Subject: [removed] Digest V01 #214
From: <[removed]@[removed]>
Date: 7/3/2001 9:10 AM
To: <[removed]@[removed];

------------------------------


                      The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                         Volume 01 : Issue 214
                   A Part of the [removed]!
                           ISSN: 1533-9289


                           Today's Topics:

 I'm cut to the quick!                [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];    ]
 "Opry" Recreation                    [Udmacon@[removed]                    ]
 Benny-Allen feud                     ["Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed]]
 Maurice Rocco on radio               ["Joseph Scott" <jnscott@[removed]]
 Honeymooners                         ["Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed]]
 Re: Roots of the Benny-Allen Feud    [Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed]]
 Jack Lemmon and OTR                  [Lawrence_Lewis@[removed]      ]
 Anthony Boucher & Harry Bartell      ["Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];  ]
 The Name of the Rose                 [hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];    ]
 Mae West/Adam & Eve skit             ["Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-self]
 Mrs. Ezra Stone                      ["Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed]]
 fred and jack                        [Michael Berger <intercom1@attglobal]
 What's a Gildersleeve??              ["Robert Fabris" <PORTHOLE@worldnet.]
 Audio Tape/reels F/S                 ["Robert Fabris" <PORTHOLE@worldnet.]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 10:39:44 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  I'm cut to the quick!

Dr. Gavin Pillay from South Africa, wrote:

I've been listening to Aldrich Family, and it struck me that the voice of
Homer (Henry's Friend), sounded familiar.
Is it the same person who plays Jughead in Archie Andrews ?
Who was he ? .. Anyone know ?

[removed],  Folks, stand backŠgive me room. I think I can handle this one.

Dr. Pillay, there are two ways I can answer your question. I can approach it
from the studious and scholarly way that Elizabeth McLeod would use, or, I
can do it in my usual tongue-in-cheek  (smart a**) fashion.

In honor of the distance that your E-mail travels, I will give you both
versions. (Or as we say in the States, "Both Barrels") .Since you reside in
South Africa, may I assume that you are not too familiar with Radio Programs
that originated in the [removed] back in the 1940's? Or are you an expatriate? No
matter. The answer to your question will be the same.

The Henry Aldrich program was a very popular evening show (what night of the
week I don't remember). It was on the CBS Network for many years in the 40's
and early 50's. The part of "Henry" was played by Ezra Stone. (Absolutely no
relation to the wise guy that will sign this message).

The Part of "Homer", (Henry's sidekick) was played brilliantly by Jackie
Kelk. (absolutely no relation to the wise guy who will sign this message).

The Archie Andrews show (some discriminating and erudite listeners might
agree) was similar in format, but with far more sophisticated humor. Ha! :)
and the two principal parts in that program, "Archie" and "Jughead", were
played to perfection by the talented and good looking Bob Hastings in the
role of "Archie", and the equally talented (but far better looking) Harlan
Stone as "Jughead". :)

And the above named Stone guy is definitely related to the one who signs
this message. (At least the last time I checked).

The "Archie Andrews" program was a very long running show on NBC (Approx 10
years), and could be heard on Saturday mornings (around 10/10:30 AM). Except
for the 13 week period we were on as a summer replacement for Kraft,
(Wednesday evenings) in 1949.

When we'd occasionally meet, the cast members of each of these two different
Radio shows would often "tease" each other as to which program was better.
However, we will let the "ratings" speak for themselves. The "Archie" show
was, for many years, the TOP RATED Saturday "daytime" show on the air. (At
least, that was NBC's propaganda at the time). To my knowledge, the "Aldrich
Family" was never the Top Rated program for the night that they were on. HA!
I say again! :)

Gad! I hope you are familiar with Emoticoms.

Anyway, let me now address the main issue that confronted you, and the
reason for your posting. Was the actor who played Homer the same one who
played Jughead? By now you know the answer, straight from the "Horses
Mouth"! (Or maybe from another part of the "Horses" anatomy).

Now come the critical part of my answer, Dr. Pillay. so please pay close
attention. (May I call you by your first name, Dr. Gavin?)

