IJBFC Chat - November 14, 2010
(Name of message originator in [] brackets at the beginning of each line)
[Laura
Leff] Hi folks...
[Brad
from Georgia] Hi, Laura.
[Laura
Leff] Looks like the East Coast is covered...
[KayLhota]
Hi Folks!
[Laura
Leff] How are you both doing?
[KayLhota]
Pretty good, thanks.
[Brad
from Georgia] Doing okay. Really worn out from school.
[Brad
from Georgia] Been working on a book, too, but it goes slowly.
[Laura
Leff] Yes, it's been an insanely busy time for me as well.
[Laura
Leff] I am 86% through all the shows I need to watch for Volume 3.
Just recalculated it last night.
[KayLhota]
wow, that's really great, Laura.
[Laura
Leff] Yes, I'm quite awash in data.
[Laura
Leff] BRB
[Brad
from Georgia] I'm pretty close to 47,000 words on a 55,000 word book
(first draft, though) In the summer I can do maybe 4000 words a day...I'm lucky
to get 2000 a week during school.
[Brad
from Georgia] Hope a few other regulars turn up tonight!
[KayLhota]
Yes, tonight's turnout is low so far.
[Brad
from Georgia] But what there is...is cherce.
[KayLhota]
I almost didn't make it, either.
[Brad
from Georgia] What happened?
[Laura
Leff] Yes, I've often said that I consult, and between gigs, I write
my books.
[KayLhota]
A busy day, and my husband didn't give up the computer until 7:40 my time.
[Laura
Leff] Volume 3 is the first book I've ever written while working.
Thank goodness I have a very understanding boss.
[Laura
Leff] Sounds like everyone's busy these days!
[KayLhota]
I had less than 20 minutes to listen to tonight's episode. I got almost up to
Dennis' song
[Brad
from Georgia] I drove down to Atlanta for the monthly meeting of the
Dark River Writers, my writers' support group.
[Brad
from Georgia] You know, Dennis's "suicide" gag probably
wouldn't make it on the air today.
[Laura
Leff] I presume that Westinghouse must have had a tag line like,
"Westinghouse...when you want to be sure"
[KayLhota]
I was having fun listening to the Ed part.
[Laura
Leff] I sometimes wonder if Mel killing himself at the end of the
Christmas shopping show would make it today.
[Laura
Leff] There's a television version of this show.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL-Yes, that was the ad line for Westinghouse: "Be
sure ... with Westinghouse." Had to do with light bulbs especially, as I
recall.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--In the TV version, it's Bert Mustin as Ed, right?
[KayLhota]
Ed didn't know what electricity was.
[Laura
Leff] OK, thanks for that. There was also a reference to George Gobel
being younger than Jack, which sounds like it was a reference to some other
current comment or joke based on the audience reaction.
[Brad
from Georgia] Burt Mustin.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Yes, that's right. It was Burt Mustin.
[Laura
Leff] Oh heck...BRB again.
User
Mike Amo has entered this room.
[KayLhota]
I try to imagine Joe Kearns, and it is hard to see him as Ed.
[Brad
from Georgia] (Bert/Burt: I wrote a silly little pastiche of a P.G.
Wodehouse "Bertie Wooster" story recently)
[Mike
Amo] Jello folks!
[Mike
Amo] I had to reinstall Java to get in
[KayLhota]
Hi Mike
[Brad
from Georgia] Hi, Mike.
[Brad
from Georgia] I had to drink Java to stay up. Daylight savings--the
government's way of showing those of us who rarely fly what jetlag is.
[Mike
Amo]
[KayLhota]
I am not looking forward to the next two months of darkness, but we have no
choice on that.
[Laura
Leff] Hi Mike!
[Brad
from Georgia] The end of the show is so weird...Ed's wanting to go
back to the vault doesn't provoke a laugh, just an "Aww..." reaction
from the audience.
[Laura
Leff] Kay - I'll second that emotion.
[Mike
Amo] Hi LL
[Laura
Leff] Yes...I know I've said this before, but the first time I heard
this show, I was almost in tears at that--it's very poignant.
[Brad
from Georgia] Very odd, wistful feeling. Kearns does a good job.
[KayLhota]
It's one thing that I love towards the end of January when the sun is setting
closer to 5:00 than 4:30.
[Laura
Leff] The bit with the lineup being the orchestra is reused in the
first live television performance of Jack going to the Beverly Hills Police
Department over his Maxwell being stolen.
[Laura
Leff] Here's an off-the-wall question...have any of you seen "A
Beautiful Mind"?
[Brad
from Georgia] I think it's probably more effective in radio, with the
"March Rods" doing the sfx.
[KayLhota]
I have not,
Laura.
[Mike
Amo] I
did
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--No,
I haven't.
[Brad
from Georgia] I did see a film called "A Dirty Mind," but
it had a lot of ladies with not enough clothing....
[KayLhota]
blush
[Laura
Leff] Well...I'll just say this briefly for Mike. Remember the scene
where she walks into the shed and the walls are covered in clippings and all the
strings showing connections between them?
[Brad
from Georgia] Um...no.
[Laura
Leff] By the way, I recommend the movie. I'm not much of a Ron Howard
fan (too sappy for me normally), but I like this one.
[Laura
Leff] Well, whatever. Basically I feel like that in listening to and
watching the Benny shows, because I see/hear a gag and remember it being done on
one or more other shows with variations.
[Laura
Leff] Nuff said.
[Brad
from Georgia] I'm waiting for "Death Comes to Mayberry: Opie's
Revenge".
