Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

On A Trip To Yosemite (Aired February 4, 1940) Benny had been only a minor vaudeville performer, but he became a national figure with The Jack Benny Program, a weekly radio show which ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS, and was consistently among the most highly rated programs during most of that run. With Canada Dry Ginger Ale as a sponsor, Benny came to radio on The Canada Dry Program, beginning May 2, 1932, on the NBC Blue Network and continuing there for six months until October 26, moving the show to CBS on October 30. With Ted Weems leading the band, Benny stayed on CBS until January 26, 1933. Arriving at NBC on March 17, Benny did The Chevrolet Program until April 1, 1934. He continued with sponsors General Tires, Jell-O and Grape Nuts. Lucky Strike was the radio sponsor from 1944 to the mid-1950s. The show returned to CBS on January 2, 1949, as part of CBS president William S. Paley's notorious "raid" of NBC talent in 1948-49. There it stayed for the remainder of its radio run, which ended on May 22, 1955. CBS aired reruns of old radio episodes from 1956 to 1958 as The Best of Benny. THIS EPISODE: February 4, 1940. Red network. Sponsored by: Jell-O. Jack and the gang are back from a March of Dimes Benefit in Oakland California and are now "On A Trip To Yosemite." for the winter sports. Jack Benny, Eddie Anderson, Don Wilson, Phil Harris and His Orchestra, Dennis Day, Mary Livingstone, Ed Beloin (writer, performer), Mary Kelly, Hilliard Marks, Blanche Stewart (doubles), Bill Morrow (writer). 29:23.

