The New Bear Manor Media Radio

"We're almost ten years old so we're definitely not a niche thing any more so that kind of angle for coolness is done for us," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said almost a year ago during a report to his stockholders, nothing that losing younger Facebook members to competing social networks was a known problem.

A few months ago I asked a young girl about the age of 12 what she does on her iTouch all day. Does she communicate on Facebook? No. She listens to podcasts and internet radio. Seems the report, as indicated in an expose on the evening news, was not exaggerating. Young children today prefer something more hip than Facebook. And with thousands of internet radio stations playing old-time radio, a question arises: which station or stations to listen to? Recommending my personal favorites these days seems to spark aggression against me from radio hosts who feel an endorsement for another radio station, other than their own, is a personal attack against them. I prefer to endorse any radio station that provides original programming and vintage radio broadcasts, regardless of who the radio hosts are. Avoiding recommendations and instead focusing on a newly-established site might be of interest to the folks reading my blog. And there is a new station on the block.

The Bear Manor Media Radio Station was launched two months ago and has provided some valuable celebrity interviews and rare recordings that warrant review. Spearheaded by Joe Bevilacqua, the radio station provides exclusive content not found anywhere else. Last month I enjoyed an interview with June Foray, the voice of Rocky, the Flying Squirrel, and Bob Colonna, son of entertainer Jerry Colonna. Audio clips from rare radio broadcasts and television programs were interlaced between the interviews as a refresher course to the characters they voiced on television and radio, along with some background provided by the celebs "in their own words." From both an entertainment and historic point of view, I found those interviews fascinating and enjoyable. I was craving for more.  

Running an internet radio station 24-7 is complex and time-consuming. Ask any radio show host seeking material to fill the hours. What Joe came up with was 22 hours of programming every month that virtually plays on a loop, so you can tune in to the station any time and listen to the programs. This means if your schedule is busy in during the first half of June (just as mine), you can tune in to the station during the later part of June and not miss the monthly offerings. New programming rotates starting July 1 and the first of every month.

Among the programs being offered on the Bear Manor Media Radio Station:

THE VOICE ACTOR SHOW  (Hosted by Joe Bevilacqua)

Host Joe Bevilacqua's celebrity guest this month is Bob Bergen, the current voice of Porky Pig. Also features a bonus at the conclusion of the broadcast: a Blast From The Past with The Jack Benny Show (November 25, 1951) with Verna Felton as Dennis Day's mother.

LORIE'S BOOK NOOK  (Hosted by Lorie Kellogg)

Host Lorie Kellogg's monthly guest is Fredrick Tucker, author of the biography of Verna Felton, published by BearManor Media. Also features a bonus at the conclusion of the broadcast: another Blast From The Past: The Abbott and Costello Show (episode #48) from January 20, 1944 with Harold Peary and Verna Felton.

THE J-OTR SHOW  (Hosted by Joe Bevilacqua)

Host Joe Bev presents cowboy star Tom Mix with a unique mix of new and old-time radio with "The Secret Mission" (May 8, 1945), "The Vanishing Village (August 13, 1945) and "The Bodiless Horseman (2010).

FRED FREES FAVORITES

Host Fred Frees (son of voice actor Paul Frees) presents an hour of audio readings from BearManor Media books, including: The Music of Al Lerner, Don't Wear Silver in the Winter by Janet Cantor Gari, Journey Thru the Unknown by Murray Langston, The Unknown Comic and a Fred Frees Presents Profile.

THE LOST OTR SHOW #1

An hour of recently discovered rare old-time radio programs that were recently pulled from archives, not heard since their original broadcasts. For those who collect old-time radio recordings, chances are you don't have these among your collection. Why radio stations do not pull un-circlated radio programs from archives to highlight their program remains a mystery but here you will enjoy two rare goodies: The Cisco Kid (episode #17) "The Fighting Editor" and the premiere episode of Blondie from October 30, 1939.

AUDIO CLASSICS ARCHIVE

Timed with the commercial release of STELLA DALLAS on DVD, host Terry Salomonson presents an hour of old-time radio from his personal vault. This month's offering is Lux Radio Theatre (episode #145) with Barbara Sranwyck and John Boles starring in -- what else? -- STELLA DALLAS. Originally broadcast on the evening of October 11, 1937.

WHAT'S COOKIN'? WITH CHEF STEVE

Host Chef Steve Mendoza presents Lost Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, BearManor Summer Reading and Grilling with guest Dr. Glenn Berger, former recording engineer at A&R records under Phil Ramone and the music of Frank Sinatra.

THE JAZZ-O-RAMA HOUR

Host Joe Bev presents an hour of 78 RPM records: Popeye Meets Betty Boop, Billy Costello and Helen Kane. Such rarities include: Let's All Sing Like the Birdies and I Wanna Be Loved By You. These are novel musical offerings that are not widely available and worth listening to while checking your e-mail, browsing Facebook or verifying you recent Amazon or eBay purchases. (I fell in love with this program last month...)

