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Googling Wyllis Cooper

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Googling Wyllis Cooper
MS
Senior Member

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Joined: Mar 14, 2003
Total Topics: 58
Total Posts: 161
Posted 05/08/07 - 16:00:46:
quote post
#1
Here is a new batch of Cooper clippings. Some of these are incomplete and undated fragments I found while looking up Cooper on Google Book Search ( http://books.google.com ). That particular search engine sometimes provides only part of the text from a book or journal, either a "limited preview" (of pages) or a "snippet view" (of sentences). Very frustrating, but I guess something is better than nothing.
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[From "The Story Behind Empire Builders," an article (circa April 1930) in _The Great Northern Goat_, a magazine published by the Great Northern Railway's traffic department.]

... Some of the writers outside of the Great Northern organization, who have prepared continuities for Empire Builders programs, are introduced on these pages. Most of these have spent many years in the territories which were the locales of the programs they wrote, while the others made special trips into the Northwest to acquire the necessary local atmosphere.

Ben Hur Lampman, a recognized nature story author and editorial writer for the Portland Oregonian, was the author of the "Coming of the White Man," a tale of Portland [December 16, 1929] and "Steelhead Fishing," an Oregon nature story [January 1930].

W. O. Cooper, a member of the staff of the McJunkin Advertising Company, who handle the Great Northern's national advertising, prepared Thriller Films Glacier Park story [February 24, 1930], the Armistice Day story [November 11, 1929]] and the St. Patrick's Day program [presumably March 17, 1930].

Ruby Bailey Harlowe, a nationally known author of Seattle, Washington, wrote the program that marked the first anniversary of the Cascade Tunnel [January 13, 1930].

Walter Dickson, a fiction writer and author of numerous sketches for KOMO in Seattle, compiled the Denny Hill program and the Oriental romance which was broadcast March 10.

George Redmond, continuity editor of the Chicago studios of NBC, is the author of several of the programs, among them being "Rising Wolf," a story of Glacier Park and the Wenatchee apple program.

H. S. Bokhof, a member of the McJunkin staff, is the author of a musical comedy—burlesque—historical program, featuring the first run of the Wm. Crooks [March 3, 1930] and Minnesota's lakes, which will be broadcast May 5.

Alice Elinor, on the staff of the Hearst papers on the Pacific Coast, wrote the Empire Builder travel story which will be broadcast April 25. ...

[Meanwhile, at http://www.gngoat.org/1931_goat.htm -- you can read the complete January 1931 Goat which features a detailed, illustrated article about the Empire Builders series written in the style of a radio script. It reads suspiciously like something Cooper himself might have written or contributed to and includes a small photo (the earliest one I've seen) of W. O. Cooper and his spiffy haircut.]
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[From Paul K. Damai's Short Circuits radio column in the November 11, 1933 Hammond (IN) Times. Damai discusses a short-lived 15-minute-long daily show for which Cooper apparently wrote the scripts.]

... WMAQ these nites at 6.15 have an innovation called Fifty-Fifty. Lines are printed in the paper which you read as part of the dialogue. The other characters say theirs from the studio. Everyone, they say, wants to be an actor, and this is supposed to be the golden chance and right in your own home, too. We tried it once and the stuff wasn't so hot but if you have an audience it might be better. We just followed the lines mentally and alone.

But what we wanted to point out in connection with Fifty-Fifty is our own adaptation of the game. Supply your own lines that are missing in the paper. At a party it affords endless fun by taking turns filling in the lines to make a logical (?) story. The story we made out of it one night could not be put in print, or we're afraid, offered on the air! ...

[Now, which Chicago newspaper was printing the daily dialogue? And how are you, pal?]
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[From a circa 1941 issue of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's _Bell Telephone Magazine_]

... A broadcast from the New York Information Center was arranged by the Columbia Broadcasting System during which Captain Wyllis Cooper, Military Commentator for CBS, said:

"This is essentially the same warning and interception system that the British have used in interdicting large sections of their island to enemy bombers. The systems were developed independently and we are adapting British methods to our own use, while we pass on to them whatever we have discovered that they don't already know.

"The difference between our system and the British is this: England has high-quality telephone service, but there are relatively fewer telephones. That means that there are blank spaces that aren't covered by observers.

"That's not the case with us—we can have more observers because we have the finest telephone service and equipment in the world, all concentrated under one company, a company that has been so enthusiastically helpful in cooperating with the Army that it can be said with assurance that it couldn't have been done without the telephone company. They have developed special equipment; their engineers have worked with the Army over long periods; they have designed and built information centers and lent their experts to teach people how to run them; they have done, are doing, a magnificent job. ..."

[Well, it was a pretty good commentary until it turned into a commercial for the phone company.]
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[Cooper's entry in the 1941 _Who's Who in America_. It includes a line about the number of scripts Cooper had written to date that I don't remember reading elsewhere.]

COOPER, Wyllis ..., Radio writer; b. Pekin, Ill., Jan. 26, 1899, s. Charles E. and Margaret L. (Oswald) C.; grad. Pekin High Sch., 1916; m. Emily Beveridge, Sept. 14, 1929. Advertising writer, 1919-29; radio writer and dir. since 1929; also motion picture writer, 1936-39; continuity editor Columbia Broadcasting System, Central Div., 1930-32, Nat. Broadcasting Co., Central Div., 1933-36. [sic] Originated radio dramatic series "Lights Out," 1933, [sic] and wrote and directed it to 1936; also author of "Empire Builders," 1929-30, [sic] "Immortal Dramas," 1934 [sic], "Hollywood Hotel," 1938-39 [sic]; has written about 4500 radio plays ("about 200 or 250 of these have really been pretty good," he says); now writing a series "Good Neighbors" for the S. Am. broadcast of Nat. Broadcasting Co. Served as sergt. U.S. Cav., on Mexican border, 1916; in infantry and Signal Corps, 1917-19 (overseas, 1918-1919; in 4 major offensives; wounded once); capt. 131st Inf., Ill. Nat. Guard, 1923-27; capt., Cav. Reserve, 1928-33. Democrat. Mason. Home: 242 E. 72d St., New York, NY References: TM [Time Magazine], June 2, 1941. p. 62; Variety Radio Directory, 1940.
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[First part of a 1941 article in something called _Brazil_, presumably published by the American-Brazilian Association]

"HIGHWAY OF UNDERSTANDING"

"Good Neighbors," the National Broadcasting Program, Dramatizes Brazil and other Latin American Nations for the Radio Network Audience of the United States.

