Monday, July 25, 2011

Review: Rocky Fortune

But..but..but he's not a detective.
Rocky Fortune was an odd character: he could never seem to hold a steady job, he was witty and very sarcastic and he could solve crimes without the advantage of being a detective.  (He was so good at solving crimes that all over the internet you will find that Rocky was a 'detective.')

How and why Rocky got involved in the middle of criminal activity, we will never know.  Every job he took - be it a dishwasher or a museum watchman - found him in the middle of some kind of mystery. It's never fully revealed why he traveled from place to place and took a different job. We can only assume this was done to keep the show fresh and new characters coming in each week.

Singer Frank Sinatra played the part of Rocky.  While other reviews might state he sounded, "bored", I differ.  I believe the part of Rocky Fortune help propel Frank Sinatra into the acting stratosphere. Though he is known for his singing, Sinatra was actually one of the best actors in the history of Hollywood.  He remains highly underrated. I've seen several of his films and I have been blown away by each performance. Although the Rocky Fortune shows aren't his best work, he still shows the traits that made him such a fantastic actor.

How can a non-detective be a private eye?
The wry sarcasm used on the show eventually became a bit of a Sinatra trademark in his films. He's actually quite humorous on the show. Oddly enough, Sinatra never sings in the series.

This show came out in 1953 and only lasted about a half of a season or 25 shows.  It's not the greatest radio around but I can find little bad to say about it. Sinatra pulls up the mediocre writing with his own acting abilities. I'd give the show 3 and a half stars. This is a fun show.

©Jimbo 2010/2011

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Progress - July 24

+ Finished an episode of Vic and Sade for The Crazy World of Vic and Sade.

+ Added 2 new words to the Lum and Abner Dictionary:
  • mercantile
    Terzan
 + Added a post to Peabody's Peabrain.

Lazy today.  Back on the horse tomorrow.

©Jimbo 2010/2011

A lost Hodge-podge about XM Radio

A few years ago, I had XM Radio.  I also had Sirus radio (this was long before they merged.)  I was listening to a lot of sports and lot of old-time radio.

This is where I became aware of a lot of shows that I had never heard before: The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, for one.  I just never knew it existed.  The same goes for The Six Shooter, Baby Snooks and a few others.

I don't remember who was the host on Sirius but I remember Greg Bell from XM very well.  With his schedule, I was able to listen to every program available and I did this for weeks.  Bell's anecdotes before and after most every show got me interested in learning more about OTR.

I contacted Bell a few months ago and I arranged an interview which was to be run on this blog - but he begged off at the last minute.  

I was never crazy about either radio service when it came to OTR.  Although I understand the policies that XM Radio/Sirius has against running some OTR shows, I don't think it's right.  You cannot deny that Amos 'n' Andy existed and were a huge part of OTR anymore than you can dismiss something like George Washington owned hundreds of slaves.  Can you dismiss the first full-length talkie film simply because there is blackface in it?

Some episodes referring to 'Krauts' or 'Japs' are also never heard on XM.   After all, you don't want to offend anyone. All the Japanese and Germans did in World War II (and before) was kill millions of innocent civilians in China, Poland and abroad, right?


©Jimbo 2010/2011

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Progress - July 23

+ Finished an episode of Vic and Sade at The Crazy World of Vic and Sade.  It happens to be my favorite episode of my favorite series.  You may want to check it out.

+ Added the following words to the Lum and Abner Dictionary today:
  • felled
  • justice of the peacin'
  • lessun
  • rested
  • seriouser
  • shakedown
  • spellbounded
+ Added one post to Peabody's Peabrain.

+ Finished Billboard year 1949 at Billboard OTR Reviews.


©Jimbo 2010/2011

Hodge-podging for a change

Sorry to say: this is me.
Found a nifty little blog the other day, Inside the Head of Jeff Overture.  He's a big Vic and Sade fan and that's how I found his site.  It's worth checking out as he deals with all kinds of nostalgia.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I have been listening to a mess of Suspense episodes the past couple of weeks.  It used to be a daily ritual but I had so much on my daily plate of listening that eventually, it got put aside.

There's no doubt however, that the show is one of the best out there and I'd rank it above the various other radio anthology series, including the later ones.  Funny but Elliott Lewis had in his hand in many of the better anthology series around...

If you saw my recent list of favorite Suspense episodes, try and remember that there are literally dozens of episodes I find unforgettable.  While I did list 15 episodes there are probably 150 plots I remember off the top of my head because the show simply sticks with me.  Scary?  No  But memorable, yes.

The same can't really be said for shows like The Whistler.   I do remember a few plots but they simply pale in comparison to Suspense.

And while episodes of Escape! are memorable there are only a few that I can distinguish as being Escape! and not some other show.   Suspense had an air of authority behind their stories, whether it's the voice of announcer Larry Thor I remember or the opening theme by Bernard Herrmann or the quality in production of the whole thing.

You know you have good stuff on your blog when people steal from you...

There are some things I wish existed that don't seem to exist. One thing, I'd love to see a film of Fanny Brice doing her Baby Snooks thing. But I've looked and looked and there doesn't seem to be such a film around.

If you are anything like me, once you go to YouTube you find the time flies by. Going on YouTube for me is dangerous. One thing leads to another and another and I realize I have been on YouTube for two hours listening to 13 different renditions of some song I really don't care that much about but are being played by kids that are 8 years old and in most cases doing it better than I did at age 25. Depressing but fun all at the same time. And a time killer/waster.

By tomorrow, I should be done listening to The Six Shooter series. I hate to see it go. I'll try to wait a year and then put it back on my iPod. What a great series that is.

Jimmy Stewart, who was not a great film actor but a good one, is superb in the radio series. The inflections in his voice and the great stories equals one of the very best radio series ever created.

Speaking of great series, I haven't listened to but maybe one of each of Fibber McGee and Molly or the Jack Benny Show in about 4 months. I've really just been too busy. Plus, I've been trying to fix the sound on both series, a monumental task to say the least.

And since I'm on the subject of "monumental tasks" my blog (which you know is really 16-17 blogs) can be a hair-puller. There are never enough hours in the day, I take on too much, some of the tasks are huge...etc. I realize I bite off more than I can chew but it keeps me busy. Sometimes it does overwhelm me but I tend to pick it back up. One thing that I just can't seem to work on is OTR People. You talk about "monumental" that my friends, is the definition of the word.

I have ideas for other blogs but I really don't have the time for them. I'd like to break down Bill Stern's Sports Newsreels into segments and find out from the newspapers if the incidents he tells about really happened. I know most are untrue but actually proving or disproving them would be fun. I may start one and see how it goes...but too many ideas, not enough time. I need a team of helpers who will volunteer to work free 27.8 hours a day.


©Jimbo 2010/2011

Strange photo of the day~piggyback

Spike Jones and His City Slickers (1949)

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