“What a revoltin’ development this is!”

The origin of The Life of Riley, a popular sitcom than ran on radio from 1944 to 1951, can be traced all the way back to Groucho Marx. At least, that’s the version from Riley’s creator--Irving Brecher--who relates the series of events as beginning in 1943.

Brecher, an MGM screenwriter who had scripted the films At the Circus (1939) and Go West (1940) for Groucho and his brothers, was approached by the cigar-smoking comedian one day—Marx wanted his friend to create a radio show tailored to his talents. Brecher recalled that Groucho’s “radio show had been cancelled recently, in an abrupt fashion that had humiliated him.” (If this did take place in 1943, I’m at a loss as to which show Brecher is referring to—Groucho was starring on CBS’ Blue Ribbon Town at this point in time, and would continue to headline the comedy-variety series until mid-June 1944.) Irving confessed to Groucho that he had nothing for him at the present time, only an idea for a sitcom he called “The Flotsam Family.” The idea was that Groucho would play the head of a household in which the father “floated like flotsam” from job-to-job; often engaged in various hare-brained, get-rich-quick schemes. Groucho was sold on the idea and arranged for an audition record to be produced—but the would-be sponsor ultimately thumbed-down the idea, feeling that Marx simply wouldn’t be believable as a family patriarch.

Months later, Brecher was attending a sneak preview for a friend’s film when he happened to spot actor William Bendix in a Hal Roach "steamliner": The McGuerins of Brooklyn (1942). The screenwriter believed that Bendix would be perfect for the part of “Flotsam,” and in contacting the actor’s agent, learned that Bendix had expressed an interest in doing a radio show. Brecher made a few changes to the script, and an audition record (which is in circulation today) was cut on July 25, 1943. The audition was well received, and the show—after securing a sponsor in the American Meat Institute—debuted over Blue/ABC on January 16, 1944 as The Life of Riley.

Riley was a family sitcom that focused on Chester A. Riley, a welder and expatriate of Brooklyn who had relocated to Los Angeles with his wife Peg and children Babs and Junior in tow. He was a beefy, lovable lunkhead who blundered his way week after week into some minor catastrophe, and usually had to be extricated from such predicaments by his sensible, down-to-earth spouse (Paula Winslowe). He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he remained a good-hearted slob through it all.

Two friends that were in Riley’s social circle were both played by the same actor: veteran radio performer John Brown. The first of these two pals was Riley’s coworker/neighbor Jim Gillis, whom Riley often consulted for advice; the net result generally getting Riley further in hot water. Gillis had a nagging spouse named Honeybee (played by Shirley Mitchell) and a son with the bully-magnet moniker of “Egbert.”

Riley’s other confidant on the program was a character created by Brecher on an occasion when the show was running two minutes short. The script was expanded to include Riley striking up a conversation with a person named Digby O’Dell—“the friendly undertaker.” (Riley referred to him as “Digger.”) Actor Brown used a gloomy, sepulchral voice for O’Dell, who usually greeted Riley with “You’re looking fine, Riley – very natural.” The sponsor (and more than a few undertakers) balked at the gallows humor than emanated from the funeral parlor director, but the audience took a shine to Digger—and from that moment on, each broadcast was good for at least one walk-on from the character. (Brecher credits the undertaker with saving the comedy from an almost certain cancellation.)

I listened to a Life of Riley broadcast from November 11, 1949 the other evening—it was a fairly average outing for the sitcom, save for one particularly interesting casting change which I’ll reveal in a moment. As the episode opens, Riley is attempting to cadge some extra money from his wife for yet another one of his schemes:

RILEY: For five dollars I can buy “Dr. Flexo’s Marvel Muscle Builder”…

PEG: Muscle builder? What on earth do you want a thing like that for?

RILEY: It’s just what I need…here…listen to what it says on this circular…”Do your muscles sag? Are you gettin’ fat and flabby? In thirty days, I guarantee to make you a Greek god…”

PEG: You?

RILEY: Yeah…

PEG: A Greek god?

RILEY: Why not?

PEG: In thirty days?

RILEY: Well, the god part, yes…but the Greek might take a little longer…

Peg reminds her husband that he’s supposed to be collecting for the neighborhood Community Chest drive—an organization that is generally referred to nowadays as the United Way:

PEG: There are more important things you can do with your spare time…now how about getting to work on the Community Chest drive? You insisted they make you captain of the district…

RILEY: I’m workin’ on it…don’t I wear a red feather in my hat?

PEG: You haven’t done one solitary thing so far…

RILEY: How can you say that? Didn’t I make up a list of names to contact?

PEG: You did not…I got those names out of the phone book…

RILEY: And who handed you the phone book? Me!

Riley makes several attempts to collect donations, all of them ending up in failure. He orders Peg not to do his collecting for him—but daughter Babs (Barbara Eiler) takes the initiative to secure a few pledges and the two women decide to hide the collected funds out of Riley’s sight by placing them in a box of corn flakes. Naturally, being a sitcom, Riley and pal Gillis return home from their lodge meeting and decide to have a midnight snack:

RILEY: Hey! How ‘bout some corn flakes?

GILLIS: Okay! I’ll force myself…

RILEY: Okay, Gillis…say when…there you are, Gillis…

GILLIS: Riley, I wanted corn flakes, not lettuce…and with Lincoln’s picture on it yet…

RILEY: Gil…Gil…Gillis! That’s money there!

GILLIS: What a bundle! A hundred…twenty…thirty…a hundred and forty-eight bucks!