EVERY Thursday night the coast-to-coast NBC Red Network dramatizes the historical background and the present progress of a Latin American republic to the radio millions of the United States. "Good Neighbors" is a program dedicated to the Good Neighbor Policy and Inter-American understanding.

The sixth "Good Neighbors" program, June 26, was devoted to Brazil. The script was written by Wyllis Cooper. Charles Schenck staged the production. Dr. Frank Black, who has collected a library of Latin American music for the series, was music director. "Good Neighbors" is under the personal supervision of Sidney Strotz, NBC Vice President in Charge of Programs, and of John Royal, Vice President in Charge of the International Division.

Musical theme of the program was the NBC Concert Orchestra's interpretation of Carlos Gomes' "O Guarany." A feature of the program was the dramatic device of cutting in voices with pithy facts about Brazil:

VOICES: I know a lot about Brazil.

ANNOUNCER (MILTON CROSS): What? Who are you?

VOICES: I'm Everybody.

CROSS: Oh, you are, eh? Well, what do you know about Brazil?

VOICES: I know that Brazil's the largest country in South America.

VOICE 1: Yes, but Everybody doesn't know that Brazil's the largest country in all the Americas, and the sixth largest in the world.

CROSS: And what else does everybody know about Brazil?

VOICES: Coffee comes from Brazil.

VOICE 2: But Everybody doesn't know that diamonds come from Brazil--and rubber and cotton and cocoa and wax and hardwoods.

VOICES: Rio de Janeiro is the principal city of Brazil.

VOICE 3: But Everybody doesn't know that there are four communities in Brazil called Philadelphia; six named New York; 28 Californias; one Washington -- yes, and a Brooklyn!

VOICES: The Amazon River is the largest river in the world.

VOICE 4: Does Everybody know that the mouth of the Amazon is 180 miles wide? And that transatlantic ships navigate over 1000 miles up the Amazon— far beyond the city of Manaos?

CROSS: I guess Everybody doesn't know all there is to know about Brazil.

Romantic Dramatizations

Narrators told of Vincente Yanez Pinzon, one of the companions of Columbus, credited with first seeing the (Continued on page 24) ...

[Photo caption 1: "GOOD NEIGHBORS" CREATIVE STAFF -- Left, Charles Schenck, who directs production of the program; Center, Dr. Frank Black, director of the NBC Concert Orchestra -- and Right, Wyllis Cooper, who writes the scripts.]

[Photo caption 2: NBC STUDIO from which "Good Neighbors" is broadcast to millions of listeners in the United States.]
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[From a column in _Film News_ by Educational Film Library Association, probably dated circa 1944 or '45.]

... COMPLETED:

_It's All Yours_, a two-reeler for Pocket Books, Inc. on the value of reading, for distribution among high school groups. The production was supervised by Wyllis Cooper of Compton Advertising, Inc, and directed by Howard Styles of Willard Pictures.
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[From circa "the early 1950s," here is part of a piece in a journal called _The Canadian Forum_ which quotes from a journal called _The Wisconsin Idea_.]

... [S]omeone sent me a copy of _The Wisconsin Idea_, a magazine of the University of Wisconsin. In the course of an article on the University's own radio station, the magazine has many nice things to say about the CBC, including: "... a truly mature medium of expression," "... a truly artistic national radio," and two paragraphs which I will quote in full:

"It is just this tenacity not to abandon cultural standards that has driven Canadians to develop their radio in terms of true artistry, directly in the teeth of American overtures. This singleness of purpose has produced radio playwrights who have outwritten America's best. Only people like Norman Corwin, an extremely agile propagandist; Wyllis Cooper, a creatively original pioneer; Jim Mosher, [sic] the "Dragnet" scripter; certain poets on an occasional fling; and tape-script men, can compare with Canada's top writers. This situation does not exist simply because the Canadians have something to say and Americans have not.

"The situation exists because Canadian writers get a chance to say things--American authors do not. It simmers down to an essential difference--which creates an essential chasm between American and Canadian radio--the CBC has guts."

That this has been true in the past is unquestionable; that those guts are at present turning to water seems just as unquestionable. ...
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[From _The Television Program: Its Direction and Production_ by Edward Stasheff and Rudy Bretz. This is the updated 1962 edition of a book which seems to have been first published in the '50s.]

... In discussing the various methods of directing, a word should be said about a technique developed many years ago at CBS by Wyllis Cooper and now in very common use. Under this system, the director runs all his rehearsals from the studio floor instead of the control room. With only one monitor before him on which he can see the program line, he places himself in a strategic location, almost among the cameras, and works out his camera shots from there. Switching instructions are given to the T.D. [technical director] in the control room; the audio engineer is also on headphones; and the assistant director is usually in the control room to keep his timing records and production notes on the script. It is only when the program goes into the first complete run-through that the director goes into the control room. This has the very real advantage of allowing the director to work very intimately with the cameramen as well as the actors; their every problem is immediately evident to him, and he always keeps a clear picture in his mind of where the cameras are positioned. ...

