Joe Franklin's guest is Johnny Marks, who wrote "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" in 1949. 

Gene Autry's original recording of Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer sold 1.75 million copies its first Christmas season (1949) and 1.5 million the following year. It eventually sold a total of 12.5 million. Cover versions included, sales exceed 150 million copies, second only to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas."                       

October 18th, 1959-1966, 

A one hour syndicated taped color weekly broadcast, featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The series was awarded a Peabody. Superb music by a 71 piece orchestra in the sumptuous setting of a ballroom. Different guest conductors appear on a weekly basis and take the podium. 

Arthur Fiedler Conductor. 

 



                                                                                                                                                                                                   

September 30th, 1958-June 16th, 1964

The Garry Moore variety series made a star out of Carol Burnett,brought back Allen Funt's Candid Camera and showcased many fine musical and comedic talents from 1958-1964. The highlight of most shows was "That Wonderful Year," consisting of film clips, comedy sketches, and production numbers based on the events and styles of a given year.

Regulars: Garry Moore, Carol Burnett (1959-1962), Dorothy Loudon (1962-1964), Allen Funt (1959-1960, Durward Kirby (1958-1964), and Marion Lorne (1958-1962).

Guest is George Gobel. 

George and Carol Burnett in a skit.      

Song : "Tumbleweed." Wonderful year: 1934. 

                                                                                          

1961-1962, Syndicated

A ninety-minute nightly syndicated talk show with Mike Wallace and his co-host Joyce Davidson. Wallace and Davidson hosted the first hour from New York with Terrence O'Flaherty hosting the last half-hour from San Francisco. It was created to compete with the Jack Paar Show on NBC. 

Guest: Miriam Makeba. She sings: "The Wedding Song," 

Joyce Davidson interviews composer Robert Pritchard who plays two of his compositions accompanied by Michael Olatuja.

Also: Exploring the rhythms of Africa.                                                                       

October 5th, 1956-May 12th, 1963. 

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show was an American Variety Series, hosted by Dinah Shore and broadcast on NBC from October 5th, 1956- May 12th,1963.

Guests: Milton Berle, Nelson Eddy. 

Milton and Dinah sing "Don't Talk About Me when I'm Gone."                                                         

July 18th, 1958- March 26th, 1972

Series of concerts originating from Carnegie Hall in New York City. Beginning in 1962, they were broadcast from Lincoln Center in New York City. Leonard Bernstein conducted fifty three such televised performances until 1972. 



                                                                                                                                                              

           June 20, 1948 - May 30, 1971

ED SULLIVAN SHOW, THE, (TOAST OF THE TOWN)
Television's longest running variety series. Originally, titled, TOAST OF THE TOWN, the name of the series changed on September 18, 1955 to THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. Most remembered for introducing many stand-up comedians, and musical acts, including The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, The Beatles. 

 Most of the 1,087 broadcasts, encompassing 10,000 performers, have been archived. The major exceptions are the first half-year of shows circa 1948 of which a few kinescope excerpts survive.
 
The ED SULLIVAN SHOW was a spectacular show-case that for twenty-three years entertained the American family. In its prime, more than thirty million viewers, young and old, tuned in at the same time to view popular culture.  

Guests: Joan Sutherland, Earl Grant.                                                                                                                    

Program number 10 of 18 programs. 
Myrna Loy introduces this unique series. Buster Keaton leads a tour through the boulevards and back rooms and closets where the skeletons were kept in the grandest, gaudiest days of Hollywood, USA, when the guest lists and salary checks were closely related. The movie industry's catered affairs are recalled by Melvyn Douglas, Ralph Bellamy, Elliot Nugent, Walter Abel, writers Frances Marion, Albert Hackett, Samuel Spewack and Otto Preminger, producers Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Dore Schary and Japanese star Sessue Hayakawa. Most of the interviews were originally recorded in 1959 by producers Joan and Robert Franklin.   