[Laura
Leff] And actually, I think Ray may have added a little "march
rod" embellishment for the lineup on television, but I'd have to look at it
again.
[Mike
Amo] Been too long, didn't remember the scene, but awww
[Laura
Leff] Mike - Yeah, that's what it feels like for me in writing Volume
3! In a good way.
[Brad
from Georgia] Anyone going to see "Harry Potter VII" next
week? My son and daughter-in-law are planning a midnight jaunt to the movie.
[Laura
Leff] Aren't they all basically the same movie?
[KayLhota]
I wish I could have gotten to the 2nd half of this episode, but today was busy
even more than usua;
[Laura
Leff] I'd consider it with Ralph Fiennes in it...one of my faves.
[KayLhota]
I am going to see the Harry Potter movie
[KayLhota]
I loved the books
[Brad
from Georgia] Kay--Ed comes up from the vault, is frightened by the
modern world--in which he observes no one is happy--and begs Jack just to be
allowed to go back down again.
[Laura
Leff] Jack and Rochester go to the police station because Ed has run
off, and encounter Mel Blanc, Benny Rubin, and Frank Nelson.
[Laura
Leff] Er...sorry...Jack and Don.
[KayLhota]
Brad, it would be an "aww" moment for Ed, but even in the 1st half
they were really giving Joe kearns a lot of good material to act with
[Brad
from Georgia] Frank is in "Missing Persons" because the
usual cop who mans that desk is...missing.
[Laura
Leff] Frank really hits his "YESSS" hard on this entrance!
[KayLhota]
I'll have to give this a listen, just sorry that it's late
[Brad
from Georgia] And Rubin is the "I dunno" guy.
[Laura
Leff] I only finished it moments before logging on .
[KayLhota]
classic Jack Benny cast, all right
[Laura
Leff] Of course no Mary. Classic late 50s Benny cast.
[Brad
from Georgia] I listened twice, once about a week ago as I walked on
the trail, once today driving back home from Atlanta (about an hour's trip).
[Laura
Leff] And no Bob Crosby either, IIRC
[Brad
from Georgia] Though he is named in Don's intro, no Bob.
[Laura
Leff] Not that it takes away much...sorry Bob...Manischevivivitz
aside.
[Laura
Leff] Isn't Mary there too?
[Brad
from Georgia] She didn't make much of an impression on me!
[KayLhota]
I guess Mary was having more and more anxiety towards the end of the radio era
[Laura
Leff] It's nice to have Don doing the commercial as opposed to the
George Washington Hill assortment of folks...classic though they are
[KayLhota]
and into the TV era
[Brad
from Georgia] This is one of those Benny shows that preceded a TV
show. Sometimes those have a kind of slapped-together feel.
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Yes, I talked about that in the intro.
[Laura
Leff] Intro to V2.
[Laura
Leff] Just confirmed...Mary is in the opening credits.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Basically what was happening was that Hal and Al were
recycling bits from prior scripts, and adding a few of their own to freshen it
up.
[Brad
from Georgia] In late '44 and early '45 Mary seemed to have a lot of
"colds" and "laryngitis."
[KayLhota]
I read your books and I refer to them often, but when it comes to the listening
for yourself, you get reminded when she is missing
[Laura
Leff] Of course, the whole "Ed comes up from the vault" was
original. But you can see the recycled material from other shows because it
doesn't form a cohesive whole.
[Brad
from Georgia] Dennis's "suicide" gag had been used before,
I think.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Let's see if I can come up with something quickly on
that...
[Laura
Leff] 2/25/51 - Dennis wants to miss rehearsal, going to commit
suicide.
[Brad
from Georgia] Someone told me recently that Frank Remley got along so
well with Jack because they were both Midwesterners. Remley came from
Minneapolis? St. Paul?
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Sorry if it sounded high-handed of me to refer to the V2
intro. There's just a lot of analysis I put in there, and figured I'd just point
to it rather than spin it out here.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Hal Goldman was from Minneapolis. I'm trying to remember
Remley's home town.
[Laura
Leff] I just got a beautiful professional photo of him from the early
40s. Will probably be the cover of the second 2011 issue
[Brad
from Georgia] Sure, I love Vol. 2. I know more of those shows than
the ones in Vol. 1, since so many of those don't seem to exist any more.
[Laura
Leff] So sorry...BRB again
[Brad
from Georgia] Where are all the regulars, I wonder? Yht and those
guys...
[KayLhota]
my goodness, there goes Laura
[KayLhota]
smallish turnout tonight
[Brad
from Georgia] Hope the dragon doesn't eat her....(reference to a gag
in the show, Kay).
[Brad
from Georgia] Probably my fault...I suggested that show.
[KayLhota]
I finally did the smart thing, and pulled out the episode from my own collection
to listen to the 2nd half while we chat
[Mike
Amo] Sorry I haven't been here in ages, y'all...treveled everywhere
the past several months and a little more to go
[Brad
from Georgia] Well, let's see...I've regrown about half of my left
big toe nail. I won't go into the gruesome details.
[KayLhota]
ouch Brad
[Brad
from Georgia] Oddly, it wasn't painful after the first day or so of
the injury. Later when it, um, came off, it didn't hurt at all, but it really
creeped me out.
[Laura
Leff] Ouch
[Mike
Amo] ew
[Brad
from Georgia] Yeah, I blame San Antonio. Barbara and I walked ten
miles along the Mission Trail, and it turned out my shoes were defective.
[KayLhota]
oh, that does sound painful!
