 Radio's own show, Behind the Mic. With a switch of a dial, radio brings you tragedy, comedy, entertainment, information, education, a whole world at your command. But there are stories behind radio, stories behind your favorite program, and favorite personalities, and radio people you never hear of. Stories as amusing, dramatic, and as interesting as any makes you read stories you hear on the air. And that's what we give you. The human interest, the glamorous, the tragedy, the comedy, and information that are behind the mic. And now presenting the man who will carry on in the absence of William McNamee, one of Radio's foremost announcers, the popular Ben Gower. Thank you, Gilbert Martin, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today, behind the mic brings you the performer with the hardest job in radio, Phil Cook. The sound effect of the week, an actual rehearsal of the radio strips, starring Sagan Schemesar's Ralph Ford and Gil Esmond. A salute to Rocky's gang, with three members of the original gang. A well-known radio editor to answer letters from listeners. And finally, an unusual story told by Ale Lo-Miles. Well, our first guest is a man whom I honestly believe is the hardest job of any performer in radio. For 17 years, he's been a favorite with radio listeners. And here he is, the man of a million voices, Phil Cook. Well, Phil, just to show our listeners that I meant when I said about you having the hardest job of any performer in radio, I want to ask you this. What time did your program, that Phil Cook's Almanac, go on the air yesterday? Well, I do two editions of the Almanac Ben. On the air first, from 7 to 7.45 in the morning. And for the second time, with different material from 8.30 to 8.45 in the morning. And how often do you do this program, Phil? Only six days a week. Two programs totaling an hour every day, six days a week. Who writes your material, Phil? You're Phil. Or by yourself? That he modestly asks. I plead guilty, and I do mean guilty. No, no, it's as well so. Ladies and gentlemen, imagine, Phil does a comedy program. Now your average comedian has a staff of from 2 to 12 writers who write a half hour or an hour comedy program that goes on the air once a week. Now here's a man who writes an hour program a day for six days a week and he does it all by himself. Phil, how many castes do you use in this comedy program? Well, it varies. Then sometimes I have as many as 16 in a show. And who actually casts? Oh, he does. But everyone has a magic. And Phil, Phil does it all. Phil, if you're on the air at 7 in the morning, what time do you get up? Oh, that Almanac Alarm Clock Ring at 5 o'clock. Oh, dear, dear. Yes, sir, I have to get up and try and look the steps over before we get to the station, then. Some job. Well, Phil, I wonder if you could give us an example of the type of sketch you do on your Phil Cook Almanac program. Yes, I'd be glad to, then. Of course, obviously, with the name it has, my program is based on the idea of being an Almanac. Most of the sketches refer to the anniversary of some event that happened on the day of the broadcast. I generally have about 18 different sketches every day. And here's one little outburst that I had on the show all the time I was talking. You sure your listener asks if bringing in the eulog originated with the pilgrims? Well, I can tell you it didn't. No, sir. Bringing in the eulog started way back in the medieval times in England. You were being a dramatic word for a Christmas. Lots of people went back to the old-fashioned Christmas spirit this year. I know Mr. Jones did. I'm going to see some neighbors now standing in the snow, admiring his new home. Music Hey, look at Jones's house, would ya? Ain't it, party? Yeah, he certainly has gone into the old-fashioned spirit. Look at those hollywoods in every window. Look how he's got the fir trees out in the front yard, all lit up with bulbs. There he is, pretty. She even got missiles all over the door. Certainly does this Christmas spirit thing up-brown, don't it, Joe? Yeah, it does. Certainly hasn't missed any of the old-fashioned huttees. Look there, would you? Look. Where? Right there, see? Coming up through the snow. Why, they're even dragging in the eulog. All right, no, eulog. That's Jones. Thank you, Phil, Joe. Thanks for showing us how versatile you are and for giving us a chance to get some interesting behind-the-mic information about the hardest working performer in radio. The sound effects of the week. Each week behind the mic presents some unusual sound effect which was used on a program of the past seven days and tells exactly how it was done. On the daytime serial program, the O'Neal's, this past week, a record played on a turntable was used to produce a certain sound effect. Now, what makes this sound effect interesting is this. When the record is played at its normal speed, it consists of a man talking Spanish. But when the same record is played at a faster speed, it produces the sound that was used on the O'Neal's, the voice of Donald Duck. Here's the same record at high speed. Muchas gracias, señor Donald Duck. For another behind-the-mic glimpse of something that people who are not in radio seldom ever see or hear. The rehearsal of a dramatic script. Tomorrow, the Huetina will be playing