Breaking Walls

Previously on A Man Named Marlowe:

Los Angeles, 1935. It’s the heart of the Great Depression and Philip Marlowe is broke. He stops into his friend Lou’s automat for a sandwich. Lou tells Marlowe he’s got some work for him to do. It sounds like it’s Marlowe’s lucky day… or is it?

Part 2:

Marlowe gets tailed across town to Bernie Ohl’s house. After leaving Bernie’s he heads up to Big Bear Lake to investigate the cabin Ruth mentioned. There he finds something unspeakably gruesome.

Heard in this episode:

Dan Mountain as Bernie Ohls

James Scully as Philip Marlowe

Closing Song:

Red Sails In The Sunset by Bing Crosby

A Man Named Marlowe is available in the same feed as Breaking Walls. Subscribe on iTunes and everywhere else you get your podcasts by searching for Breaking Walls or at TheWallBreakers.com.

… and if you enjoy A Man Named Marlowe, tune in to Breaking Walls, a documentary series on the history of American Radio Broadcasting. The most recent episode—number 79—chronicles the career of Orson Welles between 1931 and 1941. Both of these shows are available in the same feed, by searching for Breaking Walls wherever you get your podcasts or at TheWallBreakers.com

To support these shows for as little as $1 per month, please go to patreon.com/TheWallBreakers.

Los Angeles, 1935. It’s the heart of the Great Depression and Philip Marlowe is broke. He’s contemplating whether he should pawn his .38, give up his Private Investigator’s license, and find another profession. He stops into his friend Lou’s automat for a sandwich. Lou tells Marlowe he’s got some work for him to do. It sounds like it’s Marlowe’s lucky day… or is it?

Author Raymond Chandler set The Big Sleep, the first of his novels involving famous private detective Philip Marlowe in (then) present-day 1936, but who was Marlowe before The Big Sleep? In A Man Named Marlowe, we’ll find out.

It’s a story with an empowered woman, heinous crimes, back room deals, gruesome murders, hundreds of thousands of dollars of gold, and two long-dead ghosts that teach us heroes can live forever. Premiering May 15th, 2018, a new episode will debut every two weeks for twelve weeks.

Heard in this episode:

Christopher Bradley as Lou Parker

Javan Ivey as Joe Briggs

Nancy Pop as Ruth Moriarity

James Scully as Philip Marlowe

Closing Song:

Can The Circle Be Unbroken by The Carter Family

A Man Named Marlowe is available in the same feed as Breaking Walls. Subscribe on itunes and everywhere else you get your podcasts by searching for Breaking Walls or at TheWallBreakers.com.

… and if you enjoy A Man Named Marlowe, tune in to Breaking Walls, a documentary series on the history of American Radio Broadcasting. The most recent episode—number 79—chronicles the career of Orson Welles between 1931 and 1941. Both of these shows are available in the same feed, by searching for Breaking Walls wherever you get your podcasts or at TheWallBreakers.com

To support these shows for as little as $1 per month, please go to patreon.com/TheWallBreakers.

Nancy Pop’s website is - http://www.nancympop.com … Go check her out! She’s Director of Media and Production at The Theater Collective, and the host of both “SHEbang,” a monthly variety show in New York City featuring an all-female line up of comedians and poets, and "In Cold Read", a monthly playwriting workshop at Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

Los Angeles, 1935. It’s the heart of the Great Depression and Philip Marlowe is broke. He’s contemplating whether he should pawn his .38, give up his Private Investigator’s license, and find another profession. He stops into his friend Lou’s automat for a sandwich. Lou tells Marlowe he’s got some work for him to do. It sounds like it’s Marlowe’s lucky day… or is it?

Author Raymond Chandler set The Big Sleep, the first of his novels involving famous private detective Philip Marlowe in (then) present-day 1936, but who was Marlowe before The Big Sleep? In A Man Named Marlowe, we’ll find out.

It’s a story with an empowered woman, heinous crimes, back room deals, gruesome murders, hundreds of thousands of dollars of gold, and two long-dead ghosts that teach us heroes can live forever. Premiering May 15th, 2018, a new episode will debut every two weeks for twelve weeks.