  NOTE: Robert  C. Franklin (1920-1980), inspired by a 1958 newspaper story he read about Columbia University's POPULAR ARTS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, approached Dr. Louis Starr, then director of the oral-history collection, with a proposal to interview and tape record, on to 1/4" reel to reel audio tapes, movie people as they passed through New York. The objective would be to document, through personal recollections, the era of the silent era in films, the impact of sound, the triumphs and inequities of the major studios, and life in the glittering film capital...a firsthand account revelation of how silent movies were actually made.  

Robert  and his wife, Joan Franklin went on to record 200 reels of audio tape, recording celebrities mostly in New York City hotel rooms in 1958 and 1959. Transcripts of interviews were made available at the time to students and researchers. 

In 1961 excerpts/highlights from these audio tapes were edited into a 16 part  radio series titled, MEMOIRS OF THE MOVIES. Myrna Loy provided a standard opening. A different celebrity host/hostess was employed to introduce each episode. All of the 90 celebrities interviewed have since passed away with the exception of Joanne Woodward. Two additional episodes were later produced, "Style of the 70's," and "Rush To Reality," both hosted by Ben Gazzara and added, subsequently, to  re-issues of the series which were syndicated in the 1960's and 1970's airing  in New York (WINS), Boston (WBZ), Philadelphia (KYW), Baltimore (WJZ), Fort Wayne (WOWO), Chicago (WIND), San Francisco (KPIX), and Los Angeles (KFWB).  

The original 200 unedited reels of 1/4" audio tape interviews recorded by Joan and Robert Franklin are no longer known to exist. However, audio cassette transfers from these original tapes were donated by Joan Franklin many decades ago to Columbia University's Oral History Research Office where they exist  today.
Confirmed during a 2009 phone conversation with Mary Marshal Clark, archivist at Columbia at that time, who stated that the first on file communication from Robert  Franklin to Columbia University related to his  proposal to do an oral history audio recorded project is dated, July 31, 1958.
                                  

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. (NBC). 

 For four years and eight months, Jack Paar reigned supreme as host of the Tonight Show with a crew of regulars, but only two stayed with him for the entire run; announcer Hugh Downs and band leader Jose Melies, a former army buddy. Familiar faces who appeared many times with Jack included Dody Goodman, Betty Johnson, Elsa Maxwell, Alexander King, Genevieve, Jack Douglas; and wife Reiko, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hans Conried, Peggy Cass, Cliff (Charley Weaver) Arquette, and Johnathan Winters. Hugh Downs substituted for Jack Paar 79 times, more than any other substitute host there were 20 different performers over the period of the series run. Joey Bishop substituted for Paar 31 times. Arlene Francis, 30 times, Jonathan Winters, 26 times, Orson Bean, 21 times, and Johnny Carson 15 times. Altogether there were 243 broadcasts that had substitute hosts filling in for Paar during Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW tenure. The title of the late-night broadcast changed to THE JACK PAAR SHOW which took effect on February 3, 1958. The first videotaped broadcast aired on January 5, 1959. "Best of Paar " Re-runs began on July 10, 1959. The first color broadcast aired on September 19, news bulletin on the "Explorer I"  satellite, launched today. 

Guest: Shelley Berman who trades stories with Jack Paar.
Shelley takes questions from the audience.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

July 29, 1957- March 30,1962. (NBC). 

 For four years and eight months, Jack Paar reigned supreme as host of the Tonight Show with a crew of regulars, but only two stayed with him for the entire run; announcer Hugh Downs and band leader Jose Melies, a former army buddy. Familiar faces who appeared many times with Jack included Dody Goodman, Betty Johnson, Elsa Maxwell, Alexander King, Genevieve, Jack Douglas; and wife Reiko, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hans Conried, Peggy Cass, Cliff (Charley Weaver) Arquette, and Johnathan Winters. Hugh Downs substituted for Jack Paar 79 times, more than any other substitute host there were 20 different performers over the period of the series run. Joey Bishop substituted for Paar 31 times. Arlene Francis, 30 times, Jonathan Winters, 26 times, Orson Bean, 21 times, and Johnny Carson 15 times. Altogether there were 243 broadcasts that had substitute hosts filling in for Paar during Jack Paar's TONIGHT SHOW tenure. The title of the late-night broadcast changed to THE JACK PAAR SHOW which took effect on February 3, 1958. The first videotaped broadcast aired on January 5, 1959. "Best of Paar " Re-runs began on July 10, 1959. The first color broadcast aired on September 19, news bulletin on the "Explorer I"  satellite, launched today. 

