Today’s episode digs into one of the most exciting parts of vintage radio: finding lost recordings. Host John Tefteller is joined by Dr. Joe Webb to talk about how shockingly few recordings from radio’s golden age still exist. But every once in a while, a rare survivor turns up, like today’s episode of The Adventures of Sam Spade from 1947, “The Yule Log Caper,” found on an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription disc. They talk about why AFRS versions were so important in preserving history, share a few fun behind-the-scenes stories, and highlight standout moments like Hans Conried’s scene-stealing performance.
SHOW NOTES
The Adventures of Sam Spade1947-05-11 The Yule Log Caper
The lead actors: Howard Duff as Spade, Lurene Tuttle as Effie
Howard Duff had a long and successful, and sometimes rocky, radio, film, and television career. He was not an expected candidate to become Sam Spade. The then-wife of producer William Spier, Kay Thompson, suggested that he be given better consideration. Thompson was a musical coach at MGM and was an important behind-the-scenes influencer in encouraging stars to appear on Suspense. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Duff
Lurene Tuttle was one of the top radio actors of her time. She might be best known for playing Spade’s dizzy secretary, Effie, but she appeared in hundreds, if over a thousand, radio roles, often uncredited, in soaps, dramas, westerns, comedies, and other programs. Tuttle had a successful television career, often playing the busybody next-door neighbor, as well as many film roles.
The supporting cast:Hans Conried (Tauchnetz) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Conried Conried was one of radio’s finest, most versatile, and most reliable actors. Baby boomers may remember him best as “Uncle Tonouse” from television’s Danny Thomas Show / Make Room for Daddy. An example of Conried’s skill can be understood when there was a sound effects problem in a Suspense production. It was in the middle of his lines when a prop gundid not fire and he had to buy time for the sound effects artist to retrieve and fire the backup gun. Details are at https://archive.org/details/TSP470227
John McIntire (Carmichael)Jack Moyles (Clausen)Lurene Tuttle (Old lady)Hugh Thomas? (Merwyn Trelease)Charlotte Lawrence (Mrs. Clausen)
Classic radio researcher Karl Schadow notes that the character named “Al McAvity” is an inside joke about Tom McAvity. He was broadcasting executive who was with both NBC and CBS and various ad agencies.(Karl Schadow was profiled by the Library of Congress blog in 2018https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/05/inquiring-minds-bringing-radios-golden-age-back-to-life/ )
Sam Spade profile and history at Thrilling Detectivehttps://thrillingdetective.com/2018/11/18/sam-spade/
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