Edited by MS on 05/24/07 - 09:36:04. Reason: misdated "the Armistice Day story"
MS
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Posted 07/27/07 - 18:13:36:
quote post
#2
More articles and items about our good friend Wyllis Cooper. Nothing about "Quiet, Please" but a 1950 TV column describes a couple of QP-like episodes of Cooper's "Stage 13" series.
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[January 11, 1930 The (Butte) Montana Standard]

STORY OF BUTTE TO BE BROADCAST

Great Northern Publicity Director Announces Program for Feb. 10.

A tense melodrama with the action revolving around the mines of Butte, with the popular character of the "Old-Timer" taking a prominent part in the program, will be given national prominence over the National Broadcasting company's network on the evening of February 10, W. O. Cooper, publicity director for the Great Northern, announced at the New Hotel Finlen last night.

The program, which will be one of the series of the Empire Builders' programs, which have been presented on each Monday evening during the winter, Mr. Cooper said he will truly represent Butte, its people and its major industry. Mr. Cooper will remain in Butte for several days gathering material for the story and will, during his stay, make a personal trip through some of Butte's mines to secure local color for his preparation of the drama on his return to St. Paul.
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[February 21, 1932 San Antonio Light]

Foreign Legion Drama Realistic

Every attempt possible is being made to assure the authenticity of the "Lost Legion" dramatic sketches, presented from Chicago over a CBS network every Sunday evening. W. O. Cooper, the writer of the scripts is being provided with music and source material by the New York office of the Foreign Legion veterans' society in this country—Les Anciens de la Legion Estrangere. Cooper himself takes the role of Mendoza, the Spaniard, in the series, and his fellow actors are Vinton Haworth, Ray Appleby, Jack Daly and Don Ameche of Columbia's dramatic staff in Chicago. Arabia is the locale of the sketches.
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[November 11, 1941 San Antonio Express]

... Wyllis Cooper, rotund and prolific radio writer, is the scripter of the "Story of Bess Johnson" . . . The new assignment has resulted in a reunion for three of the principals of NBC's old hair-raising series, "Lights Out" . . . Cooper wrote them, Bess Johnson was starred in them and Basil Loughrane, who directs "The Story of Bess Johnson," got his first radio start there ...
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[December 28, 1941 San Antonio Light]

... "The Spirit of '42" offers another program devoted to branches of the army, navy and marine corps (KTSA-1 p. m.). Rush Hughes, son of Rupert Hughes, the writer, handles the spot broadcasts, with Wyllis Cooper as narrator and script writer. ...

1:00p.m.—"SPIRIT OF '42" Description of the activities at another United States training center. ...
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[November 15, 1942 Kansas City Star]

"The Army Hour" Brings the War Front to Radio Listeners

In Order to Present the Sunday Afternoon Programs an Organization That Literally Extends Around the Globe Has Been Provided by N. B. C. and the War Department.

SHORTLY after Pearl Harbor the United States army took full advantage of a new weapon offered by N. B. C. and affiliate stations—the hour-long Sunday program, "The Army Hour," which was immediately commissioned by Secretary of War Stimson as "a military operation."

Now that military operation has completed a successful six months' campaign, and will have new fields to conquer as Uncle Sam's army expands across the face of the globe. The men behind "The Army Hour"—Author Wyllis Cooper, his assistant, Donald Briggs, and Arthur Feldman—look back at six months of prodigious effort that are not without achievement.

Their accomplishments are well known to American listeners who enjoy the results of their efforts each Sunday at 2:30 o'clock. The cold figures make an equally impressive record. The half-year period aired 150 pick-ups. Of that number about fifty were broadcasts scattered across the United States, from training schools, and factories in New England to airports in California.

Overseas "The Army Hour" traveled even more widely. Close to 100 foreign broadcasts brought messages from Chungking, London, Panama, Puerto Rico, Montreal, the Dover Cliffs, Curacao and innumerable others.

"The Army Hour" sets an unequaled record, too, in presenting celebrities. More than seventy high-ranking officers appeared on the program, and half that number were generals. Five civilian celebrities have been heard, among them Secretary of War Stimson.

Demonstrate 30 War Weapons.

In demonstrating the new tools of war, "The Army Hour" has broadcast the sound of thirty or more weapons—"weapon" meaning anything used by the army, from a pistol to a dozen bombers. Rifles, machine guns, pursuit planes, anti-tank guns, bombers, jeeps and flame throwers have been on the air.

To accomplish so much so soon "The Army Hour" developed an organization that literally extends around the globe. First, the worldwide facilities of N. B. C. are at its beck and call. Announcers, actors, producers, engineers, musicians, singers and foreign correspondents. In the way of equipment the network provides everything needed, from a microphone to an international short-wave hookup. The material for the broadcasts comes from the army. If the program wants a flight of P-38's in action, for instance, the army will provide them.

But radio broadcasts don't "just happen." They have to be arranged and integrated, and it's work. In the six months of activity close to 1,500 long-distance calls have been made, and an equal number of teletype messages. That's not counting preliminary letters, and overseas conversations by short wave. And it all adds up to a bill you wouldn't care to pay.

The vast scope of the program's operations in itself sets a noteworthy record. To date, only three pickups have failed to come through. Two of these failures were caused by last-minute reception trouble. The third pickup fizzled out when a foreign station accidentally began broadcasting on the frequency a minute before the broadcast.

A "Mike" Goes to War.

Considering the number of men and machines used by "The Army Hour," there has been remarkably little trouble in the field. The only casualty in twenty-six broadcasts was a soldier in a mock attack who was knocked out when he was hit on the head by a parabolic mike. He recovered, however, and returned to the attack. Otherwise "The Army Hour" hasn't lost a man.

Despite the practically unlimited co-operation extended "The Army Hour," the program works under full wartime restrictions. For instance, production men can only pray that an unexpected "alert" at a West coast airport doesn't send planes and program vanishing into thin air.

