HUSBANDS ARE SLOPPY DRESSERS

September 2, 1950

“Husbands Are Sloppy Dressers” (aka “Best Dressed Men in Town” aka “Selling Old Clothes to the Junkman”) is episode #95 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on September 2, 1950.

This was the first episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season ending on March 31, 1951.  

Synopsis ~ Liz and Iris are embarrassed by the sloppy clothes that George and Rudolph wear at home, so they sell the boys’ old clothes to the junkman. They attempt to reform their husbands’ dress habits.

It served as the basis for “Changing The Boys’ Wardrobe” (ILL S3;E10) of “I Love Lucy” filmed on November 5, 1953 and first aired on December 7, 1953 on CBS TV.

The radio show is included on the “I Love Lucy” DVD for comparison.

Since radio listeners had to use their imaginations about the boys’ wardrobes, the plot was much more plausible than on television, where Ricky and Fred’s sudden slovenliness is a departure from their usually impeccable appearance. 

“My Favorite Husband” was based on the novels Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Record of a Happy Marriage (1940) and Outside Eden (1945) by Isabel Scott Rorick, which had previously been adapted into the film Are Husbands Necessary? (1942). “My Favorite Husband” was first broadcast as a one-time special on July 5, 1948. Lucille Ball and Lee Bowman played the characters of Liz and George Cugat, and a positive response to this broadcast convinced CBS to launch “My Favorite Husband” as a series. Bowman was not available Richard Denning was cast as George. On January 7, 1949, confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change to Cooper. On this same episode Jell-O became its sponsor. A total of 124 episodes of the program aired from July 23, 1948 through March 31, 1951. After about ten episodes had been written, writers Fox and Davenport departed and three new writers took over – Bob Carroll, Jr., Madelyn Pugh, and head writer/producer Jess Oppenheimer. In March 1949 Gale Gordon took over the existing role of George’s boss, Rudolph Atterbury, and Bea Benaderet was added as his wife, Iris. CBS brought “My Favorite Husband” to television in 1953, starring Joan Caulfield and Barry Nelson as Liz and George Coope.  The television version ran two-and-a-half seasons, from September 1953 through December 1955, running concurrently with “I Love Lucy.” It was produced live at CBS Television City for most of its run, until switching to film for a truncated third season filmed (ironically) at Desilu and recasting Liz Cooper with Vanessa Brown.

MAIN CAST

Lucille Ball (Liz Cooper) was born on August 6, 1911 in Jamestown, New York. She began her screen career in 1933 and was known in Hollywood as ‘Queen of the B’s’ due to her many appearances in ‘B’ movies. With Richard Denning, she starred in a radio program titled “My Favorite Husband” which eventually led to the creation of “I Love Lucy,” a television situation comedy in which she co-starred with her real-life husband, Latin bandleader Desi Arnaz. The program was phenomenally successful, allowing the couple to purchase what was once RKO Studios, re-naming it Desilu. When the show ended in 1960 (in an hour-long format known as “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”) so did Lucy and Desi’s marriage. In 1962, hoping to keep Desilu financially solvent, Lucy returned to the sitcom format with “The Lucy Show,” which lasted six seasons. She followed that with a similar sitcom “Here’s Lucy” co-starring with her real-life children, Lucie and Desi Jr., as well as Gale Gordon, who had joined the cast of “The Lucy Show” during season two. Before her death in 1989, Lucy made one more attempt at a sitcom with “Life With Lucy,” also with Gordon.

Richard Denning (George Cooper) was born Louis Albert Heindrich Denninger Jr., in Poughkeepsie, New York. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Los Angeles. Plans called for him to take over his father’s garment manufacturing business, but he developed an interest in acting. Denning enlisted in the US Navy during World War II. He is best known for his  roles in various science fiction and horror films of the 1950s. Although he teamed with Lucille Ball on radio in “My Favorite Husband,” the two never acted together on screen. While “I Love Lucy” was on the air, he was seen on another CBS TV series, “Mr. & Mrs. North.” From 1968 to 1980 he played the Governor on “Hawaii 5-0″, his final role. He died in 1998 at age 84.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) was considered the front-runner to be cast as Ethel Mertz but when “I Love Lucy” was ready to start production she was already playing a similar role on TV’s “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” so Vivian Vance was cast instead. On “I Love Lucy” she was cast as Lucy Ricarodo’s spinster neighbor, Miss Lewis, in “Lucy Plays Cupid” (ILL S1;E15) in early 1952. Later, she was a success in her own show, “Petticoat Junction” as Shady Rest Hotel proprietress Kate Bradley. She starred in the series until her death in 1968. 

