“What a character!”

In the early 1940s, actor-singer Harold (Hal) Peary was savoring the fruits of show business success from his enormously successful role as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve on radio’s Fibber McGee & Molly. A regular on the program since 1937, Peary had played a variety of different roles (among them Gooey Fooey, a Chinese laundryman and Perry, the Portuguese Piccolo Player) but one day he talked series writer Don Quinn into give him a much meatier part. Quinn, who had created a number of different one-shot characters named “Gildersleeve” (actor Cliff Arquette had played the first “Gildersleeve”-named character back in 1936), cast Peary in various “Gildersleeve” occupations (optometrist, dentist, etc.) until finally settling him into the role of girdle company tycoon and pompous next-door neighbor to Fibber McGee on October 17, 1939.

The problem for Hal was that he had become so identified with the Gildersleeve character that it soon became impossible for him to play other roles. Furthermore, Peary felt that his musical talents had been sidelined due to his being locked into the part. In 1941, he seriously considered giving up the role—causing both NBC and Johnson’s Wax a great deal of consternation as they did not want to lose the actor’s services.

An idea soon developed: why not “spin-off” the Gildy character into his own series? Hal found himself quite amenable to this arrangement, for he felt he had a better chance of resurrecting his love of music on a show in which he was the star. Having accepted “an offer he can’t refuse,” Peary’s Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve bid goodbye to his employees at the Gildersleeve Girdle Works (and also toodle-oo to his wife and nagging mother-in-law, both of whom were never mentioned again) and hopped a train to the nearby town of Summerfield. With the exception of a handful of guest appearances on Fibber McGee & Molly, Gildy had, for all intents and purposes, left Wistful Vista for good.

There was, however, a teensy snag.

Everyone involved with the May 14, 1941 audition show assumed that long-time Fibber sponsor Johnson’s Wax would take the new Gildersleeve program under its wing as well. But the boys from Racine, Wisconsin took a pass and instead of subsidizing Peary’s show as Fibber McGee & Molly's summer replacement, they went with another series (Hap Hazard) instead. Fortunately, the Gildersleeve audition was so well-received that the Kraft Foods company signed on to pay the bills—and The Great Gildersleeve made its official debut over NBC Radio on August 31, 1941. It soon became a solid hit for the network, enjoying a 16-year run that would end on March 21,1957.

Gildy’s overnight train jaunt to Summerfield in the audition show quickly established the premise of the brand-new comedy: the former Wistful Vista resident was traveling to oversee the estate of his recently departed young sister and her husband, and to supervise the upbringing of their surviving children, Marjorie (first played by veteran radio actress Lurene Tuttle, then Louise Erickson and Mary Lee Robb) and Leroy (the delightful Walter Tetley). (Marjorie has originally been called “Eve” on the Johnson’s Wax audition program.) On the train, Gildersleeve soon ran afoul of the man who would replace Fibber McGee as his nemesis and feuding partner—Judge Horace Hooker (played to crotchety old man-perfection by actor Earle Ross). The Judge took an instant dislike to Gildy, and was wary as to whether he was up to the task of supervising two orphans—thus necessitating Gildy’s move to Summerfield and leaving his business and friends behind in Wistful Vista.

OTR historian Elizabeth McLeod, in a wonderful essay entitled “Wistful Vista to Summerfield, or: Fibber and Gildy and How They Grew”, draws the definitive distinction on the night-and-day differences between the two programs:

Contrasted with Fibber’s cartoony approach, Gildersleeve was a show firmly grounded in the Real World. Its characters were far more textured than Fibber’s supporting cast, and thus far more realistic. Where Fibber drew its laughs from setups and punchlines and absurdity, Gildersleeve's humor was much more subtle, playing off simple human foibles. And when John Whedon and Sam Moore took over the scripting of the series in 1942, the town of Summerfield itself began to come alive. The semi-serial format adopted by Whedon and Moore allowed for characters to be given remarkable depth. In listening to the Gildersleeve shows of the mid-forties, one gets the feeling of peeking in on short slices of reality—and that when the show signs off for the week, it's easy to imagine the characters going on with their lives off-mike until you hear them again in the next episode. In many ways, Gildersleeve became the One Man’s Family of situation comedy.

