Look Who's Working

The weather remained lovely today, warm and windy and dry. I took advantage of Mother Nature's good mood and went for a nice little walk. I strolled down to West Clinton, past the Oaklyn Public School, and into the neighborhood behind Kendall Boulevard. Though the grass is still a little brown, it does look better than it did this time last month, thanks to the storms we've had recently. The gardens, with their tall, slender phlox and bright Black-Eyed Susans, were much perkier, too. It was so nice, I saw someone fishing on the dock on the end of Goff Avenue.

When I got home, I spent the rest of the morning working on the last disc of movies I taped off of cable in college. A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum is an adaptation of the 1962 Broadway hit. Zero Mostel is the slave of innocent young Michael Crawford who promises to set him free...if he can get him the pretty young courtesan next door. This sets off a wild free-for-all of wacky jokes and wackier songs. Zero Mostel and long-time favorite of mine Jack Gilford shine as the slaves trying to make Crawford happy; Phil Silvers (who played Mostel's role in a 1972 revival) is the owner of the house of courtesans who has already sold the girl to a brutal warrior. This was the final film for comedy legend Buster Keaton, who plays the old man searching for his children who were lost to pirates.

(Actually, the best thing about this film may be the cinematography and art direction. The earthy, dusty Rome that's the backdrop for the movie is one of the most realistic uses of this famous Italian city I've ever seen.)

Went right into Look Who's Laughing after Funny Thing ended. Another farce with lots of familiar faces, this one turns from vaudeville to radio for its cast. Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy headline a crew that includes Jim and Marion Jordan (of Fibber McGee and Molly), Harold "The Great Gildersleeve" Peery, and Lucile Ball somewhere between glamor girl and goofy girl mode. While Gildersleeve was already a spin-off of the McGees, I have to give the writers credit for managing to concoct a decent plot that landed Bergen and McCarthy in the McGees' home-town Wistful Vista to attempt to open an airplane factory. Ball is Bergen's protective secretary.

Oh, and this is one of two films I'm transferring to disc that someone else taped for me. My friend Rita Widmer sent me this copy when I expressed interest in the shows in question after hearing episodes of Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, and The Chase and Sandborn Hour on old-time radio sets. For those of you who are equally big old-time radio fans, the Warners Archive just released it as part of a 3-movie set honoring Lucile Ball's 100th birthday.

Work was busier than yesterday early on, but died pretty quickly after the rush hour petered out. Otherwise, it was the same as yesterday. I didn't need much after work, either. Just grabbed a small round steak, some stew meat, the Acme's generic shredded wheat (it was on sale and I had a coupon), yogurt, and eggs (the latter were also on sale).

My schedule next week is somewhat better, though still a little hectic. Once again, I only have one day off, but the other days are shorter and there's only one day that's until 9, next Saturday.