When NBC hired me to play "Jughead", the Director who conducted the
auditions, (Anton (Tony) Leader) prefaced the audition with the following
comments. He asked if I was familiar with the "Archie" comic book, and the
Character Jughead. (Being 13, I was familiar with it and said "Yes Sir").

(Most performers, when they auditioned for a part, would say "Yes" to
anything if they thought it would get them work. But in my case, my misspent
youth enabled me to tell the truth).

He then made the following statement (As I'm sure he did to all the other
young Actors who were called in for the audition). And I quote almost
exactly, because I can still hear it in my head after 58 years.

"[removed] Then. Read the lines the way you think that Comic Book character might
sound. But I don't want him to sound like "Homer" on the "Henry Aldrich"
show. [removed]

So I did what he asked, and the rest is history!

Now, may I offer a few explanations as to why you think the same actor may
have played both parts.

1) Due to the similarity of the Characters, (As the Goofy friends to
"Archie" or "Henry", your mind might be playing tricks on you via
"association".

2) I'm a lousy Actor and was not able to play the part the way the director
wanted. (But we can rule that out, can't we? ŠŠPlease! I'm too old to get an
inferiority complex at my age).

3) The Director had lousy hearing, and couldn't tell if I was reading the
lines with a voice quite dissimilar enough to that of "Homer".

4) You have lousy hearing. (Just kidding, Honest)

5) the equipment you are listening on is lousy.

6) the tapes or CD's that you are playing are lousy quality.

NOTE: in case you are not familiar with American slang expressions, "Lousy"
means terrible. In Dr. Speak, "Lousy" means a parasite. Right?

So you see Dr. Pillay, there could be many reasons why you thought perhaps
the same Actor played both parts. But, because of fierce competition between
the networks, that would never have happened. As a matter of fact, before I
was awarded the "Jughead" part, I used to play "Biff" on the Aldrich show.
But as soon as I got "Jughead" on NBC, I was never called again by CBS. But
I didn't care. I was on the better program! (I have to say that, or else Bob
Hastings (Archie) will never speak to me again) :)

I sincerely hope that you don't think I was having fun at your expense. I
just couldn't resist kidding around. As a comedian, I can never resist a
"Straight Line", and you inadvertently set me up with a beauty.

Are you new to the "Digest"? If so, a hearty and heartfelt welcome! And keep
posting!

Thanks for being a fan of OTR.

Regards,

Hal(Harlan)Stone
"Jughead"

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 10:58:33 -0400
From: Udmacon@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  "Opry" Recreation

I have just received word that WSM, Nashville, will "recreate" the earliest
days of its "Grand Ole Opry" using current oldtime stringbands and singers in
a special hour-long "live" broadcast on Saturday, July 14th.

The show will originate from Cannonsburg Park in Murfreesboro, TN, in
conjunction with the town's annual "Uncle Dave Macon Days." the yearly
tribute to the Grand Ole Opry's first super-star.

As of now the broadcast will run from 6:30 to 7:30 PM EDST and will also be
available at [removed]


Bill Knowlton, "BLUEGRASS RAMBLE," WCNY-FM: Syracuse, Utica, Watertown NY
(since Jan. 1973). Sundays, 9 pm est: [removed]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:39:48 -0400
From: "Robert Paine" <macandrew@[removed];
To: "OTR Digest" <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Benny-Allen feud

Marc,

It was a bit before my time, too, but here's the little I have read and
heard.

The "feud" began sometime around 1937, when Benny had as a guest a young
(juvenile) violinist. The lad played Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the
Bumblebee - theme/ signature tune of The Green Hornet. Allen's program came
on after Benny's and Fred commented something like Jack should be ashamed
that the boy played better than he (Benny). Next week Jack picked up on the
remark and from there on the "insults" flew fast and furious.

The feud culminated in a "fight", staged at a hotel in New York City,
sometime in 1937. The whole thing was a gag since Benny, narrating the
out-of-print Longines Symphonette set of records of OTR, stated that he and
Allen were really good friends.

Hope this helps a bit. Adjo.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 11:39:46 -0400
From: "Joseph Scott" <jnscott@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Maurice Rocco on radio

Bhob wrote:

"Does anyone know of any existing radio shows with Rocco?"

