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| Sam Hearn (Schlepperman) |
Friday, February 25, 2011
Finally! Photos of John Brown
Since I started this blog I have been looking for a decent photograph of character actor, John Brown.
I have found some before, but not good ones. Today, I finally found some good ones:
I have found some before, but not good ones. Today, I finally found some good ones:
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| Minerva Pious (standing); Charlie Cantor (left); John Brown (right); and Eileen Douglas (sitting). |
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| Minerva Pious (standing); Charlie Cantor (left); John Brown (right); and Eileen Douglas (sitting) |
Review: Vox Pop
I think I'm different than most OTR fans. The average fan seems to enjoy a good, old-fashioned mystery, a funny comedy or spooky tale to listen to more than anything else. While I find myself enjoying all of those, what I enjoy most is a quiz program and I also love interviews.
I've always loved quiz programs. When I was very little, I can remember sitting in front of the TV at my grandmother's house and watching Jeopardy! With my parents I remember watching various game shows, too.
I have a great love and admiration for Information Please and the Quiz Kids shows, among others. And now I can add to that: Vox Pop.
Just introduced to the series a short while ago, I find that this is a series I really wish there were more of (there are only 15 circulating copies available, to my knowledge.) It's a quiz program/interview program done in the basic man-on-the-street style.
As the saying goes, people are funny - and people before a live microphone are even funnier. There's no telling what they will say under pressure! And the show is set up to give the participants a dollar for very easy questions.
For instance, "If I have seven bananas and ate all but four, how many would I have left?" Now that's an easy question that most first graders could answer. However, the show is ingeniously designed to make the participant fail and look stupid but all in a fun, good-natured way. "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" - I haven't heard that one but I read somewhere that one poor Vox Pop participant couldn't answer than one. Somewhere, Groucho is smoking his cigar...
It seems that the participants don't know ahead of time (or don't seem to know, anyway) that the whole idea of the simple quiz is to confuse them, as they are led down those paths often by the talkative show shows, Parks Johnson, Wally Butterworth and in the later years of the show, Warren Hull. Each host is congenial and clever.
Even when they drop a hint right in front of a participant or someone in a gathering crowd shouts out the answer, the questions move so quickly that the participants often still don't know the answer. There's always the $5 question too - it's a bit harder - and they gave away the money to the one who guessed the closest.
Vox Pop is all about the interview as well. A 70 year-old lady is asked her opinions about vanity and the opposite sex. Wally and Parks flirt with every young lady they can get in front of the microphone - they ask a female Olympic swimmer if she's ever seen pretty knees; they talk to a computer at the World's Fair in New York. They talk to servicemen and to fat people (calling them 'robust), skinny people, bald men... basically, everyone is game (and described on air, probably to the embarrassment of some.) The fact of the matter is - everything is done in the ribbing sort of way and if a participant is stupid - well, then he's just stupid (never said or implied - but it doesn't have to be.)
It's an incredible show, especially if you enjoy nostalgia as the opinion parts of each program reflect the thoughts of the average American in the early 1940's - a time when money was short and the World War was either on the horizon or in sight. It's also a time when a dollar bill was nothing to sneeze at.
I'd have to put it somewhere in my top 10 in my Top 75 list - but maybe I'm prejudiced about this type of show. I can find no flaws with it, other than it's a rapid-fire brain-twister of a program, because they cram the show with non-stop questions. There's a lot to absorb.
However, there's a large following of this show and even a couple of libraries who have some incredible collections of photos and original 78's.
If you belong to the Mystery Clubhouse, you can find the 15 known Vox Pop programs here. I amplified each program a bit to make them a bit louder.
I've always loved quiz programs. When I was very little, I can remember sitting in front of the TV at my grandmother's house and watching Jeopardy! With my parents I remember watching various game shows, too.
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| Parks Johnson (right) interviewing a citizen |
I have a great love and admiration for Information Please and the Quiz Kids shows, among others. And now I can add to that: Vox Pop.
Just introduced to the series a short while ago, I find that this is a series I really wish there were more of (there are only 15 circulating copies available, to my knowledge.) It's a quiz program/interview program done in the basic man-on-the-street style.
As the saying goes, people are funny - and people before a live microphone are even funnier. There's no telling what they will say under pressure! And the show is set up to give the participants a dollar for very easy questions.
For instance, "If I have seven bananas and ate all but four, how many would I have left?" Now that's an easy question that most first graders could answer. However, the show is ingeniously designed to make the participant fail and look stupid but all in a fun, good-natured way. "Who is buried in Grant's tomb?" - I haven't heard that one but I read somewhere that one poor Vox Pop participant couldn't answer than one. Somewhere, Groucho is smoking his cigar...