The Green Goddess (02-10-39) The Campbell Playhouse was a sponsored continuation of the Mercury Theater on the Air, a direct result of the instant publicity from the War of the Worlds panic. The switch occurred on December 9, 1938. In spite of using the same creative staff, the show had a different flavor under sponsorship, partially attributed to a guest star policy in place, which relegated the rest of the Mercury Players to supporting cast for Orson Welles and the Hollywood guest of the week. There was a growing schism between Welles, still reaping the rewards of his Halloween night notoriety, and his collaborator John Houseman, still in the producer's chair but feeling more like an employee than a partner. The writer, as during the unsponsored run, was Howard Koch. THIS EPISODE: February 10, 1939. CBS network. "The Green Goddess". Sponsored by: Campbell's Soup. Excellent story about three Englishmen whose plane is wrecked in an isolated Himalayan Kingdom, where they face an impending and horrible doom. Alfred Shirley, Bernard Herrmann (composer, conductor), Edgar Barrier, Ernest Chappell (announcer), Eustace Wyatt, Madeleine Carroll, Morris Ankrum, Orson Welles (host), Ray Collins (narrator), Robert Spaeth. 57:27. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Hot Box (Aired December 26, 1948) Alan Ladd is aided by most of the better detective genre voice talent of the era, which gives the program the requisite atmosphere for the genre. Alan Ladd bankrolled the production himself under his Mayfair Transcription Company and clearly spared little expense creating a production up to his demanding standards. With radio actors of the versatility of Betty Lou Gerson, Paul Frees, Gerald Mohr, Herb Vigran, Joe Kearns, Ed Begley and Frank Lovejoy, Ladd guaranteed that the characterizations and tone of all 52 episodes would maintain the highest standards. Ladd's Production Supervisor was Vern Carstensen, a veteran of several equally well mounted detective genre productions of the era. Rudy Schrager's musical compositions and direction are a refreshing and effective atmospheric alternative to the often overbearing organ music so common to the genre. It also lends itself to the softer delivery of Alan Ladd's protagonist. Show Notes From The Digital Deli. THIS EPISODE: December 26, 1948. Program #19. Mutual network origination, Mayfair syndication. "Hot Box". Commercials added locally. Dan is paid to buy a wooden box at an auction. Several people want it very badly Alan Ladd, Richard Sanville (director), Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Russell Hughes (writer), Sylvia Picker, Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 26:51. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Nobody Ever Quits (Aired March 8, 1955) Suspense was actually spawned from another series called Forecast. The 1940 horror show was entitled Suspense and it was based on the Marie Belloc Lowndes' short Jack-the-Ripper novella, The Lodger. It was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, who had made a 1926 silent film based on the same story (Grams, 1997, 3). Its subtle ending generated a large volume of mail which convinced CBS executives that they had a strong market. Two years later, Suspense was aired. It became one of radio's longest lasting shows, surviving twenty years of consistent success. Show Notes From Radio Horror Hosts. THIS EPISODE: March 8, 1955. CBS network. "Nobody Ever Quits". Sustaining. It's a snowy night atop a mountain, and the leader of the old gang is coming to get the guy who went straight. The story was subsequently produced on "Suspense" (under the title "Night On Red Mountain") on September 15, 1957, January 11, 1959 (see cat. #110886) and November 20, 1960 (see cat. #40965). Peter Leeds, Jack Kruschen, Bill Anders, Antony Ellis (producer, director), Lucien Moraweck (composer), Tom McKee, William N. Robson (writer), Lud Gluskin (conductor), Joyce McCluskey, Larry Thor, Victor Rodman, Irene Barton, Jan Marlowe, Rene Barton, Larry Thor (announcer). 24:48. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Gordon Mallory's Lead Poisoning (Aired June 8, 1950) In the summer of 1949, MGM reunited Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore to record the radio series, The Story of Dr. Kildare, scripted by Les Crutchfield, Jean Holloway and others. After broadcasts on WMGM New York from February 1, 1950 to August 3, 1951, the series was syndicated to other stations during the 1950s. The supporting cast included Ted Osborne as hospital administrator Dr. Carough, Jane Webb as nurse Mary Lamont and Virginia Gregg as Nurse Parker, labeled "Nosy Parker" by Gillespie, with appearances by William Conrad, Stacy Harris, Jay Novello, Isabel Jewell and Jack Webb. THIS EPISODE: June 8, 1950. "Gordon Mallory's Lead Poisoning". Program #20. MGM syndication. Commercials added locally. Gordon Mallory is a construction worker who is suffering from lead poisoning. Then a second worker develops the same symptoms. How did they contract the disease? The closing theme has been deleted. Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Tony Barrett, Dick Joy (announcer), Jean Holloway (writer), William P. Rousseau (director), Walter Schumann (composer, conductor), Eleanor Audley, Ted Osborne, Dick Simmons, Jack Petruzzi, Lillian Buyeff, Max Brand (creator), Raymond Katz (producer). 27:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Grand Prize (Aired July 12, 1974) The Zero Hour (aka Hollywood Radio Theater) was a 1973-74 radio drama anthology series hosted by Rod Serling. With tales of mystery, adventure and suspense, the program aired in stereo for two seasons. Some of the scripts were written by Serling. Originally placed into syndication on September 3, 1973, the series was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System in December of that year. The original format featured five-part dramas broadcast Monday through Friday with the story coming to a conclusion on Friday. Including commercials, each part was approximately 30 minutes long. Mutual affiliates could broadcast the series in any time slot that they wished. In 1974, still airing five days a week, the program changed to a full story in a single 30-minute installment with the same actor starring throughout the week in all five programs. That format was employed from late April 1974 to the end of the series on July 26, 1974.

The Soul Of The Great Bell (Aired September 1, 1944) Author's Playhouse was an anthology radio drama series, created by Wynn Wright, that aired on the NBC Blue Network from March 5, 1941 until October 1941. It then moved to the NBC Red Network where it was heard until June 4, 1945. Philip Morris was the sponsor in 1942-43. Premiering with "Elementals" by Stephen Vincent Benét, the series featured adaptations of stories by famous authors, such as “Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobbies” by Nelson Bond, "The Snow Goose" by Paul Gallico, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, "The Piano" by William Saroyan and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. Cast members included Curley Bradley, John Hodiak, Marvin Miller, Nelson Olmsted, Fern Persons, Olan Soule and Les Tremayne. Orchestra conductors for the program were Joseph Gallicchio, Rex Maupin and Roy Shield. Directors included Norman Felton, Homer Heck and Fred Weihe. The series was a precursor to several NBC radio programs of the late 1940s and early 1950s: The World's Great Novels, NBC Presents: Short Story and The NBC University Theater. THIS EPISODE: September 1, 1944. NBC network. "The Soul Of The Great Bell". Sustaining. A famous tale of old China. A bellmaster is ordered by the Emperor to cast a huge bell, and his first two attempts fail. Lafcadio Herne (author). 28:41. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