Jubilee #60, and reportedly Mail Call #70.

Joseph Scott

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 12:29:19 -0400
From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Honeymooners

"LOST" is a gross exaggeration to sell more than if they stated "safely
locked away for years amongst Gleason's possessions".

And, the topic IS OTR: the series was briefly on CBS radio.  I have two
shows from that series.  The two episodes are

1.  'Letter to the boss' (Ralph think's he's been fired) airdate 5/18/54

2.   'secret love letters'  (ralph thinks that Norton's pursuing Alice
because one of his old love letters is in a cookbook loaned by Trixie to
Alice.  airdate 12/8/54

I haven't compared these to what's available in video, so I don't know if
they're the audio taken from the video performance and then later edited, or
from a run through prior to air.  The audio quality's superb: as if you're
listening to the feed in the control room.   #1 was the premier on CBS
radio, which is ballyooed by the announcer.  Jack Lescoulie does the intros,
plot summaries, etc.


Bang!  Zoom!
Shiffy

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 12:37:39 -0400
From: Elizabeth McLeod <lizmcl@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Re: Roots of the Benny-Allen Feud

Marcus Antonsson wonders,

The recent talk about the Jack Benny/Fred Allen-fued has made me wonder about
a few things. Beeing a 26 year old non-American I don't know much about the
background. How did the fued actually start, and how did it end?

The common explanation is that the feud had its origin on Allen's "Town
Hall Tonight" broadcast of 12/30/36. During the "Town Hall Varieties"
segment in the second half of the show, one of the performers was
ten-year-old violinist Stuart Canin, who performed Schubert's "The Bee."
Following Canin's virtuoso performance of the piece, Allen inserted an
ad-lib comment along the lines of "Jack Benny should be ashamed of
himself." Benny responded to this comment on his show the following
Sunday, and thru the first three months of 1937 the performers exchanged
verbal thrusts, culminating with a face-to-face mock confrontation on
Benny's program of 3/14/37. From then on, the feud became a running gag,
which continued until Allen's death in 1956.

There are a few myths surrounding the feud, the foremost of which is that
it began spontaneously with Allen's comment to Stuart Canin. In fact,
Allen had been ridiculing Benny's violin playing as far back as the fall
of 1935 -- and the two performers had shared the microphone for the first
time on Allen's show of 2/26/36. Benny, for his part, directly mocked
Allen with a parody sketch entitled "Clown Hall Tonight" on 4/5/36. It's
evident from these examples that the foundation for the feud had been
laid well before the Canin broadcast.

Another myth is that Allen's comment to Canin about Benny was an
elaborate, clever insult. Allen himself created this myth in his 1954
book "Treadmill to Oblivion," when he declared that he had started the
feud by commenting "Mr. Benny should hang his head in symphonic shame and
pluck the horsehairs out of his bow and return them to the tail of the
stallion from which they were taken." Benny, on the other hand, in a 1956
interview remembered the trigger line as being simply "'Jack Benny should
be ashamed of himself.' That's all he said."

The problem here is that there is that no recording exists of the West
Coast broadcast of the 12/30/36 "Town Hall Tonight" -- the broadcast that
Benny, in Hollywood, would have heard. The Town Hall Varieties segment
was entirely unscripted, and it is likely that Allen's ad libs varied
between the early and late broadcasts.

Without a recording, the best contemporary source on the Canin broadcast
is a piece by Ken W. Purdy in the 2/27/37 issue of Radio Guide, entitled,
naturally enough, "The Story Behind The Benny-Allen Feud." Writing just
two months after the commencement of hostilities, Purdy states that on
the 12/30/36 "Town Hall Tonight" program, Allen ad-libbed that "a certain
alleged violinist by the name of Benny should be ashamed of himself."

This version of events squares pretty closely with what Benny himself
remembered hearing, and given how soon after the original event this
article was written, I'm inclined to accept it as a more reliable source
than anyone's reminiscences twenty years after the fact. Until and unless
a recording of the West Coast feed of this show appears, this is probably
the closest we'll ever come to positive documentation. Apparently, when
Fred recounted his version of events in "Treadmill To Oblivion," he
couldn't remember exactly what he had said -- or he just couldn't resist
the temptation to revise history and embellish his remarks.

