Breaking Walls

In Breaking Walls episode 150 we parachute into Easter Sunday, 1944 for a day of radio, recollections, and reconciliation. It’s now less than two months before D-Day and U.S. citizens are awaiting word of a full-scale European invasion with held breath. —————————— Highlights: • Cracks In The Nazi Foundation • Invitation To Learning at 11:30AM • Ceiling Unlimited with Joseph Cotton at 2PM • The Life of Riley at 3PM • Bulldog Drummond at 3:30PM • The Shadow at 5:30PM • The Catholic Hour & Radio Hall of Fame at 6PM • The Great Gildersleeve at 6:30PM • Jack Benny and The Mysterious Traveler at 7PM • Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy at 8PM • Fred Allen at 9:30PM • Bob Crosby and The Thin Man at 10PM • Duke Ellington and The News at 11:15PM • Looking Ahead to Jack Benny Changing Sponsors —————————— The WallBreakers: http://thewallbreakers.com Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts. To support the show: http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers —————————— The reading material used in today’s episode was: • Treadmill to Oblivion & Much Ado About Me — By Fred Allen • Citizen Welles — By Frank Brady • On The Air — By John Dunning • Invitation To Learning — By Martin Grams Jr. • Network Radio Ratings — By Jim Ramsburg —————————— On the interview front: • Don Ameche, George Balzer, Jack Benny, Conrad Binyon, Himan Brown, Joseph Cotton, Shirley Mitchell, Brett Morrison, Les Tremayne, and Paula Winslowe spoke with Chuck Schaden. Hear these full chats at Speakingofradio.com. • Jackson Beck, Edgar Bergen, and Hans Conreid spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org • Ralph Bell and Himan Brown spoke to SPERDVAC. For more info, go to SPERDVAC.com • Jack Kruschen and Shirley Mitchell spoke to Jim Bohannon in 1987 • Jack Benny spoke with Jack Carney • Fred Allen spoke with Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg • Parker Fennelly spoke with David S. Siegel • Duke Ellington spoke with Dick Cavett —————————— Selected music featured in today’s episode was: • Besame Mucho — By Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra • Danse Macabre — By Camille Saint-Saëns —————————— A special thank you to Ted Davenport, Jerry Haendiges, and Gordon Skene. For Ted go to RadioMemories.com, for Jerry, visit OTRSite.com, and for Gordon, please go to PastDaily.com. —————————— Thank you to: Tony Adams Steven Allmon Orson Orsen Chandler Phil Erickson Gerrit Lane Jessica Hanna Perri Harper Thomas M. Joyce Ryan Kramer Earl Millard Gary Mollica Barry Nadler Christian Neuhaus Ray Shaw Filipe A Silva John Williams Jim W. WildEyeWheel

At 11:15PM over Mutual’s WOR in New York, Duke Ellington was on the air with music from The famous Hurricane Nightclub on 49th street and broadway in New York City. The next day, The British Royal Air Force dropped a record thirty-six hundred tons of bombs in a single raid on Germany, France and Belgium. On Tuesday April 11th, the Soviets took more northern territory in Crimea. German forces immediately began a withdrawal. That same day, the U.S. sunk a Japanese destroyer and a German submarine. One thing was clear as the calendar turned to mid-April, the Allies were piling up victories and the Axis powers knew they needed to do something to stem the turning tide of war. Although we know now that D-Day would happen in June, both sides knew a big invasion was coming. In the meantime, those people in midtown Manhattan could dance and drink the night away. After all, tomorrow is never guaranteed.

At 10:30PM eastern time on NBC’s WEAF, The Bob Crosby Show took to the air in New York with the just-heard Les Tremayne as co-host and Shirley Mitchell as the special guest. This episode’s rating was 13.8. Earlier this evening, Shirley Mitchell played Leila Ransom on NBC’s The Great Gildersleeve. Opposite The Bob Crosby Show, The Adventures of The Thin Man took to the air on CBS. Based on the 1934 film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, both Les Tremayne and Les Damon at times co-starred with Claudia Morgan as Nick and Nora Charles. Nick Charles was a retired private eye who just couldn’t stay away from murder. The Thin Man gave its listeners all the censor would allow. Morgan cooed invitingly: she mouthed long, drawn-out kisses and kidded Nicky-darling about his outlandish pajamas. One critic strongly objected to the “oohhs” and “aahhs” and “mmmm’s’’ during kisses. But as feminine and cozy as Claudia Morgan played Nora, LIFE noted that “she can step across pools of blood with all the calm delicacy of a lady-in-waiting.” Parker Fennelly played Sheriff Ebenezer Williams. The rating for this episode was 16.1. Roughly twelve million people tuned in.