A Matter Of Identity (Aired March 5, 1980) The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT) was an ambitious and sustained attempt to revive the great drama of old-time radio in the 1970s. Created by Himan Brown (who had by then become a radio legend due to his work on Inner Sanctum Mysteries and other shows dating back to the 1930s), and aired on affiliate stations across the CBS Radio network, the series began its long run on January 6, 1974. The final episode ran on December 31, 1982. The show was broadcast nightly and ran for one hour, including commercials. Typically, a week consisted of three to four new episodes, with the remainder of the week filled out with reruns. There were a total of 1399 original episodes broadcast. The total number of broadcasts, including reruns, was 2969. The late E.G. Marshall hosted the program every year but the final one, when actress Tammy Grimes took over. Actors were paid union scale at around $73.92 per show. Writers earned a flat rate of $350.00 per show. The production took place with assembly-line precision. Brown would meet with actors at 9:00 AM for the first reading of the script. He would then assign roles and recording would begin. By noon the recording of the actors was complete and Brown handed everyone their checks.

Murder In The Death House (Aired September 10, 1945) The British Hero Bulldog Drummond is a fictional character created by H. C. McNeile, as the hard boiled no nonsense-style detective. The stories followed Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, D.S.O., M.C., a wealthy former WWI officer of the Loamshire Regiment, who, after the war, spends his new-found leisure time as a private detective.Drummond is a proto-James Bond figure and was a muscular man with a group of followers who helped him in his adventures. They rounded up crooks and took them to a place only they knew and reformed them. Drummond and his men, the "Black Gang", beat the be jabbers out of the men till they learned their lesson and renounced crime. Join us as we listen to the adventures of this British Detective. THIS EPISODE: September 10, 1945. Mutual network. "Murder In The Death House". Sustaining. A convicted killer is knifed to death in his cell, while awaiting execution. The only two suspects have airtight alibis. 29:07. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Honourable Man (Aired April 17, 1974) 1968 and 1977, and there were a total of eighty episodes spread over nine series, as well as three Christmas specials. Most episodes were also adapted for radio. The show was set in the fictional seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea, on the south coast of England, making the Home Guard the front line of defence against an invasion by the enemy forces across the English Channel, which formed a backdrop to the series. The first episode, The Man and the Hour, began with a scene set in the "present day" of 1968, in which Mainwaring addressed his old platoon as part of the contemporary "I'm Backing Britain" campaign. It was a flash-back to the founding of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon by Mainwaring after he had heard Anthony Eden's 1940 radio broadcast. The final episode, Never Too Old, focused on the wedding of Corporal Jones and Mrs. Fox, which was interrupted as the platoon were put on full invasion alert. The first two series were in black and white. There are three lost episodes from series two. Only film copies made of the episodes from these series survive; copies of series one were made for overseas sales, but there was little interest, so none were made of any series two episodes. The three episodes that exist do so because two were film recorded to show Columbia Pictures executives and another needed to be edited post-production.

