Gale Storm (1922-2009)

 

 

 

Josephine Owaissa Cottle – better known as Gale Storm - passed away a couple of weeks ago, on June 27th, 2009.  She was 87.

 

While here career peaked in the 1950’s, and she appeared on television very little after the mid-1960s, she is still warmly remembered today by a generation that grew up on her two television shows. 

 

My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show (Oh, Susanna!)  

 

Both shows have seen relatively little syndication in the past 30 years, and so today’s generation probably have no idea who Gale Storm was.

 

She was one of a number of hopefuls who vied for a screen test on Jesse L. Lasky’s radio show `Gateway To Hollywood’.   Auditions were held all around the country, and Gale Storm won in Houston, traveled to Hollywood, and won there, too.

 

She ended up with a contract with RKO studios, and a new name (Sometimes billed as Gail Storm). After six months, they dropped her.  But by then she’d appeared in several films and managed to pick up work at Universal and Monogram pictures in `B’ musicals, westerns, and dramas.

 

Her early career was hardly spectacular. 

 

Her movies were mostly low budget `programmers’, with such `winners’ as Let's Go Collegiate (1941), Freckles Comes Home (1942), Revenge of the Zombies (1943), Sunbonnet Sue (1945).

 

Her fresh-scrubbed girl-next-door looks were a natural for westerns and college musicals.  More serious roles were hard to find, although she did acquit herself quite well in It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) film noir piece The Underworld Story (1950).

 

We’ve a couple of her `lesser’ early movies available on the Internet Archive.  

 

The first is called  City of Missing Girls, a post-code story of `white slavery’ that tries very hard not to mention that fact.  And Smart Alecks – a `Dead End Kids’ movie.    Both are enjoyable enough if you are in the right mood.

 

We’ve also a strange amalgam of a commercial/travelogue from 1954 showing Gale Storm and Family on a trip in their new Chevrolet to the Grand Canyon.   Nostalgic, if nothing else.

 

How to Go Places - Handy (Jam) Organization
Actress Gale Storm and family take a road trip in their Chevrolet and review the do's and don'ts of auto traveling.

 

 

It wasn’t until the early 1950’s when Storm would finally hit it `big’, and that was on the small screen.   In 1952, when I Love Lucy went off for the summer, CBS needed a replacement show, and so they cobbled together a light comedy called `My Little Margie’, starring Gale Storm and silent movie star Charles Farrell.

 

 

It was a surprise hit, and the sponsor Phillip Morris, moved it to NBC for a regular fall slot on Saturday evenings.  It lasted a couple of months, then returned to CBS in January . . .where it ran for 6 months.

 

After a 2 month hiatus, it ended up back on NBC, with a new sponsor, and ran till 1955.  In the 1950s, sponsors owned the shows, and so it wasn’t unusual for a show to appear on more than one network over the years.

 

While the title, My Little Margie may sound condescending towards women, Margie was actually ahead of her time.  In an era when most women on television were either married, to desperate to find a husband, Margie was single and pretty content to be that way.

 

The show was typical of the sitcoms of that era in that the subject matter was always `light’, and it relied heavily on Slap Stick comedy (It was produced by Hal Roach Studios).  

 

But for light fare, it was better than most of the offerings of the day.

 

Whats Cooking

 

Margies Millionth Member

Meet Mr. Murphy

Margie Babysits

Honeyboy Honeywell

Margie and the Shah

Star of Khyber

The San Francisco Story

Miss Whoozis

Verns Mother-in-Law

The Hawaii Story

Corpus Delecti

Papa and Maboo

The Unexpected Guest

 

From 1956 to 1960, Storm would star in a second highly successful sitcom- the Gale Storm Show.  After that, her television appearance dwindled.

 

She appeared twice on Burkes Law in the mid 1960s, once on the Love Boat (1979) and one on Murder She Wrote (1989).  

 

But she didn’t give up show business.  She appeared in dinner theatre and summer stock productions for many years, usually in "Cactus Flower," "Forty Carats," "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and "South Pacific.

 

Storm would also show up at nostalgia conventions, from time to time, much to the delight of her fans.

 

Perhaps not the most enduring show business legend, but for a few of  us, Gale Storm is very fondly remembered.

And Now, A Lucky Strike Extra . . .

 

 

 

Yes, this is a reprint of a blog I posted last November.  Since then, I’ve picked up some new readers, and I figured that a lot of them may not have gone that far back into the archives – so they won’t have seen this.

I so enjoyed reading this book, I wanted to take this opportunity to plug it again. 