Gale Gordon (Rudy Atterbury) had worked with Lucille Ball on “The Wonder Show” on radio in 1938. One of the front-runners to play Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy,” he eventually played Alvin Littlefield, owner of the Tropicana, during two episodes in 1952. After playing a Judge in an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in 1958, he would re-team with Lucy for all of her subsequent series’: as Theodore J. Mooney in ”The Lucy Show”; as Harrison Otis Carter in “Here’s Lucy”; and as Curtis McGibbon on "Life with Lucy.” Gordon died in 1995 at the age of 89.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz, a member of the surprise investigating committee for the Society Matrons League in “Pioneer Women” (ILL S1;E25), as one of the member of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (ILL S3;E3), and also played a nurse when “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (ILL S2;E16). She died in 1996 at the age of 96.

Bob LeMond (Announcer) also served as the announcer for the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy”. When the long-lost pilot was finally discovered in 1990, a few moments of the opening narration were damaged and lost, so LeMond – fifty years later – recreated the narration for the CBS special and subsequent DVD release.

GUEST CAST

Hans Conried (Mr. Adams / Newspaper Photographer) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973. He died in 1982 at age 64.

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers tonight…”

The episode opens on a quiet evening at home with Liz and George, who is smoking his pipe. The Atterbury’s drop by to see if the Coopers want to go to the movies.

RUDOLPH: “’The Men’ is down at the corner.”
GEORGE: “They is?”

Rudolph explains that he means the film The Men starring Marlon Brando, making his screen debut.

The United Artists film had opened wide on August 25, 1950, just a week before this broadcast. The Stanley Kramer drama concerns a paralyzed war (Brando) vet coming to terms with life without the use of his limbs. 

Marlon Brando was first mentioned on “I Love Lucy” (by first name anyway) at the start of “Lucy Visits Grauman’s” (ILL S5;E1) in 1955. The film’s female star, Teresa Wright, was in the studio audience for the filming of “Be A Pal” (ILL S1;E2) just a year later. 

When this script was adapted for television in 1953, the Ricardos and Mertzes are heading to the movies to see “That picture we’ve been trying to get to for weeks with Marilyn Monroe.” The movie is likely Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which premiered in New York City in July 1953 or How To Marry A Millionaire, which was also in release at the time. 

To convince George to go, Rudy adds that “it’s a double feature with Jane Russell.”  Coincidentally, Jane Russell was also in Gentlemen Prefers Blondes with Marilyn Monroe. In this case, however, Russell had no new film in release in 1950, so the buxom actress’s name was being used due to her popularity with male audiences. If a Jane Russell picture had been on a double feature with The Men, it would likely have been The Paleface, a 1948 film she did with Lucy’s pal Bob Hope. 

Liz objects to George not wearing a jacket and tie to the movies. Iris adds that she had the same argument with Rudolph before leaving home. George reasons that in a dark movie theatre no one will see him wearing a tee shirt and green slacks. George and Rudolph go to the bedroom for George to dress but get an idea to teach the girls a lesson by ‘over-dressing’ in elaborate costumes made-up of odds and ends from the closet. Through carefully crafted dialogue, the radio listeners get a vivid picture of how exotic George and Rudy must look:

• A tail coat and striped trousers George wore to a wedding six years ago
• Golf socks with the trousers tucked inside to look like knee britches
• A lace doily pinned at the throat
• A silk handkerchief tucked into a sleeve
• Liz’s blue lace bed jacket

Rudolph dubs them ‘Beau Brummell’ and ‘Lord Chesterfield’. 

Beau Brummell (1778-1840) was an iconic figure in Regency England, the arbiter of men’s fashion and friend of King George IV. He is credited with introducing the modern men’s suit worn with a necktie. Lord Chesterfield aka Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time, often dispensing advice on fashion and grooming. The Chesterfield coat (with a velvet color) and Chesterfield sofa (tufted) were named after him. Lucille Ball’s favorite brand of cigarettes, Chesterfields, was named after Chesterfield County, Virginia, which, in turn, was named for Lord Chesterfield and his ancestors. 

The television version omits the references to Brummell and Chesterfield, but does mention Little Lord Fauntleroy and Raggedy Andy!  However, in “Fan Magazine Interview” (ILL S3;E20), Lucy refers to an overdressed Fred the “Beau Brummell of plumbers” when he wears a derby and bow tie to fix the sink while a reporter is interviewing Lucy. 

