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

In 1930 publisher Street and Smith decided to try radio with hopes of boosting pulp sales. Each week a drama would be adapted from an upcoming issue of Detective Story Magazine.

They added a mysterious host, called The Shadow, and left the link to the magazine somewhat tenuous. The show premiered over CBS on July 31st, 1930.

Ken Roberts soon became the announcer. It wasn’t long before people were asking for a Shadow magazine. Walter Gibson became its chief writer. Meanwhile, on the air, the host became Frank Readick.

In the fall of 1931 Detective Story Hour became The Blue Coal Radio Review. The Shadow character proved so popular, beginning on Thursday October 1st, 1931 at 9:30PM, he also narrated Street and Smith’s Love Story Hour.

In January 1932, the first program using The Shadow as its title debuted on CBS. That fall it shifted to NBC, and then back to CBS in 1934. The success led to copycats. People kept asking for The Shadow to appear in the dramatic portions of the broadcasts. By then Gibson was writing pulp stories which featured the Shadow as the crime fighting hero. The series disappeared from CBS airwaves on March 27th, 1935. It wouldn’t reappear until the fall of 1937.

In the spring of 1935, nineteen year-old Orson Welles was living in New York, appearing on stage in Katharine Cornell’s stock company and workin on CBS’ American School of the Air and The March of Time.

The next year, Welles was on the debut episode of CBS’s Columbia Workshop. The program’s creator Irving Reiss recognized Orson’s talent, while Welles studied the creative risks The Workshop took. He began to assemble his Mercury Theater troupe just as FDR launched the Federal Theater Project.

John Houseman invited Welles to be part of an African-American theater unit in Harlem. Their first co-production was an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Welles changed the setting to a mythical island. Voodoo took the place of Scottish witchcraft. The play opened on April 14th, 1936, at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem. It received incredible reviews.

By that autumn, Welles was traveling between Chicago and New York, appearing on Mutual Broadcasting’s Wonder Show, and on The Columbia Workshop.

On Sunday April 11th, 1937 The Workshop broadcast a verse-play written especially for radio by Archibald MacLeish. It was called The Fall of the City.

It was an allegory on the rise of fascism. The broadcast took place at the massive Seventh regiment armory on 67th street and Park avenue in New York. Reiss used over one-hundred fifty extras, and entrusted Welles to be the narrator. To get proper sonic differentiation, they built radio’s first narration booth.

The Fall of The City was selected by The New York Times as one of the outstanding broadcasts of 1937. Time magazine noted that it proved to listeners radio was science's gift to poetry and poetic drama.

The Fall of the City made Orson Welles a star. Mutual Broadcasting was about to give him the opportunity of a lifetime.

In Breaking Walls episode 130 we head to the summer of 1947 to get to the bottom of NBC’s Philip Marlowe caper.

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Highlights:

• Who was Raymond Chandler?

• Who is Philip Marlowe?

• Van Heflin, Movie Star

• Radio Ratings in the Spring of 1947

• Marlowe Launches with Red Wind

• Initial Reviews

• The King in Yellow

• The Celebrated Life and Tragic Death of Jeff Chandler

• Marlowe Leaves NBC, but CBS Picks It Up

• Marlowe After CBS

• Looking Ahead to Orson Welles and The Shadow

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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:

• The Simple Art of Murder — By Raymond Chandler

• Trouble Is My Business — By Raymond Chandler

• The World of Raymond Chandler — By Raymond Chandler

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• The Life of Raymond Chandler — By Frank MacShane

• Network Radio Ratings — By Jim Ramsburg

• The Adventures of Philip Marlowe Program Guide — By Tom Nolan

As well as articles from:

• Billboard Magazine

• Broadcasting Magazine

• And Sponsor Magazine

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On the interview front:

• Eve Arden, Wendell Niles, Lurene Tuttle, and Willard Waterman spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Parley Baer, Mary Jane Croft, and Harry Bartell spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Eve Arden also spoke with John Dunning for his 71KNUS program from Denver.

