BW - EP150—010: Easter Sunday 1944—Fred Allen Solves A Mystery & Takes Time Off For Hypertension

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

In the Spring of 1944, Fred Allen was finishing up his fourth season as host of The Texaco Star Theater on CBS. He’d been on the air for over a decade, but it was while he was hosting Texaco on December 6th, 1942 that Fred debuted Allen’s Alley. Allen used to read the newspaper column of O.O. McIntyre, called “Thoughts While Strolling.” McIntyre wrote about sights and sounds he’d met walking through the shabby streets of New York’s Chinatown and The Bowery. Allen felt that this kind of routine could come off very well on radio. A loud-mouth politician had possibilities. Actor Jack Smart voiced Senator Bloat. John Doe was another early character. Portrayed by John Brown, Doe was an average man squeezed by life from all angles. Alan Reed voiced Falstaff Openshaw, the poet. There was a Greek restaurant owner, an old maid, and a Russian. The segment was always launched with Portland Hoffa asking what question Alen had for the Alley occupants that week. Then they’d knock on various doors. Eventually many of these characters gave way to the most popular incarnation of the Alley with Minerva Pious’ jewish Mrs. Nussbaum, Peter Donald’s irish Ajax Cassidy, Kenny Delmare’s the Southern Senator Claghorn, and Parker Fennelly’s rural New England Titus Moody. The entire alley was allotted five minutes with laughter. Each character had seventy-five seconds for their lines. This was an issue because the program often ran overtime. It eventually caused the whole show to get cut off the air by network executives. The New York Herald-Tribune critic John Crosby later wrote that part of what made Fred's battles with censorship so difficult was that "the man assigned to review his scripts frankly admitted he didn't understand Allen's peculiar brand of humor at all." Regardless, the agency and network people couldn’t argue with Allen’s ratings. He was consistently a top-twenty show, and in April of 1944 he was being heard by more than thirteen million people. On Easter Sunday at 9:30PM New York time, his special guest was actor Reginald Gardiner. Together they presented a sketch spoofing Sherlock Holmes called Fetlock Bones. Unfortunately, the fight was getting to Fred Allen. After this season, Allen quit The Texaco Star Theater as high blood pressure forced him off the air.