June 5, 2025 • 38 mins
In this bonus episode of Audio Maverick, we feature The Life of Himan Brown, a video tribute created by some of Brown’s CBS Radio Mystery Theater actors: Patricia Elliott, Paul Hecht, Russell Horton, Bob Kaliban, Roberta Maxwell, Tony Roberts, and Jada Rowland. The work was written by Jerome Coopersmith, who authored a number of the plays featured on the CBS series; directed by Paul Hecht, and produced by Brown’s granddaughter Melina Brown and CUNY TV’s then-Executive Director Robert Isaacson.
Credits:
- Executive Producers: Melina Brown, Sarah Montague
- Executive Director, CUNY TV: Chiqui Cartagena
- Director of Production, CUNY TV: Susan Iger
- Producer/Director: Sarah Montague
- Narrator: Margot Avery
- Concept and Script: Sarah Montague
- Associate Producer: Corinne Wallace
- Audio Production intern: Lucia Funaro
- Audio Engineer, CUNY TV: Lisa Gosselin
- Senior Audio Engineer, CUNY TV: Richard Kim
- Mixing: Lisa Gosselin
- Sound design and final mixing: John DeLore and Bart Warshaw
- Staff photographer, CUNY TV: Laura Fuchs
- Script editor: Allison Behringer
- - Composer: Allison Leyton-Brown
- Archivists, CUNY TV: David Rice, Catriona Schlosser
-Closed Caption Coordinator: Amy Monte
- Branding and Graphic Design: Shae McMullin
- Publicity & Marketing: Multitude
Excerpts from the Himan Brown Oral History courtesy of Directors Guild of America, Inc. www.dga.org. All rights reserved.
- Audio Maverick was produced at THE HIMAN BROWN TV AND RADIO STUDIOS at CUNY TV, and made possible by the Radio Drama Network
About Us
The history of radio crackles to life with Audio Maverick, a 9-part documentary about one of the most visionary figures in radio, Himan Brown. Explore the Golden Age of radio through Brown's life, as we travel from the birth of audio drama to the programs that brought millions of families into their living rooms every night.
CUNY TV and the Himan Brown Archive assemble the story of how radio became an entertainment medium through archival audio of some of the most famous audio dramas, contemporary interviews with media scholars, and discussions with a new generation of audio mavericks that he inspired. New episodes monthly.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
>> We are ending our"Audio Maverick" series
with a bonus episode.
When Himan Brown died in 2010,
his granddaughter Melina Brownand his professional family,
some of the actors from "CBSRadio Mystery Theater,"
decided to createa video tribute,
which was directedby Robert Isaacson.
(00:20):
The result was a collectiveretelling of Brown's life,
with Broadway legendTony Roberts voicing Brown.
What emerged is affectionate,funny, irreverent
and imbued with the spiritof a man who lived for
and through his workand his actors.
This program was producedin loving memory
(00:40):
of Robert Isaacson.
♪♪
♪♪
>> [ Speaking Yiddish ]
(01:03):
One language is never enough.
>> The man who became a giantin American communications
began his life with Yiddish.
It was the only language spokenat home when he was a child.
>> One language is never enough.
>> When we planned this tribute,
we wondered what Hiwould want us to say.
(01:25):
We think if we asked himfor his advice, he would say...
>> Can't you speed thingsup a little?
It's okay to get a laugh oncein a while.
>> We'll try our best, Hi.
I know it won't be easy withouthearing the telephone ring
and that bellowing voicesaying...
>> I hope you'refree December 10th.
There are people coming over
(01:45):
and I want you to tell themabout my life and my work.
>> He would need our helpfor that.
He was so modest,so withdrawn, so retiring.
>> That's the manwe're going to honor next month.
Tonight it's Hi Brown.
Possibly the least shy personwho ever lived.
>> His family was poor.
(02:05):
They lived in Brownsville,Brooklyn.
His father was a Schneider,a tailor.
His mother made skirtsand blouses.
They were both from Odessa,Russia.
They metand got married here in the U.S.
and Hi was born in 1910.
>> We'll ask you to imaginethat you are with Hi
(02:26):
at various stages in his life.
He'd want you to imagine that.
Imagination washis stock in trade.
>> The stock in trade of radio,the best visual medium we have.
>> Why visual, Hi?
>> Because radio hasthe best pictures.
>> His career didn't startin radio.
(02:48):
>> There was no radiowhen I was young.
>> He wanted to be an actor morethan anything else in the world.
He went to a man he thoughtcould help make it happen.
>> Anyone left whohasn't auditioned?
>> That voice belonged tothe person
in charge of the drama clubat the Brooklyn Jewish Center,
a man named Moss Hart.
(03:09):
Hi heard they were holdingauditions for revues
they performed.
>> I was 12.
>> He also heard that theydidn't want kids in the company.
>> I haven't auditioned yet.
>> How old are you, kid?
>> 16.>> Hey, you don't look it.
>> Well,my whole family is short.
>> So, uh, what do you do?
(03:31):
>> Imitations.Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor.
>> Mm-hmm. Let's --Let's see Fanny.
>> Oh ha ha, look at me.
I'm an Indian.
Oh ho ho! Look on me.
>> Ahh. [ Clears throat ]That's not bad.
Can you come to rehearsalsevery day?
>> Twice a day, if you want me.
(03:52):
>> Okay, kid. You're in.
>> That's how it all began,
with Moss Hart atthe Jewish Center in Brooklyn,
Hi Brown in drag,doing Fanny Brice.
Later they played theCatskill Mountains doing revues
for Borscht Circuit hotels.
>> Yeah, I got about $10 a showwhen I got paid.
>> Around this time,
(04:13):
an invention called radiobegan to appear.
Some people made their ownby wrapping copper wire
around a milk canand adding a set of earphones.
>> It was amazing.
Sometimes you couldactually hear something.
Entertainment coming throughthe air.
It seemed to say,"This is where I belong."
(04:36):
>> His mother supportedhis yearning for showbiz
by giving himan appropriate gift.
>> A violin?
What am I supposedto do with this?
>> You'll playMendelssohn concertos.
That's what you'll do.
>> I don't knowany Mendelssohn concertos.
>> You'll study, you'll learn,you'll know.
>> He studied, he learned.
(04:57):
But what he played wasnot what Mama had in mind.
[ Lively jazz music playing ]
>> The first thing he didwhen he got to Brooklyn College
was organize a jazz band, whichplayed for graduation parties.
>> It helped me makea few bucks.
>> But playing jazzwas not his final goal.
Here was this magic contraptioncalled radio,
and he wanted more than anythingelse to be an actor on it.
(05:21):
He scouted the existingradio stations in New York.
Most of them were housed inhotels with control rooms rigged
up in the bathrooms.
There was no money being made,
but it was consideredgood business for the hotel.
>> Uh, excuse me, is this WRNY?
(05:41):
>> Yeah.You bring the sandwiches?
>> Sandwiches?
>> We order two roast beef,one bagel with a schmear.
>> I'm not from the restaurant.
>> So, uh, what do you want?
>> I'm an actor. I want to act.
>> You want to act?
Like we hirekids who come in off the street?
Get lost.
>> I have experience in radio.
>> Experience?
(06:03):
Where? What?
>> Uh, I, uh,I worked in Chicago.
I did a radio show called,uh, "Hi Brow's Readings."
>> That name he gavewasn't far from the truth.
Hi Brow was justa small change from Hi Brown.
>> Uh, what kind of readings?
(06:23):
>> Poems. Uh, stories.Good ones.
>> Let me hear one.
>> [ Clears throat ]
I think that I shall neversee a poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouthis pressed against the earth's
sweet flowing breast.
>> Ehh, ehh,can you keep it clean?
(06:46):
>> Sure.
>> Now, we don't pay anything.
>> That's okay.
I'm just doing itfor the publicity.
>> [ Laughs ] Sure.
Millions of peopleare going to hear you
with our transmitterin the toilet.
Okay, okay.
You go to work next week and,uh,
change that breast line,will ya?
