THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH

January 28, 1949

“The Absolute Truth” is episode #28 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on January 28, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ Liz and George bet each other that they can each go for 24 hours without telling a lie. Even a little white one.

Note: This was the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “Lucy Tells the Truth”

(ILL S3;E6) filmed on October 8, 1953 and first aired on November 9, 1953.

“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 Benadaret 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.

REGULAR 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 as 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.

Ruth Perrott (Katie, the Maid) was also later seen on “I Love Lucy.” She first played Mrs. Pomerantz (above right), 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.

Gale Gordon (Rudolph Atterbury) and Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury) had not yet joined the cast as regular characters.

GUEST CAST

Joseph Kearns (Rudolph Atterbury, George’s Boss) appeared on “I Love Lucy” as the psychiatrist in “The Kleptomaniac” (ILL S1;E27) and later played the theatre manager in “Lucy’s Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22). His most famous role was as Mr. Wilson on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” (1959). When he passed away during the show’s final season, Lucy regular Gale Gordon took over for him, playing his brother.

Jean Vander Pyl (Miss McKane, Salesgirl / Bank Operator / Evening Bugle Operator) is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon “The Flintstones.” Coincidentally, Wilma’s best friend was voiced by Bea Benadaret, who will later play Iris Atterbury, Liz’s best friend on “My Favorite Husband.” On radio she was heard on such programs as “The Halls of Ivy” (1950–52) and on “Father Knows Best” before it moved to TV.  She died in 1999 at age 79.

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers, we see a story unfolding, a story that started a week ago, one night when George and Liz were walking home from a movie…”

George admires a set of golf clubs in a store window, while Liz admires a hat. George mistakes it for someone’s leftover lunch – a mess of vegetables. Liz tells George that it is an original and costs $75 and that she has asked the store to hold it for her, lest Iris Atterbury get it first. 

GEORGE: “Good! She’s got the face to go with a New England foil dinner!” 

George is comparing the hat to a traditional New England meal that is wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked over an open flame. It generally includes seafood and/or shellfish, as well as corn on the cob. 

George forbids Liz to buy the hat so next day Liz returns to the shop to tell the clerk (Jean Vander Pyl) not to hold it for her any longer – she’ll take it!

At home, Liz cuddles up to George.  Liz notices he is wearing sports clothes and George confesses he has been given the day off.  He is off to play golf with Cory Cartwright. 

Note: Although Cory Cartwright was a recurring character at the start of the series (first played by Hal March, then John Hiestand) but was written out at the end of 1948. Here he is merely referred to. 

As soon as George is gone, Liz shows off her new hat for Katie the Maid, who, like George, also thinks it looks like a businessmen’s lunch of vegetables and mistakes a turnip for a mouse. Liz says she will not wear the hat in front of George until she can pay for it herself. She only ordered it to keep Iris from getting it.  

George suddenly returns and Liz covers her face with the newspaper to keep him from seeing the hat.  George sees the hat. Liz fibs and says that Iris asked her to pick it up for her, but George knows that Iris has been out of town for a week. 

Liz bursts into tears – but knows it won’t work so quickly gives up. George is more upset about her lying to him than the hat and makes her promise always to tell the absolute truth.  The phone rings.  It is Mr. Atterbury (Joseph Kearns) who is concerned to hear that George is ill and can’t come to work. Liz realizes that George lied, too!  

MR. ATTERBURY: “He said he felt like his head would be split open at any minute.”
LIZ: “You know, he may be right.”

With Mr. Atterbury still on the phone, Liz hatches a plan. She calls George to the telephone, telling him it is Cory wanting to know if he still wants to play golf.

LIZ: “It’s for you, George Washington.” 

Liz is referring to the story (likely apocryphal) about a young George Washington (later the first president of the United States) cutting down his father’s prized cherry tree, then taking immediate responsibility by saying “I cannot tell a lie” and admitting to axing the tree.  

When George picks up the phone he thinks he is speaking to Cory and says he couldn’t feel better. Mr. Atterbury says George better get to work at once, or be fired!  George is angry that Liz has tricked him. George claims that it accepted business practice to fake illness. George wants to take the hat back and get some golf clubs.  Instead Liz and George strike a deal: the first one to tell a lie before 24 hours are up has to pay the other $75 for the hat or the golf clubs.  

End of Part One

After a public service announcement about the importance of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the show resumes. 

The first truth to be revealed is that George has been playing poker after work, and Liz is livid about it. After a brief argument, they kiss and make up.  

GEORGE: “It won’t do any good. I’m getting those golf clubs or my name isn’t George Cooper.”
LIZ: “Goodbye, Sam.”

While George is at work, Liz plots with Katie to win the bet. She will disguise her voice as her Great Aunt Liza from Syracuse, whom George despises, and telephone him with a creaking old voice. Trying out the old lady voice, Katie says it sounds like Lionel Barrymore’s grandmother! 

Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954) was an actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director best known as the villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life. He also played Ebenezer Scrooge and a variety of curmudgeons.

George recognizes Liz’s voice immediately and tells her that none of the people she sent to the bank to trick him worked either.  Liz is mystified. She didn’t send anyone to the bank.  George realizes that the men from the Income Tax must have been real! Thinking they were phonies, he told the man everything about his tax returns.  The other person George thought was a phony was a news reporter. He gave her an interview for a story titled “The Truth About My Wife”!

Liz is hysterical, and calls the newspaper, but it is too late – the interview will be front page news tomorrow morning.  Liz is aghast that George has told that she lies about her age, her hair color and how she wakes up in the morning. 

When George comes home, Liz is eerily cheerful.  She has invited Mr. Atterbury home to ask George what he really thinks of his boss.  Liz can’t go through with it.  But George reads Mr. Atterbury the riot act about how horrible his job is – and promptly quits. 

Instead of being angry, Mr. Atterbury respects his honesty and gives him a promotion and a raise!  George is so happy he offers to buy the hat for Liz.  Liz says he should do it before tomorrow’s evening paper comes out. 

LIZ: “That’s right, George. I wrote a little article, too! ‘The Truth About My Husband’.” 
GEORGE: “Oh, no!”

In the bedtime tag, Liz wakes George out of a sound sleep at 4 in the morning. Liz thinks she heard a burglar downstairs – so George gets up and checks. But he has been tricked. 

LIZ: “George, while you’re up would you get me a glass of water?”
GEORGE: “Oh, Liz!”
LIZ: “I’ll hate myself in the morning. Goodnight, George!” 

End of Episode

The Announcer reminds viewers that Lucille Ball will soon be seen in the motion picture Sorrowful Jones.