Censorship Is Observed.

Then, too, usual censorship precautions must be constantly observed. One time an announcer at an airport had to ad lib for twenty minutes when a flight of planes was lost in fog. Weather information, you see, is not permitted on the air.

Despite the fact that "The Army Hour's" six months may feel like six years to the men behind the program, they enjoy their work, and are proud of the job they are doing.

"So far," says Author Wyllis Cooper, "we've been very lucky. Everything has gone pretty well." But Cooper's not resting on any laurels right now. His headache is just starting. When winter weather sets in, troubles will be multiplied a thousandfold. But "The Army Hour," like the men it's about, will carry on.
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[April 5, 1943 Time Magazine]

The Army Hour

Ain't it pretty, sir?

That's not precisely the word for it, but it's certainly going to be useful.

Yes, sir. Take some Jap's buck teeth out right by the roots.

If this bit of shoptalk between a Fort Bliss cavalryman and his commanding officer made any listener's stomach twitch last week, that was exactly what the U.S. Army wanted.

The plain-spoken colloquy turned up on The Army Hour (NBC, Sun., 3:30-4:30 p.m.). The "pretty" weapon was a mean-looking steel blade about eight inches long, forged out of the fast disappearing horse shoes of the cavalry. Most U.S. cavalry men have these gougers. They are handy for infighting.

Plain facts like this are one good reason why more than 3,000,000 U.S. radio homes tune in The Army Hour on Sunday afternoons. The show has the authority of a headquarters communique. It ignores hokum, heroics, gags. One year old this week, it has given the home front a pretty good idea of how the Army has been put together, how it uses its matériel.

The visit to the 1st Cavalry Division was full of the sound & fury of horse dismounted and mechanized cavalry training.

Listeners heard the voices of the cavalry's rifles, machine guns, mortars, pack howitzers (jackass batteries) peppering a prepared position, the roar of flame throwers as the outfit took over a village named Little Tokyo. The accompanying explanation of cavalry's role in modern warfare was succinct and pointed. The all-Army cast was first-rate.

Colossal Cast.

The Army Hour's cast of characters comes close to fitting Hollywood's never-attained definition of colossal. Only the Army could supply it. Ranging around the world on almost every show the program has presented scores of personages and plain people, from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek through United Nations generals to fighting men in the ranks. Colonel Warren J. Clear, of General MacArthur's staff, wept at the microphone when he told the firsthand story of the fighting on Bataan. Profane soldier-talk often sneaks into the prepared script. Because the Axis would like very much to know that General Sir Archibald Wavell, for instance, would be on the air from a certain place at the broadcast time, audiences never learn the show's personnel until it is on the air.

The Army Hour is a skillful blend of Army and NBC talent. The Army provides the cast and the military props. NBC pays the costs ($3,500 a week) and supplies the broadcast facilities. A staff of seasoned radiomen (Writer-Producer-Director Wyllis Cooper, Studio Director Eddie Dunham, Liaison Man Captain Ed Byron) put the show together. The man who conceived it is Lieut. Colonel Edward M. Kirby, chief of the radio branch of the War Department's Bureau of Public Relations.
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[July 6, 1950 Chester (PA) Times]

TV Notes

By AL MORTON

Re-viewing--The summer changeover period has already begun to take its toll of some of television's better shows. One of the more recent to bid farewell is CBS-TV's "Stage 13" (Wed. 9.30 p. m.) Following a long stint of striking terror into the hearts of radio audiences on "Lights Out," Producer-director Wyllis Cooper has been performing the same service for television and with intensified results. Based on stories from the realm of the supernatural and peopled, I use the word very loosely, by witches, wraiths, vampires and sundry equally attractive characters, "Stage 13" takes the viewer through varied and nightmarish situations. On one recent show, the story centered around a young couple making a visit to the old Druid ruins at Stonehenge. Knowing how Mr. Cooper operates, this naive young pair still chose to spend the night at a nearby inn on, of all times, superstition-ridden Midsummer's Eve. At the fatal hour of midnight they become entranced and make a trek to, of all places, the sacrificial altar of the Druid high priest. The boy becomes the reincarnation of this knife-happy dignitary and the girl, alas, just another offering to the hungry Druid gods. In another vein, and the word has morbid significance, Mr. Cooper recounts the tale of the young writer who is turning out a book entitled "I Am a Vampire." This would be harmless enough, but the tome proves to be autobiographical. Seems our hero was born some 400 years ago and served as a protege of the father of all good vampires, Dracula. In order to survive through the centuries, [he] has had to partake of the vital fluid of some unfortunate mortal. In turn, his victim joins him in the ranks of the undead. The story ends with our hero victimizing both his unwanted wife and his much-desired secretary, thus foolishly creating an eternal triangle in fact. Mr. Cooper, in a rare kindly moment, passes on the following information concerning these wander werewolves. Their approach will always be heralded by the baying of the neighborhood dogs. Also, identification can be definitely established should your suspect to unable to produce his image in an ordinary mirror. Once the identity is known to you, a wreath of white roses placed on the door will serve to ward off the thirsty intruder. If no roses are available at that crucial moment, you might as well resign yourself to an intrusion as well as a transfusion. For lovers of the supernatural, here is your dish. As for me, well, Mr. Cooper at times can be just a little too convincing. ...
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[May 23, 1967 Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette - syndicated "Television Today" column by John Horn]

Reminder of the Golden Age ...

... Cameraman [Johnny] Lincoln, a lineal descendant of President Abraham, said: "I'm a practitioner of a lost art — dramatic television. It's like Inca pot painting. Not many of us are left." He reminisced about the late Wyllis Cooper, an early genius in TV drama, a writer-director-producer who liked continuous action and so used only one camera of three, and Director-Producer Robert Herridge, whom Writer Lee Pogostin had called "Huckleberry Dracula". ...