   

 

 

Back in September of last year, when I began this blog, my second entry was called 'Twas Rock & Roll That Killed Your Hit Parade,  which looked back at the Lucky Strike Hit Parade show of the early 1950's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Collins From Your Hit Parade

 

Shortly thereafter I received a very kind email from Andrew Lee Fielding, whose mother Sue Bennett was one of the early stars of television, and a regular on Your Hit Parade.

 

We exchanged several emails, and Andrew told me about a book he had written about his mother's career and early television.   He was nice enough to send me a copy.

 

 

The book is called  The Lucky Strike Papers,   and is published by Bear Manor Media.   Andrew also has his own blog which I am putting in my sidebar links column.

 

Although Andrew sent me the book a month ago, I wanted a quiet day to enjoy the book.  Such a day was today.  And enjoy it I did.

 

For anyone curious at all about the early days of live television, and the transition from radio to TV as being the dominant form of home entertainment, this book is a delight.

 

Fielding guides us through the early years of TV, mostly through his Mother's career, which took her from the Kay Kyser Show, to the Freddy Martin Show, and onto Your Hit Parade.

 

Although just recently published, Andrew began researching this book, and conducting interviews with many of the pioneers of early television, back in the late 1970's.

 

The book is filled with wonderful anecdotes, rare photos, and a rich and abundant history of early television.

 

It makes a worthy addition to anyone's library, and would make a terrific gift for anyone with a love of nostalgia.  You can order it HERE.

 

Highly recommended.

Matt Dodson . . . err, Make That Tom Corbett, Space Cadet!

 

 

 

The grand master of the golden age of science-fiction, which ran from the late 1930s through the 1950s was undoubtedly Robert A Heinlein. 

 

Sure, there were other great writers . . . Asimov, Clarke, Kornblunth, Bradbury, and Pohl . . .to name but a few, but none were as influential as Heinlein.  

 

Heinlein published 32 novels, 59 short stories, and 16 collections during his lifetime.

 

During the 1940’s and 1950’s, Heinlein wrote a number of `juvenile’ books, aimed at a teenage audience, with titles like Starman Jones, Rocket Ship Galileo,  Tunnel In The Sky, and Starship Troopers.

 

While Heinlein would move on to far more adult themes (Stranger In A Strange Land no doubt contributed to the sexual revolution of the 1960’s!), his juvenile novels are well remembered by my generation today.

 

In 1948, he published a book called Space Cadet, which would serve to influence a very popular radio and television show of the 1950s,  Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.

 

Created by Joesph Lawrence Greene, Tom Corbett was an amalgam of Heinlein’s Space Cadet universe and a radio script that Greene had created, that pre-dated the Heinlein book, called  Tom Ranger and the Space Cadets.

 

By the time the show made it on the air, the names had been changed again.  From Tom Ranger (Greene’s creation) and Matt Dodson (Heinlein’s protagonist) to Tom Corbett.

 

One of the best websites on the Internet devoted to Tom Corbett is http://www.solarguard.com/tchome.htm, where you can read dozens of pages of information about the show. 

 

I won’t try to recreate the wheel here, since my main intent is to provide links to the shows. By all means, check out the site.

 

The TV series, over its nearly 5 year run, managed to be broadcast by all 4 networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont).  

 

While some of the science presented is a bit laughable now, for its time, it was surprisingly `scientific’.   Having 50’s science writer Willy Ley as a science advisor no doubt helped.  Sure, Mars had a breathable atmosphere, and Venus was a hot steamy jungle . . . but back in the 1950’s, both scenarios were considered possible.

 

The cast included:

 

• Tom Corbett Frankie Thomas, Jr.
• Astro Al Markim
• Roger Manning Jan Merlin
• Captain Steve Strong Edward Bryce
• Dr. Joan Dale Margaret Garland
• Commander Arkwright Carter Blake
• Cadet Alfie Higgins John Fiedler
• Cadet Eric Rattison Frank Sutton
• Cadet T. J. Thistle Jack Grimes

And yes, it was that Frank Sutton, who played Cadet Rattison – who would go on to fame as Sgt Carter on Gomer Pyle, USMC.

The star of the show was Frankie Thomas, who during the early 1930s appeared in a number of Broadway plays (starting at the age of 11), and moved on to appearing in a number of well received movies.

 

Wednesday's Child (1934) .... Bobby Phillips

A Dog of Flanders (1935) .... Nello Daas

Tim Tyler's Luck (1937) .... Tim Tyler

Boys Town (1938) .... Freddie Fuller

His popularity never really caught on, and his career began to decline while he was still in his teens.  He still worked . . .in `B’ movies, and later (after a stint in the service for WWII) in early TV, but he was barely visible.

