WFMU: Dimestore Radio Theater with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 5, 2022

Listener comments!
	👻 5:56pm Austin Rich: Good Hello
	6:00pm Scott67: G'day Austin & Audio Audience! 🌏☀️📻🎶🍻😎🤙🌻
	6:01pm Krys O.: Hello!
	6:02pm John R.: Good afternoon Austin and Scott67!😎
	6:02pm Krys O.: Excellent!
	6:02pm Krys O.: It's a win-win for us and you.
	6:02pm Scott67: G'day John!🍻😎🤙💨🍺
	6:03pm Scott67: G'day Krys!🍻😎🤙💨🌻
	6:03pm Charles: That all sounds fun, i'm ready!
	6:04pm John R.: Austin: thank you !
	6:06pm HyperDose: Yay Austin!
	👻 6:06pm Austin Rich: Nice to see ya'll in the chat! Hopefully this fill-in episode will work for ya'll, and we'll get back to our regular stories next week.
	6:06pm John R.: Mr Powell and Miss Loy’s chemistry is magic.
	👻 6:07pm Austin Rich: Scott67, Krys O, John R and Charles! I think ya'll know what you're about to get. Enjoy!
	6:08pm spacebrother: Hey Austin!
	6:09pm spacebrother: Sorry I ended late, but carry on!
	👻 6:09pm Austin Rich: Hey, Spacebrother!
	👻 6:09pm Austin Rich: I think it will all work out.
	6:11pm Krys O.: I just watched The Thin Man the other night. It was on TCM. I've seen it a half dozen times
	👻 6:12pm Austin Rich: Because Hollywood was always Hollywood, and because this movies was a huge hit, version of this story wound up all over the place, including on the radio. There were five sequels to the original Thin Man film, and in spite of the fact that the CLIENT, and not the DETECTIVE was the titular not very wide person, all of the sequels used a variant of the "Thin" naming conventions. The series ran for over 10 years, and made stars of Powell and Loy, and their dog, too.
	6:14pm Charles: I'm listening to a movie on the radio! Wild times!
	6:15pm HyperDose: The future is now! 🤩 I am excited about this super special programming
	👻 6:16pm Austin Rich: Of course, a lot of the charm was Hammett's writing, who could do comedy as well as crime VERY well. He wrote the first two "Thin Man" movies, and while the second feels like a bit of a retread of what made the first great, the second film is still pretty good. The third film has a "story by" credit for Hammett, but after that, the scripts are all written by lesser writers, and Powell and Loy are often carrying the later films on charm alone. On the whole, the third - sixth films probably could have been re-written as one really good third film... but instead, we have four so-so movies and two pretty good ones.
	👻 6:18pm Austin Rich: .... Oh, couple other things...
	6:21pm Krys O.: Wonderful....
	👻 6:22pm Austin Rich: While the dialog doesn't seem that racy by modern standards (Nick and Nora discussing Nick's possible interest in another woman seems milquetoast by the mores of today), this movie was a pre-code film, and was considered very risqué for the mid-30's. While it is hinted at more than obvious in this presentation, Nick & Nora are shown drinking an astonishing amount in the film, and even more so in the sequels. The concept of rich, drunk socialites solving mysteries for fun around the holidays does seem charming in a 1930s sense, I wonder if you could set something like this "now" without the drinking becoming more of a cautionary tale.
	👻 6:26pm Austin Rich: Compared to a lot of productions that we've heard on this show, the limitations of mid-30's radio are on full display here. The music is minimal; the sfx are practical, and were done live by a foley artist. But even those additions are minor, compared to the production quality of the 1950s shows that we've heard. Still, the charm of live actors bouncing off of each other works, no matter what era it is.
	👻 6:28pm Austin Rich: We've heard some shows that were pre-recorded, and mixed after the fact, to make the shows sound very polished. You can tell here that the actors are doing this live, and the performances come with some stiffness, some actors better than others, and some actual mistakes, too. All part of doing live radio before we could that much pre-production.
	👻 6:29pm Austin Rich: "Are you asleep?" "Yes."
	6:33pm Charles: She's all right.
	👻 6:33pm Austin Rich: 926 Episodes of Lux Radio Theater were broadcast, between 1934 and 1955, and rarely missed a week. While the premise of the show was to air radio version of stage plays, a number of movies were also in the mix, some that originated as plays, and some that originated as film (or, in some cases, as radio shows). With a weekly production schedule, and a regular group of performers working with guest stars every week, this show must have been a well-oiled machine, behind the scenes.