[Laura
Leff] As long as we're discussing disgusting maladies...suffice it to
say that I did a deep cleanse yesterday, and somehow some of the after-effects
have set in immediately coincident with the start of the chat.
[Laura
Leff] Suffice it to say.
[Brad
from Georgia] Ah, hence the occasional absences.
[Laura
Leff] Yep
[Laura
Leff] At least I don't have to run all the way down to the vault.
[Laura
Leff] Oh you know...talking of connections of bits in the show...
[Laura
Leff] Paul Lynde plays a veterinarian caring for one of Jack's
alligators on one TV show.
[Brad
from Georgia] You know the story of Walter Cronkite, on the air
during the first moon landing. He had an upset tummy...but couldn't leave the
desk. He reportedly had to pay for his chair.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--Must have been a young Paul Lynde!
[Laura
Leff] And IIRC--this may be on a different show--one of the
alligators is named Jeanette--oh yes, this is where Jack takes the IRS agents
down to the vault--and a literal "clinging vine" is named Irving!
[Brad
from Georgia] Yes, I recall that episode.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Yes, very. Bye Bye Birdie days.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh my...is that why no one wanted to get close to him...
[Brad
from Georgia] My son once played his role in the play version of BBB.
Creepily, his sister played his daughter.
[Laura
Leff] Kids...I don't know what's wrong with these kids today...
[KayLhota]
Is your son older than your daughter at least?
[Brad
from Georgia] Kay--Yep, two years.
[Laura
Leff] Not enough to be her father, but...
[Laura
Leff] Well, here's a thought.
[KayLhota]
Bye Bye birdie is one of my favorite shows
[Brad
from Georgia] My son wrote and directed "The Return of the King
and I," a musical version of the Tolkien story. I played Gimli the Dwarf
and Treebeard. My daughter played Arwen.
[Brad
from Georgia] I sang a song, "Elves", which was based on
"Kids".
[KayLhota]
that must have been charming, Ed
[KayLhota]
Brad!
[Laura
Leff] If we're all busy and worn out, I'm happy to call it good early
so we can all get some time back in our schedules. Your thoughts?
[Laura
Leff] Brad - One of our rabbits is named Gimli. He's a dwarf.
[Brad
from Georgia] I suppose it's okay. But you know this is my only human
contact. I don't count fellow writers and students.
[KayLhota]
I can talk a little longer, Laura if you are up for it
[Laura
Leff] I'm fine...just wanted to throw out the option.
[KayLhota]
but if you are not feeling well, I understand
[Brad
from Georgia] Elves! I don't know what's wrong with these elves
today! Elves! They have pointy ears and their clothes are fey!
[Laura
Leff] Since everyone was talking about how blitzed they are.
[Mike
Amo] I didn't get to hear the show yet...this is my first real day
home in weeks, but it's good to be here when you're online
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I like it...
[Brad from Georgia] Mike, whither are you bound on the road?
[KayLhota]
Laura, it's so nice to leave the craziness and relax and chat right now.
[Brad
from Georgia] (Notice dat "whither." It show I gots class.)
[Mike
Amo] Crossed all of the US and Canada...even looked for Jack's star
in Palm Springs last weekend
[Mike
Amo] In Australia-New Zealand mid-December to mid-january
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Gotcha.
[Mike
Amo] And I did not wither...yet
[Brad
from Georgia] Good golly, Miss Molly! What are you gonna be doin' in
the Antipodes?
[Mike
Amo] Exploring, and spending a lot to do it,
[Laura
Leff] Mike - Good for you. Hoping to get to Australia next year to
visit some friends.
(some
loss)
[Brad
from Georgia] Some o' them Betty Boops wuz purty wild....
[KayLhota]
yes, and a lot of the stuff in "So This Is Harris" got expanded upon
in the movie "Melody Cruise"
[Mike
Amo] I saw Craig Ferguson's show Wednesday night at CBS...three large
b&w framed shots are in the entrance to the taping area: Jack with one of
the Marquis Chimps, Carol Burnett, and Red Skelton in full clown makeup
[Brad
from Georgia] The Betty Boop "Snow White" looks as if the
animators were on serious drugs.
[Laura
Leff] Just checked...it is "Melody Cruise"
[Laura
Leff] That's the only thing he did in 1933.
[KayLhota]
So, I'm not crazy. He was in that movie.
[Laura
Leff] I still like Tex Avery's "Red Hot Riding Hood"
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, I got the "Laughter in Bloom" DVD. I love
it, but I get all misted up.
[KayLhota]
I want to see it again.
[Brad
from Georgia] Avery said someone swiped all his original drawings of
Red--which were nude studies (they drew in the costumes later).
[Laura
Leff] Mike - Oh yes, I've seen those! When I was there watching the
transfer of the color specials, someone showed me around.
[Brad
from Georgia] Eddie gets a neat reaction from his opening story
regarding one of the Marquis chimps riding the bus from LA to Vegas.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I remember there was a classic artist who used to draw
his figures nude first and then paint clothes on them.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Chi Chi
[Mike
Amo] Also got a tour of Jim Henson Studios, used to be Red's &
originally Chaplin's
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--not
unusual. Lots of artists do that. I once took a life-studies painting class in
which we had to paint a nude model. I failed the class, though I gave her two
coats.
[KayLhota]
Good one,
Brad!
[Brad
from Georgia] Mike--Cool!
The Hensons are currently planning a permanent Henson Museum in Atlanta, at the
Center for Puppetry Arts, where my daughter works.
[KayLhota]
that would
be wonderful
[Mike
Amo] Cool,
Brad!