CARTOON CARNIVAL

Host Joe Bev presents A Mel Blanc Festival, including Mel Blanc's demo tape, Bugs Bunny Meets The Tortoise, the 1962 Capitol Record, CBS Radio's Mel Blanc's Fix-it Shop (from September 3, 1946) and Ray Campi's 1974 interview with Mel Blanc.

THE LOST OTR SHOW #2

Another hour of recently discovered rare old-time radio not heard since their original broadcasts. This offering includes the premiere episode of A Date With Judy titled "Tiger" and Bulldog Drummond (from March 23, 1945), titled "A Dinner with Death."

You can tune in to the radio station from their website:

http://www.bearmanormedia.com/radio/bearmanorradio.html

Should you not choose to listen to all 22 hours, but prefer to listen to specific programs on your own time, podcasts are available with a simple click on the same website.

And for those who have iTunes:

Fred Frees Favorites

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fred-frees-favorites-audio/id851202019

J-OTR Show

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-j-otr-show-with-joe-bev/id851220143

Lorie's Book Nook

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lories-book-nook-lorie-kellogg/id851216546

The Voice Actor Show

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voice-actor-show-joe-bev/id851202383

The Lost OTR Show

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lost-otr-show/id883434985

Audio Classics Archive

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/audio-classics-archive/id883434215

What's Cookin' with Chef Steve

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-cookin/id883434442

The Jazz-O-Rama Hour

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jazz-o-rama-hour/id611001393

Cartoon Carnival

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cartoon-carnival-with-joe-bev/id624696898

To be honest, my first impression of this new radio station was questionable, but the longer I listened to it, the more I discovered that it was different from the rest. Having listened to more than a few dozen internet radio stations that play old-time radio one program after another, something different was appreciated. And interviews with celebrities, kin of celebrities, authors, historians and scholars, with brief audio clips from rare recordings and "lost" old-time radio programs, this station is worth checking out.

GANG BUSTERS: Radio Program Spin-Offs

Gang Busters TV series

There is a big myth that circulates regarding GANG BUSTERS being the highest rated television program in history to ever be cancelled by the network. The program aired alternate with DRAGNET on NBC for their premiere year. DRAGNET was independently produced by Jack Webb. GANG BUSTERS was independently produced by Phillips H. Lord. But at the end of the season, Lord discovered the time involved to produce a live-action television series based on the radio program was too much to handle. He was unable to contractually commit for a second season and NBC understood. The television program was never "cancelled." It was simply never renewed until Lord was able to speed up production for a second series of GANG BUSTERS programs... which he succeeded a year later.

Among the television programs was an episode titled "Durable Mike Malloy," adapted from one of the radio scripts. The cost of production was excessive compared to the rest of the series and I always wondered why that was. This week I finally found out why. Lord had intentions of producing a spin-off television series titled DURABLE MIKE MALLOY: A CASE OF THE NEW YORK POLICE. The reason for the larger-than-usual budget was because this served as a pilot for potential sponsors. Lord proposed an hour-long series, according to a television outline, with an option for a condensed half-hour format if the sponsor did not want to invest too much money into the program.

During the early fifties (1950-1952 to be exact), Lord created a number of mapped outlines for proposed radio programs that never met fruition. In 1951, he proposed to CBS a weekly radio program titled FAMOUS CRIMINALS IN NOVELS, described as "an interesting psychological series" and "a series that deals exclusively with the criminal activities of well-known characters in famous books." This included (among his proposal), adaptations of Les Miserables, Vanity Fair, Manon Lescaut, Oliver Twist, The Marble Faun, The House of Seven Gables, The Woman in White, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and An American Tragedy. Naturally, CBS rejected the proposal based not the fact that adaptations of crime novels has been done many times.

For your amusement, I am featuring scans of other radio proposals from FAMOUS MURDERS, THE CON GAME and CRIME LABORATORY. Naturally, the success of GANG BUSTERS was the inspiration for such proposals and while Lord never succeeded in interesting the networks or potential sponsors, his ideas are worth a peak.

Click to enlarge.

Gunschmuck: Gunsmoke Radio Spoof

Like any popular culture, GUNSMOKE has been parodied so many times that it baffles the mind that anyone can keep track of them all. Fans of the television series MAVERICK remember the episode "Gun Shy," which spoofed the characters of Doc, Chester, Matt and Kitty. (For a quick glimpse and a laugh, visit this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRR1-YUfZmM) In the March 1958 issue of Cracked -- the premiere issue by the way -- there was a spoof of the television series  in what was described as a "parody." Finding a copy of the first issue in near mint condition will cost you a few hundred dollars so fans of Gunsmoke be prepared... you may find yourself spending a lot of cash just to read that parody. 

