cliff arquette • the many faces of otr actor

February 2013Volume 37 • Number 10

sperdvac

CLIFF ARQUETTE • THE MANY FACES OF OTR ACTOR LARRY DOBKIN • WHAT’S ON RADIO FEBRUARY 1952

2 sperdvacRADIOGRAM • FEBRUARY 2013

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OU

• ALICE AKINS in memory of Glen Akins• DAVE AMAREL in memory of Jim

Harmon• ARTHUR J.M. ANDERSON in memory

of Orson Welles• ERIC BAELEN• JUDIE BARTELL in memory of Harry

Bartell, Ben Wright and Vic Perrin• PAUL M. BENNETT• OLIVER BERLINER in memory of John

Guedel, Martha Tilton and Lena Romay

• FRED BONDY in memory of the whole Gunsmoke gang

• GEORGE BRECKENRIDGE• DAVID & LINDA BRENINGER• BUD BRESNAHAN in memory of Rich-

ard Crenna• RICHARD A. BROCKELMAN• DENNIS B. BURK in memory of Phil

Harper• CHRIS M. BUZZARD• RICHARD CHANDLEE in memory of

Truda Marsen Chandlee• GEROLD M. CLEMENSEN• WARD L. COCHRAN• BERT H. COHEN• RICHARD F. COLAVECHIO in memory

of Bryna Raeburn, Craig McDonnell, Bill Zuckert and Florence Robinson

• JOHN COLLINS• THOMAS W. COLLINS in memory of

William Conrad• TOMMY COOK in memory of Arch

Oboler• IVAN CURY in memory of Bob Novak• DIX DAVIS• LLOYD DE LLAMAS• ROSEMARY DOBBS• JUNE FORAY DONAVAN in memory of

Hobart Donavan• WIL DUFOUR• BOB DUNCAN, JR.• HERB ELLIS in memory of Larry Dob-

kin, Harry Bartell and Parley Baer• JAY ELZWEIG in honor of the Long Is-

land Radio & TV Historical Society, the WCWP-FM Alumni Association and Staff, John “The Movie Man” Carpen-ter and Eddie “The Old Philosopher” Lawrence

• HENRY C. ENGELHARDT III in memory of Michael Meredith

• CARMEN FINESTRA

• DAVID FOLKMAN• ART FORSTER in memory of Gil Stratton

and William Conrad• JACK FRANCE• BARBARA FULLER in memory of John

Newland, Peggy Knudsen and Laughter• JACK GAGNE• BARRY GERBER• STANLEY D. GINSBURG• RICHARD GLASBAND in honor of Bobb

Lynes and Barbara Watkins• KATHLEEN GRAMS-GIBBS in memory of

Mary Grams• TOM J. GRIMSLEY in memory of Rose-

mary Dobbs, Art Linkletter and Stuart Lubin

• JOHN F. HALLEY• BARBARA HARMON in memory of Art

Hern, Jack Lester and Curley Bradley• HELPING HANDS FOR THE BLIND• BOB HICKS• GORDON HIGBEE• DR. MICHELE HILMES• STEPHEN E. HOLDEN• GERALD A. HOLZMAN• JAMES F. HORNER in memory of The KNX

Radio Drama Hour• SEAMAN JACOBS in memory of Fred S.

Fox• ROBERT JANOVICI• SALLY JANUS• DENNIS C. JOHNSON• RALPH M. JOHNSON• SAM KAMLER• CASEY KASEM• GLENDA KELLY in memory of Stuart

Lubin• NILAN L. KINCAID• ALBERT J. KOPEC• DENIS KRAY in memory of my beloved

parents, Norbert and Florence Kray• RON LANGSETH• JEFFREY J. LEBRUN in memory of all

departed voice artists• ALFRED LUCAS• LON McCARTT in memory of Smilin’ Ed

(Froggy the Gremlin) McConnell• ROBY & JOYCE McHONE• ESTHER GEDDES McVEY in memory of

my leading man, Tyler McVey• JAN MERLIN in memory of Frankie

Thomas and Mona Bruns Thomas• MIKE MORITZ in gratitude for all of old-

time radio

• JAMES L. MORRISON• MILLIE MORSE in memory of Jim

Harmon• BOB MOTT to all the SFX artists when

radio was still radio• GEORGE (BOB) & VIRGINIA NEWHART

in memory of Bill Quinn• JAN ELLIS O’HARE in loving memory of

Antony Ellis• ROBERT OLSEN• DR. WAYNE OTT• FORREST F. OWEN• GARRY PAPERS• DAVE PARKER in memory of Fred Foy• PHIL PROCTOR• BRIAN E. RAMSEY• CHESTER RAWSKI in memory of Car-

rolyn Rawski• MARIE RAYMOND• RONALD M. REISNER, M.D.• DICK RICHARDS• D.W. RICHARDSON• STEPHEN K. SHUTTLEWORTH• STUART & JANIS SIMON• CHUCK SIVERTSEN• LOREN SLAFER• KENNETH L. SLEEPER• LEE SMITH• MICKEY SMITH• C. W. STAUFENBERG in memory of Paul

