Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

At 7PM eastern time over Mutual Broadcasting’s flagship WOR, The Mysterious Traveler went on the air. Written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, The Mysterious Traveler debuted on Mutual December 5th, 1943.

Maurice Tarplin played the title role with a good-natured malevolence. The traveler mostly narrated from an omniscient perch.

He rode a phantom train by night. The opening signature was the distant wail of a locomotive whistle, fading in gradually until the rumble of the train could be heard.

David Kogan and Robert Arthur had met in Greenwich Village, New York, partnering on Mutual’s Dark Destiny.

After it was canceled, they came up with the Mysterious Traveler concept and prepared three sample scripts. Norman Livingston bought it for WOR.

As independent producers, they were paid a flat rate for the whole package. Any money they saved by using the same actor in multiple roles went into their own pockets, so they used the best character actors in New York. Kogan also directed the series. On Easter Sunday, episode 19, “Beware of Tomorrow,” aired just as a gloomy dusk descended upon New York.

Opposite The Mysterious Traveler, The Jack Benny Program signed on live, coast-to-coast at 7PM from WEAF in New York and at 4PM from KFI in Los Angeles. By April of 1944, Benny’s writing team consisted of Sam Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, John Tackaberry, and this man, George Balzer.

By the spring of 1944, General Foods had been sponsoring the program for ten years, first with Jell-O and then Grape Nuts Flakes. Benny’s ratings had quietly been slipping since 1941. At the end of this season, his contract with General Foods was up.

There was tension between the two parties because Benny had helped save Jell-O from going out of business. Benny had full control of his show. NBC also guaranteed his Sunday time slot for as long as he wanted it. This position allowed Benny to sell his program to the highest bidder.

George W. Hill, the President of American Tobacco, wanted Benny’s show. His chief account executive was thirty-six-year-old Pat Weaver, the future president of NBC. Benny’s management team quietly held a sealed auction for sponsorship on February 24th.

A surprise winner was announced: Ruthrauff & Ryan, agency for American Tobacco’s Pall Mall cigarettes, bid twenty-five thousand dollars per-week for three thirty-five week seasons. The weekly money was payable to Benny for all payroll and production costs. They also included an additional two-hundred-thousand dollars over the three years for marketing and promotion.

American Tobacco also agreed to pay for any network and carrier line charges. The advertising community was stunned.

The Easter Sunday program was Pall Mall’s audition. In the end, this would be the only Jack Benny episode to have a Pall Mall commercial.

Pat Weaver and George W. Hill knew no one would take Ruthrauff & Ryan’s bid for Pall Mall seriously. Had Foote, Cone & Belding, American Tobacco’s agency for its top cigarette, Lucky Strike, entered the fray, the attention would have driven up the price.

The last Benny show sponsored by General Foods was June 4th, 1944. Benny took out a full page ad in Variety thanking General Foods for ten years of sponsorship. In August, he left on a three-week USO tour of Australia and the South Pacific.

On August 28th, American Tobacco announced that Pall Mall’s sales didn’t justify a twenty-five thousand dollar per week expenditure. Lucky Strike would sponsor the show. The following week they announced a comprehensive, multimedia ad campaign. It was estimated to cost over a quarter million dollars. Lucky Strike would sponsor The Jack Benny Program beginning October 1st, 1944.

When we were last with Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve in episode 149 of Breaking Walls he was gearing up for his local mayoral campaign, while simultaneously struggling to break away from his ex-fiancé Leila Ransom, voiced by the just-heart Shirley Mitchell. On Easter Sunday, Gildy’s mayoral campaign for Summerfield officially began, and he went to church.

This episode took to the air at 6:30PM eastern time over WEAF in New York. Its rating was 17.9. Nearly fourteen million people tuned in while having Easter Sunday dinner.

At 6PM over NBC’s WEAF, The Catholic Hour took to the air with an address from Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen.

Fulton John Sheen was born on May 8th, 1895 in El Paso, Illinois. He was ordained a priest in 1919, quickly becoming a renowned theologian. He won the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923 and went on to teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America.

Beginning in 1930, Father Sheen began a twenty-year run hosting The Catholic Hour on NBC before moving into TV to present Life is Worth Living and The Fulton Sheen Program. Twice winning an Emmy for Most Outstanding TV personality, he was also featured on the cover of TIME magazine.

He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951, holding the position until 1966 when he was made Bishop of Rochester. He resigned in 1969 near his seventy-fifth birthday and would live until December 9th, 1979.

In 2002, twenty-two years after his death, an official cause for canonization into sainthood was opened. Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized his life of "heroic virtues." However, his 2019 beatification was postponed after the current Bishop of Rochester expressed concern that Sheen mishandled a sexual misconduct case against a priest. Although the Diocese of Peoria countered that his handling of the case had already been thoroughly investigated, as of 2024 Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification is still postponed.

Opposite The Catholic Hour, The Blue Network aired The Radio Hall of Fame on WJZ.

