The Lone Ranger and the War Horse

For fans of The Lone Ranger, here is a PDF of a children's book featuring the character, one of thousands of premiums sold in the stores during the 1950s. This retro classic will only be available for a few weeks so be sure to grab this today. Enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1aygovrji1193ul/Lone%20Ranger%20and%20the%20War%20Horse.pdf?dl=0

Calling DICK TRACY! Six Decades of Dick Tracy

Back in the 1980s, before the days of the Internet, there were books published about retro pop culture that were a feast for folks like myself. Often with historical documentation, these books were heavily illustrated and covered all of the topics they could from collectibles to comic books. As as child in the 1980s, I found them to be a treasure trove of information. Our local library had a couple about The Three Stooges and I digested every piece of trivia from them.

Earlier this week I came across one of those books while wandering a comic con. This one, written by James Van Hise, focuses on the character of Dick Tracy. The book covers the history of the newspaper strip, comic books, television series, Republic Pictures serials, RKO movies, and collectibles. Even more intriguing is an interview with Chester Gould that was never in print until the publication of this book. 

While many books exhaust their tomes with lengthy plot summaries, this one covers all the basics. A great starting point for knowing the facts about Dick Tracy and his incarnations. I spent the past day or two enjoying the content in the pages of this book. Perhaps this post bring up memories of those same types of publications you had way back when: The Marx Brothers, John Wayne, Batman, and so on. Perhaps you still have one or two of them in your collection?

The Wine Lover's Daughter: A Memoir (Book Review)

 

In The Wine Lover’s Daughter, Anne Fadiman examines – with all her characteristic wit and feeling – her relationship with her father, Clifton Fadiman, a renowned literary critic, editor, and radio host whose greatest love was wine. An intellectual and public personality, Clifton Fadiman was perhaps best known as a literary critic for The New Yorker magazine. Pop culture enthusiasts know him as the weekly host of Information, Please, which later spawned an annual Almanac. Fadiman's witticisms and sayings were frequently printed in newspapers and magazines. "When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before, you see more in you than there was before," was one of the better known. Fadiman became a prime example of the "witty intellectual" and if you remember those “Book of the Month” mail order clubs… you can thank Fadiman for establishing that good ol’ pastime.

Anne’s book arrived in my mail box this week and like many of those 250-page memoirs that are overshadowed by the tens of thousands of books available on library shelves, this one is worthy of your time and attention. In full disclosure, I was partly responsible for the contents of this book. When Anne’s daughter contacted me, assisting her mother with this book, seeking information about her grandfather’s professional career, I mailed complimentary copies of my book on Information, Please, published many years ago by Bear Manor Media in Oklahoma. Hence the reason why the complimentary, autographed copy arriving at my door.

This book documents the personal side of Clifton Fadiman, his appreciation of wine – along with a plummy upper-crust accent, expensive suits, and an encyclopedic knowledge of Western literature – which was an essential element of his escape from lower-middle-class Brooklyn to swanky Manhattan. But wine was not just a class-vaulting accessory; it was an object of ardent desire. The Wine Lover’s Daughter traces the arc of a man’s infatuation from the glass of cheap Graves he drank in Paris in 1927; through the Château Lafite-Rothschild 1904 he drank to celebrate his eightieth birthday, when he and the bottle were exactly the same age; to the wines that sustained him in his last years, when he was blind but still buoyed, as always, by hedonism.

Clifton Radioman

Along the way, this book educates you with the basic appreciation of fine wine. After Fadiman sampled a glass, he once remarked how wine lived “a triple life: one in the mouth, another in the course of slipping down the gullet, still another, a beautiful ghost, the moment afterward.” As Anne revealed, her father was a lousy driver and a two-finger typist, but he could open a wine bottle as deftly as any swain ever undressed his lover.

Along the way this book provides us with the reminder that not all greats are destined to perfection of the basic tasks that we take for granted and assume everyone is capable of performing. After all, we ourselves generate fallacy and live within its shadows. Whether we discover something new about ourselves or a gentle reminder to forgive and forget the fallacies of others, perfection is rarely a word to brand about… and the true reason why memoirs are a full-course meal for the wise. Wine is the spine of this touching memoir; the life and character of Anne Fadiman’s father, along with her relationship with him and her own less ardent relationship with wine, are the flesh. The Wine Lover’s Daughter is a poignant exploration of love, ambition, class, family, and the pleasures of the palate by one of the finest essayists. Anne may not have inherited her father's love of wine, but she most definitely has his gift for writing and love of all things literacy. 

