Sade wears a hat like film star Gloria Golden wore "when she told a guy she'd rather jump in a volcano than go back to her husband".
That's all I know...
The title is one I have provided purely for identification purposes.
[The gist of this episode is revealed in the book, Vic and Sade on the Radio: A Cultural History of Paul Rhymer's Daytime Series]
"Vic and Sade" was the most unique radio program ever, (1932 - 1944), written by the most-underrated writer of the 20th Century, Paul Rhymer.
Showing posts with label Gloria Golden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gloria Golden. Show all posts
38-05-09 A Mildred Melodrama
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade claims that "There's an extra-special good picture" at the Bijou; Gloria Golden is starring in "Broken Hearts Versus Mother Love". Vic is surprisingly enticed and plans to not only take his wife but also treat her to ice cream and a soda afterwards.
Meanwhile, Mildred Tisdel is in her own melodrama, evoking candle flames and Joan of Arc, claiming she has "the heart the size of a scrub bucket".
The title is one I have provided purely for identification purposes.
[The gist of this episode is revealed in the book, Vic and Sade on the Radio: A Cultural History of Paul Rhymer's Daytime Series]
42-12-18 Vic and Dr. Keevy
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade tries to sucker Vic to go on a trip to the Bijou (Gloria Golden, ugh!) and also visit Dr. Keevy's office, which has recently been refurnished. In the end though, Vic's well-documented fear of the dentist saves the day.SEE THE SCRIPT: (part 1) (part 2)
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Until now, we've been under the impression that various Dr. Keevy's office rendezvous with Lolita di Rienzi and Pom Pom Cordova were all Vic's idea. The script here suggests the original idea for using Keevy's office as a meeting place, belonged to Sade.+ Gloria Golden and Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman teamed up on screen for the flick, Kiss Oh Kiss These Lips of Mine, Assistant Trailer-Camp Manager Anderson.
+ Rush mentions the National Safety Council. It sounds like they may have asked Paul Rhymer to include a PSA... and he double-crossed them:
43-06-04 Helping Russell Adjust
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE
Sade and Vic discuss Russell, his 'far-away looks' and how he's adjusting to his new life after his parents have died.
SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)
A serious script, especially the first half, before Russell joins the conversation with Sade and Vic. The couple, notably, the more-vocal Sade, reveal their empathy and genuine care (worry/fear?) for the grieving boy's well-being.
Although the script lacks the punch of memorable lines and witty rapport, it strikes me as one of the stronger scripts I have read. While Sade is more expressive about her thoughts on how Russell is coping with his grief, Vic quietly does the same, even suggesting they all go see Gloria Golden (whom Vic doesn't like), obviously thinking that a film might help the youngster escape for an hour or so.
Coping with death is something we have not encountered on the show (unless you count Mr. Gumpox's horses), so these character insights are interesting to explore.
This tender side of Paul Rhymer's writing makes one thoughtful... however, one thing that strikes me immediately after reading the script is the couple think it might be for the best if Russell let go of his feelings, yet, later, how Vic and Sade both cut off Russell at different times when he tries to bring up specific memories of his parents. The 'talking out' of those memories is all a part of the grieving process. In a show known for it's interruption of speech (usually in a humorous way), it doesn't waver here either, as it appears the couple is either trying to protect Russell from his own words or to protect themselves from having to deal with an unfamiliar, uncomfortable situation.
Vic and Sade are loving, caring, nurturing parents, but the fact that Russell is not their own flesh and blood seems to present a wall. Sade badly describes the grief as 'home sickness'
SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)
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 |
| David Whitehouse |
Although the script lacks the punch of memorable lines and witty rapport, it strikes me as one of the stronger scripts I have read. While Sade is more expressive about her thoughts on how Russell is coping with his grief, Vic quietly does the same, even suggesting they all go see Gloria Golden (whom Vic doesn't like), obviously thinking that a film might help the youngster escape for an hour or so.
Coping with death is something we have not encountered on the show (unless you count Mr. Gumpox's horses), so these character insights are interesting to explore.