Although this scene is not included in the television script, a version of it is found in “The Charm School” (ILL S3;E15) where Ricky and Fred don elaborate finery from a bygone era to teach the girls a lesson about being themselves.

Meanwhile, back in the Cooper’s living room, Liz and Iris complain about their husbands’ shabby wardrobe.

IRIS (about George’s worn trousers): “He’s really attached to those pants, isn’t he?”
LIZ: “Sometimes I think it’s vice-versa. He doesn’t just hang them in the closet, he stands them up in the corner. And when he gets a hole in them, I don’t mend it, I solder it.”

Acting posh, the boys parade their finery in front of the horrified girls. They all agree to revert to their worn duds in order to see the movies and the first act fades out. 

The next morning, Liz is griping to Katie the Maid about marriage. An idea hits her and she recruits Katie to help: she is going to round up all George’s old clothes and give them away, forcing him to start anew.  One item stops Katie in her tracks: 

KATIE: “Not his rain hat!  That’s sacred!”
LIZ: “It’s also holey.”

At the office, George gets a call from a Mr. Adams (Hans Conried), the local used clothing dealer, who has just gotten a ‘hot shipment’ of old clothes acquired from Liz and Iris. On television, the character is named Zeb Allen (Oliver Blake), but he sums up his business strategy exactly the same: 

MR. ADAMS / ZEB ALLEN: “Buying men’s old clothes from their wives is a tidy little business, but I make my real money selling them back to the husbands.”

Although Hans Conried was not cast as Zeb Allen, he did play another shady businessman with a similar scheme. In “Redecorating” (S2;E8), second-hand furniture dealer Dan Jenkins (Hans Conried) buys the Ricardo’s old furniture for $75, but when Rick wants to buy it back he charges $500!   

MR. JENKINS: “I’m a lousy businessman, but I like the way you sing ‘Babalu’ so I’ll take it.” 

Rudolph comes up with a way to get even with the girls. He tells George to go to Miller’s Department Store and ask for new clothing boxes. After buying back the clothes from Mr. Allen, they will put them in the boxes and tell the girls they ‘bought’ some clothes. Liz lies and tells George that the cleaning fluid she was using to wash his old clothing caught fire and burned them up!  George reveals the content of the boxes. The scenario is identical on “I Love Lucy,” down to the dialogue, except that Miller’s Department Store was replaced by Brooks Brothers, an upscale New York City men’s clothiers. 

LIZ / LUCY: “Ewww. They sure did a good job of sewing those ashes back together.” 

George spanks Liz as punishment.  This demeaning of a spouse unfortunately continued on “I Love Lucy,” where the abusive behavior now seems in particularly bad taste.  

Next day, Rudolph tells George that the Retail Merchants Association has voted them Best Dressed. (Rudolph is Chairman of the Selection Committee.)  Photos are to be taken on the steps of City Hall with their wives. Katie gives Liz and Iris the message that the boys want them to dress up and “look their best” for dinner. Liz decides to get even by wearing George’s old clothes instead. She even loans Iris some of George’s tatters. One of the monstrosities Liz describes is a necktie that Iris admits they gave George for Christmas!

Just as in “I Love Lucy” the girls show up in the boys’ threadbare duds (to the Tropicana on TV, not City Hall). The photographer (also played by Hans Conried) takes their picture and informs the girls that not only will they be in the newspaper, but they’ve also been on television since their arrival!  On “I Love Lucy” the photographer was played by Lee Millar. It is ironic that a radio show ends with a reference to television, the very medium that Lucille Ball would redefine for the remainder of her career. At this point, Ball was in negotiations to move the show to television, but under her own terms – with her husband Desi. 

“YOO HOO!  BOB LEMOND!”

As usual, just before the show ends, Lucille Ball and Announcer Bob LeMond do a scripted Jello commercial. To start the new season, Lucy plays a shy young country girl visiting the city for the first time and LeMond is the city slicker. Lucy uses the same husky, raspy voice she created for the cello-playing Professor (”Have you seen a feller called Ricky Riskerdo?”) in both the unaired pilot and “The Audition” (ILL S1;E6). The voice was familiar to Lucille as she had used it all summer while touring with Desi during her summer hiatus.  

While LeMond tries to describe Jell-O’s flavors (”sweet talk”), Lucy would rather neck (”Kiss me!”). 

LeMond ends the broadcast with a plug for Lucille Ball’s current film, Fancy Pants, starring Bob Hope.