• Lurene Tuttle also spoke with Frank Bresee for Same Time, Same Station.

• William Conrad spoke with Chris Lambesis

• Norman Macdonnell with John Hickman

• Bob Hope with Johnny Carson

• Raymond Chandler spoke to Ian Flemming

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Cool — By Martin Denny

• Perfida — By Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra

• Living Without You — By George Winston

• Danse Macabre — By Camille Saint-Saens

• Loch Lomond (arranged for Choir) — By Musica Intima

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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

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 129 we honor the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Roswell incident by focusing on Radio and the mid-century flying saucer craze.

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Highlights:

• World War II, Kenneth Arnold, Roswell, and “Project Saucer”

• The Chicago Roundtable Attempts to Answer What Life on Other Planets Would Look Like

• Sightings in The Spring of 1950 — Dimension X Launches

• The 1950 Radio Landscape with Red Skelton

• Fibber McGee Sees a UFO

• Harris And Remley’s UFO Hoax

• Edward R. Murrow’s Report on Flying Saucers

• Dangerous Assignment’s UFOs in Ecuador

• UFO Sightings during the Korean War

• You Bet Your Life’s UFO Enthusiast

• KNX, Ralph Story, And UFO Mania

• Roy Rogers Takes Us Home

• Conclusions? Closing Credits and a New Mystery

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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

——————————

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

• LIFE Magazine

• Radio Daily

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On the interview front:

• Alice Faye, Jim Jordan, Elliott Lewis, and Lurene Tuttle spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• John Gibson, Jim Jordan, and Arnold Moss spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these full interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

• Jim Jordan also spoke with John Dunning for his 71KNUS program from Denver

• Lilian Buyeff and Sam Edwards spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Elliott Reid spoke with Frank Bresee

• Red Skelton spoke with Dini Petty

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• I Put a Spell on You — By Screaming Jay Hawkins

• Pyramid of the Sun — By Les Baxter

• What A Fool I Was — By Percy Mayfield

• Happy Trails To You — By Dale Evans and Roy Rogers

• Someone To Watch Over Me — By Blossom Dearie

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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

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 128 we wrap up our six month look at 1954 by ending in June with network cancellations.

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Highlights:

• The State of Radio and The Union

• The End of Escape with John Dehner

• News with Frank Edwards on Mutual

• Let’s Pretend with Arnold Stang

• Autolite Drops Suspense

• Goodbye To Jack Benny (For Now)

• What’s At Stake in the Fall 1954 Midterm Elections

• CBS Cancels The Lux Radio Theatre

• The End of James Stewart’s The Six Shooter

• Looking Ahead to July and Roswell

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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

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg

• The Complete Escape and Suspense Logs — By Keith Scott

As well as articles from:

• Broadcasting Magazine

• LIFE Magazine

• Newsweek

• Radio Guide

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On the interview front:

• Parley Baer, Ken Carpenter, Elliott Lewis, and Paula Winslowe spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Herb Ellis, Virginia Gregg, Jack Johnstone, Elliott Lewis, and Herb Vigran spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• John Gibson, Elliott Lewis, Vincent Price, and Arnold Stang spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these full interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

• John Dehner and Vic Perrin spoke with Neil Ross at KMPC.

• Dennis Day spoke with John Dunning for 71KNUS.

• Morton Fine was with Dan Haefele.

• Orson Welles with Johnny Carson.

• Jimmy Stewart with Larry King.

• Jack Benny spoke with CBS.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Living Without You and Too Much Between Us — By George Winston

• The Last Rose of Summer — By Tom Waits

• Seance on a Wet Afternoon — By John Barry

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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

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WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 127 we keep on with our look at 1954 by picking up in May during one of the most important months of the decade.

