Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat, ran from March 1, 1941 to December 28, 1951 on several radio networks (CBS, 1941-41; NBC Blue, 1942-42; and NBC, 1945-1951), and featured Ed Gardner as Duffy's bartender Archie. (Gardner had originally created the character as early as November1939 on NBC's Good News for 1940.) The show was co-created by Gardner and Abe Burrows, who also served as head writer for the first five years. In 1949, Gardner moved the show to Puerto Rico, hoping to take advantage of tax breaks, but many of the high-powered guests stars, who were a main feature of the program, opted not to travel that far, and the program died in 1951.
The show moved to the big screen, once, in 1945, with Paramount Pictures' release of Ed Gardner's Duffy's Tavern, with a line-up of 32 of Paramount's biggest stars playing themselves, including Bing Crosby, Paulette Goddard, Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Dorothy Lamour, and Robert Benchley. In 1954, Duffy's Tavern re-emerge as a syndicated television series for 39 episodes. Because of other commitments, Gardner restricted himself to merely acting in the series. The show was not a success: "woefully cookie-cutter in design," "TV-sitcom cliches," and "this isn't the same Duffy's Tavern we had known for so many years on the radio." (an earlier, hour-long version of Duffy's Tavern had been filmed for the All Star Revue series; it was never aired because the sponsor [Pet Evaporated Milk] was a milk company and the barroom conflicted with the company's image.)
For those too young to remember, Marie "The Body" McDonald (1923-1965) was an actress, singer, and popular World War II pin-up girl. Despite her popularity, her career was hampered by press attention to her romantic life. She had numerous high-profile romances and seven marriages (including one re-marriage) and once made a questionable claim of being kidnapped by two men and held for ransom. She died at age 42 from what was deemed to be an accidental "active drug intoxication due to multiple drugs."
In this episode, also known as "Archie Tries to Impress Marie," Archie pretends to be an wealthy eccentric to win her heart. Predictably, things backfire.
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/duffys-tavern-205-archie-proposes-to-marie-the-body-mc-donald-04-12-46
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