Patreon Secrets Preview: Random Notes

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to the Mysterious Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime and horror stories from the Golden Age of radio. Today we present a discussion of random notes from Frontier Gentlemen selected by our patrons as one of two exceptional patreon only episodes of 2024. To hear the other episode that tied for best patreon episode of 2024, the Birds from BBC Radio 4's Friday Play series, please visit patreon.comthemorals and become an official member of the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society. Membership privileges include bonus Patreon Only podcasts such as Secrets of the Mysterious Old Radio which features oddities, tangents and other indulgent selections. Cliffhangers of Doom dedicated to adventure, crime and mystery serials B Sides of the Mysterious Old Radio Supplements and side trips inspired by our weekly podcast morals Live audio recordings of our stage performances at Crooner's Supper Club in Minneapolis and the Mysterious Royal Listening Society focusing on mysterious radio drama from the BBC. As a patron you will also have access to our Patreon Discord Server Monthly Zoom Happy hours with your Mysterious Old hosts and fellow patrons, Joshua's Bi Monthly Mysterious Old Book Club and much more. We deeply value our patience Patreon community and are confident that you will too. Secrets of the Mysterious Old Radio Michael. [00:02:37] Speaker C: That'S not our pilot at the controls. It's a monkey. [00:02:40] Speaker D: A gorilla piloting our plane. [00:02:45] Speaker C: We're being fattened up like fattened up the pigs. [00:02:52] Speaker D: Martha, look here near to this flower bed. [00:02:56] Speaker B: Footprint. [00:02:57] Speaker C: I wouldn't move right there for a child. A baby. [00:03:00] Speaker E: No child could walk upright on feet. [00:03:02] Speaker F: But left these impressions. [00:03:03] Speaker D: They're before I shall travel with him, take him to the four corners of the earth and show people how well my gorilla seems. [00:03:17] Speaker C: There you see a beautiful quality, beautiful tone. [00:03:24] Speaker D: The hermit knows of the Mahaha. [00:03:27] Speaker A: Welcome to Secrets of the Mysterious Old Radio, a monthly members only podcast featuring oddities, tangents and other indulgent selections from the golden and not so golden Age of Radio. I'm Eric. [00:03:39] Speaker G: I'm Tim. [00:03:40] Speaker B: And I'm Joshua. If you're listening to this, it means you are a member in good standing of the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society. And this month I am thanking you and testing my co host's patience with Random notes from Frontier Gentlemen, a short lived western created, written and directed by one of my favorite radio artists, Anthony Ellis. [00:04:04] Speaker G: Frontier Gentlemen told the story of J.B. kendall, a British journalist who roamed the Western United States in search of human interest stories. Ellis, a Brit himself, combined his own experience as a stranger in a strange land with his love of American history to create what radio spirits described as a western adventure drama featuring rich and detailed character studies, all of which were filtered through the series main character. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Kendall was played by John Dana, an experienced radio actor who frequently appeared as a guest star or supporting character in programs like the Whistler Escape, the Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Gunsmoke, and more. After Frontier Gentleman, Dana was cast in the lead role of another western radio series, have Gun Will Travel. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Up to this point, my admiration for Frontier Gentlemen has been met by a mix of disappointment and ambivalence from my co hosts. Will this episode change their minds? Probably not, but I'll discuss my reasons for bringing this particular episode to this particular podcast after we've opened the vault and listened to Random Notes from Frontier Gentlemen, first broadcast April 27, 1958. [00:05:15] Speaker D: It occurs to me that in my reports to the London Times, there are many incidents which I have omitted. Things seen and heard during my past three months in the American West. Here, then, some random notes. [00:05:32] Speaker E: Frontier Gentlemen. Here with an Englishman's account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual stories, but as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the New Territories. Now starring John Dana, this is the story of J.B. kendall, Frontier Gentleman. [00:06:26] Speaker D: These random notes are being written as I journey from Deadwood to Cheyenne on the Cheyenne and Black Hills stage line. I recall an incident in the Montana Territory town of Helena. A tall gentleman in high hat, black broadcloth frock coat, a dirty shirt with a torn paper collar, and the most singularly unpressed pair of nankeen trousers. He stood outside a saloon with a small case of bottles set before him. About a dozen men and women were crowded around in a small yellow dog. [00:06:59] Speaker H: Pollock's original mameluke liniment. A sovereign remedy for man and beast. It is confidently recommended to the afflicted as an infallible remedy for the following diseases to burns, cramps, pains in the joints, sore throat, frosted feet, rheumatism, spinal complaints, lumbago, all sores, cuts, bruises, swelling, sprains, pains in the back or side, headache, cutaneous affections, egg, you cake, bites of insects or reptiles, salt, rheum, mange, crackhands, teta, dysentery, cholera, morbus and cholera. [00:07:40] Speaker C: What about the heaves, mister? [00:07:43] Speaker H: The heaves, you ask? Ah. And in this bottle the answer to your question, sir. Pollock. Syrup