I think Elizabeth is dead-solid perfect in her analysis of Gildersleeve, and there are also several different factors to explain why the show continues to resonate with fans today. I pointed out earlier that as a result of his move to Summerfield, Gildersleeve’s marital status reverted to a state of bachelorhood (nice work if you can get it); and yet although the Great Man had no strings attached, he was no doubt one of the most romantically-inclined characters in the history of sitcoms. It was, quite honestly, an interesting phenomenon for a comedy show to prominently feature a middle-aged man "on the prowl." He had an endless parade of girlfriends and fiancées; chiefly among them the flirtatious Southern belle Leila Ransom (played by Shirley Mitchell). Leila—who always pronounced Gildy’s first name with a few extra syllables (“Thrawk-maaahhhtin.”) was unique in that she actually managed to get him to the altar (in a broadcast dated June 27, 1943). Fortunately for confirmed bachelors everywhere, Fate stepped in and graciously allowed Gildy an escape before he was manacled to Leila till death did them part. Other girlfriends included schoolteacher Eve Goodwin (played by Bea Benaderet), whom Gildy romanced and proposed to during his mayoral campaign in the 1943-44 season; Miss Adeline Fairchild (the wonderful Una Merkel), Leila’s equally coquettish cousin; and nurse Kathryn Milford (Cathy Lewis). The Great Gildersleeve could inarguably be called the story of a boy and his libido.

Another interesting facet to The Great Gildersleeve, as mentioned by Elizabeth earlier, was its semi-serialized format. Serials (be they adventure-oriented children’s programs or soap operas) were quite popular during the Golden Age of Radio, and the Gildersleeve show would often weave a continuous storyline throughout its plots from season to season (the aforementioned mayor’s race and a lengthy plot involving an abandoned baby in the 1948-49 season are good examples). But audiences didn’t have to listen on a week-by-week basis to understand what was going on; the Gildersleeve shows were still fairly stand-alone affairs that allowed the casual listener to catch up with unfamiliar plotlines even if they had missed a few broadcasts (this also works to the benefit of today’s listeners, since the show does appear to have several broadcasts that disappeared into the mists of time). The series also took a "Gasoline Alley"-like approach to some of its characters, particularly niece Marjorie, who later in the show’s run got married to a man named Bronco Thompson (played by Richard Crenna) and gave birth to twins. (I would be remiss, though, if I didn’t point out that Marjorie’s character was actually close to 20 years old when the series debuted and that somehow she managed to regress back to high-school age during the subsequent seasons. Perhaps she drank from the same fountain of youth that kept Helen Trent thirty-five all those years.)

Earlier this evening, I listened to the October 25, 1942 broadcast; an entertaining show that details Gildersleeve’s first day as Summerfield’s new water commissioner. What makes this show of interest to the OTR fan is that it actually concentrates a great deal on Gildersleeve’s occupation; although the job was pretty much his (off and on) for the rest of the series’ run, it often seemed as though he didn’t spend a great deal of time doing it:

GILDY: I spent a very interesting and profitable evening myself last night, children…

MARJORIE: How?

GILDY: Well, to prepare for my new post as water commissioner, I took the encyclopedia to bed with me…and do you know, I found some things in there that I never knew before…

LEROY: Aw, you probably just forgot ‘em, Unk…

MARJORIE: What were you looking up, Uncle Mort?

GILDY: Water…do you know, Marjorie, that three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered with water?

MARJORIE: Really? I think you better drink your orange juice, Uncle Mort…the waffles are waiting…

GILDY: Yes, sir…three-fourths of the earth’s surface…water…(to Leroy) What do you think of that?

LEROY: Too much water…

GILDY: There’s no such thing as too much water…water is very important…did you ever stop to think, young man, where Columbus would have been without water?

LEROY: I don’t know…home in bed, I guess…

(snip)

GILDY (getting up from the breakfast table): Oh my goodness, I’ve got to be going…I can’t be late for my first day on the job…

MARJORIE: Don’t forget your flowers, Uncle Mort…

GILDY: Huh?

