MARRIED SLEUTHS
The two happy couples pictured above portrayed Network Radio's popular married amateur detectives, Les Damon & Claudia Morgan as Nick & Nora Charles in The Adventures of The Thin Man, (left), and Joseph Curtin & Alice Frost as Mr. & Mrs. North.
Author Dashiell Hammett originated the concept of mixing holy matrimony with murder, creating Nick & Nora Charles in his 1934 novel, The Thin Man. (1) From that beginning, the wise-cracking, booze-loving retired San Francisco police detective and his wealthy socialite wife became the principals for a successful series of six MGM mystery-comedies from 1934 to 1947 starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Radio’s adaptation, The Adventures of The Thin Man, was introduced on NBC in 1941 under the astute production and direction of young Himan Brown who was quickly building reputation for his ability to find humor in sinister scripts. (2)
Hy Brown cast Claudia Morgan as Nora Charles in The Adventures of The Thin Man. Claudia, the daughter of actor Ralph Morgan and niece of movie and radio star Frank Morgan, was clearly the star of the program - portraying Nora and introducing subtle sexy pillow talk to Network Radio. In doing so, Brown let listeners decide if radio’s Nick & Nora, wrapping up each episode with final words at bedtime, were bound by the movies’ puritanical “twin-beds” mandate. Their exchanges left little doubt.
During the show’s eight season run the title role of Nick revolved among actors Les Damon, Les Tremayne and David Gothard. On radio the character was shed of his distinctive flippant and alcoholic tendencies of the movies and became more of a serious detective moving the half-hour plots along while Morgan’s Nora was the more comedic of the two. (3)
Notorious for its innuendo at the time, The Adventures of The Thin Man scored only four Top 50 seasons. Hy Brown‘s solid productions became victim of network and sponsor mismanagement. Listeners had to be sleuths to find the program. Five different sponsors bounced it to over seven separate timeslots on the four national networks during its nine sporadic years on the air.
Very few complete examples of this outstanding series remain in circulation. Two episodes are posted, from October 10, 1943 and July 13, 1948. (Our thanks to technical consultant Mark Durenberger for reprocessing the latter CBS summer broadcast.)
The Adventures of The Thin Man was already on the air for six months and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was about to release the third in its successful Thin Man film series when the studio decided to double its bet on married amateur detectives.
In January, 1941, MGM financed the Owen Davis Broadway stage production of Mr. & Mrs. North, adapted from the short stories and novel by Richard & Frances Lockridge. (4) In return for its investment in the play, MGM received film rights to Mr. & Mrs. North which it considered to be an ideal counterpart to its Thin Man series and a vehicle for comedienne Gracie Allen. (5)
The film was a disappointment on the screen and at the box office. Variety reviewed it as, “…moderately successful entertainment .. despite the handicap of an uneven and too talky script.” MGM promptly shelved the idea and turned its attention to another comedian, young Red Skelton who played radio detective Wally Benton, (aka The Fox), in its successful Whistling series of mystery-comedies..
Mr. & Mrs. North sat on the shelf for almost a year until producer S. James Andrews introduced the couple on NBC for sponsor Andrew Jergens at 8:00 p.m. on December 30, 1942, opening the network‘s powerful Wednesday night lineup that included Eddie Cantor, Mr. District Attorney and Kay Kyser‘s College of Musical Knowledge. The radio series starred two soap opera veterans - Joseph Curtin as Jerry and Alice Frost as Pam. The couple played the roles for the program’s first eleven years. (6)
Mr. & Mrs. North’s permanent cast of characters who contributed to its success included their friend, Police Lieutenant Bill Weigand, (first played by Frank Lovejoy, succeeded by Staats Cotsworth and Francis DeSales), Police Sergeant Aloysius Mulllins, (Walter Kinsella), the North’s teenage niece, Susan, (Betty Jane Tyler), and the couple‘s ever-present taxi driver/chauffeur, Mahatma McGloin, (Mandel Kramer).
Fortunately, a number of episodes from this delightful series remain in circulation. From February 3, 1943, when Mr. & Mrs. North was only a month old, The Russian Restaurant Murder is posted. The Literary Murder was broadcast a year later on January 26, 1944. Pam & Jerry were in their prime on December 9, 1947 when they solved Murder in a Flat Jam Session.
Reflecting the Network Radio budget cuts of the 1950’s Charles Paul’s studio orchestra was replaced by an organ on the Fool’s Gold episode of October 14, 1952. Seasonal sponsor Colgate was still on its summer hiatus so this adventure is sponsored by Adler Sewing Machines - a rare network advertiser, but times were getting tough and revenue was welcome wherever it was found.
