never was guilty as they made me out,” he explained. “I been abused all me life, s’help me. I been abused.” 

Muggs was a wanted man in St. Louis, Missouri. He forgot which house was his late one evening and discovered his mistake — to his advantage. He was in a house loaded with jewels so he fled the state before the cops could catch him. Throughout the series he remained in New York City to avoid arrest and conviction in the Midwest. Casey liked Muggs, even telling Axford that “he’s cute”” in one episode. Muggs, in turn, referred to Miss Case as “Toots.”

 

For the broadcast of December 24, 1936, Muggs made his third appearance and tried to explain to Miss Case why he was in prison.

 

CASE: So you’ve been in jail, eh Muggs?

 

MUGGS: Yere, but don’t make no cracks about it, see? I done somet’n dat I’m proud of. It’s de Green Hornet dat ast me tuh take a short rap.

 

CASE: The Green Hornet! Good grief!

 

MUGGS: Yere, I t’ought dat’d make yuh open dem high power eyes.

 

CASE: Never mind my eyes!

 

MUGGS: Okay, Toots.

 

CASE: An’ cut out the Toots!

 

MUGGS: All right, all right, but lemme tell yuh, by takin’ a short rap in de big house, I helped dat Green Hornet send some real crooks down fer keeps, s’help me! I done a good turn, dat’s what! But now I’m a free man! 

 

When Kato was in Japan visiting family, Muggs appeared in six consecutive episodes. On the broadcast of August 24, 1937, Reid admitted that Muggs was a first-class substitute for the Oriental. Muggs served as a general handyman — except for cooking, which Axford handled with care. Muggs spoke with metaphorical proverbs such as “It’s de end of a beautiful friendship,” “I’m heapin’ coals o’ fire on yer head,” and “I’m filled wit news and bubblin’ over.” This, of course, drove Axford up the wall, but he later admitted after Muggs left that he was going to miss the little guy. (During the broadcast of August 26, 1937, Reid prepared the Black Beauty and comments, “I’ll be glad as Axford to see Kato back. This black beauty begins to show the lack of Kato’s care.”)

 

On the broadcast of September 7, 1937, Reid explains to Axford the reason why Muggs left town (and the radio program, never to return again). It seems Muggs went west to help the senior Reid straighten out his tangle in the oil fields, so Britt paid for the one-way ticket. Axford remarked, “Wit’ Muggs helping him, he won’t never git things straightened around out there. The chances are he’ll be there from now on.”

NOTES: The above contains excerpts from The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion-Pictures, Comics and Television, by Terry Salomonson and Martin Grams, Jr.

BAT MASTERSON: Archiving the Television Series

Lawman, Indian fighter, scout and professional gambler. That's the way Bat Masterson was portrayed on a television program starring Gene Barry in the title role, broadcast over NBC from 1959 to 1961. The classic Western television series was produced by ZIV-TV, famous for producing such classics as Science Fiction Theater, I Led Three Lives, Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt.

The program featured Masterson's adventures through the pioneering West, meeting criminals and beautiful women along the way. With a derby hat, a gold-topped cane and clothes that fancied himself as a dandy, the program ran a total of three seasons. Along the way, Barry went on strike for merchandising which was never extensively detailed in his salary contract. For your amusement, here are some archival letters and telegrams that reveal some fascinating behind-the-scenes trivia. (Remember to click on the photo to enlarge.)

The Lost Radio Adventures of "RENFREW OF THE MOUNTED"

After a healthy run over CBS as a five-times-a-week serial, Renfrew of the Mounted returned to the air as a weekly half-hour adventure program over NBC-Blue. Launched on the evening of January 7, 1939, the network agreed to produce a 30-minute weekly program with the hope that a sponsor would be interested in signing on the bottom line. Producer Phil Goldstone of Criterion Pictures, responsible for the big screen adventures of Renfrew, created a momentary stir when he consulted the network about a clause in his contract that stipulated his rights to have a market tie-in with the cast of the motion pictures. To avoid conflict of interest with the movie studio, executives at NBC-Blue agreed to allow James Newill, the screen Renfrew, to play the starring role if the program moved to the West Coast. In the meantime, the new half-hour format would originate from the studios in New York City, known to all interests as “a substitute cast,” although House Jameson and Brad Barker were merely reprising their roles from the 1936–37 series.

