LIZ SUBSTITUES IN A CLUB PLAY

January 6, 1951

“Liz Substitutes in a Club Play” (aka “The Young Matrons League Play”) is episode #113 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on January 6, 1951.

This was the 15th episode of the third season of MY FAVORITE HUSBAND. There were 31 new episodes, with the season ending on March 31, 1951.  

Synopsis ~ Liz is determined to play the lead in the women’s club play, even if she has to keep the leading lady from showing up. There’s only one problem: Liz has learned the lines for the wrong play!

Note: In part, this program served loosely as the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Writes A Play” (ILL S1;E17) filmed on December 22, 1951 and first aired on February 4, 1952.   

This episode is sometimes confused with “Young Matron’s League Play”  (season 1, episode 13) broadcast on October 9, 1948. Although a few of the ‘Cugat’ episodes were remade for the Coopers, this is not a remake, but a different script with a similar title. 

“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 Cooper. 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 / “Lady Genevieve / Susan”) 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.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph 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.

Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury / “Attorney”) 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 Ricardo’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.

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

Mary Shipp (Marge Van Tassle / “Bailiff”) was a radio and TV actress and the second wife of CBS Executive Harry Ackerman. Shipp played a recurring character on CBS’s “My Friend Irma” (1954-55) which featured Gale Gordon’s mother Gloria and Hal March, who was the first actor to play Cory Cartwright.

Marge’s husband Charlie is mentioned in the dialogue. The character has been heard on the series previously, played by other performers. 

Herb Vigran (Mr. Martin, Director) made several appearances on “My Favorite Husband.” He would later play Jule, Ricky’s music union agent on two episodes of “I Love Lucy”. He would go on to play Joe (and Mrs. Trumbull’s nephew), the washing machine repairman in “Never Do Business With Friends” (S2;E31) and Al Sparks, the publicity man who hires Lucy and Ethel to play Martians on top of the Empire State Building in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23). Of his 350 screen roles, he also made six appearances on “The Lucy Show.”

Several years later, writer Madelyn Pugh became Madelyn Martin when she married producer Quinn Martin in 1955.  

Characters spoken about but not heard are Betty Ricky, Kay St. Clair, Barbara Taylor, and Charlie Van Tassle. 

THE EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, it’s evening and Liz and George are settling down in the living room. George is reading the paper and Liz is sitting across the room looking at him.”

Liz is thinking about the upcoming women’s club play she is starring in – hoping stardom doesn’t separate her from George. George tries to bring her down to earth and Liz confesses she doesn’t have the lead – yet!  The auditions for the play are tomorrow morning. The name of the play is “The Milkmaid’s Dilemma or The Lady’s Not For Turning.”  

The title is a pun on the hit 1948 play The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry, a three act verse play set in the middle ages. In 1949 John Gielgud took the play on a provincial tour followed by a successful London run. Gielgud took the play to the United States, where it opened on Broadway on November 8, 1950 just two months before this broadcast. In October 1980, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would also pun on the title, when she announced that “the lady’s not for turning” regarding her making a political U-Turn on policy.

George refuses to practice with Liz until she actually lands the role. 

Next day at the auditions, Liz and Iris are waiting to hear what roles they get. Mr. Martin, the Director (Herb Vigran), announces the name of person chosen to play the lead, Lady Genevieve – Marge Van Tassle. 

Liz is devastated, but thinks the second lead will be even more challenging.  For  Millicent, Lady in Waiting, he selects Betty Ricky.  

Liz rationalizes that leads are dull, and she prefers character roles. For the role of Grandma Snavely, 106 year old witch, Mr. Martin casts Iris!   

Liz is still undaunted, and anticipates getting asked to play the Maid. For the Maid, Mr. Martin selects Kay St. Clair. 

Liz doesn’t even get cast as the Offstage Voice, which goes to Barbara Taylor.  

This comedy bit – built on dashed expectations – with Liz standing to accept her role, but then getting disappointed, is very similar to the the routine in “The Club Election” (ILL S2;E19) where Lucy expects to be voted an officer of her Club, but isn’t even nominated. It is also very similar to “Little Ricky’s School Pageant” (ILL S6;E10) where Lucy doesn’t get the role she wants in her son’s school play. 

Iris stands up and suggests Liz understudy the lead. Mr. Martin reluctantly agrees but Liz throws a tantrum and refuses – even threatening to quit the club. She storms out, promising never to darken their doors again!

Running home, Liz angrily tells Katie the Maid about what happened. Liz suddenly gets a brilliant idea: She will learn all the lines for the lead and somehow make sure that Marge Van Tassle doesn’t show up on opening night! 

