The early 1950s saw a plethora of musical-comedy entertainment shows--one of which was "Four Star Revue". It was called 'four star' because four different television stars took turns hosting the program (Jimmy Durante, Danny Thomas, Jack Carson and Ed Wynn). And, like the other similar shows of the day, it was in many ways a look into the 1930s and 40s days of vaudeville. The format, aside from the commercials, was pretty much like a stage show--with lots of musical acts, some silly comedy and songs. We really have nothing like it today but it is an interesting time capsule to some bygone days.
This particular episode is the final one of the 1950-1951 season for host Jimmy Durante. His own particular style of humor is something you might like but it may take some getting used to if you aren't familiar. Durante sang a lot--that was his schtick. However, he was NOT a good singer nor was that his intention. Instead, he had a certain likability and charm as he sang and his comedy was also quite nice. I particularly liked how he OFTEN talked about how this was a TV show and often stepped out of the fourth wall, so to speak. He was joined by two guests, Fred Allen (who was far less caustic than normal--hence I didn't enjoy him as much as usual) and Eddie Cantor, an amazingly talented guy who made a HUGE mark on not just vaudeville but Broadway. If you look closely, you'll also see Abe Vigoda before he was a star and before he looked 178 years old (he plays a cabbie). The show features a funny monologue, a rather funny gay joke that probably won't offend anyone, a silly but not super-funny skit about Bali, one of the most amazing dancers I've ever seen and something VERY rare on 1950s TV-- Durante curses accidentally when he screws up a song! Being a live show, they weren't able to erase that and I am sure a few folks at NBC were not thrilled about that!
I enjoyed this musical extravaganza for several reasons. I liked the stars so it was nice seeing what they could do on TV (I'd only seen them in films). It also is a wonderful time capsule--and me being a retired history teacher, it's the sort of thing that gets me excited! And, it can be downloaded from archive.org.
This particular episode is the final one of the 1950-1951 season for host Jimmy Durante. His own particular style of humor is something you might like but it may take some getting used to if you aren't familiar. Durante sang a lot--that was his schtick. However, he was NOT a good singer nor was that his intention. Instead, he had a certain likability and charm as he sang and his comedy was also quite nice. I particularly liked how he OFTEN talked about how this was a TV show and often stepped out of the fourth wall, so to speak. He was joined by two guests, Fred Allen (who was far less caustic than normal--hence I didn't enjoy him as much as usual) and Eddie Cantor, an amazingly talented guy who made a HUGE mark on not just vaudeville but Broadway. If you look closely, you'll also see Abe Vigoda before he was a star and before he looked 178 years old (he plays a cabbie). The show features a funny monologue, a rather funny gay joke that probably won't offend anyone, a silly but not super-funny skit about Bali, one of the most amazing dancers I've ever seen and something VERY rare on 1950s TV-- Durante curses accidentally when he screws up a song! Being a live show, they weren't able to erase that and I am sure a few folks at NBC were not thrilled about that!
I enjoyed this musical extravaganza for several reasons. I liked the stars so it was nice seeing what they could do on TV (I'd only seen them in films). It also is a wonderful time capsule--and me being a retired history teacher, it's the sort of thing that gets me excited! And, it can be downloaded from archive.org.