DICK TRACY MEETS THE NIGHT CRAWLER (1945)

In 1945, Whitman Publishing released the second of two hardcover books, written by Chester Gould. The other was Dick Tracy, Ace Detective (1943). Having learned that the stories were original and not adaptations of comic strip adventures, I bought the books with the intention of reading them. The original story for Dick Tracy Meets the Night Crawler (1945) turned out to be a fantastic story.

 

A board member of a local mining enterprise has gone missing and Dick Tracy, while on vacation with Junior and Tess, finds himself assisting the local sheriff. When the villainous fiend calling himself “The Night Crawler” kidnaps Junior and Tess, Dick Tracy redoubles his efforts, until he, too, is captured! 

 

For anyone who read all of the newspaper comic strips and are wishing for more Dick Tracy adventures, this book was not only written during Gould’s prime, but equivalent to some of the best of the comic strip. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that it was a darn shame he never adapted this into the comic strip.

Chester Gould not only wrote the story, but provided about 18 illustrations for the book. Had he used this story for his newspaper strip, no doubt the illustrations would have matched. 

 

So if you are looking for a good read, this is one seeking out.

The Lost Radio Adventures of "THE LONE RANGER"

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 #141, Broadcast December 25, 1933

Plot: Rafael Gonzales is a wealthy Mexican aristocrat, a direct descendent of the Rafael Gonzales that once governed the state of Texas, before it became a part of the United States. His ranch is bounded on the North by the Rio Grande and extends many miles into Mexico. He longs for the cleaning up of Great Lizard Island, so called because of its shape and character, the much-feared raiders that have brought thieving and death to the ranch of Gonzales and the ranch of Hank Wilson and his wife (on the U.S. side). At the request of The Lone Ranger, 3,000 head of cattle of the Triangle Bar are herded by Hank Wilson to the Mexico border, then ushered into the water. The cattle cannot cross the raging current steadfast, making their way to the island so Tonto and The Lone Ranger create a stampede. Bound on both sides by the narrowness of Great Lizard Island, there is but one way for the cattle to travel, straight up the entire length of the island, sweeping with unstoppable force, through the thick underbrush, through the gullies and the secret hiding places of the renegades. The outlaws that inhabit the island are driven out like wild beasts from their places of concealment. They flee in terror before the thundering advance of the frantic herd and right into the hands of the vigilantes led by Gonzales and Wilson.

 

Episode #142, Broadcast December 27, 1933

Plot: The town of Prospect is situated in the foothills of the mountains that have had many people from all over the country stake their lives in the search for gold. Like a specter, a ruthless robber moved quickly and with catlike precision in the darkness of Ma Harvey’s house, found what he wanted, leaving the old woman dead, and vanished leaving no clue behind. Jim Thornton, a prospector who answers to the nickname of Buck, wanders into town to purchase provisions and finds himself picked up by Sheriff Pearson for the theft of $2,000 in gold dust and the murder of Ma Harvey. Sheriff Pearson is a fast-acting individual with so strong a sense of justice and punishment for crime that he oversteps himself from time to time. Mistaking Buck for Whitey Conklin, a notorious criminal wanted for multiple murders and thefts, the sheriff conducts a trial two days later and Buck is promptly found guilty. The Lone Ranger, witness to the entire affair, rescues Buck from a lynch mob and races the accused away on his great white horse. Tonto volunteers his tracking skills for the sheriff and a posse, chasing after The Lone Ranger. When the posse catches up with the accused, The Lone Ranger mentions that they crossed the border of Wabash County… out of the sheriff ’s jurisdiction. When the posse introduces themselves to Sheriff Stevens of Wabash County, they are shocked to learn that Whitey Conklin was hung yesterday (courtesy of The Lone Ranger) and the stolen gold was found on his possession, clearing Buck’s good name.

 

Episode #143, Broadcast December 29, 1933

Plot: Caliveras is the name of the rough and ready town that serves as the settlement for a few sincere hard-working prospectors and their families, a few café and store keepers, and many rough, quick shooting, hard-riding, straight-drinking men of the prairie. Among the residents is “Potluck” Simms, who makes a joke out of starting a landslide that destroys a teepee owned by the Apaches, breaking the leg of a newborn infant. While Potluck ignores the warnings of townsfolk, the Apaches perform the Snake Dance of War. Potluck scoffs at the notion that he caused what might mean bloodshed to the white population of Caliveras, by the incensed Indians. Potluck and his wife, Bessie, however, are promptly kidnapped by the Apaches. Despite the protestations of the local doctor, The Lone Ranger forces Doc Mulcahy to the Apache village to mend the baby’s leg as a Samaritan gesture. After witnessing a display of empathy from the white man, the Indian Chief agrees to a new start, avoiding bloodshed, saving the lives of Potluck and Bessie, who now have a deeper appreciation for their native neighbors.

