Comedy Books

Helmut Schwab's "Ten American Short Stories" are really great short stories! They are humanly touching, at times funny, romantic, surprising - but always very human! They let you see America and the world with new eyes.

Sidney Howard's "The Silver Cord" is a breathtaking drama about family relationships. It is most certainly NOT "a comedy" as described above; this is high drama with well-defined characters and some of the best dialogue an actor could hope to be given. Howard won the Pulitzer prize in 1924 for "They Knew What They Wanted" and followed during a busy writing period in which 6 other plays were penned before "The Silver Cord" which was produced by the Theatre Guild in 1926.

The play centers on Mrs. Phelps and her two sons, David and Robert. Mrs. Phelps was left a wealthy widow when the boys were little and has become the quintessential possessive mother. As the play opens, Hester is Robert's fiancée. David arrives home with his new wife of six months, Christina. David has not been home for over two years and pursued Christina during studies in Germany. This is the first visit since their marriage and Christina's first meeting with her mother-in-law. David is an architect who is trying to get hired to a firm in New York. His wife Christina is a biologist and is starting a job with the Rockefeller Institute in New York. Robert is a more retiring son, not quite sure how to find himself or identify his career.

The scene is set for a nice family gathering when in comes Mrs. Phelps. She immediately ignores her new daughter-in-law and fawns over her son Dave. Robert good-naturedly acknowledges his mother's preference for the other son. Mrs. Phelps immediately sets to work on her two sons. She splits up Christina and David into separate bedrooms, keeping David in the bedroom next to hers. She corners Hester and tells her that Robert doesn't really love her; and then proceeds to plant ideas in Robert's head that he might not really love Hester and should break off their engagement. She plants a long lingering kiss on Robert's lips. Obviously, Mrs. Phelps has issues.

Mrs. Phelps then corners Christina and totally nixes their plan to live in New York, citing that she knows her new daughter-in-law would not want to come between a mother & a son. She purposely mistakes Christina's job as a biologist as a "geologist" and offers to set her son up as an architect developing a plot of land she has held onto for a housing development. She denigrates Christina's occupation and then offers to help set her up in a laboratory in the local hospital where she can putter with a microscope that the high school didn't want anymore, but acknowledges that Christina will have to give preference to the "real doctors" and the nurses who use the lab as a closet. She then assumes how Christina can of course see that this would be preferable to the silly Rockefeller Institute in New York.

When Christina shares the news that she is pregnant, Hester is ecstatic, but Mrs. Phelps is morbid. Robert breaks up with Hester, allowing Mrs. Phelps now to focus on breaking up David's marriage. She convinces him to stay and work for her rather than go to New York. Hester tries to leave the house; and Mrs. Phelps yanks the telephone cord out of the wall rather than allow her to call a taxi and stay at a local hotel that might cause gossip in the community. Heather tries to leave the house in the middle of the night, but falls through the ice and almost drowns. Christina takes Hester's side and makes the waffling David make a choice between being his mama's boy or being her husband and a father to their baby. The last act has long bruising monologues that offer great conflict between two female nemeses.

"The Silver Cord" could seem somewhat dated, particularly in an age when cell phones have replaced the needs for landlines attached to the wall. But the relationships and sparkling dialogue make this a breathtaking drama. Bravo!

If you can take your racial slurs in stride and laugh then you will be amazed at the hummor in this play. I couldnt believe some of the things said in this play! Even being Jewish i laughed at it!

In his preface to this book, Carl Van Doren refers to Norman Corwin as being to radio what Marlowe was to the Elizabethan stage. Published in 1942, this is a compilation of 13 radio dramas written by Corwin between 1938 and the publishing of the book. He was just beginning his illustrious radio career at that time.

Norman Corwin was without peer in radio writing. And this book shows you why. In stories ranging from fanciful to funny, with serious and moving falling somewhere between, Corwin shows his unique talent for producing plays especially for radio. These are not adaptations from other media.