>> What did the managerhave to lose?
(07:07):
It wouldn't cost him anything.
And there were doubtsthat anyone was listening.
>> Hi did his readings
and soon found outthat there was something
being organizedcalled a network,
a collection of radio stations.
And if you pass their auditions,
they might actually put youon the air.
And pay you.
(07:28):
>> He auditionedfor the woman in charge of NBC,
a woman named Margaret Cuthbert.
She was a dignified lady
who was a sticklerfor the quality of voices.
>> What did you bring to read,young man?
>> Uh, some scenes by Elmer Riceand Sherwood Anderson,
the famous playwright.
(07:49):
>> Yes. So I've heard.>> And I do dialects.
English, German, Italian,whatever you want.
>> Go ahead.
>> My first scene will be --
>> We'll start with the dialect.
>> Top of the day, old chap.
Would you prefer fish and chipsor shepherd's pie?
(08:10):
Hey, here's another one.
Listen how I eat a spaghetti.
Well, am I singinga Caruso song?
>> [ Clears throat ] Thank you.
Next, please.>> Uh, Miss Cuthbert?
>> Yes.>> One more please.
>> Just one more.Then you'll have to leave.
(08:30):
We're very busy.
>> It was a dialect story called"Nize Baby" by Milt Gross,
a cartoonistfor the "New York World."
It was about a Jewish motherfeeding her baby
while speaking witha Yiddish accent,
which Hi could do to perfection.
He had been reluctant to try it
in the high-class surroundingsof NBC.
(08:53):
>> As he read, Miss Cuthbert'sface started beaming,
and then she began to laugh.
She loved itand Hi had a network job,
a regular programon Saturday morning,
reading fairy tales to childrenwith a Yiddish accent.
(09:13):
>> One day,the studio telephone rang.
It was a call for Hi froma woman bubbling with praise.
>> Mr. Brown. I'm Gertrude Berg.
I just heard your program,the one with the Jewish dialect.
It was wonderful.Warm, believable.
Not at all...offensive.
I've written a scriptabout a Jewish family.
(09:36):
I think you'll be perfectas my husband, Jake.
I also think we could sell itwith the one
you're doing now as a showcase.
We'd be partners.
>> They had a meeting,
and Gertrude Berg was surprisedby Hi's youthfulness.
>> Ah.Have you been bar mitzvahed yet?
(09:56):
>> Oh, several years ago.
I go to Brooklyn College,Miss Berg.
>> Well, it's radio, so itdoesn't matter how old you look.
Here, read my script.
>> The script wasn't bad,
and Hi could seehimself playing the husband.
So he drew up a letter ofagreement setting out the terms
of partnership between them.
(10:17):
>> He was a law school student,a good one
when he wasn't playing jazz.
He knew how to writean agreement or thought he did.
"The Rise of The Goldbergs"went on the air.
>> We present the most lovable,genuine family on the air,
the Goldbergs,
brought to you dailyexcept Saturdays and Sundays.
This time, this station.
(10:46):
>> Unfortunately, Hi's agreementdid not protect his job.
When eventually he was firedfrom "The Goldbergs,"
he found it wasbecause he was a minor
and his contract was worthless.
It was a bitter lesson,but there was a positive side.
>> If I could sell one thing,I could sell another.
(11:09):
That was the beginningof my career as a packager.
Good word.
I invented it, and I would keepit for the rest of my life.
>> Another series came along.
A series calledthe "Bronx Marriage Bureau,"
created by a woman namedJulie Burns.
Hi sold itdirectly to a sponsor,
(11:30):
the Goodman Noodle andSpaghetti Company.
They also made matzo,
and they needed advertisingfor the Passover season.
>> Goodman knew how to makenoodles and spaghetti and matzo,
but not radio shows.
I found myself in chargeof everything -- directing,
casting, script supervision,and sometimes a little acting.
(11:56):
>> With the nameof the sponsor attached,
the Goodman Noodleand Spaghetti Theater
was a trailblazer for showslike Philco Playhouse
and Lux Radio Theater.
>> But when Passover was over,it was canceled.
>> By now, Hi hadimpressive radio credits,
which enabled him to produceand sell other series.
(12:18):
For example, there wasone called "Little Italy,"
a kind of "Goldbergs"with Italian accents.
>> There was "Captain Tom'sLog," a seaman's adventures,
with flounders playingsupporting roles.
Now, flounders may live a longtime, but Captain Tom did not.
>> And there was"Peggy's Doctor,"
the adventuresof a doctor's wife.
(12:39):
Sounds risqué, but it wasn't.
And then there was"John's Other Wife,"
who was a businessman'ssecretary
and might have been Peggyfor all we know.
>> Hi produced a seriescalled "David Harum,"
based on a turn-of-the-centurynovel.
David was a country horse traderand cracker-barrel philosopher,
played by Will Rogersin the movies.
(13:02):
>> And let's not forget "MarieThe Little French Princess"
on at 2:15 in the afternoon5 times a week.
As far as we know, it wasthe first daytime serial ever.
They weren't calledsoap operas yet.
>> It was not untilColgate and Procter and Gamble
came into the picture.
(13:22):
They realized that housewiveswere the audience they needed.
>> Women loved "Marie."
It was the story of a princesswho ran away to America,
but found that the only wayshe could get in
was to marry an American.
>> So that's what she did,
keeping her identity secret.
He cast the show withwonderful actors -- Porter Hall,
(13:43):
Agnes Moorehead, Allyn Joslyn.
>> Sooner or later,
everybody in town caught onthat Marie was a princess.
Everybody except her husband.
>> That idiot never found out.
>> Hi's dealing withcartoonist Milt Gross
put another idea in his head.
Why not a radio seriesbased on a cartoon strip?
(14:03):
He studied the popular cartoonsof the day,
including "Flash Gordon"and "Dick Tracy."
>> I wondered whether thosestories created for children
would work fora general audience.
I would soon find out.
>> And now Dick Tracy.
(14:29):
Dick Tracy on the caseof the empty safe.
>> Hi succeeded in gettingthe rights to "Dick Tracy"
from the "Chicago TribuneDaily News" syndicate
in Chicago.
He got them with one condition.
He could use the charactersin the "Dick Tracy" strip
but not the stories.
Those he would haveto come up with himself.
(14:49):
>> I had to look for a writer.
I remembered a fellow studentat Brooklyn College
who dreamed of becominga playwright.
But could he write a radioversion of a cartoon strip?
>> I made him an offer,and the fellow accepted.
It was Irwin Shaw,
the prize-winningplaywright-to-be,
who wrote "Dick Tracy"for the next two years.
(15:12):
>> Another action seriesdeveloped by Hi
for radio was"Terry and the Pirates,"
an adventure createdby Milton Caniff
that unfolded in the Far East.
>> I had to make sure
that the audience feltthe excitement and peril
of every momentof their listening time,
as well as the deliciousflavor of the sponsor's product.
(15:34):
They were listening, too.
>> Quaker Puffed Wheatis shot from guns.
Now Quaker Puffed Wheat
and Quaker Puffed Ricebring you...
"Terry and the Pirates."
The new and exciting adventureof Terry Lee.
"The Dragon Lady Strikes Back.
(15:55):
>> Unlike Orphan Annie,Terry, a child
when the adventures began,
was allowed to grow up
and trade life-threatening moves
with the heavilymascaraed Dragon Lady,
a gorgeous pirate queen.
>> A less violent cartoon seriesdeveloped by Hi was "The Gumps."
That popular strip becamea program of vignettes
(16:17):
of an average American family,
and once again, Irwin Shaw wasrecruited to write the scripts.
>> And once again, Hi had a rolefor the brilliant young actress
he admired so much,
the one he cast as, uh,Marie the princess.
Agnes Mooreheadbecame the perfect Minnie Gump.
>> There was one seriesI will never forget.
(16:37):
"Flash Gordon," the hero of Godknows what century.
