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Two Black Crows (Mack & Moran):
These vaudevillians split over creative differences (money)
while 'on top'. They eventually got back together but had by that time
already been upstaged by the Amos and Andy team. It is said that their
performances afterword lacked the zest which formerly made them a top-rate
act.
January 11, 1934: Car driven by Charlie Mack's wife, Myrtle Mack, has
a rear tire blow-out in Arizona while on their way to Hollywood. Charlie
Mack is killed instantly when the car topples over on top of him. George
Moran, Mack Sennett, and Myrtle escape with injuries. George Moran tries
to keep team going with several new partners later performing on U.S.O.
tours. George suffered a stroke and died August 1, 1949.
(1933 - photo by Harold Stein) |
Release Notes |
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Amos and Andy: |
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Charles Correll (left), Fred Allen (center),
Freeman Gosden (right)
[Texaco Star Theater, CBS, Wednesday, May 7, 9:00-10:00 p.m. EDST] |
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Freeman Gosden (left), John Edgar Hoover (center), Charles
Correll (right) - FBI-21-5; on the occasion of the team's visit to the
Bureau at Washington, D.C. |
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A scene from "Check and Double Check" |
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Bing Crosby: |
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Bogart, Der Bingle, and Bacall |
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Gary Moore, Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby |
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Burns and Allen: |
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Young George Burns and Gracie Allen |
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Frank Sinatra: |
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Frank Sinatra and Jimmy Durante on Old Gold program (large cigarette
pack hangs faintly in background) |
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Jack Benny: |
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Jack Benny and Mary Livingstone (rehersal?) |
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Mary Livingstone, Jack Benny and unknown man. |
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Jack Benny, Bogart, Bacall, and Mary Livingstone
(Lucky Strikes Means Fine Tobacco "L.S.M.F.T." in background). |
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Jimmy Stewart: |
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This pic always reminds me of Jimmy's superb
radio work on the "Six Shooter." |
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Lum
and Abner: |
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Here's one of Lum and Abner in full regalia
in the Jot 'Em Down Store doing their thing in front of the NBC mike. (This
is also the "Easter Egg" in the Almanac section now in case you
don't find it from there.)
The attached blurb on the back of the photo says "DESCRIPTION: Chet
Lauck and Norris Goff / PROGRAM: Lum and Abner / BROADCAST: NBC-Blue -
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, 6:30 p.m., EST" |
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If I have identified them correctly, they
are (left to right) - Robert Benchley, (?), Dorothy Lamour, Bob Wills (in
the hat), Charles Butterworth, Chester Lauck & Norris Goff, from
a 1943 Mail Call program. Thanks to Ruth Meyer for this beautiful photo
scan!! |
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Lum and Abner pose with Bob Wills (the King
of Western Swing), 1943, on the occasion of their performance together
on the Mail Call program. Abner (Norris Goff) was such a fan of Bob
Wills and the Texas Playboys that Bob dedicated the tune "San
Antonio Rose" to him (since he wore his copy out) on the Tiffany Transcription
version known as the "Lum and Abner Special." This tune can be
found on Rhino's Tiffany Transcription CD volume 4.
[Chet Lauck (left), Bob Wills (center), Norris Goff (right)] |
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A third photo from the 1943 Mail Call program.
This one is of Robert Benchley, Bob Wills, Charles Butterworth, and Chet
Lauck (Lum). |
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Abner and friends Andy Devine and wife dining
at the Wilshire Bowl (Brown Derby?)
[Norris Goff (left), Andy Devine (center), Andy Devine's wife (left)] |
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165 lb. watermelon used in Lum and Abner program
- Dick Huddleston (?) on left with two unknown men. I'm guessing the melon
was selected from a contest and the two men are possibly the judge and
owner of the melon, at a county fair. |
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Low-resolution colorized interpretation of
a classic photo image sent to fans. (GIF format). |
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An earlier and more rare premium photo sent to fans. |
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I don't need to tell you who these guys
are. |
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Chet Lauck makes the transition to Columbus
Eddards. |
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A NBC publicity shot of Chet and Tuffy
at the controls. |
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Chet and Tuffy at the CBS mike. |
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Blurb: "The Boys" poke fun at the
trick hat of their radio organist, Sibyl Chism. |
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The only time the comedy teams of Lum and
Abner, Amos and Andy, and Laurel and Hardy were photographed together.