 

In 1950 his luck, and life, would change.  He would become Tom Corbett, and for a generation, represent a bright and exciting future.  He picture was on the front of comic books, dime novels, and even on our lunch pails at school.

 

The cast for the TV series also appeared on the short-lived radio show.  First broadcast as a 15 minute-3 times a week – kids show, it eventually went to a 1/2 hour format.   It only ran half a year.

We have 30+ episodes from the Internet Archive.

We’ve also 5 episodes from the TV show on the Archive.   Unlike the Rocky Jones Series (see Memories Of Rocky Jones, Space Ranger), which was filmed, the few shows we have were only preserved on Kinescopes.  

 

The budget was miniscule, the special effects almost non-existent, but they were fun, performed with enthusiasm,and certainly nostalgic for those of us who grew up on this stuff.

'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet'
Episode "Assignment Mercury" - Air Date: Feb. 26, 1955

'Tom Corbett, Space cadet' - Ambush in space (1955)
Episode: Ambush in space - Air Date: May 21, 1955

'Tom Corbett, Space cadet' - Fight for survival (1955)
Tom Corbett, Space cadet Episode: Fight for survival - Air Date: June 4, 1955

'Tom Corbett, Space cadet' - Pursuit of the deep space projectile (1955)
Episode "Pursuit of the deep space projectile" which aired on April 30, 1955 and contains original commercials for 'Kraft Caramels'.

'Tom Corbett, Space cadet' - Runaway rocket (1954)
'Tom Corbett, Space cadet' - Runaway rocket (1954) Episode: The runaway rocket - Air Date: May 22, 1954.

While the end of Tom Corbett pretty much was the end of Frankie Thomas’s  film career, he would go on to make personal appearances as Tom Corbett, and would write for radio and TV shows.

 

In the 1970s and 1980s he would pen a number of well received Sherlock Holmes novels.  

Thomas passed away in 2006, at the age of 85.  At his request, he was buried in his Tom Corbett uniform.

What It Was, Was A Young Andy Griffith

 

 

 

 

 

Just about everyone knows that Andy Griffith played Andy Taylor, soft spoken `Sheriff without a gun’ in the rural comedy The Andy Griffith Show of the 1960s.  

 

That show will undoubtedly play in reruns, along side other classics like I Love Lucy and the Dick Van Dyke Show, until sometime after the apocalypse. 

 

It made a star of Don Knotts, and really helped to launch the career of actor/director Ron `Opie’ Howard. 

 

And no doubt, many of my readers have seen the movie version of No Time For Sergeants, the role that made Andy Griffith a star. Released in 1958, it was based on the Broadway play of the same name, which starred Griffith, and whose cast included Don Knotts.

 

But before the 1958 movie version, and before the successful Broadway run of 796 performances which began on October 20th, 1955 at the Alvin Theatre, there was a live TV production of No Time For Sergeants on the United States Steel hour.   

 

The U.S. Steel hour was an hour long anthology series that produced live dramas on TV between 1953 and 1963.   It actually began on radio in the 1940’s as the Theatre Guild On The Air.

 

Like most over night successes in show business, Andy Griffith worked for several years in in relative obscurity.  He was a monologist: a standup comedian who, rather than telling jokes, would tell stories.  

 

In 1953 Griffith would record a monologue called `What it was, was football’, which would shoot to the #9 spot in the top 40 standings.

 

His country-bumpkin description of watching a football game was a hit, and it led to appearances on the Steve Allen Show and Ed Sullivan.  We’ve got a youtube video of this recording, along with some vintage (1958) MAD MAGAZINE illustrations to go along with it.

 

You can view the illustration at : What It Was, Was Football

 

The following year, Mac Hyman, who was from Cordele Georgia, published a book called No Time For Sergeants, which recounted the humorous story of a country bumpkin in boot camp.  It became a best seller, and in 1955, was selected to be produced for TV.

Andy Griffith – due to his comedy act - was the best known `bumpkin’ in the country, and was of the right age to play the role of Will Stockdale.  

 

He got the role, and the show was a success.  It led directly to his starring in the Broadway version, and to such important film roles as A Face In The Crowd.

 

Here, from the Internet Archive, is the original No Time For Sergeants – made 3 years before the movie version.  Fans of the movie will note that the plot is a bit different, but that makes this early glimpse at a rising star no less entertaining.