Hosted by Deems Taylor and sponsored by Philco, The Radio Hall of Fame was conceived as a weekly Academy Award of radio through Variety Magazine, focusing on that week’s hits.

When it was launched in December of 1943, there was serious questioning as to whether it was proper for Variety to be so intimately involved. How could a trade paper whose business was reviewing show business enter into its production? Ben Bodec, a fifteen-year Variety reporter quit in protest, but the show went on without a hitch.

It was a glittering spectacle, stars like Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Sophie Tucker, Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and the Andrews Sisters all appeared. It would air until April 28th, 1946.

Between 4PM and 5:30 eastern war time, NBC broadcast Easter services from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, as well as the NBC symphony with Arturo Toscanini. CBS broadcast Orchestra music and The Family Hour. The Blue Network aired Music and the Mary Small Revue. Mutual Broadcasting’s flagship WOR aired Abe Lincoln’s Story and Green Valley, U.S.A..

At 5:30, Mutual’s most popular program took to the air. It was their only show in the top-50 and the highest-rated weekend daytime program on the air. Pulling a rating that month of 14.1, roughly eleven million people tuned it. Sponsored by Blue Coal, It starred the just-heard Brett Morrison. The show? None other than The Shadow.

In this particular episode, an evil fiend uses an experimental Television device to see anything he wishes remotely. The Shadow’s powers of mesmer don’t affect a TV screen. This fiend therefore finds out the true identity of the Shadow.

At 3:30PM over Mutual’s WOR in New York, Bulldog Drummond took to the air. It was directed by the just-heard Himan Brown. It starred Santos Ortega, known as Sandy to his friends. Jackson Beck was the announcer.

Bulldog Drummond was a British inspector popularized in the Paramount detective films of the 1930s. It was first broadcast April 13th, 1941. It spent its entire nearly eight year run on the Mutual Broadcasting System.

Opposite Bulldog Drummond, WEAF ran The Army Hour, while WJZ aired Hot Copy.

The man you just heard was radio legend Hans Conreid, known as one of the most versatile actors of the 20th century. He could adroitly handle comedy, variety, or serious drama while speaking any dialect convincingly.

On April 9th 1944 at 3PM eastern time over WJZ and at 12PM pacific time on KECA, Conreid was busy playing Uncle Baxter on The Life of Riley.

Created by Irving Brecher, the best-known incarnation of The Life of Riley came to the air Sunday January 16th, 1944 at 3PM eastern time over The Blue Network. It starred William Bendix as Chester A. Riley and was sponsored by The American Meat Institute.

Riley was easily exasperated, but difficult to defeat. The difficulty increased by degrees with the flimsiness of Riley’s cause.

Bendix came out of the New Jersey Federal Theater project, a latecomer to the profession, beginning at thirty when the grocery store he was running went out of business. His film career began in 1942. He was often the hooligan with the heart of gold. Riley was his most famous character.

It co-starred the previously heard Hans Conreid as Uncle Baxter with John Brown as both Riley’s friend Gillis and the undertaker, Digger O’Dell. Paula Winslowe was Riley’s long-suffering wife Peg. Sharon Douglas was Babs and Conrad Binyon played Junior.

The Life of Riley proved popular enough that in June it was moved to Sundays at 10PM. Beginning in the fall of 1945 it moved to NBC where it was a mainstay for six seasons. It peaked in 1947-48 with a rating of 20.1, good for fourteenth overall that year.

A TV version debuted in October of 1949, first with Jackie Gleason as Riley and later with William Bendix playing the familiar role for five years.

Between 12 and 2PM, news, religious, and war programming filled the radio dial. Standouts included the Salt Lake City Tabernacle Choir and Organ at noon on CBS, Soldiers of the Press at 12:30 on Mutual, and The Chicago Roundtable at 1:30 on NBC.

Ceiling Unlimited began as a series of informative dramas by Orson Welles in November 1942. It was sponsored by Lockheed Vega Aircrafts and showcased aviation's role in World War II. Welles walked out in February 1943 after a blowup with one of the ad agency men.

Author James Hilton took over. It became a Hollywood variety series in August 1943.

Joseph Cotten hosted with Patrick McGeehan as announcer and both Connie Moore and Nan Wynn providing vocals arranged by Wilbur Hatch.

This Easter episode took to the air at 2:00PM, from WABC, which at that time were still the call letters for CBS’ New York City Affiliate. The Blue Network’s New York flagship, WJZ aired Chaplain Jim U.S.A., while WEAF aired a play called “Those We Love.”

Saturday April 8th, 1944. New York City. It’s a rainy day before Easter and World War II news is dominating consciousness.

There are cracks in Germany’s foundation. On Tuesday April 4th, allied surveillance aircrafts photographed the Auschwitz concentration camp. Knowing this, the Nazis will spend the next four months using the gas chambers and incinerators to their full capacity. Twenty-thousand people could be murdered each day.

The Germans have lost five u-boats in three days on both fronts while simultaneously facing heavy fighting against the Soviets in Ukraine. They’ve been repeatedly forced to retreat.