This tender side of Paul Rhymer's writing makes one thoughtful... however, one thing that strikes me immediately after reading the script is the couple think it might be for the best if Russell let go of his feelings, yet, later, how Vic and Sade both cut off Russell at different times when he tries to bring up specific memories of his parents. The 'talking out' of those memories is all a part of the grieving process. In a show known for it's interruption of speech (usually in a humorous way), it doesn't waver here either, as it appears the couple is either trying to protect Russell from his own words or to protect themselves from having to deal with an unfamiliar, uncomfortable situation.
Vic and Sade are loving, caring, nurturing parents, but the fact that Russell is not their own flesh and blood seems to present a wall. Sade badly describes the grief as 'home sickness'
'Home sickness' is a term Rhymer used several times in scripts, early on with Rush and later with the visiting Leland Richards and in-between, with other, minor characters. Someone should explore the subject more deeply. I think there's something important Rhymer is trying to tell us that we haven't figured out yet. It may have something to do with males who cry, a characteristic found in various men around town (Brickmush Man, Gumpox and Mr. Sludge, just to name three). I'm afraid if we were to probe, we might find Rhymer (or perhaps his father, or both) was completely dominated by some ditzy, irritating female, probably his mother...
43-06-21 Vic Despises Little Daily Love Story
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE
Vic makes it known how much he hates the drivel of the Little Daily Love Story, reading gushing passages that reek with hyperbole.
SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)
This script is missing it's ending, which is probably less than a page.
The real E.W. Smith of Emporia, Kansas appears to have been at the performance of this episode, as the script seems to point out that he was there; however, his buddy Paul Rhymer did not sign it, making me believe the writer was missing that day.
Trivia:
+ The Gloria Golden - Four- Fisted Frank Fuddleman film is named, High Society Hatred. Russell refused to attend, because the movie poster 'looked punk.'
+ Though the title of this episode indicates it's about Vic and the Little Daily Love Story, there's plenty of Russell telling about the acute sensitivity claims of his pal, Raymond 'Searles' (aka 'Surrells'):
Vic makes it known how much he hates the drivel of the Little Daily Love Story, reading gushing passages that reek with hyperbole.SEE THE SCRIPT (part 1) (part 2)
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If you thought the Third Lieutenant Stanley novels were bad... just wait until you read the trash that Sade reads.This script is missing it's ending, which is probably less than a page.
The real E.W. Smith of Emporia, Kansas appears to have been at the performance of this episode, as the script seems to point out that he was there; however, his buddy Paul Rhymer did not sign it, making me believe the writer was missing that day.
Trivia:
+ The Gloria Golden - Four- Fisted Frank Fuddleman film is named, High Society Hatred. Russell refused to attend, because the movie poster 'looked punk.'
+ Though the title of this episode indicates it's about Vic and the Little Daily Love Story, there's plenty of Russell telling about the acute sensitivity claims of his pal, Raymond 'Searles' (aka 'Surrells'):
- He can tell the temperature of the sun (can tell how many degrees it's lost).
- He can predict the weather in various cities.
- He can detect (by exact measurement) items put into his mouth.
- He can tell you the ingredients of a pill.
- He can tell what key a dog barks in.
- He can stand on a dime and determine if it's heads or tells.
38-xx-xx Books
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
They line up the two gridirons in a row. Third Lieutenant Stanley gets the ball an' runs the length of one gridiron an' then keeps right on going an' runs the length of the other gridiron. Two touchdowns at one an' the same time.Later, he hazes 15 college freshman singlehanded!
You better watch out, said one big lubberly freshman. But Third Lieutenant Stanley only smiled. His hand darted out with the speed of lightning an' a moment later his victim lay writhing on the campus with a broken leg.Another exciting part of the book involves the Lieutenant landing in his airplane right on a baseball diamond where Yale is playing out in the field. He times it just right where he makes a catch of a high fly that wins the game for dear ol' Yale.
