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Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film, Television and Other Media
Two primary themes of radio serials were mysteries and adventure. This is a detailed analysis of the important programs-"Jack Armstrong," "Sergeant Preston," Tom Mix," and more. Each entry includes type of series, broadcast days, air dates, sponsors, network, cast and production credits, and a comprehensive essay. When the series landed in other media, that is examined as well.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
3 people want to read
About the author
Jim Harmon
106 books4 followersJames Judson Harmon, aka Jim Harmon (born 1933), was an American short story author and popular culture historian who has written extensively about the Golden Age of Radio. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Judson Grey, and occasionally he was labeled Mr. Nostalgia.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 13, 2015
This is a wonderful idea for a book terribly botched in the execution. Taking a program per chapter approach, Harmon pulls together a radio show, the film and television versions of that character, comic book and comic strip versions, and the premiums given away to listeners of the radio series. If only he had done it well.
There were a number of oddities prior to this, but I knew we were in trouble on page 28 when Harmon writes that George Lowther, the writer of the Dick Tracy radio series "knew how to dramatize an unusual situation . . . without losing his listeners in a confused web of plot and counterplot." Not really true. The Tracy series was convoluted and it was only by the use of lengthy, sometimes dull, and often expository dialog that listeners were able to follow the story.
The book if full of such questionable judgments in addition to factual errors, a structure that sometimes does not suit the subject, inflated praise for the author's favorite programs, and omissions, some of which are serious. Here are a few of the lowlights.
When characters began in comic strips or comic books, it makes sense to move his comic strip/book section before the screen section, otherwise we do not have the proper context to know who those character are. By not doing this, Harmon has to play catch-up when he does get to the comics section. This puts both him and readers and a grievous disadvantage.
The chapter on Little Orphan Annie does not mention the Annie books, comic books, or Big Little Books, and cops out about the movies, barely giving them a mention. This chapter is so insubstantial that it was not worth including.
Harmon claims that Lone Ranger scribe Fran Striker is a significant American author. In what fantasy world is this true? He is interesting but often awkward, relying too much on a narrator to give story details. Hardly major.
Harmon does not give the release year for the film Hi-Yo Silver, the feature version of one of the Long Ranger serials. It was 1940.
The years of the two Lone Ranger animated series are not given, and the series itself is barely mentioned.
The Lone Ranger Big Little Book published in the sixties in not included.
The years of the Shadow movie serial are variously given as 1940 and 1949. It was released in 1940.
Considering that most Sherlock Holmes films had nothing to do with the various radio series, it would be forgivable if Harmon had just a page or less on Holmes films. He has considerably more. If you are going to write considerably more, you should be complete, which he is not. The one film that MUST be discussed is THE RADIO MURDER MYSTERY (1933), featuring the stars of the then current NBC series solving a mystery, their expertise grained by playing Holmes and Watson on the radio. Harmon only discusses these actors in the radio show. There is no mention of the film.
Harmon only discusses American productions of Holmes radio shows plus the 1955 BBC series what was broadcast by US stations. This would be fine, except that when writing about Holmes films, he covers both US and English movies. This makes no sense.
For some reason, Harmon cannot make tenses agree on pp. 216-7.
He tells one story in the Tom Mix chapter three times.
Speaking of the Tom Mix chapter, it is absolutely fine that he included the unsuccessful attempt to revive the series in the eighties and the behind the scenes look is helpful. However, nearly one-third of the radio section of this chapter is given to Harmon's vanity project with just two thirds devoted to the far more important network series. This is not the first time that Harmon's vanity becomes irksome.
The last time is the Appendix, wherein Harmon publishes some of his fan fiction. That's right. He published his fan fiction.
It many other ways I have not specified, the vanity and self-indulgence of this author comes through. It is astonishing that his editor did not smack him down and make Harmon write this book the right way: with consistency and thoroughness, sticking to the facts of the programs, book, comics, screen versions, and premiums while skipping nothing.
