Retro Radio Podcast

After the Easter holiday, it can take some time to get use to the routine of going back to school. Connie talks about the special, crazy clothes days the student body enjoyed. She talks with Mrs Davis about Mr Conklin putting an end to the insane styles, and a problem she has with her desk. Mrs Davis brings up the topic of her absent minded sister as she tries to relay a phone message. Since Walter can’t make it this morning, Stretch Snodgrass is to drive Connie to school. Before they make their drive, harriot stops in to talk about, and pick up the old black dress that Connie ended up wearing for Easter. Stretch arrives to butcher the English language as he talks about a hamburger eating contest. In class, Stretch tries to tell what he knows about King Leer. Walter pops in right after class to tell about his latest stunt in protest over Conklins new dress code. While Harriot protests by wearing pants, Walter protests by wearing a dress. It’s Connie’s black and green outfit she gave to Harriot. Mr Conklins reactions are priceless as he reacts to the fashions, but Stretch makes a point that it doesn’t matter what is worn as long as they learn. Will it be enough to settle Conklin down? Connie tries to clear her head in her classroom, and is visited by Boynton. She tells him about Conklins rampage on the dress code. Walter and Stretch stop in and along with Boynton, she is invited to lunch, but her monster of a desk rips her skirt. Stretch volunteers to take her dress to the Home Ec class for repairs and Connie puts on Harriots gym shorts as she waits. Conklin comes in to continue his complaining, and after announcing some important visitors, his day gets made worse when he notices Miss Brooks in gym shorts. While in Miss Brooks room, Conklin got his pants dirty. He is forced to have Stretch take them to the Home Ec class for touch up. With everyone’s clothes in various stages of undress and disarray, it’s prime time for those important visitors to show up. Mr Stone arrives, and the embarrassing situations explode as Connie talks their way out of it by claiming the whole thing is in preparations for a school theatrical production. As Conklin has Connie’s skirt on, and she is in his pants, He is forced to do a song and dance to prove the ficticious point. PS: What a lot of cross dressing fun. Though it’s still a hillarious topic for tody, it was definitely pushing some radical boundaries back in 1949. Plus there’s that constant theme of Conklin trying to set, and enforce respectful standards, but falling under the wheels of his own machinery. I guess the lesson is that it pays to be a little more forgiving of others lest you are found guilty of the same thing.

The movie studios are trying to convince Alice Faye that she should return to making movies. To win her back, they decide to offer Phil a small role in their proposed film. In the harris home, Phil expresses his desire to prevent Alice from returning to work. Though Willie thinks he’s being unreasonable, Alice sticks by her man and agrees not to consider the part. When Phil learns of his offer from the studio execs to be in the film, he is flattered, but misunderstands the importance of his role and Alice’s. Alice flubs a line as she demands to know what Phil’s phone call was about, and Phil ad libs a few responces to her. Ever the pro, Phil loses his place, but eventually they get caught up with the script. Though Alice and Willie can see what the studio is up to, Phil is blinded to his small part. Frankie comes over and Alice tells him about the proposed scheme of the studio. Alice wants Frankie to help talk Phil out of accepting the role. She doesn’t want Phils feelings hurt when he learns of the ego deflating small part. Frankie lays on the act thick about the disadvantages of being in films, even to the annoyance of Alice. Will Julius be able to do something to change Phils mind? He’s certainly a good choice to add to the insults. Phil has his sights set on leaving comedy behind and becoming a dramatic actor as he sets off to leave for the studio. Alice decides to pull some strings and sabotage Phils screen test. Julius is thrilled with the idea of Alice returning to films and asks her to sing, Rosie Yu Are My Posey. Frankie accompanies Alice and Phil to the studiol. Frankie sets about insulting everybody at the studio, while the execs fawn over Alice, and do their best to ignore Phil. Even Frankie gets in on the screen test as Phil is set up for his sabotaged test. The scene is to be one where Frankie is making love to Alice, and Phil enters in a jealous rage. It somehow doesn’t work out that way, as Frankie is enjoying his part way too much. Can you blame him? Even the alternate scene is a set up for discouragement for Phil. In parting, Phil’s words of rejection to the studio mirrors Alice’s real life opinion of her former bosses, the reason she walked off the set, and away from her acting career. Never to return until the early 1960’s although she did make countless TV appearance from the 1950’s through the 1980’s and maybe even a few after that time.

