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 From Bryan Olson: Eva Marie Saint reminisces about working on Hitchcock’s North By Northwest as well as her work in theatre and radio.
Wikipedia reports that Saint, who turned 86 last month, has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – one for motion pictures and another for television.
The all-time Walk of Fame record for multiple stars is held by Gene Autry, who has five – for motion pictures, radio, recording, television and live theater.
 I’m happy for Gene, but somebody needs to tell me why Dudley Moore has only one star, awarded for motion pictures. Moore did live theater on Broadway (Beyond The Fringe and Good Evening with Peter Cook). Moore played piano in The Dudley Moore Trio, which recorded quite a few albums. His television series with Peter Cook, Not Only But Also, was hugely successful in England. Gene Autry gets five stars? Dudley Moore certainly deserves four.
That means Peter Cook deserves three stars; and he has exactly zero at present, which makes him tied with Tom Snyder, who is also yet to be recognized for his television and radio work.
When they rip up Hollywood Boulevard or Vine Street to correct these egregious omissions, they should use the opportunity to add a radio star and theater star for Eva Marie Saint. Then she’d be tied with Dudley Moore.
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 May 16, 1990: the generous and ecologically aware Eddie Albert, promoting “Return To Green Acres,” an abridged interview from the collection of Bryan Olson.
Eddie talks about early radio, his own radio debut in 1920, the original Honeymooners show from 1934, his career on Broadway (and an embarrassing on-stage moment which really tickles Tom)… as well as what it was like to return to Hooterville for a reunion show with Eva Gabor.
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 You can be forgiven if you don’t immediately recognize the actor seen in the photo at left, but I think you could figure it out if you took a good long look. It’s Darren McGavin.
There was something so earnest in McGavin’s work – his personality jumps off the screen – you feel as if you know him. Like Frank Morgan’s unforgettable performance(s) in The Wizard of Oz, McGavin’s turn as “The Old Man” in “A Christmas Story” bestows on him no small degree of immortality.
He was a hard-working guy. His massive credit list in theater, television and film shows he didn’t allow himself much downtime.
This brief excerpt from a Tom Snyder interview (from the collection of Bryan Olson) is an odd little conversation about cancer and life expectancy that’s occasioned by the deaths of Sammy Davis, Jr., Jill Ireland and Jim Henson.
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 How delighted was I to find that this interview with Bruce Dern dates back to the release of The ‘Burbs, a favorite movie of mine. The soundtrack music by Jerry Goldsmith is memorable, as is Brother Theodore’s turn as old man Klopek.
Since Tom and Bruce grew up fairly close to each other, much of the interview has the boys reminiscing about the old neighborhood, but the talk also turns to Hitchcock – Bruce’s role in Family Plot, and Tom’s dinner with Alma and Hitch where the discussion was about cockney rhyming slang.
Bruce Dern has such an instantly recognizable voice.
Again, this one comes from the collection of Bryan Olson.
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 Michael Keaton as Batman? You’ve got to be kidding! The guy who played “Mr. Mom”?
There is only one Batman, and his name is Adam West. Adam had a real career going before he decided to do a commercial hawking Nestle’s Quik. Cast as an ersatz James Bond, West was spotted by the folks at Warner Brothers and cast as TV’s Caped Crusader. For his voice, if you ask us. After all, when your face is hidden behind a mask, you’re essentially doing radio. And Adam West had the voice to pull it off.
Adam is in NYC, Tom is in L.A., and it’s tough to tell much. Is Adam West playing it straight? Does Tom like Adam?
You be the judge.
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 From the files of Bryan Olson: Tom’s guest is filmmaker Roger Corman, author of the boldly titled How I Made 100 Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime.
Corman, who has made more than 100 movies in Hollywood and lost his share of dimes on his duds, seems perfectly happy with the level of success he’s achieved, but Tom suspects that Roger really wants to make a big budget movie and pursues this line of questioning rather relentlessly.
Corman is still doing very nicely, thank you… or did you miss last night’s SyFy airing of Corman’s Dinocroc Vs. Supergator? Yes, I admit, I did, too. But Entertainment Weekly called it “impeccable Saturday-night junk entertainment.” And no special effects whatsoever – all shot on a Florida golf course with real dinocrocs. (YouTube trailer from Dinocroc Vs. Supergator).
Just Corman doing what Corman does best.
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Cary Grant IS James Bond.
No.
Hoagy Carmichael IS James Bond.
Lee Pfeiffer, author of The Incredible World of 007 says that Hoagy and Cary were both considered. Pfeiffer is the guest on this Sept. 1, 1992 edition of the Tom Snyder Radio Show, which again comes to us courtesy of Bryan Olson.
This is interesting stuff – even if you’re not a die-hard fan of the series. Most of the talk is about the early days, including a well-deserved nod to Maurice Binder, designer of the’”gun-barrel” opening sequence. Binder is also responsible for the credits for two of the hundred or so films in my official Top Ten List: Bedazzled and Two For The Road.
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 This one’s all about the OJ trial.
Vincent Bugliosi is so smart… so right… and so outraged… that he can’t get the words out fast enough or emphatically enough.
The recording of this Tom Snyder interview – from television – does not speed up as it progresses. It is Bugliosi that spits the words out faster and faster; Bugliosi whose voice gets higher and higher in pitch.
It’s catching – Tom’s delivery sometimes speeds up to match Vincent’s… or perhaps just to get a word in edge-ways. But if all this had gone on much longer, only dogs would be able to hear the discussion.
I believe Bugliosi is correct in his contentions, but his contentiousness switch seems to be locked in the “on” position.
He remains an outraged man. The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder was published in 2008.
Another recording from Bryan Olson’s collection.
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James Coburn (shown at left wearing Steve McQueen’s hair) is the guest. He discusses the difficulties in making Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists Of Avalon, a TV mini-series which eventually aired on TNT in 2001, roughly two years after this interview. James and Tom commiserate on the financial implications of divorce and discuss their careers in the military.
Also a bit about Bruce Lee, Robert Evans, and The President’s Analyst. The last couple of seconds are missing.
This is yet another program from the collection of Bryan Olson.
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A comment on Tom Snyder No. 30 sent me looking for airchecks… and boy, did I bump into a Beaut! From www.NotheastAirchecks.com:
Top 40 WCCC jock locks himself in the studio, plays the same record over and over and states he won’t leave the studio until he’s promised a full time job. It’s one of those stunts that is supposed to get the public talking. I have no idea whether this worked for WCCC – but the next I knew, WCCC was AOR. Toward the end of this aircheck then Program Director Rusty Potz comes in and negotiates with Bill. The aircheck just leaves me – speechless!
Go to http://northeastairchecks.com/ and Search for WCCC on that page. It’s a great site! Or if you’re lazy, just click here.
If you like Melanie.
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Isn’t Life Terrible? "Isn't Life Terrible" is a Charley Chase short from 1925. The title was derived from a 1924 D.W. Griffith film, "Isn't Life Wonderful?" Other Charley Chase film titles that ask questions are "What Price Goofy?" (1925), "Are Brunettes Safe?" (1927), and "Is Everybody Happy?" (1928). Chase abandoned his titles with question marks for titles with exclamation points during the sound era.
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I’m happy for Gene, but somebody needs to tell me why Dudley Moore has only one star, awarded for motion pictures. Moore did live theater on Broadway (Beyond The Fringe and Good Evening with Peter Cook). Moore played piano in The Dudley Moore Trio, which recorded quite a few albums. His television series with Peter Cook, Not Only But Also, was hugely successful in England. Gene Autry gets five stars? Dudley Moore certainly deserves four.