[ Gunfire ]
♪♪
>> Presentingfor the first time in radio,
the amazinginterplanetary adventures
of Flash Gordon and Dale Arden.
(16:58):
♪♪
These thrilling adventures cometo you
as they are pictured eachSunday in the "Comic Weekly,"
the world'sgreatest pictorial supplement
of humor and adventure.
>> I will never forget"Flash Gordon"
because it was oneof my biggest flops.
We blew up the Earthtwice a week and nobody cared.
(17:21):
>> Yet, strangely,
when Orson Welleshad the Martians invade,
there was an outpouringof people with shotguns
and pitchforks,
their fears no doubt inflamedby the fact
that the world was actuallyon the brink of war.
>> I learned that timing issometimes the key to success.
>> Hi learned many other things
(17:42):
as he pioneered radio drama --
the value of sound effectsin creating a mood or location.
Take Bulldog Drummond,
the hard-boiled enemy of crimein Britain.
How do you re-create Londonin a New York studio
next door to a kosher deli?
>> You ask yourself,"What is London?"
(18:04):
Big Ben chiming,footsteps echoing in the dark,
a round of shots from aWebley pistol number III,
and, of course,the accent of Ronald Colman.
Presto, London.
[ Foghorn blows ]
[ Gunshots ]
[ Whistle blowing ]
(18:24):
♪♪
>> Out of the fog,out of the night
and intohis American adventures
comes Bulldog Drummond.
And now to tell usof his latest adventure,
here is Bulldog Drummond.
>> Ah, but the best exampleof sound-effects magic
(18:45):
continues to be the opening Hicreated for another crime show,
one steeped in mysteryand horror.
[ Door creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
>> Good evening,friends of "The Creaking Door."
(19:07):
This is your host
to welcome you againinto the inner sanctum.
Come in, come on in.
No, no,please don't stand on ceremony.
We're all informal here.No ties, no collars.
In some cases, no heads.
[ Laughing ]
>> Did you like the wayI did that, Mr. Brown?
>> It was perfect.Gave me goose pimples.
(19:28):
That's how we'll openand close the show.
10 minutes' break for everyone.
>> Uh, Mr. Brown?>> Yes?
>> Where does my credit go?
The beginningor the end of the show?
>> Oh, I meant to talk to youabout that.
I can't give you credit.>> No credit?
>> Afraid not.
(19:48):
>> I'm an actor, Mr. Brown.I need the credit.
>> I understand that,but let me explain.
Your voice is magic,a feeling of mystery,
a spirit without a body.
If I give it a name,the magic is gone.
>> There was a dispute.Johnson wanted the job.
Hi Brown wanted Johnson.
A compromise was reached.
(20:09):
The actor would get a credit,but not his entire name.
Only his first name -- Raymond.
>> To this day,the voice of Raymond,
just Raymond,conjures up a spirit
that we believe might exist ina cave or in the inner sanctum.
>> Three years later,
(20:30):
Raymond Johnsonwent into the Army.
He was replacedby the actor Paul McGrath,
but the character's nameremained Raymond,
just Raymond.
The effect was never lost.
>> There was one pieceof information
Hi loved to bring up whendiscussing the history of radio.
>> The Copyright Officein Washington
(20:51):
has only two sound effectsin its files,
both protected by copyright law.
The NBC chimes
and the creaking doorof the inner sanctum.
[ Door creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
(21:16):
>> Another trademark createdby Hi
was the soundof Grand Central Station.
>> I called it the "Crossroadsof a Million Private Lives."
>> The show was an enormous hit.
But when he checked outthe actual sound of the station,
it was a bore.
Just a lot of peoplemilling around.
No trains coming in with a roar,no whistles,
(21:37):
no steam, no grindingand squealing of brakes.
>> Hmm.I'll put those sounds in anyway.
Who cares if peoplecomplain about inaccuracy?
I'm giving them the GrandCentral Station
of their imaginationsand of my own.
>> Grand Central Station.
[ Train whistle blowing ]
(22:03):
>> All aboard for betterbaking.
You're on the right trackwith Pillsbury.
Greatest name in flour.
[ Train whistle blowing ]
>> Radio grewand Hi grew with it.
>> At one point, I was directingfour or five shows a day --
(22:25):
"Marie the Princess,""John's Other Wife,"
"David Harum,"
"Dick Tracy,""Terry and the Pirates."
And sometimes others.All of it live.
>> When askedhow he could handle all that...
>> Well, you can't believehow busy I was.
I was juggling ballsand standing on my head.
>> In 1933,
(22:46):
the country was standingon its head
in the midstof a great depression.
But it was a happy yearin the life of Hi Brown.
>> I married this beautiful,wonderful girl from the Bronx,
whom I fell in love with at oneof my summer outings
where I was doing myBorscht Circuit stint.
>> Her name was Mildred.
(23:07):
On the day of their marriage,
President Roosevelt madea generous gesture.
>> He closed all the banksin America.
>> Nonetheless, Hi and Mildred
had a long and successfulmarriage -- 34 years.
They had two children,
a boy named Barryand a girl named Hilda.
Hi loved his childrenand later his grandchildren
(23:27):
and great grandchildren.
He was deeply involvedin all their lives.
>> Those children were blessedwith artistic talent
and still are -- writing,movie making, painting, music.
Hi would show their artworkto friends
alongside his collectionof Picasso and Modigliani.
Mildred, the mother andgrandmother
(23:49):
of that talented brood,
could not go on enjoyingtheir talent and charm.
She died too young.
>> In time, Hi married again toa woman named Shirley Goodman,
who was the executivevice president
of the Fashion Instituteof Technology.
A remarkable woman.
The college today hasa building named after her,
just a few blocks from the placewhere Hi had his office.
(24:12):
>> In 1938, Hi needed an actor
for a series called"Way Down East."
It was a love story,like the others he'd done,
but this one hada different twist.
It was set on a farm,
and the important thingwas getting
the country accents right.
After many auditions,Hi came up with nothing,
(24:34):
and the season's opening datewas breathing down his neck.
>> Any more actors out there?
>> Bottom of the barrel,Mr. Brown.
There's one left.
He came in lateand lost his script.
>> Sounds like a winner.
Send him inand get me an aspirin.
Make it a bottle.
>> You can go in now.
(24:55):
>> Mr. Brown, I'm sorry,I just...
>> Yeah, yeah, I know.You lost your script.
Not a wise thing to do.Here. Read this.
>> Well, how would you liketo have me read it?
>> Oh, never mind how.Just read it.
>> I better mend that fence,Rebecca.
The cows seemmighty restless in the pasture.
(25:16):
First thing you know,they'll be hoofing away.
Of course, if you gotsomething else in mind...
>> Stop! Stop!>> What?
>> Where'd you get that accent?
>> It comes natural to me, sir.
That's how folks in Walters,Oklahoma, talk.
>> What's your name?
>> Van Heflin.
>> The series "Way Down East,"
(25:36):
starring Van Heflin andAgnes Moorehead, was successful.
>> I didn't need the aspirin.
>> Another series he produced
and directedwas "Joyce Jordan, Girl Intern."
The show was consideredrevolutionary
because it featureda female doctor.
That was all to the good for Hi,
but the program neededanother boost.
(25:57):
A refreshing list of diseases.
>> In those days, psychiatrywas becoming important.
Hi welcomed Freud'swritings as a treasure chest
of story material going backto the ancient Greeks.
>> Sibling rivalries, conflictsof parents and children,
Oedipal complexes.
(26:18):
>> He created a doctorwith a foreign accent,
a stand-in for Freud, who wouldbe the head of the hospital
and whose cases would revolvearound Joyce Jordan.
♪♪
>> Now Dreft presents"Joyce Jordan, M.D."
>> But, Jordan,there's nothing I can do.
If Iris Blakely wants to takeDawson home,
(26:39):
there'snot one single thing I can do.
>> You can put your foot downand refuse permission.
>> Now, don't be childish.You know perfectly well
that I could get myselfand the hospital
in a peck of troubleif I did that.