[Chet Lauck, Norris Goff, Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll, Stan Laurel,
and Oliver Hardy] |
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Movie set Jot 'Em Down Store. Notice that
Lum appears to be partially made-up. |
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Another Jot 'Em Down Store: Chet and Tuffy
are pictured here in an early snapshot on stage with a painted back-drop
store. Photo reportedly taken in-between shows at an Indiana theatre. This
one is blown up a good bit -- the original photo is only about 1.5 x 2
inches. |
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Chet and Tuffy with script at table; CBS mic.
Interesting shot with pack of Lucky Strikes nearby. |
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Portrait of Chet and Tuffy, sans make-up. Nice promotional shot. |
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Lum and Abner in the
Movies
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Bashful Bachelor |
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From untitled pre-release promotional photo,
"LA2-Pub-A5: Lum and Abner (Chester Lauck and Norris Goff) and Louise
Currie aboard the Pine Ridge fire truck watch a horse race at the County
Fair in the next Lum and Abner picture, as yet untitled, to be released
by RKO Radio pictures. |
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Abner and Louise Curry in a fine pic from
Bashful Bachelor, courtesy of Ruth Meyer. Nice shot showing store interior/dry
goods. (Also Mr. Dilbeck and rabbits, which you may remember from the 05-29-1941
to 06-17-1941 radio episodes.) Thank you Ruth! |
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A likeness of Louise Curry from another movie. |
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Dreaming Out Loud
Post Pictures Corp. presents Lum and Abner, The Famous
Radio Stars in "DREAMING OUT LOUD" with Frances Langford, Bobs
Watson and Phil Harris. |
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Publicity Still. |
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Blurb attached to photo: DO-27 Clara Blandick,
Abner, and Donald Briggs are shown in a scene from "Dreaming Out Loud,"
Voco's production for RKO Radio Release. Lum and Abner star in this film
of life in Pine Ridge, a small town in the Ozarks. -- Photo by Emmett Schoenbaum,
1940.] |
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Lum and Abner with child star Bobs Watson. |
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As with other publicity shots, this staged
photo isn't totally in keeping with the movie scene. I believe this
represents the scene in which Lum is trying to talk on the phone and repeatedly
has to shush Abner, who is playing checkers with himself. |
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Two
Weeks To Live
Post Pictures Corp. presents Lum & Abner,
The Famous Radio Stars in "TWO WEEKS TO LIVE"
with Franklin Pangborn and Rosemary La Planche.
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Goin' To Town
Post Pictures Corp. presents Lum and Abner, The Famous
Radio Stars in "GOIN' TO TOWN" with Barbara Hale, Florence
Lake and N.T.G. with His Hollywood Beauties.
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Partners in Time
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So This is Washington
 Blurb:
Chet Lauck and Tuffy Goff (Lum and Abner) like the bucolic atmosphere of
Pine Ridge intermixed with a bit of modern urban sophistication in their
pictures---and they got this in "Dollar A Year Man" which swings
them into cosmopolitan Washington, D.C. Here are Roger Clark and Mildred
Coles, a romantic team, who supply the big town touch. [This must've been
a pre-publicity photo; notice the suggested title 'Dollar A Year Man'.]
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SAX ROHMER:
Author of mysteries, Sax Rohmer and his wife, author Elizabeth Rohmer,
are depicted here aboard the S.S. Majestic as they arrive in New York City,
September 21, 1932. The radio show "The
Shadow of Fu Manchu" was patterned after his most
popular series of tales.
Back of the photo reads:
"630577..WATCH YOUR CREDIT...INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO SLUG..(MR.-MRS.
SAX ROHMER)
SPINNER OF MYSTERY YARNS ARRIVES FROM ENGLAND----
NEW YORK.....SAX ROHMER, WELL KNOWN AUTHOR OF MYSTERY STORIES, AND MRS.
ROHMER, AS THEY ARRIVED FROM ENGLAND TODAY (WEDNESDAY.) MR. ROHMER IS PERHAPS
BEST KNOWN FOR HIS POPULAR "DR. FU MANCHU" STORIES. PS-9-21-32/3-05"
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