Mary Livingstone Meets Jack Benny

Mention the name “Jack Benny” and you’ll probably think of a guy who pretended to be 39 years old when he was considerably older, who kept his money in a vault and yelled for his servant Rochester. That’s what the Jack Benny character became, but in the early days of his radio career, he was someone else entirely.

Benny was hired by Canada Dry and its ad agency, N.W. Ayer, to act as a droll master of ceremonies on a half-hour variety programme featuring the music of bandleader George Olsen and his vocalists, including Olsen’s wife Ethel Shuttá. On the very first show, Benny and his writer Harry Conn hit on something revolutionary (at least the trade papers gave them credit)—they would sell their sponsor’s product by being completely dismissive about it. People tuned in to hear how Benny would make fun of Canada Dry. Before long, he was making fun of current movies and current affairs, to big audiences.

But during this time, there was no Rochester. Singer Dennis Day was in high school, not radio. Mel Blanc didn’t play a rattle-trap Maxwell or anything else. Benny’s radio “gang” was built piece by piece over the 1930s. The first piece was the character of Mary Livingstone, played by Benny’s wife, Sadye Marks. She didn’t start out as a sarcastic observer of Benny’s BS. That developed over the years. She started out as a gushing fan.

July 27, 1932 marked Mary’s first appearance on the twice-weekly Benny show, almost three months after it started on the air. An audio dub of the broadcast is not in circulation. It was thought that no copies of the script existed but dogged researcher Kathy Fuller Seeley managed to unearth one at the Library of Congress and we present it to you below. Unfortunately, one page is missing; presumably it was not scanned.

Noted critic John Crosby once pointed out Benny’s shows were far funnier on the air than what was on the printed page. This script is pretty hokey and you may wonder why such corny material was deemed a radio laugh riot. I’ve seen newspaper joke columns of the 1910s and ‘20s. This script reads like Restoration Comedy by comparison. General audience humour was a lot less sophisticated back then.

A few notes of introduction:

Paul Small and Dick “Hotcha” Gardner were vocalists with Olsen. Small was born in 1899 or 1900 in Iowa. By 1935, Small had left the Olsen and Paul Whiteman bands and was commuting from Buffalo to Rochester (New York, not the butler) to sing on a local station. Dick Gardner was a baritone sax player as well as a vocalist. he later owned the “Hot Cha Club” in Urbana, Maryland.

“Baldwin” refers to Harry Baldwin, who was Benny’s private secretary. He left Benny’s employ after being drafted in World War Two but never returned to work for him when the fighting stopped. As the show continued into the 1930s, he appeared on many episodes to “knock” on a door and spout a non-sequitur before disappearing.

Dorothy Ross wasn’t an actress. She was Olsen and Shutta’s private secretary, and also worked for Whiteman and Eddie Cantor. She was born Dorothy Rosenblum and died on June 8, 1953 after a long illness at the age of 49.

Mary wasn’t the only person making a debut in this episode. So was announcer Jimmy Wallington. Wallington left Union College for a job at WGZ Schenectady in 1929 and within a year was an NBC staff announcer. He announced for Texaco with both Eddie Cantor and Fred Allen, for Rudy Vallee and on many other shows. His radio journey took him to NBC’s Monitor in the 1960s and later the Voice of America. He was 65 when he died in 1972. Wallington didn’t last long with Benny for whatever reason; George Hicks was announcing on the show within a few weeks while Wallington was on with Harry Richman. The script in the Library of Congress, by the way, was Wallington’s; his signature is on the first page.

(NOTE TO ANNOUNCER: The following is the station announcement to be used during the fifteen minute breaks.
THIS IS WJZ, NEW YORK
TIME: (    ) – (    )

STATION WJZ
AND
BLUE NETWORK

PROGRAM CANADA DRY GINGER ALE, INC.
DATE WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 1932
TIME 9:30 – 10:00 P.M. (E.D.T.)

SIGNATURE – JOLLY GOOD COMPANY
1. MARCH ON TO OREGON       ORCHESTRA
2. WHILE WE DANCE AT THE MARDI GRAS      ORCHESTRA & PAUL SMALL
3. WE WERE ONLY WALKING IN THE MOONLIGHT     ORCHESTRA & ETHEL SHUTTA & FRAN FREY
4. HARLEM MOON        ORCHESTRA & ETHEL SHUTTA
5. WITH SUMMER COMING ON      ORCHESTRA & PAUL SMALL
SIGNATURE – ROCKABYE MOON

SIGNATURE – JOLLY GOOD COMPANY
ANNOUNCER
Ladies and gentlemen. Another half-hour of entertainment about Canada Dry Ginger Ale, now available by the glass at soda fountains, as well as in bottles. George Olsen, Ethel Shutta and Jack Benny, the Canada Dry humorist, again perform for your enjoyment.
George Olsen opens the program with “March on to Oregon.”