Corwin's reputation was so respected that whenever he came up with a new script, CBS would just tell him to go ahead and produce it. They put him on the air without commercial interruptions, and he almost always directed his own scripts.

He is the only writer in radio history to have one his plays simultaneously aired on all three radio networks at one time.

Included in this collection is the delightful "Plot to Overthrow Christmas", his first radio production. And it is written in poem format, a very unusual style for radio. Often the rhyme for a line would be spoken by another character, such as this brief exchange between Nero and a courier sent by the devil inviting Nero to a meeting in Hades.

Courier: Oh, you will be sitting in Row A, center, 'Tween Ivan the Terrible, the tormentor, and Circe.

Nero: Mercy! Why, they're both deranged!

Courier: Do you wish me to see if your seat can be changed?

This entire 30-minute drama must be read (or heard) for full appreciation.

Other works in this volume include the fantasy "The Odyssey of Runyon Jones", in which a young boy searches Heaven and Hell for his deceased dog; the satirical "Radio Primer" which pokes fun at the practices of radio stations; and the strongly worded epitaph to the Spanish Republic in which dictator Franco was handed the rule of the land, "They Fly Through the Air With the Greatest of Ease."

Each of the thirteen stories is a delight and readers may have fun by gathering friends together for readings. Everyone will enjoy and perhaps be amazed by the versatility and literary quality.

Corwin will not disappoint. He never did in the 1940's heyday of radio, and his work is just as vibrant as it was back then.

This comedy for 4 males, 1 female and 1 12 year-old boy tells the story of a New York writer who quits his writing job to raise his young nephew and do everything he has always wanted to do. His non-conformist ways soon attract the attention of social services who are concerned about the welfare of the child.

"Three Screen Comedies" is much more than an anthology which takes a few scripts, puts them under one cover, and republishes them. These weren't the shooting scripts but have been altered by Mr. Raphaelson to make them more readable and to reintroduce some bits that were cut from the finished movies. This said, this wouldn't be a bad book if republishing the scripts were all that it did. The screen comedies to which the title refers are: "Trouble in Paradise," "The Shop Around the Corner," and "Heaven Can Wait." In this reviewer's opinion, each screenplay would be a mega-hit in today's movie market.

One, in fact, is. "The Shop Around the Corner," which premiered in 1940 and starred Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart has been remade as "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. What were pen-pals in the original became e-mail "pals" in the update. Like the original, the remake is warm, funny, witty and has a happy ending.

The Warren Beatty movie, "Heaven Can Wait," shares nothing except the title with the original which starred Gene Tierney and Don Ameche. In the author's notes introducing "Heaven Can Wait" in the book under review, Raphaelson felt it necessary to comment that ""The title "Heaven Can Wait" has been used recently on a movie that in no way resembles our original film. I don't know why this was done."" A rather subtle understatement in my opinion.

What makes this book different than the run of the mill anthology are the insightful and informative introduction by Pauline Kael, the then movie critic for "The New Yorker," and the inclusion of Raphaelson's "Freundschaft: How It Was With Lubitsch and Me," which was originally published in "The New Yorker" in May of 1981. Both Kael's introduction and Raphaelson's "Freundschaft" could, among other things, serve as textbook examples of the workings of creative minds joined together in what they do best, creating.

"Freundschaft," arguably Raphaelson's finest piece of writing, was a memorial to Ernst Lubitsch (the incomparable producer/director of many outstanding movies). Raphaelson and Lubitsch worked together for thousands of hours, each feeding off the other's ideas, whims, and comic utterances, in the creation of 9 films spanning two decades, the 30's and 40's. Although Raphaelson was ostensibly the writer, and Lubitsch the director/producer, no such distinction seemed to exist when they collaborated. "Freundschaft," in addition to being a memorial to Lubitsch, is also the story of a collaborative relationship and an ode to a "love/hate/love" intellectual, emotional, creative relationship that is unique in the movie business.