Heard in this episode:

Christopher Bradley as Lou Parker

Javan Ivey as Joe Briggs

Nancy Pop as Ruth Moriarity

James Scully as Philip Marlowe

Closing Song:

Can The Circle Be Unbroken by The Carter Family

A Man Named Marlowe is available in the same feed as Breaking Walls. Subscribe on itunes and everywhere else you get your podcasts by searching for Breaking Walls or at TheWallBreakers.com.

… and if you enjoy A Man Named Marlowe, tune in to Breaking Walls, a documentary series on the history of American Radio Broadcasting. The most recent episode—number 79—chronicles the career of Orson Welles between 1931 and 1941. Both of these shows are available in the same feed, by searching for Breaking Walls wherever you get your podcasts or at TheWallBreakers.com

To support these shows for as little as $1 per month, please go to patreon.com/TheWallBreakers.

Nancy Pop’s website is - http://www.nancympop.com … Go check her out! She’s Director of Media and Production at The Theater Collective, and the host of both “SHEbang,” a monthly variety show in New York City featuring an all-female line up of comedians and poets, and "In Cold Read", a monthly playwriting workshop at Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 79, we present a detailed look at Orson Welles’ radio career through the end of 1941.

Highlights:

• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson

• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio

• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway

• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time

• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio

• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937


• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow

• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular.

• How it’s success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938

• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups

• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24

• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film

• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941

• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin

• Joseph Cotton introduces Orson to Rita Hayworth

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles by Frank Brady

• This is Orson Welles by Welles and Peter Bogdanovich

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• Discovering Orson Welles by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Other materials included:

• http://www.wellesnet.com - an incredibly comprehensive website on Orson’s career

• Orson Welles on the Air, 1938-1946 at https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu

• The Radio Preservation Task Force also has a great Facebook group headed by Josh Shepperd

Selected Interviews in this episode were:

• Orson Welles with Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and Huw Wheldon,

• Agnes Moorehead and Alan Reed were with radio Hall of Fame Member Chuck Schaden, who interviewed over 200 members of the radio community during his 39 year career. Chuck’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• William Robson was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio in January of 1976 and Kenny Delmare was with John Dunning in 1983. Those interviews can be found at the Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group at Otrrlibrary.org

• William Herz was with Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman in 2013 for their program on the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com.

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 79, we present a detailed look at Orson Welles’ radio career through the end of 1941.

Highlights:

• Beginnings in Illinois and China — How they helped shape Orson

• The Todd Seminary School — His first exposure to theater and Radio

• Connections and Early Breaks — How his mentor Roger Hill, Thornton Wilder, Alexander Woollcott, and Katharine Cornell helped Orson get to Broadway

• Orson meets John Houseman and Archibald MacLeish, and first appears on the March of Time

• 1935-1937 — From the March of Time to the Columbia Workshop, and how Irvin Reis taught Orson how to create for radio

• How the US Government shaped the opportunity for Orson to write, direct, and star in Les Misérables on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1937


• The Shadow Knows! — Agnes Moorehead and Orson Welles’ one season on The Shadow

• The birth of the Mercury Theater on the Air as First Person singular.

• How it’s success led to the most infamous night in radio in October of 1938

• Mainstream success with Campbell’s Soups

• Orson goes to Hollywood, and signs the greatest autonomous film contract in history at 24

• Citizen Kane — How William Randolph Hearst and RKO shaped the film

• Lady Esther Presents — Orson comes back to radio in the autumn of 1941

• Pearl Harbor Day and collaborating with Norman Corwin

• Joseph Cotton introduces Orson to Rita Hayworth

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

• Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

• The Fireside Mystery Theatre

https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• Citizen Welles: A Biography of Orson Welles by Frank Brady

• This is Orson Welles by Welles and Peter Bogdanovich

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• Discovering Orson Welles by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Other materials included:

• http://www.wellesnet.com - an incredibly comprehensive website on Orson’s career

• Orson Welles on the Air, 1938-1946 at https://orsonwelles.indiana.edu

• The Radio Preservation Task Force also has a great Facebook group headed by Josh Shepperd

Selected Interviews in this episode were:

• Orson Welles with Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and Huw Wheldon,

• Agnes Moorehead and Alan Reed were with radio Hall of Fame Member Chuck Schaden, who interviewed over 200 members of the radio community during his 39 year career. Chuck’s interviews can be streamed for free at SpeakingofRadio.com.