In the Spring of 1944, Fred Allen was finishing up his fourth season as host of The Texaco Star Theater on CBS. He’d been on the air for over a decade, but it was while he was hosting Texaco on December 6th, 1942 that Fred debuted Allen’s Alley. Allen used to read the newspaper column of O.O. McIntyre, called “Thoughts While Strolling.” McIntyre wrote about sights and sounds he’d met walking through the shabby streets of New York’s Chinatown and The Bowery. Allen felt that this kind of routine could come off very well on radio. A loud-mouth politician had possibilities. Actor Jack Smart voiced Senator Bloat. John Doe was another early character. Portrayed by John Brown, Doe was an average man squeezed by life from all angles. Alan Reed voiced Falstaff Openshaw, the poet. There was a Greek restaurant owner, an old maid, and a Russian. The segment was always launched with Portland Hoffa asking what question Alen had for the Alley occupants that week. Then they’d knock on various doors. Eventually many of these characters gave way to the most popular incarnation of the Alley with Minerva Pious’ jewish Mrs. Nussbaum, Peter Donald’s irish Ajax Cassidy, Kenny Delmare’s the Southern Senator Claghorn, and Parker Fennelly’s rural New England Titus Moody. The entire alley was allotted five minutes with laughter. Each character had seventy-five seconds for their lines. This was an issue because the program often ran overtime. It eventually caused the whole show to get cut off the air by network executives. The New York Herald-Tribune critic John Crosby later wrote that part of what made Fred's battles with censorship so difficult was that "the man assigned to review his scripts frankly admitted he didn't understand Allen's peculiar brand of humor at all." Regardless, the agency and network people couldn’t argue with Allen’s ratings. He was consistently a top-twenty show, and in April of 1944 he was being heard by more than thirteen million people. On Easter Sunday at 9:30PM New York time, his special guest was actor Reginald Gardiner. Together they presented a sketch spoofing Sherlock Holmes called Fetlock Bones. Unfortunately, the fight was getting to Fred Allen. After this season, Allen quit The Texaco Star Theater as high blood pressure forced him off the air.

Edgar Bergen first came to the attention of American audiences on Rudy Vallée’s NBC Royal Gelatin Hour on December 17th, 1936. How could ventriloquism work on radio? Perhaps Rudy Vallée himself put it best the night Bergen debuted. Five months later NBC gave Bergen his own show on Sundays at 8PM. He was an instant smash hit. Don Ameche worked with Bergen in those years. He was emcee on December 12th, 1937 when Mae West was the guest for an innuendo heavy skit called “Adam and Eve.” Over the next six seasons his show was never rated lower than fourth. Twice it was the country’s top program. On April 9th, 1944 Bergen’s rating was 27.1. Roughly twenty million people were tuned in live, coast-to-coast from WEAF in New York at 8PM eastern and 5PM pacific over KFI. This is that entire Easter Sunday broadcast.

