It may be hard to believe, but at one time Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were considered the hottest, hippest, funniest act around. NBC Radio banked on this and sign the duo to a five-year contract (the network had just lost both Jack Benny and Amos & Andy to CBS radio). What NBC forgot to take into their calculations was that Martin and Lewis were mainly a visual act and that radio was not exactly a visual medium. The show was greeted with a mixed reception. Eventually new script writers -- including Norman Lear -- were added, improving the show somewhat. The Martin & Lewis Show ran from April 1949 to July 1953.
Linked below is an episode featuring Hopa;;ong Cassidy himself, William Boyd.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrdPiXqGuVI&list=PLFeU7QgxX58T5_vvlD2MpOQhDQsUy7pKZ&index=4&t=0s
Small House of Everything
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
MUSIC FROM THE PAST: MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
Okay, this is kind of neat. The Starbugs are five kids -- Jessie Hillel, Sarah Whitaker, Roisin Anderson, Ben Anderson, and Rebecca Jenkins -- and their take on this Dylan song is infectious. This clip is from 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKFgLNBpQK0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKFgLNBpQK0
BAD JOKE WEDNESDAY
At her husband's funeral, a man walked up to the widow and politely asked, "May I say a word?"
She sniffed into her handkerchief and nodded.
He went to the front, gazed out at the mourners, cleared his throat, and said, "Plethora."
As he went back to his seat the widow said to him, "Thanks, That means a lot.'
She sniffed into her handkerchief and nodded.
He went to the front, gazed out at the mourners, cleared his throat, and said, "Plethora."
As he went back to his seat the widow said to him, "Thanks, That means a lot.'
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
OVERLOOKED FILM: COSMO JONES IN THE CRIME SMASHER (1943)
Cosmo Jones is a correspondence-school detective from a small town -- shades of Philo Gubb! --who heads to the big city to offer his services to the police department.
Jones is played by Frank Graham who originated the role in the 15-minute CBS radio series Nightcap Yarns, also known as Armchair Adventures. CBS aired the show in eleven western states and offered it to others thoughout the country merely for the cost of transcription until each station could find a sponsor. Many of the stations found sponsors, but did not tell CBS, giving the stations a lot of "found" money while also hastening the demise of the show.
Gwen Kenyon plays Phyllis, an oil heiress rubbing shoulders with a local gangster. When a member of a rival gang is murdered, an effort is made to kidnap Phyllis -- an act that Cosmo witnesses. Cosmo is later with police sergeant Pat Flanagan (Richard Cromwell) when a shootout occurs and a bystander is wounded. Chief Murphy (Edgar Kennedy) blames the wounding on Flanagan and demotes him. It's up to Cosmo Jones and Flanagan's daughter (a blonde Gail Storm), along with porter Eustace Smith (Mantan Moreland) to set things straight. Tristram Coffin, Herbert Rawlinson, Charles Jordan, Vince Barnett, and Mauritz Hugo are also featured.
Directed by James Tinling and written by Michael L. Simmons and Walter Gering, Cosmo Jones in the Crime Smasher came from Monogram Productions, one of the lowest of the low on Poverty Row. Keep your expectations low while enjoying some pretty talented character actors. There's a reason Cosmo Jones never became a Monogram franchise.
https://archive.org/details/CosmoJonesCrimeSmasher
Jones is played by Frank Graham who originated the role in the 15-minute CBS radio series Nightcap Yarns, also known as Armchair Adventures. CBS aired the show in eleven western states and offered it to others thoughout the country merely for the cost of transcription until each station could find a sponsor. Many of the stations found sponsors, but did not tell CBS, giving the stations a lot of "found" money while also hastening the demise of the show.
Gwen Kenyon plays Phyllis, an oil heiress rubbing shoulders with a local gangster. When a member of a rival gang is murdered, an effort is made to kidnap Phyllis -- an act that Cosmo witnesses. Cosmo is later with police sergeant Pat Flanagan (Richard Cromwell) when a shootout occurs and a bystander is wounded. Chief Murphy (Edgar Kennedy) blames the wounding on Flanagan and demotes him. It's up to Cosmo Jones and Flanagan's daughter (a blonde Gail Storm), along with porter Eustace Smith (Mantan Moreland) to set things straight. Tristram Coffin, Herbert Rawlinson, Charles Jordan, Vince Barnett, and Mauritz Hugo are also featured.
Directed by James Tinling and written by Michael L. Simmons and Walter Gering, Cosmo Jones in the Crime Smasher came from Monogram Productions, one of the lowest of the low on Poverty Row. Keep your expectations low while enjoying some pretty talented character actors. There's a reason Cosmo Jones never became a Monogram franchise.
https://archive.org/details/CosmoJonesCrimeSmasher
Sunday, December 8, 2019
THE WHITE DIVEL BY JOHN WEBSTER (1612)
Better known today as The White Devil (originally, The White Divel, or The Tragedy of Paolo Giordano Ursini, Duke of Brachiano, with The Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona the famous Venetian Curtesan), this Jacobean play by John Webster was a total failure with its first performance, held in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience which did not appreciate the play's satire and sophistication.
Based on the real-life murder of Vittoria Accoramboni of Padua in 1585, Webster transformed a story of Italian corruption to reflect the then-current corruption in Britain and its royal court.
The Duke of Brachiano desires Vittoria Corombona, the daughter of a noble Venetian family. Both, however are married. Brachiano and Vittoira's brother conspire and murder Brachiano's wife and Vittoria's husband. The debauched Count Ludivoco, who had been banished from Rome for murder and other crimes, returns to Rome and confesses his love for Brachiano's wife and vows vengence for her murder. Brachiano and Vittoria get married, but are excommunicated by the new Pope. The couple move to Padua. Plot and counterplot and murder ensue. Almost every character in the play is corrupt but eventually get what they deserve. The body count rivals the final act of Hamlet.
Combining great characterization, dramatic tension, and real horror, The White Devil is one of the best dramas of its age.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94SEV9YYwDU
Based on the real-life murder of Vittoria Accoramboni of Padua in 1585, Webster transformed a story of Italian corruption to reflect the then-current corruption in Britain and its royal court.
The Duke of Brachiano desires Vittoria Corombona, the daughter of a noble Venetian family. Both, however are married. Brachiano and Vittoira's brother conspire and murder Brachiano's wife and Vittoria's husband. The debauched Count Ludivoco, who had been banished from Rome for murder and other crimes, returns to Rome and confesses his love for Brachiano's wife and vows vengence for her murder. Brachiano and Vittoria get married, but are excommunicated by the new Pope. The couple move to Padua. Plot and counterplot and murder ensue. Almost every character in the play is corrupt but eventually get what they deserve. The body count rivals the final act of Hamlet.
Combining great characterization, dramatic tension, and real horror, The White Devil is one of the best dramas of its age.
Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94SEV9YYwDU
HYMN TIME
Jim Reeves (who was one of my father's favorite singers).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ndMZqT6i4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ndMZqT6i4I
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