Mr. & Mrs. North’s adventure, Wheel of Chance, from June 9, 1953, is the last archived broadcast of Mr. & Mrs. North with Joe Curtin and Alice Frost in the title roles. The radio show was moved from New York to Hollywood and the title roles were taken by Richard Denning and Barbara Britton, stars of the television version of Mr. & Mrs. North which ran for two seasons on CBS-TV and NBC-TV.
Denning and Britton were capable radio actors, proved in this first archived broadcast of their performances as Mr. & Mrs. North in the Coat of Arms episode from June 30, 1953, and the September 29, 1953 thriller, House of Hate. Nevertheless, Network Radio’s Golden Age was over. Colgate dropped its seven-year sponsorship of the show in 1954 and the final CBS broadcast of Mr.& Mrs. North was on April 18, 1955.
Ratings comparison of The Adventures of The Thin Man and Mr. & Mrs. North, two very similar, husband & wife mystery-comedies running concurrently during the peak of Network Radio’s Golden Age. is inevitable.
The Thin Man opened first on July 2, 1941, on NBC’s Wednesday night schedule at 8:00 then jumped to CBS in 1942-43. Mr. & Mrs. North replaced Nick & Nora in the same Wednesday night NBC half hour in 1942-43. The Norths held that timeslot for five consecutive Top 50 seasons.
During that same five year period The Thin Man was alternated from season to season between Fridays and Sundays on CBS - nevertheless scoring three Top 50 finishes until 1945-46 when Nick & Nora were put in the “suicide slot” on Sunday nights against Jack Benny on NBC.
The Thin Man returned to Friday night and the Top 50 on CBS in 1946-47. It remained on CBS through 1947-48 on Friday nights and left the air after a final, dismal season on Mutual in 1948-49.
Meanwhile, new sponsor Colgate moved Mr. & Mrs. North from NBC to CBS’s Tuesday night schedule at 8:30 in 1947-48 where it remained for the next six Top 50 seasons, peaking in 1950-51 at Number 12 in the Annual Top 50. It closed out the Golden Age with two seasons at 16th place - a final track record of eleven years, two networks, two timeslots and eleven Top 50 seasons, three in the Top 15 programs of the year. (7)
This comparison between these two great, nearly identical shows provides a prime example of one of C.E. Hooper’s keys to ratings success: Consistency. The Adventures of The Thin Man had no anchor and floated among networks, sponsors and time schedules over its eight year run into ratings oblivion. On the other hand, Mr.& Mrs. North had the benefit of two substantial sponsors providing it with consistent time periods on the two major networks over its dozen years of success.
It’s a lesson that was repeatedly taught during Network Radio’s Golden Age and repeated to this day - yet never learned by everyone.
(1) The Thin Man referred to the victim of the novel’s plot, not the detective. (See The Curse of Dashiell Hammett.)
(2) Himan Brown‘s legendary career in Network Radio drama extended until 1980, long after the Golden Age had passed. (See Inner Sanctum.)
(3) Claudia Morgan and her uncle Frank achieved the season’s Top 50 together three times with their two programs.
(4) The stage play, starring Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin, ran for 163 performances. Meanwhile, the Lockridge’s went on to create a series of 26 Mr. & Mrs. North crime novels over the next 20 years.
(5), Surprisingly, Gracie’s husband and straight man in vaudeville, radio and a decade in films, George Burns, was excluded from the cast. Instead, the role of Jerry North was given to handsome William Post, Jr., who was six years younger than Gracie and looked it.
(6) Joe Curtin had featured roles in David Harum, John’s Other Wife, Our Gal Sunday and Second Husband among other shows. Ironically, Curtin also played Nick Charles in The Thin Man‘s final broadcasts on ABC in the summer of 1950.. Alice Frost held Big Sister’s title role from 1936 to 1942. She also had recurring roles in The Second Mrs. Burton, Woman of Courage and was active in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater.
(7) The individual ratings and rankings for each show: 1941-42: The Thin Man 10.1 - #52.
1942-43: The Thin Man 15.1 - #24, Mr. & Mrs. North 13.7 - #34. 1943-44: The Thin Man 15.0 - #25, Mr. & Mrs. North 14.1 - #29. 1944-45: Mr. & Mrs. North 14.0 - #24, The Thin Man 12.4 - #41. 1945-46: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.1 - #39, The Thin Man 8.7 - #78. 1946-47: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.3 - #36, The Thin Man 11.1 - #47. 1947-48: Mr. & Mrs. North 17.1 - #31, The Thin Man 14.1 - #57. 1948-49: Mr. & Mrs. North 13.7 - #30, The Thin Man 6.9 - #109. 1949-50: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.3 - #26. 1950-51: Mr. & Mrs. North 11.2 - #12. 1951-52: Mr. & Mrs. North 8.6 - #16. 1952-53: Mr. & Mrs. North 6.6 - #16.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
The two happy couples pictured above portrayed Network Radio's popular married amateur detectives, Les Damon & Claudia Morgan as Nick & Nora Charles in The Adventures of The Thin Man, (left), and Joseph Curtin & Alice Frost as Mr. & Mrs. North.
