Worth 1,000 Words: CLIFF ARQUETTE as CHARLEY WEAVER
By Steve Crum
CLIFF ARQUETTE’S show business career was, by his choice, pretty much over by 1956. He chose to retire at that time after decades as an entertainer. In the beginning, he played piano in night clubs, and then in a dance orchestra. He worked in theatre and movies as a musician and comedian, sometimes dressing in funny costumes and makeup for effect. In radio, he was a literal one-man show. While making a living in radio in Chicago, he once did 13 live radio programs at different stations each and every day, shuttling from one studio across town to another.
Then came JACK PAAR. Paar was starring on The Tonight Show in 1959 when one night he asked, “Whatever happened to Cliff Arquette?” Arquette, who happened to be watching Paar that night, recounted his shock over hearing this. “I almost dropped my Scotch,” he quipped. Paar soon phoned Arquette, asking him to appear on his show. Dressing up as one of his most popular characters, the old codger from Mt. Idy, Charley Weaver, Arquette appeared, and was a sensation. He became a regular on Paar’s late night show, reading his fictional, funny “Letters from Mama.” The letters told of bizarre Mt. Idy and the oddball inhabitants therein, including Elsie Krack, Leonard Box, Grandma and Grandpa Ogg, and Ludlow Bean. Paar and Charley (dressed in baggy pants, droopy shirt, rumpled hat, glasses and mustache) would both sit on Paar’s desk, dangling their feet, as Charley opened his shtick with, “I got a letter from Mama.”
He would then read his letter, which of course he wrote in long hand, which might include something like: “Dear Steinway: (Mama always wnted me to be upright and grand.) Things are fine in Mount Idy (she goes on). Birdie Rodd is pretty upset. Saturday night somebody broke into her house and stole her bathtub. She says whoever did it can keep the washrag, soap and the tub, but she would like them to return her mother.” During each performance, when Charley would get a rousing laugh at one of his jokes, he would outstretch his arms, facing the audience, and declare, “These are MY people!”
Charley Weaver was resurrected. Arquette rarely appeared except as Charley, including his guest stints on many TV shows, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Steve Allen Show, and his popular work on The Hollywood Squares, in which he occupied the bottom left square. Arquette did appear in syrup commercials as Mrs. Butterworth, speaking in a falsetto voice, wearing a matronly dress, but still sporting his mustache. ———-
CLIFF ARQUETTE (Dec. 28, 1905-Sept. 23, 1974) was a Civil War history buff who operated his Charley Weaver Museum of the Civil War in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a decade. (It is now the Soldiers National Museum.) A descendant of explorer Meriwether Lewis, Arquette began his own family history. He is a patriarch of actors, not explorers. His son, the late Lewis Arquette, was a familiar presence on TV shows and in films. Perhaps his most memorable role was as J. D. Pickett on The Waltons. Five of his grandchildren have become successful actors: Patricia (star of TV’s Medium), Alexis, Rosanna, David (the Scream movies), and Richmond. Before his death due to stroke at age 68, Cliff Arquette had written three best selling books about Mt. Idy. There was also his comedy record album, pictured above. (Note that CHARLEY is misspelled on the album.)
In the introduction to Charley Weaver’s Letters from Mama, Jack Paar discussed “the wild old man from Mt. Idy.” An excerpt: “Sometimes his jokes are old, and I live in the constant fear that the audience will beat him to the punch line, but they never have. And I suspect that if they ever do, he will rewrite the ending on the spot. I would not like to say that all his jokes are old, although some have been found to be carved in stone. What I want to say is that in a free-for-all ad lib session, Charley Weaver has and will beat the fastest gun alive. Charley Weaver has done more for the success of the ‘Tonight’ show than anyone who was ever on it. He is my ‘wild old man,’ and it’s understandable, when you realize that before every show he rinses his jockey shorts in turpentine. Nobody will ever catch him.”——————–
The rather hairless looking 1947 ABC-Radio publicity portrait of CLIFF ARQUETTE (shown right), sans Charley Weaver, describes Arquette as “…The comedian known for his characterizations of elderly men and women, is starred in a new ABC comedy series, Point Sublime, based on the adventures of general store keeper Arquette in Point Sublime, California. Arquette is helped into and out of his predicaments by his side kick, Mel Blanc. Mondays, 8 p.m., EST.” Arquette was a fixture on the radio series from its 1940 beginning on NBC. After it trasnferred to the Mutual Network in 1944, ABC picked it up on Oct. 6, 1947. It then left the air after its first season. [from Steve Crum’s show biz memorabilia collection]
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Mediocre ‘Other Guys’ features Ferrell in cop parody
By Steve Crum
When I think of The Other Guys, like virtually any Will Ferrell movie, I think of Olympia Beer. Except instead of the slogan, “It’s the water,” the Ferrell motto is, “It’s the writing.” This is more a negative than a compliment, since The Other Guys suffers from a premise that pays off in the first 10 minutes of the story. Up to that point, the writing is fun, fast, and full of broad parody. The remainder of the film has spurts of laughs, but is laden with a Will Ferrell central character purposely lackluster and dull.