 

Notes: This is not the only episode in which Tonto uses smoke signals to beckon for The Lone Ranger.

 

Episode #144, Broadcast January 1, 1934

Plot: When Randy Blackstone was appointed to take charge of the assay office at Black River, there was considerable comment by the prospectors that congregated here, including two named Zeke and Blink. Blackstone was new to the region and had done nothing to make himself liked. Quite the contrary, his stand-offish manner caused a number of boys to look on him with a somewhat suspicious eye. All the men seem to feel that old Dave Burton would be deserving of the job there, and they were all pretty sore to see Blackstone get the appointment. When The Lone Ranger discovers the former assayer was murdered and Blackstone hired a Mexican named Jose Del Lobo to do the deed, he fires gold into the ground using a shotgun and convinces Dave to stake a claim in what he thinks has potential. So does Blackstone, after examining the sample, who sends Jose out to follow Dave to discover where the claim is located… and kill the prospector. Jose never completes his mission, however, caught in the act of claim jumping. Threatening to kill in the presence of The Lone Ranger, Tonto and a handful of men from town remain hidden off the side as witnesses. Jose Del Lobo, panicking, confessed a great deal thus incriminating his partner. When he finished, there was no question that Blackstone planned to steal not only the supposedly rich claim of Dave, but others that had samples brought to the assay office as well. The sheriff makes his arrest and Dave is promptly given the job at the assay office.

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

The House of Mystery (1973 books)

For those who love reading those House of Mystery comic books from the 1960s through the 1970s, especially when Bernie Wrightson began providing art with issue #179, the following two paperbacks might be of interest. I enjoy reading anthologies of horror and science-fiction from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but I find the stories are always hit or miss. But when the Warner Paperback Library, in conjunction with National Periodical Publications (also known as D.C. Comics) decided to publish two paperback collections of horror stories using the name of the comic book, these caught my attention. Published in 1973, The House of Mystery # 1 and The House of Mystery # 2 both contain short stories by Jack Oleck and feature illustrations by Bernie Wrightson.

Each story included one Wrightson illustration. In the first book, “Chamber of Horrors” told the tale of a man who insists the law investigate three coffin-like boxes of earth in the cellar of an old house… unaware of the mushrooms growing inside. In the tale titled “Nightmare,” a jerk who is clearly abusive to his wife finds himself the victim of a human sacrifice on a stormy night at Stonehenge.

 

My personal favorite is the story titled “The Haunting,” about a young couple who wander the graveyard before heading home, only to discover the house is haunted. The twist (spoiler alert) is that they are the ghosts. 

 

The second volume has a collection of stories that could be considered better than the first volume. In “Wolf Spawn,” a man named Langley wonders if it is possible that his sister is a werewolf. Vampires come into play in the story “Where Dead Men Walk.” In the story “Never Say Die,” a hoodlum who doesn’t deserve to live discovers what happens when he refuses to die. The last story in the volume involves a demon.

These two books are the first time in years that I came across a collection of horror stories that are remnant to television’s Night Gallery. If you enjoyed Rod Serling’s television program and long for additional stories of the same flavor, these two books are worth seeking out to read.

 

Johnston McCulley and the Zorro Museum

During a trip to a convention a year or two ago, I took a detour to visit the Chillicothe Historical Society Museum, which has a large room dedicated to Johnston McCulley and his most popular creation, Zorro. Like many small town museums, the facility is not very large, but the display itself was impressive. The largest room in the building was dedicated to Johnston McCulley and his swashbuckling character. I took a bunch of photos so in the event you are unable to travel to the museum, here is the guided tour.