 

No Time For Sergeants
The U.S. Steel Hour
March 15th, 1955
Starring:
Will Stockdale......Andy Griffith
Sgt. King...........Harry Clark
Major...............Robert Emhardt
Ben Whitledge.......Eddie Le Roy
Captain.............Alexander Clark
Irvin...............Arthur Storch
Lucky...............Bob Hastings
Colonel.............G. Albert Smith
Infantry Sg.t.......Joe Brown, Jr.
WAF Captain.........Adnia Rice
Pfc.................Thomas Volk
Soldier.............George Kilroy

 

After the critical acclaim of A Face In The Crowd, and the success of the movie version of No Time For Sergeants, and the disappointing Coast Guard comedy Onionhead,  Griffith’s next big break would be landing the role of a country Sheriff on an episode of Make Room For Daddy (The Danny Thomas Show).  

 

That episode would become the springboard for the Andy Griffith Show in 1960, which Griffith would star in until 1967.

The 1970’s would bring a number of TV movies and a couple of less-than stellar TV series. Griffith would strike gold again in the 1980s, playing the Atlanta Lawyer Ben Matlock.

 

At 83, Griffith still works occasionally, with the Internet Movie Database listing these four appearances over the past 3 years.

 

Play the Game (2008) .... Grandpa Joe

Christmas Is Here Again (2007) (voice) .... Santa Claus

Waitress (2007) .... Old Joe

The Very First Noel (2006) (V) .... Melchoir

 

With a career that has stretched nearly 60 year, Andy Griffith has become a cultural icon and a symbol of homespun honesty and integrity. 

 

Not bad for a boy who hailed from Mount Airy, North Carolina.

Not bad at all.

Shout Hallelujah

 

 

 

It is hard to believe that it’s been 4 decades since we lost Judy Garland.   I was scarcely a teenager when she died, but I remember the sadness I felt. 

 

I grew up in a family that didn’t just appreciate the music, and entertainers, of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s . . . we practically revered them.

And Judy Garland had a justifiably high standing in our household.   I grew up on her musicals. 

 

Not just the Wizard of Oz, but the backyard musicals of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, the big MGM productions of the 1940s like  Meet Me In St. Louis, and The Harvey Girls, and The Pirate.   

 

By the late 1940's, however, Judy’s career was coming unraveled.  She was released from MGM after `a nervous breakdown’ followed by a suicide attempt and having to drop out of a succession of movies including Annie Get Your Gun and The Barkleys of Broadway. 

 

Judy Garland, once the box office sensation of MGM, was no longer considered a `good risk’ for the studio.   She would come back, of course.   Her career would rebound after appearances on the London Stage.

In 1954, Garland filmed a remake of A Star Is Born, with James Mason.  While not a commercial success for Warner Brothers, it was a triumphant return for Judy.  She was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to Grace Kelly that year.

During the late 1950s and much of the 1960s, Judy made concert appearances (including Judy at Carnegie Hall in 1961), and appeared in television specials, and for awhile, her own TV show.  

After her show was cancelled in 1964, Garland once again hit the concert tours, and made the occasional TV appearance. Her career, however, was obviously winding down.  

 

Musical tastes had changed, and her ability to perform was suffering as well, in some cases her use of alcohol and pills showed on stage. 

 

On June 22, 1969, Judy was found dead of an overdose of barbiturates. 

 

A search on `Judy Garland’ will turn up many tributes, and exposés of this great star, but I prefer to remember her performances. 

 

And so, a few clips and some shows of an incredible performer for you to enjoy.

 

In 1936, at the age of 14, Judy made her first MGM short called `Every Sunday’ with Deanna Durbin.   Here is a snippet, but the entire 10 minute short can be viewed HERE.

 

 

 

Here, still virtually unknown, Judy knocks them dead at the age of 15 with this tribute to Clark Gable in the Broadway melody of 1938. 

 

 

After the success of The Wizard of Oz, Judy was cast in a series of eerily similar `backyard’ musicals with Mickey Rooney.   The talent and chemistry was undeniable, and audiences loved them.

 

 

By the mid-1940s Judy was starring in mid budget musicals, like this classic scene from  Meet Me In St. Louis.

 

 

Pills and booze, along with a weight gain, caused Judy to leave the set for several weeks, only to return to film this triumphant finale in 1950’s Summer Stock.

 

 

And the 13 minute Born in a Trunk sequence from A Star is Born.

 

 

And if you’ve never seen this clip from the Judy Garland Show, you are in for a treat.  Barbra Streisand and Judy in a Duet for the ages.  This is from October 6, 1963, and I remember it from when it was originally broadcast.

 

 

 

Shout Hallelujah that these, and dozens of hours more of her films are still available for us to enjoy.