the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the O'Neal's, the song of a dramatic script. Tomorrow, the Huetina Playhouse, a program that dramatizes famous books in episodic form, will begin A.J. Cronin's The Citadel. As adapted by Dave Victor and Herbert Little. Starring in the Citadel will be motion picture and stage stars Ralph Forbes as Dr. Andrew Manson and Jill Esmond as Christine, his sweetheart and later his wife. Now may I introduce the man who will direct the Citadel. One of Radio's best, and therefore busiest directors, Here's Carlo D'Angelo. Glad to see you again, Carlo. Glad to see you, Ben. Oh, Carlo, what teen are you going to rehearse? Well, Ben, a week from this Monday, January 6, is the sixth episode of The Citadel. We're doing an episode that takes place shortly after Dr. Manson's marriage to Christine, you see. We'll rehearse a scene that occurs the very day that they've moved into their new house. All right, Miss Esmond and Mr. Ralph Ford. And, Julia, excuse me, I'll go into the control room, you see, and hear how the scene sounds and over the microphone. All right. OK, Peppy. Carlo D'Angelo has left our studio stage and is going around the little corridor into the glass and clothes control room where he sits next to the studio engineer, looks out, watches the performers, Miss Esmond and Mr. Forbes, and gives them their direction over the studio talk pack mic. Go ahead, Carlo. Thank you, Ben. All right, folks. Go ahead, take the scene. Oh, Chris, I feel rotten about this. Me without a farthing, using your furniture. Have a round, Chris. Wouldn't you feel a little rotten other than that, please, your name? Oh, yes, yes, very easily, Peppy. Oh, Chris, I feel rotten about this. That's good and rotten, man. Me without a farthing, using your furniture, sponging on you and dragging you off here in such a rush, I... I've loved every minute of it. That's it. You're so, so good about it. Jill, dear, couldn't you love it just a little more, please? Oh, Chris. I've loved every minute of it. That's it. You're so, so good about it. And I'm a selfish lout. Hey, look, you're not, Ralph, you're not enough of a lout. Could you, you know, a little more, please? Bigger lout? Yeah, that's right. You're so good about it. And I'm a selfish lout. Well, that's lousy enough, isn't it? I should have come ahead first and got the place decently ready for you. Andrew Manson, you dared to leave me behind. Well, no, no, Ralph. What are you waiting for? Huh? Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I've lost the place. Andrew Manson. Wait a minute. I'll tell you what you do, dear. Make that a broken speech, you see? Oh, yes. Andrew Manson, if you dare leave me behind, I, uh, I, uh, I know how romantic a girl feels about things, and, uh, well, we haven't, uh, I mean, we were just married this morning, and this is supposed to be our honeymoon, and, uh... Darling, you're blushing. Why? Oh. Oh. Oh, I'm, oh, oh, Chris, I, I want to talk to you about something. Oh. Oh, I'm, oh, oh, Chris, I, I want to do so much for you, to be, to be good enough for you. No, sweet. You just sit down somewhere. If you couldn't find a chair, I think I shall make you an omelette. Wait a minute, who's on sound? Me. Who, Ted? Yeah. Ted, uh, you know, changed the sex on that sound with your female, you know? Okay. I'm glad I thought to pick our bags. I'm glad I thought to pick our bags. I'm sure you're finished. You know, Andrew, I'm really a very good cook. This guest makes such a beautiful flame. Oh, Chris, I still can't believe we're really married. Oh, you'll get used to having me around. Yeah, wait a minute, excuse me, what's that? Right here. Oh, no, no, it's more realistic. More realistic? How's this? That's better, that's fine. You're ready, you're ready. Oh, you'll get used to having me around, all right? Throw a little butter in the pan. Huh? Oh, sure. Do you eat very much, Dr. Manson? Yeah, that's fine, all right. Tell you what you do now. Go, go right at the beginning of the scene, you see, and play it right to the end without stuck. And watch your father a little too heavy, say it half way. Thank you very much, go right ahead. You mean really as though people were listening? That's right, Ralphie, go there. Oh, Chris, I feel rotten about this. Me without a fathering, using your furniture, sponging on you, and dragging you off here in such a rush. I've loved every minute of it. That's it. You're so, so good about it. And I'm a selfish lout. I should have come ahead first and got the place decently ready for you. And who, Manson? You dare to leave me behind? Oh, I know, I know how romantic a girl feels about things. And well, we haven't... I mean, we were just married this morning, and this is supposed to be our honeymoon and... Darling, you're blushing. What? Oh, oh, Chris, I want to be so much for you. To be good enough for you. No, sweetie, you sit down somewhere. If you can find a chair. I think I shall make you an omelette. I'm glad I thought to pick up eggs. I'm sure you're finished. You know, Andrew, I'm really a very good cook. This guest makes such a beautiful flame. Oh, Chris, I still can't believe we're really married. Oh, you'll get used to having me around, all right? Throw a little button in the pan. Huh? Oh, oh, sure. You eat very much, Dr. Manson. You