1. MARCH ON TO OREGON        ORCHESTRA

ANNOUNCER
Before going any further, I want to congratulate Jack on this first series of twenty-six programs, and I am very happy to announce that it will be continued for at least thirteen more weeks. I have not been announcing on this program, but I have been listening in....and, Jack, I just want to say that I have enjoyed every one of them. Congratulations, Jack.

JACK
Thanks, Jimmy, for reading those words as they are written. And before going any further, I want to congratulate George Olsen for his splendid music which gave this program its pep....George, I never realized how good you were until last Monday when I tried to lead your orchestra, and anybody who can lead that gang deserves credit....Congratulations, George.

GEORGE
Thanks, Jack. And before playing our next number, I want to congratulate Ethel Shutta for her excellent vocal support, and I also want to say that—

ETHEL
Thanks, George...And I want to congratulate Fran Frey for his assistance in these vocals, and—

FRAN
Don’t mention it, Ethel....I think that Paul Small deserves a lot of credit for.....for...

PAUL
Thanks, Fran...and I must congratulate Hotcha Gardner for singing those hot numbers and—

CROWD (ad libbing)
Thanks....thanks, that was great, etc.

(SOUND EFFECT: CANARY WHISTLE)

JACK
That’s the studio canary congratulating the goldfish for being able to stay here for thirteen weeks. And now I want to—

ANNOUNCER
This waste of time comes to you through the courtesy of Canada Dry Ginger Ale, which is now sold at the fountain by the glass. And everybody’s drinking it, or we wouldn’t be here...All right, Jack, your public awaits.

JACK
Hello, several people....that was James Wallington announcing....the big butler-and doorman from the West....and this is Jack Benny....the big hay and feedman from the East....hay and feedman...when a girl passes on the street, I holler “Hey!’ and then I have to feed her...get it?

ANNOUNCER (groans)
Oh, Jack...please!

JACK
You didn’t like that one, eh, Jimmy?

SADYE (laughing)
Oh, I think that’s awfully funny.

ANNOUNCER
Pardon me, Miss...but the guests are not allowed to make comments during our program.

SADYE
I think Mr. Benny is the cutest thing.

ANNOUNCER
SH! Miss....please!

JACK
Well, anyway, this is a great night for us, and we’re all very happy to be here.

ANNOUNCER
Jack, don’t mind that little girl interrupting, but she’s been coming up here to see you two or three times, and seems to be kinda anxious to meet you.

JACK (with force)
I know, Jimmy...but business is business. We’re doing a program now...we can’t have anyone here interfering...(whispers) Who is she? ....do you know her?...(again with force) We haven’t time, Jimmy....this is business. (again whispers) Is that her standing over there? Ooooh!... The next number, ladies and gentlemen, is a request from New Orleans for Paul Small to sing, “While We Dance At The Mardi Gras”, played by George Olsen and the boys.
(whispers) Jimmy, she’s cute, isn’t she?...Go ahead, George.

2. WHILE WE DANCE AT THE MARDI GRAS        ORCHESTRA & SMALL

JACK
Gee, that’s a great number, Paul....I enjoyed that.

ETHEL
Say, Jack, did you see all those telegrams that came for us tonight?

JACK
Yea, kind of nice, isn’t it?

ETHEL
Why didn’t you read them?

JACK
Aw, I’d like to, Ethel...but I’m afraid it might sound like we’re conceited. Say, Jimmy, do you think I ought to read these telegrams aloud?

ANNOUNCER
Certainly...your public is entitled to it.

JACK
I hate to have them think we’re boosting Canada Dry Ginger Ale up here.

ANNOUNCER
They won’t think that....go ahead and read them.

JACK
All right, then...now here’s a telegram from a family in Detroit, Michigan. It says—
“DEAR CANADA DRY:
WE HAVE HEARD ALL OF YOUR TWENTY SIX PROGRAMS
AND WE TAKE OFF OUR HATS TO....AMOS ‘N’ ANDY.”
Well, I imagine they keep their hats on when they list to us.
Here’s another wire. It reads—
“DEAR CANADA DRY GINGER ALE NOW SOLD AT ALL FOUNTAINS”
That’s all it says...Oh, well...the ten words are up....Well, thanks for what you left out.
Oh, here’s a very wonderful tribute from Mr. John L. Dumb-bell, who runs a health resort. It reads—
“DEAR TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
FOR YEARS I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO BUILD UP MY PEOPLE PHYSICALLY BY GETTING THEM TO BED EARLY STOP THEY HAVE HEARD ONE OF YOUR BROADCASTS AT NINE THIRTY AND NOW HAVE TO GO TO BED AT SEVEN O’CLOCK THANKS”
Oh well...early to bed and early to rise...makes you miss lots of Canada Dry’s.
Ah! a wire from that famous inventor who made all this possible--Marconi! He says—
“I INVENTED WIRELESS WHICH IS NOW RADIO...AND AFTER LISTENING TO YOU FOR THIRTEEN WEEKS AM SORRY I STARTED IT.”
I got it, Marc....trying to Mussolini on my jokes.
Well, well....here’s a cable from SCOTLAND...It’s sent to our cable address:
“JACK-BEN-OLS-CAN-DRY” and says
“UP HERE IN SCOTLAND WE’RE ALL DRINKING CANADA DRY BY THE GLASS-GOW”