At 7PM eastern time over Mutual Broadcasting’s flagship WOR, The Mysterious Traveler went on the air. Written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, The Mysterious Traveler debuted on Mutual December 5th, 1943. Maurice Tarplin played the title role with a good-natured malevolence. The traveler mostly narrated from an omniscient perch. He rode a phantom train by night. The opening signature was the distant wail of a locomotive whistle, fading in gradually until the rumble of the train could be heard. David Kogan and Robert Arthur had met in Greenwich Village, New York, partnering on Mutual’s Dark Destiny. After it was canceled, they came up with the Mysterious Traveler concept and prepared three sample scripts. Norman Livingston bought it for WOR. As independent producers, they were paid a flat rate for the whole package. Any money they saved by using the same actor in multiple roles went into their own pockets, so they used the best character actors in New York. Kogan also directed the series. On Easter Sunday, episode 19, “Beware of Tomorrow,” aired just as a gloomy dusk descended upon New York. Opposite The Mysterious Traveler, The Jack Benny Program signed on live, coast-to-coast at 7PM from WEAF in New York and at 4PM from KFI in Los Angeles. By April of 1944, Benny’s writing team consisted of Sam Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, John Tackaberry, and this man, George Balzer. By the spring of 1944, General Foods had been sponsoring the program for ten years, first with Jell-O and then Grape Nuts Flakes. Benny’s ratings had quietly been slipping since 1941. At the end of this season, his contract with General Foods was up. There was tension between the two parties because Benny had helped save Jell-O from going out of business. Benny had full control of his show. NBC also guaranteed his Sunday time slot for as long as he wanted it. This position allowed Benny to sell his program to the highest bidder. George W. Hill, the President of American Tobacco, wanted Benny’s show. His chief account executive was thirty-six-year-old Pat Weaver, the future president of NBC. Benny’s management team quietly held a sealed auction for sponsorship on February 24th. A surprise winner was announced: Ruthrauff & Ryan, agency for American Tobacco’s Pall Mall cigarettes, bid twenty-five thousand dollars per-week for three thirty-five week seasons. The weekly money was payable to Benny for all payroll and production costs. They also included an additional two-hundred-thousand dollars over the three years for marketing and promotion. American Tobacco also agreed to pay for any network and carrier line charges. The advertising community was stunned. The Easter Sunday program was Pall Mall’s audition. In the end, this would be the only Jack Benny episode to have a Pall Mall commercial. Pat Weaver and George W. Hill knew no one would take Ruthrauff & Ryan’s bid for Pall Mall seriously. Had Foote, Cone & Belding, American Tobacco’s agency for its top cigarette, Lucky Strike, entered the fray, the attention would have driven up the price. The last Benny show sponsored by General Foods was June 4th, 1944. Benny took out a full page ad in Variety thanking General Foods for ten years of sponsorship. In August, he left on a three-week USO tour of Australia and the South Pacific. On August 28th, American Tobacco announced that Pall Mall’s sales didn’t justify a twenty-five thousand dollar per week expenditure. Lucky Strike would sponsor the show. The following week they announced a comprehensive, multimedia ad campaign. It was estimated to cost over a quarter million dollars. Lucky Strike would sponsor The Jack Benny Program beginning October 1st, 1944.

When we were last with Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve in episode 149 of Breaking Walls he was gearing up for his local mayoral campaign, while simultaneously struggling to break away from his ex-fiancé Leila Ransom, voiced by the just-heart Shirley Mitchell. On Easter Sunday, Gildy’s mayoral campaign for Summerfield officially began, and he went to church. This episode took to the air at 6:30PM eastern time over WEAF in New York. Its rating was 17.9. Nearly fourteen million people tuned in while having Easter Sunday dinner.

At 6PM over NBC’s WEAF, The Catholic Hour took to the air with an address from Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen. Fulton John Sheen was born on May 8th, 1895 in El Paso, Illinois. He was ordained a priest in 1919, quickly becoming a renowned theologian. He won the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923 and went on to teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America. Beginning in 1930, Father Sheen began a twenty-year run hosting The Catholic Hour on NBC before moving into TV to present Life is Worth Living and The Fulton Sheen Program. Twice winning an Emmy for Most Outstanding TV personality, he was also featured on the cover of TIME magazine. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951, holding the position until 1966 when he was made Bishop of Rochester. He resigned in 1969 near his seventy-fifth birthday and would live until December 9th, 1979. In 2002, twenty-two years after his death, an official cause for canonization into sainthood was opened. Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized his life of "heroic virtues." However, his 2019 beatification was postponed after the current Bishop of Rochester expressed concern that Sheen mishandled a sexual misconduct case against a priest. Although the Diocese of Peoria countered that his handling of the case had already been thoroughly investigated, as of 2024 Fulton J. Sheen’s beatification is still postponed. Opposite The Catholic Hour, The Blue Network aired The Radio Hall of Fame on WJZ. Hosted by Deems Taylor and sponsored by Philco, The Radio Hall of Fame was conceived as a weekly Academy Award of radio through Variety Magazine, focusing on that week’s hits. When it was launched in December of 1943, there was serious questioning as to whether it was proper for Variety to be so intimately involved. How could a trade paper whose business was reviewing show business enter into its production? Ben Bodec, a fifteen-year Variety reporter quit in protest, but the show went on without a hitch. It was a glittering spectacle, stars like Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Sophie Tucker, Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and the Andrews Sisters all appeared. It would air until April 28th, 1946.

