#harry bartell

From the Golden Age of Television

Christmas Episode

Dragnet - The Big Little Jesus - NBC - December 24, 1953 - Season 3, Episode 17

Crime Drama

Running Time: 30 Minutes

Written By Jack Webb

Produced By Michael Meshekoff

Directed By Jack Webb

Stars:

Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday

Ben Alexander as Officer Frank Smith

Harry Bartell as Father Rojas

Joe Carioca Jr - as Paco Mendoza

James Griffith as Claude Stroup

Ralph Moody as Mr. Flavin

Herb Vigran as Desk Clerk

Walter Sande as Captain Barnard

Billy Chapin as Joseph Hefferman

“Petri Wine brings you…The Casebook of Gregory Hood!”

Sam Spade, Candy Matson, and Pat Novak weren’t the only detectives to call San Francisco home during the Golden Age of Radio. But while they had the seedier sides of the city covered, Gregory Hood’s beat brought him to the finest restaurants, swankiest nightclubs, and poshest museums of the city of the Golden Gate. Though not a hard-boiled, two-fisted detective, Gregory Hood had a keen eye and a knack for getting into trouble…even if his day job was imports and not investigations. His adventures - brought to radio in The Casebook of Gregory Hood - came to radio on June 3, 1946.

Gregory Hood was an unlicensed, untrained detective, though he had an extensive knowledge of several fields including art, antiques, wines, and fine foods. While those may not be the qualities associated with a master sleuth, most of Hood’s cases came to him in the course of his work, and they often involved an artistic angle. He had no fans on the police force; as an unlicensed amateur, he was even worse than a private eye butting in on their territory. However, he had a confidant and frequent partner in Sanderson “Sandy” Taylor, the attorney for Gregory Hood Importers and a close friend. Sandy was along for the ride to provide back-up (and to stand in as an audience surrogate when Hood explained how he’d cracked the case).

If the relationship between Greg and Sandy sounds similar to the partnership between Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, it’s no coincidence. The Casebook of Gregory Hood was the brainchild of Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green, the scriptwriters for The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as a summer replacement for Holmes and Watson. Hood and Holmes shared not only writers, but also a sponsor (Petri Wine - “the family that took time to bring you good wine”); an announcer (actor and occasional pitchman Harry Bartell - above); and a format where the announcer would visit the characters and hear about their latest adventure.

As an unofficial detective, Gregory Hood usually came by his cases by accident. Dinner parties ended in murder; rare antiques were stolen; and one mystery began when Greg and Sandy were on a camping trip in the mountains. In the episode we’ll hear this week, pulling over to aid a man in distress on the side of the road lands Hood in a murder case.

Radio’s first Gregory Hood was Gale Gordon (above), an actor better known today for his comedic chops than dramatic roles. He played Mayor LaTrivia on Fibber McGee & Molly; Mr. Scott, the sponsor’s representative on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show; and most famously the stuffy Principal Osgood Conklin on Our Miss Brooks. Gordon also co-starred on My Favorite Husband, the radio show that spawned I Love Lucy on television. He was Lucille Ball’s first choice to play Fred Mertz, but his commitment to the Our Miss Brooks TV series cost him the job. He’d go on to work with Ball in her later TV shows The Lucy Show (as her harried boss, Mr. Mooney), Here’s Lucy, and Life with Lucy. Gordon was a master of the comedic slow burn, and he may not be the first name that springs to mind when you think of a radio detective. But in addition to those laugh roles, he starred as The Whistler on radio, and he was the first actor to portray Flash Gordon on the air. Gordon could convey the sophistication and charm of Gregory Hood, but he could also get across the resolve and determination to close a case. Like Jackson Beck’s Philo Vance, Gregory Hood was a man who appeared deceptively harmless to his enemies only to later reveal a sharp mind and a nose for information.

Gordon played Gregory Hood for the first 17 episodes of the program. During that run, Sandy Taylor was played by several actors, including Bill Johnstone (Lt. Guthrie of The Line-Up) and Howard McNear. When Gordon stepped out, Elliott Lewis (below) assumed the title role. Lewis was still a few years away from directing Broadway is My Beat and Suspense. He was about to begin his role of ne’er-do-well sidekick Frankie Remley on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show; ironically, his Remley and Gordon’s Scott would frequently feud on that program in what amounted to fights Gregory Hood had with himself. Lewis kept the role for the duration of the program’s run on the Mutual network. The program came back for a 1950-1951 run on ABC with Jackson Beck and other actors taking on the role.

Gregory Hood is a classic example of the gentleman detective, a character just as important to crime fiction as his hard-boiled brother. Pat Novak and Sam Spade covered the waterfront, but Gregory Hood could be counted on to detect the clues and crack the cases among society’s upper crust.

June 17, 1949

“Television” aka “George Ruins a Neighbor’s TV” aka “The Television Suit” is episode #49 of the CBS Radio series MY FAVORITE HUSBAND broadcast on June 17, 1949. It later served as the basis for the “I Love Lucy” episode “The Courtroom” (ILL S2;E7) first aired November 10, 1952.  