>> This is NBC, theNational Broadcasting Company.
[ NBC chimes ]
>> The audience loved"Joyce Jordan" for 18 years.
(27:03):
>> Besides delving into Freud,
Hi was an avid reader of classicliterature such as Shakespeare,
de Maupassant, Oscar Wilde,Henry James.
In the 1930s,
F. Scott Fitzgerald andEugene O'Neill
were rising literary stars,and he read them, too.
>> Mr. Brown,have any of your programs
(27:23):
been inspired by the authorsyou've read?
>> No question about it.
Hundreds of my shows are basedon classics of all time.
The stories of Poe,Ambrose Bierce, Hawthorne,
Joseph Conrad, Jack London,
all their ideas get into yourbrain and into your bloodstream.
You use them.
(27:44):
♪♪
>> Into the bloodstreamof America came the fire
and grotesque,twisted steel of a U.S. city
named Pearl Harbor.
That date is forever preserved,
in the words of PresidentFranklin Roosevelt.
>> Yesterday,December 7, 1941 --
(28:12):
a date which will livein infamy --
the United States of Americawas suddenly
and deliberatelyattacked by naval
and air forcesof the Empire of Japan.
>> Hi was too old for the draft,
but he served the countryin other ways,
(28:32):
producing shows for the saleof war bonds,
giving listenersvaluable information
on the wartime measuresthey should follow,
conserving fuel,planting victory gardens,
contributing scrap rubberand metal to the war effort.
>> He served on the WritersWar Board in Washington,
an agency designed to promotepublic attitudes about the war.
(28:53):
You might call it ourown propaganda machine.
Others on the boardincluded Rex Stout,
the author of theNero Wolfe novels,
which eventually Hi turnedinto a radio series.
He received awardsfor his wartime work,
and all his lifehe treasured them.
He loved America.
>> He treasured his friendshipwith actors, too.
Many stars hadtheir beginnings in radio drama,
(29:16):
working with Hi --
such starsas Richard Widmark,
Mercedes McCambridge,Dorothy McGuire, Paul Stewart,
Martin Gabel, Arlene Francis,Phyllis Newman and others.
They were at his microphones,
as we were and are now.
And he could call on themin later years,
when they were alreadyat the top of their craft.
(29:38):
>> In the 1950s, TV,what we call television,
raised its flickering head.
It was a blow for radio, not atfirst because few people had TV.
They said it would only befor the rich.
>> We all know what happenedto that theory.
>> [ Laughs sarcastically ]When Hi was told
that millions would soonwant to see as well as hear,
(30:00):
he countered with the show"Don Juan in Hell"
by George Bernard Shaw.
>> It was a hit on Broadway
starring great actors --Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton,
Sir Cedric Hardwicke andHi's old friend Agnes Moorehead.
>> They acted their lineswhile sitting on stools.
No elaborate sets, no costumes,just formal clothes.
(30:22):
>> Hi told the advertisingmoguls
that he could do showsthe same way,
shows that people could watch
or listen towithout missing a beat.
>> I knew from experience
that people lovedto watch radio shows,
and those shows were cheaperto produce than trying
to re-create ancient Romeor the Battle of the Bulge.
(30:44):
>> The advertisers weren'timpressed.
"TV," they said, "was tomorrow
and radio would soon beyesterday."
They urged Hi to tryhis hand at making films.
He did, but his heart wasstill in radio drama,
as was evident to Sam Diggs,the president of CBS.
(31:05):
>> I'm sure of it, Sam.It could be a major hit.
>> But is it in color?
I can't get approval for blackand white these days.
>> It has colorthat doesn't quit.
Brilliant colorin the listener's mind.
>> A radio series?Oh, Hi. Come on.
>> Called the "CBS RadioMystery Theater."
(31:25):
Great mysteries,great detectives, great drama.
And the audience's eyes don'thave to be glued to a screen.
They can get their thrillswhile cooking dinner,
fixing a car,doing their homework.
>> But when they look up fromthe pot roast,
what do they see?
>> I'm giving themsomething else, Sam.
(31:45):
Something just as important.Maybe more.
I'm giving them the joyof listening.
>> Huh.
You know,you've just rung a bell with me.
[ Chuckles ]
I remember how I becameinvisible with "The Shadow"
while I was buildinga model plane.
(32:06):
>> So?
>> I can't say go to you, Hi.
I have to talk to some people
who maybe never builta model plane.
I'll be in touch.
>> While waiting,Hi did make films.
39 of them, long and short.
Everything froma Gene Lockhart sitcom
(32:27):
to a TV versionof the inner sanctum.
>> To do all that,Hi needed a studio.
There weren't many good onesin New York,
and those that existedwere very expensive
and usually totally booked.
>> So I created my own ina building on West 26th Street,
a building that used to bea cavalry stable.
(32:48):
>> Aside from films,
he was asked to produceother kinds of shows.
A live spectaclein Madison Square Garden
to celebrate the survivalof Israel
when she was attackedby her neighbors.
>> He produced a slide showin Atlantic City
on the historyof American social work.
The readers -- Burt Lancaster,Celeste Holm, and Ruby Dee.
(33:08):
>> And let's not forget"The Price of Silence,"
the film he producedcondemning the anti-Semitism
of the Soviet Union.
It was dramatizedin a courtroom setting
with Edward G. Robinsonas the prosecuting attorney.
It had a profound effecton those who saw it,
including the rulersof the Soviet Union,
(33:29):
who placed Hion a persona non grata list.
>> SomethingI was quite proud of.
> In 1974, the good news came.
CBS gave Hi the go-aheadfor the radio mystery series.
It had been voted on by stationexecs in more than 200 cities,
and the results wereoverwhelming.
(33:51):
>> The opening soundof the series
was reminiscent of onefrom the past.
>> The "CBS Radio MysteryTheater" presents...
[ Door opens, creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
♪♪
♪♪
(34:16):
>> Come in.
Welcome.
You're just in timeto join me on another journey
through that uncharted,
limitless, mysterious worldof your own imagination.
>> The host was E.G. Marshall.
The "CBS Mystery Theater"broadcast 1,399 episodes
(34:39):
over a span of eight years.
It was a rebirthof American radio drama.
After eight years on the air,
the "CBS Mystery Theater"became silent
and so did radio dramain America.
>> But Hi's heart alwaysremained in radio.
He gave large donations to hisalma mater, Brooklyn College,
to build studios
(35:01):
where students could learnthe techniques of broadcasting,
and he was often invitedto colleges
to tell students and faculty
how he turned the contraptionsof Nikola Tesla
and Edwin Armstronginto an art form.
>> Hi Brown continuedto produce, develop,
and direct untilthe waning years of his life.
His more recent shows,produced on recordings,
(35:22):
have so far never beenbroadcast.
Among Hi's possessions there isa collection of such recordings.
They are about the livesof great people
and how they accomplishedwhat they did.
>> People like Jonas Salk,who developed the polio vaccine.
>> Lillian Wald,
who founded the Henry StreetSettlement for those in need.
(35:42):
>> The fitting title --"They Were Giants" --
a series of radio plays
authored by someof Hi's favorite writers.
>> Allan Sloan.
>> Murray Burnett.>> Mary Jane Higby.
>> Sam Dann.>> Elspeth Eric.
>> Gerald Kean.>> Ian Martin.
>> Paul Inger.>> Arnold Moss.
>> Henry Slesser.
>> And Jerome Coopersmith,who wrote this tribute
(36:03):
at the request ofHi's granddaughter Melina Brown.
Himan'sRadio Drama Network Foundation,
working with CUNY TV,
has created theHiman Brown TV and Radio Studios
to ensure the continuationof his work in audio drama.
>> It would be a fulfillmentof Hi Brown's dream
if someday all of his workwould be available worldwide.
(36:27):
>> We would like nothing better
than to turn our radioson once again and hear...
♪♪
♪♪
(36:47):
>> The entire productionwas conceived,
produced and directedby Himan Brown.
We hope you have discoveredthe joy of listening.
