Just as it’s hard to believe that Our Miss Brooks was created without Eve Arden originally in mind, it is equally difficult to fathom that Ronald and Benita Colman were not the first performers considered when Don Quinn originated The Halls of Ivy. Veteran character actor Gale Gordon and actress Edna Best were originally cast as Dr. and Mrs. William Todhunter Hall, a college president and his wife who presided over Ivy College in a small middle America town with the same name.
In an audition record dated June 22, 1949, both Gordon and Best do a
pretty good job in their roles, but NBC was reluctant to commit to Gordon,
seeing as how he was already doing similar school work on Brooks. The
director of Ivy, Nat Wolff, then hit upon the novel idea to offer the
part to his friend Ronald Colman. Both Colman and his wife, Benita Hume Colman,
had demonstrated an extraordinary talent for dry comedy with their guest
appearances on The Jack Benny Program—and beginning January 6, 1950 over
NBC Radio for Schlitz Beer (beer and college—a perfect ad match,
wouldn’t you say) the Colmans breathed life into one of radio’s best and most
memorable sitcoms.
Colman’s portrayal of Hall is one of the reasons I became a fan of
his; the character he plays, an erudite individual who manages to avoid coming
across as a staid, stuffy, professorial caricature, is a fully
three-dimensional personage, never stooping to your typical cardboard
stereotype. (Hall reminds me of a similar part Colman played in the movies—that
of Professor Michael “Mike” Lightcap in The Talk of the Town
(1942), after he’s been "humanized" by Nora Shelley, played by the
always delightful Jean Arthur.) Hall’s commitment to both the college and
students is truly inspiring. But the real revelation on this series is Benita
Colman, whose character of Hall’s wife—the former Victoria Cromwell, English
music hall entertainer—is an absolute treasure; her vivacious, effervescent
personality and lilting, infectious laugh endeared her to many a radio listener
(consider me guilty of falling under her spell as well, especially when she
calls her fictional husband “Toddy-dear.”).
Joining Ronnie and Benita on The Halls of Ivy was a supporting
cast of first-rate radio veterans, beginning with Herb Butterfield as Clarence
Wellman, Hall’s nemesis on the Board of Regents, and Willard Waterman (The
Great Gildersleeve), who as John Merriweather was frequently Hall’s lone
voice of support. Elizabeth Patterson and Gloria Gordon were both heard as
Penny, the Hall's maid. In the two episodes that I listened to while at work
last night, I was delighted to hear from such talents as Gil Stratton, Jr.,
Frank Martin, Jane Morgan, Herb Vigran, Janet Scott, Jack Kruschen (who was
sensational as a college-educated cop) and Jerry Hausner.
As mentioned before, writer Don Quinn created The Halls of Ivy,
and Quinn’s name crops up quite frequently when discussing old-time radio since
he was the mastermind behind one of OTR’s classic comedies, Fibber McGee
& Molly. Ivy was a definite change of pace for the veteran
scribe, although you can definitely detect his signature wordplay in many of
its scripts. (In one episode, Vicky mentions that a local diner, the Dew Drop
Inn, is referred to by the students who have eaten there as “the Dew Drop
Dead.”) But Quinn’s forte was jokes; he was aware of his limitations in
developing plots and situations, and so writers like Walter Brown Newman,
Jerome Lawrence & Robert Lee, and Milton & Barbara Merlin were around
to ably assist him in the writing. Their contributions brought some wonderfully
poignant overtones to the scripts—the character of Dr. Hall often found himself
nostalgically flashing back to the early days of his and Vicky’s courtship and
eventual marriage.
A broadcast from April 7, 1950 is a good example of the top quality
that is The Halls of Ivy, as Dr. Hall approaches the missus with an
announcement:
TODDY: Victoria…it’s much too beautiful a day for work…let’s play
hooky…
VICKY: Hooky? On a school day?
TODDY: Of course! Can’t very well be played on a day of rest…to play hooky at all, one must have something to play it from…I mean to say, those are the ground rules…
VICKY: Yes, but would it be cricket?