	6:35pm HyperDose: Okay I'm back from googling "milquetoast"
	👻 6:36pm Austin Rich: Most of the episodes were adapted by George Wells, Sanford Barnett. Since they always adapted existing works, it made the adaptations easier to produce. I can't find any information regarding if they worked together, or if they adapted scripts separately (to cover more ground), I suspect that it was a combination of the two, with that many episodes, over that many years.
	👻 6:40pm Austin Rich: In the 21 year stretch that the show was on the air, it was hosted by a number of radio personalities: John Anthony, Albert Hayes, William Keighley, Irving Cummings and Don Wilson. However, the most famous host was certainly Cecil B. DeMille, the famous director and producer, who had his fingers in a number of pies. However, you'll find that, in spite of his notoriety, he is not a very good host.
	👻 6:41pm Austin Rich: A short list of some of the many stars who appeared in at least one episode of Lux Radio Theater: Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Wallace Beery, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Irene Dunne, Deanna Durbin, Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, William Holden, Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Gene Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Carole Lombard, Jeanette MacDonald, Fredric March, Robert Mitchum, Dennis Morgan, Paul Muni, Laurence Olivier, Robert Preston, Tyrone Power, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor, Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, John Wayne, and Orson Welles, among many others
	6:42pm Krys O.: Really a treat.
	6:43pm HyperDose: I'm with Krys, loving this!
	👻 6:44pm Austin Rich: I thought I should keep the vintage commercials in for this presentation, unlike what I normally do.
	6:44pm Charles: So they're not using ACME brand soap? Doesn't sound right to me.
	6:45pm zivilars: Hi everyone, hi Austin Rich – thanks for the show!
	👻 6:45pm Austin Rich: Asta, played by Skippy, was a very famous actor dog, that was in over 20 films, including all of the Thin Man films. Skippy retired from film after shooting the last Thin Man film. en.wikipedia.org...
	6:45pm John R.: Austin: That is an amazing list!
	👻 6:47pm Austin Rich: Asta has performed with the likes of Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and Irene Dunne. Asta might have been the most famous actor in many of the films they were in.
	👻 6:48pm Austin Rich: Asta was featured in the book, "Dog Stars of Hollywood," by Gertrude Orr. It featured a number of famous dog actors.
	👻 6:48pm Austin Rich: Thanks for joining us, zivilars!
	👻 6:49pm Austin Rich: And I'm not sure I said hello to HyperDose, officially? Maybe I did... can't remember.
	6:51pm Charles: I find it fun when they fumble their lines.
	6:51pm HyperDose: I was not greeted. I snuck in a few mins late ;)
	6:52pm HyperDose: He dismissed that man without a thought haha
	👻 6:52pm Austin Rich: Other names that Skippy / Asta has performed under: Ragsy, Rex, Pom Pom, Mr. Smith, George, Habeas, Mr. Skip, and Mr. Atlas. Asta was the only "character" that carried over to other films. It is suspected that the last two Thin Man films did not feature Skippy, but a look-alike. However, Skippy is credited as "Asta" in those last two films.
	👻 6:53pm Austin Rich: Charles: I'm with you. I love it when I notice someone flubs a line.
	6:53pm Charles: Mr. Smith is a great name.
	👻 6:54pm Austin Rich: I want a dog named Mr. Smith, now!
	6:55pm zivilars: Really enjoying old time radio shows much more since I switched to headphones – as a non-native speaker it somehow is much more difficult for me to follow the story from old time radio shows as "hifi" quality english audio, but headphones help me a lot to concentrate on the dialoge. Halloween month with spooky radio shows can't come soon enough!
	👻 6:56pm Austin Rich: Yeah! I was picking out Halloween shows the other day. I like to listen to most stuff on Headphones. I think it helps me concentrate more than just through speakers.
	👻 6:56pm Austin Rich: While recordings of radio before 1939 are not "uncommon," it was harder to record shows before then, and it was often up to listeners at home or fans to record these shows. Lux Radio Theater has a lot of 30's episodes in existence, offering a rare glimpse of this era of radio.
	6:58pm Krys O.: An old friend had named their Chihuahua Asta. Golly, Cecil sounds more gruff than Eugene Pallette.
	7:05pm Krys O.: And the Maltese Falcon was also on TCM recently. No matter how many times I've watched it, I will take the time to see it again.
	👻 7:07pm Austin Rich: It really works as a movie, and everything about it works.