The Rocket (Aired January 4, 1952) The Stories of Ray Bradbury is, as the title suggests, an anthology containing 100 short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury and was first published by Knopf in 1980. The hundred stories, written from 1943 to 1980, were selected by the author himself. Bradbury's work had previously been collected in various compilations, such as The Martian Chronicles and The October Country, but never in such a large volume (912 pages) or spanning such a long period of time. Some of the more famous stories in this collection include "The Fog Horn", "The Veldt", "The Day It Rained Forever", "The Small Assassin" and "I Sing the Body Electric!". THIS EPISODE: January 4, 1952. "The Rocket" - NBC Broadcast Network. A poor man who runs a junkyard wants nothing more in life than to travel to Mars...which is just what he does! David DuVal, Don Diamond (producer, host, performer), Dorothy Brown, Ernest Kinoy (adaptor), Joel Nessler, John Wald (announcer), Margaret Brayton, Andrew C. Love (director), Kurt Martell, Ralph Moody, Ray Bradbury (author), Stan Waxman (narrator), William Welch (script editor), Margaret Cuthbert (supervisor of Public Affairs programming), Wade Arnold (executive producer). 29:33. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Zero (Aired February 6, 1950) Broadcast on NBC, Nightbeat ran from 1949 to 1952 and starred Frank Lovejoy as Randy Stone, a tough and streetwise reporter who worked the nightbeat for the Chicago Star looking for human interest stories. He met an assortment of people, most of them with a problem, many of them scared, and sometimes he was able to help them, sometimes he wasn’t. It is generally regarded as a ‘quality’ show and it stands up extremely well. Frank Lovejoy (1914-1962) isn’t remembered today, but he was a powerful and believable actor with a strong delivery, and his portrayal of Randy Stone as tough guy with humanity was perfect. The scripts were excellent, given that they had to pack in a lot in a short time, and there was a good supporting cast, orchestra, and sound effects. THIS EPISODE: February 6, 1950. "Zero" - NBC network. Sustaining. The first show of the series. Phillip Warren is given the wrong medical report and plans to kill himself because the report says that he has a fatal disease. Randy Stone tries to track Mr. Warren down before his planned suicide at midnight. Frank Lovejoy, Peter Leeds, Jeanne Bates, Lawrence Dobkin, Joan Banks, Stacy Harris, Wilms Herbert, Junius Matthews, Russell Hughes (writer), Frank Worth (music), Mary Marcus (editor), Warren Lewis (director). 29:26. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

The Planet Zevius (Aired May 1, 1951) Written and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Kogan, the series began on the Mutual Broadcasting System, December 5, 1943, continuing in many different timeslots until September 16, 1952. Unlike many other shows of the era, The Mysterious Traveler was without a sponsor for its entire run. The lonely sound of a distant locomotive heralded the arrival of the malevolent narrator, portrayed by Maurice Tarplin, who introduced himself each week in the following manner. This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves and be comfortable -- if you can! THIS EPISODE: May 1, 1951. Mutual network. "The Planet Zevius". Sustaining. The ITX4, an experimental spaceship, lands on the Planet Zevius, paving the way for a flight by scientists. David Kogan (writer, producer, director), Maurice Tarplin, Robert A. Arthur (writer). 29:06. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Death In The Pines (Aired March 4, 1944 ) Nick Carter, Master Detective - Nick Carter is the name of a popular fictional detective who first appeared in in a dime novel entitled "The Old Detective's Pupil" on September 18, 1886. In 1915, Nick Carter Weekly became Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. Novels featuring Carter continued to appear through the 1950s, by which time there was also a popular radio show, Nick Carter, Master Detective, which aired on Mutual from 1943 to 1955. Nick Carter first came to radio as The Return of Nick Carter. Then Nick Carter, Master Detective, with Lon Clark in the title role, began April 11, 1943, on Mutual, continuing in many different timeslots for well over a decade. Jock MacGregor was the producer-director of scripts by Alfred Bester, Milton J. Kramer, David Kogan and others. Background music was supplied by organists Hank Sylvern, Lew White and George Wright. Patsy Bowen, Nick's assistant, was portrayed by Helen Choate until mid-1946 and then Charlotte Manson stepped into the role. THIS EPISODE: March 4, 1944. Mutual network. "Death In The Pines," or "The Mystery Of The Murdered Driver". Sustaining. Lon Clark, Helen Choate, John Kane, Humphrey Davis, Jock MacGregor (producer, director, occasional writer), Lew White (musician). 29:20. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.

Moving Day (Aired October 14, 1943) The Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy (1939-1953), is remembered first and foremost for its unforgettable introduction: awkward teen Henry's mother calling, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!" A top-ten ratings hit within two years of its birth (in 1941, the showm carried a 33.4 Crossley rating, landing it solidly alongside Jack Benny and Bob Hope), the show is considered a prototype for teen-oriented situation comedies to follow on radio and television and is a favourite if dated find for old-time radio collectors today. THIS EPISODE: October 14, 1943. Program #33. "Moving Day" - NBC network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. The Anderson's are moving and they've been invited to the Aldrich house for dinner. The Anderson's think they've been invited to stay for 3 days. Notice how many times one of the performers says, "What's That?" Norman Tokar, Dan Seymour (announcer), Clifford Goldsmith (writer), House Jameson, Katharine Raht, Jackie Kelk. 27:55. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.