Guest Appearances by 1940s Hollywood Actresses

[Roman]

I was listening the other day to a program where Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Jeanne Crain, and Jinx Falkenburg were Jack's dates to the premiere of his movie. What struck me was how affected all of these actresses sounded. They all sounded like they had graduated from fancy prep schools and were in their 50s or 60s (instead of their 20s and 30s). What a contrast with Mary's very natural speaking style. I've thought the same thing when other actresses appeared such as Barbara Stanwyck. Of course, it's not just limited to actresses. Ronald Colman, Herbert Marshall, and other actors also had an overly affected way of speaking (at least by today's standards). But while this is true of some actors, it was true of ALL of the actresses who guested on the show.

Today, this sort of finishing school diction has gone out the window and, for better or worse, today's actresses sound pretty much like everyone else when they're interviewed on The Tonight Show or David Letterman.

One of the reasons Jack Benny's program works for modern audiences is because the cast is talking in a natural informal way. But everytime a 1940s Hollywood actress appeared, the illusion is temporaily lifted and we're reminded that we're listening to a recording from a different era.

[Gerry O.]

I was listening the other day to a program where Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, Jeanne Crain, and Jinx Falkenburg were Jack's dates to the premiere of his movie. What struck me was how affected all of these actresses sounded. They all sounded like they had graduated from fancy prep schools and were in their 50s or 60s (instead of their 20s and 30s). What a contrast with Mary's very natural speaking style. I've thought the same thing when other actresses appeared such as Barbara Stanwyck. Of course, it's not just limited to actresses. Ronald Coleman, Herbert Marshall, and other actors also had an overly affected way of speaking (at least by today's standards). But while this is true of some actors, it was true of ALL of the actresses who guested on the show.

Today, this sort of finishing school diction has gone out the window and, for better or worse, today's actresses sound pretty much like everyone else when they're interviewed on The Tonight Show or David Letterman.

One of the reasons Jack Benny's program works for modern audiences is because the cast is talking in the natural informal way we talk today. But everytime a 1940s Hollywood actress appeared, the illusion is temporaily lifted and we're reminded that we're listening to a recording from a different era.

An interesting observation, but to be fair, many of those "Golden Age" Hollywood actresses came up from tough, dirt-poor beginnings and HAD to study diction in order to lose their naturally tough-sounding accent.

(For instance, Alice Faye sounds very cultured and refined when she talks on her radio programs with Phil Harris, but she was born and raised in a tough "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood and had to lose a "Dead End Kid" way of speaking).

Many of today's actresses don't have the tough poverty-stricken roots that those earlier actresses had....Many of those "Old Hollywood" gals had to overcome a lot to become "Hollywood Royalty".

In a way, having those actresses talk with that "Oh, so veddy cultured" way of speaking made it even funnier when Jack would chase after them....You just KNEW that the poor guy was out of his league and didn't stand a chance!

[LLeff]

Ronald Coleman, Herbert Marshall, and other actors also had an overly affected way of speaking (at least by today's standards). But while this is true of some actors, it was true of ALL of the actresses who guested on the show.

Not only is there a pure diction aspect to the voices, but there's also the tonal qualities in so many (if not most) of the radio actors/actresses of the era. You sit up and take notice when you hear someone that has a "radio voice". There's something about it that the microphone likes, and the balance of frequencies gets transmitted well. In more modern terms, I'm thinking of people like Casey Kasem or John Tesch (I also heard the segment on the stamp from Jim Bohannon's show a couple days ago, and he's got it as well).

On the Benny show, I think actors Joe Kearns and Wil Wright as the IRS agents exemplify this well. When Wright is introduced, his sort of flat "How do you do" rumbles right through and creates the instant image of a guy in a trenchcoat and hat with the brim pulled down...someone you don't want to mess with. Both the pure tonal quality and being able to create that much pathos with a single, semi-meaningless line is mostly lost today, when most of our entertainment media have accompanying visuals.

[shimp scrampi]

IOne of the reasons Jack Benny's program works for modern audiences is because the cast is talking in the natural informal way we talk today. But everytime a 1940s Hollywood actress appeared, the illusion is temporaily lifted and we're reminded that we're listening to a recording from a different era.

Wow, this is very, very true and something I hadn't thought of much. Marlon Brando's breakthrough movies in the '50s are commonly cited as the day the clipped, actorly, faintly British patois died.

As Vincent Price said, you either "learned to mumble or you bloody well went into costume pictures!"

You can still hear some lingering traces in some comedy performers (I'm thinking of females) who bridged this gap - Eve Arden on Our Miss Brooks, and even Lucille Ball maintains a bit of her '40s starlet clear diction - and though I like them both very much, they do always come off as more "stagey" than Jack, Mary & Co.

[FrankNelson]

In a way, having those actresses talk with that "Oh, so veddy cultured" way of speaking made it even funnier when Jack would chase after them....You just KNEW that the poor guy was out of his league and didn't stand a chance!

Very true!

[epeterd]

I have a question about this episode that doesn't have to do with the diction. I just heard it a couple days ago on my cd from OTRCAT and I was curious about why Jack and Rochester were the only show regulars there. What happened to everyone else?

[Gerry O.]

I have a question about this episode that doesn't have to do with the diction. I just heard it a couple days ago on my cd from OTRCAT and I was curious about why Jack and Rochester were the only show regulars there. What happened to everyone else?

I used to wonder the same thing when I owned my FIRST cassette recording of that show. That version had the opening from a regular "Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny" show tacked onto the beginning of the story, and the show faded out when the story was completed.

A few years later I acquired a complete, better-sounding recording of that same show....and discovered that it wasn't an episode of Jack's regular program at all, but rather an episode of the AFRS series "MAIL CALL". "Mail Call" was like AFRS' other series "Command Performance" and "G.I. Journal" in that it featured different stars each week.

[epeterd]

Thanks. That makes more sense. The website doesn't list the date, just mentions that it's supposedly from 1944. It's right in the middle of the CD though, after the last episode of 1943.