CHARITY REVUE

March 11, 1949

“Charity Revue” (aka “Red Cross Benefit Revue”) is episode #34 of the radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on March 11, 1949 on the CBS radio network.

Synopsis ~ Mr. Atterbury asks George to work up a song and dance routine for the local Red Cross Charity Review. At the same time Liz’s women’s club recruits her to perform. 

Note: This program was used as a basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Benefit”

(ILL S1;E13) filmed on November 30, 1951 and first aired on January 7, 1952.

“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) 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, George’s Boss) 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.

This is Gordon’s first appearance as Rudolph Atterbury, a role previous played by Hans Conried. 

Bea Benadaret does not appear in this episode. 

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.

GUEST CAST 

Gloria Blondell (Miss Marilyn Williams) was born to theatrical parents in New York City in 1910. She is the younger sister of Joan Blondell, also an actress. On radio, she did 26 episodes of seven different series.

Blondell saw most of her work in the 1940s as the voice of Disney’s ‘Daisy Duck’ for Disney, doing six short films as Donald’s girlfriend.

Blondell’s only screen collaboration with Lucille Ball was in “The Anniversary Present” (ILL S2;E3) in 1952, playing the Ricardo’s upstairs neighbor Grace Foster. 

Giving the character the first name of Marilyn is no doubt meant to remind listeners of up-and-coming sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. 

Gerald Mohr (Gerald Mohr) played psychiatrist Henry Molin, who masquerades as Ricky’s old friend Chuck Stewart in “The Inferiority Complex” (ILL S2;E18 ~ February 2, 1953), his only appearance on “I Love Lucy”. In return, Lucy and Desi appeared on his show “Sunday Showcase” that same year. He also made an appearance on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and Phil Harris” (TLS S6;E20 ~ February 5, 1968).

Mohr uses his own name for this appearance. 

EPISODE

ANNOUNCER: “As we look in on the Coopers this morning, George is still upstairs getting dressed. Liz is in the kitchen, talking to Katie the Maid.”

Liz tells Katie that she’s excited for the upcoming Red Cross benefit. She is planning to do an act with George representing her club. The only detail is that she hasn’t told him about it yet!  

The Red Cross is a humanitarian organization founded in 1863 to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering. American Red Cross posters were a favorite of the Desilu set decorators on “I Love Lucy”. They can be glimpsed in the subway during “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12), on the walls of the rented hall in “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (S2;E14), in the butcher shop in “The Freezer” (S1;E29), and on the Westport train station in “Lucy Misses the Mertzes” (S6;E17).  

Liz goes into the dining room and sweet-talks George, covering him with kisses. He is immediately suspicious. Liz tells him that a woman in her club is doing an act with her husband for the Red Cross revue. George laughs and says the man will make a fool of himself – until Liz tells him that the man is him!

GEORGE: “You know if there’s one thing I hate more than that club of yours is amateur theatrics!” 

"Boola Boola” is a football song of Yale University. The song was composed in 1900 and is generally attributed to Allan M. Hirsh, Yale Class of 1901. The song immediately caught on, soon being played by John Philip Sousa. It sold more sheet music in the first half of 1901 than any other song in the country, and became indelibly associated with Yale athletics. Is George a Yale man?

George is still reluctant, but Liz tries to convince him.

LIZ: “Jolson made a comeback. How about you?” 

Al Jolson (1886-1950) was a Lithuanian-born singer, actor, and comedian. Unabashedly billed as the World’s Greatest Entertainer, Jolson was the most successful musical comedy star on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s. He was also a major radio star and the most popular solo recording artist of the 1920s, his biggest hits being “Sonny Boy”, “April Showers,” and “Swanee.” He inaugurated sound motion pictures with The Jazz Singer (1927) and made a series of musical films. He enjoyed a spectacular career comeback in the years before his death, largely due to the film biographies The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949). Jolson’s use of blackface, dating from his early years in minstrel shows, made him a controversial figure.