• William Robson was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio in January of 1976 and Kenny Delmare was with John Dunning in 1983. Those interviews can be found at the Old Time Radio Researcher’s Group at Otrrlibrary.org

• William Herz was with Walden Hughes and John and Larry Gassman in 2013 for their program on the Yesterday USA Radio Network, which you can visit at http://www.yesterdayusa.com.

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 78, in honor of Major League’s Baseball’s opening day, we present stories, recollections, and in-game sounds from some of baseball’s most memorable moments and people.

Highlights:

• Hear what Jackie Robinson’s Major League Baseball debut on April 15th, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY sounded like

• NY Daily News Columnist Ben Gross recalls the first World Series radio broadcast on WJZ in 1921

• Dizzy Dean and the famed Gas House Gang’s 1930s rivalry with the New York Giants

• Red Barber, Mel Allen and the growth of baseball’s radio broadcasting industry

• Hear Babe Ruth on the radio

• Hear Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech from July 4th, 1939

• Sounds from the 1939 World Series

• Who did Joe McCarthy think was better, Joe Dimaggio or Ted Williams?

• Sounds from the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers

• Bing Crosby calls a Yankee game with Mel Allen

• How a dispute between Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley and NYC Park’s Commissioner Robert Moses caused both the Dodgers and Giants to move to California in 1957

• Jackie Robinson interviews Satchel Paige in 1960

• Phil Rizzuto calls Roger Maris’ 61st home run on October 1, 1961

• Jackie Robinson’s last public appearance in 1972

The WallBreakers:

thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• and countless reference websites for the history of Baseball

Music featured in today’s Episode Included:

• Did you See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball? By Woodrow Buddy Johnson & Count Basie

• Swing into Spring by Benny Goodman

• There Used to be A Ballpark by Frank Sinatra

• Wanted by Perry Como

• The First Baseball Game by Nat King Cole

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 78, in honor of Major League’s Baseball’s opening day, we present stories, recollections, and in-game sounds from some of baseball’s most memorable moments and people.

Highlights:

• Hear what Jackie Robinson’s Major League Baseball debut on April 15th, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY sounded like

• NY Daily News Columnist Ben Gross recalls the first World Series radio broadcast on WJZ in 1921

• Dizzy Dean and the famed Gas House Gang’s 1930s rivalry with the New York Giants

• Red Barber, Mel Allen and the growth of baseball’s radio broadcasting industry

• Hear Babe Ruth on the radio

• Hear Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech from July 4th, 1939

• Sounds from the 1939 World Series

• Who did Joe McCarthy think was better, Joe Dimaggio or Ted Williams?

• Sounds from the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and Brooklyn Dodgers

• Bing Crosby calls a Yankee game with Mel Allen

• How a dispute between Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley and NYC Park’s Commissioner Robert Moses caused both the Dodgers and Giants to move to California in 1957

• Jackie Robinson interviews Satchel Paige in 1960

• Phil Rizzuto calls Roger Maris’ 61st home run on October 1, 1961

• Jackie Robinson’s last public appearance in 1972

The WallBreakers:

thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• and countless reference websites for the history of Baseball

Music featured in today’s Episode Included:

• Did you See Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball? By Woodrow Buddy Johnson & Count Basie

• Swing into Spring by Benny Goodman

• There Used to be A Ballpark by Frank Sinatra

• Wanted by Perry Como

• The First Baseball Game by Nat King Cole

A Special Thank you to:

Christian Neuhaus

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 77 we pick up our story on the history of American radio broadcasting, as a few ramshackle radio stations become large national networks, giving rise to an entire generation of entertainment giants during the roaring 1920s.

Highlights:

• July 2, 1921— Jack Dempsey defends his heavyweight boxing title in front of 80,000 fans as RCA broadcasts the event Closed Circuit to over 300,000 fans. Its the first broadcast of its kind.