Audio is a little jumpy. Back in the Jot ‘Em Down store, Lum and Abner are in high spirits as they recount the welcome they recieved from the women. The battle of the sexes seems to have ended in a stalemate, with both sides appreciating the other after their seperation. Lum sees it as a victory for the men though, and as he gloats over his self declaired accomplishment, Grandpap enters to share how he has been settling back into a domestic routine. Even Abner shows signs of returning to his being bossed around a little on the homefront, when Lizabeth phones with a few instructions for him. Are the men of Pine Ridge the masters of their lives to the degree that Lum likes to think? For that matter, have they ever been?

An early morning phone call has Johnny on an important job. The freelance insurance investigator reports in to learn about the case that needs his immediate attention. Barton Drake is missing, and has been for nearly seven years. He disappeared at a time near the beginning of World War 2, and was a hardware store owner who had some shady doings in the world of organized crime. There’s reason to think he is still alive, and spotted in New York at a prize fight. If he remains missing on the official record for just a few more days, the insurance company will have to pay out on a claim from the aledged widow. Johnny is off to the man’s last known whereabouts, and visits the oldd mansion. Drake’s wife lives in the lap of luxury in the huge house, and is surrounded by house servants. The wife is less than thrilled to learn that her long lost hubby may still be alive. Johnny folows the woman, suspecting her crocodile tears are just a lot of drama. The trail leads Johnny through town, but offers some clues to get Johnny started in laying his trap. He fakes a phone call to the number he was able to learn from following the widow. Posing as a radio DJ offering a prize. Delivering the goods of the aledged contest, he finds a little old lady. Will she be forthcoming with any information? Will Johnny be found out? Why does the little old grannie have on a pair of brass knuckles? After Johnny wakens from the thump on the head, he gets ansers, but will he be able to do anything with the info that he learns? As Johnny feigns unconsciousness he listens to Drake, and as he argues with his wife, the story comes out. Johnny keeps playing as though he’s knocked out as he is taken for a boat ride. Left for dead, Johnny manages to get back to land. Well at least an island, but if he doesn’t act fast he’ll be stuck there past his deadline. By the time Johnny makes his way back to the gangster’s stomping grounds, he finds the wife, but there’s no sign of Drake. Using the threat of insurance fraud, Johnny lerns from the wife where hubby went. Will his phone call to the train station be enough to intercept the disguised gangster? It seems to, but Johnny’s rash behavior with the aledged little old lady in the wheel chair gets him nabbed by the police and station authorities. Will they understand what his actions are all about? As Johnny puts the finishing touches on his expense report, he ties up all the loose ends, and describes the aftermath of his adventure.

The Riders of the Purple Sage sing a few bars, but after a musical interlude sing, Across the Alley from the Alamo. In the headquarters of the Texas Rangers, orders are being given. The small band of Rangers approach the quiet little town, and make plans to ride in seperatly, to pose as strangers to each other. Jimmy and his friends gather info on the bad guys, and try to stay low key to share what they each have learned. Is the crime they are out to take down just a one man job, or is there partners involved? Some key clues are found, and the Rangers go to the sheriff with a way to prove who is behind the robberies. Jimmy tells who the crook is, and what tipped him off to him. Cottonseed Clark calls on Jimmy Wakeley to sing, Love is Everywhere.

Bud and Lou joke about girls, self improvement, and dating. Lou gets confused over Bud trying to talk to him about a wedding ceremony. They also go into depth about varius marriage and bridal topics. Susan Miller adds to the fun, and invites Lou to her party. Bud gets the idea to open a marriage bureau, but first a visit from Betty, Bud’s wife. More abuse, more marriage jokes, and a break to insert a sponsor ad. Susan Miller sings, Four Leaf Clover. The Marriage Bureau is opened, and Lou fields phone calls for the customers. Not to mention passing along advice and matchmaking to the lovelorn who pass through the office.

After moving town records to their hilltop camp site, Lum calls a meeting to discuss the victory, and possible set backs of the deed. Dick Huddleston isn’t concerned over the civic records, but Post Office records are Federal Property. There’s a postal inspector due in town any day, and the federal offense might damage all the efforts the men have taken to win the town back from the women. Will all their suffering be for nothing? The guys have about had enough of roughing it in the wilderness. Squire examines the merits of returning the post office, the defining institution that identifies a town. Even with moving the records, it still hasn’t found the women crawling up the hill to the new seat of Pine Ridge government to beg the men to come back. Has their stay in the woods served its purpose, and run its course? It looks like it’s time to march back into Pine Ridge as proudly as they marched out. What kind of greeting will await the men? Will a new battle ground soon emerge on the streets of Pine Ridge? Get ready to man your battle stations!