 

George Ludlam was hired to write the scripts, based on 14-page plot summaries by Laurie York Erskine, who had no time to write two drafts of a weekly half-hour radio script. Ludlam, an experienced script writer with such credits as For Men Only and Spy at Large under his belt, would eventually go on to establish The Adventures of Superman for radio in early 1940. Without the continuation format of a daily serial, these half-hour stories were superior on many levels.

 

The adventures dramatized during the half-hour rendition of Renfrew of the Mounted consisted of both single-episode adventures and multi-episode story arcs. A number of recurring characters bridged continuity even when Renfrew was solving cases within one radio broadcast. Some of the half-hour adventures were adaptations of short stories written years prior by Erskine, others recycled material from short stories with revisions, and a number of them were originals. The episode “Redheads Won’t Stay Down,” broadcast February 18, 1939, was adapted from a story in Renfrew Rides North (1931). The episode “Signals in the Dark,” broadcast June 29, 1940, was inspired by the seafaring stories of the ships that mysteriously wrecked in the fog at San Francisco Bay — one in particular that disappeared without a trace but today is assumed to have wrecked and sunk.

 

Despite all the publicity, however, the radio program expired after the broadcast of October 12, 1940, with Renfrew riding the range on the silver screen courtesy of second-run theatres. The final movie in the franchise was released nationally back in July. On October 3, 1940, L.H. Titterton, manager of the Script Division at NBC, wrote to Douglas Storer with an official verdict: “Renfrew has been with us through thick and thin for several seasons now and much effort and time on everybody’s part has been expended to find a sponsor. We have not succeeded and for this we are very sorry. However, time is so precious on the air that we feel that we will just have to kiss Renfrew goodbye and make the last broadcast October 12. I want to thank you for your courtesy during the long months of the Renfrew programs and tell you that we want to be able to work out another program arrangement with you sometime in the future.”

 

According to production and call sheets in the NBC files, every half-hour episode was recorded. Sadly, like the fifteen-minute radio serial before it, recordings of the radio broadcasts were subject to the ravages of time. Fewer than half a dozen recordings from the 1939–1940 series are known to exist in collector hands, and the transcription discs for the remainder of the broadcasts are presumed “lost.”

 

The following are plot summaries gleaned from review of the radio scripts, filling in the gap that “lost” recordings would not be able to provide.

 

EPISODE #63, “THE CLASH IN THE BRAMBLES”

Broadcast March 23, 1940

CAST: Roger DeKoven, Sean Dillon, James McCallion, Jose Perez, and Elliot Reid.

PLOT: Winslow, the head of the Northern Star Mining Company, has discovered the tradeoff to making his fortune when subjected to threats and blackmail. His son, Denny Winslow, proves to be a tenderfoot when he sets out for a three-week vacation near the Arctic with Todd Gordon, son of the mining company’s superintendent. Todd proves to be a thoroughly experienced woodsman as they start roughing the countryside on a prospecting trip. Mac and Reno, having tailed the company plane, find the boys and kidnap Denny in the hopes of collecting a tidy ransom. Three weeks later, Denny returns to the company to report the kidnapping of Todd, who’d been mistaken for Denny by the kidnappers. Hoping to find the hideout, Renfrew flies up to Retribution and starts exploring every lake within 50 miles. After finding the location, Renfrew jumps back into the plane when he observes the kidnappers attempting to flee. In what could be described as minor aerial combat, Renfrew shoots both motors on their plane, then covers the men when they are forced to land. In desperation, the kidnappers threaten to shoot Todd, until Renfrew points out the obvious: doing so will only mean they would hang inside a month. Realizing their position, the men surrender only to discover how they’d given away their position to Renfrew so quickly… when Todd was forced to go out and fetch firewood for the stove, he’d spelled his name in the sand by the lake. And imagine their surprise when they discover they’d kidnapped the wrong person in the first place!

 

EPISODE #64, “THE CASE OF DAN CHESTER”

Broadcast March 30, 1940

CAST: Lester Chambers, Dennis Hoey, Fred Knight, Eric Rolf, and Eddie Wragge.

