Silent films had no synchronized dialogue, music, or sound effects. And unlike the projectors we rarely hear in today’s theaters, the ones used back then clattered like coffee cans full of lug nuts. They made such a racket that patrons complained they couldn’t enjoy the film they were trying to watch. Then one day, an impresario figured out that an agreeable sound could be used to drown out a disagreeable one.
Who Were Fibber McGee and Molly?
The Library of Congress Collection of Silent Film Scores and Arrangements website tells us that having a piano play in the theater – even better, a Wurlitzer – was a great way to mask the annoying projector noise or at least distract from it. The Silent Film Era lasted until inventors developed a machine able to synchronize sounds with images in the mid-1920s.
The first radio shows were broadcast live, in front of live audiences
This was the complete opposite of silents because radio was all sounds and no pictures. With no pictures, people used their imaginations to “see” the actors and the scenes.
Back in the days before television, radio was how nearly half of all Americans got their live news and entertainment
Orchestras played live and in person in studios and actors played comedies and dramas live on stages. All the words and sounds were broadcast exactly as they happened, including the mistakes. Live audiences in the studios watched and listened to the announcers, actors, and musicians while reacting spontaneously to the things they heard and saw with laughs, gasps, moans, groans, and guffaws.
Another man (back then you can be certain it was a man) was on stage but had no speaking part
He had a box full of things he used to make lots of different noises. He made the sound of a crackling campfire by wrinkling pieces of cellophane, for example. The sound-maker followed the same script as the actors, adding sirens, screeching tires, and gunfire as the cops chased the robbers through the city. All on cue, just as if it was a musical score directing musicians what to play and when.
Thus began the history of what are called sound effects
Adding artificially-created sounds to stories made radio seem more real back in the prehistoric pre-video days. One of the most famous radio sound effects is a recurring gag in Fibber McGee & Molly’s 1935 situation comedy that ran for more than 1,200 episodes.
Part of the humor was being in on the joke, knowing what’s coming making the gag all the funnier
Here’s a 27-second clip of the TV version of their show so you get the idea of how every program ended. McGee, who is always looking for something he’s misplaced, finally looks in the hall closet.
As soon as he opens the door, the landslide begins, the closet disgorging an avalanche of more things than a closet could possibly hold. As the bumping and banging went on, I pictured its cousin, the tiny car at the circus that spews more clowns than it could possibly hold.
When the last piece finally hits the floor, the old Fibster got one last laugh when he said, “I’ve gotta clean out that closet one of these days.”
Like so many comedy teams, Fibber and Molly were a contrast of types
Fibber was eccentric and foolish. Molly was “normal” and sensible. Molly was the straight man.* and Fibber was the unusual character. Straight men are the stabilizing presence of comic duos. Molly was the adult and Fibber was the child.
Most straight men set up jokes for the comedian by being ordinary
This provides contrast that makes the lead comedian appear even funnier by comparison.** Another term for straight man is comedic foil, in spite of it sounding like something you wrap jokes in before you put them in the refrigerator.
Next time you’re at an informal gathering, take over as emcee
Split the group into teams however you see fit and have them take Perfesser Mango’s Comedy Quiz. Best to score after each one and keep a running total of right and wrong. Hint: We’ve established a correlation between grey hair and contests involving small bits of history. If you’re one of the captains, choose wisely.
The Official Perfesser Mango’s Comedy Quiz
For each of these comedic duos, who was the straight man?
- George Burns and Gracie Allen
- Bob Hope and Bing Crosby
- Dan Rowan and Dick Martin
- Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
- Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara
- Mike Nichols and Elaine May
- Lou Abbot and Bud Costello (I always get that wrong. It’s Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.)
- Tom Smothers and Dick Smothers
- Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks
- Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
- Felix Unger and Oscar Madison
- Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman
- Marty Allen and Steve Rossi
- Batman and Robin
- Cheech and Chong
- Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
- Lavern and Shirley
- Sonny and Cher
- Bob and Ray
- Wilbur and Mr. Ed
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Semi-official Unproofed Scorer’s key: George, Bing, Dan, Dean, Jerry, Mike, Bud, Carl, Stan, Felix, Carol, Marty, Steve, Robin, Chong, Desi, Shirley, Sonny, Bob, Wilbur.
Bonus
Just like our muscles, our imaginations need exercise to grow stronger
Without pictures to watch, listeners in the horse and buggy days used their own imaginations to visualize the actors, singers, and musicians. Compare this with Young Moderns who pay to use other people’s imaginations because they have so little of their own.
Because radio personalities were never seen, they didn’t have to be attractive
They didn’t have to look like the characters they played, either. This was how a short fat bald man who later chased criminals on foot with sub-Oprah Winfrey speed was able to play the role of the radio Matt Dillon. But when TV came along, performers’ appearances became important. Matt Dillon was now played by a 6-foot 7-inch tall, broad-shouldered and convincingly Western man named James Arness.
Roy Orbison was doomed as a stage performer
Teen girls adored him until they got a look at a guy who was no one’s idea of a heartthrob. In addition to not being a looker, he was a fella with a pasty complexion made even worse by the sunglasses no one else wore indoors in those days.
The contrast of his unhealthy-looking white skin with that pompadoured hair so unnaturally black that it looked like a shiny plastic helmet missing was a chin strap and buckle.
Roy sang ballads, mostly, with a soaring, heavenly voice
Blue Bayou was Roy’s first big hit. Years later, Linda Ronstadt repopularized it with her own version. Singers, musicians, studio engineers, record producers, and people with ears say it’s a tie as to who had the sweetest voice. I say listen to both and withhold judgment until you hear how each squeezes out the very last note.
As if having heavenly voices wasn’t enough, both could really belt it out, too
Here’s the live stage version recorded by Roy when he was 52. Joining him onstage were Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and many more of Roy’s lifelong musician friends.
Here’s Linda, recorded live. Bill Lance was the video recording engineer that night, and here’s how he told it in a YouTube post:
@billlance387 “I was the video recording engineer for this concert at the Atlanta Civic Center in 1977. After the show, Linda and her band knocked on the door (!) of my little tape truck and asked if they could watch the tape, so they and I sat together and watched the show. Linda is so unassuming and such a beautiful person. I remember talking to Don Grolnick, the piano player, who played the show with a broken hand. It was a great show, and a great memory for me, but I never thought this recording would live on 40+ years later.”
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*Jerry Seinfeld had an annoyingly whiny, nasal voice. To distract from this, he and Larry David hired Jason Alexander to play an even whinier and more annoying character. To make the distance between them even more obvious, they wrote the George character as short, chubby, bald, dimwitted, etc, etc. Speaking of the TV show, no, Kramer’s Dr. Van Nostrand is not a member of the immediate family.
** Sorry, word police (with or without the comma), that was the label back then, and is thus period-correct. No anachronisms here.