Other Third Lieutenant Stanley books are mentioned as well: Third Lieutenant Clinton Stanley's Big Love Affair which he had borrowed from Blue Tooth Johnson. One of the more unusual things that happens in the book is that the Third Lieutenant assassinates a sheik by hitting him in the head with a... camel! Another is Third Lieutenant Clinton Stanley as President of a South Sea Island Republic. And yet another volume is called, Third Lieutenant Clinton Stanley in the Tropics or Twenty Years among Savage Cannibals.
A bit in one book (not mentioned which one) had the Lieutenant's mother walking across a tightrope over Niagra Falls.
The plot of this Vic and Sade script though is about the Brick Mush man giving out free books as a premium for buying brick mush (if you buy a whole ton of brick mush, you are entitled to a free bass viol.)
In this episode we find out the real name of the Brick Mush man: Mr. Keefer. He apparently doesn't like/want people knowing his identity.
His son, Elton, is friendly with Rush. Elton, like his dad, is a very shrewd businessman.
Names of books given away by the Brick Mush man for a premium include:
- Dorothy an' Her Daddy or Romping Among the Buttercups
- A Brief Biography of the Father-in-law of Tyson R. Poppell
- Tricks a One-legged Man Can Perform with a Dead Gorilla
- A Report of the Work of the Sub-Committee on the Boundry-changing Issues of South-Central Illinois
- The Life of U.S. McGraw
- The Romance of the Hinge
- Twinkling Tunes for Tiny Tots
- Sightseeing in Sunny Kansas (Rush found this book on the streetcar tracks and later traded it to Elton for a skate key.)
- Fun and Excitement You Can Have While Polishing Silverware
- The Soul of Bernie Gummerman
- The Great Warm Heart of My Uncle, Oscar Y. Slump
- Famous Indian Fights of South Dakota
- How to Handle Ill-tempered Horses
- Little Princess Piggy and' Her Punkin-headed Pig
- East Duckworth, Oklahoma, Land of Sunset Dreams
Uncle Fletcher was kicked in the shin by his horse when he lived in Dixon.
SEE THE SCRIPT
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The book, A Report of the Work of the Sub-Committee on the Boundry-changing Issues of South-Central Illinois, was found 2 years later by Rush (also, oddly enough, on the streetcar tracks) in this episode. Imagine, a two year-old joke by Paul Rhymer!
39-07-17 Rush is Reprimanded for Flipping Streetcars
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
RUSH: The dummy-smashing phase
of my career is over.
Vic and Sade discuss a report from Ruthie Stembottom that Rush, Milton Welch, Rooster Davis and Smelly Clark have been seen jumping on fast-moving streetcars at night, without paying (called, "flipping a streetcar.") Sade mentions Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Foss of 18½ West Market Street. Mr. Foss works at the foundry with Fred. The Stembottoms were visiting on the Foss' front porch when Mrs. Foss mentioned to her husband: "There's those boys again."
Sade's very worried about Rush's safety; Vic tries to soft-pedal the danger.
Once he realizes he was seen hopping street-cars, Rush admits it's been going on for several years. He says it's funny they've been caught because just last night they'd agreed to quit it as it's seen as being childish and because they got so good at doing it that there's no longer any danger or thrill.
Rush, though, mentions Vic's initials carved on four different streetcars, ending the conversation...Vic: "There's a certain thrill in flippin' street-cars, Sade."
SEE THE SCRIPT (page 1) (page 2)
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Streetcar flipping may not register with fans today. Today's world is one of kids that age already having an ATV or a car, computer phones and watches, and instant access to almost anything you can imagine - or don't want to imagine - all supplied by parents who seem to have no idea how to raise a child.Trivia:
+ Another new [probable] movie star is mentioned - Pauline Parkwood. She's just another movie star whose first and last initials match.
 |
| Dizzy Dean |
+ Smelly Clark lives somewhere near where the boys flipped the streetcar.
+ Rush uses the term, ''smash a dummy'' for flipping a streetcar. I couldn't find this term anywhere in relation to streetcars.