Guest: Genevieve and Jack take exception to a column written by Dorothy Kilgallen in the New York Journal American. They concur that very little of what Dorothy writes is true and is libelous.
Jack says Dorothy often writes about strange people.
Hugh Downs does a live commercial for Purethon Air Purifier. Cleans away smoke.       
Guest Dr. Albert Burke criticizes Americans who are degrading America. He discusses Stalin's appeal to Russians.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Bob Newhart performs a skit on "Stalin's Body."       

Includes All State commercial.       

October 11th, 1961- June 13th, 1962 (NBC)

A thirty-minute variety series starring comedian Bob Newhart. Newhart won fame by performing his classic telephone comedy routines that he would end by saying, "well same to you, fella."
Regulars on the show are Jackie Joseph, Kay Westfall, Jack Grinnage, Mickey Manners, Pearl Shear, June Ericson, and Andy Albin. The announcer is Dan Sorkin.

Guest: The Modernaires                                                                                                                                                      

December 24th, 1948- June 4th, 1950 (NBC) October  2nd, 1950-June 24th 1955 (CBS) September  17th 1955- June 12th, 1963 (NBC) 

In 1944, the year his first record was released, Perry Como appeared on radio in The Chesterfield Supper Club; when that show came to television late in 1948, Como came with it, and has remained on television for more than four decades. The Chesterfield Supper Club, which also featured The Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and the Fontane Sisters, was originally seen on Friday nights but soon shifted to a half-hour slot on Sundays, opposite Ed Sullivan's "Toast Of The Town." In the fall of 1950, Como shifted to CBS where he hosted his own show for the next five seasons; the fifteen-minute program was seen Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, following the network news. Also featured were the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and The Fontane Sisters, together with announcer Frank Gallop. In the fall of 1955 Como returned to NBC, where he hosted a weekly hour show for the next eight years; from 1955 to 1959 it was seen Saturdays and was titled The Perry Como Show. From 1959 to 1963 it was seen on Wednesdays and was titled The Kraft Music Hall. The Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and Frank Gallop were again featured, along with The Ray Charles Singers and The Louis DaPron Dancers (later, The Peter Gennaro Dancers). The Como Music Hall Players included Don Adams, Paul Lynde, Kaye Ballard, Jack Duffy, and Sandy Stewart.

Show of 12-6-61; Actor George Sanders. Spoof of "The Jack Paar Show." Salute to Texas. Sanders and Como: Medley of children's Christmas songs. Singers: "The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You." Como: "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas." 

Commercials included. Announcer Frank Gallop. 

1961-1962, Syndicated

PM East - PM West was a late-night talk show hosted by Mike Wallace and Joyce Davidson in New York City (where the PM East portion originated) and San Francisco Chronicle television critic Terrence O'Flaherty in San Francisco (PM West). The program was seen five nights a week from June 12, 1961, to June 22, 1962.

A ninety-minute nightly syndicated talk show, video taped in New York  with Mike Wallace and his co-host Joyce Davidson. Wallace and Davidson hosted the first hour from New York with Terrence O'Flaherty hosting the last half-hour from San Francisco. It was created to compete with the Jack Paar Show on NBC. 

Host Mike Wallace interviews Captain Mitsuo Fuchida who led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and also a Navy survivor of that attack.                                                                                                      

Danny Kaye is host for a variety program saluting the work of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. Guest performers are Eartha Kitt, Jack Benny, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Benny Goodman, Tony Martin, Mitch Miller, Jan Peerce, Charlton Heston, Lucille Ball, Edward G. Robinson and Morton Gould.             