SADYE
Oh I think that’s swell.

ANNOUNCER
No comment, Miss....please.

SADYE
He says the funniest things.

ANNOUNCER
Quiet, please.

JACK
Now, here’s another telegram from the Twelve Little Listeners in—

SADYE (Laughing)
When you drink Canada Dry, where does the glass go? That’s the funniest joke...Oh, I must tell that to my mother.

JACK
That isn’t what I said, Miss...I said: they’re all drinking it by the glass-gow.

SADYE
I don’t care what you said...I think you’re swell.

JACK
Thanks...now will you kindly sit down until our program is over?

SADYE
Yes, Mr. Benny....you don’t mind if I call you Jack...do you?

JACK
Of course not.

SADYE
Thanks, Mr. Benny.

JACK
What’s your name?

SADYE

My name’s Mary Kurtzinger Livingston...but just Mary to you.

JACK
I’m awfully glad of that...these are only half-hour program [sic], you know. Say, by the way, where do you live?

SADYE (quickly)
Oh, I live in Plainfield...you get on a bus, then you get off at the second stop-light...walk three blocks to your left...then you cut thru the cemetary [sic] and over the hill...then up the road until you see a little red house...and you go right thru the field...and THERE YOU ARE!

JACK
There you are...not me......Well, it was sweet of you to come up here, Mary. Now why don’t you sit down quietly and listen to the rest of our program?

SADYE
All right, Jack.

JACK
I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but these little interruptions are bound to occur.
And now Ethel Shutta and Fran Frey will sing, “Walking in the Moonlight”....and while they do this number, we will prepare for our big banquet in the studio, which our sponsors have so thoughtfully arranged for us this evening.
Oh, George...please don’t mind any little noise you might hear during the next number....you know, waiters, guests, dishes rattling and things like that...

3. WALKING IN THE MOONLIGHT        ETHEL & FRAN

SOUND EFFECT: General commotion; moving of chairs...dishes, glasses and silverware rattling.
CROWD—mumbling, greeting each other, etc.

JACK
What time is it, Jimmy?

ANNOUNCER
Nine forty-five.

SOUND EFFECT: Assorted auto horns – trolley car bells, etc.

JACK
Ah! the limousines are arriving for the banquet....do you think we can take care of all these people?

ANNOUNCER
I think so, Jack. You’d better stay at the door and greet the guests. I’ll help here.

SADYE
Can I help, Jack?

JACK
No, no, no...oh yes. Mary, you check the ladies’ wraps and things.

MARY
I’ll do anything for you, Jack...because I think—

JACK
All right, Mary, here they come.

(MORE AUTO HORNS – PEOPLE TALKING)

GEORGE (whispers)
Look at those evening gowns...some swanky crowd...eh, boy?

JACK
Yes, sir..here come Mr. and Mrs. Who-Aster....nobody asked her, but here she is.. How do you, Mrs. Who?

DOROTHY ROSS (gruff voice)
Say, when do we eat?

JACK
Yes, it’s a charming evening.

SADYE (quietly)
Your wraps, ma’am....

SOUND EFFECT: Footsteps passing, people talking. ETHEL SHUTTA greeting people.

JACK
Waiter, show the lady to her seat.

BALDWIN
This way, Madame.

JACK
Well, well, well!....I am so glad to see you, Mrs. Gotta-Feller...what’s his name? good-evening!

ETHEL SHUTTA (in grand manner)
How do you do?

JACK

You’re looking fine...Mrs. Gotta-Feller, meet Sir James Wallington, Earl of Announcer..

ETHEL
Not Get-Rich-Quick-Wallington!

JACK
No, this is Go-Broke-Slow-Wallington.

(VOICES TALKING AND LAUGHING)

ANNOUNCER
May I show you to your seat, Madame?

DOROTHY & PAUL (together)
How do you do, Mr. Benny?

JACK
Oh, how are you, Mr. and Mrs. Anaconda Copper?...I didn’t expect to see you. Well, well!....and Mr. Worthington Pump. You’re looking great.

BALDWIN
Thanks, Jack.

