Season Three of Old-Time Radio Essentials continues! This time it's Paul's pick -- and he's rooted around until he found a real "gem" for us to enjoy and discuss.
And since we're on the subject of discussion, we hope to determine whether this entry meets the following criteria:
1. Is it truly representative of that series? (Can anyone point to it and say, "Yes, that is what [NAME OF SERIES] was all about.")
2. Is it an episode worthy of inclusion in any and every OTR aficionado's private collection?
So with this in mind, we three bring you, as our thirty-first number (but 6th official episode of S3), this episode of Philo Vance, from 10/12/48. We'll introduce the show, play it in its entirety, then discuss it at length. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you enjoy it!
Please show your support of the podcast by doing any of the following!
To comment on how we might improve OTR-E, or give suggestions for future discussions, please write to us at f6point3@gmail.com . Put the word "Essentials" in the subject line.
Your feedback means a lot to us! A review at iTunes or at your usual podcatcher would be appreciated.
Next Time: An episode of Lux Radio Theatre!
Originally released 5/29/20. Transcribed live from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennesee, and Texas... Project Audion presents a recreation of the 1937 Columbia Workshop broadcast of "R.U.R: Rossum's Universal Robots."
Pete Lutz of Narada Radio Company, director of this re-creation, says this about his choice of show: "I love the historical sense of the story. Here's Carel Kapek, in 1920 or '21, foreseeing A.I., prophesying humans' dependence on technology. Of course, robots themselves, thank the gods, haven't been perfected to the same extent. But there are so many wonderful elements in the story: all the men on the island are in love with Helena, and this unrequited love felt by Dr. Gall leads to their downfall. The robots evolve in different ways, though: some become murderous, yet two show more humane tendencies: love, compassion, sacrifice. I first heard the BBC's radio adaptation of this, which was about two hours long. Then I found the script we use here and felt that the main points of the story were covered sufficiently in a half-hour. It's exciting, dramatic, and sentimental. Columbia Workshop had geniuses working for them."
Project Audion is a collection of voice actors from across North America who are recreating classic shows from Radio's Golden Age via videoconference .
(Orig. launch date 7/24/20) Project Audion presents our recreation of an episode of Screen Guild Theatre, AKA Hollywood Soundstage. "The Ox-Bow Incident" was a best-selling book in 1940, a blockbuster Western movie in 1943, and adapted for the Screen Guild Theatre radio show no less than three times. Our version is from 1952. It's a story of vengeance and violence -- a gritty look at a group of men who turned into a mob.
"The Ox-Bow Incident" was directed by Pete Lutz / Corpus Christi, Texas and produced by Larry Groebe / Grapevine, Texas, and used a coast-to-coast cast of 14 people situated from Nova Scotia to San Francisco:
Paul Arbisi / Peoria, Illinois
John Bell / Alabaster, Alabama
Denise Cline / Nicholasville, Kentucky
Norman Cline / Nicholasville, Kentucky
Dana Gonsalves / Corpus Christi, Texas
John Mauldin / Nashville, Tennessee
Chris Messersmith / Dallas Texas
Ken Raney / Arlington, Texas
Carl Thomas / Rockport, Texas
Lothar Tuppan / San Francisco, California
Jack Ward / Halifax, Nova Scotia
Angela Young / Palm Coast, Florida
(Orig. launch date 5/7/21) Project Audion's 2nd season begins like our first season, with an episode of the classic radio drama Suspense. "Pearls are a Nuisance", aired on CBS 4/20/50, is a satirical detective drama based on a story by Raymond Chandler, which starred Ray Milland. Walter Gage is trying to track down some stolen pearls, and must call upon a gentleman of dubious morals to help him.
Our transcribed-live drama includes voice actors from California all the way to England:
Joe Mendell (UK) – Announcer
Pete Lutz (TX) - Harlow Wilcox, Henry
Doug Fain (TX) - Walter
Rhiannon McAfee (CA) - Ellen
Angela Young (FL) - Dora, Teller
Greg McAfee (CA) - Mr. Gallemore, Voice
Dana Gonsalves (TX) - Manager, Scandesi
Mr. Lutz directed, while Larry Groebe handled production and sound.
This latest Project Audion vintage radio recreation (orig. rel. 4/8/22) is an hour-long dramatization of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four...which was originally produced in August 1949, just months after the book, to great acclaim, was released. NBC University Theater adapted this scathing vision of a possible future where "Freedom is Slavery" and "Big Brother is watching you." Big Brother is part of our cultural currency now, but in 1949, "1984" was a new and daring novel, and this early audio adaptation feels fresh - and still terrifying.
WINSTON SMITH: Dana Gonsalves, TX
ANNOUNCER: John Bell, AL
O'BRIEN: Les Marsden, CA
JULIA: Jesirae Kesler, TX
MR. PARSONS & OTHERS: Tom Konkle, CA
MR. SYME: Jason Johnson, TX
MRS. PARSONS: Rachel Pulliam, MO
ASSORTED VOICES: Jessica Matthews, TX
CHARRINGTON, AMPLEFORTH AND DIRECTION: Pete Lutz, TX
MUSIC/FX/ASSTD. VOICES/PRODUCTION: Larry Groebe, TX