The Best of the Best

[The Wolf]

I love the popular culture of the 1930s and 1940s. Here are my favorites of the various amusements.

Favorite pulp magazine: Doc Savage.
I always like the heros that avoided killing.

Favorite radio show: The Green Hornet.
"Fibber McGee and Molly" was always funny, "Lux Radio Theatre" was aces and "Suspense" was top rate but somehow the simplicity and wonder of "The Green Hornet" makes me feel like a thrilled little kid again.

Favorite music: swing (of course) but for fun: Louis Jordan and for mellow: Nat King Cole Trio

Favorite movie: I can never pick one. Once I decide on one I think of another.

Favorite actor: William Powell
It's funny because whenever I saw the Warner Brothers shield at the beginning of a movie I got excited. They had Bogart and Flynn and great pictures. However, Powell always had that "je ne sais quoi".

Favorite actress: Myrna Loy
So many to choose; Ann Sheriden, Barbara Stanwyck etc., but I might as well pick a matched set for actors.

Favorite serial: Daredevils of the Red Circle
So many from which to choose. Many good for different reasons but this one has it all.

Favorite B series: The Falcon
Good fun.

Favorite cartoons: The original Tom and Jerrys
Sure the Warner Brothers cartoons are tops but I can't decide on one character. This was the best stuff Hanna and Barbera ever did. The later ones aren't so though.

Well there are my humble opinions.
Let the debates begin!

 

[Michaelson]

My favorite radio show is 'The Shadow', when Orsen Wells was the voice! This was all before he became instantly famous from his 'War of the Worlds' broadcast, and during those early days of the Shadow, no one was allowed to tell who was playing the part on the air. I have several recordings of those mid 30's broadcasts, complete with ads for 'Blue Coal', Goodrich Safety tread Silvertown tires, and Bromo-quinine tablets! Regards. Michaelson

 

[The Wolf]

Thanks for the input, Michaelson. The Shadow was truly a great show with Welles. It was quite different from the other official version of the Shadow in the pulps.

How about other favorite topics? Movie, music, anything you love from the Golden Age.

 

[jamespowers]

The laugh and the deep mysterious voice really make it for radio.

 

[The Wolf]

I'm curious to hear if anyone has any rebuttals to what they think is the best of the topics I listed or add any new "bests" they might like to include.
Who knows, you might help me change my mind or introduce me to something new.

 

[Explorer]

I, too, liked the Green Hornet and Shadow radio programs. Of the hero pulps, the best were Doc Savage, The Shadow, and The Spider. However, my favorite pulp magazines were the general adventure pulps, such as Adventure, Argosy, Blue Book, and Short Stories. The period between the wars was the best time for these magazines, peaking in the 1930's. The movies from the 30's and 40's were the best. One of my favorites is China Seas with Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. William Powell is also one of my favorite actors. The Marx Brothers are the best comedians. I like everything about this time period especially the art deco look.

 

[The Wolf]

Good choices, Explorer.
Check out Pulpgen.com for reprints of "Adventure" and "Argosy" stories with the original illustrations.
Have you seen Gable in "Red Dust" or "Test Pilot"? You might enjoy them.
As for the Marx Brothers, they are great. Even their "lesser" movies are fun. I hadn't seen their films for a while so they had melded into one huge comedy. The one where they sneak on board a ship to go a college football game where Chico tries to get the password of "swordfish" from Groucho (the African explorer) and chased through a big store on giant roller-skates and bicycle/unicycle winding up on the roof with the neon cigarette billboard.
Luckily, Warner Brothers DVD just released a set of their movies with lots of swell goodies included.

 

[Explorer]

Thanks Wolf, I check PulpGen once a week for downloadable reprints. If anyone wants more pulp sources check ThePulp.net. There are a number of small publishers that reprint pulp stories.

Yes, I have seen "Red Dust" and "Test Pilot" and count them among my favorite movies from the '30s.

 

[The Wolf]

Well, Explorer, you definately know your stuff.