The editor failed to do this and his editor let Harmon get away with much self-indulgent bullshit. I hope that editor was fired, for this book is not just a disappointment, but a disgrace to the making of fine reference books.
In his introduction, Harmon threatens to turn this basic idea into a series of books, with comedies, Westerns, and other genres getting their own volumes. A glance at amazon.com suggests that sanity prevailed and these books were not published.
There were a number of oddities prior to this, but I knew we were in trouble on page 28 when Harmon writes that George Lowther, the writer of the Dick Tracy radio series "knew how to dramatize an unusual situation . . . without losing his listeners in a confused web of plot and counterplot." Not really true. The Tracy series was convoluted and it was only by the use of lengthy, sometimes dull, and often expository dialog that listeners were able to follow the story.
The book if full of such questionable judgments in addition to factual errors, a structure that sometimes does not suit the subject, inflated praise for the author's favorite programs, and omissions, some of which are serious. Here are a few of the lowlights.
When characters began in comic strips or comic books, it makes sense to move his comic strip/book section before the screen section, otherwise we do not have the proper context to know who those character are. By not doing this, Harmon has to play catch-up when he does get to the comics section. This puts both him and readers and a grievous disadvantage.
The chapter on Little Orphan Annie does not mention the Annie books, comic books, or Big Little Books, and cops out about the movies, barely giving them a mention. This chapter is so insubstantial that it was not worth including.
Harmon claims that Lone Ranger scribe Fran Striker is a significant American author. In what fantasy world is this true? He is interesting but often awkward, relying too much on a narrator to give story details. Hardly major.
Harmon does not give the release year for the film Hi-Yo Silver, the feature version of one of the Long Ranger serials. It was 1940.
The years of the two Lone Ranger animated series are not given, and the series itself is barely mentioned.
The Lone Ranger Big Little Book published in the sixties in not included.
The years of the Shadow movie serial are variously given as 1940 and 1949. It was released in 1940.
Considering that most Sherlock Holmes films had nothing to do with the various radio series, it would be forgivable if Harmon had just a page or less on Holmes films. He has considerably more. If you are going to write considerably more, you should be complete, which he is not. The one film that MUST be discussed is THE RADIO MURDER MYSTERY (1933), featuring the stars of the then current NBC series solving a mystery, their expertise grained by playing Holmes and Watson on the radio. Harmon only discusses these actors in the radio show. There is no mention of the film.
Harmon only discusses American productions of Holmes radio shows plus the 1955 BBC series what was broadcast by US stations. This would be fine, except that when writing about Holmes films, he covers both US and English movies. This makes no sense.
For some reason, Harmon cannot make tenses agree on pp. 216-7.
He tells one story in the Tom Mix chapter three times.
Speaking of the Tom Mix chapter, it is absolutely fine that he included the unsuccessful attempt to revive the series in the eighties and the behind the scenes look is helpful. However, nearly one-third of the radio section of this chapter is given to Harmon's vanity project with just two thirds devoted to the far more important network series. This is not the first time that Harmon's vanity becomes irksome.
The last time is the Appendix, wherein Harmon publishes some of his fan fiction. That's right. He published his fan fiction.
It many other ways I have not specified, the vanity and self-indulgence of this author comes through. It is astonishing that his editor did not smack him down and make Harmon write this book the right way: with consistency and thoroughness, sticking to the facts of the programs, book, comics, screen versions, and premiums while skipping nothing.
The editor failed to do this and his editor let Harmon get away with much self-indulgent bullshit. I hope that editor was fired, for this book is not just a disappointment, but a disgrace to the making of fine reference books.
In his introduction, Harmon threatens to turn this basic idea into a series of books, with comedies, Westerns, and other genres getting their own volumes. A glance at amazon.com suggests that sanity prevailed and these books were not published.
Displaying 1 of 1 review