JACK
Ah! Here come Mr. and Mrs. Electric....how are you, General? (ad lib) Welcome to our Canada Dry Banquet...eat, drink and be MERRY.

SADYE
Did you call me, Jack?

JACK
No, I said....be merry. But you can take the lady’s wrap.

SADYE
All right, Jack....I’ll do anything you say, because I—

JACK
Never mind, Mary, not now. Ah! here comes that little society debutante, Miss Casaba Melon....

DOROTHY ROSS (grand manner)
How do you do?

JACK (mimicing [sic] her)
How d’yuh do? Well, well...Mr. and Mrs. Hoover ..... well, old Pete Hoover of Chicago...hello there, Pete!....and hello, Tessie.

PAUL AND DOROTHY (together)
Hello, Jack. How are you?

JACK
Say, George, who’s that distinguished-looking gentleman over there...in that full-dress suit?

GEORGE
I don’t believe we know him...must be one of the crowd from Newport.

JACK
Good-evening, sir! How do you do? My name’s Jack Benny...I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you.

FRAN FREY
I’m one of the waiters. Where do I go?

JACK
George! Tell him where to go.

FRAN (shouting – heavy voice)
Get your Canada Dry Ginger Ale at the fountain...you can’t enjoy this banquet without a glass of Canada Dry....everybody’s drinking it...step right up to the fountain!

JACK
Say, Fran...we’re not selling Canada Dry tonight...we’re giving it away.

FRAN
Oh, yeah? Well, what shall I do with this nine dollars I took in?

JACK
Give me two and return the rest.......George, will you entertain the guests while they are getting seated?

GEORGE
Sure, Jack.

JACK
A brand new song...Harlem Moon....Ethel, help us out.

4. HARLEM MOON        ETHEL SHUTTA

ROUND OF APPLAUSE. Buzzing of voices – dishes rattling, etc.

BALDWIN
Waiter, bring me a glass of Canada Dry.

DOROTHY
Fill this up again.

ANNOUNCER
The banquet is now in full swing...the hall is filled to capacity and promises to be the biggest affair of the year. I am now turning the mike over to Jack Benny, our toastmaster.

(SOUND OF APPLAUSE)

JACK
Guests....ladies and gentlemen...and George Olsen... I am very happy to see you all here this evening, and we will now proceed with a toast to the champagne of Ginger Ales....Canada Dry...
Here’s to the guy who drinks Canada Dry,
Even as you and I.
And here’s to the glass that’s sold at the fountain
When...when...when the moon comes over the mountain.

CROWD
Horay! Horray for Jack Benny, etc.

SADYE
I think that was swell.

JACK
Now we have several after-dinner speakers here who will say a word or two on conditions in—

[page 15 missing]

Here they go, folks...Olsen jabs a fork at Pot Roast...but missed and stabs Hotcha Gardener in the knuckles...Gardner reaches a long left out for the salad.....Olsen crosses a right for the beans and the waiter ducks...Paul Small reaches for an uppercut of beef and gets his sleeve in the butter...Tunny Fish is now on the table looks fresh on toast....Olsen just came out of a clinch with Asparagus and looks tired, but is coming back for more...How he can take it!...way from the other people.....Wallington just put some cigars on the table...and Olsen is right on the ropes...I mean, the cigars....Olsen bawled out Gardner and Gardner hits him with a fowl.....
(SOUND EFFECT: FIGHT GONG)
as the bell ends the first round, and the food. The time for this was two minutes and forty-eight seconds. Olsen wins and is now the Gravyweight Champion of the World!

(SOUND EFFECT: BANGING OF SILVERWARE ON DISHES AND GLASSES)

JACK
And now we will hear from the great maestro, the Honorable George Olsen, who can play anything Shakespeare ever wrote.

(SOUND EFFECT: MORE BANGING ON SILVERWARE)

GEORGE
Ladies and gentlemen, this reminds of the time I was in Africa—and I—I—I

JACK
Thanks, George...and now we will hear from that charming debutante, Miss Van-Trucking-Van.

PAUL (falsetto voice)
When I first came here from Iowa, I was considered a wallflower. Women laughed at me, and the men shunned me. I didn’t know what to do. Friends advised me to drink water—

JACK
Canada Dry.

PAUL
I mean, Canada Dry....which I have now been drinking for more than two years. I am still a wallflower, but I am not thirsty any more, and owe it all to Canada Dry. (APPLAUSE)

JACK
Now, Miss Trucking-van, you said that of your own free will, didn’t you?

PAUL
No, you gave me a dollar last week to learn it.

JACK
ANOTHER victory for Canada Dry...and now I wish to take advantage of this occasion and say a few words regarding Canada Dry Ginger Ale made-to-order by the glass...Unaccustomed as I am to public speaker—

FRAN
Well, good-bye, everybody...

