Thursday Night - Old Time Radio

it is my great pleasure to present a classic which may seem weighty to some. If you
are wondering “How can they do this in an hour?”, when you arrive, I think your doubts
will be pleasantly appeased by the end of the evening. Here some elaboration is required.
In 1859, Charles Dickens first published A Tale Of Two Cities through the venerable
firm of Chapman and Hall. It is one of two historical novels in the Dickens cannon,
the other being Little Dorian Grey. A Tale Of Two Cities though has probably the
most well known line in English literature. “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times.” It also tells the story of the French peasantry’s uprising and the
beginnings of the French Revolution. The cities in question are London and Paris
and the action starts in 1757 with the fals imprissonment of Dr. Alexandre Manette
in the Bastile. The book is long and while enjoyable it can be a bit cumbersome if
one is not familiar with the Dickens form of prose. But this is not a book discussion.
Let’s jump almost eighty years in the future. For those who have been paying attention
and regularly listening you know my friend Mr Hancik has brought us two Mercury Theater
broadcasts. His Sunday night debut was Treasure Island he then followed that up by
request with Dracula during the Halloween Marathon. If you listened to Treasure Island
you remember Orson Wells saying that next week it would againbe be the best and worst
of times as the theater troupe would be doing A Tale OF Two Cities. On Thursday we
will revissit that third eppisode and dive in to late eighteenth century London and
Paris. We’ll be in the Bastile with Dr. Nanette in court with Sydney Carton and Charles
Darnier and intensely listening as a French aristocracy is brought swiftly under
the guillotine.

Thursday night Radio Out Of The Past adds another presenter to its roster as Rick
Spurgeon from Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, brings his Radio Renaissance series to
us.
Leading off will be “The Royal Treatment”, a 1957 episode from The F. B. I. In Peace
And War.
Then we make a 180 degree turm as we switch to a 1935 episode of Fibber McGee And
Molly in which the McGees meet Wistful Vista for the first time.

We enter the land of make believe as we discuss and play Lets pretend produced by
Nila Mack and starring such great people as uncle Bill Adams, Arthur Anderson,Gwen
Davies, Albert Allie and jack Grimes to mention but a few. This great program started
in the early 30’s to be concluded in the mid 50’s. Joan leonard will review the book
“Lets Pretend written by Arthur Anderson.” We shall then follow her discussion with
two Lets pretend programs.

Once again it is time to join yesterday once More to listen to two fine Theater Five
programs. Rob hancik will be our Host.

As we resume our stroll down Memory Lane we will continue with the Crime Fighters
series. First we will visit our local neighborhood police station and check out the
“Police Blotter” from June 8th, 1956 the show titled Homicide by Hurricane. When
a researcher is found dead in an airport wind tunnel, suicide is suspected, but was
it? Then we’ll visit the rather lighthearted crime-fighting duo of Pam and Jerry
North and hear the episode titled “The Letter” from October 6th, 1943. Can the North’s
prove their friend didn’t commit murder and get him off?

Presented by Joy Jackson. Reaching into the vaults, I chose a couple of shows that
star some familiar people in unfamiliar shows. “Much Ado about Doolittle” was a family
comedy starring none other than Hans Conreid as Col. Doolittle, as he calls himself.
This episode is “Get a Job”–something Mr. Doolittle’s wife would like him to do.
But he’s more than a little allergic to the idea. It’s from March 23, 1950.
My second show is a mystery/suspense called “O’Hara” starring Jack Moyles in the
title role. Adventures of a free-lance foreign correspondent in the far reaches of
the world. This episode is “The Judas Face”. If’s from July 22, 1951.

Rob Hancik presented two episodes of The Witches Tale.

Kelly Sapergia of Moose jaw,Saskatchewan, Canada wil be our Presenter for the evening.
He will play a George Burns and Gracie Allen show called “Gracie Adopts Micky Rooney,”
and a show from Hall of Fantasy called “The Man from the Second Earth.”

Next time on Memory Lane: First up will be an episode of Broadway Is My Beat titled
“Peggy Warner,” the story of a young woman found dying in an alley from poison. Was
it an accident or murder? From Feb 7, 1953. Then we will listen to The Bishop And
The Gargoyle episode from July 14, 1940 a story title “The Jennifer Botts Case.”
A young woman visiting New York from a small town in Illinois is robbed of all of
her money, kidnapped, and winds up recovering a missing ruby. So, pour yourself a
glass of iced tea, sit back, relax , and enjoy the show.