Rhymer and members of the “Vic and Sade” cast

• RICHARD STONE• ROBERT A. SUMMERS• JON D. SWARTZ in memory of Jim

Harmon• RICHARD & MADELENE TEPERSON in

memory of Gil Stratton• JOAN TREMAYNE in memory of Les

Tremayne• EDMUND TOTMAN• EUGENE J. WARD• WASHINGTON OLD TIME RADIO CLUB

in memory of Jim Harmon• EDWARD C. WEAVER• BETSY L. WEINBERG• LESLIE C. WEST• JAMES C. WORDEN

sperdvac 3FEBRUARY 2013 • RADIOGRAM

BOARD OF DIRECTORSpresident

Bob Steinmetz• • •

Dan Haefele • Dave StruthersRex Quinn • Glenda Kelly

Barbara Harmon

Editor

PATRICK LUCANIORADIOGRAM is published monthly except December by sperdvac, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy, a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, P.O. Box 669, Manhattan Beach, Cali-fornia 90266-0669. Dues are $25 for first year and $15 for renewals; $30 American currency for Canadian members. Annual subscriptions to Radiogram only are $15 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and $20 in all other countries. Edito-rial submissions are welcome, but the publisher assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. All editorial-related photographs and artwork received unsolic-ited become the property of sperdvac. Opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinions of sperdvac All rights to letters sent to Radiogram will be treated as uncondition-ally assigned for publication unless otherwise stated. The publishers make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information published in editorial and advertising material but assume no responsibility for inconveniences or damages resulting from editorial error or omissions. Publisher is not responsible for typographical errors. All photographs and illustrations are believed authorized for reproduction as set forth within. Entire contents are copyright © 2013 by the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy. All rights reserved. Nothing contained in this issue may be reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means, including the Internet, without prior written permission from the publisher.

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Volume 37 • Number 10 • February 2013

OfficersTreasurer ....................................................... Dan HaefeleSecretary .......................................................Glenda KellyActivities Chair ........................................Barbara HarmonAcquisitions Chair ......................................... Dan HaefeleMembership Chair ........................................ Barry OpligerElections Chair ........................................... Neil J. MitchellMerchandise ..................................................Michael PlettCatalogs .....................................................Bob SteinmetzNew Members .................................................. Rex Quinn

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Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy

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HILE traveling back in time the other evening via YouTube, I was reintroduced to a charming old fellow, the first citizen of Mt.

Idy, Charley Weaver. Charley was a humorist, homespun philosopher, storyteller and gentle wit whom most folks today, if they recall him at all, remember as occupying one of the squares on Hollywood Squares. Then again, Charley’s ongoing role as Mrs. Butterworth in the Mrs. Butterworth Syrup commercials may cause a spark of recognition for some folks. Charley’s re-sume, however, was much more substan-tive than merely serving as a game show fixture or commercial spokesperson.

First of all, Charley’s real name was Cliff Arquette. Charley Weaver was a character Arquette perfected for television in the early 1950s after a twenty-year stint on radio per-forming in various capacities under his actual name. It seems clear that Cliff’s television persona was derived from his years of radio work.

Weaver was born in Toledo, OH, in 1905. His parents were Vaudeville performers; their act was called Arquette and Clark. Eventu-ally, Cliff joined the act along with his two brothers, Russ and Less. Cliff became profi-cient on both the piano and the trumpet. At the age of fourteen he quit high school and formed his own Jazz band, Cliff Arquette and His Purple Derbies. At 17 Arquette moved to Los Angeles and performed in a variety of local bands.

Cliff’s resume would broaden considerably. He became not only a top comedian but also a writer, pianist, composer, actor and business-man. Cliff’s radio career can be traced back to the early 1930s when he began appearing along with Warren Gale in Cliff and Lolly. The program was a syndicated 15-minute feature composed of music, songs and corny humor. In 1935, Cliff was appearing occasionally on another syndicated series, Hollywood Spot-light. Cliff used the opportunity to perfect an early character of his creation, Aunt Addie “The Anemic Evangelist.” Serving as Cliff’s straight man for those appearances was Don Wilson. Aunt Addie could probably best be described as a little old lady with a gentle but cockeyed view of life. In Aunt Addie we clearly find the seeds of Mama Weaver and Mrs. Butterworth who would later come to

prominence on television under Cliff’s skill-ful tutelage.

Radio opportunities were becoming in-creasingly plentiful for Cliff. By the late 1930s, he was routinely being called upon to appear with some of the top names on the airwaves including Jack Benny, Rudy Vallee and Red Skelton. In 1940, Cliff was given the starring

role in a new situa-tion comedy, Point Sublime. The series was restricted to the West Coast during its initial four-year run on NBC. Cliff was featured as Ben Willet, mayor of the small coastal town of Point Sublime, as well

as owner of the town’s only general store. In some respects Ben Willet was a younger, more polished version of Charley Weaver. Point Sublime left the airwaves in 1944. Rather sur-prisingly, in 1947 Cliff and the rest of the cast from the original series were asked to reprise their roles for ABC on a nationwide basis. In certain respects, Ben Willet’s Point Sublime had much in common with Charley Weaver’s Mt. Idy. Both communities offered a sense of continuity and tradition in a changing age.

