Show #17 of the OTR Express - "The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show" and "Lights Out!"

One might think being a ventriloquist on radio was an added skill for a comedian to have - not only could you tell jokes, but you had a prop there with you, a built-in counterpart for witty banter.  In fact, as Edgar Bergen found, ventriloquism was seen by many producers and evaluators of talent as something to be overcome. 

Well, Bergen successfully overcame this deficiency, if one could call it that, for 20 years on radio.  Charlie McCarthy was (and is) one of the best-loved figures on radio. 

I, like I'm sure many other children on hearing Bergen & McCarthy, checked out a book on ventriloquism from the library and tried to learn the tricks of the trade.  As I quickly learned (and didn't have the patience to overcome), speaking without moving your mouth isn't that hard until you get to the "B", "M" and "P".  Those are a bit trickier.  Poor Bergen... everytime Charlie called his name, he had do the "B" sound. 

Show #16, Season #1 - "The Six Shooter" and "Dark Fantasy"

Two shows different in almost every respect fill the airwaves of the OTR Express this week, as we listen to The Six Shooter (a slickly-produced Western with a big-name Hollywood star and radio veterans in supporting roles) and Dark Fantasy (a fantasy/horror program out of Oklahoma City starring a group of unknowns). 

And yet, despite these differences, both are great examples of quality old time radio.

Season #1-Show #15 - "Philip Marlowe", "Blackstone, the Magic Detective" & "Five Minute Mysteries"

We run the gamut of radio detectives this week, starting with one of the most famous fictional detectives - in any medium - Philip Marlowe, and then going on to the lesser light of Blackstone, the Magic Detective, and ending with a radio curiosity called Five Minute Mysteries.

"Where There's a Will" is an early show from the Adventures of Philip Marlowe series, and the famous show intro - "Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it end up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave."- hadn't yet been introduced.  Those lines set the tone for the next 30 hard-boiled minutes as listeners could almost picture Marlowe spitting those words through clenched teeth and a cigarette.  (Left: Gerald Mohr portraying Philip Marlowe in a lighter moment).

Blackstone is certainly no Marlowe, but is a fun listen, if only for the magic tricks.  Most of the shows take the same tack, with Blackstone showing off a trick to his friends, which reminds him of a mystery, and then he ends by teaching the good folks at home a magic trick. 

We fill the show out with Five Minute Mysteries, though with a good two minutes dedicated to fill music (space where a local commercial would go), this may as well have been called Three Minute Riddles.  It's a neat little show, though, and one wonders how many little filler programs like this existed, but were never recorded.