Program number 14 of 18 programs. 
Myrna Loy introduces this unique series. Under the wise and tolerant guidance of movie historian Arthur Mayer, the industry's most imaginative film makers are induced to recall the essential ingredients that either make or break a picture. Discussing their cinematic art are directors Rouben Mamoulian, King Vidor, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Edward Dmytryk and Jean Negulesco, stars Myrna Loy and Henry Fonda, and writers Ben Hecht, Samuel Spewack and Leo Rosten.    

       NOTE: Robert  C. Franklin (1920-1980), inspired by a 1958 newspaper story he read about Columbia University's POPULAR ARTS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, approached Dr. Louis Starr, then director of the oral-history collection, with a proposal to interview and tape record, on to 1/4" reel to reel audio tapes, movie people as they passed through New York. The objective would be to document, through personal recollections, the era of the silent era in films, the impact of sound, the triumphs and inequities of the major studios, and life in the glittering film capital...a firsthand account revelation of how silent movies were actually made.  

Robert  and his wife, Joan Franklin went on to record 200 reels of audio tape, recording celebrities mostly in New York City hotel rooms in 1958 and 1959. Transcripts of interviews were made available at the time to students and researchers. 

In 1961 excerpts/highlights from these audio tapes were edited into a 16 part  radio series titled, MEMOIRS OF THE MOVIES. Myrna Loy provided a standard opening. A different celebrity host/hostess was employed to introduce each episode. All of the 90 celebrities interviewed have since passed away with the exception of Joanne Woodward. Two additional episodes were later produced, "Style of the 70's," and "Rush To Reality," both hosted by Ben Gazzara and added, subsequently, to  re-issues of the series which were syndicated in the 1960's and 1970's airing  in New York (WINS), Boston (WBZ), Philadelphia (KYW), Baltimore (WJZ), Fort Wayne (WOWO), Chicago (WIND), San Francisco (KPIX), and Los Angeles (KFWB).  

The original 200 unedited reels of 1/4" audio tape interviews recorded by Joan and Robert Franklin are no longer known to exist. However, audio cassette transfers from these original tapes were donated by Joan Franklin many decades ago to Columbia University's Oral History Research Office where they exist  today.
Confirmed during a 2009 phone conversation with Mary Marshal Clark, archivist at Columbia at that time, who stated that the first on file communication from Robert  Franklin to Columbia University related to his  proposal to do an oral history audio recorded project is dated, July 31, 1958.
                            

October 11th, 1961- June 13th, 1962 (NBC)

A thirty-minute variety series starring comedian Bob Newhart. Newhart won fame by performing his classic telephone comedy routines that he would end by saying, "well same to you, fella."
Regulars on the show are Jackie Joseph, Kay Westfall, Jack Grinnage, Mickey Manners, Pearl Shear, June Ericson, and Andy Albin. The announcer is Dan Sorkin.

Guest: The Eligibles                                                                                                                                                     

John Conte was host for this half hour series of thirty nine easy listening programs, featuring Annunzio Mantovani and his orchestra. This series was produced in England and syndicated in the United States. The program featured a guest star each week. This program debuted in the United States on WNET channel 13 in New York on April 15th, 1961 with singer Dorothy Collins in a salute to the silver screen.   

  

                                                                                    

July 18th, 1958- March 26th, 1972

Series of concerts originating from Carnegie Hall in New York City. Beginning in 1962, they were broadcast from Lincoln Center in New York City. Leonard Bernstein conducted fifty three such televised performances until 1972. 



                                                                                                                                                                           

October 11th, 1961- June 13th, 1962 (NBC)

A thirty-minute variety series starring comedian Bob Newhart. Newhart won fame by performing his classic telephone comedy routines that he would end by saying, "well same to you, fella."
Regulars on the show are Jackie Joseph, Kay Westfall, Jack Grinnage, Mickey Manners, Pearl Shear, June Ericson, and Andy Albin. The announcer is Dan Sorkin.