Hopalong Cassidy and the Abandoned Mine

For fans of Hopalong Cassidy, here is a PDF of a children's coloring book featuring the character, one of thousands of premiums sold in the stores during the 1950s. This retro classic will only be available for a few weeks so be sure to grab this today. Enjoy!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eedjonuz895hcqb/Hopalong%20Cassidy%2C%20Abandoned%20Mine.pdf?dl=0

The Lone Ranger Adventure Stories No. 2 (1958, UK)

Beginning in 1958, a total of four annual publications premiered on the bookshelves, known as The Lone Ranger Adventure Stories. Printed in England, these books contained prose stories adapted from the television and radio program, with original illustrations. Published in hardcover format, the prices for these four books wavers between $5 and $160, depending on their condition and where you buy them. While collectible condition means top dollar, reading condition can be found from $5 to $10 at conventions and fan gatherings where vendors sell collectibles.

Recently I was able to acquire Adventure Stories No. 2, from 1958, which featured illustrations by Don Lawrence, and six prose stories adapted by Richard Lewis, from television episodes. (It was easy to figure out which episodes since the titles of the short stories matched those of their television counterparts.) Reprinted below are some of the cool illustrations, along with a link for you to download a PDF of that book, which I scanned.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uc0t1lv3udxzsxp/Lone%20Ranger%20Adventure%20Stories%20No.%202%20%281958%2C%20UK%29.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uc0t1lv3udxzsxp/Lone%20Ranger%20Adventure%20Stories%20No.%202%20%281958%2C%20UK%29.pdf?dl=0

Top 100 Must-See Movie: It's a Gift (1934)

If I had to make a list of the 100 movies you must see before you die, It’s a Gift (1934) starring W.C. Fields would be on that list. The film concerns the trials and tribulations of a grocer as he battles a shrewish wife, an incompetent assistant, and assorted annoying children, customers, and salesmen. The film reprises routines honed by Fields from his stage career over the years (1915 to 1925 to be specific). Fields often tried to recapture sketches that led to his stage success onto film; skits such as “The Picnic,” “A Joy Ride,” and most famously, “The Back Porch” are all featured in It’s a Gift.

Having seen this wonderful delight the other week, I discovered many share the same sentiment. In 2010, the movie was added to the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. It’s a Gift is included among the American Film Institute’s list of the “Top 100 Funniest American Movies.” When a compilation LP of W.C. Fields' best material was released in the 1970s, much of the material on that album came from this film.

 

Lesser known than some of Fields’ later works such as the hilarious The Bank Dick (1940), the film is perhaps the best example of the recurring theme of the Everyman battling against his domestic entrapment. 

Fields plays the owner of a general store who is hounded by his status-anxious wife. To get some sleep, he goes out on the porch where he is tormented by a little boy from the floor above and an insurance salesman down below. He uses an inheritance to buy an orange ranch through the mail, then drives off with his family for California. The orange grove consists of a withered tree, the ranch house is but a shack, and the car falls to pieces. At his lowest ebb, something wonderful happens and to provide more would be an injustice. 

 

Do yourself a favor and seek this movie out – you can thank me later.

 

 

I LED THREE LIVES (The Television Series)

One of my favorite TV series is a product of the Red Scare of the 1950s, I Led Three Lives, based on the book by Herbert A. Philbrick. The program aired for three seasons from 1953 to 1956 and starred Richard Carlson in the lead as a family man who worked for an advertising agency. After learning that Communist agents had infiltrated the local YMCA, he contacted the FBI. For seven years Philbrick served as a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, secretly leaking information to the Feds. He somehow balanced a family life, his nine-to-five job, and volunteering for projects with the Communist Party. Hence, he led three lives. The series is truly phenomenal and a byproduct of the 1950s which is truly dated and probably the reason why it has not aired on network television over the past few decades. A number of episodes have fallen into the public domain, suggesting the series is falling into orphaned stage.

The story gets a tad more amusing, however. Prior to the television program, from 1952 to 1954, Frederick Ziv produced a radio program titled I Was a Communist for the FBI, based on a Saturday Evening Post short story by Matt Cvetic. The radio program is equally as entertaining as the later TV series. But after two years, Cvetic turned out to be a nut case and was demanding his millions in royalties. There were royalties and Ziv was honest, but there was no millions. It was also at this time that ZIV was making the transition to television. Rather than revisit a new contract with Cvetic, Ziv contacted Herbert A. Philbrick to license the television rights from his novel, I Led Three Lives. 