know, you really must make a list of your habits so that I just know how to please you. Well, one incurable habit I know I shall have to kiss you when you least expect to be kissed. Now, for instance, while you're making an omelette. Hmm, that ought to be fairly easy to cope with. Now, if you're just be sure to kiss me when I am most expected, everything will be all right. Oh, Chris. Done. That's fine, it doesn't matter if it's a nut. Thank you. Yes, sounds that way to me, too. And thank you, Ralph Ford, Jill Asman, and director Carlo DeAngelo for a most interesting behind-the-mike scene. Audities in radio, presenting true little behind-the-mike stories that help make radio sometimes amusing, sometimes exasperating, but always interesting to the people in it. This week's audities. To show you how resourceful announcers sometimes have to be, we give you the following true example. An announcer on station WBZ in Boston was supposed to give a time signal. Now, he started this time signal when suddenly he couldn't remember which of two well-known watches was sponsoring the signal. But that didn't stop him. No, sir, here's the way he did it. It is now 4 o'clock. Courtesy of the folks, this one's on the house. Behind the Mike salutes a program you love. We in radio believe that our profession has a tradition of which it can well be proud, a tradition of good programs that linger fondly in the memory. And so each week, we bring you a star or a part of the feature you used to hear, a program you love. This afternoon, we salute one of radio's best loved pioneer programs, Roxy's Gang, conducted by one of the world's greatest showmen, the late and beloved Roxy. This program was heard each Sunday and ran from 1922 to 1931. This afternoon, we recreate part of this program with several of the original members of Roxy's Gang performing, and Roxy himself impersonated by Ward Wilson, who, when he was an engineer at NBC, worked with the great showman himself. Roxy's Gang. We assume that the children have been put to bed. The suffrage is cleared away. And you are all comfortably seated for your evening's radio entertainment. We are sure that Roxy and his artists have an interesting program that they're just as pleased to go on the air as you may be to hear what they have for tonight's offering. And now, here is Roxy himself. Hello, everybody. It's a beautiful evening, and the gang is all ready to entertain you. Here's our baritone, Douglas Standberry, at the microphone. How are you feeling tonight, Doug? I'm feeling just great. In other words, Doug, you feel like you could lick the world. What song are you going to sing for us? Invictus. Invictus. Invictus is Latin for unconquerable, isn't it? Yes. Well, then, the song you're going to sing is very appropriate to the way you feel. Invictus, sung by Douglas Standberry. The pit from pole to pole, I like whatever the gods may be. Double pole in the fell clutch of circumstance. Beautiful, Doug. You're going to sing for us later, aren't you? Yes, Roxy. Fine. Now, don't leave now. I want you to be here for that next number. Now, I see our star two-piano team of Bert Schafter and Vladimir Brenner are seated at the Twin Pianos, ready to play for all their worth. Next selection, Malagena, Valaquana. Now, where's Gamby? Come here, Gamby. I want you to say a few words to the program. With Gamby, Gladys Rice, Waldo Mayo, we Willie Robyn, our guest this afternoon, Douglas Standberry, Bert Schafter, Vladimir Brenner, and those other stellar entertainers who helped to brighten up your Sunday evening. And I think the sweetest memory of the great showman was the way he signed off each and every one of his programs. And at the finish of the broadcast, Roxy would say, good night, man's dream, and God bless you. Each week, we invite the listeners of Behind the Mic to write us questions about radio. And those we consider to be of most general interest, we have answered on the air by the radio editor of some outstanding newspaper or magazine. This afternoon's questions will be answered by Albert E. Son, radio editor of the Newark Sunday call. Mr. Son. Ralph Spencer of Tulsa, Oklahoma writes in to ask, I've been listening with interest to the sound effect portion of your program. Will you please tell me how I can become a sound effect man? I've but recently graduated from college. Become a sound man, ingenuity and inventivist are important, and a mechanical or an electrical engineering degree won't hurt. Since a sound man has to invent a great many of his own effects, technical knowledge is very helpful. First, get a job in some local station, any job. It may be one in charge of the sound effect record file. Anything that will give you a chance to be around the sound effects and observe how they work. Work yourself into a sound man's job, and finally, you will be ready to tackle a job for the large station. Ruth Carroll of Shreveport, Louisiana writes, I've done a small amount of acting in amateur shows, and I'm thinking of coming to New York and trying to become a radio actress. And you give me any advice on how to do this. Well, may I offer Ms. Carol's advice. Don't come to New York looking for an acting job in radio without having had experience. I suggest that you first try to gain experience by acting on your local station. You'll