[Brad
from Georgia] Amy's
good friends with Heather Henson, and she knows a couple of the other Hensons,
too.
[KayLhota]
earlier
this year we got to see an exhibit of Henson art and storyboards, puppets and
all sorts of goodies at a local museum
[Laura
Leff] So
where's Kermit?
[Mike
Amo] At
Disneyland
[Mike
Amo] And
on top of the Henson Studio entrance
[Laura
Leff] Appropriate.
Is he really the original?
[KayLhota]
the La Choy
canned Chinese food commercial with a clumsy dragon had us all laughing
[Mike
Amo] No,
it's a statue
[Brad
from Georgia] One
original Kermit is in the Smithsonian
[Laura
Leff] Or
is Kermit like Howdy Doody or Charlie McCarthy where there are multiple...
[Laura
Leff] Brad
- OK, that makes more sense.
[Mike
Amo] Someone
was talking last week about the original Kermit being bought at auction and
having been made from Jim's mother coat
[Mike
Amo] mother's
[Brad
from Georgia] The
very first Kermit was made from his mom's coat, yes.
[Laura
Leff] That
reminds me of Jack's TV show with Darla Hood, where in the "My Gang"
sketch, they paste lambs' wool from the mother's coat onto the dog
[KayLhota] Darla was a cute guest on the show.
[Brad
from Georgia] There have been a couple of dozen Kermits. Some were
non-puppets, used for still photos only.
[Laura
Leff] I should see if I can find her one of these days.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - OK, like Photo Doody.
[Laura
Leff] I figured there had to be more than one.
[Brad
from Georgia] Yep, like that, LL.
[Brad
from Georgia] The Puppetry Arts Center has one of Shari Lewis's
original Lamb Chop puppets.
[Laura
Leff] I remember when Kermit guest hosted The Tonight Show
[Laura
Leff] Sorry I don't know, but isn't Shari Lewis still around?
[Laura
Leff] Her guest shot on Jack's show is quite adorable.
[Mike
Amo] wow, I should remember that
[KayLhota]
Shari Lewis died years ago
[Brad
from Georgia] Jim Henson said it was incredibly hard to make the
"next-generation" Kermit match the one that was wearing out--sometimes
they'd make three or four before one looked right.
[Laura
Leff] Really? She must have been young.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--No, Shari died some years ago.
[Mike
Amo] No, she passed away about 10 years ago
[Laura
Leff] That's a shame. She was quite talented.
[Mike
Amo] I did get to see her do her show in Baltimore Inner Harbor in
the early 1990s
[Brad
from Georgia] We did see her daughter, who now does an act with her
mom's puppets, including Lamb Chop. She's quite good.
[KayLhota]
Yes, she had just produced a show called "Charlie Horse's Mystic
Pizza"
[Mike
Amo] Her daughter took over for her since, but I don't know much past
that
[Mike
Amo] Thanks Brad
[Laura
Leff] It's a shame that show isn't in circulation...she does Lamb
Chop, sings and dances, and various things.
[Brad
from Georgia] She performed in the same theater that Eddie did
"Laughter in Bloom" in, matter of fact.
[Laura
Leff] It's one of those where Jack was clearly trying to provide a
showcase for the young talent, like Gisele or Johnny Carson.
[Laura
Leff] Oh well...hopefully some day.
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, the Puppetry Arts Center also has a Skeksis form
"Dark Crystal," along with a host of puppets from
"Labyrinth," including the fox-knight who rides a sheepdog as his
steed.
[Laura
Leff] So what else Benny-wise or other-wise is on everyone's mind
tonight?
[Laura
Leff] You know, there's a good short series called something like
"Jim Henson's Greek Myths"
[Brad
from Georgia] Hmmm. I've been listening to two shows a day as I do my
walk. I'd finished the run in the fifties, so I arbritrarily went back to 44-45.
[Mike
Amo] Skeksis on display at Henson's studio
[Laura
Leff] At least one is out on DVD...it's quite good.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--That's "The Storyteller," volume 2.
[Mike
Amo] Listening to Jack a lot, but on XM Radio Classics while I drove
13,500 miles
[Brad
from Georgia] The first volume is folk tales, with John Hurt as the
Storyteller.
[KayLhota]
I like the Grape nuts and early Lucky Strike period a lot.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Yeah, that's it!
[Brad
from Georgia] The second series has Michael Gambon in the role. I
don't like him as much.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I've only seen the Michael Gambon episodes.
[Laura
Leff] I wish there was more available.
[Brad
from Georgia] Hurt is wonderful--he obviously loves the language, and
it's superbly written. You can get it thru Netflix.
[KayLhota]
One of my favorite Muppet things is "The Frog prince" from 1971
[Laura
Leff] Brad - You sure? I put it in queue, but it just Saved it
because it's not available yet.
[Brad
from Georgia] Kay--one of our faves, too. The other is "Hey,
Cinderella."
[KayLhota]
Yes, "Hey Cinderella" is cute.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--I watched it via streaming Netflix, so yes.
[Brad
from Georgia] I also signed up for "Angels with Angles" on
Netflix, but it isn't on DVD. Probably never will be....
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Aha...I haven't done a lot of streaming from them.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - For your sake, I hope not.
[Laura
Leff] Oh speaking of bad Benny-related movies...
[KayLhota]
yes?
[Laura
Leff] Someone from behind the scenes of "The Jet Benny
Show" has given me some insights that I need to turn into an article
[Brad
from Georgia] Since there are only a few of us...I asked Eddie why he
didn't get cast as Jack Benny in that film. He said the actor who got the part
had the nerve to ask him to let him replace Eddie in "Laughter in
Bloom" for one show.
