Broadway’s Funny Year: 1948

I wish that I could climb into a time machine and ride freely on the time currents to 1948.  My arrival in this time period would undoubtedly provide me with wondrous opportunities.  I could head to Yankee Stadium to see Joe DiMaggio hit three consecutive home runs.  I could attend Harry Truman's dedication of the Idlewild airport.  I could, if determined enough, wrangle a test ride in a Tucker 48 Sedan.  But I don't have a great interest in baseball, airports, or cars.  I see those things as having far less value than a man who can stand before a theatre audience of a thousand or more and use a funny line or a funny expression to get the audience to choke the building with laughter.  That is, indeed, something special to witness.  The sole reason that I would travel back to 1948 would be so that I could enjoy one of the best years of comedy on the Broadway stage.  In 1948, the Broadway season was saved by three burlesque veterans - Bobby Clark, Bert Lahr and Phil Silvers.  Clark followed a long run in "Sweethearts" with an even longer run (414 performances) in "As the Girls Go."  Lahr starred in "Burlesque," which ran for 439 performances.  Silvers topped them all with 727 performances of "High Button Shoes."  One newcomer, Sid Caesar, joined Broadway’s illustrious comedy ranks with 429 performances of "Make Mine Manhattan."

It is with great pleasure that I now offer a pictorial tribute to the comic heroes of this bygone Broadway era. 


Phil Silvers in "Top Banana"

Silvers with Jack Albertson

Silvers with Joey Faye and Rose Marie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobby Clark

"All Men Are Alike" (October 6, 1941 – November 1, 1941)

A. P. Kaye, Reginald Denny, Jeraldine Dvorak and Clark

Clark with Cora Witherspoon

Clark with Jeraldine Dvorak

Clark with Lillian Bond

Clark with Cora Witherspoon and Reginald Denny

Ethel Morrison, Clark and Reginald Denny

Reginald Denny, Ethel Morrison and Clark

Reginald Denny, Lillian Bond and Clark

"The Rivals" (January 14, 1942 - February 28, 1942)

Clark with Mary Boland and Walter Hampden

"Star and Garter" (June 24, 1942 – December 4, 1943)

"Mexican Hayride" (January 28, 1944 - March 17, 1945)

"The Would-Be Gentleman" (January 9, 1946 - March 16, 1946)

"Sweethearts (January 21, 1947 - September 27, 1947) 

"As the Girls Go" (November 13, 1948 - January 14, 1950)

Clark with Irene Rich

 

Clark with Gregg Sherwood and Truly Barbara

Bert Lahr

"Life Begins at 8:40" (August 27, 1934 - March 16, 1935)

"DuBarry was a Lady" (December 6, 1939 - December 12, 1940)

Lahr with Betty Grable

Lahr with Frances Williams

Lahr with Ethel Merman

Benny Baker, Betty Grable and Bert Lahr

"Seven Lively Arts" 1944 (December 7, 1944 - May 12, 1945)

Lahr with Beatrice Lillie

"Burlesque" (December 25, 1946 - January 10, 1948)

"Two on the Aisle" (July 19, 1951 - March 15, 1952)

"Hotel Paradiso" (April 11, 1957 - July 13, 1957)

"The Beauty Part" (December 26, 1962 - March 09, 1963)

"Foxy" (February 16, 1964 - April 18, 1964)

Between his Broadway shows, Lahr managed to find time for films and television.

Lahr with Charlotte Greenwood in Flying High (1931)

 

 

Lahr with Claudette Colbert in Zaza (1938)

Lahr with Joan Davis and Shirley Temple in Just Around the Corner (1938)

Lahr with Patsy Kelly in Sing Your Worries Away (1942)

Lahr with Virginia Mayo in Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)

Lahr with (left to right) Vince Edwards, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Max "Slapsie Maxie"' Rosenbloom in Mister Universe (1951).

 

The Second Greatest Sex (1955)

Lahr with Stanley Holloway in TV version of "The Fantastiks" (1964)

"Ed Sullivan Show" (1967)

The Night They Raided Minskys (1968)

"Vive" (January 18, 1953)

Vaudeville historian Frank Cullen wrote, "[Clark] made a few television appearances, including a maddeningly dull William Saroyan playlet on Omnibus in which Bobby and Bert Lahr were directed to sit on stools and spout pseudo-French."

Clark and Lahr sneer at Omnibus host Alistair Cooke.

Comedy court adjourned.