Burns and Allen blowing up 'The Fourth Wall"

I always get a kick out of the two "Burns & Allen" tie-ins that appear in "The Honeymooners" "Classic 39".



Ronnie Burns had a prominent guest star spot as Wallace, the hipster with the hot rod ready to percolate, in the "Young at Heart" episode.

And in the crossword puzzle inspired debate over whether "gnat" is spelled with a "g", Norton chimes in that the fellow he works with in the sewer, Nat Birnbaum, doesn't spell it was a "g". Nat Birnbaum is, of course, George Burns' given name.

 

Breaking the fourth wall is always fun to me. I enjoy seeing George do it but my favorite was always after Mr. Roper would zing his wife.

 

I wish Sony would make these available, I would purchase even if on a steaming basis like Amazon Prime or on demand. But like Visit said I am sure Sony does not see the justification to spend the money.

 

The ultimate examples of "breaking the fourth wall" were the "Road" pictures with Hope and Crosby. They even broke it while singing!

 

I've always loved that song by Hope/Crosby. However I never noticed until today that immediately after singing the line about being signed to Paramount for 5 more years that Hope slyly holds up 2 fingers to the audience. Got a 21st century laugh from me.

Great thread - it is amazing how well Burns/Allen hold up today. Great cast, writing, and comic timing can't be beat.

 

Two-fingered salutes can mean a number of different things, but with Hope being a Brit by birth perhaps he got one over on the censors.

 

Olsen & Johnson's whole act was breaking the 4th wall. In one of their films one of them said 'I don't believe in ghosts' then turns to the camera and says 'of course I didn't believe in radio'

 

Then there's the '40 Looney Toon short where Charlie the Dog's rear end is on fire, and he's dragging his butt around the living room in a circle, franticly trying to put it out. Suddenly, he stops and looks at the "camera" and says, "Hey, I better stop this. I'm starting to LIKE it!"

 

Of course you realize Bugs Bunny means war...

 

"Like Mr. Webster's dictionary, we're Morocco-bound!"

One of the great Bob Clampett cartoons, "An Itch in Time." They put that gag in assuming the ratings board would make them cut it out, but it went through unnoticed!



Classic Cartoons: An Itch In Time »

 

Maybe he's saying he himself has only 2 more years left with Paramount & he can then go to another studio.

 

Not a huge Woody Allen fan, but he has a great scene where he pulls Marshall McLuhan from behind a sign to win an argument with a supercilious college professor while waiting in line for a movie. IIRC he then comments to the audience: "If only real life was like this."

 

^You know nothing of my work...

 

I recently finished another Allen's (Fred Allen's) book "Much Ado About Me" and learned a lot about vaudeville. I think much of what modern TV comedians do has its roots in early TV, which in turn I based on (or stolen from) vaudeville acts.

 

The line goes like this:
Vaudeville and Burlesque
Radio
Television

The Vaudeville stars went into movies and radio after the death of the vaudeville houses(many were converted to movie houses). Radio invented the sit com and the variety show, and these transferred often intact to TV with pictures added(Dragnet is an example of a radio show that had the same stories on Radio and TV). Vaudeville was labeled classic old time comedy, with bits that are done over and over and readapted.

A classic example of a vaudeville routine.

 

Same routine

 

one last time

 

I have, ready to go when I get the time, Fred Allen's "Treadmill to Oblivion", in which he gets into his subsequent radio days. Looking forward to it. (I really like his writing style, which many have compared to Frank McCourt and "Angela's Ashes".)

 

A real joy for me is listening to Allen's Alley radio shows with all of the characters. Fred passed far too soon.