[Laura
Leff] He asked EDDIE if he could replace him?!?!
[Brad
from Georgia] Yep, so's he could get practice imitating Benny. Eddie
was (politely) furious.
[Laura
Leff] And moreover, the guy is ATROCIOUS!
[Laura
Leff] Apologies if he ever happens to read this, but...well...*sigh*
[Brad
from Georgia] So I've heard. I know two people who saw the movie, you
and a guy who told me he would have left the theater halfway through if he had
to saw his own leg off to do it.
[Laura
Leff] What can you do.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Yes. "Angels With Angles: What Seemed Like 127
Hours"
[KayLhota]
wow
[Laura
Leff] Actually, having Irving Fein sleeping on my shoulder during it
made it a little more fun.
[Brad
from Georgia] The tiny clip that I saw featured mainly "WC
Fields" and the "Marx Brothers," who at least looked their parts.
[Mike
Amo] Never saw the movie
[Laura
Leff] But that's not hard.
[Brad
from Georgia] Rod Steiger did a passable WC Fields.
[KayLhota]
when was this made?
[Brad
from Georgia] But not in that film!
[Laura
Leff] I saw it by going to the world premiere of it.
[Brad
from Georgia] Which, oddly enough, was nearly the closing night of
it, too.
[Laura
Leff] 2005
[KayLhota]
I can't imagine how I missed it.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Pretty much. I see the theatre where they did the
premiere regularly and it's now closed.
[Brad
from Georgia] I understand that the main problem was the writing,
direction, and acting of the main roles. Some of the supporting players were
good. Frank Gorshin as George Burns...
[Laura
Leff] Frank plays a fine Burns, but he had lousy material to work
with.
[Laura
Leff] There's a strange sequence where he's riding back and forth on
a motorcycle in the background, doing wheelies, etc.
[Brad
from Georgia] Shame. His last film, Rodney Dangerfield's last film...
[Laura
Leff] Oh...but here's a good part of the movie...if I can remember it
User
ed has entered this room.
[Laura
Leff] I think Adam West plays Alfred
[KayLhota]
hey, Hi Ed
[Laura
Leff] Hi Ed!
[Brad
from Georgia] Hey, ed! You came up from the vault!
[Mike
Amo] Hi Ed
[ed]
hi everyone glad to come even if i am late
[Brad
from Georgia] Which is funny 'cause Batman's butler was Alfred...
[Laura
Leff] Brad - And that's the joke exactly.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - That's the one part of the movie I remember being a
little funny.
[KayLhota]
geesh
[Brad
from Georgia] Yip yip yhtapmys, yip yip yhtapmys, drive your blues
away....
[ed]
alfred the butler alan napier is the grandfather of the second chris partridge
brian forster
[Laura
Leff] Oh, and the sound editing is poor as well. I think I've told
you that in an early scene, Irving turned to me and said loudly, "Can you
understand ANYTHING they're saying?"
[KayLhota]
what a shame
[Brad
from Georgia] And Brian Forster is the grandfather of Michael Caine...this
means something....
[ed]
huh???
[Brad
from Georgia] Just being nutty.
[ed]
oh
[KayLhota]
my head is spinning
[Laura
Leff] Who worked with Kevin Bacon in...
[Brad
from Georgia] "Bringin' Home the Bacon."
[KayLhota]
I've seen Alan Napier in movies in the 1940's and he looks and sounds the same,
just not a wrinkly
[ed]
napier is related to charles dickens
[Brad
from Georgia] "Ma and Pa Kettle Bring Home the Bacon."
[Laura
Leff] If you Can't Bacon Every Night, You Can't Bake At All
[Brad
from Georgia] "The Devil and Kevin Bacon."
[Brad
from Georgia] "Bacon Whoopee"
[Laura
Leff] The Devin and Kevil Bacon
[Laura
Leff] Welcome to the Free Association section of the IJBFC chat room
[KayLhota]
So much for Baconian wit
[Laura
Leff] Francis Bacon
[ed]
bacon in the morning bacon in the evening bacon at suppertime
[Brad
from Georgia] I recently saw "Action in the North
Atlantic." Humphrey Bogart did his own stunts, but he had someone else eat
the bacon in the diner scene.
[Brad
from Georgia] "Bacon County Line"
[KayLhota]
That was on yesterdday morning on TCM
[Laura
Leff] Easy Bacon Oven
[Brad
from Georgia] Yup, I Tivo'd it because I'd never seen it all the way
through.
[KayLhota] I still haven't!
[KayLhota]
I don't have a DVR or a TIVO.
[Laura
Leff] Bacon-flavored Jell-O
[Laura
Leff] TIVO-flavored Jell-O
[Brad
from Georgia] There's some WWII-era movie I caught on TCM...plot is
sort of a cross-country trip with a gal and a soldier...and Jack Benny has a
cameo as himself. I didn't know the title and never did check.
[Laura
Leff] Jell-O flavored TIVO
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Um....
[Laura
Leff] ???
[Laura
Leff] Really?
[Laura
Leff] You sure?
[KayLhota]
I was telling my son at dinnertime about how I used to eat peanut butter and
bacon sandwiches during my skinny youth
[Laura
Leff] Kay - When you had the metabolism of a garden shrew
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack's scene is in a train station. The gal is a
writer, and Jack exchanges a few words with her.
[KayLhota]
can't go near them now
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh...crap...wracking my brain...
[Brad
from Georgia] I saw this thing about two in the morning, so I can't
remember who else was in it....