38-xx-xx Sade Thinks Baseball is Just a Game
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade doesn't understand why two grown men would put all that energy into arguing about baseball. They both want to buy gloves so they can play catch - but they both want to pitch.
SEE THE SCRIPT
___________________
Rarely does anyone want to play catcher. In the 1930's, the catcher was usually the worst hitter and the slowest, fattest guy on the team. The catcher's equipment has always been known as the tools of ignorance. Technically, the catcher isn't even in fair territory - he's behind home plate in foul territory.The pitcher on the other hand, is usually your best or second best athlete on the field. The pitcher is the one with the ball - he controls everything out there on the field.
We know Vic played baseball on a team in Normal, Illinois. In this episode, he seems to claim he was at his pitching peak when he played in Dixon. In another episode, he claims to have played in the Yukon (Canada.)
Aside from that, a baseball diamond itself is a mathematical hodge-podge of such precision, you wonder if it wasn't built by Masons. Perhaps this is why Vic, the lodge member, loves the game so much.
Baseball is science.
44-07-26 Sade Pleads to See a Movie
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE
Few things bother Vic more than Gloria Golden. He deplores her films. It seems by the 1940's most every film that comes to the local Bijou and the surrounding theaters all show her films - and only her films.
Sade has heard and read about the current film in the Bijou, Smoldering Teardrops and she wants to go. Vic wants no part of seeing it. Sade keeps asking him.
Meanwhile, Russell has been told by Mildred Tisdel that he should consider a new hairstyle, so he's busy looking at himself in the mirror. After a while of looking at himself, he narcissistically begins telling Vic about his wonderful head features. Eventually, Vic is so sick of listening to Russell that he decides to take Sade to the movies.
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This one may remind you of 40-02-20 Rush's Good Looks. Trivia:
+ Russell is in the process of stitching up his "indoor baseball." I have yet to figure out what this means. Rush also stitched up an indoor baseball in a later episode.
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| A 1945 pompadour |
+ A newspaper review of the Gloria Golden film called her, "The curly-headed darling of the civilized world."
+ Smelly Clark is older than Russell.
+ Mildred tells Russell that he had a noble head like Julius Caesar.
+ Russell says that he has intelligent eyes, a strong determined nose, sensitive ears, a rich curving chin, a sweet generous mouth, sturdy teeth, delicately-tinted gums and an appealing throat!
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
44-07-04 Sade Plays Rummy
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND DAVID WHITEHOUSE
Vic and Russell are playing Rummy when Sade enters the house and wants to play with them.
Once given her "tickets" she begins to gossip, drop cards and rearrange the cards into colors and never does play, frustrating her opponents.
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This is neither the first nor the second episode where Sade delays a card game with her antics.Trivia:
+ Before the "game" started, Sade was outside tending to flowers (her 'Panther's Blood.')
+ Sade saw Mr. Sludge and he was "washing his shoes." She also noticed he was sun-burned. She says he got it from standing in from of the dime store (Five and Teen Cent store) looking in the window for an hour. Some items in the window: combs, pencils, fancy face powder boxes, sheet music, hair pins and framed pictures of Gloria Golden. (((HEAR)))
+ Sade mentions Mr. Scalder from Dixon, whose wife Elizabeth left him after he made wild hand gestures at her.
+ Sade recounts a game played by "Ted" Stembottom down at the foundry where the loser gets hit in the head with a sledgehammer. It may be called "Beefsteak:" {{{HEAR}}}
+ Sade says Fred is very impatient with Ruthie when they play cards.
+ Mis' Keller may move to North Dakota if she gets married and Sade is worried Uncle Fletcher will move to the Bright Kentucky Hotel, which worries her because he's have to negotiate the train tracks often.
+ Someone called again for Fat Jackson.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
42-02-17 Hank Gutstop, Hostess
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Vic comes home and invites Sade and Rush out to eat at the town's new restaurant, the Little Tiny Petite Pheasant Feather Tea Shoppy. Hank Gutstop has gotten a job there as a hostess!
Before the family can leave, Hank predictably calls up and informs Vic that he's already been fired because he ate six meals his first day before 5 o'clock!
