Island of Lost Christmas Specials - A Christmas Carol (1945) with Ireene Wicker, plus the WRGB Christmas Pary

"A Christmas Carol"
Broadcast Date:    Decemeber 21, 1945, WRGB, Schenectady, New York 
Cast:    Starring Ireene Wicker "The Singing Lady"

Status: Most likely never recorded, but publicity stills may exist. 

WRGB Christmas Party 

Broadcast Date: December 24, 1945, WRGB Schenectady, New York

Cast: Unconfirmed

Status: Not recorded, but 11 photographs are available online. 

From "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946). The woman at the center appears to be Ireene Wicker.

It has been 3 years since I wrote a post with the theme of "Island of Lost Christmas Specials". The island would be a mythical place where scores of kinescopes, VHS tapes, transcription discs and more of yesteryears merriest programs may be found.

Irene "Ireene" Maud Seaton Wicker Hammer (c. 1900*-1987) or simply Ireene Wicker was the famous Singing Lady of NBC Blue (later ABC) Radio from 1931 - 1945. She continued telling stories as a Peabody award winner even into the 1970s on New York radio.

By 1945, she was actually a 14 year veteran of television. Her first appearance was in a televised play broadcast from Chicago in 1931. Wicker had multiple telecasts before her ABC TV series debuted in 1948, including at least six at station WRGB in Schenectady, New York. WRGB was the General Electric owned landmark station with multiple groundbreaking programs broadcasts in the 1940s.

One of Wicker's programs was her presentation of "A Christmas Carol" on December 21, 1945. The program is listed in the book "In television too-- the show's the thing : the first year of ABC television" (1946), which is freely available from Hathi Trust. 

WRGB also broadcast the "WRGB Christmas Party on December 24, 1945. A photo for the ABC book appears to show Wicker (not in her usual fairytale gowns) reading to a group of children, with a caption suggesting that she was reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas". This image is one of 11 that exist from this broadcast. The full photo is also available from the Digital Public Library of America courtesy of the Museum of Innovation and Science. A brief caption in the ABC book stated that this was a special program "given for underprivileged children". This party included Santa Claus and storytellers. 

It is not known if an image of Wicker's 1945 Christmas Carol program exists today. 

"The Singing Lady" would return to Dickens' famous tale again on her ABC-TV series in 1948. That December, she was assisted by the Suzari Marionettes. 

For an idea of what she may have sounded like as Ebeneezer Scrooge, listen to one of her Christmas music albums for children. 

The Island of Lost Christmas Specials

* Some sources list her birthdate as 1900, 1906, and 1907. 

Christmas in Junior Newspaper Sections: Lost In Christmas Tree Land (1923)

 From The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 23, 1923, here is a charming Christmas coloring page. 

From Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, December 23, 1923

Here is the same page colored with Palette. FM AI tool. 

(It's Not A) Lost Classic Film: Little Iodine (1946)

 

Lobby card for "Little Iodine" (1946) colorized with Palette.fm Ai Technology. Left to Right, Irene Ryan, Hobart Cavanaugh, and Jo Ann Marlowe

"Proof that comics strips can be good screen material" - Jimmy Fidler In Hollywood, newspaper column, September 1946. 

Little Iodine was the only live action film adaptation of the mischievous child character created by Jimmy Hatlo for his long running comic strip (1943-1983). The film "officially" debuted in theaters October 20, 1946, several months after a delayed released due to a polio epidemic. It was feared that the illness would reduce the number of children who could come to theaters. Little Iodine was screened for critics a month earlier in September. 

For decades, and across the internet, it it widely cited as a lost film, with no known surviving print. This post will shock many but "Little Iodine" IS NOT A LOST FILM.  A print DOES EXIST in the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Film and Television Archives. A nitrate print and non-circulating research copies plus safety storage copies are cataloged in their library holdings. It has been commercially & publicly unavailable for over 70 years, which could still qualify it as a "lost" film today.

Little Iodine was the first film from newly formed Comet Productions, a company started by Mary Pickford, her husband Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Columbia Pictures executive Ralph Cohn. The film was one of its few productions withins a couple of years. Little Iodine was distributed by United Artists. 