PLOT: Inspector Renfrew is on the trail of Jake Grenstadt, an outlaw who’d headed a gang of ruffians wanted for breaking into stores and camps and robbing up and down along the border. Dressed in plain clothes, Renfrew ventures to the new mining fields along the Tawney River, far up in the northern mountains. Along the way he meets Jim Chester and his son Dan, who are venturing north to open a store; they have a wagon full of provisions they intend to sell to millionaire miners. When Jake Grenstadt shows up, he demands Jim Chester pay for a license to operate a business in the area — a rule he himself had created. Regardless of Jim’s rudeness to the disguised Renfrew, the Mountie overpowers the criminal and throws him into a barrel of molasses, damaging Grenstadt’s ego. The criminal later plans to smash up Chester’s tent of provisions by starting a stampede with beef cattle, while Renfrew is asked by the town residents for help — the town’s been under Grenstadt’s thumb for long enough. Regardless of the fact that Jim Chester has treated Renfrew with disrespect, young Dan agreed to follow instructions and keep tabs on the local cattle. When Grenstadt and his men show up to start a stampede, Dan blows his whistle to alert the law. Renfrew arrives, along with a local who has been deputized, to thwart the scheme and place the racketeers under arrest for robbery and attempted murder. Jim Chester makes a mental note: In the future he will be kind to strangers.

 

EPISODE #80, “SPARE THE ROD!”

Broadcast July 20, 1940

CAST: Charita Bauer, Ray Bramley, Jean Dillon, Frank Lovejoy, and

Clementine Turrell.

PLOT: Corporal Sheehan is assigned to investigate a daylight holdup of the Marvale Bank, involving a stolen car left wrecked beside a main highway that runs through the Canadian Rockies. The bandits have vanished into thin air, making their escape in an area studded with summer resorts. Renfrew offers assistance, suspecting the robbers are hiding out by playing the part of vacationing guests — riding the trails, out on the golf course, or taking a plunge in the pools. At one summer resort in particular, Sheehan falls victim to a practical joke in a mudhole, masterminded by tourists Connie Gordon and her sister Sheila. After Renfrew reminds Connie that any action calculated to destroy respect for the uniform reduces the strength of the law, Connie throws a tomato at Renfrew in disgust. Later, Connie and Sheila befriend Charley Pierson, the leader of the bandit gang. Unaware of Pierson’s real identity, she soon realizes that her life is in danger. When Renfrew discovers the situation, he and Sheehan employ a couple of additional Mounties to help apprehend the bandits — teaching Connie a lesson not to shame the very men responsible for protecting her.

 

NOTES: It was instructed that the character of Jumbo, one of the bandits, was to be played like James Cagney.

NOTE: Plots are reprinted with permission from Renfrew of the Mounted: A History of Laurie York Erskine's Canadian Mounted Franchise by Martin Grams, Jr. 

TV Guide Trivia from 1959

During the 1950s and 1960s, TV Guide featured a minimum of two pages of news blurbs related to television programming and television personalities. Many of these blurbs were word through the Hollywood grapevine, some reprinted from Variety and Broadcasting magazine. While these items are of historical note, sometimes providing the reasoning for programming changes or unusual casting, a number of blurbs provide us with fascinating trivia.

 

Reprinted below are a number of those news blurbs from 1959, for programming decisions that never happened. Information in Italics is from me, clarifying what did happen during the course of events.

 

June 13, 1959

Have Gun – Will Travel will film four shows in Mexico this summer, another four or five in Hawaii. If the location jaunts are successful, the show next year will travel to Japan, Asia and Europe. 

 

June 6, 1959

Richard Carlson goes into production in June with another 39 episodes of Mackenzie’s Raiders. (A second season never went into production.)

 

May 30, 1959

Ed Sullivan trying to line up Marlene Dietrich and Orson Welles to do their magic act for the show he’s taking to Moscow next August. The Russians, in return, offered Ed choice of six acts for the special he’s to tape in Moscow for televising here in September.

 

March 28, 1959

Bat Masterson will be stretched to a full hour on Monday nights.

 

February 14, 1959

Jack Oakie is now weighing offers for two different series. The Fat Man and Uncle Sidney. No decision yet.

 

May 9, 1959

Constance Bennett now goes into the projected Mother is the Governor of Texas series, originally planned for Helen Traubel.

 

May 23, 1959

Polly Bergen preparing “The Enchanted Cottage” as a 90-minute TV special.