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Another fun episode, probably in the top 15 best, although hampered again by horrible sound that cannot be fixed.Trivia:
+ The film playing at the Bijou is Gloria Golden and Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman in Take This Dropping Heart Of Mine, Assistant Straw Boss Williamson.
+ This is the first mention of the Little Tiny Petite Pheasant Feather Tea Shoppy, which is notorious in Vic and Sade.
The restaurant is located at Monroe and Madison Streets.
+ The restaurant is owned by Idler Grice, who also is the cook. This is the first time she has been mentioned.
+ The restaurant has just 3 tables.
+ Hank does not get a salary, instead he is to be paid in meals.
+ Sade says Hank is sometimes seen sleeping on the courthouse lawn, something that was not previously known.
+ Sade has blue eyes, according to Rush.
+ The meals at the restaurant are just 35 cents. The basic meal includes: soup, salad, meat, potatoes, two vegetables, dessert and a beverage.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
41-06-04 Grand Old Lodge Lady
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNRADINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Vic never answered a lodge letter - which results in Sade being listed in the newspaper as the "Grand Old Lady of the Drowsy Venus Chapter" of Vic's lodge.Despite Vic's attempts at hiding this fact, he can't hide it from Sade.
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A funny episode. All the lodge episodes are funny as something is always bound to happen.Trivia:
+ Vic mounts suspicion on himself when he suggests the whole family go to the Bijou, something he rarely does.
+ Rush said that Vic made "about 40 mistakes" in their card game.
+ After Sade gets suspicious about her name possibly being in the paper, she asks: "Did the Lazy Hours Pool Parlor write another piece about me?" Later she asks if they wrote another piece about her eating nine saucers of cole slaw.
Interesting; can we assume one of the missing episodes includes an episode where Sade is written about, possibly in a Lazy Hours Pool Hall advertisement?
+ Rush and Smelly Clark make a date to go down to the YMCA to watch the fat men play handball.
+ The article in the paper:
The headquarters of the National Brotherhood of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, have named Mrs. V.R. Gook of Virginia Avenue as their Grand Old Lady of their local uniter, the Drowsy Venus Chapter.🎙 Hear the Vic and Sadecast 079 – Grand Old Lodge Lady (11/18/17)
Ceremonies will be held in the near future, during which tribute will he paid to Mrs. Gook's snow white hair and sweet wrinkled face. [Unitelligible] wisdom of old age will be glorified and Mrs. Gook's feeble, tottered footsteps...
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41-02-16 Manual for Wives of Sky Brothers
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
The men on the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team can do more than march. Take for example, Homer U. McDancey of East Brain, Oregon. He's written a book for the wives of Sky Brothers, a handy guide called, A Manual for Wives of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way.
Trivia:
+ Here are the rules stated in the pamphlet sent by the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way:
{{{HEAR}}}
+ When Sade reads the "Latin" for "Would you mind passing the butter, please?" she says:
+ Sade mentions that Y.Y. Flirch wears his shoes on the wrong feet (presumably from a non-surviving episode.)
+ There is another Gloria Golden-Four-fisted Frank Fuddleman feature at the Bijou:
+ Every current member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team was mentioned in this episode.
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
The men on the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team can do more than march. Take for example, Homer U. McDancey of East Brain, Oregon. He's written a book for the wives of Sky Brothers, a handy guide called, A Manual for Wives of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way. MIS' CROWE SAYS:SEE THE SCRIPT
Could the Lodge’s more eccentric members (Robert and Slobert Hink, J.J.J.J. Stunbolt, Hank Gutstop) come from nobler stock than we think? This episode just leads to further questions. All we can conclude about Homer U. McDancy from this episode is that he is incredibly out-of-touch. Most of the All-Star Marching Team, we know from a later episode, are bachelors, but McDancy’s assumptions in this manual about what wives need to know suggest that he hasn’t even met any modern middle-class women, let alone married them. Why this isolation from the larger society? Was his upbringing so far removed from the working class that he assumes all the women are dirty-faced slatterns who never sweep the floor? Or has he just surrounded himself with exclusively male company for so long that it’s warped his perception of things? This episode just adds to the mystery of where all these weirdos in Vic’s Lodge came from.