After playing in countless kiddie matinees with serials, cartoons, and other B-features, Little Iodine disappeared from theaters around 1950, and has not been screened publicly since. I also have not found any accounts of prints being distributed by local television stations. 

Matinee Ad from The Daily Alaska Empire, [Juneau, Alaska], page 5. November 12, 1948. From Chronicling America

Child actress Jo Ann Marlowe (1935-1991) made her film debut in the Oscar winning musical Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and appeared in "A" & "B" vehicles throughout the 1940s. From existing promo photos she visually looks like a perfect match for Hatlo's chaos causing child. A press snippet from March 1946 claimed that Marlowe was suggested for the role to Charles Rogers by Joan Crawford. Marlowe had portrayed Joan's youngest daughter in her Oscar winning performance film Mildred Pierce (1945).

Audiences today are most familiar with Irene Ryan as Granny from TV's "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1962-1971), and it would be nice to see her in a lost performance from over 15 years earlier. Iodine's father Mr. Trimble was played by Hobart Cavanaugh. A review from Variety suggested that Ryan and Cavanaugh were the stand out performers of the film. Also in the cast was former child actor Lanny Rees (1933-2023) who passed away February of this year. Rees may have been the last surviving cast member. 

Austrian director Reginald LeBorg (1902-1989) also helmed "Joe Palooka, Champ" from Monogram Pictures the same year as "Little Iodine". LeBorg would direct 10 sequels for this series based on Ham Fisher's famous comic strip character. One wonders what could have been if there had been a "Little Iodine" series. 

Hatlo's Little Iodine would not appear again in a film until 1972's "Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter", an animated ABC Saturday Superstar Movie" with a cast of a comic strip greats. Iodine was voice by Corinne Orr. 

Contemporary reviews suggest that it was an overall good picture. Little Iodine currently has an 80% Rotten Tomatoes scored from 5 surviving 1940s critic reviews. It would be fascinating to see Comet Productions' Little Iodine restored after so many decades. Columbia Pictures recently released a 2K scan of Little Orphan Annie (1932) with Mitzi Green as a bonus features in a movie set, so anything is possible. 

Further Reading:

Graham, Shelia. "Rich, but He Wants To Be a Star". March 30, 1946. Washington [D.C.] Evening star. Page B-16. Link from Chronicling America. 

Variety Review, September 11, 1946 - https://archive.org/details/variety163-1946-09/page/n65/mode/2up  

Motion Picture Daily Review, September 6, 1946 - https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai60unse/page/n472/mode/1up 

Lost Kids Radio: The Musical Rag Bag with Majorie Arnold on WSM Radio

The Musical Rag Bag, WSM Radio, May 1935 - c. 1936. 

Host. Majorie Arnold

The Hook (what makes this show interesting): A college student with no prior experience in radio stars in a hit kids show from of America's greatest radio stations. All that may exist today is a well staged press photo. 

_________________________

OCR (optical character recognition) the software that allows a computer to read text isn't perfect. It could not read the text in the charming photograph seen below of a young children's hostess for WSM Nashville radio. It was only by randomly perusing for children's programs in the "Radio Stars Junior" section of Radio Stars magazine that I found the image. 

Page from Radio Stars, October 1935, with Majorie Arnold at the piano. 

Majorie Arnold, (b. 1914) was a daughter of Vanderbilt University's law school dean and a student of Northwestern University's School of Speech and the Chicago Conservatory. While a senior at Vanderbilt, she was a star on some of WSM programs, including "The Musical Rag Bag" where she sang songs, recited poems and told stories embellished with sound effects and music. 

Billboard described the series as a rising "hit" on WSM's hands. From that May 1935 Billboard review and accounts in the Nashville Tennessean paper, the program was appealing to children and adults alike after just 2 weeks on the air. The photo of Arnold at the piano surrounded by dolls stuffed animals and a house with the name "Ruffles", makes one wonder if she had recurring characters who she told stories about, or assistance from other voice actors. This same image was used in the Tennessean.