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Highlights:

• The Big Sound in Nashville

• Everett Sloane and The 21st Precinct

• Ray Milland and Meet Mr McNutley

• An Eisenhower Presser and Other Current Events

• I Love a Mystery — Born Again

• Wild Bill Hickok

• Grace Kelly Guest Stars on Bob Hope’s Show

• Brown vs. The Board of Education

• Lewis and Clark on NBC’s Inheritance

• The Army/McCarthy Hearings Continue with Roy Cohn’s Testimony

• Bing Crosby on Anthology’s Memorial Day Show

• Looking Ahead to June and The End as We Knew It

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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

——————————

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 and LIFE Magazine

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On the interview front:

• Parley Baer, Jim Boles, Mercedes McCambridge, Carlton E. Morse, and Russell Thorson, spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Harry Bartell, Himan Brown, Lawrence Dobkin and Virginia Gregg spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Vincent Price spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear this full interview at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

• Bob Hope spoke to Johnny Carson

• Andy Devine spoke to Betty Rogge

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Once I Had a Secret Love — By Dolores Watson

• The Battle Cry of Freedom — By Jacqueline Schwab

• Bare Necessities — By Matthias Gohl, Jay Ungar, and John Kirk

• Morning Prayer — By Matthias Gohl and Ken Littlehawk

• Loch Lomond (arranged for Choir) — By Musica Intima

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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

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

In Breaking Walls episode 126 we continue our mini-series in April of 1954.

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Highlights:

• Eisenhower talks fear

• Lum and Abner’s April Fools’ Joke

• The Eternal Light

• Nightwatch — A New CBS Real Police Show

• Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator

• Illegal Immigrant Fears

• Gildersleeve’s Dinner Party

• Easter Sunday and The End of The Whistler

• Jack Benny Holds a Seance

• The Army-McCarthy Hearings Begin

• Phil Harris and Alice Faye’s Red Cross Blood Drive

• Looking Ahead to May

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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

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg

• The Complete Escape Log — By Keith Scott

As well as articles from

• Broadcasting Magazine

• LIFE Magazine

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On the interview front:

• Parley Baer, George Balzer, Himan Brown, Phil Harris, Elliott Lewis, and Willard Waterman, spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

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

• Himan Brown, Bill Froug, and Betty Lou Gerson spoke to SPERDVAC. For more information, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Elliott Lewis also spoke with John Dunning for his 71KNUS program from Denver.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Voodoo Dreams — By Les Baxter

• Manhattan — By Blossom Dearie

• Walking In The Air — By George Winston

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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.

——————————

Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Jessica Hanna

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

——————————

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 125 we continue our mini-series in March of 1954.

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Highlights:

• Edward R. Murrow Sees It Now

• Perry Mason Busts The Syndicate

• The 1954 DNC in Florida

• Cathy and Elliott Lewis Can’t Fight City Hall

• Groucho Marx Bets His Life

• Phil Harris and Alice Faye: Happy Couple In Cancellation

• The End of the Expense Account For Johnny Dollar?

• Escape’s Violent Night

• Bing and Frank Swap Oscar Stories and Sing Songs

• The 1954 Tony Awards from NBC with Audrey Hepburn

• Looking Ahead to April with The Army/McCarthy Hearings

——————————

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg

• The Complete Escape Log — By Keith Scott

As well as articles from

• Broadcasting Magazine

• LIFE Magazine

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On the interview front:

• Alice Faye and John Guedel spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Mandel Kramer and William N. Robson spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these full interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org.

• Harry Bartell, Mary Jane Croft, Don Diamond, Jack Johnstone and Byron Kane spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com.

• Dick Joy, Elliott Lewis, and E. Jack Neuman spoke with John Dunning for his 71KNUS program from Denver.

• Norman Macdonnell was with John Hickman for his Gunsmoke documentary.

• William Conrad spoke to collector Chris Lambesis in 1969.