	👻 7:08pm Austin Rich: I think I've seen it six times, and I've never wanted to wander away part way through. It's just a wonderful film.
	7:08pm Krys O.: Gail Patrick is wonderful.
	👻 7:09pm Austin Rich: I secretly want to be a detective. But I'm often very bad at putting the clues together until after the fact.
	👻 7:10pm Austin Rich: I used the name "Zero-G Robinson" in a sci-fi comedy piece I wrote with my friend Tom.
	7:12pm Charles: When I was a kid I wanted to become like Columbo. Solving mysteries but only in nice places. Didn't want to make my shoes dirty in a back alley or anything like that.
	👻 7:13pm Austin Rich: The original Maltese Falcon was published in 1930. In 1931 the film was adapted as a pre-code crime film, with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels, under the same name.
	👻 7:15pm Austin Rich: Five years later, the movie was remade as a sort of "comedy," under the name "Satan Met A Lady," staring Bette Davis & Warren William. The 1931 version wasn't exactly a "hit," and this version only did a little better, mostly because of the draw of Bette Davis.
	7:15pm Krys O.: I was a Nancy Drew devotee in my youth. My oldest sister gave me a set of first edition books. I devoured those books right down to the musty scent.
	7:15pm HyperDose: Columbo was cool. His dog and car were cooler. :)
	👻 7:15pm Austin Rich: I just started a job as the shipping manager for a rare book collection in Salem. We have a kids book room, with a very nice OG set of Nancy Drew books.
	7:17pm Krys O.: Nice, Austin. Unfortunately, my mother gave away my books. I also had Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys first editions.
	👻 7:19pm Austin Rich: Ten years after the first attempt, another version of "The Maltese Falcon" was shot by Hollywood, with Bogart & Astor, and is the version that most folks are familiar with. The most famous line, "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of," which only appears in the film and nowhere else, is an interesting legacy for this story. Since the Falcon is a "fake," and Bogart comments that the Falcon is, "The stuff dreams are made of," Bogart is making an ironic comment. But the "dream" quote is almost universally taken out of context by folks now.
	👻 7:21pm Austin Rich: Robinson's "laconic" performance of Spade here contrasts a bit with the Bogart performance that is very well known, but I think Robinson's performance still manages to find a tone that fits the character and Robinson's persona. Spade has been interpreted a number of times in a number of ways, but I think it is hard to shake the legacy of Bogart's performance.
	👻 7:23pm Austin Rich: "Joel Cairo" is played by Peter Lorre in the film, and this actor is doing his best "Lorre" impersonation, which almost - but not quite - works. In the film, Cairo is played more like a gunsel, (which lines up more with the character in the book). But this actor merely plays him as a generic "foreigner," without the queer subtext that Lorre adds.
	👻 7:25pm Austin Rich: Robinson does manage to capture Spade's almost "boredom" he has with the typical "noir" shenanigans that happen to him. Bogart occasionally veers more into "annoyance" in a way that betrays Spade's cool.
	👻 7:25pm Austin Rich: Colombo was cool.
	👻 7:28pm Austin Rich: (I wrote a few papers on this book in college. But I still love it, unlike some of the books I wrote about in college.)
	7:30pm Krys O.: My dad was a detective genre fan. We watched the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie in the 70s which was the starting point for Columbo, McCloud, etc. Dad liked Banacek, but he would scoff when George Peppard would offer up supposed Polish sayings at the end of the show. Later on, Dad was a fan of Murder She Wrote, Barnaby Jones, and, of course, MATLOCK! (shouted in the voice of Grandpa Simpson)
	👻 7:30pm Austin Rich: Your dad and I would have loved watching TV together!
	7:31pm Charles: ahah, neat Krys O
	👻 7:31pm Austin Rich: (I do love Abe Simpson. I think the Flying Hellfish episode might be the one I quote the most.)
	7:31pm Krys O.: We bonded over TV and films, for sure. Mom really didn't watch TV until cooking shows became popular.
	👻 7:32pm Austin Rich: Sometimes it's hard to bond with both parents in the same way.
	👻 7:33pm Austin Rich: My mom showed my, "Popeye," and, "Heavy Metal." My dad showed my football games.
	7:34pm Krys O.: Well, Mom would yell and my brother and me when we watched Star Trek because she said that Spock looked like Satan. She also didn't like the risque humor of Monty Python like Dad did.
