Sunday, January 11, 2009

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Superman "Lighthouse Point Smuglers" (6 Episodes Complete) 1940


Lighthouse Point Smuglers (6 Episodes Complete) 1940


This juvenile adventure series was first broadcast on Mutual in 1940 with Clayton (Bud) Collyer starring as Superman/Clark Kent. It first began as a fifteen-minute show but later, in 1949, it moved to ABC as a thirty-minute Saturday show with Michael Fitzmaurice as Superman. At the end of its thirteen-year run it had totalled over 1600 episodes. The opening for the show was one of radio’s best, setting the stage for those flights into fantasy with a cascade of voices, narration and sound effects. “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!” “Look! Up in the sky!” “It’s a bird!” “It’s a plane!” “It’s Superman!” The scripts by B.P. Freeman and Jack Johnstone were directed by Robert and Jessica Maxwell, George Lowther, Allen Ducovny and Mitchell Grayson.Sound effects were created by Jack Keane, AlBinnie, Keene Crockett and John Glennon. Cast : Superman: Bud Collyer (1940-1950), Michael Fitzmaurice (1950-1951) Lois Lane: Joan Alexander, Rollie Bester, Helen Choate. Perry White: Julian Noa. Jimmy Olsen: Jack Grimes, Jackie Kelk. Jor-L: Ned Wever Lara: Agnes Moorehead. Narrator: George Lowther (1940-1942), Jackson Beck (1943-1951), Ross Martin(1951). Airing in the late afternoon (variously at 5:15pm, 5:30pm and 5:45pm), the radio serial engaged the young after school audiences. The series is alsocredited with dealing a powerful blow against the Ku Klux Klan's prospects in the northern USA. The human rights activist, Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan and other racist/terrorist groups. Concerned that the organization had too strong connections to the government and police forces, Kennedy decided to use his findings to strike at the Klan in a different way. He contacted the producers of the Superman series and proposed a story where the superhero battles the Klan. The producers, looking for new villains, eagerly agreed to the idea. To that end, he provided information -- including secret codewords and details of Klan rituals -- to the writers. The result was a series of episodes, "Clan of The Fiery Cross," in which Superman took on the Klan. Kennedy intended to strip away the Klan's mystique, and the trivialization of the Klan's rituals and codewords likely had a negative impact on Klan recruiting and membership. Reportedly, Klan leaders denounced the show and called for a boycott of Kellogg's products. However, the story arc earned spectacular ratings which prompted the food company to stand by their support of the show.

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