I like how puzzled Vic is about how Headquarters let something as silly as this book through their rigorous editorial process. We have had plenty of ridiculous nonsense from Lodge Headquarters before this, so Vic shouldn’t be so surprised, but he does have a bit of a blind spot about his Lodge. Maybe seeing it through Sade’s eyes heightened its absurdity for Vic.
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For only $3.75, Sade can purchase the book. It is full of practical rules that all wives of Sky Brothers should live by.Trivia:
+ Here are the rules stated in the pamphlet sent by the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way:
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will takes pains with the neatness of her person. She will never appear in her husband's presence with soiled hands or a dirty face.
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will refrain from stealing property belonging to others, using coarse language and engaging in rough street brawls.
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will acquaint herself with The Treasury of Latin Phrases to be committed to memory and recited at meal times. Here are a few typical examples:
in hoc spittle dum cluck eve ad adra cola spinach es spogle raymond beirman ich ickle yam live tax om cornacopia feef
[Recall that Raymond Belcher Beirman was mentioned as a milk wagon driver (and bearer of bad news) in the episode, 41-01-21 Demise of Bernice. Now, he shows up in the middle of a "Latin" phrase!]Some mashed potatoes Latin...
{{{HEAR}}}
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will see that her home is kept swept and dusted at all times. It is suggested Madam purchase a broom and use it regularly.+ While the book itself is $3.75. you can obtain an autographed book by Mr. McDancey for $4.25. A book and autographed photo of Mr. McDancey in full lodge reglaia for $5.10. And for $6.50 you can get an autographed book and an autographed photo of McDancey in full lodge regalia.
+ To be a true and loyal wife of a Sky Brother in the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way, Madam will at all times be cheerful, truthful and obedient. She will be on the alert to anticipate her husband's slightest wish.
+ When Sade reads the "Latin" for "Would you mind passing the butter, please?" she says:
yah plummer e pluribus humor hoc in hoc signal vini vidi webster stockdale horse if extra curricular feef+ Sade says H.K. Fleeber sent her a pair of easy slippers at Christmas addressed to: Charlie, Gus, Walter and Margaret. Rush says Mr. Fleeber sent him a pipe with no stem and it was addressed to: Hazel, Eddie, Herman and Fat.
+ Sade mentions that Y.Y. Flirch wears his shoes on the wrong feet (presumably from a non-surviving episode.)
+ There is another Gloria Golden-Four-fisted Frank Fuddleman feature at the Bijou:
Gazing Into Your Eyes Like This is Heaven, Assistant Umpire Drake.[Recall that the last Gloria Golden and Four-fisted Frank Fuddleman feature we came across also involved an assistant umpire; the ever-popular, I Am Distracted With Love For You, Assistant Umpire Williamson. That episode aired 26 days prior to this one.]
+ Every current member of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way Marching Team was mentioned in this episode.
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41-01-21 Death of Bernice
STARRING: BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Sade thinks it's silly to care so much for a horse. But Uncle Fletcher, who talks to Rush on the telephone, is also sad.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
The death of a horse sends a shock wave through a little community.
Sade starts out pretty insensitive toward Rush, who is an adolescent and hasn’t learned not to feel everything yet. But do you notice how she lets up on him after the telephone conversation with Uncle Fletcher? It’s apparent that Fletcher is just as sad about this situation as Rush is. Sade still feels the whole thing is ridiculous, but has more respect for Uncle Fletcher’s feelings than Rush’s and decides to clam up after she sees that he’s feeling the same way as Rush.SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
A classic script that shows Rush’s sensitivity (or, maybe, if you’re feeling more cynical like Sade, Rush’s craving for the dramatic). Bill Idelson is very funny with the lugubrious tone he maintains throughout the episode. Not much more I can say except it’s one of my favorites.