TODDY: Oh, no, no…it’s nothing like cricket…if anything, it resembles dirty pinochle…but actually, it’s hooky…
VICKY (laughs): Well, it’s a lovely idea…and beautifully expressed…but you can’t…you’ve got a meeting scheduled for two o’clock this afternoon with all your department heads…Quincannon, Haislip, Gearhart…
TODDY: No, I refuse to consider it…I won’t spend a moment of this day cooped up indoors…not one sun-swept, dazzling moment…how could you even suggest such a course of action? To a man known in his youth as “Gypsy” Hall…
VICKY (laughs): I was only reminding you…
TODDY: I’ll get out of it…I’ll phone Quincannon…I’ll tell him I have a cold…
VICKY: Toddy, you’re not going to tell him a thumping lie…?
TODDY: Bad form, eh?
VICKY: Very bad form…
TODDY: Wouldn’t be…ethical?
VICKY: Far from it…
TODDY: All right, then I’ll have Penny do it… (calls) Penny!
VICKY: Hooky? On a school day?
TODDY: Of course! Can’t very well be played on a day of rest…to play hooky at all, one must have something to play it from…I mean to say, those are the ground rules…
VICKY: Yes, but would it be cricket?
TODDY: Oh, no, no…it’s nothing like cricket…if anything, it resembles dirty pinochle…but actually, it’s hooky…
VICKY (laughs): Well, it’s a lovely idea…and beautifully expressed…but you can’t…you’ve got a meeting scheduled for two o’clock this afternoon with all your department heads…Quincannon, Haislip, Gearhart…
TODDY: No, I refuse to consider it…I won’t spend a moment of this day cooped up indoors…not one sun-swept, dazzling moment…how could you even suggest such a course of action? To a man known in his youth as “Gypsy” Hall…
VICKY (laughs): I was only reminding you…
TODDY: I’ll get out of it…I’ll phone Quincannon…I’ll tell him I have a cold…
VICKY: Toddy, you’re not going to tell him a thumping lie…?
TODDY: Bad form, eh?
VICKY: Very bad form…
TODDY: Wouldn’t be…ethical?
VICKY: Far from it…
TODDY: All right, then I’ll have Penny do it… (calls) Penny!
Hall manages to deceive Quincannon (Frank Martin) into thinking he’s
under the weather, but his and Vicky’s plans for a picnic outing soon go
astray:
(SFX: door opens, then slams quickly)
TODDY: Oh good heavens!
VICKY: What is it?
TODDY: Quincannon…he’s in his yard, across the street…playing with the children…
VICKY: Oh, did he see you?
TODDY: No…you’d think, wouldn’t you, that a man in his position would have something better to do…he should be working!
VICKY: I’m sure he’s finished at least one class this morning…
TODDY: I wonder how long he’ll stay out there…I hate to lose a moment of this sunlight…I know!
VICKY: We’ll sneak out the back way…
TODDY: Uh…sneak is a rather shabby term, Victoria…surely we are privileged to leave our own house by the rear entrance if the whim seizes us?
VICKY (mock contrition): I beg your pardon…
TODDY: I accept your apology…now, let’s sneak out the back way…
TODDY: Oh good heavens!
VICKY: What is it?
TODDY: Quincannon…he’s in his yard, across the street…playing with the children…
VICKY: Oh, did he see you?
TODDY: No…you’d think, wouldn’t you, that a man in his position would have something better to do…he should be working!
VICKY: I’m sure he’s finished at least one class this morning…
TODDY: I wonder how long he’ll stay out there…I hate to lose a moment of this sunlight…I know!
VICKY: We’ll sneak out the back way…
TODDY: Uh…sneak is a rather shabby term, Victoria…surely we are privileged to leave our own house by the rear entrance if the whim seizes us?
VICKY (mock contrition): I beg your pardon…
TODDY: I accept your apology…now, let’s sneak out the back way…
A series of interruptions prevent the Halls from escaping the house,
but when they finally are able to leave, Toddy begins to feel guilty about
abandoning his sense of duty and returns to the college for the meeting—only to
discover that he wasn’t the only one who thought about “playing hooky.” A
second episode, from April 14, 1950, is equally entertaining and amusing, as
the Halls are taking a cab en route to a dinner party:
VICKY: I do like dinner parties…I wonder what the main course will
be?
TODDY: Main course? Me. There is nothing Mrs. Foster likes to serve her guests so much as a celebrity—major or minor…
VICKY (laughs): She should be very happy this evening, then…in your black tie, you’re quite a tasty dish…
TODDY (chuckles): Thank you—but not as tasty, I’m afraid, as the major celebrity she originally intended to have tonight…he disappointed her at the last moment…
VICKY: Oh? How?