Another of Arquette’s starring vehicles was a little remembered and rather schizophrenic series called Glamour Manor. It was a daily program; three times a week the show oper-ated as a situation comedy while twice each week it turned into an audience participation program. During the comedy phases, Cliff functioned as the manager of a rundown establishment, the Glamour Manor Hotel. He was not only Mr. Arquette, the manager, but Cliff also assumed a couple of additional roles including that of Captain Billy, an old codger who was a mighty fine imitation of Charley Weaver.

Over the years, Cliff made numerous ap-pearances on Fibber McGee and Molly in dif-ferent roles. Cliff’s tenure as the Old Timer was particularly important not only for the series but for Arquette himself. If you listen carefully you can clearly hear traces of Charley Weaver shining through.

On television, Cliff Arquette comfortably morphed into Charley Weaver complete with mischievous grin, rolled up shirtsleeves, suspenders, baggy pants, crumped hat and an unending collection of stories of life in Mt. Idy. Without all of those years behind the radio microphone, however, it is doubtful that Charley Weaver would ever have existed.[

Cliff finds Charley


BY PEG SIMPSONWith more than a year of experience and

success behind it NBC’s radio triumph, The Big Show, is continuing its merry, sparkling, sometimes racy way with little letdown in pace and no drop in audiences.

Here is one radio show that is worth more than a couple video offerings on Sunday night. (Maybe that will tie this little discourse to Televi-sion Talk).

There is little wonder that The Big Show, heard at 6:30 p.m. on WSYR, captured top honors as the champion of champions in the annual Motion Picture Daily-Fame poll again last year.

Every week, for an hour-and-a-half, Tal-lulah Bankhead’s throaty “dahlings” tie together what adds up to radio’s only true variety show. Each week Miss Bankhead is as insulting, as throaty, as raspy, as amusing, as she was the week before. Each week the audiences love her even more.

Insults are habitual on The Big Show. So is Tallu’s voice. So are Meredith Willson’s excellent orchestrations. So is Tallu’s ego. But although there is sameness, The Big Show is not static. It’s still shining as radio’s Big Star, Big Show.

These facts are easily discernible. From your chair in front of the radio you can get in the mood of The Big Show, swing into its fast pace, be entertained by its banter, humor, drama and music.

The studio audience has bonuses. From what I hear that audience really sees a big show. With thousands to be kept happy in the studio for 90 minutes each week the solution to staging what could be a dull-to-watch radio show was worked out with lights.

Every star is lighted individually—it’s a regular variety production with special light-ing effects.

The Big Show is worth 90 minutes of listen-ing, too. For true radio variety entertainment it can’t be surpassed.

Telecast of an operation on a human heart, originally scheduled as a part of Ed Murrow’s See It Now on WHEN at 3:30 this afternoon, has been cancelled. A test run of a similar operation brought the conclusion that the

showing would be “too clinical for a Sunday afternoon audience.”

In place of the operation, which was to have been a live pickup from the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, will be a couple of film features. One will treat on the Detroit unemployment situation and the other on the congressional investigation into Army and Navy purchasing. In addition, more time is being allowed to films of King George’s funeral in London.

The real-life drama of the ill-fated Em-peror Maximillan of Mexico will be seen at 9 p.m. on the Goodyear Playhouse, WSYR-TV. Felicia Monteleagre will be seen as the empress,Carlotta Amalia, and Leslie Nielsen will be seen as Maximillan.

“Crown of Shadows” will also have in its cast Edmund Purdom, Harry Andrews, Robert Carroll, Anthony Eustral, and many others.

Paul Whiteman will take his video audience on a trip to Paris at 7 p.m., WHEN, and, going along for the ride, will be Earl Wrightson, vo-calist Maureen Cannon, and the guest of the evening—Priscilla Gillette, former Syracuse University student.

It’s time for another Cantor Comedy Hour. Eddie Cantor returns to the show at 8 p.m. today, WSYR-TV, with a tiny guest—nine-year-old dancer Sharon Baird, another of Cantor’s “discoveries.”

The show will be the entertainer’s first since his 60th birthday celebration at which more than $2,500,000 was raised for Israel bonds. Guests OF the show, no ON the show, will be Navy personnel especially invited by Cantor from hospitals and installations he has visited recently.

Another edition of the “George White Scandals” seen a while ago on Toast of the Town, will be brought back to that show by Emcee Ed Sullivan at 8 p.m. today, WHEN.

The first edition of the “Scandals” was well received and a truly entertaining half hour, musical and humorous. As in the first show, George White will again be principal guest. Performers will include Harry Richman, co-medians Smith and Dale, and singer Richard Hayes. New artists will be Toni Arden and the Costello Twins, acrobatic dancers.

Open Shelf Room at 2 p.m., WSYR-TV, will feature a discussion of “Two-Thirds of a Nation” by Mrs. Robert Kemp, Dr. Spencer Parratt and Richard Mosher.