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Trivia:
+ The sad news about the demise of Bernice was distributed by Raymond Belcher Beirman, who was the milk wagon driver.
+ Bernice had been working for the Anderson-Carter Transit Company as a milk wagon horse.
+ Bernice died at 11:02 in the morning. According to Rush, Mr. Gumpox said that Howard stopped dead in his tracks at that moment, on the intersection of Evans Street (first time mentioned) and Kelsey Street.
+ Some interesting facts: Bernice was 16 years old. She was considered "good looking for a milk wagon horse" and had a "sunny disposition." She passed away quietly... Howard is currently 14 years old. Howard has a younger brother, Kenneth, who is grey like Howard. He is currently 9 years old and has a bad cough.
+ Uncle Fletcher's landlady is Mis' Keller. Her phone number is #5697-J.
+ At the Bijou, there's a Gloria Golden, Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman feature: "I Am Distracted With Love For You, Assistant Umpire Williamson."
The sad phone call that Rush had with Uncle Fletcher: {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
40-12-13 H. K. Fleeber's 48 Teeth
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
MIS' CROWE SAYS:SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
Vic is stuck writing another human-interest article for the Kitchenware Dealers’ Quarterly magazine. Rush, however, notices something awry in the article’s premise…
This is one of my favorites. It is a classic absurd Rhymerian premise and it has lots of very pleasing turns of phrase, my favorites being Rush’s dramatic “In the human mouth, Gov…” and Sade’s description of H.K. Fleeber opening his mouth and showing everybody “nine bushels of teeth.”
Like many of Paul Rhymer’s best premises, this one is not only ridiculous but also vaguely unsettling. Anything to do with dental work gives most people a little frisson of fear and loathing, and the idea that H.K. Fleeber may have had healthy teeth removed to get the job done is pretty ghoulish, especially when you consider the general state of dentistry at this time — I don’t know about all H.K. Fleeber’s dentists in all 48 states, but I know that when my dad was a kid in the 60s his dentist didn’t consider anesthesia a necessity. And then when Rush reminds us all that human beings have 32 teeth, and you think about the crowding in there, and the way he must look when he flashes a big smile…yeesh! Nightmare fuel, for sure.
In researching this episode I learned a new medical term, “hyperdontia,” which I suggest you do not Google image search, and also found the Guinness World Records entry for “Most teeth in a mouth." The record is shared by a lady from India and a lady from Italy, both of whom have thirty-five teeth. However, there are unconfirmed reports in the comments section of people with thirty-six, thirty-eight, and even forty-two teeth. Looks like H.K. Fleeber, with his forty-eight, still has the last laugh.
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Another ridiculous premise from writer Paul Rhymer. This why we keep coming back to Vic and Sade - these ridiculous ideas and the silly names.Trivia:
+ The letter written to Vic from the Kitchenware Quarterly was co-signed by G.J. Gick and G. Tillman Feed.
+ H.K. Fleeber is from Grovelman, South Carolina. After lots of looking, I can find no such place.
+ While researching an opening line for his article, Vic reads that I.O. Flubber proposed to Opal Wheeler of the Maintenance Department.
+ Vic realizes the money-making potential in writing; after all, Jerry Richard Sickbrain of Plant 18 writes poetry gets 75 cents for every stanza he turns out.
+ Rush points out that humans only have 32 teeth and wonders how Fleeber could have 48 teeth.
+ Vic offers to send Sade and Rush to see the Gloria Golden, Four-Fisted Frank Fuddleman film, "I Shall Love Thee Evermore, Lieutenant Corporal Glush."
+ The sound quality of this episode is excellent.
Rush suggests how to fill up space for the article: {{{HEAR}}}
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40-03-25 Smelly Clark's Big Date
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Rush relays the story (without interruption!) of Smelly Clark's date with young Lillie Speigel and how he parades around the Bijou showing off.
Trivia:
+ At the beginning of the episode, Sade speaks of a broken clock in the house; Vic wants to fix it but Sade won't allow him to.
+ Rush went to the Bijou with Rooster Davis and saw a Gloria Golden film, but no title or description is given.
