Title: Monty Masters papers (ARA)

Identifier/Call Number: PA Mss 176

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections

Physical Description: 3 Linear Feet; (3 record boxes)

Creator: Masters, Monty (1912-1969)

Date (inclusive): circa 1941-1960

Date (bulk): circa 1946-1951

Abstract: The Monty Masters Papers of the American Radio Archives consists of 3.5 linear feet of scripts, story treatments and other material documenting the radio career of San Francisco-based comedian and writer Masters. Included in this collection are scripts for programs that Masters either wrote or starred in between the years 1946-1951. Most of these programs were broadcast locally in San Francisco by radio stations KGO and KNBC, such as Spotlight Theatre and The Eddy King Show, although some, such as Candy Matson, were carried nationally by the NBC network. Short stories, as well as story treatments and scripts for potential television shows in the 1950's are also included in this collection

Physical Location: Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library.

The collection is open for research.

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

[Identification of Item], Monty Masters Papers, PA Mss 176. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

This collection forms part of the American Radio Archives (ARA), which documents the early history of broadcasting, with an emphasis on California. The ARA was formerly housed at the Thousand Oaks Public Library and was owned and administered by the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation. It was transferred to the UCSB Library in 2021.

Monty Masters (1912-1969) started writing scripts for local radio programs in his native San Francisco prior to World War II (most of these scripts have his original name, Monty Mohn, on them). During the war he served in the army, working in a unit that produced theatrical performances for troops stationed in locations such as Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. Several of the short stories and plays that he wrote during this time period reflected this military background. After the war he returned to San Francisco, and one of his first jobs was writing scripts for Spotlight Playhouse, a dramatic anthology series broadcast over ABC affiliate KGO. In late 1947 he began working for KNBC, the local NBC radio station, on The Eddy King Show, a musical variety program. In addition to writing and producing various episodes, Masters was also a recurring character, alongside Sherman "Scatman" Crothers. Masters worked on this program until the fall of 1948, when he started hosting his own program, The Monty Masters Show, which was similar in format and featured a number of the same performers. In addition to his own show, Masters was also writing the scripts for Ready for Brady, another variety program featuring local radio announcer Ed Brady. Two of Masters' best known programs, which were both carried beyond San Francisco on the NBC network, were programs on which he collaborated with his wife, Natalie. The first, The Mad Masters, was a musical variety show featuring both Monty and Natalie as hosts, which ran as a summer replacement for Truth or Consequences in 1947. In early 1949, however, Masters began work on a detective series titled Candy Matson, 4 which would feature Natalie in the title role. This series was aimed to appeal to radio listeners who wanted something other than hard-boiled, male detectives. The character of Candy was a shrewd yet sensitive and glamorous figure, who often worked alongside Detective Mallard of the San Francisco Police, to whom she was romantically attracted, and who she ended up marrying at the conclusion of the series in 1951. Another feature of this series was the use of San Francisco and Northern California locales, reflecting the program's origins as a local program broadcast over KNBC before its jump to network status in September 1949. After the conclusion of Candy Matson in 1951, Masters started writing for television. Having relocated to Encino, California, Masters worked on several story treatments and scripts for TV broadcasts, hoping to place them through his agent. He also continued writing scripts for radio, even submitting a sample script to the writers of the radio version of Fibber McGee and Molly. He was unable, however, to recreate a series that enjoyed the success of Candy Matson. In the early 1960's he went to work for Warner Brothers, and later Paramount, as an assistant director, and continued to work in the film industry until his death in 1969.

The Monty Masters Collection encompasses the years 1941-1960, although the bulk of the collection consists of scripts for programs produced between the years 1946-1951. These scripts represent programs such as Spotlight Playhouse, The Eddy King Show, Ready for Brady, and The Monty Masters Show, all of which were broadcast locally in San Francisco, as well as the Candy Matson series, which started as a local program on station KNBC in June 1949 before being carried nationally on NBC in September 1949. These scripts comprise 2.5 linear feet of the collection. The remainder includes early short stories (ca. 1941); stories, scripts, and correspondence written during his period of military service (ca. 1943-1945), miscellaneous scripts either written by Masters or of programs on which his wife Natalie appeared (e.g., Jack Webb Show, Bing Crosby Show, Fibber McGee and Molly), and later sample scripts and story treatments Masters wrote for television and radio (ca. 1951-1960). Two radio programs from the late 1940s that featured Masters and his wife Natalie as co-hosts, Welcome to Studio A and The Mad Masters, are also represented by three and two scripts respectively. The latest item in this collection is a script for the televised production of the 32nd annual Academy Awards in 1960.

The materials in this collection are arranged into one series and ten sub-series by type. Series 1: Scripts; Sub-Series A: Spotlight Playhouse; Sub-Series B: The Eddy King Show; Sub-Series C: Ready for Brady; Sub-Series D: The Monty Masters Show; Sub-Series E: Candy Matson; Sub-Series F: Miscellaneous Scripts; Sub-Series G: Miscellaneous Materials: Pre-military and military years; Sub-Series H: Stage Plays; Sub-Series I: Miscellaneous material; Sub-Series J: Post NBC years: scripts and story lines.

Forms part of the American Radio Archives (ARA).