[Brad
from Georgia] Anyway, the thing is...Jack played himself.
[Brad
from Georgia] And he wasn't at all convincing.
[KayLhota]
Oh, I know the movie!
[KayLhota]
Claudette Colbert and John Wayne
[Brad
from Georgia] You nailed it, Kay.
[Brad
from Georgia] Unusual role for Wayne. He played Frankie Remley.
[Laura
Leff] Well, that should narrow it down
[KayLhota]
I'm blanking on the title
[KayLhota]
I can look it up
[Laura
Leff] Looking it up on IMDB
[Laura
Leff] Without Reservations?
[Brad
from Georgia] Yup, it's "Without Reservations."
[KayLhota]
yes
[Laura
Leff] Huh!
[Brad
from Georgia] Saw it while sitting up with my mom when she was in the
hospital a couple of years ago. I had no idea that Jack was in it. Not a great
movie.
[Laura
Leff] Something new for Volume 4...
[Laura
Leff] Just wrote it in my working copy of 39 Forever First Edition!
[KayLhota]
Colbert is an author that has written a novel, and she meets John Wayne on the
train and he is her novel hero in flesh
[Laura
Leff] Oh how...formulaic.
[Laura
Leff] I guess in 1946 there was a lot of money to make movies.
[KayLhota]
there was, laura.
[ed]
did a collector's day at the Illinois state museum yesterday and my cathedral
radio bank had 39 cents in it because of jack
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack was uncredited, according ti IMDB, but they do
list him. He had about a 1-minute scene.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Yep, noticed that!
[Brad
from Georgia] to IMDB....
[KayLhota]
it was after 1946 that the studios cut back production and cut down their actors
roster
[Laura
Leff] Ed - Great! Was that all you had there?
[ed]
no had a baseball sports theme and played a lux with joe e brown
[Laura
Leff] Kay - Right...IIRC, 1946 was the biggest money-making year for
the movies as far as the number of people going to theatres.
[Brad
from Georgia] Joe E. Brown was once sued by Bert Lahr.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - For what?
[Laura
Leff] Did he try to steal the cowardly lion?
[ed]
they looked alike?
[Laura
Leff] I don't think they look alike...
[Brad
from Georgia] Silly thing. Lahr had been promised a role in a play,
but he held out for more money, they cast Brown, Lahr claimed he was entitled to
recompense because Brown resembled Lahr....
[Laura
Leff] Lahr has the nose...Brown has the mouth
[KayLhota]
For playing Bert's role in the movie version of "Hold Everything" and
stealing every bit of Bert's business including "Yong, ong ong!"
[Brad
from Georgia] Case was thrown out.
[Brad
from Georgia] Kay, yes, that was it. Lahr thought he had been
promised the movie role.
[Laura
Leff] Sounds a tad like Al Jolson getting "The Jazz Singer"
instead of Georgie Jessel.
[KayLhota]
The film elements of it are lost, but I got the chance to hear the vitaphone
disc, and by golly--Joe sounded just like bert Lahr
[Brad
from Georgia] Did Georgie sue Jolie?
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Not as far as I know. But I don't think he was happy
about the switch.
[Laura
Leff] I can't remember the specifics.
[KayLhota]
Georgie didn't sue Jolson but he never forgave him for being a hit
[Laura
Leff] Now the two of them are just steps away from each other at
Hillside.
[Laura
Leff] Sadly, I think I'm the only one who still visits Jessel's
grave.
[Brad
from Georgia] In his autobiography, Brown said he had never seen Lahr
in the play and followed the director's lead. Lahr's son said he didn't think
the film role was a great loss for his dad.
[KayLhota]
ironic twist of fate, laura
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--I visited it when I was in LA a few years back
(when I brought pebbles for Jack's grave, but also left some change because
others were leaving pennies).
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Sorry for not knowing...did this predate "Oz"?
[KayLhota]
Brad, "Hold Everything" is a lost film, and Bert Lahr got his screen
chance in "flying High"
[Laura
Leff] Since you said Vitaphone, I'm assuming it did.
[KayLhota]
yes, Laura
[Brad
from Georgia] LL-Yes, by some years.
[KayLhota]
Bert Lahr did "Flying High" in 1931
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I got asked by some folks at Hillside about people
leaving pennies at Jack's grave when I was doing some maintenance on it.
[Brad
from Georgia] So "Hold Everything" was '29 or '30.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--Gee, didn't they get it?
[Laura
Leff] Gotcha. Thanks.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Well, I think they were looking for confirmation. They
had a few other questions as well.
[Laura
Leff] And actually, they weren't Jewish, so I had to explain to them
about leaving rocks.
[Brad
from Georgia] Like "How did he take it with him?"
[Laura
Leff] And then how that translates to pennies for Jack.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - "Well, we keep leaving it and eventually it
disappears, so we figure he's got a transporter somewhere!"
[Brad
from Georgia] You know, I actually went to a stream and found the
prettiest Georgia pebbles that I could for Barbara and me to leave. I felt I
owed it to Jack for all the laughter.
[KayLhota]
brilliant!
[ed]
i also showed off my 1946 philco '46/350 radio it was a big hit with all who
showed up
[Laura
Leff] Brad - That's great. I think I remember someone telling people
who were coming to the 2003 convention to bring rocks from all over the country.
[ed]
and a few JB radio show records
[Brad
from Georgia] Whoo! I always thought my parents had an Atwater-Kent,
but they also had a Philco, which no longer works.
[Laura
Leff] Ed - Very nice...remind me, is that a floor or table model?