+ Smelly threw away three perfectly good sticks of gum in order to impress Lillie.
Some things Smelly said aloud throughout the movie: {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
Rush relays the story (without interruption!) of Smelly Clark's date with young Lillie Speigel and how he parades around the Bijou showing off.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
Smelly Clark goes on a date with a girl; Rush gives his folks the play-by-play.
Rush is allowed to tell this story with absolutely no interruption, since Sade is such a connoisseur of gossip, and an uninterrupted Rush story is always a joy to hear. He has Vic and Sade in the palm of his hand as he describes Smelly Clark’s endearingly outrageous behavior on his first date. It’s a delight to imagine this kid, probably scrawny and overdressed, acting like a dashing man about town. I wonder if he’ll get a second date with Lily. After that running commentary he gave on the movie, I’m guessing probably not.
In a previous episode, [six days earlier -JIMBO] Rush was reading a Third Lieutenant Stanley novel in which the Lieutenant is free and easy with his money, lavishing ridiculous gifts on his lady friend, the Countess (hey! What happened to Lady Margaret?), even going so far as to throw a quarter in the river, “just to show he don’t give a darn.” Smelly must have read this latest volume too, as he seems to be emulating his hero, albeit with much smaller gestures, proportional to his means.
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Trivia:
+ At the beginning of the episode, Sade speaks of a broken clock in the house; Vic wants to fix it but Sade won't allow him to.
+ Rush went to the Bijou with Rooster Davis and saw a Gloria Golden film, but no title or description is given.
+ Smelly threw away three perfectly good sticks of gum in order to impress Lillie.
Some things Smelly said aloud throughout the movie: {{{HEAR}}}
Download the complete commercial-free, sound-improved episode!
39-10-06 Double Feature in Hopewood
STARRING: ART VAN HARVEY, BERNARDINE FLYNN AND BILL IDELSON
Without consulting Vic, Sade has accepted a car trip for them both to Hopewood to see a double feature with Fred and Ruthie Stembottom.
Vic, who has already seen (and despised) both films showing at the theater, calculates (with the 'help' of Rush) that they may not get in bed until 4 A.M.!
Meanwhile, Sade tries to calm down Vic as much as possible so that he doesn't create a scene when the Stembottoms arrive (ahhhoooga!) to pick them up.
MIS' CROWE SAYS:
Fred and Ruth Stembottom offer to take Vic and Sade to the movies in Hopewood, and it wasn’t exactly how Vic planned to spend his evening.
Sometimes it’s the smallest parts with the fewest lines that are the most important, and that’s true of Rush in this episode. For me, he’s the highlight here. He is not involved in this situation, but instead of staying out of it, he sits back, enjoys the show, and seizes just the right opportunities to sow discord. He starts out with some subtle gloating, then starts going for the kill, only making things worse for poor Sade by slowly dropping details about the ordeal ahead of Vic. Such a scoundrel. I love it.
SEE THE SCRIPT (transcribed by Lydia Crowe)
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Vic had planned on going to bed early. When he finds out he has to go to Hopewood, he's upset.It's just another case of Sade sticking her neck out without asking Vic - although to be fair, Vic does the same thing to Sade with his lodge activities.
This is a fun episode. Rush takes a backseat on this one; he doesn't say much at all. He's thankful (I suppose) that he doesn't have to go see the Gloria Golden films.
Trivia:
+ Vic was dragged away from playing indoor horseshoes at Ike Kneesuffer's place. He was ahead by 30 cents.
+ The Bijou is closed for repairs in this episode.
+ The towns of Chenoa and Hopewood are mentioned. Both cities have a motion picture theater.+ The double-feature films they are going to see both star Gloria Golden. The first picture is You Are My Own Wonderful Husband, Subaltern Gleek and Yours Is A Magnificent Love, Petty-Officer Griswold. Vic and Sade have already seen both of them. Vic hates both films.
Vic and Rush protest at the same time: {{{HEAR}}}
Vic finds out the name of the second film: {{{HEAR}}}
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