 

May 16, 1959

Rock Hudson and Joan Crawford may star in a 90-minute special based on Thomas Wolfe’s The Web and the Rock. 

 

April 4, 1959

With nine shopping months until Christmas, there’s a Christmas special in the works. Burl Ives in “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The producers see it as a yearly affair.

 

October 17, 1959

Kathy (THE REAL McCOYS) Nolan and Hugh (WYATT EARP) O’Brian are working up an act that they’d do for TV guest shots. Idea for the act was born when, by coincidence, they appeared at state fairs together last summer.

 

October 3, 1959

Richard Boone will finish filming this season’s batch of HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL episodes in January, will then turn director for two episodes of DEATH VALLEY DAYS, may also direct both a GUNSMOKE and a LINEUP for CBS. 

 

October 3, 1959

Neville Brand, who played Al Capone in the original THE UNTOUCHABLES, and just appeared in DuPont’s BODY AND SOUL, will star in THE SEARCHERS, new series dealing with the Treasury Department’s narcotics division. Test film will be shot in Tokyo this month. 

 

May 23, 1959

Nancy Gates, who plays a man in the first Riverboat episode, may do the role in three more segments of the NBC series.

 

June 6, 1959

If Joan Crawford goes through with plans to do an anthology dramatic series for Pepsi-Cola, it will mark the first time in history a member of the sponsor’s board of directors stars in the sponsor’s show.

 

August 29, 1959

Broderick Crawford has come to the end of the HIGHWAY PATROL road after four years. He’ll do at least 39 episodes of a new series, a Western, which will probably go into production before the snow flies. 

BETTY BOOP'S RADIO PROGRAMS (1932 - 1934)

Betty Boop was a cartoon phenomenon at the time Max Fleischer was producing those black and white 6-minute animated classics for theatrical distribution in the 1930s. Every cartoon was a different concept, with the basic premise that a night club sex kitten would play the lead role. In "Boop-Oop-A-Doop," a villain attempted to compromise her virginity when the ringmaster of a circus massages her legs and suggests she would be fired if she did not submit. In one animated gem, Betty Boop tended the fields on a farm. In "Stopping the Show" (1934), a favorite of mine, she hosted a vaudeville show complete with a variety of act and delivered an impersonation of Maurice Chevalier and another of Fanny Brice. When the Hays Code went into effect in 1934, her sex kitten image was revised to wearing clothing more akin to a housewife. While the early cartoons were clearly remnants of the jazz age, her last cartoon in 1939 attempted to modernize her image with the growing popularity of the swing era. Just watching these cartoons in chronological order reveals a time capsule for the changing times.

A total of 90 animated cartoons were produced and released from 1930 to 1939, more than half of them restored in 2K and released on DVD and BluRay. Ongoing efforts to continue releasing additional shorts, remastered, continue to this day. But amidst the comic strips and merchandising, one of the few aspects of Betty Boop rarely explored are the radio broadcasts of the 1930s. There, Mae Questel (who also voiced the cartoons) voiced the character for a series of 15-minute radio adventures, in two different programs, with other cartoon characters such as Koko the Clown and Ferdinand the Frog. One series was known as Betty Boop's Fables (1932-1933), with a format similar to the cartoons where each episode placed Betty into a different storybook scenario from Jack and the Beanstalk to Cinderella. The other was Betty Boop Frolics (1933-1934), which featured more musical entertainment than stories.

A few months ago all of the radio scripts (for both series) were found and scanned into PDF format, allowing us to create an episode guide for each and every broadcast, including a list of songs performed. This truly is a historical even if some animation fans dismiss the discovery because it lacks visuals.  

DICK TRACY GOES TO WAR

When the Warren Beatty Dick Tracy movie was released in movie theaters in 1990, Bantam Books published a novelization of the screenplay. Max Allan Collins, who wrote the newspaper strip (following Chester Gould’s five-decade run), was commissioned to write three paperback novels – the first an adaptation of the 1990 screenplay. Collins added bits of background and motivation to improve the story, so if you are a fan of the 1990 movie, I recommend you seek out the paperback and enjoy reading a better rendition.