DOROTHY
Good-night...I had a lovely time.

(OTHER VOICES: Good-bye, etc.)

JACK
When I was a boy of six, I was considered a very weak child—so much so, that when my car broke down, I couldn’t even push it up a hill----

BALDWIN
Well, see you again, Jack. Thanks for asking me up....

ETHEL
Good-bye...

JACK
And I think Canada Dry has done more for me than anything----

OTHER VOICES
Good-bye...had a grand time, etc.

JACK
And in my opinion, Canada Dry was like a mother to me....

(SOUND EFFECT: Auto horns in distance crowd saying good-bye, etc.
Someone calls: Chauffeur!

ANNOUNCER
George, you better play the next number. They’re all walking out on Jack.

5. WITH SUMMER COMING ON         SMALL

JACK
.....and that is why I like Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

SADYE
Mr. Benny.....I mean, Jack...I’m going home now.

JACK
All right, good-night, Mary. I’m glad you came up. Come up again sometime.

SADYE
Monday night?

JACK
Monday – er – er – oh, all right. Goodbye.

SADYE
I thought you were swell...good-bye, Jack.

JACK
That was the last Mary...I mean, the last number on the 26th program on the 27th of July. I want you all to listen in Monday night as we are going to have another surprise....NOVELTY NIGHT...We are going to show how many things can be done over the radio that you never thought possible...we, either. In fact, we don’t even know how we’re going to do them....But time will tell....Well, we’ll see you Monday night...Reserve a dial early. And as they [say] in Walla Walla....good-night...good-night!
SIGNATURE – ROCKABYE MOON

ANNOUNCER
Whenever you stop at a soda fountain for a refreshing drink or a sandwich ask for a Canada Dry ice cream soda or a glass of Canada Dry. Remember it is now available made-to-order by the glass as well as in bottles. Next Monday night at this same time Jack Benny, Ethel Shutta and George Olsen will again entertain you. This is the National Broadcasting Company.

Hugh and Rudy, Their Story

Here’s how it worked: you bought a full-page ad in The Film Daily Cavalcade and you got a story printed about you. Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising bought an ad for 1939 edition. What you see below is the story.

Because it’s a puff piece and not a real biography, it glosses over a few things, like Hugh and Rudy being wooed by Charles Mintz to desert Walt Disney and work on the Oswald cartoons for him in 1928. And it doesn’t explain why Harman-Ising Productions discontinued operations in 1938 (they became insolvent after Fred Quimby went behind their backs to grab their staff and set his own cartoon studio the year before).

In the article, Harman waxes on about feature-length cartoons. MGM wouldn’t commit to one and when he finally walked away to form his own company in 1941, he couldn’t get one off the ground for a variety of reasons.

If nothing else, Harman and Ising deserve lasting credit for convincing Leon Schlesinger to bankroll their cartoons for release by Warner Bros. They sparked a multi-jillian-dollar business. Granted, it was with characters Hugh and Rudy never dreamed about made by other directors with a focus on humour instead of music, but it never would have happened without Harman and Ising.

Note: the great Looney Tunes display ad is from another publication from 1930.

HARMAN-ISING
A Couple of Failures in Kansas Only Made Them Fight Harder for Success in Cartoons
By MARNEY McCASKILL
ALL heroes have their beginnings, Caesar had Rome, Napoleon had France, Washington had the Delaware and Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising had Kansas City.
In 1922, Ising was on his way to fame and fortune by way of $1,000 he had invested in an animated cartoon business with another young and ambitious cartoonist, Walt Disney. It must have been folding money, because, although Ising and Disney had the very best of intentions, the company folded, owing Hugh Harman, its oldest and most trusted employee, two weeks back salary.
The sting of defeat subsided with the smoke of battle; Harman joined Ising, and both wholly oblivious to the trick name combination (Harman-Ising) turned their efforts to the organization of a new cartoon producing company. One cartoon, "Sinbad The Sailor," was produced, which was notable at that date (1924) in that it set a precedent in its art work for the fine design and drawing, which subsequently were to distinguish the better cartoons.
This was the beginning; it was also the end. The celluloid dreams of Harman-Ising were shattered by financial storms. It seems the provincial moneybags of Kansas City didn't appreciate the finer things of life.
Kansas City's loss was Hollywood's gain, as 1928 saw our heroes set out for the Coast for Round Two of their fight to put Harman-Ising in a top spot as a fantasy factory.
They had a new idea. The cinema world had just seen the advent of sound. Why not make cartoons talk? They did; they produced the first talking cartoon ever made, 'Bosko, the Talking Kid," completed in 1929. With Leon Schlesinger supplying an important bank roll, Harman-Ising Productions, Ltd., really began to roll, turning out five series of "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies," distributed by Warner Bros.