Between 4PM and 5:30 eastern war time, NBC broadcast Easter services from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, as well as the NBC symphony with Arturo Toscanini. CBS broadcast Orchestra music and The Family Hour. The Blue Network aired Music and the Mary Small Revue. Mutual Broadcasting’s flagship WOR aired Abe Lincoln’s Story and Green Valley, U.S.A.. At 5:30, Mutual’s most popular program took to the air. It was their only show in the top-50 and the highest-rated weekend daytime program on the air. Pulling a rating that month of 14.1, roughly eleven million people tuned it. Sponsored by Blue Coal, It starred the just-heard Brett Morrison. The show? None other than The Shadow. In this particular episode, an evil fiend uses an experimental Television device to see anything he wishes remotely. The Shadow’s powers of mesmer don’t affect a TV screen. This fiend therefore finds out the true identity of the Shadow.

At 3:30PM over Mutual’s WOR in New York, Bulldog Drummond took to the air. It was directed by the just-heard Himan Brown. It starred Santos Ortega, known as Sandy to his friends. Jackson Beck was the announcer. Bulldog Drummond was a British inspector popularized in the Paramount detective films of the 1930s. It was first broadcast April 13th, 1941. It spent its entire nearly eight year run on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Opposite Bulldog Drummond, WEAF ran The Army Hour, while WJZ aired Hot Copy.

The man you just heard was radio legend Hans Conreid, known as one of the most versatile actors of the 20th century. He could adroitly handle comedy, variety, or serious drama while speaking any dialect convincingly. On April 9th 1944 at 3PM eastern time over WJZ and at 12PM pacific time on KECA, Conreid was busy playing Uncle Baxter on The Life of Riley. Created by Irving Brecher, the best-known incarnation of The Life of Riley came to the air Sunday January 16th, 1944 at 3PM eastern time over The Blue Network. It starred William Bendix as Chester A. Riley and was sponsored by The American Meat Institute. Riley was easily exasperated, but difficult to defeat. The difficulty increased by degrees with the flimsiness of Riley’s cause. Bendix came out of the New Jersey Federal Theater project, a latecomer to the profession, beginning at thirty when the grocery store he was running went out of business. His film career began in 1942. He was often the hooligan with the heart of gold. Riley was his most famous character. It co-starred the previously heard Hans Conreid as Uncle Baxter with John Brown as both Riley’s friend Gillis and the undertaker, Digger O’Dell. Paula Winslowe was Riley’s long-suffering wife Peg. Sharon Douglas was Babs and Conrad Binyon played Junior. The Life of Riley proved popular enough that in June it was moved to Sundays at 10PM. Beginning in the fall of 1945 it moved to NBC where it was a mainstay for six seasons. It peaked in 1947-48 with a rating of 20.1, good for fourteenth overall that year. A TV version debuted in October of 1949, first with Jackie Gleason as Riley and later with William Bendix playing the familiar role for five years.

Between 12 and 2PM, news, religious, and war programming filled the radio dial. Standouts included the Salt Lake City Tabernacle Choir and Organ at noon on CBS, Soldiers of the Press at 12:30 on Mutual, and The Chicago Roundtable at 1:30 on NBC. Ceiling Unlimited began as a series of informative dramas by Orson Welles in November 1942. It was sponsored by Lockheed Vega Aircrafts and showcased aviation's role in World War II. Welles walked out in February 1943 after a blowup with one of the ad agency men. Author James Hilton took over. It became a Hollywood variety series in August 1943. Joseph Cotten hosted with Patrick McGeehan as announcer and both Connie Moore and Nan Wynn providing vocals arranged by Wilbur Hatch. This Easter episode took to the air at 2:00PM, from WABC, which at that time were still the call letters for CBS’ New York City Affiliate. The Blue Network’s New York flagship, WJZ aired Chaplain Jim U.S.A., while WEAF aired a play called “Those We Love.”