On the Fred Waring Show at 9 p.m., WHEN, a new song is expected to be spotlighted. It’s called “One Little Candy”—inspired by the Christopher Movement and written by J. Maloy Roach and George Mysels. The song, since recorded by the Pennsylvanians, came about after Roach read the phrase, “better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” in the first Christopher book. Now millions area learning of the Catholic movement spurred by “One Little Candle.”

What Do You Think? At 1 p.m. on WHEN, will present a discussion of “Should College Athletes Be Paid?” by panelists Jim Crowley, Mrs. Ralph Berendt, Gotch Carr and Wallace J. Brenner. Mrs. Rhea Eckel will be modera-tor and Mrs. Richard L. Sullivan will be the Corinthian hostess for today.

Guests on Celebrity Time at 10 p.m., WHEN, will be singer Jane Morgan and football star Dick Kazmaier. Collegiate sports and events of past Olympic games will be the topic for the two along with regulars Herman Hickman and Jane Wilson.

WFBL will be carrying CBS’ new radio show, World News with Robert Trout, at 5:30 p.m. Sundays, beginning today. The show will use the full corps of CBS correspondents over the globe, brought in by Trout in direct broadcasts from the lands in which they are working. Sounds like another good news show in the offing.

The People Act at 10:05 p.m., WFBL, will tell how the city people of Tupelo, Miss, and the farming population of the seven surround-ing counties emancipated themselves from the limitations of a one-crop economy.

Theater Guild at 8:30 p.m., WSYR radio, will present James Stewart, Josephine Hull and Coleen Gray in “The Meanest Man in the World,” a heart-warming comedy despite the title.

NBC’s Radio Triumph, The Big Show,Tallulah at Helm, Wins Acclaim

Television Talk

OLD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS •The Syracuse NY Post-Standard • Sunday, February 17, 1952

Peg Simpson


We now have a new library. It is Ar-chives 1-700 CD. At $1.10 per CD you can order up to 15 at a time. You have 30 days to listen and enjoy before re-turning them. Order today from Bob Steinmetz at P.O. Box 669 Manhattan Beach Ca. 90266.


Reproduction of page layout showcasing radio star Larry Dobkin’s obvious visual talent for makeup. TV Guide • June 20, 1959


The format of The Big Show was a variety program with repartee, music, dramatic sketches, comedy routines, excerpts drama-tized from recent motion pictures and cur-rent Broadway hits, novelty monologues and instrumental and vocal novelties with special spots paying tribute to outstanding members of show business and other acknowledgments to the more serious side of living such as the meaning of living and playing in a country like America. The Big Show ran a total of two seasons and by the time the second season premiered excerpts of recent motion pictures had been dropped in favor of current Broadway hits.

A great array of name guest stars were featured each week, averaging eight stars per week, with Tallulah Bankhead as the “mistress of ceremonies.” The program was directed by Dee Engelbach with James Harvey as the NBC producer (first season). Script writers included Goodman Ace, Welbourn Kelley, Frank Willson, Mort Green, Selma Diamond, George Foster, Joel Murcott in addition to a number of collaborators depending on the guests’ needs. The musical background, bridg-es and specialties were arranged and in many cases composed especially for the program by Meredith Willson. Special lyrics from time to time were written by Sammy Kahn. The chorus and choir consisted of 16 voices under choral master Max Teer who oversaw the vocals for the first season with Ray Charles overseeing the vocals during the second season with over all musical direction under Meredith Willson. Sponsor Breakdown

The sponsor breakdown for the series was normally divided into two segments. During the September 30, 1951, to April 20, 1952, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. season, the 6:30 to 7:00 portion was sponsored by Reynolds Metals Company on straight contract (Bert Cowlan was an-

nouncer) but did not “sponsor” program. In other words, Reynolds did not “present” The Big Show as had been the sponsor/program relationship prior to the Operation Tandem. The remainder of the program was sold to Tandem sponsors. From September 30, 1951, through April 20, 1952, the program was sponsored by Leggett & Myers (recorded commercials featuring the “Chesterfield Stars”) and Whitehall; from October 28, 1951, through April 20, 1952, the series was sponsored by American Chicle (the big chew-ing gum firm). However, on December 23, 1951, the sole sponsor was Western Union (straight contract); on January 13, 1952, the sole sponsor was Buick, division of General Motors; and on February 10, 1952, the sole sponsor was Elgin, division of Illinois Watches

The first two broadcasts of the second sea-son, September 30 and October 7, were tran-scribed from broadcasts done overseas. Since the September 30 broadcast exists in recorded form, we’ll focus on the season premiere later on. Every episode from the first season exists and is presently circulating among collectors so for this article we’ll focus pri-marily on the second season episodes, which are considered the “lost” episodes of 1951, and we’ll explore the 1952 broadcasts later. Broadcast of October 7, 1951.

Ben Smith is the announcer for the Paris broadcast. Guests: song stylist Josephine Baker; British comedienne and vocalist Gracie Fields; motion picture stars Joan Fontaine, William Gargan, George Sanders and Georges Guetary; French actor and co-median Fernand Gravet; French movie and stage actress Françoise Rosay; Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa; and Paul Durand, associate conductor for the orchestra composed of Paris musicians with Meredith Willson, conductor.