It seems that the participants don't know ahead of time (or don't seem to know, anyway) that the whole idea of the simple quiz is to confuse them, as they are led down those paths often by the talkative show shows, Parks Johnson, Wally Butterworth and in the later years of the show, Warren Hull. Each host is congenial and clever.
 |
| Wally Butterworth (left) |
Vox Pop is all about the interview as well. A 70 year-old lady is asked her opinions about vanity and the opposite sex. Wally and Parks flirt with every young lady they can get in front of the microphone - they ask a female Olympic swimmer if she's ever seen pretty knees; they talk to a computer at the World's Fair in New York. They talk to servicemen and to fat people (calling them 'robust), skinny people, bald men... basically, everyone is game (and described on air, probably to the embarrassment of some.) The fact of the matter is - everything is done in the ribbing sort of way and if a participant is stupid - well, then he's just stupid (never said or implied - but it doesn't have to be.)
It's an incredible show, especially if you enjoy nostalgia as the opinion parts of each program reflect the thoughts of the average American in the early 1940's - a time when money was short and the World War was either on the horizon or in sight. It's also a time when a dollar bill was nothing to sneeze at.
I'd have to put it somewhere in my top 10 in my Top 75 list - but maybe I'm prejudiced about this type of show. I can find no flaws with it, other than it's a rapid-fire brain-twister of a program, because they cram the show with non-stop questions. There's a lot to absorb.
However, there's a large following of this show and even a couple of libraries who have some incredible collections of photos and original 78's.
If you belong to the Mystery Clubhouse, you can find the 15 known Vox Pop programs here. I amplified each program a bit to make them a bit louder.
OTR theme music website
I just found a website dealing with naming the theme and the writers of many hundreds of OTR programs!
March of old time/Feb.25
60 years ago...
Quiz Kids 510225 Twins From Syracuse
Tales of the Texas Rangers 510225 The Trap
65 years ago...
Casey Crime Photographer 460225 Graveyard Gertie
Sherlock Holmes 460225 - The Terryfing Cats
Whistler 460225 Murder in Haste
70 years ago...
Fibber McGee and Molly 410225 Fibber's Bottle Collection
Quiz Kids 510225 Twins From Syracuse
Tales of the Texas Rangers 510225 The Trap
65 years ago...
Casey Crime Photographer 460225 Graveyard Gertie
Sherlock Holmes 460225 - The Terryfing Cats
Whistler 460225 Murder in Haste
70 years ago...
Fibber McGee and Molly 410225 Fibber's Bottle Collection
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Hear Marian Jordan switch from Teeny to Molly
At the conclusion of a 1941 Fibber McGee and Molly episode, the cast is introduced:
(There will be a short delay before the clip plays)
(There will be a short delay before the clip plays)
One of the Best: The Black Museum
According to Wikipedia:
There are four old-time radio shows that derive their material from the museum: one is the fine but rather milquetoast, Whitehall 1212, the even-better Secrets of Scotland Yard, something I have never heard - called Fabian of the Yard and the other is the more notorious Black Museum.
The Black Museum was a BBC program and contained no commercials. It's opening and closing music may be the best in all of OTR with it's gripping use of the string section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Orson Welles was the narrator at the beginning and the end of each episode. He would refer to the museum as a "repository of crime" - and would describe several objects in the museum until he got to the museum piece that would serve as the backbone of the plot of that particular program.
The acting on the show is first-class and the story was also. There's a nice flow about the show and the tension builds as the show progresses. It's very well done.
Welles always ended his portion of the show with the very memorable:
Easily 4 and half or more stars.
The Black Museum of Scotland Yard is a famed collection of criminal memorabilia kept at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London, England. The museum came into existence sometime in 1874, although unofficially. It was housed at Scotland Yard, and grew from the collection of prisoners' property gathered under the authority of the Prisoners Property Act of 1869. The act was intended to help the police in their study of crime and criminals. By 1875, it had become an official museum of the force, with a police inspector and a police constable assigned to duty there. The first visitors for whom records exist came in 1877. The first known reference to the museum as the "Black Museum" came that year as well
Despite being intended primarily for use by the police, the public could see it by special arrangement. The name "Black Museum" was a nickname; the collection was formally referred to as the "Crime Museum."
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| Orson Welles |
The Black Museum was a BBC program and contained no commercials. It's opening and closing music may be the best in all of OTR with it's gripping use of the string section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Orson Welles was the narrator at the beginning and the end of each episode. He would refer to the museum as a "repository of crime" - and would describe several objects in the museum until he got to the museum piece that would serve as the backbone of the plot of that particular program.
The acting on the show is first-class and the story was also. There's a nice flow about the show and the tension builds as the show progresses. It's very well done.
Welles always ended his portion of the show with the very memorable:
"And now, until we meet again next time in the same place, when I tell you another story about the Black Museum, I remain as always, obedient for yours."I'm not really sure what that meant or means even today but it sounds awesome when Welles said it.
Easily 4 and half or more stars.
Arnold Stang shows up on Gang Busters
In an integrated commercial - very odd for Gang Busters, Arnold Stang pops up and is in a commercial for Sloan's Liniment.
There will be a slight delay before the clip begins.
There will be a slight delay before the clip begins.
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