MAD Magazine spoof of the television series, Gunsmoke.

MAD Magazine offered a number of spoofs including a funny one in issue #30 titled "Gunsmoked." It should be noted that MAD Magazine originally started out offering spoofs of popular radio programs ranging from Dragnet, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow, Inner Sanctum and Suspense. By issue 12, MAD began spoofing television programs such as What's My Line?, Dave Garroway, Howdy Doody and Captain Video. For a quick read of the Gunsmoke parody in MAD, click here: http://long-branch.tumblr.com/post/65055004892/gunsmoked-from-mad-magazine.

Gunschmuck audio CD: "Grinner's Biscuits" 

And then we get to Gunschmuck, a new parody recently made available on CD, promoted on the packaging as "parodied to within an inch of its life." Marshal Dillweed and Chester Proudfart find themselves facing the same obstacles that William Conrad and Parley Baer went up against on the radio program. I recently had an opportunity to listen to these parodies and these have to be, by far, the best I ever heard. The new and fresh plots are the same type of stories you expect to hear on the radio program, but with a twist. Funny one-liners, slapstick, expert sound effects, great acting and a superb music score make this parody a notch above the rest. 

In "Grinner's Biscuits," Matt has to face off against a villainous criminal who beats his mother and expects Matt to make amends. But the cowardly marshal fears for his own life and allows the old woman to take a beating... against the protest and concern of Chester... until the old woman gets revenge in her own way. In "Fanny's Folly," an old flame returns to Dodge and tricks Matt into digging for buried treasure -- money unrecovered from a robbery years ago -- unaware that she and her team plan to take over Dog City. (Not Dodge, but Dog.... and a dog barks every time someone refers to the town by name.)

Gunschmuck audio CD: "Fanny's Folly"

The humor is not everyone's cup of tea but the jokes remain clean throughout that young children can listen to them without asking their parents what the joke meant. The only risqué joke featured Miss Kitty bragging about making a killing one evening, $300, and then apologizing to Matt for standing the rest of the night. And again, that's about as risqué and the only risqué joke that would be partially okay for young children... provided they don't understand the meaning.

The company responsible for these parodies is "Theatre of the Mindless" and they have a blog worth checking out. (Visit some of their older postings for a number of cool scans, recordings and photo captures of vintage radio drama fun such as I Love A Mystery, The Shadow, Little Orphan Annie and The War of the Worlds panic broadcast.) http://theatreofthemindless.blogspot.com

Or you can e-mail Steve at ilamfan@comcast.net for information about purchasing a copy of the Gunschmuck audio CDs. There is no giant faceless "record industry" involved, only a handful of talented artists who would love to receive a few queries about purchasing copies. I am sure you will enjoy these parodies as much as I did.

The Black Rider Westerns

Cowboy fans are probably asking "what are The Black Rider Westerns?" You might know them under a different series... In August of 1949, Ron Ormond and his associate, Ira Webb, set up a new production unit to turn out action melodramas for Screen Guild Productions, Inc. The pair was presently producing a series of Lash LaRue Westerns for Screen Guild and Ormond was just getting his foot into the door of Lippert Pictures, an independent movie studio in California that was picking up activity into 1950. In early September, Ormond proposed a series of “Black Rider” Westerns for Screen Guild, unaccepting of the fact that the era of B-Westerns was diminishing for the new medium -- television. Executives at Screen Guild decided to focus their future efforts towards television, forcing Ormond to approach other waters… namely, Lippert.

Colorado Ranger (1950)

In October, Lippert announced in a press release their next two entries for Hollywood contention; also the highest budgets to date: The Baron of Arizona and Radar Patrol. Carl Hittleman produced Baron and Barney Sarccky produced Radar. Lippert also planned to produce a series of one-reel Western kid comedies. The latter of which never met fuition but Ormond, approaching Lippert at this same time, may have been perfect timing.

After looking over the prospectus by Ron Ormond, Lippert approved of six “Black Rider” Westerns, which proposed that all six movies be filmed consecutively. Location sequences for all six movies were to be filmed at the same time, then the cast and crew would move to Nassour Studios to film the interior scenes for all six movies. James Ellison and Russell Hayden, both nearing 40 years of age, were hired to play the leads. The title of "Black Rider" would eventually be dropped before production went before the cameras.

Crooked River (1950)

If fans of the Hopalong Cassidy movies ever wondered what happened to Lucky in his later years, following his adventures at the Bar 20 Ranch, these movies pretty much answer that question. While the Hopalong Cassidy movies were never A-class pictures, the quality of Sherman’s productions gave that impression. In these films, however, Hayden was able to be more versatile with facial expressions and character developments – including multiple love-struck interests. With this series, Hayden simply strapped on a pair of six shooters and walked around as if he was saddle sore. And the further adventures of Lucky were dramatized.