	👻 7:34pm Austin Rich: While I have nothing against this actor, he is NO Sydney Greenstreet.
	7:34pm Krys O.: Laird Cregar was really good. He was in Blood & Sand.
	7:35pm Krys O.: And he was in the 1944 version of The Lodger.
	👻 7:35pm Austin Rich: Again, Greenstreet adds a "queer" overlay to his performance that is both delightful and subtle. Cregar is doing well, and holding his own against Robinson... but I think Greenstreet was just on another level.
	👻 7:35pm Austin Rich: I need to see Blood & Sand. The Lodger does rule...
	👻 7:36pm Austin Rich: There we go. Robinson goes full Robinson!
	👻 7:37pm Austin Rich: Wilma really doesn't get much in this production.
	7:38pm Krys O.: Elisha Cook was on a different plane.
	👻 7:38pm Austin Rich: Agreed! You can't compete with him.
	👻 7:39pm Austin Rich: I was trying to think of a role where Elisha Cook drops the ball... but I haven't seen one, yet.
	7:40pm Krys O.: You could say the same about Dan Duryea. I even saw him on a Jack Benny TV show episode. Such a pro. And it's always been said that he was a very nice person.
	👻 7:42pm Austin Rich: While a lot of essayists make a lot of "hay" about this story that Gutman tells here, and like to connect the Knights of old with the Detectives of "now." While it is a nice fantasy to add to a crime story, flourishes like this feel like the difference between straight "detective" stories, and the more graphic and street-style "hardboiled" fiction.
	👻 7:42pm Austin Rich: I agree; Dan is another pro!
	👻 7:45pm Austin Rich: While the connective tissue between the two shows I played today are the scripts by Hammett, the comedy of The Thin Man and the mystery and the action of The Maltese Falcon almost seem like different styles and eras entirely. Certainly, it's harder to keep a consistent voice across different Hollywood productions, I often don't remember that Hammett wrote The Thin Man because it is so funny in a way that is very different from his usual style.
	👻 7:48pm Austin Rich: This episode of Lux Radio Theater aired 7 years after the one we heard last hour, and you can already hear a MASSIVE improvement in the quality of the broadcast.
	👻 7:52pm Austin Rich: A number of "Falcons" were crafted for the 1941 film, for use in different shots and for different parts of the film. Some were made for the film that never saw the screen; it's hard to know exactly which one was used in which shot, as those kinds of records were not kept. Joe Dante famously retrieved one of the Falcons from this production from a dumpster, where a number of props from the 40s were being tossed out by people who didn't recognize what films they were from. The "dumpster" Falcon that Dante found is now in his office, along with other film props he's collected.
	👻 7:54pm Austin Rich: In this third act, Laird is adding a little more of the "queernees" to the character that Greenstreet really brings home. But I think Laird's performance is just a little more subtle, and needs a second listen.
	👻 7:56pm Austin Rich: Thanks everyone, for tuning in! We'll be back on track next week!
	7:56pm Krys O.: That sounded like one of the Ritz Brothers instead of Lorre. Tee hee.
	7:56pm Scott67: Thanks Austin, riveting stuff mate! 🎙️📻🎶🍻😎🤙
	7:57pm Charles: Thanks Austin! I had a great time. Until next time everyone!
	7:57pm Krys O.: Thanks, Austin. This has been a lot of fun. See ya tomorrow!
	👻 7:57pm Austin Rich: It's my "Back To School" special tomorrow! Everything you need to succeed this year in school!
	👻 7:58pm Austin Rich: Clearly, Robinson was saving a lot of his mojo for these last scenes.
	7:59pm zivilars: Thanks a lot, Austin!
	8:00pm Charles: Goodnight! Goodnight!
	8:00pm Krys O.: Ooh, Gracie was the best!
	8:01pm Krys O.: Bea! Wow!

Dimestore Radio Theater with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 5, 2022

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Join us for two hours of old time radio dramas, as we present four different pulp fiction stories, every week! Noir Stories with everymen getting wrapped up in dangerous adventures! Sea-faring Tales that are as two-fisted as they are filled with romance! Mysterious Magicians from the Far East, or maybe a Science Fiction yarn from the Atomic Age! Dimestore Radio Theater offers a chance to engage in Theater of The Mind, and enter a world of incredible tales from both yesterday and tomorrow!

Monday 9 - 11pm (EST) | On WFMU's Sheena's Jungle Room
Sheena's Jungle Room LIVE Audio Streams (Get help): Pop-up | 128k MP3

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September 5, 2022: Special Labor Day Double Feature!