of sassafras. A cure nature's noblest remedy for heaves, consumption, bronchitis, croup or hives, colds, coughs, asthma, hoarseness, difficulty of breathing, purifying the blood, whooping cough, and a dozen ailments too horrible to mention in a public street. To any of you afflicted with any of the diseases I have mentioned or some that I have not, don't delay. Get your bottle of Pollack's compound of syrup of sassafras, for it is certain to give more relief in a short time than all the sarsaparillas and other compounds the stomach could bear. Ladies and gentlemen, it costs only 25 cents for one bottle or as an added inducement for your health, Pollux original Mameluke liniment and a bottle of Pollux syrup of sassafras, both with a small sum of $0.40. Think of the dollars and suffering you will save by this miraculous. [00:09:00] Speaker D: I remember the game of baseball that I witnessed between two small Nebraska towns. Suffice to say that the match began at 2 o'clock. By 6 that evening the score stood 97 to 25, and a gun battle ensued which lasted for three days. I shall give a more complete account of that incident at a later date. Then there was the duel fought between two ladies, rivals for the dubious hand of a swaggering young lothario named Court Thompson. The entire town turned out for the event. The duelists were Mattie Silks and Katie Fulton. They were to fire at 10 paces and all was in readiness. [00:09:39] Speaker C: Well, sheer, if you ask me. My money's on Mattie. [00:09:42] Speaker D: Matty? [00:09:42] Speaker C: Ah, sure, everybody knows Mattie Silks. You mean you ain't visited? No, I got $10 says she'll blow Katie Fulton's bustle clean out of the county. Yep, aside from Court Thompson, Maddie ain't standing for Katie's bar, being on the same street. Oh, there's real bad feeling there. Which is Court Thompson feller standing next to Matty? Oh, he's a one, he is. You gotta excuse me now, mister. I've been selected to count off the steps. All right, folks, stand back. Let's get on with this here duel of honor. Maddie, T.D. you know the rules. Ten paces, then I count three and you start shooting. Now let's go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. There you go. Ready, ladies? One, two, three. You killed me. I'm shot. [00:10:50] Speaker D: It was Katie Fulton's shot that missed Mattie Silks and hit Cort Thompson. Some said she'd done it purposely. Others argued that it was an accident. At any rate, Mattie took the wounded Don Juan home and as far as I know, their love burgeoned. From that moment on, I must find time to send a more detailed report on Mattie Silk. She's quite an extraordinary woman. Then I think of an old man, a miner I met in Fort Benton. His name was Shorthorn Tom. On our journey to locate his lost mine, he gave me an insight into western speech which I have found to be most valuable. He was leading a bulky mule along a winding trail and the air was rather blue with. [00:11:32] Speaker C: Ain't really cussing this sort of air in your lungs. Now you take that mule. I call him a son of a gun. Now that ain't rightly so. Cause anybody can see he ain't nothing but a son of a mule. But he's a no good son of a gun. Cause that's the way it goes, see? [00:11:50] Speaker D: Yes, I follow you. Speaking of that, what exactly is son of a gun stew? [00:11:55] Speaker C: Son of a gun stew? Shucks, I'll tell you, that's just about the best thing a man ever put in his inside. It's got brains and sweetbreads. Gotta be a fresh killed calf. Ooh, ooh, gotta be. And tongue. Liver. Lich. Heart, kidney. I tell you mister, that is a something better than pooch any day. Mister, when I find this claim, I'm gonna get me a new set of teeth and I'll show you how to make son of a gun stew. Throw everything in it. Ceptin the hair, horns and holler. Oh, that's a real grub, sons it. [00:12:32] Speaker D: Tell me, what is hardtail? [00:12:34] Speaker C: Oh, just a mule like this. Ornery stump, sucking son of a gun. [00:12:39] Speaker D: A hardtail mule. Direct stump sucker. [00:12:43] Speaker C: Ain't you never seen a horse getting his teeth against something? And sucking wind. That's what a stump sucker is. Oh, you don't want nothing to do with a critter like that. No sir. [00:12:56] Speaker D: I heard the expression riding herd on a woman. [00:12:59] Speaker C: Oh man, that's courtin riding herds. Courtin? Boy, you stick around old Shorthorn Tom. He'll have you talking as smart as a bunkhouse rat. Hey, you know what a woman is out in these parts? [00:13:12] Speaker D: Oh, what? [00:13:13] Speaker C: Calico. Painted cat. Sagehead. Cow bunny. Long haired partner. Quail squaw. You know what we call a fellow like you? Green from the east. Tenderfoot button. Goon. Prune picker. [00:13:28] Speaker E: Pilgrim, shop horn. [00:13:30] Speaker C: A greener. [00:13:31] Speaker D: Yes. Well, what about you? [00:13:32] Speaker C: Me? A rawhide. Coffee cooler. Pocket hunter. River sniper. Course fellas call me a lot of other things too. Don't really matter. What they call you, though, it's what you are that counts. Now, I take you for a good partner, mister. [00:13:49] Speaker D: A real good shorthorn. Tom never did find his lost mine. He died up in the Highwood mountains. I was with him. Then there was a performance of Otello that I witnessed in Kansas. The frontier theatrical players. Otello was a fine, powerful fellow with a broad Texas accent. A cowhand recruited by the wife of a ranch owner. Needless to say, the wife played Desdemona. Unfortunately, Otello had a scant three days in which to memorize his part. The resultant scene. [00:14:24] Speaker C: I report that handkerchief which I love and give to you. Thou give it to Cassio. No, by my life and soul. Send for the man and ask him. I don't want no sweet talk, honey. Y'all take heed of perjury. Cause you are on thy