On Good Friday, April 7th, Adolph Hitler suspended all law in Berlin and made Joseph Goebbels the sole administrator of the city.

On this day, April 8th, The Battle of the Tennis Court began in Burma, while Soviet forces invaded Romania. At the same time, U.S. bombers shelled Brunswick. The early 1944 Bombings of German cities gave German citizens their first hard evidence that the tide of the war had turned. And everyone in Europe knew a full scale Allied western invasion was coming.

Amidst the gloom, at 1:45PM from WEAF in New York, John McVane took to the air with NBC’s War Telescope looking at both war news and peacetime negotiation.

Saturday’s New York Daily News reported on the U.S. navy’s recent sinking of forty-six Japanese ships, while they shot down more than two hundred planes in a three day period. Inflation hadn’t risen in an entire year, as Americans looked forward to international air travel after the war. It made for an interesting Easter Sunday forecast.

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It’s 11:30AM on a rainy Easter Sunday, April 9th, 1944 in New York. We’re taking a ride inside a 1942 Oldsmobile B44 coupe. There have been no new automobiles manufactured in the U.S. since February 1942. All resources have been put towards the war effort.

We’ve just switched on the radio to CBS’s New York affiliate. Invitation To Learning is about to air.

First taking to the air on May 26th, 1940, it was chaired by Lyman Bryson with a rotating panel. Based on a class at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Invitation To Learning was developed at the suggestion of Stringfellow Barr, school president, who also served on the CBS Adult Education board.

By exploring classic literature, Barr contended that radio could be a keynote in liberal education. Three or four people had a spontaneous discussion about a particular book. For twenty-four years and more than twelve-hundred episodes, the show sparked as much debate amongst listeners and rival networks as the programs themselves. Notable guests included Norman Corwin, John Houseman, Eva LeGallienne, Herbert Hoover,, Hans Conried, and Lillian Gish.

Opposite on NBC’s WEAF was a commentary from Don Hollenbeck, while Mutual’s WOR broadcast an Easter Sunrise Service from the Hollywood Bowl, and The Blue Network’s WJZ broadcast The Hour of Faith.

In Breaking Walls episode 149 we’ll spend March of 1944 with Hal Peary and The Great Gildersleeve.

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Highlights:

• The Men And Women On The Front Lines of War War II in March 1944

• Hal Peary and the Birth of Gildersleeve on Fibber McGee and Molly

• The First Ever Sitcom Spin Off and The Great Gildersleeve Premieres

• Registering To Vote

• Mid March 1944 News with NBC War Telescope

• Gildy Wants to Run For Mayor

• The Campaign Photo

• A Night In A Foxhole

• Looking Ahead to Easter Sunday 1944

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The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

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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

As well as articles from:

• Broadcasting Magazine

• The Library of Congress

• The New York Times

• Radio Daily

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On the interview front:

• Ken Carpenter, Alice Faye, Shirley Mitchell, Frank Nelson, Hal Peary, Lilian Randolph and Lurene Tuttle spoke with Chuck Schaden. Hear these chats at Speakingofradio.com.

• Shirley Mitchell also spoke with Jim Bohannon in 1987.

• Howard Duff spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org

• Don Quinn spoke with Owen Cunningham

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Besame Mucho — By Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra

• Danse Macabre — By Camille Saint-Saëns

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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

Gerrit Lane

Jessica Hanna

Perri Harper

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Earl Millard

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Ray Shaw

Filipe A Silva

John Williams

Jim W.

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

On Sunday, March 19th, 1944 Germany forcefully occupied Hungary to prevent the country from making a separate peace agreement with the Soviet Union. Within two days, German authorities forced all Jewish businesses to close, sending hundreds to internment camps.

On March 20th, The Battle of Sangshak began in Manipur, India, while U.S. Marines landed on Emirau as part of Operation Cartwheel. The next day they linked with Australian troops on New Guinea's Huon Peninsula.

On Wednesday March 22nd, the US OSS began Operation Ginny II, intending to cut German lines of communication in Italy, but once again failed when the team landed in the wrong place and were captured.

Volcanic rock of all sizes from Mount Vesuvius began raining down from the sky, forcing massive evacuations.

German soldiers killed several civilians in Montaldo, Italy who were part of an Italian resistance group. The next day the group planted a bomb, killing thirty-three SS members in Rome. The Nazis swiftly retaliated, killing three-hundred-thirty-five people accused of helping the cause.

Meanwhile, allied forces withdrew from Monte Cassino and the offensive was called off in favor of Operation Strangle, a series of air maneuvers aimed to cut German supplies from the Italian front.

That Friday, March 24th, 1944, the Mutual Broadcasting System broadcast a special recording made by marine Technical Sergeants Fred Welker and Keene Hepburn.

During the early part of the war Dr. Harold Spivack, Chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, and Brigadier General Robert Denig, wartime director of Marine Corps public information, formulated a plan to give a few Marines recording devices to take into the field so the public at large would understand what these men were experiencing. Recordings began in late 1943.