Synopsis ~ Liz and George's visit to their next-door neighbors, the Stones, turns into a disaster when George tries to repair the Stones' new television set by himself.

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, 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) are mentioned, but not in this episode. 

GUEST CAST

Hans Conried (The Process Server) first co-starred with Lucille Ball in The Big Street (1942). He then appeared on “I Love Lucy” as used furniture man Dan Jenkins in “Redecorating” (ILL S2;E8) and later that same season as Percy Livermore in “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (ILL S2;E13) – both in 1952. The following year he began an association with Disney by voicing Captain Hook in Peter Pan. On “The Lucy Show” he played Professor Gitterman in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (TLS S1;E19) and in “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (TLS S2;E1). He was probably best known as Uncle Tonoose on “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, which was filmed on the Desilu lot. He joined Thomas on a season 6 episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1973.

Frank Nelson (Frank Stone) was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”. This is one of his 11 performances on “My Favorite Husband.”  On “I Love Lucy” he holds the distinction of being the only actor to play two recurring roles: Freddie Fillmore and Ralph Ramsey, as well as six one-off characters, including the frazzled train conductor in “The Great Train Robbery” (ILL S5;E5), a character he repeated on “The Lucy Show.”  Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is perhaps most associated with Jack Benny and was a fifteen-year regular on his radio and television programs.  

Mary Lansing (Mary Stone) was best known for playing Martha Clark and ten other characters in Mayberry on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry R.F.D.”, both filmed at Desilu. Lucy lovers might remember her as the voice of weepy Cynthia in “Over The Teacups”, the Broadway play that the Ricardos and Mertzes attend in “Ethel’s Birthday” (ILL S4;E9).  She met Frank Nelson performing on radio. They married in 1933 and had two children. Lansing appeared with him frequently on the "Jack Benny Program" during the 1950s.

Alan Reed (Harry, the Judge) is probably best remembered as the voice of Fred Flintstone where he acted opposite Bea Benadaret (Iris Atterbury), who voiced Betty Rubble on the animated series. His only television appearance with Lucille Ball was on “The Lucy Show” in 1963, an episode which also featured Frank Nelson. In 1967, he did an episode of the Desi Arnaz series “The Mothers-in-Law”. 

“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. When 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, on air 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. In addition to being aired on the CBS Radio Network, the episodes were heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network, where the commercials were omitted. 

THE EPISODE

“Television throws ‘My Favorite Husband’ for a loss, and the whole neighborhood into night courts.” ~  Mason City Globe-Gazette radio listing

As the episode opens, Liz and George are discussing their upcoming summer vacation. Liz has packed five suitcases - just for herself.

George is concerned that Liz’s swimsuit may be too skimpy, a subject explored again in “LIz Learns To Swim” (June 11, 1950) as well as on a couple of episodes of “I Love Lucy.” 

Liz and George realize that they do not know any of their neighbors well enough to ask them to water their lawn while they are away. Liz knows the first names (Frank and Mary) of the Stones next door because she read a postcard that was accidentally delivered to their house. George says that he hopes Liz didn’t read the message, but Liz lets it slip that “Mrs. Stone’s mother had a lumbago attack at Lake Tahoe.” On “I Love Lucy” Fred Mertz also chastised his wife about reading postcards delivered to their tenants. In 1951′s “Drafted” (ILL S1;E11) Fred say about Ethel...  

FRED: “Some people build model airplanes. Ethel reads postcards.” 

At the Stone home, Frank and Mary welcome the Coopers. Frank Nelson (Mr. Stone) does his trademark “Weeeeeell!” and the audience laughs, recognizing it from “The Jack Benny Program.” Mrs. Stone (Mary Lansing) asks if they would like to watch television. The Coopers do not yet own a television set, but Liz casually remarks that they don’t miss it.

LIZ: “I crawl in the Bendix and sing and George watches me through the little window.” 

The Bendix Corporation (1924-1983) licensed their name to a line of electric clothes washing machines. The 1937 Bendix Home Laundry had a glass porthole door, a rotating drum and an electrically driven mechanical timer. The machine was able to auto-fill, wash, rinse and spin-dry. Bendix Home Appliances was later sold to Avco who sold it to Philco.

In 1952, Lucille Ball actually played a talking washing machine in a full-length Westinghouse industrial film called Ellis in Freedomland.  

Six years later, when Desilu partnered with Westinghouse to present “The Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse,” Ball did another industrial film for them titled Lucy Buys Westinghouse where she actually got inside the machine, fulfilling Liz Cooper’s off-the-cuff comment of 1949.  

The idea of Liz pretending to be performing on television by getting inside a household appliance also recalls when Lucy Ricardo hollowed out their television set to help Ricky picture her doing a TV commercial in the now-famous Vitameatavegamin episode of 1952. 

On “I Love Lucy”, it was the Mertzes who did not yet own a television set. By the end of 1949, 4.2 million US homes had a television. By 1953, 50% of all American households owned one. The increase was credited to “I Love Lucy” and the 1953 Republican and Democratic National Conventions.  

