Among Ann Blyth’s many radio appearances, her guest spot as
a foil for Charlie McCarthy is particularly delightful—not only does she get
into comedy skits, but here you have a chance to hear her lovely singing voice. The
Charlie McCarthy Show aired April 25, 1954 on CBS radio. Ann performs two songs on the show. First up is “Young at Heart.”
Charlie flirts with Ann, but she reminds him she’s now
married to a doctor.
Edgar Bergen, Charlie’s “alter ego” (or is that the other
way around?), is called to jury duty, so Charlie helms the show by himself
(along with Mortimer Snerd, Jack Kirkland, Paul Frees, and Ray Noble and his
Orchestra) and offers a speed-view spoof of an entire day of radio programming,
including fake commercials. Ann joins in
on the fun in a soap opera, as a commercial announcer, and in a take on “From
Here to Eternity.” She also takes the part of cooking show host with a fluttery
ladies club voice, and is a game show contestant with a completely different
tone of voice, more like a Brooklyn telephone operator—demonstrating her remarkable
vocal range and her skill at comedy.
Speaking of vocal range, Ann next launches into a really
lovely rendition of “It’s a Grand Night for Singing.” The announcer Bill Baldwin reminds us that
Ann Blyth can now be seen in the motion picture The Student Prince.
The half-hour program, now in public domain, can be heard at this link here.
For a selected list of Ann’s radio performances, see the
appendices of my book, Ann Blyth:
Actress. Singer. Star.
No comments:
Post a Comment