In the course of researching this subject, I took note of John Dunning's
account in his Fred Allen entry in "The Encyclopedia Of Old Time Radio."
He gives a much more elaborate quotation, and implies that Fred's
comments were made in reaction to a prior promise by Benny to play "The
Bee." This is completely at odds with all other accounts of the incident,
as well as with existing Benny shows from the period -- which only
mention "The Bee" *after* Allen's initial comment.

A bit of further research explains this discrepancy: Dunning's quotation
doesn't come from the 12/30/36 show at all. It comes from Stuart Canin's
*second* appearance on "Town Hall Tonight," on 2/3/37. Unlike the
original December appearance, which was completely unscripted, this
February appearance was fully scripted -- enabling Fred to be much more
precise in his comments about Jack. Purdy mentions this appearance in the
Radio Guide article -- and in fact, cites it as the "high point of the
feud to date."

"Town Hall Tonight" was in the midst of a steady ratings droop when the
feud got started -- the program's Hooperating for the first week of
January 1937 had dropped to [removed] While the show was still in the top
ten, the rating wasn't as healthy as it had been a year earlier, when it
scored a [removed] Part of this decline may be attributed to the fading of
the amateur craze -- the Town Hall Amateurs had been the show's major
attraction during 1935-36 -- and Allen constantly tinkered with the show
during 1936 looking for a fresh angle. As related in "Treadmill," he
tried very hard to come up with a "running gag" that listeners would get
interested in following from week to week, with the "Talking Minah Bird"
appearances of February 1936 his earliest attempt -- will the bird talk
or not? Tune in and see! This bit was squelched by the agency just as it
was taking off -- and other experiments didn't seem to make much
difference. Indeed, the most effective running gag on the "Town Hall"
show during 1936 had nothing to do with Allen -- it was the "Keep Him Out
Of The White House!" anti-Presidential campaign run by Stoopnagle and
Budd when they filled in for Allen over the summer. This bit was so
effective that Fred himself riffed on it when he returned to the Town
Hall that October.

Clearly, the feud came along at exactly the right time for Allen -- the
idea fit in exactly with what he was trying to do, and it certainly
brought his show the most publicity it had ever received. Whether it
actually accomplished the results he believed it accomplished is
debatable -- while there were month-to-month spikes in the rating, the
overall Hooper trend for "Town Hall" was downward all thru the late
thirties. Thus, there was constant incentive for Fred to keep the feud
alive, and an examination of broadcasts from the late thirties will
reveal that Allen was usually much more aggressive in promoting the feud
than Benny.

For me, the feud reached its absolute peak on Allen's 5/7/41 program,
styled "A Salute To Jack Benny." The entire hour is set aside as a
tribute to the start of Benny's tenth year in radio -- but Allen goes to
absurd lengths to avoid actually mentioning his name. The highlight of
the show is a guest appearance by Amos 'n' Andy, who are recruited by
Allen to contribute to the dedication of an equestrian statue of the
"star of the Jell-O Program" -- Rochester!

Also, were JB and FA the first ones to have a fued on the air?

Comic feuds were a longstanding tradition carried over from vaudeville --
in those days, rival performers would exchange thrusts by means of ads in
theatrical journals. Allen himself had engaged in such a feud with a
smalltime comic named Harry LaToy, who had been a former mentor of his in
Boston around 1912, and who went on to swipe much of Allen's act -- and
the tone of Allen's comments in the LaToy feud set a clear precedent for
the Benny insults of later years.

On radio, comic feuding went back as far as the gibes exchanged by
announcer N. T. Granlund and Broadway musical-comedy star Harry Richman
in the twenties - but the outstanding pre-Benny/Allen feud was the Walter
Winchell-Ben Bernie pairing. Winchell and Bernie were both old vaudeville
hands who knew how the game was played, and their feud reached its peak
from about 1932-37, during which time the two made a couple of very
amusing movies, "Love and Hisses" and "Wake Up and Live," and succeeded
in generating a lot of publicity for each other. Their "feud" continued
until Bernie's death in 1943 -- and its mid-thirties success can probably
be considered the major inspiration for Benny-Allen.