In “The Diet” (ILL S1;E3), Lucy Ricardo also schemes to get rid of the female lead in her husband’s show so that she can play the part. On television, Lucy’s methods are a bit more aggressive!  In “The Celebrity Next Door” (LDCH S1;E2), Lucy gets jealous of Tallulah Bankhead playing the lead in the PTA play and arranges for her to be locked in the bathroom! 

Part Two

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers once again, Liz is busy rehearsing the lead in the women’s club play. She knows it almost perfectly. In fact, the only thing she doesn’t know is that the club decided to do a different play!“

The night before the play opens, Mr. Atterbury drops by to talk with George while Iris is at rehearsal. George is glad his boss has come. He is worried. 

GEORGE: “It’s Liz. She’s acting very weird.”
MR. ATTERBURY: “With Liz how can you tell?”

Variations on this line about Liz and Lucy’s crazy behavior can be found throughout “My Favorite Husband” and “I Love Lucy.” The closest match is from “Drafted” (ILL S1;E11):

Ricky: “Lucy’s been acting strange lately.” 
Fred: “Strange? How can you tell?”

In the next room, George has been hearing Liz rehearse her old English play but has no idea about her plan to learn all the lines and step in at the last moment.  Mr. Atterbury suggests that the rejection from not being cast has pushed her into a psychologically altered reality, identifying with the character she didn’t get to play. The men decide to humor her by also talking in her exaggerated olde English style. When Liz comes into the room, she is confused.

LIZ: “Methinks you two are nuttier than fruitcake!”

Liz ducks into the kitchen to tell Katie of her plan. Marge’s husband is out of town at a convention so Liz telephones Marge and pretends to be a New York telephone operator who connects her to an anonymous woman. The woman tells Marge that her husband won’t be home for several days but doesn’t give a reason or say who she is. Marge immediately suspect her to be a floozy chorus girl that her husband Charlie is secretly having an affair with!

Liz does the voices of both the operator and the floozy. For the operator, Lucille Ball pinches her nose to create a nasal, distant sound. For the anonymous woman, Lucy uses a broad Brooklyn accent similar to the one she will use as Miss McGillicuddy, a platinum blonde Runyonesque doll, in “Ricky Asks For A Raise” (ILL S1;E35). Coincidentally, Gale Gordon was also in that episode as Mr. Littlefield. 

Liz puts her costume under her overcoat and joins George and Mr. Atterbury for Iris’s opening night. Mr. Martin takes the stage to announce that Marge Van Tassle has been called out of town and the performance has been canceled. Liz stands up to announce that the evening is saved and that she know the role. She says “The show must go on!” and goes backstage. 

George looks down at the printed program and sees the title – “The Trial of Susan Hathaway” – not “The Milkmaid’s Dilemma”. He realizes that Liz has learned the wrong play!  

The curtain opens. Iris is playing a prosecuting attorney in a courtroom. Liz must take on the lead – Susan Hathaway, the accused – although she has no idea what to say. In response to the lawyer’s question of what she was doing on the night of the murder, Liz declares she laid siege to Dunstan Castle!  When the attorney accuses her of murder, Liz retorts:

GENEVIEVE / LIZ: “Hold thy tongue, varlet! Watcheth what thy speaketh!” 

When the lawyer (Iris) asks Susan why she killed her husband, Liz replies:

GENEVIEVE / LIZ: “He shot flaming arrows into my parapet!” 

In a stage whisper, Iris urgently tells Liz that they need to get in the same century. Liz agrees and they resume the play. 

LAWYER / IRIS: “Prithee, how did ye kill this knave?”
SUSAN / LIZ: “I took out my rod and let ‘em have it!” 
LAWYER / IRIS: “No, I mean where did you shoot him?”
SUSAN / LIZ: “Right between the dungeon and the drawbridge.”

The onstage confusion between two disparate plays is the only similarity to 

“Lucy Writes A Play” (ILL S1;E17). On television, the circumstances leading up to the onstage confusion are totally different, and so are the two plays: “A Tree Grows in Havana” and “The Perils of Pamela”.   

At home after the show, Liz is devastated at her embarrassing performance in the play(s). George insists they take a look at the opening night newspaper review: 

“A new star was born at the community theatre last night. Liz Cooper displayed comic talent rarely seen on the local boards. This reporter has never laughed so hard and I predict a brilliant future for her as a comedienne.” 

Liz wonders aloud if when she gets to Hollywood she should get a swimming pool right away or wait awhile?  George sighs. 

END OF EPISODE

The ending of the episode is very similar to “Lucy and the Dummy” (ILL S5;E3) in which Lucy’s song and dance routine with a Ricky Ricardo doll goes terribly wrong – but the critics think it was a stroke of comedic genius. Lucy is offered a Hollywood contract and spends a few fanciful moments imaging her fame before deciding she didn’t want to leave her family for the big time.