Harman-Ising marches on. They wanted to make bigger and better pictures. In fact, they were not quite satisfied with that. They wanted to make the best. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer wanted the best and were willing to furnish all the poker chips. This gave H-I new dignity and added zeal, so they blossomed forth with a new corporate structure and name, Harman-Ising Pictures, Inc. Such color fantasies as "Chinese Nightingale," "Calico Dragon," "Lost Chick," "Little Cheeser," "Bottles" and "Old Mill Pond" catapulted the boys to fame.
In 1938, Harman-Ising discontinued independent production. The partners joined M-G-M as staff producers. Their present productions include 'The Bear Who Couldn't Sleep," "Little Goldfish," "Art Gallery" and "Goldilocks And The Three Bears."
"In the last decade the animated cartoon has developed from its early grotesque form to its present lofty state and this development is really a miracle in art and an achievement in entertainment," said Harman, in an interview. "The significance of the cartoon can be realized only when we consider its world wide appeal and power of influence.

Claude’s Nightmare

A wonderful morph scene highlights The Hypo-Chondri-Cat starring the mind-game playing mice, Hubie and Bertie. They’ve convinced Claude Cat to let them operate on him. The cat starts hallucinating. A needle and thread turn into Claude’s bed (changing colours along the way). The artwork tells the story.



Ben Washam, Lloyd Vaughan, Phil Munroe and Ken Harris get screen credit in the 1950 Warners release by the Chuck Jones unit. The story is from the mind of Mike Maltese. If only Jones had made Tom and Jerry cartoons like this instead of the facial expression pose-fest he gave audiences in the ‘60s, what a treat it would have been for theatre audiences.

Oswald's Dark Horse

Oswald the Rabbit and Peg Leg Pete take part in an air race across the Atlantic in The Ocean Hop (1927). A title card introduces ‘The Dark Horse.’ Oswald is hiding in a horse-like thing, his head sticking out of the horse’s neck, while the horse’s head bobs along, detached from the rest of the body. Animation by Ben Clopton.



The plane becomes human for a bit. He and Oswald tell Peg Leg what they think of him. This is all Hugh Harman’s work.



Ham Hamilton and Ub Iwerks animated on this cartoon, too. Read more about it HERE.

Have You Got a Couple of Penguins?

You could do lots of funny and grandiose things on network radio and about the only cost was the pay of the sound effects man.

Television was different. For the most part, you had to see the gag. So TV networks had to have a prop department. When the prop department didn’t have it, the show’s producers had to get staffers to go out and find what was needed, no matter how bizarre.

This was true in the early days of modern network TV (starting in the fall of 1948). Herald Tribune syndicate columnist John Crosby related this tale in his column of July 8, 1949, during the first year when the four networks had full weekday evening schedules.

Radio in Review
By JOHN CROSBY
"WOULDN'T IT BE FUNNY IF . . ."
Robert Wade, manager of television production facilities at NBC, and his assistant manager, Robert Brunton, always get the shudders when they hear a gag writer at a script conference say: “Wouldn't it be funny if...”
Television comedy in its present state of infancy is entranced with props which are to TV what the switcheroo is to radio. "Wouldn't it be funny if Joe opened that icebox door and two live penguins walked out of it?" That is a fairly typical example of how that "wouldn't it be funny if . . . " line is usually finished.
Everyone decides it would be hilarious and then it is up to Mr. Wade and Mr. Brunton to produce a couple of live penguins by next Tuesday.
As a matter of fact, they once had to produce two live penguins within four days for a show called "The Hour Glass." First they tried the local zoo. No penguins were available. Wade figured the United States Navy might have a couple of penguins lying around as pets and called Washington. The Navy said no, it didn’t have any penguins but suggested the Peruvian navy. The Peruvian navy graciously sent a couple of penguins in time for the Friday show.