♪♪
♪♪
(37:16):
♪♪
♪♪
(37:37):
>> "Audio Maverick" is producedand directed by Sarah Montague,
who also writes the scripts.
Our executive producers areMelina Brown and Sarah Montague.
CUNY TV's executive director isChiqui Cartagena.
The director of production isSusan Iger
and Deborah Labadie is CUNY TV'schief operating officer.
The associate producer for"Audio Maverick"
(37:59):
is Corinne Wallace
and our audio production internis Lucia Funaro.
"Audio Maverick" is narratedby Margot Avery.
Our technical team at CUNY
includes senioraudio engineer Richard Kim
and audio engineer and programmix engineer Lisa Gosselin.
Our staff photographer isLaura Fuchs.
Our archivists are David Riceand Catriona Schlosser.
(38:22):
Our closed captioncoordinator is Amy Monte,
and the script editor isAllison Behringer.
Our theme was composedby Allison Leyton-Brown.
Sound design and final mixing
are by John DeLore andBart Warshaw.
Multitude Productions handlesour publicity and marketing.
(38:43):
"Audio Maverick" is a productionof CUNY TV.
>> We are ending our"Audio Maverick" series
with a bonus episode.
When Himan Brown died in 2010,
his granddaughter Melina Brownand his professional family,
some of the actors from "CBSRadio Mystery Theater,"
decided to createa video tribute,
which was directedby Robert Isaacson.
(00:20):
The result was a collectiveretelling of Brown's life,
with Broadway legendTony Roberts voicing Brown.
What emerged is affectionate,funny, irreverent
and imbued with the spiritof a man who lived for
and through his workand his actors.
This program was producedin loving memory
(00:40):
of Robert Isaacson.
♪♪
♪♪
>> [ Speaking Yiddish ]
(01:03):
One language is never enough.
>> The man who became a giantin American communications
began his life with Yiddish.
It was the only language spokenat home when he was a child.
>> One language is never enough.
>> When we planned this tribute,
we wondered what Hiwould want us to say.
(01:25):
We think if we asked himfor his advice, he would say...
>> Can't you speed thingsup a little?
It's okay to get a laugh oncein a while.
>> We'll try our best, Hi.
I know it won't be easy withouthearing the telephone ring
and that bellowing voicesaying...
>> I hope you'refree December 10th.
There are people coming over
(01:45):
and I want you to tell themabout my life and my work.
>> He would need our helpfor that.
He was so modest,so withdrawn, so retiring.
>> That's the manwe're going to honor next month.
Tonight it's Hi Brown.
Possibly the least shy personwho ever lived.
>> His family was poor.
(02:05):
They lived in Brownsville,Brooklyn.
His father was a Schneider,a tailor.
His mother made skirtsand blouses.
They were both from Odessa,Russia.
They metand got married here in the U.S.
and Hi was born in 1910.
>> We'll ask you to imaginethat you are with Hi
(02:26):
at various stages in his life.
He'd want you to imagine that.
Imagination washis stock in trade.
>> The stock in trade of radio,the best visual medium we have.
>> Why visual, Hi?
>> Because radio hasthe best pictures.
>> His career didn't startin radio.
(02:48):
>> There was no radiowhen I was young.
>> He wanted to be an actor morethan anything else in the world.
He went to a man he thoughtcould help make it happen.
>> Anyone left whohasn't auditioned?
>> That voice belonged tothe person
in charge of the drama clubat the Brooklyn Jewish Center,
a man named Moss Hart.
(03:09):
Hi heard they were holdingauditions for revues
they performed.
>> I was 12.
>> He also heard that theydidn't want kids in the company.
>> I haven't auditioned yet.
>> How old are you, kid?
>> 16.>> Hey, you don't look it.
>> Well,my whole family is short.
>> So, uh, what do you do?
(03:31):
>> Imitations.Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor.
>> Mm-hmm. Let's --Let's see Fanny.
>> Oh ha ha, look at me.
I'm an Indian.
Oh ho ho! Look on me.
>> Ahh. [ Clears throat ]That's not bad.
Can you come to rehearsalsevery day?
>> Twice a day, if you want me.
(03:52):
>> Okay, kid. You're in.
>> That's how it all began,
with Moss Hart atthe Jewish Center in Brooklyn,
Hi Brown in drag,doing Fanny Brice.
Later they played theCatskill Mountains doing revues
for Borscht Circuit hotels.
>> Yeah, I got about $10 a showwhen I got paid.
>> Around this time,
(04:13):
an invention called radiobegan to appear.
Some people made their ownby wrapping copper wire
around a milk canand adding a set of earphones.
>> It was amazing.
Sometimes you couldactually hear something.
Entertainment coming throughthe air.
It seemed to say,"This is where I belong."
(04:36):
>> His mother supportedhis yearning for showbiz
by giving himan appropriate gift.
>> A violin?
What am I supposedto do with this?
>> You'll playMendelssohn concertos.
That's what you'll do.
>> I don't knowany Mendelssohn concertos.
>> You'll study, you'll learn,you'll know.
>> He studied, he learned.
(04:57):
But what he played wasnot what Mama had in mind.
[ Lively jazz music playing ]
>> The first thing he didwhen he got to Brooklyn College
was organize a jazz band, whichplayed for graduation parties.
>> It helped me makea few bucks.
>> But playing jazzwas not his final goal.
Here was this magic contraptioncalled radio,
and he wanted more than anythingelse to be an actor on it.
(05:21):
He scouted the existingradio stations in New York.
Most of them were housed inhotels with control rooms rigged
up in the bathrooms.
There was no money being made,
but it was consideredgood business for the hotel.
>> Uh, excuse me, is this WRNY?
(05:41):
>> Yeah.You bring the sandwiches?
>> Sandwiches?
>> We order two roast beef,one bagel with a schmear.
>> I'm not from the restaurant.
>> So, uh, what do you want?
>> I'm an actor. I want to act.
>> You want to act?
Like we hirekids who come in off the street?
Get lost.
>> I have experience in radio.
>> Experience?
(06:03):
Where? What?
>> Uh, I, uh,I worked in Chicago.
I did a radio show called,uh, "Hi Brow's Readings."
>> That name he gavewasn't far from the truth.
Hi Brow was justa small change from Hi Brown.
>> Uh, what kind of readings?
(06:23):
>> Poems. Uh, stories.Good ones.
>> Let me hear one.
>> [ Clears throat ]
I think that I shall neversee a poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouthis pressed against the earth's
sweet flowing breast.
>> Ehh, ehh,can you keep it clean?
(06:46):
>> Sure.
>> Now, we don't pay anything.
>> That's okay.
I'm just doing itfor the publicity.
>> [ Laughs ] Sure.
Millions of peopleare going to hear you
with our transmitterin the toilet.
Okay, okay.
You go to work next week and,uh,
change that breast line,will ya?
>> What did the managerhave to lose?
(07:07):
It wouldn't cost him anything.
And there were doubtsthat anyone was listening.
>> Hi did his readings
and soon found outthat there was something
being organizedcalled a network,
a collection of radio stations.
And if you pass their auditions,
they might actually put youon the air.
And pay you.
(07:28):
>> He auditionedfor the woman in charge of NBC,
a woman named Margaret Cuthbert.
She was a dignified lady
who was a sticklerfor the quality of voices.
>> What did you bring to read,young man?
>> Uh, some scenes by Elmer Riceand Sherwood Anderson,
the famous playwright.
(07:49):
>> Yes. So I've heard.>> And I do dialects.
English, German, Italian,whatever you want.
>> Go ahead.
>> My first scene will be --
>> We'll start with the dialect.
>> Top of the day, old chap.
Would you prefer fish and chipsor shepherd's pie?
(08:10):
Hey, here's another one.
Listen how I eat a spaghetti.
Well, am I singinga Caruso song?
>> [ Clears throat ] Thank you.
Next, please.>> Uh, Miss Cuthbert?
>> Yes.>> One more please.
>> Just one more.Then you'll have to leave.