Kingfish is trying to hook up his friends with a job in a foundery. Discovering the hard work involved, and seeing the chance to show off, Andy turns down the job, and hires a gal to be his secretary. With the office activity by day, and dancing in the clubs all night, Andy is being worn out. Not to mention running out of cash fast. Will he get out of the employment contract that Kingfish has him locked into with the secretary? There might be a loophole if Andy can prove to Kingfish that he’s crazy. The matter of being of sound mind might get Andy clear from the contract, but it might get Kingfish stuck with a secretry.

It’s the kind of blustery day that makes a man want to stay indoors. When Molly shows off her dress pattern, Fibber thinks it’s not so hard. Has he fallen into her trap of helping her with the dress making project? Old Timer takes shelter from the blustery day, he doesn’t extend any help, other than to tell his own war stories as a taylor. Teeny enters with the wind, that blows Fibber’s pattern around. She seems to know a lot more about sewing than Fibber does. She also tells why an elephant is afraid of a mouse… sort of… in a round about way. Billy Mills plays a swinging dance number. When Fibber needs to call the hardware for supplies, he talks to Mirt, who has news about her grandfather. Abigail Uppington enters, and is surprised at Fibber’s tailoring skills… Even when she finds her head under Fibber’s skirts… Huh? The wind keeps blowing, and next is a visit from Harlowe Wilcox, and a sponsor message. Fibber is so flustered, he swallowed a safety pin. While the McGee’s wait for the doctor, Wallace Wimple pops in, and tells how his wife Sweetie Face is as strong as a horse. The Kingsmen sing, The Song of the Merchant Marines. With the way Fibber is carrying on Molly wonders if he swallowed a pin, or a sawmill. Doc Gamble arrives to poke fun at Fibber’s misery. Is Fibber really being a hypochondriac, and wasting Doc’s time? By now the pattern pieces are so scattered, the McGee’s have trouble figuring out why there’s so many extra pieces… until Teeny returns with the secret to the mystery.

Featuring Steven Dunn as Sam Spade. Sam recounts his latest case to his secretary, Effie, as he goes into flashback mode to relive it. With a sizable reward in store for him, Sam goes on the job, and heads to a bank. Wendal Whizby is the banker, and former magician. The bank president wants to keep it quiet, but a purse snatcher has walked away with $53K. Has Whizby’s uncle stolen the cash? Whizby is a reformed con-man and magician, and claims that he’s willing to pay the cash back himself if the man and money can’t be found. Hitting the streets, Sam goes on the track of the missing relative. A clear trail is left for Sam to follow, but a dead end has him circling back to Wendal. The trail gets crazy as wierd characters spring up along the way. The case isn’t all fun and games, Sam has found himself knocked out, and he wakes up in a burning building. It’s time to get tough, especially when a murder enters the picture. It could take beating the truth out of certain characters, but in the end a lighter tone for the show returns as Sam sets everything right.

Features Helen Chandler, real life ball player Joey Brown as Frances Farrel, and includes William Frawley as the coach. Cecil B DeMill introduces the cast, and gives a salute to the beginning of baseball season, a sport started by Abner Doubleday, and based on an already popular sport called Rounders. The opening scene has coach, William Frawley rousting his team, the Chicago Cubs to hit the field. The new pitcher, Farrel, shows the coach what he can do. It gets better when he shows that he can hit to. Later, the coach brags on his rookie during the ppre-season games, and Farrel is even getting the attention of the young ladies. In the pool hall, Farrel shows off his billiard tallents. The country pitcher makes constant alibis, claiming that though his performances are exceptional, he could have done better. He had malaria, gravel in his shoe, needs his glasses, waiting for a telegram, and so forth. His humility has endeared him to the coaches daughter. The team laughs at his excuses, but I think they’re just jealous that he has won the girl. The opening game is fast approaching, but the gal has to leave town to go back home, and Farrel seems to be coming down with a cold as they say their goodbyes. It looks like he may have won the girl, but does he know what to do with one once he has one? The weeks of separation pass, and Farrel is caught by his teammates as he is teary eyed over a letter. True to form, he spreds on one lie after another to deny his vulnerability. The season goes on, and Farrel writes to his gal that the Cubs are about to clinch the pennant. Just then, a man claiming to be the president of a morality society for young men wants Farrel to give a talk to his boys. Of course, it turns out to be a gang of mobsters who want him to throw the next couple of games. Or else. Will he do it? Later, word comes that his girlfriend, Dolly is coming back to town, and they spend a romanic evening rowing on the lake. In the tender moment, he is almost ready to propose when he falls out of the boat. He actually manages to give her an engagement ring. Back with the guys on the team, they try to pin Farrel down on his engagement, but not wanting to admit his personal affairs he keeps stringing out the lies. Seeing that the questions are just out of friendliness, Farrel admits that he is engaged. Dolly had been outside, and overheard his lies with the guys, and mistook his excuses as his true feelings. Commercial time as we make a remote link up for a talk with Babe Ruth and his wife as they pitch the sponsor’s product. Very cool to hear Babe Ruth on the radio. On the playing field, Farrel has his first losing game, and the team talks to him about it. It looks bad for him when a shady character gives him a payoff for the lost game, right in front of the team. Nobody believes him, and that his slump is over his loss of his girlfriend. It doesn’t keep him from being fired, but as he leaves at the train station, Dolly’s mom rushes to stop him. If nobody else could, she has convinced the coach the lost game was over his being lovesick. Meeting up with the coach, a plan is made to trap the mobsters, but the thugs smell a rat and make plans to make sure that Farrel doesn’t have the chance to doublecross them. He gets abducted, but has he already played his last game? Will he ever see the light of day again? It’s no concern of the gangsters if he ever does. The game is in progress, and has come down to the final innings with the team in mixed emotions. Has Farrel abandoned them, should they love him, hate him, be concerned at his absence? Will the Cubs lose the pennant? You know there’s going to be a happy ending. Hey, the Cubs have won pennants before, just not the World Series. Even Alibi Ike seems to have learned a lesson, but I don’t think his days of telling lies are quite over.