George refuses to give in. 

“There’s No Business Like Show Business” is a song from Irving Berlin’s 1949 Broadway hit Annie Get Your Gun. It was introduced by Ethel Merman as Annie Oakley. In “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined” (ILL S3;E11), Lucy Ricardo and the Mertzes burst into an rendition of the song as an impromptu audition for a Broadway producer. The song would also be quoted (not sung) by Lucy Ricardo in “Baby Pictures” (ILL S3;E5) and “Lucy Teaches Ethel Merman To Sing” (TLS S2;E18).  Merman and the cast of “The Lucy Show” perform it in “Ethel Merman and the Boy Scout Show” (TLS S2;E19 ~ February 10, 1964).

GEORGE: “Hiya, Liz!”
LIZ: “Hiya, Bing.”
GEORGE: “How do the old pipes sound?”
LIZ: “Like they could use a little Drano.”

Liz is referring to singer, actor and comedian Bing Crosby, one of the biggest media stars of the 1940s. On “I Love Lucy” a Hollywood-bound Ricky called Crosby a bum – but dressed like him all the same. In “Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana” (1957) Susie MacNamara tries to convince Lucy to become a Bing Crosby fan instead Rudy Vallee. Crosby’s name was mentioned on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” The Drackett Company first launched the Drano product in 1923. Its purpose was to clear clogged pipes (not the human sort). Drano was originally produced in crystallized form.

Liz is surprised that George has suddenly changed his ‘tune’ and now wants to do the Revue with Liz as the star. He even has a song picked out for them. He sits at the piano and begins to play and sing “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart”. 

“Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” is a 1934 song with words and music by James F. Hanley. It was introduced in the Broadway revue Thumbs Up! The most notable recordings were made by Judy Garland, who recorded it numerous times, including in the 1938 film Listen, Darling in 1939. It later became a standard number in her concerts and TV shows.

Liz only has to sing one word “Zing!” After a few choruses, she stops the rehearsal, unhappy with her small part. 

On television, the song was “Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear”

with Lucy only allowed to sing the word “Auf”! 

George agrees to find another opening song. They start to work on their comedy patter. While rehearsing the jokes, Liz realizes that George is telling all the jokes while she is the straight man not saying anything funny. 

LIZ: “I’m Liz Cooper, not Harpo Marx!” 

Harpo Marx (born Adolph Marx) was the second of five performing brothers. Harpo was so named because of his musical talent on the Harp, but he also never spoke in his comedy. In 1922, he and his brothers left vaudeville to perform on Broadway, and soon landed in Hollywood making movies together throughout the 1930s and 40s. Lucille Ball starred with the Marx Brothers in Room Service (1938) and Harpo famously guest-starred on “I Love Lucy” in 1955. 

GEORGE: “What would Amos be without Andy? What would Lum be without Abner?” 

Amos ‘n’ Andy is a radio and television sitcom set in Harlem. The original radio show, which ran from 1928 to 1960, was created, written and voiced by two white actors, Freeman Gosden (Amos) and Charles Correll (Andy). When the show moved to television, black actors took over the roles of Amos (Alvin Childress) and Andy (Spencer Williams).

Lum and Abner was a radio comedy created by and starring Chester Lauck (as Abner Peabody) and Norris Goff (as Lum Edwards) that aired from 1931 to 1954. Modeled on life in a small town in Arkansas, the show proved immensely popular. 

Liz says that since they are representing her club, she needs to have the larger role. George confesses that Mr. Atterbury wants him to represent the bank. Liz says the act is off. George says he find one of the girls at the bank to be his partner. Liz assumes the ‘girls’ at the bank are old fuddy duddies!

Next day, Miss Marilyn Williams (Gloria Blondell) arrives to rehearse. Her fuddy isn’t duddy at all! Liz tells Miss Williams that George left on a trip to South America. Just then, George bounds in and says he only went to put the car in the garage. 

LIZ: “I always get confused. Our car is a Reo.” 