 

Collins’ second and third novels were Dick Tracy Goes to War (1991) and Dick Tracy Meets His Match (1992). Where the film novelization was set vaguely in the Depression-era 1930's, and Goes to War took place in late 1942 and Meets His Match was set late 1949. Over the past week I read Dick Tracy Goes to War and essentially an original novel, it utilized plot elements and characters from several different wartime storylines in the newspaper strip. Like the previous novel and the film from which it derived, Goes to War pits Dick Tracy against a coalition of many different foes, rather than just one or two.

 

Dick Tracy is eager to serve his country in any way he can. But Lieutenant Commander Tracy of Naval Intelligence was needed on the home front, where a wave of wartime racketeering had the city in a deadly grip. As gangsters B-B Eyes, The Mole and the quivering confidence man Shaky try to bleed the city dry, Dick Tracy rushes into battle with his tommy gun blazing. Yet between the town’s toughest gangsters and a slinky seductress named Black Pearl, the crime-stopping hero found himself distracted from the real danger: foreign agents who were zeroing in on a top-secret weapon that could destroy the country. 

 

Max Allan Collins has said that he considers this book his best Dick Tracy work in any medium, and one of his best novels overall. Because it was not a novelization of a pre-existing screenplay and had nothing directly to do with the strip itself, Collins received little editorial interference from Disney Studios and Tribune Media Services, giving him a level of freedom he did not have on any previous Dick Tracy project.

 

As a fan of the Dick Tracy comic strip, I found this novel to be above average and highly recommended. Worth seeking out if you want a good read. 

 

The Lost Radio Adventures of "THE SHADOW" (1953)

As many fans of the radio program know, not every broadcast of The Shadow exists in recorded form. The radio episodes were melodramatic, with The Shadow often tracking down mass murderers and psychotic killers who were carrying out bizarre crimes. In one episode, a modern-day pirate uses a privately-owned submarine to wreak havoc on the high seas, and in another a mad scientist rips airplanes out of the sky with a giant magnet. Using his invisibility to cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him, he appeared more like an avenging conscience that plagued the guilty culprits until the criminals fell victim to their own demise. Less than fifty percent of the radio broadcasts exist in recorded form, which is a darn pity considering the cult fanbase that exists for this series. Thankfully we have the radio scripts to consult. Enclosed are five plot summaries for radio episodes that do not exist in recorded form.

 

Episode #613 “THE CRYING KITTEN KILLER”

Broadcast March 29, 1953

Copyright Registered in U.S. Copyright Office, #DU33868, April 24, 1953.

Renewal Copyright Registration #RE97-144, July 27, 1981.

Script written by Jerry McGill.

Plot: Commissioner Weston is baffled. There have been two muggings and one murder in three nights. The mugger uses hungry kittens to lure victims into dark alleys and vacant lots to rob them. When the body of a half-starved Siamese kitten, too sick to move, is found next to the recent victim, Lamont and Margot question all the veterinarians and pet shop owners in the neighborhood. A pet store owner named Squires gives Lamont and Margot a tip, leading to an old brownstone occupied by a man named West and his landlady, Hilda. After questioning the suspects, Lamont discovers that Hilda is the Crying Kitten Killer. She stole West’s kittens and starved them so they would meow when someone passed by. Having knocked West unconscious, she attempts to rout through his room for the money he supposedly hoarded in a mattress. Squires discovers Hilda’s scheme and attempts to blackmail her, becoming another victim. It turns out that West never had a fortune stashed away and the police arrive to take control of the situation. In a desperate attempt to escape, Hilda trips over the kitten she used to trap her victims, breaking her neck in the fall down the rickety stairs.

 

Trivia, etc. The crying sound of the hungry kitten was pre-recorded and not performed by an actor.

 

Episode #615 “THE DEATH MASTER”

Broadcast April 12, 1953

Copyright Registered in U.S. Copyright Office, #DU33870, April 24, 1953.

Renewal Copyright Registration #RE97-142, July 27, 1981.

Script written by J.G. Leighton (a pseudonym of John Cole).

Plot: The vicious insurance racket of Hugo Guttman and his accomplice, Snapper, remains unobserved by the law until an underworld informant named Charlie tips off Lamont and Margot. Arranging with an unscrupulous doctor to sign a death certificate testifying that the body of a vagrant was actually that of the insured, they employ a mortician named Latisse to work with the bodies and to make them bear a resemblance to the deceased. The deceased’s wife would then hold a formal funeral and later join her actual husband in another part of the country. Latisse applied his skills as an artist to help with the crimes, unaware that he was being duped into participating in a racket. Margot investigates Latisse while The Shadow searches Guttman’s office. Guttman arrives and attempts to eliminate Margot, accidentally shooting Latisse instead. Before Margot takes the next bullet, The Shadow knocks the gun out of the crook’s hand and holds him until the police arrive.