The television program was tremendously successful and turned out to be lucrative for star Richard Carlson. Ironic when you consider had Cvetic not been over-demanding, riches were just around the corner.

About a decade ago I wrote a book documenting the history of the television program and was pleased with the way it turned out. But like all authors, after the book was published I came into possession of a number of photographs that, today, I wish I had at the time the book went to press. Here are those photos.

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil: The 1943 Russell Stamm Novel

In 1943, Russell Stamm wrote a 248 page novel based on the comic strip character, Invisible Scarlet O’Neil, published by Whitman Publishing. The novel had the same title and because I was familiar with the comic strip, I wanted to read the adventure. As a fan of radio’s The Shadow, I always felt the comic strip was a deliberate intent to cash in on the success of an invisible superhero, and making her a woman (whereas Lamont Cranston was a man) made me suspect they wanted to replicate from the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Scarlet got the power of invisibility from a ray her father, a scientist, was experimenting with. She curiously put her finger in the ray, and she suddenly disappeared, clothes and all. Fortunately, she discovered that a certain nerve in her left wrist could work as a means of toggling the power, turning her invisibility on and off. Along the way she met with a number of colorful villains.

 

Russell Stamm, who was an assistant to Chester Gould on the comic strip Dick Tracy, created this series in 1940 and was syndicated after it premiered in the Chicago Daily Times. Nine years later, the strip took a drastic turn as her ability to turn invisible was dropped (slowly fazed out, to be specific) and the title of the comic strip changed to Scarlet O’Neil. In 1954, Emery Clarke began drawing the comic strip while Stamm continued to write the stories/scripts. Under Clarke’s auspice, he changed the title to Stainless Steel but that revision of the strip only lasted two years. Alas, dear Scarlet was dropped from the newspapers in 1956 and never heard from again.

 

Scarlet O’Neil made the transition to comic books, courtesy of reprints from the newspaper strips, which are collectible today. Sadly, no one has collected a partial or entire run of the newspaper strip and reprinted them. So, with the exception of the handful of comic books, the only thing we have today is the 1943 novel. 

 

Comics historian Don Markstein remarked how the series was light (compared to the raw violence portrayed on Dick Tracy) so her combats with Nazi spies, Japanese saboteurs and master criminals were more cat and mouse with her ruining their schemes. The violence, it would seem, be reserved for the Dick Tracy strip.

 

In the novel concerned a hit and run, a ransom note, the kidnapping of a little boy, a stolen puppy, arson and a boxing match. What might sound like a lot of excitement was simply an amusing read for someone like myself who was curious to enjoy an adventure of the Invisible Scarlet O’Neil… until someone one day publishes the newspaper strip.

 

 

Christopher Lee at Monster Rally 1999

One of the earliest conventions I ever set up as a vendor was at the Monster Rally in 1999. Formerly known as Fanex, an annual fan gathering in and outside of Baltimore, Maryland, focusing on classic horror and science-fiction films, the event changed its name and relocated to Crystal City, Virginia. There is a lengthy history to why and how Monster Rally came to be, but the long gist of it was that the convention promoters had an opportunity to get Christopher Lee among the celebrity guests. 

The event was hosted by Gary and Susan Svehla, owners of a publishing company known as Midnight Marquee, who secured the publishing rights to Christopher Lee's autobiography. Lee was willing to travel to the United States to autograph copies of his book, and the event was as large and ambitious as the turnout. After all, who wouldn't want to meet Christopher Lee in person? Well, I did.

Not being old enough to drive a car yet, my father proposed I pay for a vendor table and set up at the convention. This would allow me the opportunity to recover the costs involved to attend. My first two books were published by that time and it made sense to set up as a vendor and sign copies of my own books. The turnout was impressive and the book sales were equally -- if not more -- impressive. Before the end of the three days I sold over 130 copies of my Suspense book and over 50 copies of my Cavalcade of America book, along with other collectibles. In the end, I not only paid for the expenses (hotel, food, gas, tolls, vendor table, etc.) but I went home with enough to buy my first computer. Who remembers Gateway computers?