Liz is punning on the homophones Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Reo (the make of automobile). Reo (sometimes seen REO) was founded by Ransom E. Olds in August 1904.

Reo manufactured automobiles from 1905 to 1936, including the famous Reo Speed-Wagon, an ancestor of the pickup truck, which gave its name to the 1970s rock and roll group REO Speedwagon.

Although World War II truck orders enabled it to make something of a comeback, the company remained unstable in the postwar era. In 1975, they filed for bankruptcy.

Miss Williams and George go into the den and close the door to rehearse while Liz and Katie listen on the landing just outside, peeking through the transom. They hear carefree laughter from the room. George and Miss Williams are rehearsing a love scene when Liz bursts in offering them a snack. Miss Williams says that Liz is acting jealous. Liz calls her an ‘older woman’. 

MISS WILLIAMS: “You don’t have to get nasty with me, Liz Cooper. I’m not going to steal your son away.”
LIZ: “My son! Listen here, you poor man’s Marjorie Main!”
MISS WILLIAMS: “You start anything and I’ll black your eyes to match your hair!”
LIZ: “My hair is red.”
MISS WILLIAMS: “I’m talking about the roots!” 

Marjorie Main (1890-1975) was then a 49 year-old character actress who earned a 1948 Oscar nomination for The Egg and I. In 1954 she was a supporting player in Lucy and Desi’s The Long, Long Trailer (1953). 

Next day, Liz has invited over a handsome man (Gerald Mohr) to rehearse a ‘passionate love scene with her’. It turns out that George and Gerald were fraternity brothers! George decides to sit by and watch Liz and Gerald rehearse. 

The scene is similar to Mohr’s appearance as a psychiatrist on “I Love Lucy,” where he flatters Lucy and inadvertently makes Ricky jealous as part of his ‘treatment’.  

George tries to distract Gerald by asking about former fraternity brothers. George and Gerald think the love scene will get a million laughs, which makes Liz dissolve into tears. 

The night of the Red Cross show, Liz tells Katie she’s going to be George’s partner no matter what!  George is on right after Evelyn and Her Magic Kazoo. Liz tells Miss Williams that George wants to see her in his dressing room – then locks her in!  

On an early episode of “I Love Lucy,” a jealous Lucy also locked her husband’s performance partner away – in a storage closet – so that she could take her place. Much later, an envious Lucy locked Tallulah Bankhead in a backstage bathroom so she could steal the spotlight during the Westport PTA show. 

Liz tells George Miss Williams couldn’t make it and she will talk her place. They go onstage. The music connecting the jokes is "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose".

“When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose” was written in 1914 by Jack Mahoney and Percy Wenrich. At the time of broadcast (1949) it had been heard in sixteen films, including the 1942 film For Me And My Gal starring Judy Garland and 1949′s Chicken Every Sunday starring William Frawley (Fred Mertz). On “My Favorite Husband” it will also be heard in “Liz Writes A Song” (January 27, 1950). 

This time, however, Liz has stolen all of George’s punch lines!  

GEORGE: “A tramp came up to me and said he hadn’t had a bite in days.”
LIZ: “What’d you do? Bite him?”

GEORGE: “Did you hear about the big fire at the shoe factory?”
LIZ: “I’ll bet some heal started it!”
GEORGE (hushed to Liz): “You’re supposed to say ‘Who stated it’.”
LIZ (loudly): “Two hundred souls were lost!” 

George tries to outsmart Liz with a joke she’s never heard.

GEORGE: “I know a girl so dumb she thinks a football coach has four wheels!” 
LIZ: “How many wheels does it have?” 

These are the same jokes that will be used in the television version “The Benefit” (ILL S1;E13) although the interlocutory music was changed to “We’ll Build A Bungalow”. The Arnazes loved the material so much that they started doing the “Songs and Witty Sayings” routine at various industry functions and charity events including the televised “Dinner with the President” event on November 25, 1953. The material was even part of the unreleased “I Love Lucy” movie.