Elizabeth

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 13:23:05 -0400
From: Lawrence_Lewis@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Jack Lemmon and OTR

On PBS just after Lemmon's death they reran an interview that he had with
Charlie Rose.  In that interview he mentioned that he had been on two radio
soap
operas.  One was, I believe, the Guiding Light.  The other one I can't
remember.
 In any case Jack told a story about how much he admired radio actors.  He
pointed out how difficult it was for him to do radio because he was a largely a
visual actor, and good radio actors had to do it all with their voice.

He related an early problem that he had which he soon learned to correct.  One
time while reading the script he turned the page and continued reading the top
line of the next [removed]  The only problem was that the line had dialog for
another actor (Don McGlaughlin, who played Chris Hughes on TV's As the World
Turns).  McGlaughlin then retired to the back of the stage, and let Lemmon play
both characters for the rest of the show.  McGlaughlin spend the remainder of
the show laughing, as did the director in the control room.  In fact, Lemmon
said the director was laughing so much that he fell over and all that could be
seen of him was his feet.  After this episode, Lemmon always circled the lines
in the script that he had to read, apparently a procedure that was common to
experienced radio actors.

Larry Lewis

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 14:26:51 -0400
From: "Phil Watson" <philwats@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Anthony Boucher & Harry Bartell

Further to J. Alec West's enquiry, I must confess that as a middleaged
Englishman I had never heard of Anthony Boucher, Harry Bartell or even the
concept of collecting Old Time Radio until about two years ago when I
borrowed some of the Simon & Shuster 1945/6 series of Sherlock Holmes with
Rathbone & Bruce from our local public library.

I WAS HOOKED !!

I'd always known about the Sherlock Holmes film series, "heard" about the
radio series but until I heard Ben Wright, Glenhall Taylor, and, yes, Harry
Bartell, introduce the old radio shows I'd never heard them ..... What a
revelation.

I bought the entire run of Simon & Shuster cassettes, then the Conway-Bruce
series from Brilliance, and then discovered many OTR shows on CD-R via
auctions on E--y, and bought several box sets from Radio Spirits &
Adventures In Cassettes. (I have to say used copies on E--y). I now have
several thousand shows. Some superb, some indifferent, some poor. All
fascinating.

The first reason for writing to to help Alec with his query.

The second is to thank Harry Bartell for his part in introducing me, and no
doubt many other younger or foreign listeners, to the the wonderful world of
OTR through his original work in the Sherlock Holmes series, and in
introducing the cassette reissue series. I feel privileged to be able to
"speak directly" to him and thank him. What a marvellous device the internet
is. How else could I have done that ?

I bought a used copy of the "Lost Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes" by Ken
Greenwald, who turned the radio scripts by Denis Green & Anthony Boucher
into short stories. The stories are:

The Second Generation (12/17/45)                                         The
April Fool Adventure (04/04/46)
The Amateur Mendicant Society (04/02/45)                            The Out
Of Date Murder (09/09/45)
The Demon Barber (01/28/46)
Murder Beyond The Mountains (01/15/46)
The Uneasy Easy Chair (05/13/46)
The Baconian Cypher (05/27/46)
The Headless Monk (04/15/46)
The Camberwell Poisoners (02/18/46)
The Iron Box (12/31/46)
The Girl With The Gazelle (03/25/46)
The Notorious Canary Trainer (04/23/45)

Regards to all
Phil Watson

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 17:46:14 -0400
From: hal stone <dualxtwo@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The Name of the Rose

Subject:  Re:  Dwight Weist & Name of the Rose

Thanks to the poster's who clarified Dwight Weist's involvement with The
film "The Name of the Rose".

When I asked what part he played, it was primarily to find out if I was
losing my mind. I had seen the film many times, and appreciated the way they
interwove the sub-plot about the power struggle going on within the Catholic
church during that period in time. (I was raised Catholic).