Guest: The Four Freshman                                                                                                                                                                  

January 27, 1961-April 21, 1961; September 28, 1961-September 21, 1964. This was the first broadcast of the series. Home viewers were able to participate in this hour-long musical series, as the lyrics to the songs were superimposed at the bottom of their screens; viewers were invited to "follow the bouncing ball" as it moved from one lyric to the next. Goateed composer-arranger Mitch Miller led the Sing-Along Gang, and on-stage aggregation of about two dozen. Among the featured vocalists were Leslie Uggams, Diana Trask, Barbara McNair, and Gloria Lambert. "Sing Along with Mitch" was introduced on "Ford Startime" in 1960 and had a limited run in the spring of 1961, alternating with "The Bell Telephone Hour," before going weekly in the fall of that year. Reruns were exhumed in the spring of 1966 to replace the faltering "Sammy Davis Jr. Show." Bill Hobin produced and directed the series. 

Christmas Program With Traditional Melodies And Carols. 


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

John Conte was host for this half hour series of thirty nine easy listening programs, featuring Annunzio Mantovani and his orchestra. This series was produced in England and syndicated in the United States. The program featured a guest star each week. This program debuted in the United States on WNET channel 13 in New York on April 15th, 1961 with singer Dorothy Collins in a salute to the silver screen.   

  

                                                                                                 

Program number 7 of 18 programs. 
Myrna Loy introduces this unique series. A distinguished company of Hollywood's greatest directors...recalled by their disciples and their actors who dissect their varied ways of working. Chester Morris is host to directors George Seaton, Otto Preminger, King Vidor, Rouben Mamoulian and Edward Dmytryk. Janet Gaynor recalls F.W. Murnau. Dana Andrews talks about William Wyler, Teresa Wright speaks about Alfred Hitchcock. Jack Lemmon talks about John Ford, and Samson Raphaelson recalls the great Ernst Lubitsch. Most of the interviews were originally recorded in 1959 by producers Joan and Robert Franklin.  

   NOTE: Robert  C. Franklin (1920-1980), inspired by a 1958 newspaper story he read about Columbia University's POPULAR ARTS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, approached Dr. Louis Starr, then director of the oral-history collection, with a proposal to interview and tape record, on to 1/4" reel to reel audio tapes, movie people as they passed through New York. The objective would be to document, through personal recollections, the era of the silent era in films, the impact of sound, the triumphs and inequities of the major studios, and life in the glittering film capital...a firsthand account revelation of how silent movies were actually made.  

Robert  and his wife, Joan Franklin went on to record 200 reels of audio tape, recording celebrities mostly in New York City hotel rooms in 1958 and 1959. Transcripts of interviews were made available at the time to students and researchers. 

In 1961 excerpts/highlights from these audio tapes were edited into a 16 part  radio series titled, MEMOIRS OF THE MOVIES. Myrna Loy provided a standard opening. A different celebrity host/hostess was employed to introduce each episode. All of the 90 celebrities interviewed have since passed away with the exception of Joanne Woodward. Two additional episodes were later produced, "Style of the 70's," and "Rush To Reality," both hosted by Ben Gazzara and added, subsequently, to  re-issues of the series which were syndicated in the 1960's and 1970's airing  in New York (WINS), Boston (WBZ), Philadelphia (KYW), Baltimore (WJZ), Fort Wayne (WOWO), Chicago (WIND), San Francisco (KPIX), and Los Angeles (KFWB).  

The original 200 unedited reels of 1/4" audio tape interviews recorded by Joan and Robert Franklin are no longer known to exist. However, audio cassette transfers from these original tapes were donated by Joan Franklin many decades ago to Columbia University's Oral History Research Office where they exist  today.
Confirmed during a 2009 phone conversation with Mary Marshal Clark, archivist at Columbia at that time, who stated that the first on file communication from Robert  Franklin to Columbia University related to his  proposal to do an oral history audio recorded project is dated, July 31, 1958.
                                  