I recommend this book for its screenplays, for Mrs. Kael's introduction and for Mr. Raphaelson's paean to Ernst Lubitsch. You can't go wrong on any of these counts, and having them all in one book is a real treat.

Austin Strong is the step-grandson of Robert Louis Stevenson. He had eleven shows that ran on Broadway, the most well-remembered of which is probably "Seventh Heaven," for which Janet Gaynor won an Oscar in the 1927 film version. "Three Wise Fools" opened on Broadway at the Criterion Theatre on October 31, 1918 and ran for almost a year. It's a sweet comedy with three gruff old geezers who are roommates, all prominent men in New York City, a lawyer, a banker and a judge. They think of themselves as "The Three Musketeers," one for all and all for one. All shared a romance with the same girl in their youth. However, she chose another. They receive news that she has died and asks her old noble friends to help take care of her daughter. Sidney Fairchild is a lovely young woman who wishes to study law. They take her into their home. She transforms the stuffy old place into a colorful place filled with flowers and joy. The banker's nephew Gordon falls in love with the beautiful Sidney. The complication arises when a criminal named Benny the Duck escapes from an Atlanta prison. He's spotted in New York and has vowed to kill the judge who put him away. As Sidney & the 3 wise fools are about to go to the opera, Benny the Duck enters and knocks out the butler. Sidney finds herself alone with the criminal; and we are surprised to find she's on a first-name basis with Benny. Sidney has become greatly attached to all three wise fools and blows the police whistle alerting the cops watching the house. Benny escaped the Atlanta pen with another criminal that we learn is none other than Sidney's father. To protect her dad, she helps Benny escape through a skylight. The final act works out with all misunderstandings resolved. We learn that love is stronger than appearances. The show is a sweet comedy that tugs on the heartstrings and is well worth revival on the American stage. Enjoy!

A great introduction to 10 different mystery shows with 2 episodes from each show. The set also includes a special 32-page booklet featuring rare photos and historical commentary.

The Clock
- Past or Present 03-30-47
- The Clock: Star-Crossed Lovers 04-13-47

Escape
- Evening Primrose w/ William Conrad 09-12-48
- Red Wine w/ Jeff Chandler 02-26-49

Inner Sanctum
- Mysteries Death Bound w/ Richard Widmark 02-03-47
- Death Demon w/ Everett Sloane 07-05-48

Lights Out
- Vengeance and Mac Rogan w/ Frank Lovejoy 02-02-43
- He Dug It Up w/ Joseph Kearns 02-09-43

Murder at Midnight
- Heavy Death 11-04-46
- Nightmare 11-11-46

Murder by Experts
- Summer Heat 06-13-49
- The Big Money 07-25-49

The Mysterious Traveler
- Death Is the Judge w/ Maurice Tarplin 06-15-47
- The Locomotive Ghost w/ Maurice Tarplin 07-06-47

The Sealed Book
- Devil Island w/ Philip Clarke 04-08-45
- Escape by Death w/ Philip Clarke 04-15-45

Suspense
- End of the Road w/ Glenn Ford 02-06-47
- The Thirteenth Sound w/ Agnes Moorehead 02-13-47

The Whistler
- Practically Foolproof w/ Bill Forman 09-03-44
- Local Storm w/ Bill Forman 09-10-44

A two act play with 3 scenes in each act for 5 males and 5 females. The plot concerns an older unmarried secretary who meets an attentive man while vacationing in Venice. When she finds out he is married and has children she is torn with the moral problem of whether to partake in a short affair.

'Titanic II' is a phenomenal comedy CD. Not only is the writing witty and clever, but the celebrity parodies are absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so hard at times I couldn't even breathe. The celebrity impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jack Nicholson, Sylvester Stallone and so many others are really quite amazing. If you like intelligent humor combined with a mix of zany characters, then this comedy CD is for you. Kudos to the talented people behind this incredible production!