(08:30):
We're very busy.
>> It was a dialect story called"Nize Baby" by Milt Gross,
a cartoonistfor the "New York World."
It was about a Jewish motherfeeding her baby
while speaking witha Yiddish accent,
which Hi could do to perfection.
He had been reluctant to try it
in the high-class surroundingsof NBC.
(08:53):
>> As he read, Miss Cuthbert'sface started beaming,
and then she began to laugh.
She loved itand Hi had a network job,
a regular programon Saturday morning,
reading fairy tales to childrenwith a Yiddish accent.
(09:13):
>> One day,the studio telephone rang.
It was a call for Hi froma woman bubbling with praise.
>> Mr. Brown. I'm Gertrude Berg.
I just heard your program,the one with the Jewish dialect.
It was wonderful.Warm, believable.
Not at all...offensive.
I've written a scriptabout a Jewish family.
(09:36):
I think you'll be perfectas my husband, Jake.
I also think we could sell itwith the one
you're doing now as a showcase.
We'd be partners.
>> They had a meeting,
and Gertrude Berg was surprisedby Hi's youthfulness.
>> Ah.Have you been bar mitzvahed yet?
(09:56):
>> Oh, several years ago.
I go to Brooklyn College,Miss Berg.
>> Well, it's radio, so itdoesn't matter how old you look.
Here, read my script.
>> The script wasn't bad,
and Hi could seehimself playing the husband.
So he drew up a letter ofagreement setting out the terms
of partnership between them.
(10:17):
>> He was a law school student,a good one
when he wasn't playing jazz.
He knew how to writean agreement or thought he did.
"The Rise of The Goldbergs"went on the air.
>> We present the most lovable,genuine family on the air,
the Goldbergs,
brought to you dailyexcept Saturdays and Sundays.
This time, this station.
(10:46):
>> Unfortunately, Hi's agreementdid not protect his job.
When eventually he was firedfrom "The Goldbergs,"
he found it wasbecause he was a minor
and his contract was worthless.
It was a bitter lesson,but there was a positive side.
>> If I could sell one thing,I could sell another.
(11:09):
That was the beginningof my career as a packager.
Good word.
I invented it, and I would keepit for the rest of my life.
>> Another series came along.
A series calledthe "Bronx Marriage Bureau,"
created by a woman namedJulie Burns.
Hi sold itdirectly to a sponsor,
(11:30):
the Goodman Noodle andSpaghetti Company.
They also made matzo,
and they needed advertisingfor the Passover season.
>> Goodman knew how to makenoodles and spaghetti and matzo,
but not radio shows.
I found myself in chargeof everything -- directing,
casting, script supervision,and sometimes a little acting.
(11:56):
>> With the nameof the sponsor attached,
the Goodman Noodleand Spaghetti Theater
was a trailblazer for showslike Philco Playhouse
and Lux Radio Theater.
>> But when Passover was over,it was canceled.
>> By now, Hi hadimpressive radio credits,
which enabled him to produceand sell other series.
(12:18):
For example, there wasone called "Little Italy,"
a kind of "Goldbergs"with Italian accents.
>> There was "Captain Tom'sLog," a seaman's adventures,
with flounders playingsupporting roles.
Now, flounders may live a longtime, but Captain Tom did not.
>> And there was"Peggy's Doctor,"
the adventuresof a doctor's wife.
(12:39):
Sounds risqué, but it wasn't.
And then there was"John's Other Wife,"
who was a businessman'ssecretary
and might have been Peggyfor all we know.
>> Hi produced a seriescalled "David Harum,"
based on a turn-of-the-centurynovel.
David was a country horse traderand cracker-barrel philosopher,
played by Will Rogersin the movies.
(13:02):
>> And let's not forget "MarieThe Little French Princess"
on at 2:15 in the afternoon5 times a week.
As far as we know, it wasthe first daytime serial ever.
They weren't calledsoap operas yet.
>> It was not untilColgate and Procter and Gamble
came into the picture.
(13:22):
They realized that housewiveswere the audience they needed.
>> Women loved "Marie."
It was the story of a princesswho ran away to America,
but found that the only wayshe could get in
was to marry an American.
>> So that's what she did,
keeping her identity secret.
He cast the show withwonderful actors -- Porter Hall,
(13:43):
Agnes Moorehead, Allyn Joslyn.
>> Sooner or later,
everybody in town caught onthat Marie was a princess.
Everybody except her husband.
>> That idiot never found out.
>> Hi's dealing withcartoonist Milt Gross
put another idea in his head.
Why not a radio seriesbased on a cartoon strip?
(14:03):
He studied the popular cartoonsof the day,
including "Flash Gordon"and "Dick Tracy."
>> I wondered whether thosestories created for children
would work fora general audience.
I would soon find out.
>> And now Dick Tracy.
(14:29):
Dick Tracy on the caseof the empty safe.
>> Hi succeeded in gettingthe rights to "Dick Tracy"
from the "Chicago TribuneDaily News" syndicate
in Chicago.
He got them with one condition.
He could use the charactersin the "Dick Tracy" strip
but not the stories.
Those he would haveto come up with himself.
(14:49):
>> I had to look for a writer.
I remembered a fellow studentat Brooklyn College
who dreamed of becominga playwright.
But could he write a radioversion of a cartoon strip?
>> I made him an offer,and the fellow accepted.
It was Irwin Shaw,
the prize-winningplaywright-to-be,
who wrote "Dick Tracy"for the next two years.
(15:12):
>> Another action seriesdeveloped by Hi
for radio was"Terry and the Pirates,"
an adventure createdby Milton Caniff
that unfolded in the Far East.
>> I had to make sure
that the audience feltthe excitement and peril
of every momentof their listening time,
as well as the deliciousflavor of the sponsor's product.
(15:34):
They were listening, too.
>> Quaker Puffed Wheatis shot from guns.
Now Quaker Puffed Wheat
and Quaker Puffed Ricebring you...
"Terry and the Pirates."
The new and exciting adventureof Terry Lee.
"The Dragon Lady Strikes Back.
(15:55):
>> Unlike Orphan Annie,Terry, a child
when the adventures began,
was allowed to grow up
and trade life-threatening moves
with the heavilymascaraed Dragon Lady,
a gorgeous pirate queen.
>> A less violent cartoon seriesdeveloped by Hi was "The Gumps."
That popular strip becamea program of vignettes
(16:17):
of an average American family,
and once again, Irwin Shaw wasrecruited to write the scripts.
>> And once again, Hi had a rolefor the brilliant young actress
he admired so much,
the one he cast as, uh,Marie the princess.
Agnes Mooreheadbecame the perfect Minnie Gump.
>> There was one seriesI will never forget.
(16:37):
"Flash Gordon," the hero of Godknows what century.
[ Gunfire ]
♪♪
>> Presentingfor the first time in radio,
the amazinginterplanetary adventures
of Flash Gordon and Dale Arden.
(16:58):
♪♪
These thrilling adventures cometo you
as they are pictured eachSunday in the "Comic Weekly,"
the world'sgreatest pictorial supplement
of humor and adventure.
>> I will never forget"Flash Gordon"
because it was oneof my biggest flops.
We blew up the Earthtwice a week and nobody cared.
(17:21):
>> Yet, strangely,
when Orson Welleshad the Martians invade,
there was an outpouringof people with shotguns
and pitchforks,
their fears no doubt inflamedby the fact
that the world was actuallyon the brink of war.
>> I learned that timing issometimes the key to success.
>> Hi learned many other things
(17:42):
as he pioneered radio drama --
the value of sound effectsin creating a mood or location.
Take Bulldog Drummond,
the hard-boiled enemy of crimein Britain.
How do you re-create Londonin a New York studio
next door to a kosher deli?
>> You ask yourself,"What is London?"
(18:04):
Big Ben chiming,footsteps echoing in the dark,
a round of shots from aWebley pistol number III,
and, of course,the accent of Ronald Colman.
Presto, London.