Guests Johnny Carson, Woody Allen, Dave Astor, Jack Carter and Mickey Rooney discuss the world of comedy with David Susskind.  This very rare "lost TV broadcast" was Woody Allen's first notable television appearance and was telecast nine months before Johnny Carson would become host of "The Tonight Show."  

NOTE: Originally recorded off the air by Phil Gries. Woody Allen who had been looking to obtain this "lost" broadcast for years was given a personal copy by Gries in January 1997 and soon after donated a copy to The Paley Center for Media (at that time named The  Museum of Television and Radio).
Jack Carter also received a copy of this broadcast from Gries who discussed in a letter his near fisticuff moments with Woody Allen during commercial breaks.                        

Singers Caterina Valente and her brother Silvio Francesco and comedian Don Adams are guests at Perry's New Year's Eve party. Peter Gennaro is featured with his dancers. Also appearing are series regulars Kaye Ballard, Sandy Stewart, Jack Duffy, and Paul Lynde. Ray Charles Singers, Mitchell Ayres Orchestra.

Highlights:

"Hoop-Dee Dee" "Auld Lang Syne"- All
"Moon River"- Perry Como
Sketch: "Musical Report On 1961"- Perry Como, Don Adams 
Twist Dance- Peter Gennaro, Caterina Valente.
"Big Bad John"- Frank Gallop, Men Singers
Dance: "Never On Sunday"- Peter Gennaro
"Tower Of Strength"- Jack Duffy 

January 12, 1926-November 25, 1960 (radio); June 28, 1951-June 11, 1953 (television). "Amos 'n' Andy," one of the most popular and long-running radio programs of all time, was brought to television in the summer of 1951 by Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll. When the show was cancelled, 65 episodes  had been produced. An additional 13 episodes were then filmed to be added to the syndicated re-run package. These 13 episodes first aired on CBS television beginning on January 4, 1955. Note: "Amos 'n' Andy" used three 35mm cameras to film each episode prior to "I Love Lucy," most often given credit for first using this TV revolutionary three camera approach. "I Love Lucy" premiered on October 15, 1951. Today, 74 of the 78 "Amos 'n' Andy" episodes are available & sold on DVD. However, four episodes remain mysteriously absent: "Andy Goes In Business," "Race Horse," "Sapphire's Mysterious Admirer," and "Restitution." Archival Television Audio recorded one of these missing episodes off the air Dec. 28, 1961 - "Restitution." 
While trying to do a good deed, Kingfish ends up becoming a fugitive from justice. Joined in progress. Only a 6:10-minute excerpt was recorded off the air, but inaccessible to the public for over half a  century.                         

    Mike Wallace interviews Judy Garland at the premiere of the motion picture, Judgement at Nuremberg.    

    PM East - PM West was a late-night talk show hosted by Mike Wallace and Joyce Davidson in New York City (where the PM East portion originated) and San Francisco Chronicle television critic Terrence O'Flaherty in San Francisco (PM West). The program was seen five nights a week from June 12, 1961, to June 22, 1962.

A ninety-minute nightly syndicated talk show, video taped in New York  with Mike Wallace and his co-host Joyce Davidson. Wallace and Davidson hosted the first hour from New York with Terrence O'Flaherty hosting the last half-hour from San Francisco. It was created to compete with the Jack Paar Show on NBC.                            

The second of three Video Taped  special programs presenting musical journeys throughout regions of the U.S. with Gordon MacRae and his wife Sheila MacRae hosting.  

Highlights:

"Louisiana".....................................................Gordon MacRae     
"The Rythum of the Dixieland Band".............Jack Jones    
"Yes Indeed"....................................................George Chakiris
"Moon River"...................................................Gordon MacRae
"Y' All Come"...................................................Buddy Ebsen
"Life Upon the Wicked Stage"......................Sheila MacRae
"Kisses Sweeter than Wine"........................Jane Morgan
"Goin' to Chicago".........................................Rita Moreno
"Chicago"............................................Gordon & Sheila MacRae
"Ma, She's Makin' Eyes at Me"....................Buddy Ebsen
"Bye, Bye, Blackbird.....................................Jack Jones
"After the Ball"................................................Kathryn Grayson
"Chicago Style" Twist..................Rita Moreno & George Chakiris
"Auld Lang Syne".................................Gordon & Sheila MacRae

  NOTE: An early COLOR VIDEO TAPED broadcast that unfortunately was wiped and not extant in any broadcast form.               