Writers Adam McKay (who also directed) and Chris Henchy deserve a little praise and a bunch of grief over their treatment. At least McKay’s previous screenplays (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Step Brothers) cast Ferrell as aggressive egocentrics and, as such, interesting to watch. Ferrell’s Allen Gamble in The Other Guys plays against that type, and places the prominent comic role upon co-star Mark Wahlberg (as Gamble’s partner, Terry Holtz), who can act humorously, but is not a comedian. It turns out that the funniest person in the movie, after the opening sequence, is Michael Keaton’s police captain, Gene Mauch.
And that opening sequence, without ruining its gag, features Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. It is slam, bang action, and hilarious.
The story kicks off with NYC police detectives Christopher Danson and P.K. Highsmith (Johnson and Jackson) showcasing why they are press and public favorites as the most feared and successful cops on the force. The macho duo relish spectacular car chases, tote magnum-plus pistols, and thrive on adulation. They are heroes inside the squad room as well, even to undistinguished officers Gamble and Holtz. They are the forgotten “other guys” referred to in the title. In fact, Officer Gamble prefers being a desk jockey, since he desires nothing more than being an accountant. “I just want to be an accountant for law and order,” says Gamble. His pal Holtz, however, was relegated to a desk job after failing on a security detail involving a well known football star. He desperately wants another chance to prove his mettle.
Inevitably, the two get their chance on the street. There is a bar fight featuring a funny Irish round robin of singing as well as a ballet (!) by Ferrell’s Gamble, and a suicide call gone awry, But the funniest set-up, sustained throughout the film, is Gamble’s insistence that gorgeous women like his wife (Eva Mendes) mean little to him. Yet they are physically attracted to his dorky demeanor everywhere he goes.
Ferrell’s forte, in fact, is the overextended joke or shtick. Do the gag, lace it with outrageousness (like pulling down or off your pants), get the shock value laugh, and…keep on with it, wringing the laugh empty. His humor is of the adult child, often given to the “I hit you last” or “I know you are, but what am I” variety, as in Step Brothers. Above all, Ferrell’s butt cheeks he displays for absurd hardy-har-hars has been integral to his comedy. That is what’s both right and wrong about his Allen Gamble character in The Other Guys. No booty show here. That is a refreshingly good exclusion. Then again, what does that leave Ferrell with except to overdo each and every set-up. Push the punchline to the max. Squeeze the laugh past its potential. Timing is nothing unless it is exceeded. This is also a common fault of Saturday Night Live sketches, Ferrell’s training ground.
It has been said before that Will Ferrell movies would be funnier if trimmed and refined to a half hour max. The Other Guys sure qualifies.
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GRADE on an A to F Scale: C
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Enjoy highlights of The Other Guys in its trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6WOoUG1eNo
Worth 1,000 Words: SID CAESAR & IMOGENE COCA
By Steve Crum
Sixty years ago, NBC-TV could have opened each program with “Live, from New York, it’s…!” Except this was two and a half decades before Saturday Night Live. The referenced program is Your Show of Shows, which ran 160 hilarious, innovative, and ground-breaking episodes for 90 minutes each Saturday night, Feb. 25, 1950-June 5, 1954. Created by Sigourney Weaver’s dad, Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, Your Show of Shows starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Although called a variety show, it is now considered the ultimate sketch comedy, TV showcase, truly the first of its kind. (Note: Caesar and Coca first teamed on TV’s Admiral Broadway Review, Jan.-June, 1949.)
Born Isaac Sidney Caesar on Sept. 8, 1922, SID CAESAR is particularly noted for his use of comedy dialect, timing, and body language. He has appeared in several movies, including It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, many TV shows, on Broadway, and is an author. He is fondly remembered playing Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.
IMOGENE COCA, whose birth name is the mouthful Imogene Fernandez de Coca, was born Nov. 18, 1908. Perhaps her most well known role to modern audiences is Aunt Edna, Chevy Chase’s forlorn aunt (remember her leashed dog?) in National Lampoon’s Vacation. Coca died June 2, 2001.