But the highlight of the weekend was not just selling books. It was meeting Christopher Lee in person, buying the autobiography, and having Lee sign the inside title page. There was a rule that the actor could not pose for photos with fans because they wanted to get the autograph line moving as fast as they could. It was autograph only. 

Just last week I found my book and the photograph inside where the man who stood behind me in line was kind enough to take my photo with Christopher Lee. In return I used his camera and took a photo of him with Lee, which he asked me to do. And that kind individual (thank you, whoever you are) sent me the photo in the mail afterwards. Few people that weekend had their photo with Christopher Lee so this is one of the few times I can brag about my brush with fame.

(Left to Right) Martin Grams, Gary Svehla and Christopher Lee.

Michael Ripper and Christopher Lee at Monster Rally in 1999.

DRAGNET, "The Big Lover," March 29, 1951

On the evening June 3, 1949, NBC Radio premiered what would easily become one of the ten best detective programs ever broadcast -- Dragnet. Actor and producer Jack Webb wanted to present a sense of realism that had never been achieved on radio. Whereas most radio detectives were a variation-on-a-theme, Dragnet was unique with originality.  

Dragnet debuted inauspiciously. The early months were bumpy, as the program was sustaining (as yet unable to attract a sponsor) and the budget was limited, forcing Webb to employ relatively few radio actors per episode. The network originally stressed a shrill, strident tone as popularized on rival show Gang Busters (the earliest Dragnet episodes mimic the Gang Busters opening, with an announcer shouting "Draaaaag...net!"). Webb put a stop to this after only a few episodes, with a different announcer adopting a more neutral delivery. Webb also discovered how versatile his actors were, and kept them on hand week after week.

 

A total of 314 radio broadcasts aired on a weekly basis through the spring of 1957. The majority of them exist in recorded form but a small handful still remain elusive. A few months ago I was able to copy and scan into PDF the last of the radio scripts for those few "lost" episodes. Enclosed is a link for a PDF of one of those episodes. Enjoy! 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gm77kzldnkm8br0/Dragnet%201951%20March%2029.pdf?dl=0

WEST SIDE STORY: The Jets, The Sharks, and the Making of a Classic

A major hit on Broadway, the motion-picture musical West Side Story became immortal. It was a movie different from anything that had come before, but the cinematic victory came at a price. Richard Barrios, a film historian who knows how to dig into the archives, seek out hundreds of unpublished photographs and interview the cast and crew, recently wrote a great book about the making of this classic.

In this engrossing volume, Richard recounts how the drama and rivalries seen onscreen played out to equal intensity behind-the-scenes, while still achieving extraordinary artistic feats.

The making and impact of West Side Story has so far been recounted only in vestiges. In the pages of this book, the backstage tale comes to life along with insight on what has made the film a favorite across six decades: its brilliant use of dance as staged by erstwhile co-director Jerome Robbins; a meaningful story, as set to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's soundtrack; the performances of a youthful ensemble cast featuring Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, and more; a film with Shakespearean roots (Romeo and Juliet) that is simultaneously timeless and current. West Side Story was a triumph that appeared to be very much of its time; over the years it has shown itself to be eternal.

 

Full confession: I am not a fan of musicals. Why? I often find most of them are poorly made and too long. If you cut the musical numbers from the movie and the remainder (dramatic portion) tells the story without interruption, then I find the musical sequences unnecessary. Worse, it tells me I could have enjoyed the movie if it was shorter in length and not stretched out into a musical. Very few motion-pictures use music to tell the story (as it should be) and it is those particular musicals that I enjoy: The Wizard of Oz, Chicago and West Side Story are prime examples of how good a musical can be. 

 

Any self-proclaimed West Side Story junkie will want a copy of this book. 

 

More Lone Ranger Humor

 

"LOST" Episodes of SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon premiered in January of 1939 as Challenge of the Yukon and it was not until the spring of 1943 that the radio programs were recorded on a regular basis. Because of this, the first few years of the radio program does not exist in recorded form. Thankfully we have the radio scripts and, slowly but surely, we are progressing through them for proper documentation. Below, for your enjoyment, are the plot summaries (rough draft, mind you) for four of those "lost" episodes.