TODDY: He led with his right, and was knocked out in the sixth round—and thereby ceased to be a major celebrity…ah, she forced to settle for a college president…
VICKY: Oh, poor woman…
TODDY: She is not, thank heavens, a poor woman…she’s one of the richest in town…and one of the loneliest…that’s why she fritters away so much of her wealth on trivialities…I’ve been trying for over a year to guide her interests into more constructive channels…
VICKY: Like, say, um…gymnasium constructive? Or library?
TODDY: Exactly…I have a feeling that when we leave tonight, I’ll have a nice, fat endowment check in my pocket…
VICKY: Well, I have the same feeling…Mr. Merriweather told me that you made a very great impression on her…
TODDY: Yes, I suppose I have…I mean to say, I…I have some, er, respectable degrees…and I’ve written a few good books…
VICKY: Ah, it’s your good looks that have impressed her, not your good books…
TODDY: Oh, nonsense…nonsense, Victoria… (laughs) I never…never heard anything so ridiculous in my life… (laughs) good looks… (laughs) me… (laughs, then long pause) you really think so?
VICKY: Of course I do! And I’m not the only one…every coed on the campus is mad about you…
TODDY (laughs): You’re just saying that… (chuckles) Really?
(SFX: car stops)
CABBIE: This is as far as I can go…
VICKY: Driver, you took the words right out of my mouth…
TODDY: Main course? Me. There is nothing Mrs. Foster likes to serve her guests so much as a celebrity—major or minor…
VICKY (laughs): She should be very happy this evening, then…in your black tie, you’re quite a tasty dish…
TODDY (chuckles): Thank you—but not as tasty, I’m afraid, as the major celebrity she originally intended to have tonight…he disappointed her at the last moment…
VICKY: Oh? How?
TODDY: He led with his right, and was knocked out in the sixth round—and thereby ceased to be a major celebrity…ah, she forced to settle for a college president…
VICKY: Oh, poor woman…
TODDY: She is not, thank heavens, a poor woman…she’s one of the richest in town…and one of the loneliest…that’s why she fritters away so much of her wealth on trivialities…I’ve been trying for over a year to guide her interests into more constructive channels…
VICKY: Like, say, um…gymnasium constructive? Or library?
TODDY: Exactly…I have a feeling that when we leave tonight, I’ll have a nice, fat endowment check in my pocket…
VICKY: Well, I have the same feeling…Mr. Merriweather told me that you made a very great impression on her…
TODDY: Yes, I suppose I have…I mean to say, I…I have some, er, respectable degrees…and I’ve written a few good books…
VICKY: Ah, it’s your good looks that have impressed her, not your good books…
TODDY: Oh, nonsense…nonsense, Victoria… (laughs) I never…never heard anything so ridiculous in my life… (laughs) good looks… (laughs) me… (laughs, then long pause) you really think so?
VICKY: Of course I do! And I’m not the only one…every coed on the campus is mad about you…
TODDY (laughs): You’re just saying that… (chuckles) Really?
(SFX: car stops)
CABBIE: This is as far as I can go…
VICKY: Driver, you took the words right out of my mouth…
The Halls are forced to walk the rest of the way (due to road
construction), and on their way there they encounter a runaway dog—in the
process of trying to find the mutt’s owners, they end up being late and missing
the party. This one is a real gem, particularly when Benita Colman talks “baby
talk” to the dog, it alone is worth the price of admission. (The plot
resolution of this show is also pretty easy to figure out for students of
sitcoms, but trust me, getting there is half the fun.)
Sadly, The Halls of Ivy enjoyed a relatively brief run on
radio, wrapping it up on June 25, 1952. Though it also appeared for a short
time on television (from October 19, 1954 to September 29, 1955), it’s a shame
that such a gentle, literate comedy bowed out too soon. (I’ve only seen one
episode of the TV series—“The Umbrella Man” (5/17/55)—and while it’s very
entertaining, it simply can’t touch the radio version; plus, I was sort of
distracted by Colman’s all-too-obvious dependency on cue cards.) Nearly ninety
episodes of the series are extant today (many of them rebroadcasts from the
Voice of America), and I heartily recommend this warm, underrated show to each
and every old-time radio fan.
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