From Those Were the Days:

1942 - David Harding, Counterspy was heard on the NBC Blue network for the first time. The program enjoyed a long run on radio, lasting for 15 years.
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“Poor Joan…ain’t got nobody…”

In the world of television, Lucille Ball is generally regarded by fans, critics and historians as the Queen of Comedy, but although Lucy enjoyed radio success with My Favorite Husband, her throne was occupied during that Golden Age by none other than Joan Davis. Born Madonna (!) Josephine Davis on June 29, 1907 in St. Paul, Minnesota, she caught the tail-end of vaudeville in the 1930s, her comedic talents soon launching her into a career in film, radio and television—beginning with her film debut in 1935 in a manic hillbilly short called Way Up Thar (1935) produced by comedy veteran Mack Sennett.

Joan’s character was that of a man-chasing zany constantly on the prowl, and she provided much need comedy relief in films like Hold That Co-Ed (1938) and Sun Valley Serenade (1941). Two films stand out in her career, however; the first being Hold That Ghost (1941) with Bud Abbott & Lou Costello—in which she plays Camille Brewster, a professional radio “screamer” trapped with the boys in a rundown roadhouse they’ve inherited from a dead gangster. (Her “ballet” with Lou is one of the funniest scenes in any comedy film, but then again, any scene in the film that she’s in is hilarious.) The other is a rarely screened comedy from 1945 called She Gets Her Man (1945); she’s the daughter of a famous police chief who’s called upon to trap a killer with the help (or hindrance, depending on your point of view) of the always amusing Leon Errol.

Davis made his her first foray into radio in 1941, and an August 28, 1941 appearance on The Rudy Vallee Show went over so swimmingly that she became a regular on the program. When Vallee went into the Coast Guard in 1943, the show’s sponsor, Sealtest, elevated her to the lead, and renamed the program The Sealtest Village Store. Joan was teamed up with comedian Jack Haley (Sealtest felt that the comedienne needed an “essential” male lead, though critics argued that she was more than capable of handling the show on her own) in a series that immediately landed into the top ten of the ratings, and after a two-year stint, she jumped ship for her own starring program over CBS Radio beginning September 3, 1945.

The program, alternately known as The Joan Davis Show and Joanie’s Tea Room, featured Davis as the proprietress of a small tea shop in the sleepy little hamlet of Smallville (a town that also was referred to as Swanville, in honor of sponsor Swan Soap). She was assisted by a capable cast including Mary Jane Croft, Hans Conried, Lionel Stander, Sharon Douglas, Wally Brown, Shirley Mitchell and Verna Felton; both Mitchell and Felton having been supporting players on Village Store as well. Last night, I listened to an October 22, 1945 broadcast that also features Harry Von Zell as her announcer/stooge, and vocalist Andy Russell—one of just many Bing Crosby-wannabes of the 1940s, though Russell carved out a pretty impressive singing career with hits like Amor, I Dream of You and I Can’t Begin to Tell You. In this show, Joan attempts to secure a screen test for Andy with Atomic Pictures, and though the program’s a fairly standard outing it does boast the writing participation of Davis’ husband Si Wills and future Green Acres creator Jay Sommers. (I also enjoyed Verna Felton on this one; she plays a character named Rosella “Hippy” Hipperton who’s angling to march Von Zell down the aisle and when it’s revealed that her door chimes, music box and meowing cat all give out with Here Comes the Bride Joan cracks, “This place is wired for matrimony!”)

Joanie’s Tea Room was a success on CBS for three years (changing its name to Joan Davis Time in the 1947-48 season), and after a year’s hiatus she returned in July of 1949 with Leave It to Joan, which found Joanie working at Willock’s Department Store until the show left the airwaves August 28, 1950. Sponsored by American Tobacco (Roi Tan Cigars/Half and Half Tobacco), the show’s supporting cast included Mitchell, Joseph Kearns and Willard Waterman. I also previewed an episode from this series, a broadcast from January 20, 1950, that was very funny in so much as the one-and-only Al Jolson was the guest star. Jolson, who was enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the movies The Jolson Story (1946) and Jolson Sings Again (1949) (in which actor Larry Parks portrayed Jolie), and had recently finished a two-year stint as the star of The Kraft Music Hall from 1947-49. Sadly, this one-of-a-kind entertainer would go on to his rich reward on October 23, 1950, so it’s great to get the opportunity to hear Jolie doing what he loved to do: entertain. The storyline goes that Jolson is scheduled to make an appearance at the department store to help celebrate its anniversary, and in approaching Joan in the music department, he discovers that she doesn’t recognize him:

JOAN: Uh, yes sir? What can I do for you?

JOLIE: Well, young lady…I’d like to…

JOAN: Say! Aren’t you…? No, I guess you’re not…you couldn’t be…

JOLIE: Who do you think I was, honey?

JOAN: Gabby Hayes.

JOLIE: Gabby Hayes? You’d better take another guess, honey…

JOAN: Uh…Hopalong Cassidy?

JOLIE: Hopalong… (chuckles) I’m lucky if I can crawl along… (Jolson gets a huge response from the audience with this line, and he ad-libs “Ah, I’ll never get that chance again.”) Look, honey…I’m…uh…well, never mind…just tell me, how are your records selling?

JOAN: Uh, the Al Jolson records?

JOLIE: You mean there’s another kind?

JOAN: Well, not for me there isn’t…you know, I saw him in his picture last night…Jolson Sings Again…

JOLIE: Honey, the guy you saw wasn’t…

JOAN: Oh, gosh—that Al Jolson is so handsome…

JOLIE (quickly): …you saw the right guy…yes, that’s the guy you saw…that’s him, that’s him…

JOAN: Well, to me Jolson is Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart all rolled into one…

JOLIE: Keep ‘em rollin’, honey, keep ‘em rollin’!

Joan convinces herself that Jolson is merely an impersonator, and so she invites him to participate in the store’s talent program which coincides with the anniversary. This gives Jolie the opportunity to sing some songs, including the show-stopping I’m Sittin’ On Top of the World and a fun duet with Davis on Manana.

Joan Davis later attempted to conquer television with a sitcom called I Married Joan (1952-55), which was sort of the poor man’s I Love Lucy—but it still provided zany, harmless fun, particularly with Jim Backus as her husband, Judge Bradley Stevens, and real-life daughter Beverly Wills as her sister Bev (Wills was also featured on Davis’ radio show in this role as well). One of the writers of I Married Joan was Sherwood Schwartz, who would later go on to greater triumphs with Gilligan’s Island (working with Backus again) and The Brady Bunch. (Before Pat Robertson sold his cable network to ABC/Disney, I Married Joan’s repeats got quite a workout, along with The Life of Riley, Burns & Allen and other neglected sitcom greats.) An estimated 70-80 shows from her Rudy Vallee period, Sealtest Village Store days and solo programs are extant today, and they serve as a testament to the legacy of the woman once considered “America’s Queen of Comedy.”
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