Program number 8 of 18 programs. 
Myrna Loy introduces this unique series. Zachary Scott as host, assembles a composite portrait of the men who produce and direct the great motion picture studios. Some bouquets and a handful of knocks are handed to D.W. Griffith, Samuel Goldwyn, Alexander Korda, Harry Cohen, Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer by Richard Barthlemess, Basil Rathbone, Jerry Wald, director Reginald Denham, Jack Lemmon, Ben Hecht, Dore Schary and Myrna Loy.     

     NOTE: Robert  C. Franklin (1920-1980), inspired by a 1958 newspaper story he read about Columbia University's POPULAR ARTS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, approached Dr. Louis Starr, then director of the oral-history collection, with a proposal to interview and tape record, on to 1/4" reel to reel audio tapes, movie people as they passed through New York. The objective would be to document, through personal recollections, the era of the silent era in films, the impact of sound, the triumphs and inequities of the major studios, and life in the glittering film capital...a firsthand account revelation of how silent movies were actually made.  

Robert  and his wife, Joan Franklin went on to record 200 reels of audio tape, recording celebrities mostly in New York City hotel rooms in 1958 and 1959. Transcripts of interviews were made available at the time to students and researchers. 

In 1961 excerpts/highlights from these audio tapes were edited into a 16 part  radio series titled, MEMOIRS OF THE MOVIES. Myrna Loy provided a standard opening. A different celebrity host/hostess was employed to introduce each episode. All of the 90 celebrities interviewed have since passed away with the exception of Joanne Woodward. Two additional episodes were later produced, "Style of the 70's," and "Rush To Reality," both hosted by Ben Gazzara and added, subsequently, to  re-issues of the series which were syndicated in the 1960's and 1970's airing  in New York (WINS), Boston (WBZ), Philadelphia (KYW), Baltimore (WJZ), Fort Wayne (WOWO), Chicago (WIND), San Francisco (KPIX), and Los Angeles (KFWB).  

The original 200 unedited reels of 1/4" audio tape interviews recorded by Joan and Robert Franklin are no longer known to exist. However, audio cassette transfers from these original tapes were donated by Joan Franklin many decades ago to Columbia University's Oral History Research Office where they exist  today.
Confirmed during a 2009 phone conversation with Mary Marshal Clark, archivist at Columbia at that time, who stated that the first on file communication from Robert  Franklin to Columbia University related to his  proposal to do an oral history audio recorded project is dated, July 31, 1958.
                             

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians usher in 1962.  
From the Hotel Grill at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. 

As described in TV Guide:
"RING IN '62 ON CHANNEL 2 WITH GUY LOMBARDO AND HIS ROYAL CANADIANS, THE SWEETEST MUSIC THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN PLAYS RIGHT INTO THE NEW YEAR BEGINNING AT 11:15PM SUNDAY, ON WCBS-TV."

This rare TV audio air check begins with Guy Lombardo introducing Robert Trout at Times Square who describes the moment minutes away from bringing in the New Year, 1962. Trout mentions that it began snowing at 11:30pm. There are 500 special policeman on duty with megaphones addressing a turnout crowd of 300,000 revelers during this 55th New Years Times Square celebration edition.
 Trout describes the ball sliding down the 68 foot pole. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Back at the hotel Grill with Guy Lombardo, his Royal Canadians play "Hail, Hail, The Gangs All Here," followed by a recording by Jimmy Durante, "When Your Smiling."

We hear Guy Lombardo sign off, wishing all a Happy 1962 New Year as the station announcer voices: 
"WCBS TV 2 NEW YORK."   

                                     

Host Jack MacLea looks at the upcoming 1962 Evansville college football season.