MS
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Joined: Mar 14, 2003
Total Topics: 58
Total Posts: 161
Posted 01/11/08 - 18:19:27:
quote post
#3
A new batch of Cooper-related clippings with some interesting biographical info buried here and there.
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[December 27, 1935 Wisconsin State Journal]

5,000 Pictures

More than 5,000 pictures of the cast of "Flying Time," NBC's nifty aviation serial, were mailed last week. When you request one, you receive a real souvenir—not a casual mailing by some letter service. Once a week the players assemble at Author Bill Cooper's. Jules Herbuveaux, production manager, assigns the work. Some do addressing, some check lists, others stamp. Each has a job, and everybody has a good time.
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[December 29, 1935 Wisconsin State Journal]

Members of the cast of "Flying time," NBC's dramatic serial of aviation, heard daily on WIBA at 5 p. m., are so versatile that most of them could switch avocation into vocation at a moment's notice. Harold Peary, "Tony," is an excellent baritone. Loretta Poynton, "Ruth Morrow," is also a clever designer of feminine apparel, and Ted Maxwell, "Capt. Bob Ross" is a successful writer. The story is written by Bill Cooper, and has attracted a wide audience throught [sic] the Madison area.
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[Jan-Jun 1936 Camera: A Practical Magazine for Photographers, volume 52]

Radio Camera Club of Chicago

Here is a club which limits itself to twelve active members. As reported to us: "The reorganized Radio Camera Club of Chicago has been meeting weekly since October 8, 1935, at 401 Melrose Street, Chicago; is unique in the fact that all its members are engaged in radio broadcasting and all are miniature camera workers. Officers are: President, Willis Cooper; Vice-Président, Theodore Sherdeman; Secretary-Treasurer, Rudolph Peterson. Among themselves, weekly competitions are held on chosen subjects, each submitting an 8x10 print. Closed ballots are taken each week, the 3 best prints receive five, three, and one point. When a member has [25?] points to his credit, he wins a prize of photo-material. If a member enters no print, he gets a demerit of 2 points for each offense. What ho! you fellows who only make negatives!
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[April 5, 1942 San Antonio Express]

New Army Hour Program Makes Debut Today

Listeners to Be Taken Abroad, Hear Leaders

Trying to tell listeners about the new Army Hour without divulging military secrets is about as easy as pushing a peanut down the street with the end of your nose. The reason is that the series is designed to be a military operation as well as a radio show. It can be told, though, that the program makes its bow today at 2:30 p. m. over NBC-WOAI.

Its debut marks the first time the United States War Department has written and produced a radio program to accomplish a military mission. And no secret is the fact that its author is Wyllis Cooper. Today he is generally accounted the most knowledgeable radio writer in United States Army matters. Though he has made radio history with many a broadcast series, Cooper considers the new Army Hour the most exciting show he's ever had his hand in. This series is 100 per cent authentic, absolutely official. It will serve as a reference point to which the American people can turn each week to find out what their Army is doing here and on far-flung battlefronts.

Listeners will be taken to Army camps in the United States, Ireland, Australia, Hawaii, the Caribbean area and elsewhere. Leaders of all the United Nations are to appear on the series, speaking from the world's farflung battlefronts. Because of the prominence of these men, it won't be possible in many cases to announce their appearance in advance.

"If, for example," says Cooper, "we said that General MacArthur was to broadcast from a certain place at a specific date, we'd be courting bombs from the Japs. Listeners, though, can expect quite a few surprises in the roster of men who will be heard during the series."
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[May 24, 1942 The Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Wyllis Cooper Knows Inside of Army Life

Army Hour Producer Is Veteran of First World War

When he writes the scripts for "The Army Hour," heard each Sunday at 3:30 over station WIBA, Wyllis Cooper can draw on his own experiences in the World war. He went overseas early in 1918 with the 131st Infantry, was smacked on the head with a shell fragment on the Somme and was severely gassed at Consenvoye in the Argonne in October, 1918.

After the war, Cooper worked on the Chicago Tribune, did advertising and publicity, ran his own advertising agency in Santa Monica, Calif., then took up radio. Here he did "Empire Builders," "Tales of the Foreign Legion," "Lives at Stake" and "Immortal Dramas." He also thought up, wrote and directed the famous old "Lights Out" series which every week threw half the nation into alleged convulsions of fear.

Cooper did a stint in Hollywood, writing pictures for Shirley Temple, among others, then returned to radio. He wrote the widely acclaimed "Good Neighbors" program.

Cooper was born in Pekin, Ill., Jan. 26, 1899, but all he'll admit about his childhood is that he was the first man to wear a wrist-watch in Peoria, Ill., and the black eyes he garnered fighting over it still linger as painful memories.

Cooper used to spell his first name Willis but a numerologist told his wife it should be spelled Wyllis and he's done so ever since.
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[July 12, 1942 The Capital Times (Madison, WI) - Over the Waves column by E. Bowden Curtiss

SALUTES and paeans of praise to this man Wyllis Cooper, producer and director of the "Army Hour," the official program which has become a potent morale builder among the nation's armed forces both at home and abroad, and a splendid vehicle for publicizing the army to the nation.

When we call the program "official" we mean just that. And to the extent that there is a rigid censorship each week as to what particular base outside of the country is going to broadcast.

Cooper, the man responsible for the show, has a background and reputation for such a series that he claims that one of the occupational hazards besetting those of the radio writing business that he is invariably dodging people "who want to tell me stories."

IS TOP-FLIGHT DRAMATIST

Accounted one of radio's top-flight dramatists. Cooper knows whereof he speaks. He has made air history with many a broadcast series — most notably, perhaps, with "Lights Out" and "Good Neighbors." His current assignment, the War Department-sponsored "Army Hour," he considers the most exciting job he's ever had a hand in.