In tonight’s program, Joan Fontaine does a

was an NBC house-built package and an innovation in show business deriving its

name from the fact that the talent roster each week included “the biggest names in show business”—name guest stars were

all top performers in their own fields chosen from ranks of music, drama, comedy in stage, motion picture, concert, radio and

television. The Big Show was the first program ever to be presented under NBC’s new sponsorship plan known as Operation

Tandem, in which sponsors were offered participation in sponsorship of five top evening programs each week with no more

than three sponsors to be included in each 30-minute program time. Prior to this, radio programs primarily featured only one

sponsor throughout the time slot although the same sponsor was able to promote more than one of their own products. The

Operation Tandem shows were described overall as the “Five Show Festival” including programs whose formats were varied to

offer drama, variety, music, comedy and mystery.

Eve r y e p i s o d e from the first sea-son exists and is presently circu-lating among col-lectors so for this article we’ll focus primarily on the second season episodes, which are considered the “lost” epi-

sodes of 1951.

by Martin Grams, Jr.


scene from Letter From an Unknown Woman with George Sanders in the role of “the Man,” in the classic love story by Stephen Sweig (which was made into a 1948 movie starring Joan Fontaine). Fred Allen and Tallulah Bankhead then do a take-off on the story. Another special feature was the presentation of a scene from Dr. Knock, a comedy which starred the late Louis Jouvet, a distinguished actor who died a few weeks prior. In Jouvet’s memory, Fernand Gravet and French players play the scene in a special adaptation of Dr. Knock. Josephine Baker sang a medley that understandably drew an ovation from the Paris audience.

In Paris, the audience, filling the 2,200-seat Empire to capacity, applauded lustily throughout. The French liked particularly the tasteful tribute paid to the late Louis Jouvet by Tallulah Bankhead and the rest of the cast. Some critics, however, felt that

Josephine Baker rather than Bankhead stole the spotlight on this broadcast. “As far as the audience was concerned,” the London Daily Mail continental edition said, “the star was Josephine Baker.” It added: “Tallulah herself received a good reputation. While all the other women walked modestly on stage in evening dresses of black lace and black velvet, Josephine made an entrance as though she was at the Folies Bergere in a billowing white gown of chiffon with sparkling silver sequins and an African type hair-do pyramiding up a foot above her head. Her singing of jungle songs brought down the house.”

The Paris newspaper France-Soir, surpris-ingly, termed Bankhead “truly irresistible,” and “an astonishing woman… something of a national institution,” and then mused: “De-cisive, positive, she looks a lot like a Sunday school teacher. Yet she is celebrated for her extravagances and her audacity.” This was,

however, the only French newspaper I have been able to find that spent more praise on Bankhead than Baker.

The October 7 broadcast originated from the stage of the Empire Theatre in Paris. The program was recorded on September 24. The tape was then shipped to the United States where the network edited it for airing. Part of the 90-minute program was aired on the Light Program portion of Radiodiffusion Francaise, but the entire broadcast was not heard over European networks. The French system could broadcast only part of the show, since it had previous commitments for airtime. Pre-broad-cast interest in the program was heightened by the opening of the Medical Congress, which would see the first demonstrations in France of the CBS color television system. Equip-ment was brought from Germany, where it was used by the Economic Cooperation Administration for the recent Berlin youth rally, for demonstration in surgical operations during the Congress. Two events occurring at the same time were making the French more conscious of American show biz than they had been for some time.

The chorus which backed the show last week in London was imported to France, but it was found that a local group, headed by Edith Constantine, who played opposite Edith Piaf at the ABC, was okay. Several changes were made in the tape recording of the program before the October 7 broadcast. Gracie Fields sang some tunes from The King and I but since they could not be cleared for the U.S., she taped other tunes for the U.S. version. In addition, Georges Guetary, origi-nally scheduled for the show, could not get a release from manager Maurice Lehmann, for whom he was currently starring in Don Carlos at the Chatelet. As a result, he taped some material for insertion in the program when it aired in the U.S.

“From a comedy standpoint, it rated with the best of the crop, thanks to sharp, brittle scripting that found Tallulah Bankhead, Fred Allen, George Sanders and Gracie Fields in fine fettle,” reviewed Variety (obviously com-menting about the U.S. broadcast version). “In contrast to the previous week’s ‘playback’ of the London-originating Palladium show, which made too determined an effort to ‘go British’ and in the process got into an uncom-fortable groove, last Friday’s frolic, obviously pattered to the taste of Americans in Paris, was spirited, bouncy and laugh provoking.”Broadcast of October 14, 1951

Broadway star Shirley Booth; comedian Jimmy Durante; musical comedy star Ethel Merman; motion picture star George Sanders; Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa.