[Laura
Leff] Oh I see it...just Googled that model
[ed]
table works but has now cloth handle
[Laura
Leff] Lovely wooden louvers
[ed]
no*
[ed]
yes LL
[Brad
from Georgia] My uncle had a floor-model radio that I wish I had
today. It had ELEVEN BANDS, including aircraft, naval, and some that hadn't yet
been invented, I think. And a bazillion buttons.
[Laura
Leff] The woman who married my father sold my Recordio before I could
get back to it. But oh well...I don't have room for it anyway.
[ed]
paid $20 for it worth much more since it works
[Brad
from Georgia] And I think I remarked once that my eccentric
great-aunt Mary had an Edison wax cylinder phonograph.
[Mike
Amo] My grandparents had one like that, Brad...wish I could remember
what the model was...and wish I had gotten it when they passed away...I have no
idea where it went, but I figure it was trhown away
[Laura
Leff] Brad - What kind? Like a lunchbox model?
[Brad
from Georgia] Those maroon buttons fascinated me. You could pre-tune
about fifty stations, i estimate.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--Floor model, with an enormous horn.
[Laura Leff] Brad - Oooh...neat!
[Laura
Leff] I've got a lunchbox model with a brass belled horn, but it's
small.
[Brad
from Georgia] I can only remember a couple of the recordings...one
was William Jennings Bryan. He gave part of the "Cross of Gold" speech
and then sang "That's What I Like about the South."
[Laura
Leff] Even portable.
[Laura
Leff] Brad -
[KayLhota]
Brad!
[KayLhota]
wow
[Laura
Leff] Golden throat indeed
[Brad
from Georgia] Willie swung a little.
[Laura
Leff] The things you learn
[Laura
Leff] Say...any requests for next month?
[ed]
all I can say i had a blast and soon i will have it on my site www.afanofoldradio.org
[Brad
from Georgia] BTW, we're going into the studio in Dec. to record
"The Dancer in the Dark," which is a horror radio show in five parts.
[ed]
the picture they took
[Brad
from Georgia] I play an elderly New England professor in the H.P.
Lovecraft tradition. Anyone wants to hear it, I'll see if I can wangle a few
disks. They don't pay me for these...
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Too bad you can't post it online
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--I suggested this month's show, and look at the
small turnout. I leave it in your hands.
[Laura
Leff] You should be a New England professor in the Parker Fennelley
tradition
[Mike
Amo] Good night for me, Brad!
[Laura
Leff] OK. Being a December chat, it's easy to narrow it.
[ed]
sounds great brad send it to the US mail address listed on my site
[Brad
from Georgia] Oh, if you go to Youtube and look up "Atlanta
Radio Theatre" and "Guards! Guards!" you can hear me and my son
in a Terry Pratchett adaptation. I play Sergeant Colon, he plays Nobby Nobbs.
[Laura
Leff] Oh cool!
[Laura
Leff] Have the book, but haven't read it.
[KayLhota]
that must be wonderful Brad
[KayLhota]
I'll have to look out for it
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--I use Parker Fennelly as a way of getting the
voice. I start with "Pep'ridge Fahm remembahs."
[ed]
wow
[Brad
from Georgia] In the end, I wind up sounding a lot like the later
Katherine Hepburn.
[Laura
Leff] That's a good way to get in character
[Mike
Amo] :D
[Mike
Amo]
[KayLhota]
yes, that does say New England, and I would know!
[Laura
Leff] As long as you're not exhaling at the end of each line:
"Howdy Bub *ehhhh*"
[Brad
from Georgia] All voice actors have their little touchstones. For
Jiminy Cricket, Eddie used to repeat, "Ya know, Pinohch' if ya tell a lie,
your nose will grow an' grow" until he got into the mood.
[Brad
from Georgia] Should be Pinoch' o' course.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh yes, I heard him pull that line any number of times.
[Laura
Leff] I was at a Paley Center event with Bob Hope
[Laura
Leff] Er...Bob Newhart
[Laura
Leff] Duh
[Brad
from Georgia] I wasn't aware of what I was doing--sounding like a
male Hepburn--'til I heard a playback of some of the narration (which I recorded
last summer). Then I had to reproduce it!
[Laura
Leff] And seeing Bob Newhart made me miss Eddie.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL-Did they know each other? I know Newhart had a soft
spot for Jack Benny.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Oh, and it's so hard to reproduce yourself after you've
heard the recording!
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I'm trying to find that out. I'm pretty sure they
crossed paths, but I'm having a hard time getting Newhart's publicist to respond
to me.
[Laura
Leff] I was the next in line to talk with him when they ushered him
out.
[Brad
from Georgia] LL-Yup. The director stopped me halfway through the
rehearsal to tell me I'd changed the voice and was sounding like Mr. Peabody the
dog from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.
[ed]
oh LL the JB impersonator who was here in Springfield in 2003 was jack milo
[Laura
Leff] Ed - Yes, I remember that name. Was he any good?
[ed]
i found the newspaper article for museum day
[Laura
Leff] I'm getting a demo DVD of another Benny impersonator.
[Brad
from Georgia] Thing about Eddie was he didn't impersonate Jack, he
acted him.
[Laura
Leff] I'm not expecting to find another Eddie, but would be good to
have someone up my sleeve.
[Laura
Leff] Brad -Yes, well-said.
[ed]
yes i had to close my eyes and listen i remember that
[Mike
Amo] I talked with Bill Daly in Atlanta (from I Dream of
Jeannie)...his favorite comedian...Jack
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--did I send you the "Jack Listens to 'Lights
Out'" script? I don't remember.
