(untitled)
April 20, 1952 rich
Cast: Fred Allen, Phil Foster, Gilbert W. Gabriel, Julie Harris, Portland Hoffa, Groucho Marx, Ethel Merman, William Prince, George Sanders, John Van Druten, Earl Wrightson
No audio currently held for this broadcast — status: missing from the surviving collection.
Synopsis
The series finale closed out Groucho Marx and Fred Allen's two-part vaudeville reminiscence, awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle prize on-air to John Van Druten for "I Am a Camera" (performed in excerpt by Julie Harris and William Prince), and gave Ethel Merman and George Sanders a spoof of Merman's Broadway vehicle "Call Me Madam." Portland Hoffa closed the run bantering with Bankhead and Merman about a hoped-for Paris vacation against Fred Allen's preference for Redbank, New Jersey, before Bankhead thanked the cast and Meredith Willson's chorus sang a final "My Darling" in her honor.
Sources:martingrams.blogspot.com, otrsite.com
Editorial Notes
- Guest list from Martin Grams, "The Big Show: The Lost 1952 Broadcasts".
Production Notes
- Final broadcast of the series; Ray Charles conducted the chorus. Announcers were Ed Herlihy and Bert Cowlan; NBC's own files reportedly do not record which announcer voiced the American Chicle commercials that night.