Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

November, 1945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 51 THE BIOGRAPHY OF A RADIO PROGRAM BY SAUL KRIEG One of radio’s most notable figures is Phillips H. Lord, formerly principal of Plainville (Connecticut) High School, creator and producer of Gcmg Busters. He originated the idea ten years ago while returning from a world cruise. Before that time, this former schoolman had created several other famous shows, notably the Seth Parker series, in which he played the part of Seth. Phil, the son of a Vermont minister. Reverend Albert J. Lord, received his education at the Phillips Andover Academy and at Bowdoin College. He had spent his summers in Maine, and from his knowledge of the “Down Easters’’ had come his stories of rural life and the homely philosophy of Seth Parker. But Lord, who had given up his work as an educational administrator in Connecticut to come to New York, felt that crime was being glamorized and little was being done to show honest citizens the real truth about criminals and their doings. The flourishing gang life of the thirties suggested that more powerful admonitions were necesssary. Developing the theme that “crime does not pay,” Lord returned to radio with Gang Busters. Gang Busters presented the cases of actual criminals who were caught by the law. It gave real names and told true stories. In order to do this, it was necessary to maintain close contact with police officers and court reporters throughout the country. Lord’s sources included Phillips H. Lord hundreds of police chiefs, special agents. Federal agents, and insurance investigators. Today, when a Gang Busters script goes on the air, it is the result of months of preparation. A criminal is caught in some American community. Lord is notified by a police reporter. From the vast files on criminals, come pictures of the man, his fingerprints, h i s description, lists of his former crimes and sentences served, his addresses, his friends and their addresses. The Lord organization reconstructs the childhood of the criminal, pieces together the reasons for his choice of life. So complete is this material that often Lord obliges the district attorney who is to try the criminal by sending him copies of his data. Lord makes still further investigations about the criminal, getting, if he can, statements from the criminal himself. He also has members of his organi zation trace details of the crimes committed by interviewing victims, bank attendants, a murdered victim’s family, and witnesses. If a family are held up and their car is taken by the criminal. Lord’s investigators talk with the family. From all this research material, a resume is written. This resume goes to the Ga^ig Busters editor. The editor calls in a writer. Together they study the research material, discuss the approach to the case, and decide what scenes should be included in the radio program. The writer dramatizes those scenes. When his script is complete, he turns it back to the editor. The script is then discussed by a committee of five, and the writer takes it for a re-write. There are usually several re-writes before the decision comes that the story is the best that can be done. The next step is strictly legal. All people whose names are used are asked to sign a release. Almost without exception, the people have been willing to sign such a release, for they feel that the factual details help to drive home to criminals that crime does not pay. When names have been released, the script is cast by the supervisor, the editor, and the director. Sound rehearsal is called. Sound effects for each particular script are carefully developed for the greatest possible realism. Lord insists, for example, that the sound of a falling body in a Gang Busters script is really that of a falling