CAVALCADE OF STARS

Original Honeymooners: Jackie Gleason and Pert Kelton

CAVALCADE OF STARS (1949 - 1952). Featuring "The Honeymooners."

The great Jackie Gleason was the primary star of the classic variety series, Cavalcade of Stars, which ran for four years. He replaced Jerry Lester as the host of the show in 1950. The greatest contribution of this classic series was "The Honeymooners," which began as an approximately six minute sketch with Gleason as dyspeptic bus driver Ralph Kramden and Pert Kelton [Meet the Boyfriend] as his long-suffering wife, Alice. Art Carney showed up in the first sketch as a cop, but he appeared as Ed Norton for the first time in the sketch entitled "The New TV Set." Trixie was played for the first time by none other than Elaine Stritch, but she was never to repeat the role, being replaced by Joyce Randolph in "The Ring" sketch (meaning Randolph actually appeared in The Honeymooners before Audrey Meadows did). Meadows first appeared in "The New Bowling Ball," which may be the first time Ralph says "Pow. Zoom. Right on the kisser!" (Ralph's earliest catch-phrase was "Don't steam me, Alice, I'm steamed!") Apparently the blacklist, which primarily affected Pert Kelton's husband, Ralph Bell (who later appeared in Zelig) forced her out of the series when it metamorphosed into The Jackie Gleason Show, and she was replaced by Meadows, who was a more than creditable Alice but who was a less realistic partner for Ralph/Gleason. These early Gleason/Kelton sketches were certainly well-acted and funny, but they also had an undertone of pathos to them  that were arguably missing from later episodes. Ralph's mantra "baby, you're the greatest!" replaced scenes of genuine love and affection between him and Alice. As good as Meadows and Sheila MacRae were playing Alice Kramden, for my money Kelton made the best Alice, and her performances have all been preserved on DVDs of the "Lost Honeymooners" episodes.

Verdict: Pert Kelton as Alice is simply terrific. ***. 

AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE HONEYMOONERS IN BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR

Jackie Gleason and Art Carney

AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE HONEYMOONERS. IN BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR. The Jackie Gleason Show. The Color Honeymooners. Collection 1. Directed by Frank Bunetta. 1966. Also The Jackie Gleason Show 1956.

"The Honeymooners" began as a series of sketches on Cavalcade of Stars, then on Jackie Gleason's own program. In 1955 the sketches metamorphosed into a half hour series, The Honeymooners, that lasted one season and 39 episodes. Gleason decided to go back to a variety format, The Jackie Gleason Show, and returned again to the Honeymooners. Several of the episodes were turned into a musical story in which Ralph, Alice, Ed and Trixie win a trip around the world. In these Audrey Meadows revealed that she had a lovely singing voice, and Joyce Randolph could carry a tune as well.

About a decade later Gleason revived The Jackie Gleason Show complete with all of his old characters and the June Taylor Dancers, and also decided to do color remakes of the musical trip around the world. While Art Carney came back as Norton, Alice and Trixie were now played by Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean. These remakes essentially used the same scripts and the same songs. When these episodes proved successful, Gleason took a variety of old non-musical scripts (from the "Lost Honeymooners" episodes) and added new tunes to make additional episodes.

This story line has Ralph (Jackie Gleason), Ed (Art Carney), and their wives (Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean) going on an around-the-world tour after the boys win a slogan contest for the Flakey Wakey cereal company. As usual, the boys treat their much smarter wives abominably (you have to wonder why either woman would stay with them, but that's show biz!) Gleason and Carney could do no wrong for the Miami Beach audience, who ate up every double-take, fat joke, and put-down with delight, and much of the material was genuinely funny, although much was also routine. Gleason and Carney make an unbeatable team, and there's good support from the gals, although one misses Audrey Meadows' acerbic delivery in her performance as Alice in the original series. The first episode, as well as the second -- which has the group traveling on a cruise ship when the boys fall overboard -- are excellent, and the rest are hit or miss. There's a very funny segment with Robert Coote [Theater of Blood] in London where the gang do a television commercial (shades of the "Happy Housewife's Handy Helper," or whatever it was called) and the Jackie Gleason show is itself spoofed; and amusing moments when they encounter counterfeiters in France; blackmailers in Spain; a huge gorilla in Africa; a conniving "ghost" in an Irish castle (an especially silly episode); and when Ralph thinks Alice has an Italian lover who turns out to be a little boy (Jomar Cidoni). The songs are by Lyn Dudddy and Jerry Bresler, and they are at least serviceable, and often much better than that. (MacCrae and little Cidoni have a very charming and pretty number in the Italian episode, a new version of the same song from the black and white episode with Audrey Meadows and another talented young boy.) One could easily quibble about some of the things in these shows, but they are undeniably charming and well-acted and often very, very amusing.