Listen to this show: Pop-up listen Pop-up player!

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Format	Comments	Images	New * / Special ***	Approx. start time
Lux Radio Theater	"The Thin Man" ""The Thin Man"" by "Lux Radio Theater"	8 June 1936	NBC						0:00:00 (Pop-up)
Lux Radio Theater	"The Maltese Falcon"	8 February 1943	NBC						1:07:10 (Pop-up)

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Listener comments!
	👻 5:56pm Austin Rich: Good Hello
	6:00pm Scott67: G'day Austin & Audio Audience! 🌏☀️📻🎶🍻😎🤙🌻
	6:01pm Krys O.: Hello!
	6:02pm John R.: Good afternoon Austin and Scott67!😎
	6:02pm Krys O.: Excellent!
	6:02pm Krys O.: It's a win-win for us and you.
	6:02pm Scott67: G'day John!🍻😎🤙💨🍺
	6:03pm Scott67: G'day Krys!🍻😎🤙💨🌻
	6:03pm Charles: That all sounds fun, i'm ready!
	6:04pm John R.: Austin: thank you !
	6:06pm HyperDose: Yay Austin!
	👻 6:06pm Austin Rich: Nice to see ya'll in the chat! Hopefully this fill-in episode will work for ya'll, and we'll get back to our regular stories next week.
	6:06pm John R.: Mr Powell and Miss Loy’s chemistry is magic.
	👻 6:07pm Austin Rich: Scott67, Krys O, John R and Charles! I think ya'll know what you're about to get. Enjoy!
	6:08pm spacebrother: Hey Austin!
	6:09pm spacebrother: Sorry I ended late, but carry on!
	👻 6:09pm Austin Rich: Hey, Spacebrother!
	👻 6:09pm Austin Rich: I think it will all work out.
	6:11pm Krys O.: I just watched The Thin Man the other night. It was on TCM. I've seen it a half dozen times
	👻 6:12pm Austin Rich: Because Hollywood was always Hollywood, and because this movies was a huge hit, version of this story wound up all over the place, including on the radio. There were five sequels to the original Thin Man film, and in spite of the fact that the CLIENT, and not the DETECTIVE was the titular not very wide person, all of the sequels used a variant of the "Thin" naming conventions. The series ran for over 10 years, and made stars of Powell and Loy, and their dog, too.
	6:14pm Charles: I'm listening to a movie on the radio! Wild times!
	6:15pm HyperDose: The future is now! 🤩 I am excited about this super special programming
	👻 6:16pm Austin Rich: Of course, a lot of the charm was Hammett's writing, who could do comedy as well as crime VERY well. He wrote the first two "Thin Man" movies, and while the second feels like a bit of a retread of what made the first great, the second film is still pretty good. The third film has a "story by" credit for Hammett, but after that, the scripts are all written by lesser writers, and Powell and Loy are often carrying the later films on charm alone. On the whole, the third - sixth films probably could have been re-written as one really good third film... but instead, we have four so-so movies and two pretty good ones.
	👻 6:18pm Austin Rich: .... Oh, couple other things...
	6:21pm Krys O.: Wonderful....
	👻 6:22pm Austin Rich: While the dialog doesn't seem that racy by modern standards (Nick and Nora discussing Nick's possible interest in another woman seems milquetoast by the mores of today), this movie was a pre-code film, and was considered very risqué for the mid-30's. While it is hinted at more than obvious in this presentation, Nick & Nora are shown drinking an astonishing amount in the film, and even more so in the sequels. The concept of rich, drunk socialites solving mysteries for fun around the holidays does seem charming in a 1930s sense, I wonder if you could set something like this "now" without the drinking becoming more of a cautionary tale.
	👻 6:26pm Austin Rich: Compared to a lot of productions that we've heard on this show, the limitations of mid-30's radio are on full display here. The music is minimal; the sfx are practical, and were done live by a foley artist. But even those additions are minor, compared to the production quality of the 1950s shows that we've heard. Still, the charm of live actors bouncing off of each other works, no matter what era it is.
	👻 6:28pm Austin Rich: We've heard some shows that were pre-recorded, and mixed after the fact, to make the shows sound very polished. You can tell here that the actors are doing this live, and the performances come with some stiffness, some actors better than others, and some actual mistakes, too. All part of doing live radio before we could that much pre-production.