RILEY: I don’t understand…I know they give away little prizes in cereal boxes, but…a hundred and forty-eight bucks? Kellogg is gettin’ careless…

Gillis convinces Riley to take the wad of cash, planting the idea in his head that Peg has been skimming off funds from the household money and that’s how she accumulated the loot. But Riley decides to be “bigger” than Peg and donate the $148 to…the Community Chest:

JUNIOR: Don’t worry…Mom won’t be sore at you when she finds out how much you gave to the community chest…

RILEY: You know? How did you find out?

JUNIOR: The whole neighborhood knows…when I was delivering my papers everybody said what a great guy you were, Pop…

RILEY: No kiddin’? Well…well, it’s about time my true character leaked out…

JUNIOR: My school teacher made a speech about you…about good citizenship…gee, I’m proud of you, Pop…

RILEY: So am I, son…

JUNIOR: How’s it feel to be such a big shot?

RILEY: Ah, what’d I do? Money don’t mean anything to me when it’s a question of helpin’ my brother…

JUNIOR: Oh, Pop…can I have a dollar?

RILEY: You’re not my brother, you’re my son…

Riley ends up relenting and giving his son (Alan Reed, Jr.) the dollar after Junior tells him he wants to take his date to the neighborhood theater—the new Tarzan film is playing, and the theater is doing a stunt for the film in which a real, live baboon will be in a cage in a lobby. Riley and Junior head off for the neighborhood’s Community Chest meeting, where the crowd turns on our hero when it is determined that Riley's donation is suspiciously equal to the same amount everyone else in the district kicked in for the cause. (The fact that Peg has discovered that the money is missing and blurts this out in front of their assembled neighbors doesn’t help Riley much either.) Dejected, Riley runs off, and is bemoaning his situation when help arrives from a man dressed in black:

RILEY: Ah, what a mess…I’ve been in pretty deep before, but I’ll never be in any deeper than I am right now…

O’DELL: Would you care to bet?

RILEY: Who’s that???

O’DELL: It is I…Digby O’Dell…the friendly undertaker…

RILEY: Oh…I didn’t see ya, “Digger”…

O’DELL: Greetings, Riley…you’re looking…you look horrible!

RILEY: “Digger”…I’m at the end of my rope…

O’DELL: Then I’d better go along with you…

RILEY: You see…I was the captain in the Community Chest drive…

O’DELL: Bully for you! As I always say, the good that you do unto people will come back to you in the end…and so will the people…

RILEY: Yeah, I know…that’s why I wanted to make good at this job…

O’DELL: Why, I’m an old hand at charity…I’m president of a group that regularly sends a parcel of food to needy families…it’s the U.E.P.B.O.M.C…

RILEY: The U.E.P.B.O.M.C.???

O’DELL: The Undertakers, Embalmers and Pallbearers Box of the Month Club…

RILEY: Well, I…I like the Community Chest better…I messed everything up…I found a hundred and forty-eight dollars in the house…by mistake, I turned it in under my own name…you see, my wife hid it in this box and I thought it was my money…

O’DELL: Oh, Riley…you deserve to be chastised…always snooping…

RILEY: What’s wrong? Didn’t you ever look in a box to see what’s in it?

O’DELL: Let’s not talk shop…

RILEY: Ah…everybody thinks I’m a crook…oh, if only I could square myself…

O’DELL: You can…simply donate a hundred and forty-eight dollars of your own money to the drive…

RILEY: Hey, that might do it! But where will I get all that money?

O’DELL: Eureka! I have it! A job for you!

RILEY: A job? Where???

O’DELL: Come with me…

(SFX: walking)

RILEY: Gee, you’re a real pal, Digger…someday I’m gonna do something for you…you name it, what can I do for you that you’ll really like?

O’DELL: Don’t bother…you might not like it…well, come along…we’d better be…shoveling off…

Riley goes home to face the music, and tells his family (who, of course, have forgiven him for the simple misunderstanding) of his commitment to donate the same amount to the Community Chest—even informing them of his plans to take a part-time job in order to do so. His family is naturally curious as to the nature of the job, but Riley remains reluctant to tell them. It’s only when Junior reminds his father that he’s taking a date to the Tarzan film that Riley spills the beans: “But please, son…when you walk in the lobby and see that real, live baboon in the cage…don’t say, ‘Hello, Pop!’ I ain’t allowed to talk durin’ workin’ hours…”

What makes this Riley broadcast so unusual is that it is the only episode William Bendix missed during the show’s long run. At the time of this broadcast, Bendix was working on a picture for Columbia entitled Kill the Umpire (1950)—and he was suffering from a sore throat, so much so that he was unable to perform. Pinch hitting for Bendix? Jackie Gleason.

Yes, the Great One himself. NBC brought The Life of Riley to television starting October 4, 1949 and when Bendix was unable to do the TV version due to contractual obligations, Gleason was tapped for the role of Chester A. Riley. But Bendix’s portrayal was so indelible in the minds of the audience that they simply wouldn’t accept Gleason, and the series was cancelled after one season. (Bendix would take a second crack at his famous role in another version of Riley on NBC-TV that premiered January 2, 1953; that show resulted in a healthy five-year-run.)

Many years after Riley had run its course and was living “the life of retirement” in television reruns, series creator Irving Brecher encountered actor Carroll O’Connor at a party during the time O’Connor was enjoying his great success on All in the Family. According to Brecher, O’Connor paid him a compliment by remarking: “We’re doing your program with freedom. We’re doing The Life of Riley with the freedom you couldn’t have.” Personally, I think comparing the two shows is a bit of stretch; still, Brecher also stated once that Gleason’s The Honeymooners was essentially Riley “without children.” You need to make the call. I do, however, highly recommend the original—an excellent example of great situation comedy during the Golden Age of Radio.