Broadcasting a successful children's program from WSM was a big deal. Known as "The Aircastle of the South" WSM was and still is home to the "Grand Ole Opry". Its radio frequency range was powerful then and now so it is natural that the "Rag Bag" series was seen (or heard) in the same company as "Let's Pretend" and "The Singing Lady" in Radio Stars magazine.  More research is needed, but one can also ask if this was the first children's program from WSM. 

While at the station Marjorie Arnold met her husband Col. Edward M. Kirby (1906-1974) who was at the time an insurance sales executive and director for public relations at WSM. The Kirby's had a lasting legacy in radio. They relocated to Washington D.C. when Ed Kirby became director of public relations for the National Association of Broadcasters. It is assumed that "The Musical Rag Bag" ended prior to their move by the end of 1937. 

Among his many, many accomplishments, Col. Kirby was a Peabody award winning producer of Command Performance, Hymns For The Home, GI Jive, and The Army Show. The Kirbys later returned to Nashville where they established station WMAK (currently WNQM) in 1948. WMAK stood for Majorie Arnold Kirby

Marjorie Arnold Kirby passed away in Nashville in 2006 at the age of 92. It is hoped that scripts, scrapbooks, or even a single transcription disc may still exist of "The Musical Rag Bag". 

NOTES:

Untitled Section. page 10. (1935, May 26). Nashville Tennessean

"Station Notes" Billboard, May 25, 1935. 

Obituary: Majorie A. Kirby, Crawford Funeral Home, 2006 - https://www.crawfordservices.com/obituary/57871  

Young Hollywood (1927), A Lost Madeline Brandeis Production

 

Eileen O'Malley daughter of Pat O'Malley and Eric Von Stroheim Jr. in a scene from "Young Hollywood". Image from Motion Picture News, April 22, 1927. 

"Young Hollywood" (1927) produced and directed by Madeline Brandeis

Starring: Eileen O'Malley, Eric Von Stroheim Jr., Billy Reid, Barbara Denny, Mike McCoy, George Bosworth, Tim Holt, and Mary Jo Desmond.

Madeline Brandeis (1897-1937) was a prolific author and producer of books and films about and featuring children. She is still a revered figure in the early history of women filmmakers. Nearly all of the films she produced featured children as the primary cast members. In 1927 she made a two-reel comedy short which might still be considered a novelty in 2023. 

“Young Hollywood” starred the children of well known Hollywood stars of the silent era. Eileen O'Malley (1917-1988) was the daughter of Pat O'Malley. Eric Von Stroheim Jr. (1916 - 1968), was named for his famous director father. "Billy" Reid was the son of the late Wallace Reid, and he was usually credited as Wallace Reid Jr (1917 - 1990).  Reginald Denny's daughter Barbara (1916 - 1948) was also in the cast with Hobart Bosworth's son George. 

Jack Holt would become just as famous, or more so than his father action legend Jack Holt. Tim McCoy's son Mike McCoy was also in the short, but credited in some sources as "D'Archy" McCoy.

Mary Jo Desmond (Walser) (1919 – 2014) was a daughter of William Desmond "King of the Silent Serials" (not to be confused with slain director William Desmond Taylor). Mary Jo was probably the last surviving star of the film. She co-starred with her father and Lon Chaney Jr. in the 1932 serial “The Last Frontier”. 

Also in the cast was child actress Nancy McKee. McKee had appeared in other child comedies in the 1920s. Very little is known about her today, esepcially if she was the daughter of another actor. 

Based on reviews of the time, the short was appealing. It is listed in many papers as part of children's matinees.

In an interview in Screenland Magazine Mrs. Brandeis described how Young Hollywood came to be. "It seemed to me a great idea to use the children of stars in a film. I knew that it would be impossible to get them through casting directors, but I knew their parents, so I suggested that it might be fun to have them work during the holidays. Then they needn’t miss school and they'd have the experience".

