1945 film adaptation of Duffy's Tavern

Duffy's Tavern, an American radio situation comedy (CBS, 1941-1942; NBC-Blue Network, 1942-1944; NBC, 1944-1952), often featured top-name stage and film guest stars but always hooked those around the misadventures, get-rich-quick-scheming, and romantic missteps of the title establishment's malaprop-prone, metaphor-mixing manager, Archie, played by the writer/actor who co-created the show, Ed Gardner. Image File history File linksMetadata Duffysmovie. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Duffysmovie. ... This article is about a genre of comedy. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American radio and television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... This article is about the television network. ... Ed Gardner - American Actor Married Shirley Booth in 1929 and the two were divorced in 1942. ...

In the show's familiar opening, "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," either solo on an old-sounding piano or by a larger orchestra, was interrupted by the ring of a telephone and Gardner's New Yorkese accent as he answered, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie the manager speakin'. Duffy ain't here — oh, hello, Duffy." When Irish Eyes Are Smiling is a lighthearted song in tribute to Ireland. ...

Duffy, the owner, was never heard (or seen, when a film based on the show was made in 1945 or when a bid to bring the show to television was tried in 1954). But Archie always was — bantering with Duffy's man-crazy daughter, Miss Duffy (played by several actresses, beginning with Gardner's real-life first wife, Shirley Booth); with Eddie, the waiter/janitor (Eddie Green); and, especially, with Clifton Finnegan (Charlie Cantor), a likeable soul with several screws loose and a knack for falling for every other salesman's scam. This article is about motion pictures. ... Shirley Booth (August 30, 1898 – October 16, 1992) was an acclaimed American actress. ...

Guest stars

The show featured many high-profile guest stars, including Fred Allen, Mel Allen, Nigel Bruce, Bing Crosby, Boris Karloff, Veronica Lake, Bob Hope, Peter Lorre, Tony Martin, Gene Tierney, Arthur Treacher, Alan Ladd, Marie McDonald, and Shelley Winters. As the series progressed, Archie slipped in and out of a variety of quixotic, self-imploding plotlines — from writing an opera to faking a fortune to marry an heiress. Such situations mattered less than did the show's quietly clever depiction of earthbound-but-dreaming New York City life and its individualistic, often bizarre characters. He has eyes like Venetian blinds and a tongue like an adder — radio/television critic John Crosby about humourist Fred Allen, portrayed here by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. ... Mel Allen (1955) Mel Allen (February 14, 1913 – June 16, 1996) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. ... Nigel Bruce (left) with Basil Rathbone in a promotional photo for their Sherlock Holmes film series William Nigel Ernle Bruce (September 4, 1895 – October 8, 1953), usually credited as Nigel Bruce, was a British character actor, best known as Dr. Watson in a series of films and a radioseries starring... Harry Lillis Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. ... Boris Karloff (born William Henry Pratt) (London, November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969) was an English actor, who immigrated to Canada in the 1910s, best known for his roles in horror films and the creation of Frankensteins monster in 1931s Frankenstein. ... Veronica Lake (November 14, 1919[1] – July 7, 1973) was a popular American film actress and pin-up model who enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim, especially for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s. ... Bob Hope, KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was an English-Born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel, well known for his good natured humor and career longevity. ... Peter Lorre (June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964), born László Löwenstein, was an Hungarian[1] - Austrian - American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner. ... Tony Martin (born December 25, 1912) is an American actor and traditional pop singer. ... Gene Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. ... Arthur Treachers Fish and Chips is a fast food seafood restaurant chain with, as of 2003, 177 stores which serve fish and chips. ... Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – November 7, 1964) was an American film actor. ... Marie McDonald (July 6, 1923 – October 21, 1965) was an American singer and actress born with the name Cora Marie Frye in Burgin, Kentucky. ... Shelley Winters (August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. ... Quixotism (IPA: [ˈkwɪksəˌtɪzm]) is the description of a person or an act that is caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals. ...

Duffy's Tavern was Gardner's creation, and he oversaw its writing intently enough, drawing also on his earlier experience as a successful radio director. His directing credits included stints for George Burns and Gracie Allen, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and The Rudy Vallee Hour. Gardner also brought aboard several keen writing talents, including theatric humourist Abe Burrows (the show's co-creator and head writer for its first five years), future M*A*S*H writer Larry Gelbart, and Dick Martin (later famed as the co-host of television's groundbreaking Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In). George Burns[1], born Nathan Birnbaum (January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996), was an American comedian and actor. ... Gracie Allen (July 26, 1895[1] – August 27, 1964) was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns. ... Rudy Vallee (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular United States singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. ... Abe Burrows on Match Game Abe Burrows (December 18, 1910 – May 17, 1985), was a noted American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage, particularly Broadway. ... M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, inspired by the 1968 novel M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker (penname for H. Richard Hornberger) and its sequels, but primarily by the 1970 film MASH, and influenced by the... Larry Gelbart (b. ... Dick Martin (born January 30, 1922 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American comedian. ... Rowan & Martins Laugh-In was a United States comedy television show broadcast from January 22, 1968 through 1973 over the NBC network. ...