Added to the cast for most of the films were Fuzzy Knight, Raymond Hatton and Betty May Adams (billed as Betty Adams), who would later change her name to Julie Adams.

Hostile Country (1950)

Production was originally scheduled for October 17, later pushed to November 12 due to scheduling for some of the cast. Production for all six movies was completed on Friday, December 9, after 28 consecutive shooting days, with an estimated budget of $240,000 (which comes to $40,000 per movie). The crew remained the same for all six movies; the cast rotated about and changed slightly – sometimes wearing the same costumes in the same pictures. For those who appeared in all six movies (Tom Tyler, George Lewis, Dennis Moore, Bud Osborne, etc.) a budget-saving device was applied: many of the cast signed a four-week employment contract instead of accepting a per-picture deal. Thomas Carr directed all six pictures.

“I remember shooting all six pictures,” Julie Adams later recalled in an interview at the Winston-Salem Western Film Festival. “We shot all the ranch scenes back to back, then all the stagecoach scenes back to back, then all the horse riding scenes back to back… and the only problem I had was remembering what my name was since my character changed through the day. I think I only had four costumes.” As a result of the shooting schedule, Julie Adams can be seen wearing the same dress in Crooked River (1950) and Colorado Ranger (1950). Recycling footage for use in more than one movie, the opening sequence involving the killers chasing down a covered wagon in Crooked River also served as the opening scene of Fast on the Draw (1950). When crooks attempt to break out of a locked room in Colorado Ranger (1950), the walls move when the men apply force on the door. To say the budget was kept to a minimal is an understatement. Photos hanging on the walls never changed between pictures. Many of the scenes were shot in one take. (I would estimate about ten percent of the footage in Fast on the Draw (1950) was stock footage.) Fuzzy Knight plays everything from a sheriff, a judge and a mayor, but the name of his character was “Deacon” in five of the six movies. I. Stanford Jolley plays the role of a bartender in three of the movies.

Marshal of Heldorado (1950)

The timeline established for each of the movies jumps around from the Southwest Territory in 1860 to Larabie 1887. (No, Larabie is the actual name of the town. This was not a mis-spelling.)

Hostile Country (1950), the first film in the series to be released theatrically on March 24, was heavily promoted. Weeks before the premiere, Ellison and Hayden did a cross-country promotional tour billed as “The Irish Cowboys” because they were billed in the opening credits as Jimmy “Shamrock” Ellison and Russell “Lucky” Hayden. The pair were officially stamped by Mayor A.J. Montgomery of Shamrock, Texas, on St. Patrick’s Day.

In early April 1950, Lippert Pictures released Everybody’s Dancin’, a Western musical extravaganza, starring Spade Cooley, who also served as an associate producer. Cooley’s first name was really Donnell but referred to as “Donald” throughout the picture. How Cooley allowed this considering he vested financial interest in the picture remains a mystery. The film also featured Ellison and Hayden in a brief scene in an effort to promote their series of six Westerns.

Produced on the cheap, the films were obviously a financial success. Producer Ormond had plans to produce another six Westerns starring Ellison and Hayden in the spring of 1950, but Hayden signed a contract to star in a television Westerns, The Marshal of Gunsight Pass, which aired “live” over KECA-TV in Los Angeles. When plans for this second series of Westerns failed because of the casting commitment, Ormond focused his efforts on a series of 13 film shorts under the tag of Ghost Towns of the West, and another series titled Tales of Famous Outlaws starring Lash La Rue. (These efforts never met fruition, even though he supposedly completed six of the latter.) Ormond also had intentions of using these film shorts as part of a syndicated TV series. 

Official DVD Release

Months after the last of the six movies was theatrically released in theaters, in December of 1950, Jimmy Ellison and Russell Hayden made a public appearance together at the annual Christmas show and party for the 2,000 members of the Variety’s Boys Club at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco.

All six Westerns were released commercially by VCI Entertainment in 2009 as the “Big Iron Collection,” with a small handful of bonus features: the original theatrical trailers, a photo gallery and a video interview with director Thomas Carr. Until 2009, it was difficult for anyone to view these Westerns because they were rarely screened on television and 16mm masters were few and far between. If you watch them today, don't expect high calibre Westerns produced by Republic, Universal and Monogram. They are enjoyable and meant to be viewed days or weeks apart... unless you want to observe the recycled footage and repeated use of props and costumes. The front of the DVD case listed Jimmy “Shamrock” Ellison properly, unlike the opening credits of the movie which incorrectly billed him as Jimmie “Shamrock” Ellison.

Special thanks to David Tribble for his assistance with this article. Be sure to "like" his Facebook Page. 

https://www.facebook.com/TheOldMovieGuysPage