 

Episode #616 “THE TORCH”

Recorded April 14, 1953. Broadcast April 19, 1953

Copyright Registered in U.S. Copyright Office, #DU34351, June 15, 1953.

Renewal Copyright Registration #RE97-141, July 27, 1981.

Script written by Max Ehrlich.

Plot: Professor Landry of the local observatory has perfected a new celestial telescope capable of reversing the science of the lens. A notorious arsonist known as The Torch and his two henchmen murder the professor and use the machine for evil. Hidden in the telescopic tube is a special howitzer that fires Thermite shells. When the tube is sighted accurately using precision machinery, the arsonist commits his crime while staying a good distance from the scene. As Carl Brand, the owner of a fur company is about to file bankruptcy, The Torch makes him an offer to collect fire insurance that would clear his debts and handsomely pay The Torch. Brand, however, switched furs with imitations in the warehouse before the scheduled fire, giving Lamont and Margot a clue to suspect foul play. Angry, The Torch uses his machine to burn a hole through Brand’s chest. Realizing the power of the sun and a telescope would be needed to commit such a crime, Lamont investigates the nearby observatory. As The Shadow, he discovers that The Torch is none other than John Stearns, an employee of the insurance company, who was using his inside information for personal profit. Stealing The Torch’s gun, The Shadow holds the criminals at bay while Margot fetches Commissioner Weston.

 

Trivia, etc. This episode was a rewrite of a former Shadow broadcast titled “Death from the Sky” (November 29, 1942). The plot and dialogue remained the same but the names of the fictional characters were changed.

 

Episode #618 “WHITE ANGEL OF DEATH”

Recorded April 28, 1953. Broadcast May 3, 1953

Copyright Registered in U.S. Copyright Office, #DU34353, June 15, 1953.

Renewal Copyright Registration #RE97-139, July 27, 1981.

Script written by Judith and David Bublick.

Plot: After witnessing a hit and run in the streets, Lamont follows the dying man’s last words to the White Angel, a nightclub known in police circles as a hangout for big time gamblers with many criminal operations in the city. Lamont goes undercover as a singer to learn what goes on behind the scenes but when his cover is exposed he flees into the night. Margot attends as a respectable customer and together with what they learn the truth becomes known. Prominent out-of-state customers are blackmailed after the club photographer takes incriminating photos. If the victims choose to face the consequences of malicious gossip, they are silenced for their efforts. Learning the name of the hotel where the most recent victim resides, The Shadow observes the blackmail attempt followed by efforts to push the victim from a sixteenth story window to give the appearance of suicide. The Shadow tricks Angelo, the owner of the White Angel, into shooting about the room, emptying his gun and alerting the police who respond to his wild shooting.

 

Episode #619 “MURDER WILL SPEAK”

Recorded April 29, 1953. Broadcast May 10, 1953

Copyright Registered in U.S. Copyright Office, #DU35507, November 13, 1953.

Renewal Copyright Registration #RE97-124, July 27, 1981.

Script written by Bret Morrison.

Plot: Accepting an invitation to Seacliff Mansion, Lamont and Margot investigate a mysterious death during a rehearsal of “Hamlet” that lends suspicion to a rare poison as the cause. In the dark, they soon find themselves confronted by a horrible glowing face and a voice with a puzzling message. During the confusion, and protected by the darkness, an unknown assailant attacks Lamont. After questioning all the suspects on the premises, Lamont finally solves the mystery. Pop Worth, the caretaker and theatre custodian, wanted to thwart a massive buy-out of real estate on the island because of the fond memories he had of the past. Using a Medici poison ring which he brought back from Africa, Pop committed the murder in hopes of exacting revenge on the man who not only stole his only love but now tried to steal the theater. Attempting to evade The Shadow, Pop races up the

stairs to the stage and puts the noose meant for the ghost of Hamlet’s father around his own neck.

 

NOTES: The plot summaries above were reprinted with permission from The Shadow: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954 by Martin Grams, Jr.