deathbed. Aye, but not yet to die. Yeah, yeah. So you confess freely about all that sinning for. Or to deny each article. For to deny each article with oath. Cannot remove or choke something. Something that I do grunt, honey. You all going to die. Mercy. Amen. And have you mercy too? I never did offend you in my life, never loved Cassio, but with such general warranty of heaven as I might love. I never gave him. Tolkien. Look, I saw you. You know, the handkerchief, everything. He. He found it, then I never gave it him. Send for him hither. He confessed. What, my lord? Well, you know, he. He been dealing off of the bottom. He will not say so. He won't. For a fact, honest. Iaga stopped his mouth. Oh, my fear interprets. What, is he dead? Had all of his hair been lives, my great revenge had stomach for all of us. Alas, he is betrayed. Nigh undone. Out, strumpet. Weep style for him in my face. Oh, banish me, my lord, but not kill me. Down, strumpet. Kill me tomorrow. Let me live tonight. No, sir, but half an hour. Being done, there is no pause. But while I say one prayer. Too late now. Oh, you take your hands off me spoon Sam, or I'm coming up there. [00:16:10] Speaker D: And rip the hide. The player's conclusion had deviated somewhat from Shakespeare's intent, but I found it nonetheless dramatic. I've often wondered whether the Texas Otello continued his thespian career. He could have made a fortune in London. Speaking of fortunes reminds me of an extraordinary thing that happened in Montana territory. As soon as we reach the next stage station, I'll jot it down. [00:16:52] Speaker E: In a moment. We return to frontier, gentlemen. A man sets an elaborate scheme in motion. He Plans it so well that it can't be stopped. This proves ironic when the schemer is powerless to prevent the unexpected conclusion becoming literally his own victim. Hear John Lund in today's startling CBS radio drama of suspense. Lund will play the fast talking promoter who overplays his own hand. It's a story well calculated to keep you in suspense today on most of these stations. And now we return you to the Anthony Ellis production of Frontier. Gentlemen. [00:17:44] Speaker D: The rocketing coach of the Cheyenne and Black Hill stage line have crossed into Wyoming territory. There seems no end to this incredible land of the American West. As the dark hills to the north and east fall away, the land becomes more rolling. I mention an event in Montana territory that happened to a Chinese gentleman named Lee Chow. He was a well educated man, scrupulously honest, and ran a general supply store in Helena. During a few days of my visit, I enjoyed several cups of tea and one or two chess games with him. I remember that one afternoon he seemed quite excited. His hand shook as important. [00:18:25] Speaker F: This is a momentous day for me, my friend Kendall. Oh, you are the first to know. I am now an owner of a mine. [00:18:35] Speaker D: No. [00:18:36] Speaker F: Yes. Here, let me show you. [00:18:44] Speaker C: Ah. [00:18:44] Speaker F: There. A legal document which gives me possession of the lucky Hand plaster claim. [00:18:52] Speaker D: Well, is it good? [00:18:55] Speaker F: Good. Oh, my friend Kendall, I have paid for it with my life savings. $40,000. You know that some men have been bringing me their gold dust to keep for them as in a bank. [00:19:09] Speaker D: Yes, I remember you telling me. [00:19:10] Speaker F: It was their claim which I bought. I took much time, much trade talk, but finally they agreed to sell. And now I am a mine owner. As soon as I have made my fortune, Kendall, I shall return to China and live the remainder of my life in peace and security. [00:19:39] Speaker D: Li Chow was evidently the last, or next to last man in Helena to find out what had happened. I heard it three days later from the barber who was shaving me. [00:19:49] Speaker H: The biggest joke in Helena since old man Hornsby strung up that mule for kicking his wife. You mean you ain't heard? [00:19:56] Speaker D: I really haven't. [00:19:57] Speaker B: Well, well. [00:19:58] Speaker H: There's a Chinese gentle along the street, Lee Chow. [00:20:01] Speaker D: I know him. [00:20:02] Speaker H: You know he bought himself a mine? [00:20:04] Speaker D: Yes, I know you know. [00:20:06] Speaker H: It's salted. [00:20:07] Speaker D: Salted? [00:20:09] Speaker H: He paid 40,000 for a salted mine? What the boys done was to take him a bag of gold dust every day to hold for them. Lee figures they got a whopper claim. He wants to buy in partners? No, sir, says they. Then when Lee's prime real good, the boys figures how they've done enough Work and they're ready to sell out. Lee chow buys for $40,000. The fellas take their dust and vamoose, leaving Lee Chow with a deed to a vegetable farm. That's all it's good for. It will hold your head still, missy. I don't want to slash it. [00:20:44] Speaker D: Does he know yet? [00:20:46] Speaker H: If he don't, he's the only man in hell and ain't. [00:20:49] Speaker D: What about the men who sold the claim to him? [00:20:52] Speaker H: Well, last I heard, there was head for California. [00:21:03] Speaker F: Ah, good morning, my friend, Mr. Kendall. [00:21:06] Speaker D: Good morning, Mr. Lee. [00:21:07] Speaker F: You appear downcast. Is something the matter? [00:21:11] Speaker D: I've just heard some rather bad news. It's. It's about your claim. Oh, you've been cheated, Mr. Lee. There's no gold. The men who sold it to you knew it so. [00:21:28] Speaker F: But I do not understand. Yesterday, my boys who are work for me, they bring me a sack of dust. Oh, here, see for yourself. It is the same as I have seen before. [00:21:41] Speaker D: Your workers took this out of the claim. [00:21:43] Speaker F: Oh, it is just as it has always been. I do not understand this talk of cheating. [00:21:49] Speaker D: Neither