• And Bing Crosby spoke with Barbara Walters in 1977.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Fever — By Peggy Lee

• Sleep Walk — By Henri René

• Exotique Bossa Nova — By Martin Denny

• The Venice Dreamer Parts 1 & 2 — By George Winston

• 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.

——————————

Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Jessica Hanna

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

——————————

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

In Breaking Walls episode 124 we pick up our 1954 mini series in February. We’ll focus on radio programming and national news from that month.

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Highlights:

• Radio Billings Are Down. Now What?

• Dragnet—Still Going Strong

• Lee Deforest and The Hallmark Hall of Fame

• Americana

• Jack Benny Turns 39? 40? 60?

• Guest Star and The McCarthy News

• The College Quiz Bowl

• Mr and Mrs North

• Polio

• Stars Over Hollywood

• Ending with Bergen and McCarthy

• Looking Ahead to March with Edward R. Murrow

——————————

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

——————————

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

• LIFE Magazine

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On the interview front:

• Jack Benny, Frank Nelson, and Don Wilson spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Jack Benny also spoke for Great Radio Comedians in 1972.

• Harry Bartell, Himan Brown, Lilian Buyeff, Bill Froug, Virginia Gregg, Lou Krugman, and Peggy Webber were with SPERDVAC. For more information, go to SPERDVAC.com

• Hans Conried and Edgar Bergen spoke with Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear this full interview at Goldenage-wtic.org.

• Dennis Day spoke with John Dunning for his 71KNUS program from Denver.

• Lee Deforest spoke at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Sh-Boom — By The Crewcuts

• Serious Serenade — By Duke Ellington

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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.

——————————

Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Jessica Hanna

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

——————————

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

For those who wanted Breaking Walls episode 123 in the traditional format.

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In Breaking Walls episode 123 we open 2022 with a six-part mini-series on radio business and programming in 1954. We’ll begin with January, in a radio half-season that was for many, the end of the line.

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Highlights:

• Ringing in the New Year with Fibber McGee and Molly

• Gunsmoke’s Stage Holdup

• People Are Funny is Radio’s Top-Rated Show

• January 1954 with Ozzie, Harriet, David, and Ricky

• Jack Benny’s Face is Familiar on Suspense

• Smog and Other Current Events

• Beulah

• The Death of Edward Howard Armstrong

• Looking Ahead to February 1954

——————————

The WallBreakers:

http://thewallbreakers.com

Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts.

To support the show:

http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers

——————————

The reading material used in today’s episode was:

•The General: David Sarnoff & The Rise of the Communications Industry - by Kenneth Bilby

• On the Air — By John Dunning

• Network Radio Ratings — by Jim Ramsburg

As well as articles from

• Broadcasting Magazine

• LIFE Magazine

• Time Magazine

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On the interview front:

• John Guedel, Phil Leslie, and Don Wilson spoke to Chuck Schaden. Hear their full chats at SpeakingOfRadio.com.

• Norman MacDonnell and George Walsh spoke to John Hickman, the longtime host of WAMU’s Recollections. Today, this program is heard each Sunday evening as The Big Broadcast. For more information, please go to WAMU.org

• Art Linkletter spoke to John Gassman.

• Ozzie Nelson was with James Day.

• Jack Benny spoke for Great Radio Comedians.

• Jack Benny and Don Wilson spoke with Jack Carney.

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Selected music featured in today’s episode was:

• Auld Lang Syne — By The Manhattan Strings

• January Stars — By George Winston

• The Klezmer’s Wedding — By André Moisan

• Love in Bloom — By Bing Crosby

• Seance on a Wet Afternoon — By John Barry

• 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.

——————————

Thank you to:

Tony Adams

Steven Allmon

Orson Orsen Chandler

Phil Erickson

Jessica Hanna

Briana Isaac

Thomas M. Joyce

Ryan Kramer

Earl Millard

Gary Mollica

Barry Nadler

Christian Neuhaus

Aimee Pavy

Ray Shaw

——————————

WallBreakers Links:

Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers

Social Media - @TheWallBreakers