PARNELL THOMAS AND SAM SPADE??
GEEZ, HOW IS SAM SPADE LINKED with Parnell Thomas?? Spade was the classic sleuth of The Maltese Falcon, The Kandy Tooth Caper, and numerous other adventures, 1946–1951, recounted these days … Continue reading
RADIO COMEDICS—IN COMEDIES AND ELSEWHERE
I WATCH VERY LITTLE NEWLY PRODUCED TV, and in particular no sit-coms. For one thing, I find canned laughter annoying. On the other hand, I am an enthusiast of SiriusXM … Continue reading
CELEBRATING PEGGY WEBBER
WHAT DOES JOE FRIDAY’S mother have in common with Orson Welles’ Lady Macduff? They were portrayed by the same talented actress, Peggy Webber. What’s more, she’s founder and continues to … Continue reading
GASOLINE RATIONING AND OLD-TIME RADIO PART 1
MY INSPIRATIONS for tidbits about World War II rationing came from several sources. Reading a social history gave “Eating Brit-Style, the 1940s,” an Anglo flavor of WWII culinary matters. And … Continue reading
THE ADVENTURE OF FATS WALLER AND BOSTON BLACKIE
JAZZ PIANIST and composer Fats Waller wrote perhaps 400 songs, among them “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” “Ain’t Misbehavin,” and “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” Boston … Continue reading
ROMANCE OF THE SABRE-TOOTH CAT
LA BREA Tar Pits of 12,000 years ago are linked to a 1942 Romance of the Ranchos radio program and also to The New York Times published only yesterday. The … Continue reading
PEG LYNCH, THE DRUMMER, ALGEBRA AND THE HUMOR OF MARRIED LIFE
PEG LYNCH, PLAYING THE wife in radio’s The Couple Next Door, was the spiritual godmother of Tina Fey. Lynch’s warm and gentle comedic writing and acting are recurring pleasures to … Continue reading
MEDITATIONS ON CBS RADIO WORKSHOP
THE CBS RADIO WORKSHOP teamed famed journalist Edward R. Murrow and other commentators with the music of Norman Dello Joio in an epic broadcast on June 23, 1957. Murrow opened … Continue reading
LULUS ON MY MIND
I SEEM to be encountering an inordinate number of Lulus in my life. SiriusXM “Radio Classics” just broadcast “Too Many Crooks,” a segment of Orson Welles’ The Lives of Harry … Continue reading
PHILIP MARLOWE—SHAMUS EXTRAORDINAIRE
RAYMOND CHANDLER’S Philip Marlowe is almost as real to me as the real Sherlock Holmes. An epitome of the hardboiled detective, Philip Marlowe has been portrayed by Humphrey Bogart, Dick … Continue reading
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