Saturday April 8th, 1944. New York City. It’s a rainy day before Easter and World War II news is dominating consciousness. There are cracks in Germany’s foundation. On Tuesday April 4th, allied surveillance aircrafts photographed the Auschwitz concentration camp. Knowing this, the Nazis will spend the next four months using the gas chambers and incinerators to their full capacity. Twenty-thousand people could be murdered each day. The Germans have lost five u-boats in three days on both fronts while simultaneously facing heavy fighting against the Soviets in Ukraine. They’ve been repeatedly forced to retreat. On Good Friday, April 7th, Adolph Hitler suspended all law in Berlin and made Joseph Goebbels the sole administrator of the city. On this day, April 8th, The Battle of the Tennis Court began in Burma, while Soviet forces invaded Romania. At the same time, U.S. bombers shelled Brunswick. The early 1944 Bombings of German cities gave German citizens their first hard evidence that the tide of the war had turned. And everyone in Europe knew a full scale Allied western invasion was coming. Amidst the gloom, at 1:45PM from WEAF in New York, John McVane took to the air with NBC’s War Telescope looking at both war news and peacetime negotiation. Saturday’s New York Daily News reported on the U.S. navy’s recent sinking of forty-six Japanese ships, while they shot down more than two hundred planes in a three day period. Inflation hadn’t risen in an entire year, as Americans looked forward to international air travel after the war. It made for an interesting Easter Sunday forecast. ___________ It’s 11:30AM on a rainy Easter Sunday, April 9th, 1944 in New York. We’re taking a ride inside a 1942 Oldsmobile B44 coupe. There have been no new automobiles manufactured in the U.S. since February 1942. All resources have been put towards the war effort. We’ve just switched on the radio to CBS’s New York affiliate. Invitation To Learning is about to air. First taking to the air on May 26th, 1940, it was chaired by Lyman Bryson with a rotating panel. Based on a class at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Invitation To Learning was developed at the suggestion of Stringfellow Barr, school president, who also served on the CBS Adult Education board. By exploring classic literature, Barr contended that radio could be a keynote in liberal education. Three or four people had a spontaneous discussion about a particular book. For twenty-four years and more than twelve-hundred episodes, the show sparked as much debate amongst listeners and rival networks as the programs themselves. Notable guests included Norman Corwin, John Houseman, Eva LeGallienne, Herbert Hoover,, Hans Conried, and Lillian Gish. Opposite on NBC’s WEAF was a commentary from Don Hollenbeck, while Mutual’s WOR broadcast an Easter Sunrise Service from the Hollywood Bowl, and The Blue Network’s WJZ broadcast The Hour of Faith.

In Breaking Walls episode 149 we’ll spend March of 1944 with Hal Peary and The Great Gildersleeve. —————————— Highlights: • The Men And Women On The Front Lines of War War II in March 1944 • Hal Peary and the Birth of Gildersleeve on Fibber McGee and Molly • The First Ever Sitcom Spin Off and The Great Gildersleeve Premieres • Registering To Vote • Mid March 1944 News with NBC War Telescope • Gildy Wants to Run For Mayor • The Campaign Photo • A Night In A Foxhole • Looking Ahead to Easter Sunday 1944 —————————— The WallBreakers: http://thewallbreakers.com Subscribe to Breaking Walls everywhere you get your podcasts. To support the show: http://patreon.com/TheWallBreakers —————————— The reading material used in today’s episode was: • On The Air — By John Dunning • Network Radio Ratings — By Jim Ramsburg As well as articles from: • Broadcasting Magazine • The Library of Congress • The New York Times • Radio Daily —————————— On the interview front: • Ken Carpenter, Alice Faye, Shirley Mitchell, Frank Nelson, Hal Peary, Lilian Randolph and Lurene Tuttle spoke with Chuck Schaden. Hear these chats at Speakingofradio.com. • Shirley Mitchell also spoke with Jim Bohannon in 1987. • Howard Duff spoke to Dick Bertel and Ed Corcoran for WTIC’s The Golden Age of Radio. Hear these interviews at Goldenage-WTIC.org • Don Quinn spoke with Owen Cunningham —————————— Selected music featured in today’s episode was: • Besame Mucho — By Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra • Danse Macabre — By Camille Saint-Saëns —————————— A special thank you to Ted Davenport, Jerry Haendiges, and Gordon Skene. For Ted go to RadioMemories.com, for Jerry, visit OTRSite.com, and for Gordon, please go to PastDaily.com. —————————— Thank you to: Tony Adams Steven Allmon Orson Orsen Chandler Phil Erickson Gerrit Lane Jessica Hanna Perri Harper Thomas M. Joyce Ryan Kramer Earl Millard Gary Mollica Barry Nadler Christian Neuhaus Ray Shaw Filipe A Silva John Williams Jim W. —————————— WallBreakers Links: Patreon - patreon.com/thewallbreakers Social Media - @TheWallBreakers

This is the trailer for The People's Recorder (https://www.peoplesrecorder.info/). Brought to you by the award-winning Spark Media, The People's Recorder is a national podcast on the 1930s Federal Writers' Project: what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today. The Federal Writers' Project employed thousands of out-of-work writers across the country to document American life during a national disaster -- the Great Depression -- and “hold a mirror up to America.” What they produced was a series of state and city guidebooks and life-story interviews and recordings with everyday Americans. In creating the nation’s first self-portrait, they sparked questions about how we document history and whose stories get told. The People's Recorder takes you on a journey with the people who lived it. We explore the Project’s legacy, what it achieved, where it fell short, and what it means for Americans today. The first season of 10 episodes will take listeners on a wild ride across the country: undercover Black historians behind the frontlines of the Jim Crow South, documentarians of the Gulf Coast’s cultures, champions of indigenous history in the Midwest, and gurus of migration in the West. Episodes will drop monthly with bonus material released between each episode. You can subscribe and download anywhere you'd get a podcast.