The theme of this episode (and what could be described as the title of the broadcast) is the “Southern Show Train” which originated in New Orleans and brought passengers to The Big Show from New Orleans, Natchez, Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta, Columbus, and Montgomery to attend the broadcast at Centre Theatre in New York, where The

The star of The Big Show, Miss Tallulah Bankhead.Photo courtesy of Kerry Miller and reprinted by permission


Big Show broadcasts originated. The train arrived the night before, October 13, and the passengers were entertained by Tallulah Bankhead, broadcast officials and sponsors. For the audience, the climax of the festivities was attending the broadcast of October 14. The running of “Show Trains” for the broad-casts from time to time originated last season and continued for this season, only once, with a “Southern Show Train” originating in New Orleans. Another purpose of the Show Train was to help publicize the new season of The Big Show, through newspaper articles in numerous cities. The broadcast included the old South theme applied throughout comedy and music.

This is the only episode of the series to feature no dramatic sketches. Music and comedy routines with the “insults” of Tallulah Bankhead and Ethel Merman were heaved mutually for the feature spots. Bankhead did a dramatic reading by reciting names from the telephone directory in a highly melodramatic manner to prove to Ethel Merman that the telephone directory could be dramatic mate-rial for a fine dramatic actress. If that seems repetitive, it’s because that was how the lines were delivered on the program, emphasizing silly humor. Fred Allen did a monologue, a take-off on An American in Paris (1951), which just had its New York opening ten days prior. Allen apologizes to MGM for what they were about to do to the story. Shirley Booth sang songs from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Jimmy Durante sang “I’m a Fugitive from Esquire,” with jovial references to his costumes. A medley of Southern songs was presented by the orchestra and chorus, including “Laura Lee.” Meredith Willson featured his revised version of “Aura Lee,” the old Southern song which the West Point cadets now use under the title of “Army Blue.”

During the pre-broadcast warm-up and also the entertainment following the actual broadcast, the various Southern guests were introduced to the audience and various gifts were exchanged between Tallulah and guests. Near the close of the broadcast, Bankhead thanked the Southern Show Train guests, mentioning that she had just been invited by the Natchez delegation to attend the Natchez Pilgrimage next Spring. The King and Queen of the Pilgrimage presented her with a spe-cial ante-Bellum costume which Bankhead wore when she attended the Pilgrimage. Broadcast of November 4, 1951

Singing comedienne Joan Davis; vocalist Herb Jeffries; vocal star of concert stage Evelyn Knight; motion picture star George Sanders; comedian Groucho Marx.

This broadcast originated from Hollywood instead of New York. The Reynolds com-mercial was provided by transcription, so an-nouncer Bert Cowlan was still heard hocking Reynolds wrap. The “Tandem” commercials and the continuity announcements were done by a Hollywood announcer, Wendell Niles, marking his only appearance on the program. The regular announcer, Ed Herlihy, did not make the trip to Hollywood and remained in New York.

During this broadcast, George Sanders starred in a radio version of the classic Honore de Balzac short story, The Mysterious Mansion (1830). Sanders played the role of Monsieur de Merrett, a French nobleman whose wife deceives him by entertaining a Spanish officer. When her husband returns unexpectedly, she hides her lover in a closet and tells the hus-band there is nobody around. The husband says he trusts her so well that he will never open the door to the closet where he had dared to think someone was hiding. Instead, he calls in a stone mason and has the closet sealed shut immediately. The role of the wife was played by Lurene Tuttle. Barney Phil-lips was cast in the role of the man. Tallulah Bankhead does a satiric monologue about the men who sit at the “left” at dinner par-ties. The monologue is provided by Dorothy Parker. Since this episode originated from Hollywood, this marked the only broadcast of the series Lurene Tuttle and Barney Phillips, character actors, would make on the program. Broadcast of November 11, 1951

Vocal star Morton Downey; comedian Jerry Lester; satirist Jackie Miles; emcee and comedian Ken Murray; comedienne and sing-ing entertainer Sophie Tucker; motion picture star Ann Sheridan; vocalist and youthful RCA recording artist June Valli.

Back in New York after last week’s one-time performance from Hollywood, the re-mainder of the series would be broadcast from the Big Apple. Jackie Miles does a monologue about Miami, followed by a story about golf. Ted Shapiro, pianist, accompanied Sophie Tucker in a medley of some of the songs she made unforgettable. Ann Sheridan then presented a radio version of the Fay Grissom Stanley story, The Last Day of All, recently published in Twenty Great Tales of Murder (1951, Random House), in which a wife and her husband poison each other and will at last be free of each other. Martin Blaine, radio and stage actor, played the supporting role of her husband. Sheridan played Sari, the wife who would rather see her husband dead than give him up to another woman. June Valli no doubt appeared as a result of the sponsor’s involve-

ment. Following the guest spots, Tallulah Bankhead paid tribute to the observance of Armistice Day and read the letter written by Pfc. John J. McCormick, Marine, to two small daughters on the eve of his death in Korea. He felt a premonition that he might not live to write another letter, so he explained the meaning of living—and dying—for Freedom.

Ted Shapiro, who accompanied Sophie Tucker, was the co-author of “A Handful of Stars,” the opening theme song for The Big Show.Broadcast of November 25, 1951

Actors Dane Clark and Martha Scott, cur-rently appearing in the stage play The Number; actors George Sanders and Tallulah Bank-head; comedienne and musical comedy star Mary McCarthy accompanied by her regular

Fred Allen did a monologue, a take-off on An American in Paris (1951), which just had its New York opening ten days prior. Allen apologizes to MGM for what they were about to do to the story.

