Radio Shows

[Briggs]

Hello Forum!

On different webpages I was able do download many of those grant Radio Shows. Some however I hear mentioned at the end of the shows, but could/can not find them anywhere. What about "The chicken wagon family" or "Jane Eyre" for example. Does anyone have an idea, if those can be downloaded somewhere? Please, keep in mind, that I live in Germany. Amazon here - to name one shop - does not offer those shows. Help?
Briggster

[Jeff Wilson]

Some are simply lost, or in rare cases, the only remaining copies are held in archives where copies haven't been made for distribution. "The Chicken Wagon Family" is a lost episode, for example. Old time radio has proliferated for easy download on the internet to the extent that if it isn't out there for download, it's probably lost.

[Le Chiffre]

Sadly, I suspect you're right, Jeff, unless as you said they're part of an archive. In addition to the Smithsonian's copy of the FAREWELL TO ARMS broadcast, the University of Michigan's Welles Collection claims to have a copy of THE CHICKEN WAGON FAMILY, but it's on 12-inch acetate disc, and I don't know whether they have access to a machine capable of playing such discs or not.

From the Ann Arbor Welles index:

I ran into a similar problem the last time I was at the Lilly Library (about 10 years ago) and wanted to play the shows from Welles's never-broadcast EVERSHARP radio series. Lilly only has them on reel-to-reel tape, and they don't have a player, or didn't at that time. I bought a cheap used player at a garage sale a couple of years ago and wrote the OW Estate asking for permission to transfer the Eversharp shows to a more modern medium, but I never got a response. These shows deserve better then to gather dust in archives unplayed.

[Jeff Wilson]

Sadly, I suspect you're right, Jeff, unless as you said they're part of an archive. In addition to the Smithsonian's copy of the FAREWELL TO ARMS broadcast, the University of Michigan's Welles Collection claims to have a copy of THE CHICKEN WAGON FAMILY, but it's on 12-inch acetate disc, and I don't know whether they have access to a machine capable of playing such discs or not.

From the Ann Arbor Welles index:

I ran into a similar problem the last time I was at the Lilly Library (about 10 years ago) and wanted to play the shows from Welles's never-broadcast EVERSHARP radio series. Lilly only has them on reel-to-reel tape, and they don't have a player, or didn't at that time. I bought a cheap used player at a garage sale a couple of years ago and wrote the OW Estate asking for permission to transfer the Eversharp shows to a more modern medium, but I never got a response. These shows deserve better then to gather dust in archives unplayed.

Ah, I hadn't seen that listing for the CHICKEN WAGON FAMILY. That's good news. I also ran into the reel-to-reel player problem at the Lilly when doing research, but fortunately a staff member who owned a player brought it in the last day I was there (a Saturday, unfortunately, when their hours are shorter) and I was able to hear some of the EVERSHARP programs. It's ridiculous that this is an issue, given the state of technology these days. What good is having such material when it's literally inaccessible in many cases? It defeats the purpose of being a research institution when you can't use the materials on hand. It certainly makes the Lilly look second rate, which isn't true otherwise.

[Le Chiffre]

Lilly's a great place, but yes, they should have one, specially when you see that many reel-to-reel players can be bought on EBay for less then $100. The only acetate disc player I saw listed on Ebay cost $700. If UM doesn't have one maybe they could contact RandyARiddle, who alerted us to the alternative recording of War of the Worlds he bought on 12-inch 78-rpm discs last ear:

http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/201 ... e-version/

CHICKEN WAGON FAMILY would be an important show to transfer to a newer medium, since it marks the only surviving instance of Welles working with his FIVE KINGS co-star, Burgess Meredith. Wouldn't it be cool if that could be readied and played at one of the Welles celebrations in Woodstock? I'm sure plenty of Welles buffs would love to hear it.

[Roger Ryan]

Since acetates degrade very quickly upon playing, there would need to be a concerted effort to transfer the CHICKEN WAGON FAMILY disc to a more accessible medium professionally, not just allow the existing disc to be played by individuals using an acquired acetate disc player. I'm sure Mike and Jeff already know this, but it makes accessing the program that much more difficult.

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, it should absolutely be done professionally, if they can get permission from the OW Estate. Maybe Radio Archives, who did such a nice job with the Harry Lime radio series, would be interested:

http://www.radioarchives.com/default.asp

Their Lime CD set was reportedly transferred directly from acetate discs.

[Wich2]

Another vet of a Lilly visit here! I furnished a writeup for the FGRA Mercury set:

http://www.radioarchives.com/The_Mercur ... /ra080.htm

(See "Special Features")

And like most of us, I'd hoped it would lead to more; unfortunately, it must not have sold well enough?

My pet cause is a real restoration of the MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS discs. To me, the episode is one of the best of the series - but the discs' conditions are among the worst, reportedly because Welles wore them to death planning the film.

Best,
-Craig

P.S. - And speaking of Hamlet, one of my biggest network radio Want List items beyond Orson, is John Barrymore's 1937 STREAMLINED SHAKESEARE series. Most only exist in the cut 1950 versions, and even those are not in great shape sound-wise. My hope is that someday, priceless audio like this gets the same research and restoration attention that classic film now does. (I know, I know... dream on!)

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks for the info on the new Radio/Mercury set, Craig, as well as the Barrymore Shakespeare series, which I'd never heard of before. Sorry your post got lost in the shuffle. I wish I'd known about this before Christmas. Oh well, it'll still be available next holiday season. Good to see it available in mp3 download as well, and for half the price.

[Wich2]

You're most welcome, Mike! (Though in the interest of accuracy, the Merc set is not new.)

And yes, the Barrymore shows are really special. Jack loved The Bard so that he really rallied for this one, and to me it's some of his last high-quality work.

-Craig

[Le Chiffre]

It's like Welles said, old-time radio is an abandoned mine. One can only wonder how many real gems have been left behind in the dust, waiting to be rediscovered.

[Wich2]

William Gillette as SHERLOCK HOLMES...

The 1933 KING KONG serial...

Lionel Barrymore's 1934 CHRISTMAS CAROL debut...

Brother Jack's 1936 understudy performance as Scrooge...

[Le Chiffre]

Those all sound like they'd be terrific; the Kong audioplay sounds especially interesting, considering what a visual tour-de-force that film is. Of course it also has one of the great soundtracks of the early sound era as well, which makes it comparable in many ways to CITIZEN KANE (I suspect it influenced MACBETH as well). Too bad it's no longer available, but at least the original 1933 radio spot for the film survives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNEHZqbNKw

[tonyw]

I need some feedback here that Roger et al could supply. Reading the latest Wheeler and Woolsey contribution on Facebook, somebody posted a Two Black Crows ad. logo of Mack and Moran. The topic noted that some of Wheeler and Woolsey's competitots were not so good and cited the latter's work in radio and film as one example. Now, in the original version of AMBERSONS a comic routine plays on the phonograph. If this is Mack and Moran, it represents the final cultural degradation of one of the last of the Ambersons and the contrast with the last Ball seen in one of the earlier sequences is very telling.

[Roger Ryan]

I'm not sure of the origins of the exact routine heard on the comedy record in the original closing scene of AMBERSONS, but Welles always referred to it as a "Two Black Crows"-style routine, so it could have originated with Mack & Moran. Joseph Cotten and Norman Foster performed the skit for the film. Welles disliked Foster's voice and wanted Ray Collins to replace him using a "tight vaudevillian voice". No idea if the routine was, indeed, re-recorded prior to the closing boarding house scene being dropped altogether.