Show #42 - Singer, Comedian, Newscaster and Superhero

Yep, we have it all here this week on the OTR Express.  Dennis Day kicks off the program with his eponymous sitcom, alternatively titled, A Day in the Life of Dennis Day.

A Day in the Life of Dennis Day gave the boyish sounding Day a chance to showcase his vocal and comedic talents, and the show we picked out for you this week has no fewer than 3 songs performed by Day.

The comedy is purely of the situational variety, but that doesn't make it bad. 

We then turn  our attention to the news of the day, with a radio broadcast from H.V. Kaltenborn.  If you watch any news commentary shows nowadays, then you'll see the descendants of the Kaltenborn school of broadcasting.  A very interesting man, and you can read more about him here:  http://www.otr.com/kaltenborn.shtml

Lastly, we have the national debut of Captain Midnight.  'Nuff said.  So gather round the radio, gang, (after drinking some rich chocolately Ovaltine, of course), and enjoy a night of old time radio.

Show #22 - Escape & Captain Midnight

This week, we escape to the Confederate South on Escape, as Harry Bartell stars in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" based on the famous short story of the same name by Ambrose Bierce. 

Escape was an anthology program of adventure shows, and is often thought of as the somewhat lesser kin to the long-running program, Suspense.  And though it is true that Escape only ran for 7 years (versus Suspense's 20), bounced around time slots (versus Suspense's fairly standard slot), had sporadic sponsorship (versus Suspense's long-running sponsors) and limited budget and big-name stars (versus Suspense's wealth of both), Escape is still just as good as Suspense. 

Take a listen to this show, and let me know if you don't agree.

By the way, star of this Escape episode, Mr. Harry Bartell, named this particular performance the favorite of his long career.

Captain Midnight is our second program, and was a kiddie serial aimed at young boys.  It told the story of Captain Midnight, secret government agent whose identity was so secret that even his superiors did not know it. 

Like every good hero, he had a backstory.  In WWI, he was fighter pilot who was sent on a mission surely to result in his death, but he piloted his plane back into friendly territory on the stroke of midnight, having completed his mission, and earning the moniker, "Captain Midnight". 

For more on Captain Midnight, check out http://www.otr.com/.  Until then, enjoy this isolated episode from January 10, 1949.