“We rented space at the Metropolitan Studios, where no other company was working, which was a very good thing since my small actors were all over the

place. Their parents evidently trusted me for only one mother appeared on the set —mothers are usually the curse of the director!'—‘Darling, what's the matter?— She doesn’t want to play with the doll, she'd rather have the engine!’ and ‘Laugh, lover—show Mrs. Brandeis your dimples!’ or ‘Couldn't you let Gertie do the big scene. She's much cleverer than Elizabeth!’ —Just a sample of the screen mother at times!"

Of the completed film Brandeis remarked, "The picture was a great success and the happiest engagement I ever had.”

According to IMDB, Robert Thornby (1888 - 1953) was the director of at least 96 films in the silent era, Young Hollywood being his very last. 

It is too bad Young Hollywood can not be seen today. Or, even the concept of having a film starring a cast of actor’s children has never been duplicated in nearly a century (not counting teen flicks).

Even more tantalizing, the Screenland article claimed that two sequels. "The Young Visitor" and "The Young Visitor Among the Stars". Even less is known about these films today.

The Radio Adventures of Jean Derby

"The Adventures of Helen and Mary" (1929-1934) was the CBS children's radio series that eventually became the Peabody award winning "Let's Pretend" (1934-1954) under the direction of Nila Mack. The program depicted the two little girls as they had fantasy adventures with characters enacted by adults. 

Estelle Levy (later Gwen Davies) and Jean Derby from "What's On The Air" magazine, 1930.

In most published histories Helen was Estelle Levy (later "Gwen Davies", the late Gwen Greenhaus d. 2022). Mary is usually listed as Patricia "Pat " Ryan (1921-1949), often called CBS's first child star. Both actresses would crossover when the series became "Let's Pretend", with an all juvenile cast. However, in some of the early publicity articles for "Helen and Mary", the first Mary was a little girl named Jean Derby. In one article Ryan was Helen and Derby was Mary. Not much is printed about Jean except that she was 9 years old in 1930 and starred in other radio programs directed by Yolande Langworthy (real name Frances Reade, 1892-1976) the head of CBS children's programs (1928-1930) who proceeded Nila Mack.

Jean Derby from Radio Revue, February 1930.

Jean Derby was also in the cast of the CBS Sunday morning series "The Land O' Make Believe" (often confused for "Let's Pretend") also starring Langworthy, child actress Winifred Toomey, and Pat Ryan. She also acted in "Littmann's Mountainville True Life Sketches", a dramatic small town series with a mostly child cast also directed by Langworhty, and sponsored by Littman's clothing stores. In the premiere broadcast of October 14, 1929, she was cast as "Fatty Jinks" a "little darky girl". It is unknown if this was a recurring character, and if Derby played other parts. 

In 1927 - 1928 New York radio listings Langworthy was also a contralto singer on station WSGH. Also in the listings for that station in 1928 was a program called "Jean Derby, reader". While it could be a coincidence, it would be interesting if Derby had her own program at about 7 or 8 years of age. There are accounts of children as young as 2 reading and singing on local radio stations in the 1920s. 

In New York census records, there was a Jean Derby born in 1921 with a father named John and a mother named Rita. From genealogical research, I believe Derby married in her 20s, and passed away in 1995. It is still unconfirmed if I have absolutely found the right person, so I am not publicly sharing what I believe her name was at the time of death. All references to Derby in radio end after 1930. I hope to find more sources referencing her brief career in radio.

If you have more information about Jean Derby, please leave a comment, or email archivebuilder@gmail.com with "Jean Derby" as a subject heading.

Juvenile Mystery Collection 004: Building A Donald J. Sobol Collection

This year is the 60th anniversary of the famed boy detective Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown. Created by Donald J. Sobol (1924-2012) and first published in 1963, the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries remain in print for 21st century readers.

It has been fun finding and examining different editions of the series, especially first editions.

As a childhood fan, I was recently surprised to learn Sobol had created another juvenile detective, Angie. "Angie's First Case" may have been an unsuccessful first entry into a girl detective who had a police officer for a sister, similar to how Encyclopedia Brown helped his police Chief father.