	👻 6:29pm Austin Rich: "Are you asleep?" "Yes."
	6:33pm Charles: She's all right.
	👻 6:33pm Austin Rich: 926 Episodes of Lux Radio Theater were broadcast, between 1934 and 1955, and rarely missed a week. While the premise of the show was to air radio version of stage plays, a number of movies were also in the mix, some that originated as plays, and some that originated as film (or, in some cases, as radio shows). With a weekly production schedule, and a regular group of performers working with guest stars every week, this show must have been a well-oiled machine, behind the scenes.
	6:35pm HyperDose: Okay I'm back from googling "milquetoast"
	👻 6:36pm Austin Rich: Most of the episodes were adapted by George Wells, Sanford Barnett. Since they always adapted existing works, it made the adaptations easier to produce. I can't find any information regarding if they worked together, or if they adapted scripts separately (to cover more ground), I suspect that it was a combination of the two, with that many episodes, over that many years.
	👻 6:40pm Austin Rich: In the 21 year stretch that the show was on the air, it was hosted by a number of radio personalities: John Anthony, Albert Hayes, William Keighley, Irving Cummings and Don Wilson. However, the most famous host was certainly Cecil B. DeMille, the famous director and producer, who had his fingers in a number of pies. However, you'll find that, in spite of his notoriety, he is not a very good host.
	👻 6:41pm Austin Rich: A short list of some of the many stars who appeared in at least one episode of Lux Radio Theater: Abbott and Costello, Lauren Bacall, Wallace Beery, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Irene Dunne, Deanna Durbin, Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, William Holden, Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Gene Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Carole Lombard, Jeanette MacDonald, Fredric March, Robert Mitchum, Dennis Morgan, Paul Muni, Laurence Olivier, Robert Preston, Tyrone Power, Edward G. Robinson, Ginger Rogers, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor, Shirley Temple, Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner, John Wayne, and Orson Welles, among many others
	6:42pm Krys O.: Really a treat.
	6:43pm HyperDose: I'm with Krys, loving this!
	👻 6:44pm Austin Rich: I thought I should keep the vintage commercials in for this presentation, unlike what I normally do.
	6:44pm Charles: So they're not using ACME brand soap? Doesn't sound right to me.
	6:45pm zivilars: Hi everyone, hi Austin Rich – thanks for the show!
	👻 6:45pm Austin Rich: Asta, played by Skippy, was a very famous actor dog, that was in over 20 films, including all of the Thin Man films. Skippy retired from film after shooting the last Thin Man film. en.wikipedia.org...
	6:45pm John R.: Austin: That is an amazing list!
	👻 6:47pm Austin Rich: Asta has performed with the likes of Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn, and Irene Dunne. Asta might have been the most famous actor in many of the films they were in.
	👻 6:48pm Austin Rich: Asta was featured in the book, "Dog Stars of Hollywood," by Gertrude Orr. It featured a number of famous dog actors.
	👻 6:48pm Austin Rich: Thanks for joining us, zivilars!
	👻 6:49pm Austin Rich: And I'm not sure I said hello to HyperDose, officially? Maybe I did... can't remember.
	6:51pm Charles: I find it fun when they fumble their lines.
	6:51pm HyperDose: I was not greeted. I snuck in a few mins late ;)
	6:52pm HyperDose: He dismissed that man without a thought haha
	👻 6:52pm Austin Rich: Other names that Skippy / Asta has performed under: Ragsy, Rex, Pom Pom, Mr. Smith, George, Habeas, Mr. Skip, and Mr. Atlas. Asta was the only "character" that carried over to other films. It is suspected that the last two Thin Man films did not feature Skippy, but a look-alike. However, Skippy is credited as "Asta" in those last two films.
	👻 6:53pm Austin Rich: Charles: I'm with you. I love it when I notice someone flubs a line.
	6:53pm Charles: Mr. Smith is a great name.
	👻 6:54pm Austin Rich: I want a dog named Mr. Smith, now!
	6:55pm zivilars: Really enjoying old time radio shows much more since I switched to headphones – as a non-native speaker it somehow is much more difficult for me to follow the story from old time radio shows as "hifi" quality english audio, but headphones help me a lot to concentrate on the dialoge. Halloween month with spooky radio shows can't come soon enough!
	👻 6:56pm Austin Rich: Yeah! I was picking out Halloween shows the other day. I like to listen to most stuff on Headphones. I think it helps me concentrate more than just through speakers.