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accompanist Graham Forbes; and comedian Phil Foster.

Dane Clark and Martha Scott are co-starred in presenting a scene from the new 1951-1952 stage play The Number by Arthur P. Carter; Dane Clark portrays Dominic, a small-time bookmarker, and Martha Scott portrays Sylvia, a telephone bet-taker for one of the larger bookmakers. The story concerns the way these two people fall in love over the telephone, but realize that their lives will be in danger from the syndicate if they ever meet; in this “profession” bookmakers and bet-takers are to be only “voices” over the telephone. Also George Sanders joined Tal-lulah Bankhead in presenting the diminutive drama, Catherine Parr (1927), by Maurice Baring, with Sanders as King Henry VIII and Bankhead as Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife. Drama concerned a breakfast discussion between the King and Catherine, with an argument starting about the way eggs are prepared for His Majesty. Martha Wright,

night-club and Broadway star, currently doing her first big Broadway role as the Nurse in South Pacific, was also a guest. Phil Foster, comedian, did his own version of the “Egg Story” satirizing the Catherine Parr play. Foster pretended to be serving breakfast to the drug store counter clientele. Most of the guests took “bit parts” as they entered Phil’s drug store. Foster also did a monologue on naming babies. Foster’s “Naming Babies” monologue was written by Danny and Doc Simon. Martin Blaine, who played more sup-porting roles on The Big Show than any other actor, did supporting roles in the scene from The Number and other sketches.Broadcast of December 2, 1951

Singer Dolores Gray; actors Ginger Rog-ers, Paul McGrath, George Sanders and Tallulah Bankhead; and opera singer Lauritz Melchior.

Dolores Gray, singing star of Two on the Aisle, sang “Shrimp Boat.” Ginger Rogers and Paul McGrath presented Act Two, Scene One

of the Louis Verneuil comedy, Love and Let Love (1951), in which Rogers played Valerie King, toast of Broadway, and McGrath did the part of Charles Warren, her long-time friend and adviser. The Broadway play ran a total of 51 performances from October 19 to December 1, and just concluded a healthy run on the New York stage the day before this broadcast. George Sanders, dramatic star, did a take-off on Love and Let Love which Rog-ers and McGrath presented moments prior. Tallulah Bankhead took the role of Valerie King in the Sanders version. Lauritz Melchior, operatic star and concert singer, sang Leon-cavallo’s Mattinata. Later, Tallulah, Sanders, Melchior and the choir sang “I Wish I Wuz” (I wish I wuz a singer at the Met…”) Near the end of the numerous verses, the other guests joined in.

After the drama, the following comedy was presented: Wally Cox, comedian, did his original monologues “Dufo” (Dufo was a friend of mine, a crazy guy…) and “The

George Sanders, Groucho Marx and other are amused by something that Fred Allen has said during broadcast of The Big Show.Photograph courtesy of Kerry Miller and used by permission


Hinker” (about the man who wanted to invest in a night club). Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa did a take-off on his “Allen’s Alley” by knocking on the doors of all the guests to take a poll: “How many people like Tallulah Bankhead on Sunday night’s Big Show?” Allen and Portland also did a sketch, “The Allens at Home,” to show Ginger Rogers how the Fred Allen family normally live. Broadcast of December 9, 1951

Motion picture stars Ann Sothern, Robert Cummings; radio performer Ed “Archie” Gardner; vocalist Hildegarde; and RCA re-cording star Eddy Arnold.

Ann Sothern and Robert Cummings re-prised their starring roles in the Broadway comedy Faithfully Yours by Bush-Fekete; and Mary Helen Fay presented an excerpt from the play with Sothern as Vivian Harding and Robert Cummings as Thomas O’Harding. The Broadway play ran for a total of 68 performances from October 18 to December 15, 1951. The story concerned a wife who was interested in psychoanalysis and who interpreted her husband’s every action in the light of “complexes.” The husband was a man of routine—had a day and a time for every-thing— except love making. The love making, however, was what saved the marriage. Ed “Archie” Gardner, star of Duffy’s Tavern, told his story about Two-Top Gruskin, the famous baseball player on Duffy’s team, Duffy’s All-American Irish Yankees usually referred to as the D.A.A.I.Y. , the same monologue that Gardner recited on numerous other radio programs many times over. Gardner also joined Tallulah Bankhead in a take-off on the Faithfully Yours excerpt presented a short time earlier by Sothern and Cummings.

Eddy Arnold, the “Tennessee Playboy,” RCA Recording star, and specialist in Ameri-can Western music, was a guest and sang a couple songs. Considering RCA was one of the sponsors, his appearance on the program came as no surprise. Hildegarde sang “All Will Come Right” and later joined Bankhead in an “insult contest.” Jean Carroll, comedienne and night-club entertainer, did a monologue about her husband—how she met him, how other men affect her, how her husband always sends her on vacations via bus so she won’t have the trouble of going to the airport, having her luggage weighed and maybe getting air-sick. Carroll was wearing a mink coat for which she paid $5000—as Tallulah asks, “Is that with the tax or did you get it in Washington?”