All of the black and white musical shows were redone in color except for the episode in Berlin, where Ralph and Ed wander into Russian-controlled territory and wind up in prison. This is not one of the better episodes, but as usual it does have some pleasant tunes and funny material, such as when Ralph does a Russian dance for the assemblage. Overall, the color versions are somewhat better than the black and white originals; all are available on DVD.

Verdict: The Great One, his equally great sidekick, and lots of funny stuff. ***.

GREAT OLD EPISODE: HONEYMOONERS -- KING OF THE CASTLE

Kane, Gleason, Carney and MacRae

The Honeymooners: "KING OF THE CASTLE." The Jackie Gleason Show. January 7th, 1967.

"I always have to sleep in the kitchen. When your mother comes, I sleep in the kitchen. When your Aunt Ethel comes, I sleep in the kitchen. It's a good thing we don't have a cat. Because if we did he'd sleep in the kitchen. And I'd be in a box out in the hall!" -- Ralph Kramden.

In this episode of what has become known as the "Color Honeymooners," Ralph (Jackie Gleason) and Ed (Art Carney) get in trouble with their wives, Alice (Sheila MacRae) and Trixie (Jane Kean) after Ralph tells Ed to ignore a summons from Trixie. Ed should be, like Ralph, "the King of his castle," and the wives are just their subjects, or vassals. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the women, who move upstairs to Ed's apartment while the boys try to make do with beans for dinner on the floor below. The boys try various subterfuges to get the gals to apologize, which they have no intention of doing. Originally this was a black and white sketch in the "Lost Honeymooners" collection, but this version has color and songs in addition to the cast changes. Ralph and Ed warble the tuneful "King of the Castle" and "Alice, Come Home." All four players are terrific, with Gleason being his usual force of nature. Some years later the whole gang did a few Honeymooners Specials.

Verdict: Highly amusing battle of the sexes, but there's no doubt whatsoever who will win. ***.

THE FILMS OF GENE KELLY

THE FILMS OF GENE KELLY: Song and Dance Man. Tony Thomas. Introduction by Fred Astaire. Citadel Press; 1974.

This heavily illustrated tome is an excellent introduction to and authoritative dissection of the career of the man who was best known as a dancer, but who also made his mark with dramatic performances and as a film director of note. Kelly had a different style than that of his "rival," Astaire, one that might be described as more athletic, but both men were tops in their profession. Thomas delves into Kelly's musicals, such as Anchors Aweigh, Brigadoon, and Living in a Big Way; his "straight" performances in non-musicals such as The Black Hand, Christmas Holiday, and Inherit the Wind (in which he was excellent); and his hit-or-miss directorial assignments such as Gigot with Jackie Gleason, A Guide for the Married Man, and Hello Dolly with Barbra Streisand. Along the way we get Kelly's impressions of each film as well as behind-the-scenes details, and lots and lots of photographs. Although I was never an especially big admirer of Kelly's, this book made me look at him differently. Kelly originally made his mark starring in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey on Broadway -- much better casting than Frank Sinatra in the film version -- and it could be argued that he was one of those lucky people who got better-looking as they got older. Also included are Kelly's interesting remarks about gay dancers.

Verdict: Top-notch, informative, and intelligent look at the career of a great hoofer. ***1/2.

THE GREAT ONE

THE GREAT ONE: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason. William A. Henry III. Doubleday; 1992.

Henry has put together an excellent, unsparing, well-researched tome on the comic genius that celebrates his artistry but by no means glosses over the negative sides of his life and character. Gleason could be kind and generous, but he was also an egomaniac without brakes, an absentee, hardly devoted father, a lousy husband, and a braggart who claimed he could compose symphonies when he couldn't even read music. Henry, however, also makes it clear why “The Great One” was so great, and there are lots of interviews with and quotes from people who worked with Gleason, who could inspire as much affection as exasperation. Henry does a fine job of nailing down his subject. [Oddly, Henry seems unaware that many of the scripts for the Honeymooners musicals of the sixties were originally used for some of the sketches in the “lost episodes.” These truly lost one hour musicals, which have never been released on video or DVD, can now be seen on American Life cable, channel 153 in Manhattan, on Saturday and Sunday nights.]

Verdict: A good read and then some. ***1/2.