 But when I read that Dwight Weist was in it, (Or I assumed that, from the
mention that it was one of his film credits).  I stretched my brain to the
breaking point (not too far a stretch these days), to recall what part he
could have possibly played.

I knew Dwight Weist very well. I worked with him often. He was undoubtedly
one of the more successful [removed] Radio performers. Not only because of his
talent, but because he was a heck of a nice guy. A real "pro", and always
pleasant to work with.

I know my hearing was going a bit, but I didn't think my eyesight had failed
me when I couldn't remember him playing one of the clergy.

You OTR Fans have your ears trained to recognize OTR voices. For me, I
hadn't heard Dwights voice for so long, I would never have picked up on the
fact that he was doing the films narration.

Thanks to Jim, & "Sanctum" for remembrances of a super OTR performer.

Then Steve has to post;

I have a joke about that movie:

At the end, as monk William of Baskerville (Sean) and his apprentice are
leaving the abbey (which is now in ruins) I imagine two of the abbey's
monks saying:

"Who was that strange monk who called himself William of Baskerville?"

"I know not. But I suspect that he was, in truth, Secret Agent "_ _ VII"

OK, I guess ya hadda be [removed]

To which I now throw down a challenge to all interested Digest participants.

How 'bout a contest to see who can come up with the best ending for the
film?

My entry, for what it's worth, is a follows. As Monk William is leaving the
ruined abbey, we hear one monk say!

"Who was that strange Monk wearing a mask under his hood?

"I know not", reply's the otherŠŠ"But he gave me this silver pen quill"

(as we hear in the distance), "Hi Ho, Blessed Mule, Awayyyy!

Or did he say, "Blasted Mule"? I told you my hearing is going!

Sorry. The "Devil" made me do it.

Regards,

Hal(Harlan)Stone

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 19:29:18 -0400
From: "Rodney w bowcock jr." <rodney-selfhelpbikeco@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mae West/Adam & Eve skit

As I understand it, the Adam & Eve skit was read over by the censors, but
the problem with the show if you listen to it, isn't what is said, but
the way it was said.  The censors didn't take into account Mae's sexy,
innuendo-ish (I know it's not a word, [removed]) delivery, that
eventually did her in, and ruined her career.

Rodney Bowcock

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 21:26:32 -0400
From: "Bob Burchett" <haradio@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Mrs. Ezra Stone

She's buried on the farm in Bucks county. Ezra is
buried next to her. We had a picture of the site
in the special issue of the printed "Old Time Radio
Digest" we did after Ezra died a month before he
was to return to Cincinnati for our convention.
Bob Burchett

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 22:16:35 -0400
From: Michael Berger <intercom1@[removed];
To: otr <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  fred and jack

Jack Benny said it all about Fred Allen in his famous crack: "You
wouldn't  be  so  smart if I had my writers here!" -- or words to
that effect.

Jack  Benny  had  his  own  wonderful  talent; Allen's was in his
writing  (which  surely  led to his early demise as the stress of
the   effort  broke  his  health),  and his marvelous ad-libbing,
which  often  broke  up Benny on their many appearances together.

While  the  merits  of  timeless  humor  are obvious, it's a
special  bonus to be able to be able to place an Allen show based
on his topical jokes, and if the reference seems vague, you can
punch  in  the punch line on an internet search engine and
be further delighted by what you'll find.

Michael Berger

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 00:35:37 -0400
From: "Robert Fabris" <PORTHOLE@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  What's a Gildersleeve??

I was watching the A&E showing of a gala of W. C. Fields movies last month,
and in two films, he makes the comment: "I am a gildersleeve".  What means
this??? Some carny or show-business talk?    Bob Fabris

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 00:35:35 -0400
From: "Robert Fabris" <PORTHOLE@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Audio Tape/reels F/S

I have a batch of old tape to sell, 7" reels of 1 mil tape, 1800 feet per
box.  Classic labels like Shamrock, Realistic, noname, etc.  Both full reels
and empty ones.  Anything recorded on them is free. Please contact me
off-line.   Bob Fabris

--------------------------------
End of [removed] Digest V01 Issue #214
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