The program con-cluded with a night club act in which Tal-lulah Bankhead was

the main entertainer supported by all the guests. She played the piano in this scene (she really does play the piano) with a few bars of “Rustle of Spring,” interspersed with her vocalizing of a medley including a few bars of “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “You Go To My Head.”

Even though Thanksgiving came and went, the Reynolds Metals sponsored seg-ment (7 to 7:30 p.m.) offered a free copy of “Roasting Turkey in Metals Wrap.” Radio listeners were to write in to Turkey Depart-ment, Reynolds Metals Co., Louisville, Kentucky. This was the sponsor’s apparent attempt to gauge the size of the listening audience. A free book was offered almost every week beginning with this broadcast. Broadcast of December 16, 1951

Comic and TV star Jack Carson; Stage and screen actress Rosalind Russell; new RCA recording star Merv Griffin; vocalist and recording star Sarah Vaughn; comedian Henny Youngman; comedian and star of the Broadway hit, Top Banana, Phil Silvers

Actress Rosalind Russell did a presen-tation of the A.E. Coppard story, Fifty Pounds (1948), the story about a young couple who have only love—but no money. The man is a writer who is too proud to allow his wife to work. Finally, she decides to leave him because she can no longer bear the pain and frustra-tion that comes to him every time he gets another rejection slip. Just as she is packing, she learns that her former employer has

left her 80 Pounds! Because she knows her husband’s pride, she realizes he will not accept money from her so she mails him 50 Pounds “from an admirer who has read his works in the past.” She sees him open the envelope and put his 50 pounds into his pocket. He never tells her about the gift and bids her a fond, but heartbroken, farewell when she insists on leaving and working. His response reveals to her the true worth of his “pride and ideals.” Russell played Lally, the girl. Martin Blaine played Phil, the husband. Carl Frank was cast as the solicitor who informs Lally Repton of her bequest.

Tallulah Bankhead presented a tribute to CARE and senders of CARE packages. She told the story of CARE at Christmas and read a letter from a recipient of a CARE package, Mrs. Bertha Kekkonen, Helsinki, Finland, who wanted to know who sent her a CARE packet. “If the sender is listening, please con-tact Paul Conly French, Executive Director of CARE,” Bankhead explained. “Mrs. Kek-konen wants to thank the sender personally.” Broadcast of December 23, 1951

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CORRECTIONIn last issue’s report on Convention 2012

it was stated in the review of the Captain Midnight presentation that “Tooru Kawabata and Norm Krim extrapolated the science to produce some rather convincing non-working replicas.” It should have read, “working repli-cas.” Captain Midnight author Leonard Zane writes, “The Pocket Locators work, containing 7 vintage subminiature vacuum tubes that outperform the 1945 (5-miniature-tube) BC-611F Handie-Talkie by a factor of over 4 to 1, and doubtless would have been classified Top Secret at the time.”

Comedian Milton Berle; opera star Robert Merrill; soprano Margaret Truman; pianist-composter Alec Templeton.

Comedian Milton Berle did a serious dra-matic role in the radio adaptation of the mod-ern story, “Christmas Present.” Berle played Stardust Jackson, with Tallulah Bankhead in the role of Lorna. Martin Blaine was in the supporting cast as Dan. Once big names in show business, Lorna and Stardust quarrel; now they meet both “on the road” with a little show playing a snow-isolated North Dakota town on Christmas Eve. Joel Murcott wrote the original script. (Note: Not to be confused with the Christmas sketch written by Murcott for the December 23, 1948 broadcast of the Sealtest Variety Theatre.)

Robert Merrill, operatic star, sang “Credo” from the opera, Othello. Margaret Truman, soprano, included among her songs the lovely holiday offering, “Oh, Leave Your Sheep.” Ozzie and Harriet Nelson were also guests. Alec Templeton, pianist-composer, did sev-eral of his original “impressions” including one of Tallulah singing “Ain’t She Sweet.” Tallulah read “Touch Hands” written by William Harrison Murray, especially for the

Christmas season. The entire cast and guest roster joined in singing Christmas carols as part of the closing numbers on the program. Broadcast of December 30, 1951

Comedienne Joan Davis; actor Jackie Miles; actress and radio/TV star Gertrude Berg; singers Johnny Johnston and Georgia Gibbs; Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa.

The New Year’s Eve program featured Joan Davis in a couple of skits. Jackie Miles did a monologue about his success in the horse-racing world where he placed his wagers regularly. Gertrude Berg, in her familiar role as Molly Goldberg, joined Tallulah in a review of the favorite Big Show programs of the past (excerpts of recordings of past shows) which took up the majority of the entire broadcast. Tallulah then read the Dorothy Parker monologue, “The Waltz.” Johnny Johnston and Georgia Gibbs, vocalists and night-club entertainers, performed together. Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa joined Johnny Johnston in doing a take-off on Tallulah’s reading of The Waltz.”[

The Salt Lake Tribune • January 1, 1945


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cliff arquette • the many faces of otr actor

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