	👻 6:56pm Austin Rich: While recordings of radio before 1939 are not "uncommon," it was harder to record shows before then, and it was often up to listeners at home or fans to record these shows. Lux Radio Theater has a lot of 30's episodes in existence, offering a rare glimpse of this era of radio.
	6:58pm Krys O.: An old friend had named their Chihuahua Asta. Golly, Cecil sounds more gruff than Eugene Pallette.
	7:05pm Krys O.: And the Maltese Falcon was also on TCM recently. No matter how many times I've watched it, I will take the time to see it again.
	👻 7:07pm Austin Rich: It really works as a movie, and everything about it works.
	👻 7:08pm Austin Rich: I think I've seen it six times, and I've never wanted to wander away part way through. It's just a wonderful film.
	7:08pm Krys O.: Gail Patrick is wonderful.
	👻 7:09pm Austin Rich: I secretly want to be a detective. But I'm often very bad at putting the clues together until after the fact.
	👻 7:10pm Austin Rich: I used the name "Zero-G Robinson" in a sci-fi comedy piece I wrote with my friend Tom.
	7:12pm Charles: When I was a kid I wanted to become like Columbo. Solving mysteries but only in nice places. Didn't want to make my shoes dirty in a back alley or anything like that.
	👻 7:13pm Austin Rich: The original Maltese Falcon was published in 1930. In 1931 the film was adapted as a pre-code crime film, with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels, under the same name.
	👻 7:15pm Austin Rich: Five years later, the movie was remade as a sort of "comedy," under the name "Satan Met A Lady," staring Bette Davis & Warren William. The 1931 version wasn't exactly a "hit," and this version only did a little better, mostly because of the draw of Bette Davis.
	7:15pm Krys O.: I was a Nancy Drew devotee in my youth. My oldest sister gave me a set of first edition books. I devoured those books right down to the musty scent.
	7:15pm HyperDose: Columbo was cool. His dog and car were cooler. :)
	👻 7:15pm Austin Rich: I just started a job as the shipping manager for a rare book collection in Salem. We have a kids book room, with a very nice OG set of Nancy Drew books.
	7:17pm Krys O.: Nice, Austin. Unfortunately, my mother gave away my books. I also had Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys first editions.
	👻 7:19pm Austin Rich: Ten years after the first attempt, another version of "The Maltese Falcon" was shot by Hollywood, with Bogart & Astor, and is the version that most folks are familiar with. The most famous line, "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of," which only appears in the film and nowhere else, is an interesting legacy for this story. Since the Falcon is a "fake," and Bogart comments that the Falcon is, "The stuff dreams are made of," Bogart is making an ironic comment. But the "dream" quote is almost universally taken out of context by folks now.
	👻 7:21pm Austin Rich: Robinson's "laconic" performance of Spade here contrasts a bit with the Bogart performance that is very well known, but I think Robinson's performance still manages to find a tone that fits the character and Robinson's persona. Spade has been interpreted a number of times in a number of ways, but I think it is hard to shake the legacy of Bogart's performance.
	👻 7:23pm Austin Rich: "Joel Cairo" is played by Peter Lorre in the film, and this actor is doing his best "Lorre" impersonation, which almost - but not quite - works. In the film, Cairo is played more like a gunsel, (which lines up more with the character in the book). But this actor merely plays him as a generic "foreigner," without the queer subtext that Lorre adds.
	👻 7:25pm Austin Rich: Robinson does manage to capture Spade's almost "boredom" he has with the typical "noir" shenanigans that happen to him. Bogart occasionally veers more into "annoyance" in a way that betrays Spade's cool.
	👻 7:25pm Austin Rich: Colombo was cool.
	👻 7:28pm Austin Rich: (I wrote a few papers on this book in college. But I still love it, unlike some of the books I wrote about in college.)
	7:30pm Krys O.: My dad was a detective genre fan. We watched the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie in the 70s which was the starting point for Columbo, McCloud, etc. Dad liked Banacek, but he would scoff when George Peppard would offer up supposed Polish sayings at the end of the show. Later on, Dad was a fan of Murder She Wrote, Barnaby Jones, and, of course, MATLOCK! (shouted in the voice of Grandpa Simpson)
	👻 7:30pm Austin Rich: Your dad and I would have loved watching TV together!
	7:31pm Charles: ahah, neat Krys O
	👻 7:31pm Austin Rich: (I do love Abe Simpson. I think the Flying Hellfish episode might be the one I quote the most.)
