I had several request to renew the old westerns podcast. This time it will be under the new heading "Times Past Western Theater". It is handy to subscribe to a podcast and have the new content come automatically to your media player. Would welcome any suggestions for shows to add to the podcast. Leave your suggestions in the comments section below. The new home for the podcast and all the methods to subscribe can be found here. http://timespastwesterns.blogspot.com/
Columbia Workshop was a radio series that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946-47.
The series began as the idea of Irving Reis. Reis had begun his radio career as an engineer and developed a fascination with the possibilities of the relatively new medium. His idea was to use experimental modes of narrative to enhance the way a narrative was conveyed over the radio. Reis had isolated attempts to experiment on the radio: Before the Columbia Workshop's debut, he had directed at least a few radio dramas. For Reis, the Columbia Workshop was a platform for developing new techniques for presentation on radio as noted in the debut broadcast:
Dawn Wells, aka Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island, demonstrates a unique way to peel an Idaho potato...without the use of a potato peeler!
Bold Venture is a 1951-1952 syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions.
Salty seadog Slate Shannon (Bogart) owns a Cuban hotel sheltering an assortment of treasure hunters, revolutionaries and other shady characters. With his sidekick and ward, the sultry Sailor Duval (Bacall), tagging along, he encounters modern-day pirates and other tough situations while navigating the waters around Havana. Aboard his boat, the Bold Venture, Slate and Sailor experience "adventure, intrigue, mystery and romance in the sultry settings of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean."
I have posted the collection I have of Bold Venture. It is the ZIV collection captured in high quality 128-44
You can view here
http://otrarchive.blogspot.com/2009/09/bold-venture.html
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.
The show had a long run, lasting for 14 seasons and 527 episodes. It initially was heard on CBS from January 8, 1939 until June 28, 1948, continuing on NBC from October 7, 1948 until June 29, 1950. It was broadcast on ABC from September 7, 1950 to May 31, 1951 and returned to CBS on March 13, 1952. It aired under several different titles: The Gulf Screen Guild Show, The Gulf Screen Guild Theater, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater and The Camel Screen Guild Theater.
George Murphy hosted the show in 1939. In 1940, Roger Pryor began hosting the show. The show began as a general variety show and later changed formats to include old time radio versions of popular films. It starred most of the big name Hollywood celebrities of the time.
Actors on the series included Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Cantor, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Johnny Mercer, Agnes Moorehead, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore. Fees these actors would typically charge were donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, in order to support the creation and maintenance of the Motion Picture Country Home for retired actors. The series came to an end on CBS June 29, 1952. Visit show page here.
The Legend of Tom Dula shares the history of the song and some ideas about the story from some people who can trace their roots back to the Happy Valley clan and others who have spent their lives fascinated with this obscure murder. Besides sharing some of the hearsay from the testimony and some opinions about who really committed the deed, the program sheds light on Frank Proffitt's involvement in the song, how the Kingston Trio discovered it, and how Frank finally received credit for the Kingston Trio's version of the song. (Folkways)
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Four Star Playhouse aired on radio from NBC on Sunday nights at 8:00 PM for 13 episodes. Premiere episode was on 1949-07-03 and the final episode was 1949-09-25. The series was primarily an anthology type drama. The shows starred Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Loretta Young and Robert Cummings.
The series was brought back as Four Star Playhouse as a television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine.
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.
The radio version ran from 1952 to 1961, and John Dunning writes that among radio drama enthusiasts "Gunsmoke is routinely placed among the best shows of any kind and any time." The television version ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, and still remains the United States' longest-running prime time, live-action drama with 635 episodes.
One of my favorite You Tube Channels that you might enjoy is "The Gunsmoke Channel"
I would like to wish all the members and visitors of Times Past a Merry Christmas. It is a wonderful time.
The Bing Crosby Show from December 20, 1953 on CBS sponsored by General Electric. The first tune is, "Adeste Fideles." Bing concludes with "White Christmas and "Silent Night." Bing Crosby, Ken Carpenter (announcer), John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra, Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires, Bill Morrow (producer, transcriber), Murdo McKenzie (producer, transcriber).