do I, Mr. Lee. [00:21:51] Speaker F: Oh, here, my friend Ji Ping is a very fine miner. Work for me. Morning, Ji. [00:21:58] Speaker D: Good morning, Li. Good morning, honored sir. How do you do, sir? [00:22:02] Speaker F: Oh, my friend here, Mr. Kendall, he's worried about the claim. He worried? [00:22:08] Speaker B: Why? [00:22:08] Speaker F: Well, there is talk of assaulting the mine. His salt then, is of gold. [00:22:14] Speaker D: Here. From the work of yesterday, announced more than the first day. [00:22:20] Speaker F: I do not know from where you hear this bad news, my friend, Mr. Kendall, but if the rest of my life is as unfortunate, I shall indeed be a rich and happy man. Will you take a cup of tea with me? Perhaps a game of. [00:22:40] Speaker D: A day or so later, I left Helena and didn't return for about three weeks. Then it was only to spend an hour or so arranging for transportation to Fort Benton. I went to the store of Mr. Lee Chow and found to my surprise that it was closed. I walked to the barbershop and over a hair trimming, learned what had happened during my absence. [00:23:00] Speaker C: Li Chow. [00:23:01] Speaker H: Mr. Yu. Whisper that name around these parts. Say, ain't I seen you before? [00:23:05] Speaker D: Yes, I came in for a shave a few weeks ago. [00:23:07] Speaker H: Never forget a face. [00:23:08] Speaker D: Well, what about Lee Chow? [00:23:10] Speaker H: Oh, he's gone. China, they say. [00:23:12] Speaker D: What happened? [00:23:13] Speaker H: Well, he sold that claim of his. [00:23:15] Speaker D: Oh, well, I'm glad to hear it. [00:23:16] Speaker H: Maybe you are, but there's a parcel of fellows around here who ain't. You know what that son of a gun did? [00:23:22] Speaker D: What? [00:23:22] Speaker H: Salted his mind. Ain't that something. Everybody figured. Lee Chow an honest man and he salts a mind. It shows you how. [00:23:31] Speaker D: I mean, I thought the claim had turned out to be good. What do you call it? A bonanza. [00:23:35] Speaker H: That's what everybody thought. You know what he was doing? Every day he had one of his coolies bringing a sack of dust. Made sure people saw it. After a while, fellows began figuring that Lee really had struck pay dirt. Couple of them went in to see Lee. He showed them a sack of dust. [00:23:50] Speaker D: Yes, well, he showed it to me. [00:23:51] Speaker H: Well, sure he did. And he had one other sack. That's all he had. One he kept in the store. The other he give back to the coolie who bring it in the next day. It ain't nothing to laugh at, mister. You know what he done? [00:24:06] Speaker D: No, I haven't any idea. [00:24:08] Speaker H: Well, he sold that worthless bit of ground for 100,000. Yes, sir, 100,000. Then he skips off to China. Biggest swindle I ever seen in the territory. Fellas who bought it found out the next day. Ain't enough dust in the claim to cover a flea. But it was too late. [00:24:28] Speaker D: I have thought of the outlaw Dick Gillis and the interview I had with him in Virginia City. He had been convicted of holding up a stage and the murder of two men. I only spent five minutes with him, but I learned a great deal. We talked in his cell, the marshal sitting outside at his desk, keeping a watchful eye on us. Gillis was quite proud to be the subject of an English newspaperman's report. Perhaps he colored his life for that reason. His language was, to say the least, unusual. And so are some of his thoughts. [00:25:02] Speaker I: I'm 36. 36 years out of a mother's arms. I never knew she went up Salt river when I was born. Savvy my paw. He were wicked old. So and so. Used to beat the tar out of me. I run away from home when I was 10. [00:25:19] Speaker D: Where did you go? [00:25:20] Speaker I: Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado. I been all over. I seen more than most men see in five lifetimes. Less than I wish I had. [00:25:31] Speaker D: What made you start this being an outlaw? [00:25:36] Speaker I: Man, don't start, mister. Shucks, I was born outlaw. Did my first killing when I was 10. Shot me my pa's horse. That's how come I run away. [00:25:46] Speaker D: Why did you shoot his horse? [00:25:48] Speaker I: I don't know. Because I guess old varmint cared more for horse flesh than he did for his son. I sure hated that critter. If I hadn't killed a horse, I'd have killed the old man. That's for sure. [00:26:02] Speaker D: How many men have you killed? [00:26:05] Speaker I: Fair fight. 2. Don't matter telling it now cause I'm gonna hang anyways. 7. 7 I killed in hate for killing sake. [00:26:16] Speaker D: Do you have a girl? [00:26:19] Speaker I: I got a wife. I ain't seen her for three years now. As a kid too. But I never did go back. I guess as to how they'll manage along, you know. Man like me oughtn't to take up with a wife nor kids. There's something all fired wrong. [00:26:39] Speaker D: Wrong. [00:26:40] Speaker I: A fella like me. I know I dumb bad. I know I'm going to hang. There ain't no one going to sorrow. Kind of wish that weren't so. What do you think? [00:26:53] Speaker D: I know what you mean. [00:26:54] Speaker I: If I had me a.44, I'd shoot my way out of here. I'd head me for the hills and live, you know. Funny how quick a man forgets the smell of grass and sage. I should have been one of them poet fellas. I knew Jack Crawford once. You ever meet up with him? [00:27:16] Speaker D: No. [00:27:19] Speaker I: When you think of hanging. I sure never figured that when I was a kid. Not when you're walking around straight up. You sure don't think of that. I tell you something. I got me a feeling inside. Old, twisted. Looped up. Like it. I'd like to ask you a favor, mister. [00:27:50] Speaker D: What is it? [00:27:52] Speaker I: You write what I'm telling you in that English paper of yours. You say maybe somebody sorrowed when I got my neck