• The Radio Craze begins as almost 600 stations sign on in 1922

• Herbert Hoover tries to better organize the radio dial and put small stations out of business

• AT&T’s attempt to monopolize radio broadcasting

• The formation of the National Broadcasting Company

• The Radio Act of 1927

• William S. Paley buys The Columbia Broadcasting System and turns it into a 2nd major network

• Rudy Vallee becomes radio’s first mega-star

• Chicago becomes radio’s 2nd capital

• Hollywood's radio recording rise in the late 1930s

• The Mutual Broadcasting System is formed—The Shadow debuts

• War, once again, comes to Europe

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Rise of Radio, From Marconi through The Golden Age by Alfred Balk

• Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

• Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

• The Network by Scott Woolley

Featured on today’s show were interviews conducted by Dick Bertel and the late Ed Corcoran and numerous others for Westinghouse, CBS, and NBC.

Harold Arlin’s was interviewed by author J. Fred McDonald for his book Don’t Touch That Dial.

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 77 we pick up our story on the history of American radio broadcasting, as a few ramshackle radio stations become large national networks, giving rise to an entire generation of entertainment giants during the roaring 1920s.

Highlights:

• July 2, 1921— Jack Dempsey defends his heavyweight boxing title in front of 80,000 fans as RCA broadcasts the event Closed Circuit to over 300,000 fans. Its the first broadcast of its kind.

• The Radio Craze begins as almost 600 stations sign on in 1922

• Herbert Hoover tries to better organize the radio dial and put small stations out of business

• AT&T’s attempt to monopolize radio broadcasting

• The formation of the National Broadcasting Company

• The Radio Act of 1927

• William S. Paley buys The Columbia Broadcasting System and turns it into a 2nd major network

• Rudy Vallee becomes radio’s first mega-star

• Chicago becomes radio’s 2nd capital

• Hollywood's radio recording rise in the late 1930s

• The Mutual Broadcasting System is formed—The Shadow debuts

• War, once again, comes to Europe

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsors:

• The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

•Twelve Chimes, It’s Midnight

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com

The reading material for today’s episode was:

• The Rise of Radio, From Marconi through The Golden Age by Alfred Balk

• Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

• The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio by John Dunning

• A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

• Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

• The Network by Scott Woolley

Featured on today’s show were interviews conducted by Dick Bertel and the late Ed Corcoran and numerous others for Westinghouse, CBS, and NBC.

Harold Arlin’s was interviewed by author J. Fred McDonald for his book Don’t Touch That Dial.

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/

In Breaking Walls Episode 76, we pick up our story on the history of American dramatic radio after the sinking of the Titanic in April of 1912.

The time between 1912 and 1922 saw three competing interests battle for control of the wireless airwaves as wireless telegraphy transitioned into radio broadcasting. These three interests were big private business, individual HAM radio operators, and the US Government.

Highlights:

• How the Titanic’s Sinking changed Guglielmo Marconi’s business

• The Radio Act of 1912 - What it portended

• Charles Herrold and KCBS San Francisco

• Lee Deforest sells out to AT&T

• Edwin Howard Armstrong invents regeneration, and later the superheterodyne receiver

• War comes to Europe

• The Navy takes over wireless

• How World War I caused radio technology to boom

• AT&T, Westinghouse, General Electric, and the newly formed RCA make a deal

• David Sarnoff’s Rise to power

• KDKA and the birth of regular broadcasting

• Todays’ introduction music of Metamorphosis No. 2 was arranged for harp and vibraphone by David DePeters and played by Elizabeth Hainen. You can pick up her album, Home: Works for Solo Harp on iTunes and Amazon, and listen on Spotify and Pandora. Her website is ElizabethHainen.com and she is on youtube @Elizabethhainenharp

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

Special thanks to our Sponsor The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/

The reading material for today’s episode was:

Inventing American Broadcasting 1899-1922 by Susan J. Douglas

Empire of the Air by Tom Lewis

A Pictorial History of Radio’s First 75 Years by B. Eric Rhoads

Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio by Anthony Rudel &

The Network by Scott Woolley

A Special Thank you to:

Rebecca Shield

and Nancy Pop who’s website is - http://www.nancympop.com

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - http://patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

URL - http://thewallbreakers.com

Online Store - jamesthewallbreaker.com/shop/