Hey everybody James Scully here, host of Breaking Walls. If you've been listening to this show for years on this RSS feed, I want you to know that you can also subscribe to the show on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@thewallbreakersllc. I'm asking people who listen here on the RSS feed to subscribe on Youtube because Youtube offers the easiest path to monetizing this show. I'm going to be fully transparent right now: There have been times in the history of this podcast that via RSS feed, Breaking Walls has had as many as 27000 - 30000 monthly downloads, but even with that, it's very hard to monetize the show via traditional podcast channels. However, I've been able to clear the monetization hurdles on Youtube, so please subscribe there. If you happen to listen on a computer or on a phone, I would appreciate if you listened via Youtube. I'm also going into Youtube and slowly uploading all shows from Breaking Walls' archive in individual podcast playlists on Youtube. This way, everything that for years now has fallen off the RSS feed here doesn't matter. You can get all those archived shows FREE OF CHARGE on Youtube. Your listening for free will enable me to earn money, and I'd appreciate that very much. So once again — https://www.youtube.com/@thewallbreakersllc Keep getting out there, keep breaking those walls, and I'll catch you on the flip side.

On Sunday, March 19th, 1944 Germany forcefully occupied Hungary to prevent the country from making a separate peace agreement with the Soviet Union. Within two days, German authorities forced all Jewish businesses to close, sending hundreds to internment camps. On March 20th, The Battle of Sangshak began in Manipur, India, while U.S. Marines landed on Emirau as part of Operation Cartwheel. The next day they linked with Australian troops on New Guinea's Huon Peninsula. On Wednesday March 22nd, the US OSS began Operation Ginny II, intending to cut German lines of communication in Italy, but once again failed when the team landed in the wrong place and were captured. Volcanic rock of all sizes from Mount Vesuvius began raining down from the sky, forcing massive evacuations. German soldiers killed several civilians in Montaldo, Italy who were part of an Italian resistance group. The next day the group planted a bomb, killing thirty-three SS members in Rome. The Nazis swiftly retaliated, killing three-hundred-thirty-five people accused of helping the cause. Meanwhile, allied forces withdrew from Monte Cassino and the offensive was called off in favor of Operation Strangle, a series of air maneuvers aimed to cut German supplies from the Italian front. That Friday, March 24th, 1944, the Mutual Broadcasting System broadcast a special recording made by marine Technical Sergeants Fred Welker and Keene Hepburn. During the early part of the war Dr. Harold Spivack, Chief of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, and Brigadier General Robert Denig, wartime director of Marine Corps public information, formulated a plan to give a few Marines recording devices to take into the field so the public at large would understand what these men were experiencing. Recordings began in late 1943.

By Sunday March 26th, 1944, with Easter only two weeks away, Gildy had decided to run for mayor. Naturally, he needed a good campaign photo to go with it. By this time, Peary had become a film star, starring as Gildersleeve in both shorts and feature-length films.

As the first day of Spring approached, Gildersleeve contemplated running for Mayor of Summerfield on March 19th. Shirley Mitchell voiced Leila Ransom. Ken Carpenter, by then a famous announcer, was the Kraft spokesperson.

On Wednesday March 15th, 1944 during battle, the allies dropped nearly one-thousand tons of bombs and two hundred thousand rounds of artillery on the Monte Cassino Monastery, while trying to storm the building. They were unable to dislodge the Germans. The allies were having more success sinking submarines. Over the next forty-eight hours Allied forces sank one Japanese and three German subs. On Thursday at a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics seminar in Washington, D.C., NACA personnel suggested a jet-propelled airplane be developed. On Friday the 17th Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying nearly ninety American aircraft and displacing twelve-thousand italians, while Soviet forces took Dubno and Zhmerynka. The Soviets were set to begin their third Narva Offensive on Saturday as German soldiers began massacring people in both Romania and Italy. The Germans were facing heavy bombing at home, and all of Europe knew an allied invasion was coming. NBC’s War Telescope took to the air over WEAF in New York at 1:45PM.