broke. Huh? Make it up maybe like my wife or my kid heard and they sorrowed. [00:28:06] Speaker D: I will. [00:28:09] Speaker I: Day comes when a man gets to be alone. Ain't nothing more to look at. Cept what's inside. I sure hadn't oughta kill that horse. You know. [00:28:27] Speaker D: These are some of the things that I have seen, heard during these past three months in the American West. In a few days I will arrive in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory where I shall send another report to the London Times. [00:28:56] Speaker E: Frontier Gentlemen was written, produced and directed by Anthony Ellis and stars John Dana as JB Kendall. Featured in the cast where Virginia Greg, Jack Moyles, Peter Leeds, Vic Paron, Joseph Kerns, Jack Cruchen and Winston Ross. Music was composed and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Join us again next week for another report from the Frontier Gentlemen. John Wall speaking. This is the CBS Radio Network. [00:29:50] Speaker A: That was Random Notes from Frontier Gentlemen here on Secrets of the Mysterious Old Radio Members Only podcast from the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society for our Patreons only once again. I'm Eric. [00:30:06] Speaker G: I'm Tim. [00:30:07] Speaker B: And I'm Joshua. [00:30:09] Speaker A: I'm gonna shock you. I absolutely adored this. This was abs. No, I'm kidding. [00:30:17] Speaker B: You are a jerk. I expect no less from you. Well done, Frontier J. [00:30:24] Speaker A: Jerk. All right. You said you were going to explain yourself. Do it. [00:30:30] Speaker B: Well, yes, as I mentioned in the opening, the Frontier Gentleman enthusiasm gap between you two and me has become something of a running gag in the podcast. And I wanted to take one more try at diminishing that gap. Not closing it, mind you, just making it a little less Evel Knievel friendly. I don't know how to describe a large gap. I'm gonna. [00:30:57] Speaker A: So we're the Snake River Canyon. [00:30:59] Speaker B: Yes. I'm gonna front load this. I'm just gonna be quite honest. That and it's not to make you guys pity me or this episode. I want to be very clear that there's no personal self esteem involved in my enjoyment of a radio show. Could we put some personal self esteem? I mean, if you just wanna stop talking about this and just talk about personal features. Right, Anything. [00:31:22] Speaker A: Life choices. [00:31:23] Speaker B: Yeah, but I mean, this is definitely my favorite episode of Frontier Gentleman. It's one. It's up there for just a piece of old time radio drama. I think it's nearly perfect. But again, I want your real opinions. And if you don't like it, I will think no less of you. I couldn't possibly think less of you, quite frankly. But before you say anything, as much as I admire this production, it obviously contains nothing, period. Save it. Save your small minded parochial opinions for later in the podcast. It does not in any way come close to fitting our genre parameters of the regular podcast. It intentionally has no suspense to it. It's not setting out to do that. So I thought this would be the perfect place to bring this. And this is really what I love about this series. So if everyone hates it, then the case is closed. I'm not gonna bring any more. You can put an end to this tonight, gentlemen. That's it. [00:32:31] Speaker A: First of all, I would never want you to stop bringing them. Seriously. [00:32:35] Speaker B: Even if so much fun to swat you down or. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Or maybe eventually you bring one, I go, wow, actually that was really good. I like that. Don't do that. You gotta keep bringing them. We're never gonna shut that door. Agreed. [00:32:50] Speaker G: I love this episode. [00:32:51] Speaker A: Great. So there you go. [00:32:53] Speaker B: I might shut the door because of that. I'm not gonna risk. If I got one of you on my side, I'm not gonna risk losing you. [00:32:59] Speaker A: I know for a fact that somebody saved their job this week when somebody forgot to write an episode of Frontier Gentlemen, and they quickly slap this together. [00:33:12] Speaker B: All right, Okay, I understand what other things are a cup of tea, but there is nothing quickly slapped together. [00:33:17] Speaker A: What other. What other premises do we have on paper? [00:33:22] Speaker B: I will say this quick to that note in all seriousness. That's what I think is actually brilliant about it, because you get this scenario, this situation in which, as writers, all three of us are writers. [00:33:31] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:31] Speaker B: We have those things that end up on the cutting room floor. Right. These pieces of things you really like. [00:33:36] Speaker A: Yes. [00:33:37] Speaker B: But they don't make it in, or. [00:33:40] Speaker A: They aren't a complete story. [00:33:42] Speaker B: Yeah. And so because Ellis is writing about a writer, he doesn't have to come up with any sort of framework to justify picking up these pieces. He can just say, well, I'm writing about a writer. He has the same problem that I have, and he's gonna send these as short little character pieces to his newspaper. [00:34:02] Speaker G: Okay, here's my thing. When I have pooh poohed Frontier Gentlemen in the past, my reasoning for being frustrated with it runs parallel with something I believe that you enjoy very much about it, which is it starts out as one story telling you one kind of story, and then transforms. For me, that is frustrating. Of, like, if you want to tell that story, tell me that story. Don't start out with this other story that I. Then don't get an ending to that. You enjoy the frustration. [00:34:35] Speaker B: Yes. [00:34:36] Speaker G: You enjoy seeing me struggle. This was a fun little anthology of ideas from the beginning, and it was fun anthology all the way through, and I liked it. That production of Othello is going to stay with me a long time. [00:34:52] Speaker B: It's really good comedy. Right. It has this improvisational quality in both. [00:34:58] Speaker G: Exactly. Like, go on, strap it. [00:35:01] Speaker A: Right. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I. I started to jot down funny lines, but, like. Oh, I'm just going to say them in a way that's not fun. Like, we just heard the piece. Yes. Like, at some point, there's certain things that you go like, that was funny. [00:35:12] Speaker C: That was awesome. [00:35:13] Speaker B: That funny part. Although I do think it has a quality that I don't hear often in radio comedy. As in, it was either directed this way or Ellis allowed them to improvise. They overlap each other. It has this energy that feels like a stage performance. [00:35:32] Speaker G: And it is that. That nice anthology element of, like, the guy teaching him Old west terms that. That wore thin for me pretty quickly. But it's over pretty quickly. I can move on to the next fun bit. [00:35:47] Speaker B: I obviously love that bit. Again, to me, it is that blend of performance and script and Occasionally you just get it just right. And I really love how gross and real the Shorthorns do. Yeah, yeah, just like, because she can barely talk over his false teeth, he's clearing his throat through most of it. And it's just. And some of the, the terminology is just disgusting or hilarious. I'm now calling my wife a cow bunny whether she likes it or not. So I guess, yes, I can see how it could wear thin. But the fact that it was this mix for me of terminology I was familiar with from westerns and enough thrown in that I was like, what? As he rattled off those lists, I was like, check, check. Cow bunny, long haired partner, hardtail. That's weird. But also in the bigger picture, one thing that is neat about it that you guys wouldn't immediately know is that there actually is a full episode with him and the reference there at the end of this sort of lighthearted comic exchange that Tom died and he never found his mind. There's an actual full episode of that and it happened before this. So you do get this little bonus scene of them having fun together after this character has already died. And I think to me in here, there's a lot of that, of that comedy turning bittersweet on a dime that I really appreciate was the scene with. [00:37:22] Speaker A: The condemned prisoner, Barton Yarborough. [00:37:25] Speaker B: I don't know, I didn't see any list of. [00:37:27] Speaker A: I didn't either. But boy, he sounded like him at least slightly and like a toned down version of him a little bit. And so I was just wondering if you guys heard that or not. [00:37:39] Speaker B: I didn't, but I wouldn't be surprised. Yeah, it's hard to tell because that performance is what I like about it is so subdued. [00:37:46] Speaker A: It's very subtle subdued. And it would be very subdued for Barton Yarborough, but I caught little moments of his voice and twang that I thought, oh, is that Barton? Anyway, well, we'll never know. What does it mean? I didn't look it up. I could have looked it up and I wouldn't. But then we wouldn't have had anything to talk about. What does it mean to salt a mine? Anybody? [00:38:08] Speaker B: Well, they actually tell you what that means in the story is that you take some pre existing gold saw in. [00:38:15] Speaker G: A different story, displayed in a different sort of way that they would take like a little bit of gold dust put in their shotgun. [00:38:22] Speaker A: I get it now. The word salt is throwing me off. I thought they were destroying it by actually putting real salt in there somehow. But what they're saying is they're putting. [00:38:31] Speaker G: Gold dust in there. [00:38:31] Speaker A: Like, gold dust. It's like planting evidence, so to speak. [00:38:35] Speaker G: Or it's not literally what they did in this case, but that's the idea. [00:38:38] Speaker A: I get it now. Oh, you just watched me realize what the hell that was. [00:38:41] Speaker B: They have their one little bit of gold that they keep bringing. [00:38:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:38:45] Speaker B: It's another bag. We brought on a different seasoning. [00:38:48] Speaker H: Seasoning, yeah. [00:38:49] Speaker A: Setting. Setting them up. And not. I was like, oh, so, right. You put salt in a mine and that must destroy the gold. Like that. Okay, I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. I got it. [00:39:00] Speaker G: I'm glad you brought it up because the idea of salting a mine is a lovely sort of evocative Old west idea. [00:39:06] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:39:07] Speaker B: And that's one of the things that I love that Ellis does in here, is that he is a history nerd. So he doesn't go for what are the tropey contemporary cliches about Western. He does a little research. [00:39:20] Speaker G: The shootout is this hilarious kind of farce. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Yeah. He tries to find something that's either based in history but is obscure enough that you maybe haven't heard a lot or just be a little more like, real and human about it. Like, people would just shoot each other at the drop of a hat. [00:39:36] Speaker G: And if they ever get around to the episode, that is a baseball game that ended in a shootout. [00:39:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:39:44] Speaker E: I'm in. [00:39:44] Speaker H: I want that. [00:39:48] Speaker B: But back to the salting scene. That is this great period in Old Time Radio where you're getting some of these writers who are trying to push the boundary and change some of these stereotypes where, yes, obviously Lee Chow is played by a white guy. But from a script point of view, a, we're told that he is educated and honest and this and a good friend of Kendall's. The accent is an attempt to be accurate. Accurate without. It's not a caricature. It's not demeaning in any way, at least certainly by. In comparison to accents you would hear earlier in Old Time Radio or maybe even at the same time, because I think Amos and Andy was still on the front. Right. I love that scene. And what I like about it is there's no righteous speechifying in it. [00:40:41] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:40:42] Speaker B: All you know is at the end is his just, like, deep, joyful belly laugh at Lee Chow screwing these guys. [00:40:51] Speaker A: Right. [00:40:51] Speaker B: Like that is this. Like, I listen to this and I like, oh, that's a funny scene. Or that's clever. That was the scene that made me kind of sit up and go, oh, okay, he's Softening us up with light humor. Then we get a little bit of this, like, really deftly handled commentary about how these guys identified Lee Chow as a target. And then he turned the tables. And then we get to that just bleak interview with the outlaw who's about to be hanged. [00:41:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:41:20] Speaker B: And so we go from the comic to the really. I mean, bittersweet is pushing it. There's no sweet, really. It's all bitterness there at the end. [00:41:29] Speaker A: For killing a horse. [00:41:31] Speaker B: Well, that wasn't the only thing he did. [00:41:32] Speaker A: No. [00:41:33] Speaker B: This is where it started. [00:41:34] Speaker G: They. This episode also, clearly, Anthony Ellis went out of his way to appeal to me personally as being from the western part of South Dakota. [00:41:43] Speaker A: The submarine by the Black Hills. [00:41:45] Speaker G: Yeah. The submarine scene was fantastic. [00:41:49] Speaker B: Why'd you salt that submarine? It's golden submarine. [00:41:55] Speaker A: Being from South Dakota. [00:41:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:57] Speaker G: So I found a little call out of, like, the Black Hills. [00:42:00] Speaker D: Yes. [00:42:00] Speaker G: We're heading down. Yes. And Montana is less fun. [00:42:06] Speaker A: Sorry, Montanans, but there is the most beautiful drive in the world. Billings to Bozeman is one of the most beautiful drives you'll ever make in your life. [00:42:17] Speaker G: The i90 across South Dakota, one of the dullest, bleakest drives. [00:42:21] Speaker E: Yes. [00:42:21] Speaker A: Yes, it is. [00:42:24] Speaker B: Eric. Yes, I do think there are always listeners who agree with you. Just because Tim and I, in this moment, in this uncomfortable room in which he and I are, oh, so briefly in unity, doesn't mean that I don't want to give you room to say why it may not have worked for you. [00:42:43] Speaker A: It's pretty simple. I don't think any of the stories that were told were stupid, badly acted. Right. I don't think there was production problems. I don't think there's acting problems. I don't think any of those stories, as you mentioned, the snippets and the parts we heard of those stories are actually all pretty interesting. What do you mean a baseball game broke? You know, what do you mean, he salted this mind? What do you mean, you know, this guy. Please write something nice about me before I die. All of these things are really great snippets, right? It's when you tune in to anything to hear a story, you want to hear a story and not parts of stories. I think it's more that it's frustrating for me to not step back and appreciate the snippets of the stories where I'm like, oh, that's okay. Not that one either. Okay. Oh, that's on. Okay. [00:43:41] Speaker B: Do you not feel like they felt complete in and of themselves, or was it that it didn't have a through line as a whole. [00:43:47] Speaker A: There's no through line as a whole. There's no beginning, middle, end. It's too many. Some of them did have beginning, middles, and ends to them. Some of them did not. Look, I agree with everything you guys said. I do. I agree with everything and why you like it and everything. I can't get past the feeling that something lazy happened. And that's. That's what. [00:44:10] Speaker B: You're jealous. Why can't I write this? [00:44:18] Speaker A: It's a flashback episode. [00:44:22] Speaker G: Yeah, yeah. [00:44:22] Speaker A: It's a sitcom flash clip show that's got that feel to it. Feels clip. [00:44:28] Speaker B: Showy, but it. It tells you right from the top with random notes. [00:44:32] Speaker A: So do clip shows. [00:44:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:34] Speaker G: No, a very special. [00:44:36] Speaker B: That's fair. Here's the unity I see in it. And I think everything you said is very legitimate. And that's a taste thing. Like, hey, tell me a story. It's what the hard part about a story is, is how it builds and giving us a finale that has impact. Right. [00:44:51] Speaker A: Imagine if we had heard the whole story of the guy that was going to be hanged. In other words, from a writer point of view, how much connection we would have to him, how much investment we would have, how much more we would care about him. Ed, we had 30 minutes of that story instead of four. [00:45:07] Speaker B: It has such impact at five minutes. [00:45:10] Speaker A: It does. I agree with you. [00:45:11] Speaker B: Also, the deft little bit that he puts in the top, he said, I only had five minutes with him, and I've listened to this like, four or five times. But the most recent time I listened to it, I went. I looked at the timer, like, oh, this is pretty much exactly five minutes long. So it's almost built into it. And part of the sadness of this is that this guy has five minutes exactly what you're saying. He doesn't have 30 minutes to tell a story. He has to get us