[ Foghorn blows ]
[ Gunshots ]
[ Whistle blowing ]
(18:24):
♪♪
>> Out of the fog,out of the night
and intohis American adventures
comes Bulldog Drummond.
And now to tell usof his latest adventure,
here is Bulldog Drummond.
>> Ah, but the best exampleof sound-effects magic
(18:45):
continues to be the opening Hicreated for another crime show,
one steeped in mysteryand horror.
[ Door creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
>> Good evening,friends of "The Creaking Door."
(19:07):
This is your host
to welcome you againinto the inner sanctum.
Come in, come on in.
No, no,please don't stand on ceremony.
We're all informal here.No ties, no collars.
In some cases, no heads.
[ Laughing ]
>> Did you like the wayI did that, Mr. Brown?
>> It was perfect.Gave me goose pimples.
(19:28):
That's how we'll openand close the show.
10 minutes' break for everyone.
>> Uh, Mr. Brown?>> Yes?
>> Where does my credit go?
The beginningor the end of the show?
>> Oh, I meant to talk to youabout that.
I can't give you credit.>> No credit?
>> Afraid not.
(19:48):
>> I'm an actor, Mr. Brown.I need the credit.
>> I understand that,but let me explain.
Your voice is magic,a feeling of mystery,
a spirit without a body.
If I give it a name,the magic is gone.
>> There was a dispute.Johnson wanted the job.
Hi Brown wanted Johnson.
A compromise was reached.
(20:09):
The actor would get a credit,but not his entire name.
Only his first name -- Raymond.
>> To this day,the voice of Raymond,
just Raymond,conjures up a spirit
that we believe might exist ina cave or in the inner sanctum.
>> Three years later,
(20:30):
Raymond Johnsonwent into the Army.
He was replacedby the actor Paul McGrath,
but the character's nameremained Raymond,
just Raymond.
The effect was never lost.
>> There was one pieceof information
Hi loved to bring up whendiscussing the history of radio.
>> The Copyright Officein Washington
(20:51):
has only two sound effectsin its files,
both protected by copyright law.
The NBC chimes
and the creaking doorof the inner sanctum.
[ Door creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
(21:16):
>> Another trademark createdby Hi
was the soundof Grand Central Station.
>> I called it the "Crossroadsof a Million Private Lives."
>> The show was an enormous hit.
But when he checked outthe actual sound of the station,
it was a bore.
Just a lot of peoplemilling around.
No trains coming in with a roar,no whistles,
(21:37):
no steam, no grindingand squealing of brakes.
>> Hmm.I'll put those sounds in anyway.
Who cares if peoplecomplain about inaccuracy?
I'm giving them the GrandCentral Station
of their imaginationsand of my own.
>> Grand Central Station.
[ Train whistle blowing ]
(22:03):
>> All aboard for betterbaking.
You're on the right trackwith Pillsbury.
Greatest name in flour.
[ Train whistle blowing ]
>> Radio grewand Hi grew with it.
>> At one point, I was directingfour or five shows a day --
(22:25):
"Marie the Princess,""John's Other Wife,"
"David Harum,"
"Dick Tracy,""Terry and the Pirates."
And sometimes others.All of it live.
>> When askedhow he could handle all that...
>> Well, you can't believehow busy I was.
I was juggling ballsand standing on my head.
>> In 1933,
(22:46):
the country was standingon its head
in the midstof a great depression.
But it was a happy yearin the life of Hi Brown.
>> I married this beautiful,wonderful girl from the Bronx,
whom I fell in love with at oneof my summer outings
where I was doing myBorscht Circuit stint.
>> Her name was Mildred.
(23:07):
On the day of their marriage,
President Roosevelt madea generous gesture.
>> He closed all the banksin America.
>> Nonetheless, Hi and Mildred
had a long and successfulmarriage -- 34 years.
They had two children,
a boy named Barryand a girl named Hilda.
Hi loved his childrenand later his grandchildren
(23:27):
and great grandchildren.
He was deeply involvedin all their lives.
>> Those children were blessedwith artistic talent
and still are -- writing,movie making, painting, music.
Hi would show their artworkto friends
alongside his collectionof Picasso and Modigliani.
Mildred, the mother andgrandmother
(23:49):
of that talented brood,
could not go on enjoyingtheir talent and charm.
She died too young.
>> In time, Hi married again toa woman named Shirley Goodman,
who was the executivevice president
of the Fashion Instituteof Technology.
A remarkable woman.
The college today hasa building named after her,
just a few blocks from the placewhere Hi had his office.
(24:12):
>> In 1938, Hi needed an actor
for a series called"Way Down East."
It was a love story,like the others he'd done,
but this one hada different twist.
It was set on a farm,
and the important thingwas getting
the country accents right.
After many auditions,Hi came up with nothing,
(24:34):
and the season's opening datewas breathing down his neck.
>> Any more actors out there?
>> Bottom of the barrel,Mr. Brown.
There's one left.
He came in lateand lost his script.
>> Sounds like a winner.
Send him inand get me an aspirin.
Make it a bottle.
>> You can go in now.
(24:55):
>> Mr. Brown, I'm sorry,I just...
>> Yeah, yeah, I know.You lost your script.
Not a wise thing to do.Here. Read this.
>> Well, how would you liketo have me read it?
>> Oh, never mind how.Just read it.
>> I better mend that fence,Rebecca.
The cows seemmighty restless in the pasture.
(25:16):
First thing you know,they'll be hoofing away.
Of course, if you gotsomething else in mind...
>> Stop! Stop!>> What?
>> Where'd you get that accent?
>> It comes natural to me, sir.
That's how folks in Walters,Oklahoma, talk.
>> What's your name?
>> Van Heflin.
>> The series "Way Down East,"
(25:36):
starring Van Heflin andAgnes Moorehead, was successful.
>> I didn't need the aspirin.
>> Another series he produced
and directedwas "Joyce Jordan, Girl Intern."
The show was consideredrevolutionary
because it featureda female doctor.
That was all to the good for Hi,
but the program neededanother boost.
(25:57):
A refreshing list of diseases.
>> In those days, psychiatrywas becoming important.
Hi welcomed Freud'swritings as a treasure chest
of story material going backto the ancient Greeks.
>> Sibling rivalries, conflictsof parents and children,
Oedipal complexes.
(26:18):
>> He created a doctorwith a foreign accent,
a stand-in for Freud, who wouldbe the head of the hospital
and whose cases would revolvearound Joyce Jordan.
♪♪
>> Now Dreft presents"Joyce Jordan, M.D."
>> But, Jordan,there's nothing I can do.
If Iris Blakely wants to takeDawson home,
(26:39):
there'snot one single thing I can do.
>> You can put your foot downand refuse permission.
>> Now, don't be childish.You know perfectly well
that I could get myselfand the hospital
in a peck of troubleif I did that.
>> This is NBC, theNational Broadcasting Company.
[ NBC chimes ]
>> The audience loved"Joyce Jordan" for 18 years.
(27:03):
>> Besides delving into Freud,
Hi was an avid reader of classicliterature such as Shakespeare,
de Maupassant, Oscar Wilde,Henry James.
In the 1930s,
F. Scott Fitzgerald andEugene O'Neill
were rising literary stars,and he read them, too.
>> Mr. Brown,have any of your programs
(27:23):
been inspired by the authorsyou've read?
>> No question about it.
Hundreds of my shows are basedon classics of all time.
The stories of Poe,Ambrose Bierce, Hawthorne,
Joseph Conrad, Jack London,
all their ideas get into yourbrain and into your bloodstream.
You use them.
(27:44):
♪♪
>> Into the bloodstreamof America came the fire
and grotesque,twisted steel of a U.S. city
named Pearl Harbor.
That date is forever preserved,
in the words of PresidentFranklin Roosevelt.
>> Yesterday,December 7, 1941 --
(28:12):
a date which will livein infamy --
the United States of Americawas suddenly
and deliberatelyattacked by naval
and air forcesof the Empire of Japan.