Today Cooper is rated the radio writer with the most U. S. army savvy. And well this is, because his actual experience with army life has given him a world of fact from which to draw. It all goes back to 1916 when, at 17, he entered the army as a bugler. Later he chased bandits along the Mexican border. He was wounded on the Somme, gassed in the Argonne, served with the army of occupation in Germany, and returned to the U. S. to work with the Intelligence.

Still later came reporting job in Chicago, an advertising spot, and a disastrous session running his own ad agency in Santa Monica, Calif. In 1928 he returned to Chicago to try radio. There, from 1933 [sic] to 1936 Cooper wrote and directed "Lights Out," one of the most popular hair-raising chillers in radio history. It was aired late at night so the kiddies couldn't hear.

And his experience was not limited to radio drama alone. In the movie capital he wrote some Shirley Temple films, the first three Mr. Moto pictures and "The Son of Frankenstein," as well as a host of radio scripts.

AUTHORED OTHER SERIES

Last year Cooper authored NBC's "Good Neighbors" series which aimed to promote inter-American goodwill. The show brought cheers from listeners from coast to coast and from official Washington. It was one of the first studied attempts at familiarizing the people on both sides of the Rio Grande with their respective cultures and institutions. The success of the series was so successful that it was one of the many reasons Cooper was chosen for the important "Army Hour" chore.

To prepare himself for the war department program Cooper spent nine months covering the country as civilian correspondent with all the army maneuvers. He lay in the Carolina mud, rode tanks in Louisiana, tried out every vehicle in the army's list from jeep to bomber.

When he's not in Washington or traveling around the country gathering material for the "Army Hour," Cooper lives in a New York penthouse. Yes, he's married, but the little lady doesn't get to see much of him because this army assignment require most of his time.

Listeners to the 2:30 Sunday afternoon show can readily see the tremendous preparation which goes into each broadcast. Atmospheric difficulties often require a last minute change in program lineup, for many of the broadcasts come by short wave. This necessitates a foolproof schedule in which parts may be easily substituted.
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Excerpt from the book _Radio in Wartime_ by Sherman Harvard Dryer (Greenberg, 1942)

... <u>This Is War!</u> was a profitable experiment because it taught radio some important lessons. The trend of subsequent programs has been toward direct and frank statement of content. The language is becoming simple and forthright. When Wyllis Cooper was assigned to write the <u>The Army Hour,</u> he announced that "there'll be no poetry in what we have to say."
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[December 11, 1949 San Antonio Light]

Perry Rich In Know-How

WOAI-TV's production manager, Dick Perry, has a rich background in the dramatic arts. ...

Perry's experience in radio has been extensive—as announcer, special events director, and master of ceremonies. At one time, he was radio director for the New York offices of Grant Advertising, inc., and director of the Dr. I.Q. program. He gave up this lucrative employment (he was earning around $14,000 annually) to join the National Broadcasting co. at half this salary because he wanted to work with one of radio's greatest writers, Wyllis Cooper. ...
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[Excerpt, apparently from a letter or a column, in a 1950 issue of Televiser]

Wyllis Cooper, director-producer of "Stage 13," CBS on Wednesday nights, is a good man and true at creating horror. But a recent opus of his on werewolves of Hungary, who are the (quote) "Undead" (unquote), was not horrible enough for three guys at the bar where I sometimes hang up. "Let's turn to the wrestlers, who are much more horrible," they said. But the bartender held out for "Stage 13." Turned out he was from Hungary: "And I never miss a chance to find out what's going on in the old country."
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[April 13, 1951 The Capital Times (Madison, WI)]

Europeans Tell What They Think of U.S.

WHAT DOES Europe think of America? The answers — chiefly from the Iron Curtain countries—will come to U. S. listeners in a series of three weekly drama-documents which NBS's [sic] "Living — 1951" will present in cooperation with Radio Free Europe starting at 4 p.m. Saturday via WIBA and WIBA-FM.

Wyllis Cooper will write the scripts. Wade Arnold will be the producer, and Edard [sic] King director. Ben Grauer will be narrator.

The answering voices on the series ("What Europe Thinks of America") will not be those of bellowing propaganda Radio Moscow nor those of the satellite nations' the officialdom, but those of the people themselves. The broadcasts will incorporate much actual material supplied to "Living" by Radio Free Europe— material recorded in the organization's headquarters somewhere in Europe and in Displaced Persons camps.
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[May 14, 1951 Syracuse Post-Standard]

Basil Rathbone visits Lights Out at 9 p. m. today, WSYR-TV, when he stars in "Dead Man's Coat," an original TV drama by Wyllis Cooper. Sounds like one weird tale coming up. It's about a man who believes that he will become invisible if he puts on a dead man's coat. His belief comes true.
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MS
Senior Member

Usergroup: Member
Joined: Mar 14, 2003
Total Topics: 58
Total Posts: 161
Posted 03/22/08 - 06:21:27:
quote post
#4
Some stuff that appeared recently on the net:

1. A blog post about QP's "Whence Came You" is here:

http://www.prosperosbooks.net/2008/02/whence-came...

2. QP's lost "Meeting at Ticonderoga" episode is briefly alluded to in this post about the ghost story it's based on:

http://greensleeves.typepad.com/berkshires/2008/0...

3. The Middlebury Radio Theater, which is basically the radio drama club at a Vermont liberal arts college, performed QP's "The Evening and the Morning" recently:

http://mrtots.com/blog/2008/03/06/quiet-please-th...

4. On eBay, a 1935 promotional brochure for Cooper's "Flying Time" series was up for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NBC-RADIO-1935-AD-BROCHURE-fo...
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And here is another batch of items from magazines and newspapers:
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[August 10, 1935 Radio Guide]

They Must Be Scared!