The most prodigious dreamer-up of crazy props is, of course, Milton Berle, who drives the NBC production staff into fits every Sunday at rehearsals by thinking up improbable things that have to be on hand by Tuesday night. Among the props Berle has demanded and got are a sled with a full team of eskimo dogs, a trick piano that punched him in the nose, a 1903 automobile, a hansom cab with horse, a Good Humor tricycle and a truth machine that explodes. An article on television in the current "Fortune" observes that Berle would have an elephant on the show if he could get one into the NBC elevators.
Wade and Brunton have laid their hands on a Fifth avenue bus for the Olsen and Johnson show, a display of jewels from Cartier's worth $1,500,000 and a valuable Rembrandt. In a single week, Wade's department has to produce about 3,000 properties which range from a derby hat out of which a canary flies to authentic armor for a period play.
Every order is a rush Order—legitimate theater stage managers are appalled at the speed with which things have to be done in TV—and Wade depends heavily on his own memory or that of his staff to locate elusive items. In the case of the 1903 auto, one of the prop men remembered having seen one in a New Jersey town. He went out and got it.
Since they have to obtain props with a minimum of haggling and explanations, the production staff has built up contacts with zoos, ships chandlers, antique dealers, second-hand dealers, museums, hospital supply shops and gunsmiths. Gradually, these contacts are getting used to frantic telephone calls at 3 p.m. for sixteenth century muskets needed that night.
Large animals are borrowed or rented. Smaller ones must be bought. Then the staff has to get rid of them. A zoo took the penguins but nobody wanted a live goose. It wandered around the shop for days and became a pet. Finally, one of the prop men took it home for dinner.
As in the movies, many real articles just don’t look real on a television screen. Cheese usually has burnt sugar added to it to give it some semblance of reality. Oranges get a hypodermic of vegetable dyes to improve their looks. Rain has to have milk added to it. Snow has become a particular nuisance around the RCA building because the mice eat it. Snow, as in the movies, is a mixture of unbleached corn flakes, mica and punched paper, and the mice love it.
NBC has built sets representing every part of the world—the South Seas, the Arctic, Australia, Africa, everywhere, and every period of time. Again, the designers have no time to bone up on periods and places. They rely on memory and do pretty well. The most elaborate set NBC ever built was for “Street Scene.” This was a couple of tenements with two working levels and one suggested third story. It was 90 feet long and each room was individually decorated so the cameras could peer into it.
By movie standards, the “Street Scene” set was kids’ stuff, but the movie people wouldn’t have got it up as fast as NBC. It took two days.

Ducking Out

Some nice little expressions highlight the scene in Field and Scream when a duck is shot from the sky and acts like a downed aircraft.



The duck escapes from inside itself and parachutes to safety.



Heck Allen helped Tex Avery with the story, and the credited animators were Grant Simmons, Mike Lah and Walt Clinton. Maybe someone knows if this is Clinton’s scene.

Fox-Terror Backgrounds

A number of animators and other artists never got screen credit on Warner Bros. cartoons, even after the studio started putting “full” credits at the start of the shorts. And a few appear only briefly and then disappear.

One is Bob Majors, who provided backgrounds for the Bob McKimson unit after Dick Thomas left. He worked on Cheese It, the Cat, Fox-Terror and Boston Quackie, all released in 1957 and then vanishes from the screen.

Here is some of Majors’ work on Fox-Terror. It’s pretty straight-forward, similar to Thomas’ backgrounds for McKimson. The opening art is fairly flat while the remaining backgrounds have some dimension to them.



Majors was born in 1913 in Ottumwa, Iowa to William W. and Martha (Janney) Majors. His father was a candy salesman in Iowa but was selling life insurance for his father-in-law in Ontario, California by 1924.

The San Bernardino County Sun of April 10, 1955 described Majors as "an alumnus of Chaffey High School and College, the Chouinard Art Institute of Los Angeles and the University of Hawaii at Honolulu. He worked in the Walt Disney studios and the RKO Studios, designing sets, and has done furniture illustration in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has done murals for Bullocks Pasadena store, the new Clark Hotel, Los Angeles and for a number of night clubs and restaurants and in private homes." A Los Angeles Times story of July 3, 1938 reported he was a member of the Screen Cartoonists Guild.

During the war, some of his art was featured in Life magazine, which stated he was a sergeant who had worked on “Fantasia” at Disney. During the War, he was assigned to the Signal Corps Photographic Unit on Long Island. In 1955, the Times reports he was exhibiting his watercolours in Ontario, where he had returned after the war.

What happened to Majors? Why he did leave Warners after three cartoons? The latter is open for speculation. As for the former, he died an early death. The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs reports Robert Janney Majors, born May 23, 1913, died on May 14, 1960 and is buried in Honolulu.

Tralfaz Sunday Theatre – The Clown Princes of Hollywood

Television, at one time, featured documentaries on silent films, in some cases as filler programming on weekend afternoons. Stations could easily put them on the shelf and drag them out when needed because they didn’t date.

Here’s one apparently from 1963. The soundtrack is jumpy and the print isn’t the best but it’s still an enjoyable half hour. Ben Turpin, Charley Chase, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Buston Keaton, Harry Langdon and Charlie Chaplin are included.

Niagara, Newton and Benny

A non-stop schedule of TV specials, concerts and stage shows awaited Jack Benny after his series ended in 1965.

Oh, and media interviews.

Jack made an appearance in 1966 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. And reporters were there to take up his time, as they seemed to do in every town where he appeared. He was in a pretty good mood during this particular news conference and comes across in print just like he did on the air—a relaxed, friendly man with a sense of humour.

Among other things, Benny is credited with giving Wayne Newton his biggest career break, and that’s addressed in this story in the Niagara Falls Gazette, August 8, 1966.

