Breaking Walls

In early 1943 Orson Welles was in production alongside Joan Fontaine with 20th Century Fox for Jane Eyre.

Although Welles enjoyed acting for the screen, he preferred live radio. In March, when Jack Benny took ill with pneumonia, Welles filled in as host of The Jack Benny Program.

Jack returns on April 11th, but Orson isn’t quite ready to let go.

(Photo: Actors Mickey Rooney, Jack Benny, and Orson Welles talk things over before going on the air in a recent broadcast here in connection with the March of Dimes for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.)

On February 24th, 1953 Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis played host on their radio show to Marilyn Monroe. All three of the entertainers were on the rise. Martin introduced the play she'd perform in as, "Tonight's play is the story of a cold-blooded newspaper editor who has no friends, but who is loved by Marilyn Monroe, entitled, 'So Who Needs Friends?"

Both Dean and Jerry were on their game, and Marilyn plays ditzy, sultry, and sensual to the t.

Breaking Walls, Episode 83 will feature the era of radio after World War II and be available on September 1st, 2018 wherever you get your podcasts and at TheWallBreakers.com

On November 18th, 1969 Ozzie and Harriet Nelson were guests of Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. During the segment, Ozzie told a funny story about the couple visiting Rutgers (his alma-matter) for a centennial parade.

On November 24th, 1954 Fred Allen was a guest of Tex and Jinx's New York talk show for a discussion about his life and career. During the course of the interview, Allen recounted a demonstration he gave to a friend about the power of radio as an advertising medium.

When NBC launched Monitor on June 12th, 1955, it was a true magazine of the air, running over NBC radio stations from Saturday mornings until Midnight Sunday in four hour blocks, completely taking over NBC’s airtime on the weekends. The program offered actualities, remotes, comedy, and variety. Affiliates were free to pick up or put down the show in four hour increments.

In the early 1960s, CBS countered with their own version called, Dimension. Burgess Meredith hosted a show called American Landscape. He brought the listener to various American cultural institutions, like this trip to the old drug store.

This audio is hard to find and was digitized from an original transcription record.

In Breaking Walls episode 136 we spotlight John Dehner and Have Gun, Will Travel.

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Highlights:

• John Dehner’s radio career

• Norman MacDonnell and Palladin

• The Radio Dial on Sunday November 23rd 1958

• A Matter of Ethics

• Killer’s Widow

• The Lady Doctor

• From Here To Boston

• Looking Ahead to March

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Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

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The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings — By Jim Ramsburg

• Martin Grams’ article on the origin of Have Gun Will Travel.

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On the interview front:

• Harry Bartell, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, and Jack Johnstone were with SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• William N. Robson was with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

• Bill Conrad, John Dehner, Norman Macdonnell, John Meston and William N. Robson spoke to John Hickman for his Gunsmoke documentary.

• John Dehner and Vic Perrin spoke to Neil Ross for KMPC in 1982.

• Jack Kruschen and Shirley Mitchell were guests of Jim Bohannan in 1987.

• Dennis Day spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear this full chat at speakingofradio.com

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Living In The Country and February Sea — By George Winston

• Ghost Bus Tours — By George Fenton

• It’s Only Make Believe – By Conway Twitty

• Loch Lomond — By Musica Intima

• Danny Boy — By Dennis Day

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A special thank you to Ted Davenport, Jerry Haendiges, and Gordon Skene.

For Ted go to RadioMemories.com, for Jerry, visit OTRSite.com, and for Gordon, please go to PastDaily.com.

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Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Jessica Hanna

Perri Harper

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Earl Millard

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

Filipe A Silva

John Williams

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

Well that brings our look at the radio version of Have Gun Will Travel to a close. So, what’s in store for March?

Next time on Breaking Walls, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish, we focus on radio programming from March 17ths of days gone by.

By 1960, Have Gun and Gunsmoke were the last dramatic productions being recorded for CBS in Hollywood. Network radio drama was dying. The U.S. was changing. President Eisenhower’s second term was almost over. The next year, John Kennedy entered the White House. He defeated Republican Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election.

Have Gun, Will Travel’s final episode aired on November 27th, 1960. Called, “From Here to Boston,” it is regarded as a landmark episode. Paladin receives an attorney letter notifying him of a large inheritance. He must travel to Boston to claim it. He has no idea that his latest romantic interest, Louvena Todd Hunter, is responsible for his aunt's death and plans to murder Paladin with the help of her brother.

Have Gun Will Travel closed with no mention in the trade columns. All remaining radio dramas, with the exception of Gunsmoke, were now produced in New York. Lawrence Dobkin remembered that time.

Gunsmoke finally went off the air on June 18th, 1961.

Thirty-five of the first thirty-nine Have Gun Will Travel scripts were TV script adaptations. Beginning with episode forty, all new scripts were original for the radio version of the series.

The February 15th, 1959 show was called “The Return of Doctor Thackery.” This episode featured Ben Wright, Jean Bates, Lou Krugman, Sam Edwards, and Harry Bartell. By 1959 this Hollywood crew of actors had been working together for nearly two decades.

The February 9th, 1959 episode of Have Gun Will Travel was called “Killer’s Widow.” Among those featured was the just-heard Vic Perrin. Perrin worked closely with Norman MacDonnell on Gunsmoke and Fort Laramie.

On TV, Dick Boone’s Paladin was a smash-hit. That year’s program rating was 34.3 — third overall. Both the show and Boone were nominated for Emmys. Its success helped the radio version find sponsorship from multiple advertisers, like this commercial from Lysol.