MARJORIE: Here…let me put them in your buttonhole…

GILDY: Oh…oh, thank you, my dear…

MARJORIE: Oh, and your tie’s crooked…

GILDY: It is…?

MARJORIE: There…and what about your handkerchief?

GILDY: Right in my pocket…

MARJORIE: It should stick out a little more…

GILDY: Oh…

MARJORIE: Now you look more like a water commissioner…!

GILDY: Oh, thank you, my dear…

MARJORIE: Well, you’re all set, I guess…good luck…

LEROY: Yeah! Good luck, Unk!

GILDY: Uh…thank you…

MARJORIE: What is it, have you forgotten something?

GILDY: No…I was just wondering…

MARJORIE: Wondering what?

GILDY: What on Earth does a water commissioner do…?

Arriving at the office, Gildy meets his formidable Gorgon-like secretary, Miss Fitch, in a memorable encounter:

FITCH: If you follow me, I’ll show you to your office…

GILDY: Well…nice little layout here…small, but cozy…

FITCH: I beg your pardon?

GILDY: I said it was cozy…

FITCH: Oh.

(pregnant pause)

GILDY (resignedly): Maybe I’m wrong…

FITCH: Allow me to introduce myself…I’m Miss Fitch…

GILDY: Oh, how do you do, Miss Fitch…

FITCH: I’ve been thirty-three years with the department and never missed a day…

GILDY (nervously): That’s a shame…I think you ought to get a day off…

FITCH: Hmmm…may I assure you of my every cooperation? If there’s anything you want please ring for me…I’ve cleared out the desk, you’ll find a coat closet and wash basin in there, the phone works on a buzzer, I go to lunch at twelve-thirty…

GILDY: Oh, Miss Fitch…just a moment…

FITCH: Yes?

GILDY: Who’s the old geezer in the picture there?

FITCH: He was Summerfield’s first water commissioner.

GILDY: Oh…(Gildy laugh) funny-looking old coot, wasn’t he?

FITCH: He happened to be my father…

Miss Fitch may have run the water department without interference from past commissioners, but Gildersleeve decides to take more of a hands-on approach to the department’s day-to-day activities. He discovers (to his barely-concealed glee) that Judge Hooker is a tad remiss in paying his water bill on time:

JUDGE (angrily): I want to know why my water was turned off!

GILDY: Oh…well, we’ll have to look into this…water turned off, eh…?

JUDGE: You know darn well it was turned off…

GILDY: I’ll have to take this up with our Miss Fitch…I’ll ring for her, sit down…

JUDGE: I don’t want to sit down…

GILDY: All right, stand up…

JUDGE: I don’t want to stand up! You don’t have to put on this act with me, Throckmorton…I know what’s back of this…it’s spite, pure and simple!

GILDY: Now, Judge…there isn’t an ounce of spite in my whole nature, and you know it…

JUDGE: Yeah…you’re just like every other small-town politician…the minute you get a little authority, you start making a petty nuisance of yourself…I’ll tell you what’s wrong with you, Gildersleeve…you’re drunk with power!

FITCH (entering Gildy’s office) Did you want me, Mr. Gildersleeve?

GILDY: Oh, yes, Miss Fitch…have you that list of people who haven’t paid their bills?

FITCH: Yes, right here…

GILDY: You’re sure you’re not just a teensy bit delinquent, Judge…?

JUDGE: Are you accusing me of not paying my bills, Gildersleeve…? There’s such a thing as libel, remember…

GILDY: I’m not accusing you of anything, Judge…let’s look at the record…

JUDGE (backtracking): Of course, there might have been some mistake…

GILDY: Not with our Miss Fitch…

JUDGE: …I mean, it might have slipped my mind…

GILDY: Oh…starting to crawl, eh…let’s see…E…F…G…oh, here are the H’s…and lo, Judge Hooker’s name led all the rest…with eleven dollars and eighty-six cents…is that right, Miss Fitch?

FITCH: That’s right, Mr. Gildersleeve…and Mr. Clanahan’s last instructions were to stop service on all unpaid bills…

JUDGE: Oh, Clanahan! That explains it!