Author Dashiell Hammett originated the concept of mixing holy matrimony with murder, creating Nick & Nora Charles in his 1934 novel, The Thin Man. (1) From that beginning, the wise-cracking, booze-loving retired San Francisco police detective and his wealthy socialite wife became the principals for a successful series of six MGM mystery-comedies from 1934 to 1947 starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
Radio’s adaptation, The Adventures of The Thin Man, was introduced on NBC in 1941 under the astute production and direction of young Himan Brown who was quickly building reputation for his ability to find humor in sinister scripts. (2)
Hy Brown cast Claudia Morgan as Nora Charles in The Adventures of The Thin Man. Claudia, the daughter of actor Ralph Morgan and niece of movie and radio star Frank Morgan, was clearly the star of the program - portraying Nora and introducing subtle sexy pillow talk to Network Radio. In doing so, Brown let listeners decide if radio’s Nick & Nora, wrapping up each episode with final words at bedtime, were bound by the movies’ puritanical “twin-beds” mandate. Their exchanges left little doubt.
During the show’s eight season run the title role of Nick revolved among actors Les Damon, Les Tremayne and David Gothard. On radio the character was shed of his distinctive flippant and alcoholic tendencies of the movies and became more of a serious detective moving the half-hour plots along while Morgan’s Nora was the more comedic of the two. (3)
Notorious for its innuendo at the time, The Adventures of The Thin Man scored only four Top 50 seasons. Hy Brown‘s solid productions became victim of network and sponsor mismanagement. Listeners had to be sleuths to find the program. Five different sponsors bounced it to over seven separate timeslots on the four national networks during its nine sporadic years on the air.
Very few complete examples of this outstanding series remain in circulation. Two episodes are posted, from October 10, 1943 and July 13, 1948. (Our thanks to technical consultant Mark Durenberger for reprocessing the latter CBS summer broadcast.)
The Adventures of The Thin Man was already on the air for six months and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was about to release the third in its successful Thin Man film series when the studio decided to double its bet on married amateur detectives.
In January, 1941, MGM financed the Owen Davis Broadway stage production of Mr. & Mrs. North, adapted from the short stories and novel by Richard & Frances Lockridge. (4) In return for its investment in the play, MGM received film rights to Mr. & Mrs. North which it considered to be an ideal counterpart to its Thin Man series and a vehicle for comedienne Gracie Allen. (5)
The film was a disappointment on the screen and at the box office. Variety reviewed it as, “…moderately successful entertainment .. despite the handicap of an uneven and too talky script.” MGM promptly shelved the idea and turned its attention to another comedian, young Red Skelton who played radio detective Wally Benton, (aka The Fox), in its successful Whistling series of mystery-comedies..
Mr. & Mrs. North sat on the shelf for almost a year until producer S. James Andrews introduced the couple on NBC for sponsor Andrew Jergens at 8:00 p.m. on December 30, 1942, opening the network‘s powerful Wednesday night lineup that included Eddie Cantor, Mr. District Attorney and Kay Kyser‘s College of Musical Knowledge. The radio series starred two soap opera veterans - Joseph Curtin as Jerry and Alice Frost as Pam. The couple played the roles for the program’s first eleven years. (6)
Mr. & Mrs. North’s permanent cast of characters who contributed to its success included their friend, Police Lieutenant Bill Weigand, (first played by Frank Lovejoy, succeeded by Staats Cotsworth and Francis DeSales), Police Sergeant Aloysius Mulllins, (Walter Kinsella), the North’s teenage niece, Susan, (Betty Jane Tyler), and the couple‘s ever-present taxi driver/chauffeur, Mahatma McGloin, (Mandel Kramer).
Fortunately, a number of episodes from this delightful series remain in circulation. From February 3, 1943, when Mr. & Mrs. North was only a month old, The Russian Restaurant Murder is posted. The Literary Murder was broadcast a year later on January 26, 1944. Pam & Jerry were in their prime on December 9, 1947 when they solved Murder in a Flat Jam Session.
Reflecting the Network Radio budget cuts of the 1950’s Charles Paul’s studio orchestra was replaced by an organ on the Fool’s Gold episode of October 14, 1952. Seasonal sponsor Colgate was still on its summer hiatus so this adventure is sponsored by Adler Sewing Machines - a rare network advertiser, but times were getting tough and revenue was welcome wherever it was found.
Mr. & Mrs. North’s adventure, Wheel of Chance, from June 9, 1953, is the last archived broadcast of Mr. & Mrs. North with Joe Curtin and Alice Frost in the title roles. The radio show was moved from New York to Hollywood and the title roles were taken by Richard Denning and Barbara Britton, stars of the television version of Mr. & Mrs. North which ran for two seasons on CBS-TV and NBC-TV.