Being kicked out of town, and forced to camp on a near by hilltop, Lum decides to act on Caleb Wehandt’s plan. The exiled men plan to raid the government records, and move the location of Pine Ridge to their hilltop camp site. Abner gets a little confused on the strategy of the night time raid, figring that if you’re going to steal a town, why not go for a big city like St louis? Or Chicago? . Hey, that does make sense. You’d even get a baseball team or two in the process. Cedric joins the team to handle the heavy work. With the night patrol on their mission, Lum and Squire sit around the campfire, wondering what could be taking so long. Has there been an unplanned difficulty? Even Dick Huddleston has some doubts that the plan might not have been so well thought out. Even if the men can acquire the records to move the town, what’s the next step? Will the women go for making the move When Abner returns he has word of not only moving the government records, but the post office records as well. According to Dick, moving Federal records of a post Office is a serious Federal offense. Uh-Oh. PS: That post office idea of Abner’s is actually a good one. It’s how the town of Wauters became known as Pine Ridge back in 1936. The difference is that one followed proper procedure, and not a raid in the night. Oopsie.

Or, The Prize Fighter. Jane and Irma are the best of friends, but there are times that test that friendship. One point of contention is money. Going over the budget, Jane scrapes up enough stray cash to cover the rent. She has a big date with Richard, so she entrusts the rent to Irma. Al stops in to tell about his latest business scheme, being a promoter for a boxer. While Tiger McGurk shows off his prowess, he makes the ceiling in Mrs Riley’s downstairs apartment crack and fall on Mr. Riley. What? There is actually a Mr Riley? In later episodes, he has an unexplained absense. Even in these early episodes, he seems to only be present in an off stage status. Left to themselves, Al turns on his charm and logic to part the rent money from Irma. Jane sees the folly of the situation, but who will win out, and sway irma? The Sportsmen sing, Nellie Bligh. Jane gets ready for her big date, as she and Irma clean up. They compare notes on common figures of speech, but Irma’s growing nervousness becomes more obvious, and should be a warning sign to Jane. Richard stops in to pick up Jane, who is proud of sticking to her budget. Irma faces a reality check after they leave, and Mrs Riley knocks on the door for the rent. Poor Irma, she sees the error of her ways too late, and is tormented with guilt.Does that make Irma a criminal? Al returns to save the day. But will Irma’s sneaky, criminal activity be found out?

Presenting the latest Paramount screen lover, Jack Benny! Don interviews the big movie personality on his screen successes. Mary Livingston enters to keep him humble. Will he reveal his real name or age? Kenny is thrilled at meeting the celebrity. How will Phil react to the fame? The jokes wrap up with a smooth dance tune by Phil Harris, Turn Off the Moon. The gang discusses being at the same nightclub to dance. The swanky affair was a tribute to Don Wilson. Andy Divine pops in to complain about dressing up for the dancing in Coconut Grove. Kenny Baker sings, Will You Remember Jack and Kenny joke about getting the bird for their performance. After a swinging bit of traveling music from Phil, the gang put on the drama. The snooty, high-class love story features Jack and Mary joking about their money and high-class relationships and problems. Such a boar, but a very polite and dignified one. Just how many husbands does Lady Milicent have? Even Andy Divine gets a high faluting role. Will their financial future be at risk when Kenny shows up?

Episode 097. A worthless artist receives a visitor from the future who tells him his art will come to be known as the work of a genius.