Willis Cooper Knows Better Than to Give His Listeners Anything But Hair-Raising, Blood-Curdling Thrills

By Meryl Dell

"LIGHTS OUT, Everybody." A deep voice speaks softly.

Thirteen chimes ... Evil omen.

Wind rising to a crescendo and fading ... ominous--foreboding.

GONG!

By the time this much of the Lights Out program has gone out over the air, hundreds of thousands of listeners, literally in the four corners of the country, are sitting in the dark, nerves taut in anticipation.

Then the play. Whatever its story, it must be gory, blood-curdling, terrifying. It had better be, or Willis Cooper, creator and author of the program and Western NBC continuity editor, will be deluged with letters calling him "sissy."

Lights Out fans want their horror undiluted. And they get what they want--or else. Which means that by letter, phone and telegram they shout long and loudly until they do get what they want. NBC found that out when the program was taken off the air last Winter.

The program started as a novelty--an experiment. Its immediate, overwhelming success probably will make it Exhibit A for all those who insist that listeners do know what they want from their radios, and will emphatically voice their approval when given an incentive.

About a year and a half ago it occurred to Willis Cooper that a great many listeners might welcome a dramatic show late at night as relief from the constant song of dance bands. Being an avid reader of mystery and horror stories, especially as relaxation after a hard day's work, he decided quite naturally that midnight and ghastly stories would make a grand combination for night-owl listeners.

Whereupon Mr. Cooper spent a few evenings giving himself the jitters by writing tales of horror instead of reading them. That's no gag. With that vivid imagination of his ... you know he has to have one to write those chilling tales ... he sometimes scares himself so he has to stop writing in the middle of a story, and finish it the next day. Especially is this so of ghost stories. Bill is scared to death of ghosts; so much so that often he refuses to listen when one of his ghost stories is being broadcast. "Just can't take it," he admits.

He presented his scripts and suggestions for midnight dramas to NBC's program board. Only mildly interested, the others on the board--Cooper himself is one of them--bowed to their continuity editor's enthusiasm and decided the idea was worth giving a trial.

Without ballyhoo of any kind, Lights Out was presented for the first time over WENR on a Wednesday at midnight early in January, 1934.

The studio personnel, accustomed to all types of programs and therefore generally indifferent to all, started staying up late on Wednesday nights. A few radio editors paid tribute to something new on the air. Letters from listeners started to come in, slowly but surely increasing in number each week. It was evident that Lights Out was a successful experiment. But no one, not even Willis Cooper, imagined that it was a sensation.

THAT amazing revelation came months later. As continuity editor, Bill has a great deal of work to do. He decided he needed for his other work the time it took to write Lights Out.

One night last January the announcer ended the program with a simple announcement: "This is the last of the series of Lights Out programs."

Then came the deluge. From North, East, South and West came letters, phone calls, telegrams, petitions--some signed by as many as 200 people. Radio editors were swamped with protesting mail from their readers. The mailing room was flooded. "Put Lights Out back on the air!" was the cry. It wasn't a plea. It was a demand. "You can't take Lights Out away from us" was the ultimatum laid down by the world's greatest dictator--the public.

Sweet music to an author's ears. Pleasant surprise for the network.

With such acclaim, Cooper didn't care how much extra work he had to do. What writer would?

THREE weeks later, Lights Out was back on WENR each Wednesday night at midnight. And shortly afterward, yielding to the demands of station managers whose listeners were clamoring for Lights Out, the program was scheduled for the entire network. To save Eastern listeners the necessity of staying up all night to hear the program--blase New York had been particularly emphatic in demanding the thriller for its supposedly sated listeners--the program is now being broadcast half an hour earlier, at 12:30 a. m. EDT.

Watching a Lights Out broadcast is an experience in itself. As the opening words are spoken, all studio lights are extinguished. Working in utter darkness excepting the pin point of light that enables the actors to see their scripts, and another in the control room so they can watch the program's producer, everyone becomes tense. A huge studio in almost total darkness and silence is not the most cheerful place to be, even if you know it is just a play going on.

At a sign from the production man, the play starts. You keep reminding yourself that this is only a radio program, try to force yourself to be cool and unconcerned. After all, it's only a play and there are the actors in front of you; but so realistic is the acting--the atmosphere--the sounds--that cold chills insist upon running up and down your spine.

The program is over. Lights go on. With a sigh of relief you silently breathe thanks that no one was around to see you jitter. It seems silly to get so scared watching a broadcast.

BUT it isn't silly. It is a great tribute to those who are responsible for the program--the production man, the actors, the engineer and the sound men. Under the sensitive direction of Ted Sherdeman, the program's producer, the actors actually live the experiences written in Cooper's lines; sound and action are so real that one loses all sense of listening to a program; one seems actually to be witnessing a living drama. So intensely real is the drama that it sends shudders through thousands of people many miles away, and keeps the illusion of reality even in the studio. Audiences are not permitted at Lights Out broadcasts; but unlike many programs, it would spoil no listener's illusions if they were.

Some of Chicago's finest actors and actresses take part in the Lights Out shows. Betty Winkler and Bernardine Flynn share the feminine parts; Arthur Jacobson, Don Briggs, Sidney Ellstrom, Phillip Lord, Ted Maxwell and Butler Manderville are the stock group from which each week's male cast is chosen.

LIGHTS OUT mail is probably the most interesting received by any program. From all walks of life, from nearly every state in the Union, and from half a dozen countries, it pours in every week. So varied is its source, seemingly encompassing every type and class of people, that one is struck by the thought that if there is such a thing as a universal type of entertainment ... a type to please all tastes ... Lights Out is it.

There are at least 200 Lights Out clubs, composed of from four to as many as fifty members. They meet each Wednesday evening to play cards or dance until time for the program's broadcast. Each of these, as well as hundreds of other listeners, sends in a weekly comment. "And woe is me," says Bill, "if the story has been even a little milder than usual. Those bloodthirsty fans pounce on me like some of my characters do their victims. Gives me nightmares."