pick up many microphone tricks this way that are necessary for an actor's success. Radio in New York is crowded with experienced performers trying to make a living. Unless you have some radio background, your chance to connect is very small. Thank you, Albert Esau. Ladies and gentlemen, our next guest is the radio commentator and feature writer who is the confidant of thousands of men and women. Her radio feature, the Allie Low-Miles Club, and continued success with her popular program, Husbands and Wives, has brought her a wealth of confessions about love and marriage. Here she is to tell you one of her unusual true behind-the-mic stories. I'm happy to present Allie Low-Miles. And Mrs. Miles, what was that story? Well, Ben, I think I should first explain for those who didn't hear it that Husbands and Wives was a program in which various husbands and wives would get up before the microphone and tell about their marital problems. We then invite other husbands and wives to give their solutions. Well, one evening about an hour before the broadcast, a wife who was to be a speaker, let's call her Mrs. Jenkins, came up to me and said, Mrs. Miles, just before I left the house, my husband told me that if I spoke about him on the radio tonight, he had locked the door and never let me in the house again. And he also said he'd be waiting on the porch and might even kill me as I came up the front steps. Oh, Mrs. Jenkins, then I don't want you to go on the program. It's going to cause you any trouble. We want to straighten out marital difficulties, not increase them. But I want to go on. I'll show him. He can't dominate me. Oh, but you want to be happy with your husband. It would be better not to anger him anymore. Well, I won't let him bully me. Mrs. Miles, I'm going on. Well, if you feel that way about it, let's talk over what you're going to say and perhaps you'll admit that you don't blame him for everything. But it's all his fault. Oh, it is, huh? Well, if it does you know, it takes two to make an argument. And if you'll admit that much on the air and take a little of the blame, it may smooth life out for both of you. Now, let's change your story with that idea in mind. I think we can do something. Well, we talked it over. And Mrs. Jenkins appeared to take part of the blame for the marital disagreements when she went on the air, but being the determined, abused person she was, she began her broadcast. I never saw such a finicky man in all my life. Casey, take his eggs. He wants them boiled exactly three and a half minutes and if they're boiled three and a quarter minutes, he won't eat them. He thinks he can tell the difference by tapping on the unbroken egg with a spoon and listening to the sound. Well, once I timed the eggs to exactly three and a half minutes and after he sounded them, he said they weren't right. Well, he never thinks I do anything right. Of course, maybe it's a little my fault, maybe, if I were just a little more. Well, after the broadcast, Mrs. Jenkins came up to me a changed person, not at all a confident, belligerent wife who'd been on the air. Mrs. Miles, my husband said he'd be waiting on the front porch and I'm afraid. Mrs. Miles, I don't know what that man will do after what I said. Now, wait a minute, Mrs. Jenkins. I have an idea. Oh, Mr. Richard. Yes, Mrs. Miles. Mr. Richard, Mrs. Jenkins is afraid of what her husband will do to her after hearing her talk about him on the program tonight. He threatens that if she went on the air, he might kill her. Kill her? Yes. I wonder if he'll escort Mrs. Jenkins home and wait outside to see that she gets safely in. Why, Mrs. Miles, I'd be glad to. Oh, fine. Nothing's gonna happen to this little woman while I'm around. Come on, Mrs. Jenkins, wait till I get my overcoat. Well, Mr. Richards was one of the husbands who had appeared on the same show. He was a big, strong man. But later that evening, he phoned me at my home and said he'd waited outside the house and had seen Mrs. Jenkins go up on the porch. The door was unlocked. She'd waved to him that everything was all right and then he left. I was worried because he'd not waited longer. Perhaps angry husband had been waiting for Mrs. Jenkins inside the house. I'd asked Mrs. Jenkins to phone me, too, because I wanted to know that everything was all right and about half an hour later, the phone rang. Hello? Hello? Yes, Mrs. Jenkins? Yes. Headly hurt? Nothing happened. Tell me. Oh, Mrs.... Thank you, Allie, Lord Miles. Thank you, Mr. Headless. Ladies and gentlemen, if you enjoyed hearing the various artists on behind the mic, why not drop them a line and let them know about it? They'll be glad to hear from you. And be sure and listen next week when with Graham Maxim's return, Behind the Mic will bring you, as the program we salute, Sigmund Space, The Tune Detector, a demonstration of the important part of studio engineer plays in the programs you hear. And in addition, there'll be more of the glamour, the human interest, the comedy, and the drama that are found behind the mic. This is then Grau, who enjoyed being with you in Graham's absence, wishing everybody a happy new year and saying good afternoon. Behind the Mic was written by Mort Boyd, original music composed and conducted by Ernie Watson. This is The National Broadcasting Company.