>> Hi was too old for the draft,
but he served the countryin other ways,
(28:32):
producing shows for the saleof war bonds,
giving listenersvaluable information
on the wartime measuresthey should follow,
conserving fuel,planting victory gardens,
contributing scrap rubberand metal to the war effort.
>> He served on the WritersWar Board in Washington,
an agency designed to promotepublic attitudes about the war.
(28:53):
You might call it ourown propaganda machine.
Others on the boardincluded Rex Stout,
the author of theNero Wolfe novels,
which eventually Hi turnedinto a radio series.
He received awardsfor his wartime work,
and all his lifehe treasured them.
He loved America.
>> He treasured his friendshipwith actors, too.
Many stars hadtheir beginnings in radio drama,
(29:16):
working with Hi --
such starsas Richard Widmark,
Mercedes McCambridge,Dorothy McGuire, Paul Stewart,
Martin Gabel, Arlene Francis,Phyllis Newman and others.
They were at his microphones,
as we were and are now.
And he could call on themin later years,
when they were alreadyat the top of their craft.
(29:38):
>> In the 1950s, TV,what we call television,
raised its flickering head.
It was a blow for radio, not atfirst because few people had TV.
They said it would only befor the rich.
>> We all know what happenedto that theory.
>> [ Laughs sarcastically ]When Hi was told
that millions would soonwant to see as well as hear,
(30:00):
he countered with the show"Don Juan in Hell"
by George Bernard Shaw.
>> It was a hit on Broadway
starring great actors --Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton,
Sir Cedric Hardwicke andHi's old friend Agnes Moorehead.
>> They acted their lineswhile sitting on stools.
No elaborate sets, no costumes,just formal clothes.
(30:22):
>> Hi told the advertisingmoguls
that he could do showsthe same way,
shows that people could watch
or listen towithout missing a beat.
>> I knew from experience
that people lovedto watch radio shows,
and those shows were cheaperto produce than trying
to re-create ancient Romeor the Battle of the Bulge.
(30:44):
>> The advertisers weren'timpressed.
"TV," they said, "was tomorrow
and radio would soon beyesterday."
They urged Hi to tryhis hand at making films.
He did, but his heart wasstill in radio drama,
as was evident to Sam Diggs,the president of CBS.
(31:05):
>> I'm sure of it, Sam.It could be a major hit.
>> But is it in color?
I can't get approval for blackand white these days.
>> It has colorthat doesn't quit.
Brilliant colorin the listener's mind.
>> A radio series?Oh, Hi. Come on.
>> Called the "CBS RadioMystery Theater."
(31:25):
Great mysteries,great detectives, great drama.
And the audience's eyes don'thave to be glued to a screen.
They can get their thrillswhile cooking dinner,
fixing a car,doing their homework.
>> But when they look up fromthe pot roast,
what do they see?
>> I'm giving themsomething else, Sam.
(31:45):
Something just as important.Maybe more.
I'm giving them the joyof listening.
>> Huh.
You know,you've just rung a bell with me.
[ Chuckles ]
I remember how I becameinvisible with "The Shadow"
while I was buildinga model plane.
(32:06):
>> So?
>> I can't say go to you, Hi.
I have to talk to some people
who maybe never builta model plane.
I'll be in touch.
>> While waiting,Hi did make films.
39 of them, long and short.
Everything froma Gene Lockhart sitcom
(32:27):
to a TV versionof the inner sanctum.
>> To do all that,Hi needed a studio.
There weren't many good onesin New York,
and those that existedwere very expensive
and usually totally booked.
>> So I created my own ina building on West 26th Street,
a building that used to bea cavalry stable.
(32:48):
>> Aside from films,
he was asked to produceother kinds of shows.
A live spectaclein Madison Square Garden
to celebrate the survivalof Israel
when she was attackedby her neighbors.
>> He produced a slide showin Atlantic City
on the historyof American social work.
The readers -- Burt Lancaster,Celeste Holm, and Ruby Dee.
(33:08):
>> And let's not forget"The Price of Silence,"
the film he producedcondemning the anti-Semitism
of the Soviet Union.
It was dramatizedin a courtroom setting
with Edward G. Robinsonas the prosecuting attorney.
It had a profound effecton those who saw it,
including the rulersof the Soviet Union,
(33:29):
who placed Hion a persona non grata list.
>> SomethingI was quite proud of.
> In 1974, the good news came.
CBS gave Hi the go-aheadfor the radio mystery series.
It had been voted on by stationexecs in more than 200 cities,
and the results wereoverwhelming.
(33:51):
>> The opening soundof the series
was reminiscent of onefrom the past.
>> The "CBS Radio MysteryTheater" presents...
[ Door opens, creaking ]
[ Metal squeaking ]
♪♪
♪♪
(34:16):
>> Come in.
Welcome.
You're just in timeto join me on another journey
through that uncharted,
limitless, mysterious worldof your own imagination.
>> The host was E.G. Marshall.
The "CBS Mystery Theater"broadcast 1,399 episodes
(34:39):
over a span of eight years.
It was a rebirthof American radio drama.
After eight years on the air,
the "CBS Mystery Theater"became silent
and so did radio dramain America.
>> But Hi's heart alwaysremained in radio.
He gave large donations to hisalma mater, Brooklyn College,
to build studios
(35:01):
where students could learnthe techniques of broadcasting,
and he was often invitedto colleges
to tell students and faculty
how he turned the contraptionsof Nikola Tesla
and Edwin Armstronginto an art form.
>> Hi Brown continuedto produce, develop,
and direct untilthe waning years of his life.
His more recent shows,produced on recordings,
(35:22):
have so far never beenbroadcast.
Among Hi's possessions there isa collection of such recordings.
They are about the livesof great people
and how they accomplishedwhat they did.
>> People like Jonas Salk,who developed the polio vaccine.
>> Lillian Wald,
who founded the Henry StreetSettlement for those in need.
(35:42):
>> The fitting title --"They Were Giants" --
a series of radio plays
authored by someof Hi's favorite writers.
>> Allan Sloan.
>> Murray Burnett.>> Mary Jane Higby.
>> Sam Dann.>> Elspeth Eric.
>> Gerald Kean.>> Ian Martin.
>> Paul Inger.>> Arnold Moss.
>> Henry Slesser.
>> And Jerome Coopersmith,who wrote this tribute
(36:03):
at the request ofHi's granddaughter Melina Brown.
Himan'sRadio Drama Network Foundation,
working with CUNY TV,
has created theHiman Brown TV and Radio Studios
to ensure the continuationof his work in audio drama.
>> It would be a fulfillmentof Hi Brown's dream
if someday all of his workwould be available worldwide.
(36:27):
>> We would like nothing better
than to turn our radioson once again and hear...
♪♪
♪♪
(36:47):
>> The entire productionwas conceived,
produced and directedby Himan Brown.
We hope you have discoveredthe joy of listening.
♪♪
♪♪
(37:16):
♪♪
♪♪
(37:37):
>> "Audio Maverick" is producedand directed by Sarah Montague,
who also writes the scripts.
Our executive producers areMelina Brown and Sarah Montague.
CUNY TV's executive director isChiqui Cartagena.
The director of production isSusan Iger
and Deborah Labadie is CUNY TV'schief operating officer.
The associate producer for"Audio Maverick"
(37:59):
is Corinne Wallace
and our audio production internis Lucia Funaro.
"Audio Maverick" is narratedby Margot Avery.
Our technical team at CUNY
includes senioraudio engineer Richard Kim
and audio engineer and programmix engineer Lisa Gosselin.
Our staff photographer isLaura Fuchs.
Our archivists are David Riceand Catriona Schlosser.
(38:22):
Our closed captioncoordinator is Amy Monte,
and the script editor isAllison Behringer.
Our theme was composedby Allison Leyton-Brown.
Sound design and final mixing
are by John DeLore andBart Warshaw.
Multitude Productions handlesour publicity and marketing.
(38:43):
"Audio Maverick" is a productionof CUNY TV.
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