GILDY: No, Judge…the eleven dollars and eighty-six cents explains it…

JUDGE (sheepishly) Well, get someone over there and have the water turned on right away, will you…?

GILDY: Be glad to, Judge…the minute you pay up…

JUDGE: Um…as a matter of fact, Gildy, I don’t have the cash on me…it’s Saturday…the bank’s closed…tell you what I’ll do…I’ll put a check in the mail Monday…

GILDY: Good! We’ll be glad to resume service as soon as we receive it…

JUDGE: You mean you’re going to let me go without water all weekend?

GILDY: Sorry, Judge…it’s got to be on the line…

JUDGE: But you know my credit’s good, Gildy…it was an oversight…

GILDY: I’m sorry, Judge…but this is a public office and I propose to discharge it without fear or favor…especially where you’re concerned…

JUDGE (angrily) All right, Gilder…I won’t forget this! (shouting to no one in particular) The man is drunk with power…!!!

(Judge exits…SFX: door close)

GILDY: (Gildy laugh) The old goat…I guess that’ll teach him a lesson…

FITCH: Did you mean what you said, Mr. Gildersleeve, about no favors for anyone?

GILDY: Of course I meant it…absolutely! If they don’t pay up, shut off their water…why?

FITCH: Because…well…heh heh…have you looked at that list under the G’s???

GILDY: Under the G’s? Under the G’s…oh my goodness! Gildersleeve…

In the second half of the show, Gildy thinks that a reporter from the local paper (The Summerfield Indicator-Vindicator) wants to interview him about his first day in the water commissioner’s post—but the reporter seems more concerned about alerting him to the possibility of sabotage to the town’s reservoir (there was a war going on at the time, you know). Gildy, the reporter, and Police Chief Charlie Gates (Ken Christy, who became one of the series’ regulars) drive out to the reservoir to investigate:

GILDY: You see how easy it would be, Chief…up around the next bend here the road isn’t twenty feet from the reservoir…

GATES: I know that! You don’t have to tell me that…it’s just a question of men, I don’t have the force to do it…

REPORTER: Well, maybe we ought to call for volunteers, then…you know, like fire watchers…

GILDY: Yeah…water watchers…!

GATES: Wait a minute, stop the car…

GILDY: Huh?

REPORTER: Why, what’s up…?

GATES: There’s somebody down there right now!

(SFX: car braking, stops…doors open and close)

REPORTER: He’s right…four or five of them…right down by the reservoir…

GILDY: In the reservoir? Where? I can’t see them!

GATES (yelling) Stay where you are, you! Don’t move! I’ve got you surrounded!

(SFX: footsteps, running)

GILDY (calling after him) Go get ‘em. Chief! I’ll stay here and…guard the car…

REPORTER: They’re running for it…he’ll never catch them…

GILDY: Huh?

REPORTER: Uh oh…one of them jumped into the water…

GILDY (shouting at Gates) Drag him out of there, Chief! Drag him out!

REPORTER: He’s got him…

GILDY: Can you imagine that? Polluting the reservoir…why, he ought to get ten years for that…

REPORTER: He certainly should…

GILDY: I’m going to see that there’s a penalty for this if there isn’t one already…

REPORTER: Say…it’s only a kid…

GILDY: Huh…?

REPORTER: He’s naked! Why, they’re all kids…I’ll bet they’ve been swimming…

GILDY: Swimming?

LEROY (yelling) Let go of me! Let go, you can’t do this to me! My uncle owns this reservoir!

GILDY: LEROY!!!

LEROY: Hey, Unk, tell this big lug to lay off of me…

GILDY (comic frustration) Get your clothes on, young man…

What follows is a short, tender scene in which Leroy is scared of what will result from his foolish act since is truly remorseful for what he has done, emphasizing the pathos often prevalent on The Great Gildersleeve. Fortunately for Gildy and his nephew, they are able to get Judge Hooker to come in on a Saturday hear Leroy’s case in juvenile court (the judge usually presides over such cases on Mondays, which would necessitate Leroy spending the weekend in jail) and he rules to suspend the $25 swimming fine. Hooker also decrees that Gildy only has to pay the court cost—which coincidentally happens to be $11.86, just enough to turn the Judge’s water back on.