From Those Were the Days:

1937 - Mutual Radio debuted The Goodwill Hour, with its familiar phrase, “You have a friend and advisor in John J. Anthony.” (No names, please...)

1942 - The American Federation of Musicians went on strike. Union president James C. Petrillo told musicians that phonograph records were “a threat to members’ jobs.” As a result, musicians refused to perform in recording sessions over the next several months. Live, musical radio broadcasts continued, however (not to mention a wellspring of "Petrillo" gags).
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Credit where credit is due

I want to thank Bill Crider for his note in the comments that explains how Frank Denton (a.k.a. the Rogue Raven) stumbled onto the blog, and I should apologize for not singling Bill out earlier for doing his part to promote Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. Bill’s blog is extremely well-written—with lots of great tidbits on movies and mystery novels, and I think it would be well worth your time to go over and check it out—he linked to an interesting Roger Ebert article about Out of the Past (1947) not too long ago, and I thank him for doing so; it was a jolly good read.

First Generation Radio Archives has just announced their latest Premier Collection: Volume 2 of The Old Gold Comedy Theater, a 1944-45 comedy anthology series that was hosted by one of the funniest men to ever walk the planet—Harold Lloyd. FGRA offered Volume 1 a month or two back, so if you’re interested in getting an opportunity to own a near complete set of uncirculated broadcasts (you can buy both sets for $45, good until the end of August) you really should sign on the dotted line and become a member today. I must guiltily confess that I’m a bit behind on listening to the FGRA material, but I hope to rectify that tonight when I’m at work, because Sundays are usually pretty slow and that’ll give me a chance to listen to a couple and let you know what I think. (I’ve also got to sample the recent Birds Eye Open House collection, so I’ll let that be a Monday project.)

Finally, I thought I would give you a heads-up on a couple of DVDs of interest; Sony Music will release Season 2 of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends at the end of this month. This classic cartoon series—prima facie evidence that you can produce a show with bare-bones animation but falling-down funny scripts and appeal to both kids and adults—is particularly noteworthy in that it supplied employment for OTR actors like William Conrad, Walter Tetley, Paul Frees, June Foray and Daws Butler. (There are those who say that had I not been exposed to Moose and Squirrel in my formative years I might have turned out a model citizen.) To supplement this release, VCI is showcasing a neglected series (created and produced by Jay Ward also), Fractured Flickers—a show hosted by Hans Conried and featuring wacky dialogue welded to scenes from classic silent movies. (I caught a few of these shows when it was on The Comedy Channel—before it and HA! were merged into what we now know as Comedy Central—and it’s wonderfully funny stuff.) I had to order the Rocky and Bullwinkle stuff, of course—but I threw in the Fractured Flickers DVD for completist’s sake.

And a quick update for classic TV fans—Paramount’s street date for the first seasons on DVD of The Andy Griffith Show and Taxi is October 12th.
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Across the Deadline

As we pick up with Chapter 8 of Mandrake the Magician, we find that our hero did manage to escape his peril from plummeting to his “certain death” by leaping from the cable car before its cable snapped. He makes it back to where Lothar and Webster are duking it out with the bad guys—there are four of them, but for some reason when Mandrake joins his friends, the bad dudes scatter like roaches to the safety of their roadster. (Honestly, fellas—I’ve seen Mandrake fight…I’m pretty sure you could take him.)

So the thugs are zipping through the canyon with Mandrake and company in hot pursuit. One of the henchmen steps out of the car, and scurries up a hill to where a dynamite plunger is waiting—BOOM! he sets off 40 tons of gravel and rock to come down on Mandrake’s car, but…they emerge unscathed! Mandrake even says to Lothar, “Lucky escape, Lothar…swell driving, too.” (Lothar’s got to be thinking by this time: “I wonder if I could get my job back at the restaurant…”)

Now, don’t get me wrong—Mandrake the Magician is irresistibly goofy and fun to watch; these classic serials usually are. But he’s really starting to get on my nerves—he’s just a little too smug. (I’m kinda rooting for the Wasp, to be honest.) The Wasp’s men are at Mandrake Manor, trying to plant another bug in his phone when Mr. Magic arrives on the scene and foils their nefarious plans—they make tracks across his lawn and scamper over a small fence, which kind of makes me wonder why Mandrake has a security system (he lives in what we would now call a gated community) if the villains can escape with relative ease.

Meanwhile, back at Wasp Industries—the CEO is a bit miffed. Dirk does stick his neck out to defend the guys, but the Wasp waves him off: “I know the excuses. That’s all I’ve been getting lately. But what remains to be done must not be bungled. (There you go—motivate ‘em!) I must have platinite for a perfect radium machine.” (Why the Wasp didn’t have those "bunglers" steal the platinite from Mandrake and Webster in the last chapter instead of destroying telephone poles kinda goes unexplained. In fact, what is his deal with beating up on utilities, anyway? Was he scarred in childhood by a cutthroat game of Monopoly?)

Mandrake and Lothar head back to the canyon for more "platinite"…and discover that Webster has already located some. He makes some lame excuse about needing to go and get some equipment, so he vamooses and then there’s a cut to the Wasp giving Dirk and thug Brogan (Dick Curtis) their marching orders. Now, I know what’s going on here—they’re trying to make me think that Webster—as played by Kenneth MacDonald—is the Wasp in disguise, and I must protest in the strongest possible terms. (Give him a break; a guy gets a reputation for swindling Moe, Larry and Curly in a few shorts and it follows him around forever.)

Anyway, this chapter wraps up with the Wasp destroying a dam and as Mandrake and Lothar struggle to make it to safety, it appears that they have been swept away by the powerful current…or have they?

Tomorrow: Chapter 9 – “Terror Rides the Rails”!
12:17:27 PM    comment []  trackback []