Research Catalog

The great radio comedians

Title: The great radio comedians [videorecording] / Produced and directed by Perry Miller Adato ; associate producer, Aviva Slesin ; executive producer, Jac Venza ; written by Stu Hample ; a production of Channel 13/WNET.
Publication: New York, 1972, 1979.

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Item details
Status	Vol/Date	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Videocassette 2	Film, Slide, etc.	Restricted use	NCOX 130	Performing Arts Research Collections - TOFT
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Videocassette 1	Film, Slide, etc.	Restricted use	NCOX 130	Performing Arts Research Collections - TOFT

Details

Additional Authors

Description

2 videocassettes (U-matic) (141 min.) : sound, black & white; 3/4 in.

Summary

Documentary on the comedians who starred on American radio in the 1930s and '40s. Part I (35 min.) - Explores the problems and opportunities presented to vaudeville entertainers, such as Burns and Allen, Edgar Bergen, and W.C. Fields, who made the transition from stage performance to radio. Part II (26 min.) - Examines the lost art of radio comedy and shows how Americans shared feelings and ideas through the medium. Traces some of the events of the 1940's in recollections of the voices of Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Orson Welles, and Jack Benny. Radio comedians are presented as they entertain troops overseas. Part III (27 min.) - Recalls the postwar comedy of Fred Allen in Allen's Alley and the radio couple Fibber McGee and Molly (Jim Jordan and Marian Jordan).

Subjects

Genre/Form

Television.
Documentaries and factual works.

Note

Title from opening credits. No closing credits.
Tape is incomplete; cuts off about six minutes before the end. Although the program was originally in both color and black & white, this video is black & white only.
This rebroadcast took place during a Channel 13 fund-raising drive in December 1979. Includes pitches delievered by actor Paul Dooley, and violinist Itzhak Perlman. These sections run from 35:14 to 45:30 in the first cassette, and 6:41 to 15:36 in the second cassette. Also includes a pretaped dance performance by Sandy Duncan.

Access (note)

Restricted to qualified researchers.

Credits (note)

Film editor, Geof Bartz.

Performer (note)

Hosts: Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Announcer: Ken Roberts.
Interviews: Edgar Bergen, George Burns, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Jim Jordan.
Archival footage: Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Gracie Allen, Orson Welles, Rudy Vallée, Fiorello LaGuardia, Grover Whalen, etc.
Audio only: Mae West, Marian Jordan, Don Wilson, Mary Livingstone, W. C. Fields, Clark Gable, Gale Gordon, Jane Wyman, etc.

Event (note)

Originally broadcast on WNET-TV/Channel 13, New York, N.Y., May 11, 1972. Rebroadcast in December 1979, which is the version seen on this video.

Linking Entry (note)

Forms part of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Call Number

NCOX 130

OCLC

1433025418

Title

The great radio comedians [videorecording] / Produced and directed by Perry Miller Adato ; associate producer, Aviva Slesin ; executive producer, Jac Venza ; written by Stu Hample ; a production of Channel 13/WNET.

Imprint

New York, 1972, 1979.

Type of Content

two-dimensional moving image

Type of Medium

video

Type of Carrier

videocassette

Access

Restricted to qualified researchers.

Credits

Film editor, Geof Bartz.

Cast

Hosts: Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.

Announcer: Ken Roberts.

Interviews: Edgar Bergen, George Burns, Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Jim Jordan.

Archival footage: Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Gracie Allen, Orson Welles, Rudy Vallée, Fiorello LaGuardia, Grover Whalen, etc.

Audio only: Mae West, Marian Jordan, Don Wilson, Mary Livingstone, W. C. Fields, Clark Gable, Gale Gordon, Jane Wyman, etc.

Event

Originally broadcast on WNET-TV/Channel 13, New York, N.Y., May 11, 1972. Rebroadcast in December 1979, which is the version seen on this video.

Linking Entry

Forms part of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Added Author

Adato, Perry Miller, television producer.

Adato, Perry Miller, television director.

Slesin, Aviva, television producer.

Venza, Jac, television producer.

Hample, Stuart E.

Bartz, Geof, editor of moving image work.

Bergen, Edgar, 1903-1978, host.

Bergen, Edgar, 1903-1978, performer.

Bergen, Edgar, 1903-1978, commentator.

Roberts, Ken (Radio announcer), announcer.

Burns, George, 1896-1996, commentator.

Burns, George, 1896-1996, performer.

Benny, Jack, 1894-1974, commentator.

Benny, Jack, 1894-1974, performer.

Crosby, Bing, 1903-1977, commentator.

Crosby, Bing, 1903-1977, performer.

Jordan, Jim, 1896-1988, commentator.

Jordan, Jim, 1896-1988, voice actor.

Allen, Fred, 1894-1956, performer.

Hope, Bob, 1903-2003, performer.

Cantor, Eddie, 1892-1964, performer.

Allen, Gracie, 1902-1964, performer.

Welles, Orson, 1915-1985, performer.

Vallée, Rudy, 1901-1986, performer.

La Guardia, Fiorello H. (Fiorello Henry), 1882-1947.

Whalen, Grover A. (Grover Aloysius), 1886-1962.

West, Mae, voice actor.

Jordan, Marian, 1897-1961, voice actor.

Wilson, Don, 1900-1982, voice actor.

Livingstone, Mary, voice actor.

Fields, W. C. (William Claude), 1880-1946, voice actor.

Gable, Clark, 1901-1960, voice actor.

Gordon, Gale, 1906-1995, voice actor.

Wyman, Jane, 1917-2007, voice actor.

Dooley, Paul, 1928-

Perlman, Itzhak, 1945-

Duncan, Sandy, 1946- performer.

WNET (Television station : New York, N.Y.)

Research Call Number

NCOX 130

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