THURSTON, THE MAGICIAN RADIO PROGRAM

Howard Thurston, one of the most successful of stage magicians to tour the country throughout the 1920s and 1930s, succeeded in filling the houses during the Great Depression. Overshadowed today by such luminaries as Dante, Blackstone and Houdini, Thurston was known nationwide, well-known for performing a floating lady illusion known as the "Levitation of Princess Karnac." Historian Jim Steinmeyer wrote a fantastic biography about Thurston, highly recommended if you are a fan of stage magicians. Prior to Jim's book, however, the majority of any preservation of Thurston's career was relegated to marquee posters and three minutes of surviving footage when Thurston played the role of a spiritualist in a 1920 short film, Twisted Souls.

Beginning November 3, 1932, a radio program premiered over NBC, Thurston, the Magician, and all 58 radio scripts were found and digitally preserved in PDF format. While the stories are pure fiction, there was some elements of Thurston's biography and stage career were incorporated into these evening audio adventures. The first script in the series is now available and can be found below. Enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1hw93v85aljzgil/Thurston%20the%20Magician%20%231.pdf?dl=0

The Preservation of Jeanette MacDonald

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to meet Maggie McCormick, the author of a three-volume set titled I'll See You Again, which documented the life and career of Jeanette MacDonald. The actress and singer who is best remembered for her musical performances in such classics as The Merry Widow, Love Me Tonight, The Naughty Marietta, Maytime and Rose-Marie, later made a career on the opera stage, headlining a number of concerts. Maggie had access to MacDonald's personal correspondence, private documents and the singer's unpublished autobiography. This also included much material on her husband, actor Gene Raymond.

Maggie spent years collecting everything she could about Jeanette MacDonald, including sheet music, photographs, arcade cards, and other collectibles off eBay and other Internet websites. She ultimately had so much material that she assembled not one, but three books about her career. Some might say this is overkill but I digress -- she preserved the life and career of Jeanette MacDonald like no one else has. And, according to Maggie, she is working on a fourth book documenting her extensive radio and television career.

“There are two factions of Jeanette MacDonald fans,” Maggie explained to me. “Those who believe she had a happy marriage with Gene Raymond and those who believe she had a longtime secret affair with her frequent co-star Nelson Eddy. In 1963, when Jeanette and Gene moved from a house to an apartment because of her failing health, they gave photos, scrapbooks, awards, and other items to her two fan clubs to use in their journals, as well as to auction within the clubs for the charities they supported. After Jeanette’s death, one club disbanded. Gene gave the other club more material and, after his death, they also acquired other items that belonged to the Raymonds. The co-presidents discussed donating to various archives, but never made a final decision. One died and the other developed dementia and moved into a care facility. A nephew hired an estate sale company and they, in turn, sold many items that belonged to the Raymonds. The two ‘sides’ battled it out over some of it. Some friends and I pooled resources so that we could purchase some things we were afraid would be buried if the pro-affair contingent acquired them. These include a great deal of correspondence between Jeanette and Gene. Most were written during World War II when Gene was stationed in England in the Army Air Force.”

 

Jeanette MacDonald planned to quote from some of the wartime letters, as well as a few others, in her unpublished autobiography. Maggie read three versions of the manuscript. One housed at USC, another in a private collection, and a third incomplete draft published some years ago by a different author. The latter of which has received some criticism from film historians who said the author incorrectly read into some passages, like claiming some of Jeanette’s handwritten notes about Gene’s mother applied to Nelson. Presently, it is not known if the final version still exists.

 

“I have a tremendous amount of correspondence about the autobiography,” Maggie explained. “Jeanette worked with several ghostwriters and ultimately decided to do it herself. Publishers kept wanting her to add more spice, but she said that was not the kind of life she led. They also wanted her to gossip about her movie colleagues and she refused. The troubles she had with ghostwriters and a literary agent are a book in themselves. The agent is the only one who profited, as he kept collecting commissions from Jeanette and various ghostwriters after she settled with them and hired someone else.”

 

Bear Manor Media chose to divide the book into three volumes because of its length, a wise decision based on the separation of time periods. Volume one covers Jeanette and Gene’s lives before and through World War II.  Volume two contains transcriptions of wartime letters, as well as annotations, putting them in context and explaining people and events that are mentioned.  Volume three covers the Raymonds’ lives after the war, showing how the war and changes in the entertainment industry and public taste affected their lives and careers.

The first three volumes are all available from Bear Manor Media (link provided below) so if you are a fan of the actress/singer, these books are worthy of purchasing to read during these snowy winter months that are quickly approaching.

www.BearManorMedia.com