to feel for him. And it's his. His last time to talk to anyone and he has five minutes. [00:45:44] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:44] Speaker B: So that I would say, listen to it again sometime. Screw you, scrimshaw. [00:45:51] Speaker A: What? [00:45:51] Speaker B: No, but it's subtler than. Than you think. He addresses some of those issues. And then also there's just stump sucking jokes. [00:45:58] Speaker D: Right. [00:45:59] Speaker B: It's also not as subtle as you. [00:46:00] Speaker G: And also part of why I did enjoy this so much more is because it didn't have things that I didn't enjoy in the other ones. Like, I like this character so much more in this episode than I did in previous episodes that I think that for me, that Is the, the through line of this, of getting to learn how this guy sees this world, getting an idea of his perspective. And that's, that's the point of it. [00:46:23] Speaker A: I think it's a great beginning to a movie. Like we got to know. All right. Like it's a setup to. As you said, if we watch that, we. Oh, I know what this Frontier Gentleman's all about. I get his life. I get it. Now, on with the story. [00:46:38] Speaker G: When you see him go to a new situation, you have a very complex idea of what his outlook is. [00:46:44] Speaker B: Well, I may be misremembering some of your critiques because there were so many. [00:46:50] Speaker C: And another thing. [00:46:52] Speaker B: But I hear what you're saying in that. Part of. What I like about Frontier Gentleman is he is a reporter. So while he does get involved in some ways, in other ways, he's just there as an observer. And this emphasizes his status as a journalist. And I think if you're. I can see how some people would balk at the idea. This is 30 minutes. He's our protagonist and he hasn't really. [00:47:17] Speaker G: Yeah, he doesn't participate much. [00:47:19] Speaker B: There are episodes in which he does, but this is just a taste thing. And maybe I'm bringing the wrong episodes. If you guys listen to it, you'd be like, oh, there's all these episodes that are great that you just left behind. And I'm like, like the one where. [00:47:31] Speaker A: He fights the Loch Ness monster, Is that one of them? [00:47:34] Speaker G: Is the baseball game with an end to end type? Is that one of them? Could you, could you mock one of those up? [00:47:40] Speaker B: Yeah, just gunshots and baseball bats. But here I think the fact that he is on the sidelines is what is powerful about it. I mean, even like the Lee Chao thing is great because he hears that Lee Chao has been ripped off and tries to intervene. Well, he doesn't even really intervene. He feels like he's my friend, I should say something. And it seems like, oh, maybe I got bad information. So what we do is we skip over. I think what the temptation would be in a 30 minute episode is to give us that white savior thing, right? Like he somehow Li Qiao completely on his own and that's why he laughs so hard. He just admires he's his friend. And so that effect of him being outside the story in that one is more powerful. The fact that he is outside the story of the Outlaw as an interviewer is more powerful. There's also that bit where the outlaw just asks, will you just do this one thing for me? Will you Write that somebody sorrowed for me, and I don't know why that's so powerful, like turning sorrow from a noun to a verb. But for some reason, that really affected me. But if we are to believe that these dramatizations are what he presents as his piece for the paper, he just reports what he said. Right. He says he'll do it to him, but he presents it as it was presented to him. So on the one hand, you're like, yay, journalistic integrity. I missed that. But on the other hand, you're like, really? You couldn't do that for this outlaw? [00:49:18] Speaker G: I suppose this episode stands or falls on its success as character studies, which I. Character after character, I was just fascinated into it. But if it doesn't successfully pull you in as a. Each new character you find is something compelling that you want to find out more about, then it's just a parade of names and. And quick little plot points that come and go. [00:49:43] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't think Eric's meh response to it is crazy. I really don't for once. [00:49:53] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:49:54] Speaker B: But I'm at least a little relieved that Tim enjoyed it. Tim has become the black box to me on this podcast. For a couple years, I thought I really understood Tim, and then there'll be a couple years doing this podcast where I'm like, he's a mystery to me. Oh, I got him. I figured him out. Nope. [00:50:12] Speaker G: You know, before every episode, I just have, like, some dice and just roll. [00:50:15] Speaker A: Right. Do I like Magic 8? [00:50:17] Speaker B: I actually think there are different people in Tim disguises who show up. [00:50:23] Speaker G: I'd like the Prestige. [00:50:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:26] Speaker A: That's so many Cthulhu sweaters. I just want to. Just want to point out, I completely understand sincerely why you like it. Like, I'm not lost. Like, why would you like that? I get it. I thought it was powerful and moving in a lot of areas, and I get why you like it not. My cup of tea is I would attack it harder if I was like, what are you guys stupid? This is terrible like this. But for me, it just. [00:50:56] Speaker G: Right. [00:50:57] Speaker A: Like, I never got. [00:50:58] Speaker G: Did what it wanted to do. Well, I just didn't. Didn't go from correct. [00:51:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:02] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:51:02] Speaker G: Yeah. Yeah. [00:51:03] Speaker B: Goody for you, Frontier gentlemen. It.