Title changes

Early in the show's life, however, its name was changed — first to Duffy and, for four episodes, Duffy's Variety. A staffer for Bristol-Myers (whose Ipana toothpaste was the show's early sponsor) persuaded the company's publicity director to demand the name change because the original title promoted "the hobby of drinking" too much for certain sensibilities. Bristol-Myers eventually admitted the staffer had little to go on other than a handful of protesting letters, and — to the delight of fans who never stopped using the original name, anyway — the original title was restored permanently. The name change was often subverted by the Armed Forces Radio Network; when the AFRN rebroadcast those episodes for U.S. servicement during World War II, the announcer referred to Duffy's Tavern. American Forces Network, or AFN - the acronym that its most commonly known as, is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) for its networks worldwide. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Film and television

Radio's Duffy's Tavern didn't translate well to film or television. Burrows and Matt Brooks collaborated on the screenplay for the 1945 film, Ed Gardner's Duffy's Tavern, in which Archie (with regulars Eddie and Finnegan) was surrounded by a throng of Paramount Pictures stars playing themselves, including Robert Benchley, William Bendix, Eddie Bracken, Bing Crosby, Cass Daley, Brian Donlevy, Paulette Goddard, Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Dorothy Lamour. The film's plot involves a war-displaced record manufacturer whose staff — those not sent off to war — drown their sorrows at Duffy's on credit, while the company owner tries to find ways around the price controls and war attrition that threaten to put him out of business. The movie was a box-office disappointment. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. ... William Bendix (January 14, 1906 - December 14, 1964) was an American film actor. ... Eddie Bracken (born February 7, 1915; died November 14, 2002) was an American comic actor. ... Harry Lillis Bing Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. ... Brian Donlevy in The Big Combo Brian Donlevy (born Waldo Bruce Donlevy on February 9, 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio, died April 6, 1972 in Woodland Hills, California) was an American actor, known for many film roles from the 1930s to the 1960s. ... Paulette Goddard (June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990),[1] an Oscar-nominated American film and theatre actress. ... Betty Hutton (born Elizabeth June Thornburg, February 26, 1921 – March 11, 2007[1]) was an American film actress and singer. ... Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – November 7, 1964) was an American film actor. ... Veronica Lake (November 14, 1919[1] – July 7, 1973) was a popular American film actress and pin-up model who enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim, especially for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s. ... Dorothy Lamour (December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American motion picture actress. ...

The 1954 syndicated TV series lacked leading name guest stars and, according to writer Larry Rhine, it was weighted by Gardner's inability to adapt to camera work: "He couldn't act, and he wouldn't learn camera... He thought he could do TV, so he left radio, but he was a bad actor and knew it." The series failed to gain viewer support.

Influence

Duffy's Tavern inspired a number of future TV series set in neighborhood taverns. Examples are Archie Bunker's Place, the low-keyed spinoff from the groundbreaking All in the Family, which moved the now-title character from the loading dock and the taxicab to running a blue-collar bar with his usual repertoire of malaprops. There was also the soap opera Ryan's Hope (whose title family oriented around tavern-owning Irish parents) and the 1980s situation comedy classic Cheers (which was co-created by James Burrows, the son of Duffy's Tavern writer Abe Burrows.) Duffy's Tavern may also have given Jackie Gleason inspiration for his "Joe the Bartender" sketches. These usually began with Joe (Gleason) in a conversation with an unseen patron, Mr. Dunahy, before being joined (usually at Dunahy's request) by a Finnegan-like, cheerful dolt, Crazy Guggenheim (Frank Fontaine). Archie Bunkers Place is an American sitcom originally broadcast on the CBS network, conceived in 1979 as a continuation of All in the Family. ... All in the Family is an acclaimed American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Ryans Hope was a soap opera which aired for fourteen years on ABC, from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989. ... This article is about the TV series. ... James Burrows is a prolific Jewish-American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s. ... Herbert John Jackie Gleason (February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor, and musician. ... Frank Fontaine (19 April 1920 – 4 August 1978) was a American comedian and singer. ...

Whether or not they were inspired by the radio show, there are numerous bars across the United States today that call themselves Duffy's Tavern — from Wickford, Rhode Island to Monterey, California. Wickford is a small village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. ... For other uses, see Monterey (disambiguation). ...

Listen to

• OTR Network Library: Duffy's Tavern (59 episodes)

References

• Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: Duffy's Tavern
• History of the Radio/TV series by Martin Grams Jr.
• Abe Burrows, Honest Abe: Is There Really No Business Like Show Business. (Boston: Atlantic Little, Brown.)

External links

• Duffy's Tavern at the Internet Movie Database
• Duffy's Tavern TV series at the Internet Movie Database