Jack Benny Opening Week at Melody Fair
By ED BURWELL
Gazette Staff Writer
"JUST FUN."
Comedian Jack Benny used this term to describe his return to the live stage, at a press party in the Griffon Room at Castle Court Motel Sunday evening.
Benny, and the newest star in his long list of discoveries —singer Wayne Newton—will open a one-week engagement at Melody Fair at 8:30 p.m. today.
The comedian, who has been in show business 55 years, said that he has had time for personal appearances since he stopped doing his weekly television show. "Direct contact with the people is just fun," he said.
Playing the tent circuit is "like a vacation," Mr. Benny said.
* * *
"I'LL PLAY a little golf and I might go and do a little sightseeing, but I'll be playing it by ear," Jack said, noting that this is the first time he has ever played in the Niagara Falls area and the first time he has been here "in years."
He regards playing a show as part of his vacation. "If I didn't have the show to do, I would probably be having dinner with somebody, and I can do that in Hollywood every night," he said.
The variety show will include a lot of Benny, who said he spends about 40 minutes on stage during the first part of the show and never leaves the stage during the second half.
WAYNE NEWTON, who will be appearing with Benny, was in Chicago Sunday and was flying into the Niagara Frontier today.
Newton was discovered "reluctantly" by Benny while the two entertainers were, playing in Sydney, Australia, two years ago.
Irving Fein, the comedian's manager, said they had heard Newton's name and had received a number of requests to see the singer, but they finally relented to see him "very reluctantly."
Their first reaction was "he's dynamite." Newton stopped the show at the Cheveron Hilton in Sydney.
"Another Al Jolson," was the way the manager described Newton who was only 21 at the time.
A few months later, Benny was booked at Harrah's Club in Lake Tahoe, Calif., and needed another act to fill out his show, so he contacted Newton.
* * *

ONE YEAR LATER, the singer that Benny brought in to Lake Tahoe as a fill-in act was headlining at the same club, and Benny followed Newton.
Jack said that the younger generation doesn't remember the comedian who has been on the stage since before World War I, but they know Wayne Newton.
"Some kids come up to me and ask me for tickets to the Wayne Newton Show," Benny said. "I don't care what they call the show, just so long as they buy tickets," the comedian joked.
Dressed in casual gray slacks with a gray silk shirt and a blue and black striped ascot, the comedian kept asking people for matches as he re-lit his cigar several times throughout the evening.
"I'll never have retirement plans," he said, but noted that "each year I will cut down a little." He said leaving his weekly TV show was the first step in his plan to slip into semi-retirement.
* * *
BENNY SAID he is planning to do some TV work, but only on a "special" basis. He also indicated that he would be interested in doing a Broadway show, if he could find the right one.
He said he would be primarily interested in producing the show, but would play a part if there was one in it which he liked.
"I think I'd have to own the show though, so I wouldn't be tied to it and could go into it and leave when I would like to," he said.
He said his slow-down would be "like Bob Hope. God knows he doesn't need the money."
"The only reason I don't go to Viet Nam is because it would be a little bit tough on me," Benny said. He explained that the last time he hit the front line circuit was in 1951 when he spent 21 days and nights entertaining the troops in Korea.
"It's okay for Hope to do, after all, he's 10 years younger than I am," Benny said, acknowledging that that would make Hope "29."
* * *
THE DEAN of American comedy said that if he had it all to do over again, he wouldn't change a thing, but he did regret that he didn't start his concerts about 20 years earlier.
"The best thing I like doing are the concerts," Benny said.
Mr. Benny has played his violin in a number of concerts for charitable causes during the last several years.
"I like playing with a symphony orchestra," the comedian said. He said this type of work takes a lot of practice, because "I do have to play big heavy numbers, or it wouldn't be funny."
"I try to play good," he said, continuing that "all my sour notes are legitimate. I don't mean to play any of them."
Mayor Robert F. Keighan of Niagara Falls, Ont., introduced the official Niagara Falls Tartan when he presented Mr. Benny with a sports coat made of the material which is designed to reflect the muted colors of the lights on the Falls at night.
HE EXPLAINED to Mr. Benny that the tartan would help charity, because two per cent of the royalties from the sale of the tartan will be contributed to the United Appeal of Niagara Falls, Ont.
Mayor E. Dent Lackey of this city presented the comedian with an official Niagara Falls money clip.
"At last I'm being given something I can do something with," the comedian joked. "I get keys to the city everyplace. What am I going to do with a key to the city," Benny continued.
Whether he's 39 or 73, Jack Benny retained the same comic wit that has kept his name in headlines for so many years, even after two hours at the mercy of the press and a hot, four hour drive from Cleveland, Ohio, where he finished playing Saturday.