But don't take that too seriously. Actually, Bill gets a kick out of writing his Lights Out--and a real thrill from those fan letters.

Lights Out may be heard Wednesday over an NBC-WEAF network at 12:30 a. m. EDT (11:30 p. m. EST; 11:30 CDT; 10:30 CST; 9:30 MST; 8:30 PST).


[photo caption 1] To make sure of the chill, actors on this hour do their own stuff as well as speak their lines. From left, Betty Winkler, Don Briggs, Sydney Ellstrom

[photo caption 2] Willis Cooper, who writes Lights Out

[photo caption 3] Ted Sherdeman, producer of the program
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[August 31, 1935 Radio Guide review]

Flying Time *** [Excellent]
Heard Thursday, August 16, at 6 p. m. EDT (5 EST; 5 CDT; 4 CST; 3 MST; 2 PST) over an NBC-WEAF network.

Talent: Capt. Robert Ross, the Skipper, played by Ted Maxwell; Harry Blake, by Willard Farnum; Ruth Morrow, by Loretta Poynton; Aunt Sue, by Betty Lou Gerson; Major Arthur Fellowes and Tony, by Harold Peary.

Here is an answer to the Parent-Teachers' Association and women's club prayers for something more educational and less horrifying in children's programs--but, be warned! It still has many thrills!

The idea behind Flying Time, written by Willis Cooper in collaboration with Jules Herbuveaux, is to teach the youngsters the aviation works while clearly sandwiching the whole between a dramatic plot to carry along their avid youthful interest.

In the episode of Thursday, August 15, Skipper Ross had young Ruth brought up in the air on an instruction flight. The cause of a stall and how to come out of it, as well as an explanation of the term, "goosing" the motor and why it is done in landing, were skillfully covered during the episode, which likewise had its dramatic anti-climax.
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[July 24, 1941 The Capital Times (Madison, WI)]

GOOD NEIGHBOR

Chile, which extends over a greater latitudinal range than any country in the world, will be featured on the "Good Neighbor" broadcast over WMAQ tonight at 8:30. The careers of Bernardo O'Higgins and Jose De San Martin, Chile's national idols, as well as the nation's most important historical events, will be the basis of a dramatization written by Wyllis Cooper and under the direction of Charles Schenck.
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[October 8, 1941 San Antonio (TX) Light]

Radio Script Writer "Casualty"

Wyllis Cooper, script writer for CBS' "Spirit of '41" (KTSA—9:15 p. m. Wednesday) was a real casualty in the Louisiana maneuvers of the Second and Third armies.

Cooper, assigned to the Second army, was at radio headquarters in the Winnfield, La., grammar school when Third army raiders planted smoke bombs in the school.

Copper ran out with other correspondents, but with a lung full of smoke. Since he was severely gassed in the World war, he was particularly vulnerable.

He still wheezes when he tries to talk.
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[December 22, 1969 Broadcasting magazine letter column]

Disagrees on 'Lights Out' credit

EDITOR: Your Nov. 17 BROADCASTING carries the story of _Lights Out_ and its re-issue as a syndicated radio feature by some Hollywood show peddlers. Your yarn states that Arch Obler [sic] was the show's original creator ...

Lights Out was the brainchild of the late Wyllis Cooper. It came into being in the late [sic] '30's in Chicago. It was performed there by some of the fine radio names that made Chicago the hub of broadcasting in the '30's ... Raymond Johnson, Betty Winkler, Bernadine Flynn, Sid Ellstrom, Art Jacobson to name a few.

As an NBC property _Lights Out_ was ultimately moved to New York. On the death [sic] of Cooper the direction of the show was taken over by Obler [sic] adopted Coop's format and added few if any touches of his own, except name casting.

Robert Brown, Lexington, Ky. (NBC Chicago announcer, 1932-1946; now instructs in broadcast advertising, University of Kentucky).


MS
Senior Member

Usergroup: Member
Joined: Mar 14, 2003
Total Topics: 58
Total Posts: 161
Posted 06/16/08 - 16:24:30:
quote post
#5
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Info on Cooper's The Spirit of '41 / The Spirit of '42:

http://www.geocities.com/emruf8/spirit.html
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[June 1, 1936 Oakland (CA) Tribune]

Radio Writer Wins Contract With Movies

Because Darryl F. Banusk, [sic] 20th Century-Fox production chief, listens to the radio while driving his automobile, Willis Cooper, radio continuity writer, will henceforth be writing motion pictures.

Cooper, for three [sic] years chief continuity writer for the National Broadcasting Company and for several years with the Columbia Broadcasting System, has been signed to an exclusive long term contract by the studio, according to announcement by Zanuck.

Zanuck's attention was attracted to Cooper by two programs in particular, "Flying Time" and "Lights Out," which are now on the air.
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[November 20, 1937 San Antonio Light - Excerpt from Louella Parson's syndicated column - At this time, Cooper is supposed to have been writing the brief movie adaptations on "Hollywood Hotel," an hour-long variety show.]

... Harry Sherman's "The Barrier," did a box office leap wherever it has been shown and he is crediting the air preview on "Hollywood Hotel" with its success.
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[July 14, 1948 Cumberland (MD) Evening Times]

... Wyllis Cooper, author-producer-director of "Quiet Please" on, MBS Monday nights, has been spending weekends at the New Jersey farm of Ernest Chappell, the show's narrator. But Bill comes back to town more exhausted than when he left.

He gets all tired out just sitting in the shade with a cool drink, watching Chappell rush around watering the stock, hoeing the corn and doing the rest of the chores. No farmer, he. ...




Edited by MS on 06/16/08 - 16:27:28
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