[Laura
Leff] Brad - It's not ringing a bell.
[Brad
from Georgia] It's the fanscript I did back around 1990 or so. It
ain't so good as I remember it, but...I'll dig it up and send it.
[Laura
Leff] Yes, please! And let me know if I can put it on the Web site,
if appropriate.
[Brad
from Georgia] (I also wrote a movie short at the same time: The
Stooges Meet the Alien," with Larry, Moe, Curly AND Shemp VS the Alien from
"Alien."
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I have a friend who would probably enjoy that if you
feel like sharing it...
[Brad
from Georgia] OK. I may have to go thru and fix glitches--we had to
translate it from a 5.25-inch floppy disk.
[ed]
the 3 stooge movie jim carrey was thinking about doing is being shelved
[Laura
Leff] At least you didn't have to translate it from wire recording.
[KayLhota]
Which reminds me that the Three Stooges Farrelly brothers movie is not going
forward anymore
[Laura
Leff] Jim Carrey should stick to doing Jerry Lewis.
[Brad
from Georgia] Wire recording? Wire-a no duck?
[ed]
really LL hollywood can't come with better movies anyway
[Laura
Leff] Oh, we were trying to figure out a telecom acronym in a meeting
recently, and it's usually "LD" for Leased Duct.
[Brad
from Georgia] I am soooooooo sick of movies based on video games, old
Japanese cartoons, sitcoms that weren't funny in the first place.....
[Laura
Leff] But in this spreadsheet, it was written "LV". And we
were trying to figure it out.
[Brad
from Georgia] Leased Viaduct, of course.
[Laura
Leff] And my Systems Analyst (very serious) turns to me and says,
"Leased Viaduct."
[Laura
Leff] I turned to her and said, "Hey, I'm not going to play the
Marx Brothers with you here."
[Laura
Leff] My boss, who is very cool and knowledgeable about older comedy,
started laughing.
[KayLhota]
that's marvelous!
[Brad
from Georgia] I go to the movies nowadays and think of Krusty the
Klown: "Ahhh, I could pull a better movie out of my--ahhh, boys and girls,
we're back!"
[Laura
Leff] Later someone started talking about Triggers, and I said
something about Roy Rogers' horse. It was that kind of day.
[Brad
from Georgia] Did Roy Rogers ever do a guest shot for Jack?
[KayLhota]
it sounds very surreal
[Brad
from Georgia] I could see Jack discovering that Trigger the Wonder
Horse was really two guys in a suit....
[Laura
Leff] Brad - Not of which I'm aware. They might have been on one of
the multi-star shows together, but ask me again in a few years about that.
[KayLhota]
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans guested on the Muppet show
[Laura
Leff] Brad - And one of them is (Remley, Fred Allen, Rochester, Frank
Nelson, etc.)
[Brad
from Georgia] When my desk computer shuts down, it plays "Happy
Trails to You."
[Laura
Leff] And on that note...
[Brad
from Georgia] LL--That would be great. "You're Trigger?"
"Well, who did you THINK I was in this bridle? A PONY boy?"
[Laura
Leff] Brad - OH, that's good.
[Laura
Leff] I can just hear it
[ed]
hmmm
[Brad
from Georgia] Yeh, but it's a little blue....
[Laura
Leff] Or Rochester with something like, "On my salary, I had to
find SOME other way of getting my oats!"
[Laura
Leff] Not as good as your line, though.
[Brad
from Georgia] "But--didn't it hurt when they branded you?"
"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH, did it!"
[Laura
Leff] (Joe Besser delivery) "I don't mind the bit so much, but
the shoes are MURRRRDER!"
[KayLhota]
dying here!
[Brad
from Georgia] Jack playing Gabby Hayes opposite Roy.....
[KayLhota]
No, Dennis would play Gabby Hayes!
[Laura
Leff] Are you Trigger?
[Laura
Leff] Si.
[Laura
Leff] And you're a horse?
[Laura
Leff] Si.
[Laura
Leff] Argh...don't have anywhere to go with that.
[Brad
from Georgia] So?
[Mike
Amo]
[Mike
Amo] Heard Jerry Lewis as Trigger with Roy & Dale on a
Martin-Lewis show
[Laura
Leff] A Mexican horse as opposed to an English horse
[Brad
from Georgia] "Gabby, we've got to get the bad guy out of his
hide-out. Break out your fiddle."
[Laura
Leff] Actually, the discussion about "Without Reservations"
reminded me that Jack was in "Who Was That Lady" with Dean Martin
[Brad
from Georgia] Hope he wasn't playing the title role.
[Laura
Leff] On second thought, just break your fiddle.
[Brad
from Georgia] Fred Allen as Roy Rogers....
[Laura
Leff] Brad - I did recently see a cute exchange with Jack and Jayne
Mansfield where Jack lost a part to her.
[Brad
from Georgia] Jayne had parts that Jack could only dream of.
[Laura
Leff] Indeed.
[KayLhota]
folks, I'm fading out here, so I'll see you next month. goodnight!
[ed]
night kaye
[Laura
Leff] OK,
goodnight Kay. Shall we call it good?
[Mike
Amo] Goodnight
Kay
[Brad
from Georgia] I'll
go, too. 'Sbeen small but fun. Bye, y'all~
User
KayLhota has logged out.
[Mike
Amo] Cya
Brad
User
Brad from Georgia has logged out.
[Laura
Leff] Have
a good one folks! See you in December.
[Mike
Amo] Take
care, LL!
[ed]
same here
my picture