Episode #206 “ONE NIGHT IN DAWSON”

Broadcast November 19, 1941

Copyright Registration D-78572, script received at Registration Office December 8, 1941.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Mark Sawyer at the Palace Hotel asked Sergeant Preston to look at half a map, left to him by his father, Jim Sawyer, who died in Whitehorse Rapids last year. Chic Farrell, nephew of the late Johnny Farrel, is has the other half of the same map because Jim and Johnny hid a cache of gold dust – a small fortune. Mark discovered his room was ransacked but nothing taken – suggesting someone is after his half of the map. Later, on route to meet Chic, Mark is almost shot at and Sergeant Preston begins an investigation to discover the man masquerading as Chic is an imposter. It seems Doctor Caxton and his crooked partner attempted to shoot Mark and steal his map, using a splint and the false claim of a broken leg to form an alibi while attempting to shoot to kill. But the guilty culprit could be heard walking in the next door, giving himself away long enough for Preston to form suspicion and make an arrest. 

 

Episode #207 “PRISONER’S BASE”

Broadcast November 26, 1941

Copyright Registration D-78573, script received at Registration Office December 8, 1941.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Dressed out of uniform, Preston travels north of Pine Ridge to investigate a report from the natives that a white shaman (a medicine man) has been committing a number of robberies along the trail. At Armand LeClair’s post, the Sergeant learns that an outlaw camp nearby is run by Dan Morgan, who harbors the crooks who have been committing the crimes. Armand has been suffering: they take his supplies, they threatened him and his daughter with death. Preston travels two miles further north, along with Rose and Pete, who work for Armand. But Preston was caught off guard, his guns stolen, and his true identity recognized by Louie Moran, a traveler Preston once met along the trail. Hoping to make it look like an accident, not murder, the Louie and Bat (his right hand man) lock Preston and Pete into the storehouse for the night. Inside the warehouse, Preston not only realized he was trapped but could view the evidence of trail robbery. A short time later, King sniffed out the location of his master. Armand and Rose, who followed behind with King, let Preston and Pete out of their temporary jail. Louie Moran and his outlaw gang, unsuspecting of backup assistance, are caught off guard and apprehended.

 

Episode #208 “MATERIA MEDICA”

Broadcast December 3, 1941

Copyright Registration D-78849, script received at Registration Office January 9, 1942.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Ray Harvey and Doctor Bob Graham drove up the Klondike from Dawson as far as Buckhorn Creek. Inside the cabin, when the doctor discovers the young man in pain needs to be taken to the hospital where the necessary tools and anesthetic can be administered, Dan pulls a gun and orders the doctor to remain. Ray rides back into town to fetch the necessary equipment, but the nurse suspects something wrong when two words written in Latin on the list suggested the doctor needed help. Sergeant Preston agreed with the nurse and rode north. At the cabin, the two crooks insist on superstition against hospitals, but Preston suspects they were hiding something. With authority the Sergeant forces the men to get the boy ready on a sled, per instructions from the doctor. The trail back was treacherous as the ice cracked wide open from behind as they sped toward Dawson. In town, the crooks attempted to flee but Preston, with the assistance of King, placed them under arrest. With evidence to suggest they tried to kill Preston and nurse Jane back on the ice, the Sergeant questioned the youth, Jim Taylor, who was being nursed back to health. Jim explains the men tried to make him sign over his claim to them. They kept him a prisoner in his own cabin. 

 

Episode #209 “REUNION”

Broadcast December 10, 1941

Copyright Registration D-78850, script received at Registration Office January 9, 1942.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Jed Kramer’s way cabin, half-way between White Horse and the White Pass, was the last stop for most travelers on their way out of the Yukon. Sergeant Preston stopped there one night as he headed North from the border. There, he meets Frisco, the son of Millie Cardwell, who owns the restaurant up north. It seems Frisco is fed up with the Yukon Trading Company and Henry Graham and White Horse, and wants to go elsewhere to start all over. His mother, however, will not leave his side. Soon after, Henry Graham arrives, as does Nick Collins, a smooth gambler. After hearing Graham accuse the boy of stealing $50,000 in gold and attempting to flee the countryside, Nick confesses to the crime. Preston suspects Nick of covering for the boy so he asks both Graham and Frisco to write out the combination on separate pieces of paper. Nick is unable to match the same, proving Nick was lying. Preston forces Graham to take off his coat, finding $50,000 in gold dust on his possession. Preston explained that the manager lied to him. If he had gone to Inspector Conrad with his story, there would have been a constable on Frisco’s trail. Millie confessed to her son that Nick had a personal reason for lying… Nick is Frisco’s son, who traveled up north to meet his boy for the first time since he left the United States.