Dramatist Ian Martin, who has adapted seven plays by William Shakespeare for consecutive daily presentation on the CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER, starting Monday, April 19, was asked the other day why he had changed the plays’ titles.

“Even though each of the plays is basically Shakespeare,” he replied, “ I’ve had to compress them enormously to fit the 53-minute format of
MYSTERY THEATER . The story is there, virtually all of the well-remembered phrases are there, the characters are there, a lot of the poetry is there, but it would still be unfair, especially to the purists, to use Shakespeare’s titles for these adaptations. I hope I’ve made each play easily understandable and that when people hear them on
MYSTERY THEATER  they will say, ’Gee, that’s a great story and I’m sure that if I went now and saw it in the theater I’d get a lot more out of it’.”

In retitling the plays, Martin has either used lines from the dialogue or made up his own. “’The Assassination’ is an obvious title for ‘Julius Caesar’,” he said. “’Murder Most Foul’ is, of course, Macbeth’s own line. ‘The Love Song of Death’ is my own title for ‘Romeo and Juliet’ because I couldn’t find something in the text that

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“TUM de Dumdum, Tum de Dum Dum DUMMM!”

http://www.otrcat.net/otr6/Dragnet-501221-E080-Twentytwo-Rifle-For-Christmas-OTRCAT.com.mp3

The old mission church, the oldest in Los Angeles, is attended mostly by the poor Mexican families in the area. Several years ago the parishioners took a collection and purchased a nativity scene that had been displayed in the church every year. The Baby Jesus from the display is missing on December 24^th. Father Rojas explains to Sgt. Friday and his partner Frank Smith that the baby Jesus is the only one that many of the people had ever known. With less than twenty four hours before the first Christmas mass, Friday doesn’t hold much hope they will find the thief, but he does his best. Other cases are unfolding, but this is important to Friday. They interview the altar boys, and check out the local religious supply stores with little success. They do find a suspect, but his alibi that he is preparing for a Christmas program for down-and-outers checks out. Finally the detectives are forced to tell the Father that they cannot find the statue in time for the Christmas mass, but they will continue through the following week.

As they are speaking to the padre, the doors to the church open, and a young boy pulling a shiny red wagon comes in. Riding in the wagon is the baby Jesus. Young Paquito Mendoza haltingly explains to the Father in Spanish that for years he has prayed for a red wagon for Christmas. This year in his prayers he has promised that if he gets his wagon, he will take Baby Jesus for the first ride. As the statue is lovingly replaced Father Rojas explains that the local firemen refurbish toys for poor children, and that is where Paquito’s wagon has come from. The Padre says that Paquito’s family is very poor. There is not a dry eye around the radio when Sgt. Friday asks “Are they Father?”

Both of these Christmas Radio Shows would be adapted for the small screen when Dragnet came to TV, with “The Big Little Jesus” done in two different versions; first in 1953, then remade using the same script in 1967 as “The Christmas Story.”

http://www.otrcat.net/otr6/Dragnet-561225-e373-Big-Little-Jesus-OTRCAT.com.mp3

1. The Goldbergs
2. Eternal Light
3. Mama Bloom’s Brood

A great read on the subject is Radio and the Jews: The Untold Story of How Radio Influenced America’s Image of Jews, 1920s-1950s By David S. and Susan Siegel.

Enjoy an episode from Mama Bloom’s Brood from 1934 entitled “Mrs Fink Told Off”:

http://www.otrcat.net/otr6/Mama-Blooms-Brood-1934-Mrs-Fink-Told-Off.mp3

On Christmas Eve 1946 becomes special; it is one of the few times the show is broadcast on Christmas Eve.  Teeny, the young girl that Marian plays in addition to Molly has convinced Fibberto fix some broken toys for less fortunate children. Of course toys that are broken become toys that are destroyed when Fibber tries to fix them! To be sure the kids have a good Christmas Fibber spends all of the McGee’s Christmas money on new toys. Teeny, with the help of the King’s Men finishes the show with a lovely rendition of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas.  Enjoy the following Christmas Radio Show:

http://www.fibbermcgeeandmolly.com/mp3/fm461224 Fixing Broken Toys For Needy Children.mp3

This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

In Christmas Radio Show episode from 1941, Fibber is determined not to spend money on a Christmas tree, so on Dec 16 he goes into the woods to cut his own. Of course it turns out that he avoids spending a couple dollars on a tree by losing his watch and hatchet in the snow, plus having to fix the tire on the family car! At this time America has been fighting WWII for less than two weeks, and the changes the war brings is on everyone’s mind.

http://www.fibbermcgeeandmolly.com/mp3/fm411216-0305-Fibber-Cuts-His-Own-Christmas-Tree-OTRCAT.com.mp3

This episode is from Old Time Radio’s Fibber McGee’s Christmas Collection.

The Great Gildersleeve

Christmas Day, 1946 would fall on a Wednesday, the night The Great Gildersleeve was broadcast. And it is going to be a wonderful traditional family Christmas, Except that Gildy has convinced himself that the Bullard’s across the street are having marital problems. Worse, Leroy’s friend Craig Bullard will be forced to spend the holiday alone. Of course Gildersleeve would never spread rumors unless he was absolutely sure, would he?

http://www.greatgildersleeve.org/mp3/GG461225%20Christmas%20Caroling%20at%20Home.mp3

The 1948 season is special with the addition of the “Mystery Baby” plot arc. Christmas that year is going to be extra special with a baby in the house. The Christmas season begins with a mystery as Christmas presents and other treasures begin to disappear from the house. There is fright and confusion, even the Summerfield police department becomes involved. Everyone has forgotten that there is a curious baby in the house…

http://www.greatgildersleeve.org/mp3/GG481222%20Family%20Christmas.mp3

Two week later the family is happily making preparations for the baby’s first Christmas Eve. That is when Judge Hooker presents the baby’s missing father. There won’t be a dry eye around the radio as we hear Gildersleeve say good bye to the Baby that has brought so much joy to his world.