Denning and Britton were capable radio actors, proved in this first archived broadcast of their performances as Mr. & Mrs. North in the Coat of Arms episode from June 30, 1953, and the September 29, 1953 thriller, House of Hate. Nevertheless, Network Radio’s Golden Age was over. Colgate dropped its seven-year sponsorship of the show in 1954 and the final CBS broadcast of Mr.& Mrs. North was on April 18, 1955.
Ratings comparison of The Adventures of The Thin Man and Mr. & Mrs. North, two very similar, husband & wife mystery-comedies running concurrently during the peak of Network Radio’s Golden Age. is inevitable.
The Thin Man opened first on July 2, 1941, on NBC’s Wednesday night schedule at 8:00 then jumped to CBS in 1942-43. Mr. & Mrs. North replaced Nick & Nora in the same Wednesday night NBC half hour in 1942-43. The Norths held that timeslot for five consecutive Top 50 seasons.
During that same five year period The Thin Man was alternated from season to season between Fridays and Sundays on CBS - nevertheless scoring three Top 50 finishes until 1945-46 when Nick & Nora were put in the “suicide slot” on Sunday nights against Jack Benny on NBC.
The Thin Man returned to Friday night and the Top 50 on CBS in 1946-47. It remained on CBS through 1947-48 on Friday nights and left the air after a final, dismal season on Mutual in 1948-49.
Meanwhile, new sponsor Colgate moved Mr. & Mrs. North from NBC to CBS’s Tuesday night schedule at 8:30 in 1947-48 where it remained for the next six Top 50 seasons, peaking in 1950-51 at Number 12 in the Annual Top 50. It closed out the Golden Age with two seasons at 16th place - a final track record of eleven years, two networks, two timeslots and eleven Top 50 seasons, three in the Top 15 programs of the year. (7)
This comparison between these two great, nearly identical shows provides a prime example of one of C.E. Hooper’s keys to ratings success: Consistency. The Adventures of The Thin Man had no anchor and floated among networks, sponsors and time schedules over its eight year run into ratings oblivion. On the other hand, Mr.& Mrs. North had the benefit of two substantial sponsors providing it with consistent time periods on the two major networks over its dozen years of success.
It’s a lesson that was repeatedly taught during Network Radio’s Golden Age and repeated to this day - yet never learned by everyone.
(1) The Thin Man referred to the victim of the novel’s plot, not the detective. (See The Curse of Dashiell Hammett.)
(2) Himan Brown‘s legendary career in Network Radio drama extended until 1980, long after the Golden Age had passed. (See Inner Sanctum.)
(3) Claudia Morgan and her uncle Frank achieved the season’s Top 50 together three times with their two programs.
(4) The stage play, starring Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin, ran for 163 performances. Meanwhile, the Lockridge’s went on to create a series of 26 Mr. & Mrs. North crime novels over the next 20 years.
(5), Surprisingly, Gracie’s husband and straight man in vaudeville, radio and a decade in films, George Burns, was excluded from the cast. Instead, the role of Jerry North was given to handsome William Post, Jr., who was six years younger than Gracie and looked it.
(6) Joe Curtin had featured roles in David Harum, John’s Other Wife, Our Gal Sunday and Second Husband among other shows. Ironically, Curtin also played Nick Charles in The Thin Man‘s final broadcasts on ABC in the summer of 1950.. Alice Frost held Big Sister’s title role from 1936 to 1942. She also had recurring roles in The Second Mrs. Burton, Woman of Courage and was active in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater.
(7) The individual ratings and rankings for each show: 1941-42: The Thin Man 10.1 - #52.
1942-43: The Thin Man 15.1 - #24, Mr. & Mrs. North 13.7 - #34. 1943-44: The Thin Man 15.0 - #25, Mr. & Mrs. North 14.1 - #29. 1944-45: Mr. & Mrs. North 14.0 - #24, The Thin Man 12.4 - #41. 1945-46: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.1 - #39, The Thin Man 8.7 - #78. 1946-47: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.3 - #36, The Thin Man 11.1 - #47. 1947-48: Mr. & Mrs. North 17.1 - #31, The Thin Man 14.1 - #57. 1948-49: Mr. & Mrs. North 13.7 - #30, The Thin Man 6.9 - #109. 1949-50: Mr. & Mrs. North 12.3 - #26. 1950-51: Mr. & Mrs. North 11.2 - #12. 1951-52: Mr. & Mrs. North 8.6 - #16. 1952-53: Mr. & Mrs. North 6.6 - #16.
Copyright © 2019, Jim Ramsburg, Estero FL Email: tojimramsburg@gmail.com
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