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Your Show of Shows was live, directed by both Max Liebman and Nat Hiken at various times. Its writers included Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner (who also acted in the sketches), Neil Simon, Danny Simon, and Mel Tolkin. (Larry Gelbart did not write for YSOS, but did write for Caesar’s Hour, 1954-57. Woody Allen only wrote for Caesar in later TV specials.)
Rounding out the cast were Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show), Nanette Fabray, and Reiner. The program greatly influenced future sketch comedy programs, particularly The Carol Burnett Show and Saturday Night Live. Your Show of Shows remains a true classic of television history. It inspired Carl Reiner to create his TV gem, The Dick Van Dyke Show. It was also the basis for 1982’s My Favorite Year, and Neil Simon’s play, Laughter on the 23rd Floor.
——————–The rare still (at left) from Your Show of Shows depicts Sid Caesar in hand flailing intensity as he makes a point to Imogene Coca during one of their memorable sketches. The photo could be of a rehearsal since there is masking tape in various states on and around the floor, probably for stage blocking. [from Steve Crum’s showbiz memorabilia collection]
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Funny is funny for all time. Enjoy this classic “clock” bit from Your Show of Shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0SG4YhiuYU&feature=related
Worth 1,000 Words: SCOTTY BECKETT as JOLSON, the boy
SCOTTY BECKETT, portraying the young AL JOLSON in THE JOLSON STORY [1946], whistles from his bedroom window to his neighbor. Soon a ladder will afford escape to run away from home and start his show business career.
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The Columbia Pictures’ caption on the reverse of this seldom seen still states: “…BOY AL JOLSON-The boy Al Jolson, played by Scotty Beckett, is a shown whistling to his girl in Columbia’s Technicolor music drama, THE JOLSON STORY. The adult Jolson is played by Larry Parks.” [from Steve Crum’s showbiz memorabilia collection]
The whistling was actually provided by Jolson himself, who was a noted whistler in addition to his comedy, singing, dancing, and acting talents. Throughout the film’s boyhood sequences, however, it was RUDY WISSLER (no whistling pun intended) who provided the actual singing as Scotty Beckett lip synched. In the same vein, Jolson himself sang for the adult, Larry Parks, Jolson. Parks moved his lips perfectly to Jolie’s songs.
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Scotty Beckett, born Scott Hastings Beckett (Oct. 4, 1929-May 10, 1968), began his brief career as one of Hal Roach’s Our Gang (aka Little Rascals), often playing opposite Spanky McFarland. Career highlights include featured roles in King’s Row, The Charge of the Light Brigade, A Date with Judy, radio’s The Life of Riley (as Junior), and TV’s Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. His role as the young Asa Yoelson aka Al Jolson in The Jolson Story was his crowning achievement.
Tragically, the last decade of Beckett’s life was filled with drugs, alcohol, arrests, marital problems, and illness. He died in a nursing home at age 38.
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Worth 1,000 Words: JIMMY DURANTE & GENE AUTRY on the set
By Steve Crum
Republic Pictures chose to increase the budget on one of its GENE AUTRY movies, and hired a pretty bizarre cast for any western, JIMMY DURANTE and ANN MILLER among them. Released in 1940, MELODY RANCH became one of Gene’s biggest box office successes. It was later considered culturally significant by the Library of Congress, and is now preserved in the United States Film Registry.
The plot has Gene Autry, portraying radio and movie cowboy star Gene Autry (a stretch), returning to his Arizona hometown (Gene was actually raised in Oklahoma, so this is a stretch) where he restores law and order while starring in his own radio show. Others in the cast include Barton MacLane, Barbara Jo Allen (better known as Vera Vague on the Bob Hope radio show), and Gabby Hayes, venerable sidekick to Roy Rogers as well as Gene. Durante’s character is Cornelius J. Courtney. Inka Dinka Do. ——————–
The rare Republic publicity still (top) is unique in several ways. When in the history of Durante did you ever see him on horseback and sporting cowboy boots? (His horse doesn’t look any too happy with him yelling and waving his hat. Notice the steed’s ears are pointed back.) That is Gene Autry himself–at least his back–headin’ toward his trailer on Champion, World’s Wonder Horse. The caption pasted on the photo’s backside explains: “At last, here I am at the peak of me power, ha-cha-cha!!” Jimmy “Schnozzle” Durante cheers as he successfully reaches the deck of the tamest horse in the Gene Autry stable. “What a man! What a cowboy! Where’s me rope and gun!” Durante clanked a mean spur with Autry and Ann Miller in “MELODY RANCH” at Republic Pictures. In the background here is Autry heading into his stable trailer. [from Steve Crum’s showbiz memorabilia collection]——————–