The genuine love and happiness we hear in the Gildersleeve Christmas Radio Shows household makes the holidays even more special for the rest of us.

Comparisons between the two police procedural dramas are interesting. Both shows emphasize the human reality of police work. The sound effects are an important part of both shows, especially the background noise and chatter in the police station and the sounds of automobiles, and police jargon peppers the dialog.

The differences between the two programs are compelling. 21^St Precinct takes place in Manhattan, where as Dragnet is very much a part of the 50′s west coast scene of Los Angeles. Twenty First Precinct is seen through the eyes of the precinct captain, and so gives us an overview of the entire precinct’s business. While a single case is the focus of each episode, we also hear the captain’s distractions as different cases and police business are thrown in.

Dragnet focuses on the work of a single police detective sergeant and his partner. The partners serve in the various divisions of the department, thereby giving us a glimpse of many different facets of police work. We also are allowed brief looks into the personal lives of Sgt.s Friday and Romero, which are not part of the plot, but help to make the characters more real.

Although Dragnet makes more use of dramatic devices, the very recognizable theme music and “the names have been changed” disclaimer, Jack Webb managed to create a much more realistic feeling program. This is due to the gritty feel of the program, and Webb’s portrayal of Friday as a “cops cop”, tough but not hard, conservative but fair and understanding.

21^st Precinct lacks the “grab the audience by the throat” quality of Dragnet , but the stories, based on real events, are very well written and performed. In addition to being great police drama, 21^st Precinct also gives us a good aural picture of Manhattan in the 50s.

http://www.otrcat.com/otr6/21st_precinct_540120_the_visitors_otrcat.com_.mp3

On November 29, 1943, the show became known as, The Voice of Firestone, which coincided with its television premier on a New York television station. The “voice” of the new televised format focused more on documentary and commentary than its radio broadcast version. Firestone supported and promoted several national organizations on its show. In 1944, the NBC television network began televising the program to a nationwide audience. This series aired until 1947.

The Voice of Firestone continued to evolve and by 1949, the NBC network once again picked up the show. This time, the televised program aired simultaneously with its radio broadcast. Unfortunately, the televised series was less successful than its radio counterpart was. Mixed reviews and low ratings resulted in NBC wanting to remove the show from its prime time line-up; however, Firestone executives refused and the show was acquired by the ABC network in 1954. Radio broadcasting continued until 1956, while the televised show aired until its cancellation by ABC in 1959. Many viewers protested against the cancellation, citing that television lacked high quality programs. The program was revived in 1962, but it was cancelled within a year.

This is one of the few remaining recordings of the musical series from 1953:

One of radio’s great artistic voices was silenced today, October 18, 2011 at the age of 101. Norman Corwin is widely regarded as the “Poet Laureate” of Radio. Perhaps no writer since Shakespeare used as much skill crafting the spoken word.

Corwin had worked as a newspaper reporter and in independent radio before coming to CBS in 1936. An early success was Norman Corwin’s Words Without Music. This was the first time a writer’s name had been featured in the title of a radio program. The program gave us “the Plot to Overthrow Christmas”, a fanciful piece done in rhyme which became a CBS Christmas tradition.

Recognizing the value of their rising star, CBS turned over the resources of the Columbia Workshop to Corwin for a period of 6 months. The Columbia Workshop was conceived to expand the possibilities of the radio medium. The “26 by Corwin” were broadcast without sponsorship and no creative interference from the network. Given his journalistic interest in events, it must have been hard for Corwin to move on other projects less than a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

However it was to be a marvelous project; Corwin’s “We Hold These Truths”. The US government commissioned a program to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. Norman Corwin would write and produce the program which would be broadcast simultaneously on the four major radio networks. Major Hollywood movie and radio talent would be featured along with the national anthem conducted by Leopold Stokowski. President Franklin D. Roosevelt would be be call upon to provide the closing remarks.

http://otrcat.net/otr6/We-Hold-These-Truths-411215-Norman-Corwin-OTRCAT.com.mp3

While Corwin was engrossed in writing while traveling on a cross country train when he remembered there was to be a rebroadcast of one of his shows. In those days it was common to rent radios on trains. When he asked the porter to get him one, the porter stared aghast. “Ain’t you heard? You can’t get a radio today, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor!” Corwin was no longer sure that “We Hold These Truths” would still go on as planned, but the word came down from the President himself. With less than a week to handle rewrites, the program was now thought to be more important than ever.

CBS sent Corwin to London soon afterwards to gave Americans the view of the British people who were already facing the horrors of war An American in England. When he returned Stateside he continued to write both light and serious feature for Columbia Presents Corwin as well as 13 of the scripts for the multi-network broadcast This is War.  His wartime masterpiece would be On a Note of Triumph. Intended as a moral booster to the troops as the war seemed to be winding down, Corwin was told to hurry the project because victory in Europe could come at any time. The program was heard by an estimated 60 million listeners.

After the war Corwin was the first to receive the One World Award. As part of the prize he was given a flight around the world, and he took with him a sound technician and 225 pounds of recording equipment. His recordings were transcribed into 3700 pages and used for a thirteen part documentary series, One World Flight.

During the 50s Corwin wrote a number of screenplays, including “Lust for Life” (1956) which received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

During the 90′s he returned to radio, producing a number of plays for NPR, and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993. He lectured at the USC school of Journalism as a guest professor. He celebrated his 101^st birthday on May 4, 2011.

Good Night Norman. And thank you.