	7:31pm Krys O.: We bonded over TV and films, for sure. Mom really didn't watch TV until cooking shows became popular.
	👻 7:32pm Austin Rich: Sometimes it's hard to bond with both parents in the same way.
	👻 7:33pm Austin Rich: My mom showed my, "Popeye," and, "Heavy Metal." My dad showed my football games.
	7:34pm Krys O.: Well, Mom would yell and my brother and me when we watched Star Trek because she said that Spock looked like Satan. She also didn't like the risque humor of Monty Python like Dad did.
	👻 7:34pm Austin Rich: While I have nothing against this actor, he is NO Sydney Greenstreet.
	7:34pm Krys O.: Laird Cregar was really good. He was in Blood & Sand.
	7:35pm Krys O.: And he was in the 1944 version of The Lodger.
	👻 7:35pm Austin Rich: Again, Greenstreet adds a "queer" overlay to his performance that is both delightful and subtle. Cregar is doing well, and holding his own against Robinson... but I think Greenstreet was just on another level.
	👻 7:35pm Austin Rich: I need to see Blood & Sand. The Lodger does rule...
	👻 7:36pm Austin Rich: There we go. Robinson goes full Robinson!
	👻 7:37pm Austin Rich: Wilma really doesn't get much in this production.
	7:38pm Krys O.: Elisha Cook was on a different plane.
	👻 7:38pm Austin Rich: Agreed! You can't compete with him.
	👻 7:39pm Austin Rich: I was trying to think of a role where Elisha Cook drops the ball... but I haven't seen one, yet.
	7:40pm Krys O.: You could say the same about Dan Duryea. I even saw him on a Jack Benny TV show episode. Such a pro. And it's always been said that he was a very nice person.
	👻 7:42pm Austin Rich: While a lot of essayists make a lot of "hay" about this story that Gutman tells here, and like to connect the Knights of old with the Detectives of "now." While it is a nice fantasy to add to a crime story, flourishes like this feel like the difference between straight "detective" stories, and the more graphic and street-style "hardboiled" fiction.
	👻 7:42pm Austin Rich: I agree; Dan is another pro!
	👻 7:45pm Austin Rich: While the connective tissue between the two shows I played today are the scripts by Hammett, the comedy of The Thin Man and the mystery and the action of The Maltese Falcon almost seem like different styles and eras entirely. Certainly, it's harder to keep a consistent voice across different Hollywood productions, I often don't remember that Hammett wrote The Thin Man because it is so funny in a way that is very different from his usual style.
	👻 7:48pm Austin Rich: This episode of Lux Radio Theater aired 7 years after the one we heard last hour, and you can already hear a MASSIVE improvement in the quality of the broadcast.
	👻 7:52pm Austin Rich: A number of "Falcons" were crafted for the 1941 film, for use in different shots and for different parts of the film. Some were made for the film that never saw the screen; it's hard to know exactly which one was used in which shot, as those kinds of records were not kept. Joe Dante famously retrieved one of the Falcons from this production from a dumpster, where a number of props from the 40s were being tossed out by people who didn't recognize what films they were from. The "dumpster" Falcon that Dante found is now in his office, along with other film props he's collected.
	👻 7:54pm Austin Rich: In this third act, Laird is adding a little more of the "queernees" to the character that Greenstreet really brings home. But I think Laird's performance is just a little more subtle, and needs a second listen.
	👻 7:56pm Austin Rich: Thanks everyone, for tuning in! We'll be back on track next week!
	7:56pm Krys O.: That sounded like one of the Ritz Brothers instead of Lorre. Tee hee.
	7:56pm Scott67: Thanks Austin, riveting stuff mate! 🎙️📻🎶🍻😎🤙
	7:57pm Charles: Thanks Austin! I had a great time. Until next time everyone!
	7:57pm Krys O.: Thanks, Austin. This has been a lot of fun. See ya tomorrow!
	👻 7:57pm Austin Rich: It's my "Back To School" special tomorrow! Everything you need to succeed this year in school!
	👻 7:58pm Austin Rich: Clearly, Robinson was saving a lot of his mojo for these last scenes.
	7:59pm zivilars: Thanks a lot, Austin!
	8:00pm Charles: Goodnight! Goodnight!
	8:00pm Krys O.: Ooh, Gracie was the best!
	8:01pm Krys O.: Bea! Wow!

Dimestore Radio Theater with Austin Rich: Playlist from September 5, 2022

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