Frank turns on his TV and after it warms up (a common problem with early televisions), the only program on any station seems to be wrestling. One channel is actually airing lady wrestling!  

MARY: “Oh, they have more than wrestling, Mrs. Cooper. Sometimes they have boxing and baseball.” 

Televised sports, especially wrestling and boxing, were the primary attraction in the early days of television, especially for male viewers. Long-haired blonde wrestler Gorgeous George was even mentioned on “I Love Lucy.”  

ETHEL: “Our grandmothers must have had arms like Gorgeous George.” ~ ‘Pioneer Women’

In “Ricky’s Movie Offer” (ILL S4;E6) the Grocery Boy asks Lucy what she’s supposed to be in her Marilyn Monroe dress and wig, Fred quips “Gorgeous George.”

Nearly every time Ricky and Fred watch television it is to see a boxing match, such as in “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans” (ILL S2;E30) in 1953. That episode, like this radio broadcast, also featured Frank Nelson.

When the TV reception is fuzzy, Frank and George feel they can fix it themselves, much to the disbelief of their wives. Frank takes the back off the set:

FRANK (reading): “Back of this set should be removed by a qualified television repairman only.”

On “I Love Lucy” the warning is similar:

FRED (reading): “Danger! High Voltage! Do not remove this back under any circumstances!”

Both Frank and George and Ricky and Fred cause their sets to explode by fooling around with some loose wires!  The wrecked TV results in name calling by both couples and the Stones / Mertzes threaten to sue the Coopers / Ricardos.

Next morning at breakfast, the Coopers are worried that a lawsuit will prevent them from going on vacation. Katy the Maid reports that there is a strange man at the door, whom they immediately suspect may be a process server. Liz tells Katie to lie and say that they are away for a fortnight in the Catskills. Katie answers the door nervously,

KATIE: “They left for a catnap in the Fortskills. I mean a nightcap in the Footskills.”

The Process Server (Hans Conried) surprises the Coopers when they sneak out the back door. They have been served!  

TRIVIA!  Ironically, on TV the Process Server (Harry Bartell) at first asks the Ricardos where the Lewis apartment is, to throw them off the track. On “I Love Lucy,” Miss Lewis was an elderly tenant played for one episode (”Lucy Plays Cupid”) by Bea Benadaret, the actress who usually plays Iris Atterbury on “My Favorite Husband,” although she is not in this episode. Hans Conried appeared as Dan Jenkins and Percy Livermore on “I Love Lucy,” episodes that book-ended “The Courtroom” during season two! 

George writes out Liz’s testimony, including stage directions telling her when to flirt with the Judge. Ricky Ricardo and Fred Mertz do the same thing on “I Love Lucy.” When Liz rehearses her testimony aloud, she states the date and time of the event as “June 13, 1949 at approximately 7:35pm” which was the real time and date of the broadcast. To keep the television version from becoming  ‘dated’ - any reference to dates is purposefully omitted. Lucy instead tells the Judge (Moroni Olsen) the events happened “about three weeks ago.”

In the courtroom, George and Frank act as their own attorneys just as Ricky and Fred will do in “The Courtroom”. For economy sake, the radio script omits the character of the Bailiff who swears in the witnesses, although the character is part of the television script. Both scripts also include the flirtatious ‘stage directions’ for Lucy and Liz to appeal to the Judge’s vanity. 

LIZ: “...when Mr. Stone suggested we watch television flutter eyelids at jury.” 

On television, Lucy hikes up her skirts instead of fluttering her eyelids. Since TV is a visual medium, during her testimony she just does it, rather than says it. 

TRIVIA: When the Ricardos and the Mertzes go to court again in “Lucy Makes Way for Danny” on the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”, the judge who Lucy and Ethel try to flirt with by hiking up their skirts is played by Gale Gordon, who usually plays Rudolph Atterbury on “My Favorite Husband,” although he is not in this episode. 

The final gag of the Judge’s TV also exploding is the same on radio and TV, except Liz intimates that they are headed for the city jail instead of the happy ending on television where the Judge encourages the couples to forgive one another and sends them home friends. 

CODA

Announcer and actor Harry Bartell was born November 29, 1913. Bartell was a favorite performer of Norman MacDonnell, and he made regular appearances on MacDonnell’s Escape and particularly Gunsmoke. Bartell also collaborated with Jack Webb, and he was seen and heard frequently on the TV and radio versions of Dragnet. Bartell was the final actor to play Archie Goodwin opposite Sydney Greenstreet as Nero Wolfe. 

He won one of his most memorable radio gigs via a chance visit to a casting director friend. The job was as announcer for The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Bartell bantered with Nigel Bruce’s Dr. Watson and pitched Petri Wine. He did the same job for The Casebook of Gregory Hood. Bartell was all over the dial during the Golden Age of Radio - one of its busiest and most versatile performers. Though he retired from acting in the 1970s, he continued to work as an ambassador for old time radio. Bartell appeared at conventions and even made a 2003 guest appearance on the new “old time radio” drama The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

This week on Content Abnormal we present Gale Gordon in "The Black Museum", an adventure from The Casebook Of Gregory Hood!