The Adventures of Maisie Radio Program

Series Derivatives:

Notes on Provenances:

All above cited provenances are in error in one form or another. The most helpful provenance was the log of the RadioGOLDINdex.

OTRisms:

All program circulating titles are anecdotal. We have the program numbers for many of the programs from those provided on the original transcription labels. The program titles, except for those derived from the few surviving contemporaneous radio listings, have evolved from the episode naming conventions--or absence thereof--of individual collectors. These anecdotal names range from barely appropriate, to completly unrelated to the script.

We apologize in advance for the sheer length of this provenance section. The Adventures of Maisie has been poorly documented and inaccurately titled throughout the otr years. There's very little about it that's not in error to one degree or another. As such it will remain a work in progress for the forseeable future.

The dates of the 1945 run are from contemporaneous newspaper listings.

The theoretical dates of the 1949 Run are extrapolated from the premiere episode announcement airing over W-G-N, October 27, 1949. The 1949 run is also identified, in part, by the MGM promotions of their 1949 and 1950 movies in the credits.

Maisie's 'real' name is Mary Anastasia O'Connor, not Mary Ann Stacy O'Connor.

The title for program #1 should be 'Department Store Sales Girl', not 'The Department Store Clerk.' The word 'clerk' appears nowhere in the episode. An appropriate alternative title would be 'Daisie Ravier', in reference to the stage name of Maisie's former dancing partner in the episode.

The title for program #2 should be 'Effie and The Professor', not 'The Poet--Effie.' Effie Bascomb [Lurene Tuttle] is a small-town poet with designs on a Hollywood career as a song writer. She's been convinced she's got what it takes because a con-artist and masher--'Professor' Jeff Brady [Gerald Mohr]--has taken her money for 'writing lessons' and when her money runs out, tells her Hollywood awaits. Sheldon Leonard is heard as the bus driver.

The title for program #3 should be 'Acme Surplus Truck Driver', not 'The Truck Driver.' The War Surplus materiel involved in the script is the key to the program's plot. Of note is a wonderful 'Who's On First' kind of dialogue between the Maisie and Sidney Miller's character regarding his wife having a baby.

The title for program #4 should be 'Next Stop, Niagara Falls', rather than 'Eddie the Boyfriend.' Acting on 'lovelorn advice' from her landlady, Maisie gets her boyfriend fired and ex-flame Marsha Brent [Joan Banks] gets him rehired--and promoted. But Eddie's new engineering job is at Niagara Falls--with Marsha Brent. Bea Benaderet is introduced as Mrs. Kennedy, Maisie's boarding house landlady.

The title for program #5 should be 'Maisie Ravier, Private Detective', not 'The Phony Doctor.'

The title for program #6 should be 'Jerome Schmerzterbreugen vs. The Bebopster', rather than 'Bobby Kent.' Jerome Schmerzterbreugen [Gil Stratton] is the young, lovelorn suitor whose attraction to his girlfriend is eclipsed by her adoration of Bobby Kent [Hans Conried], Bebopster and Teen Idol. Maisie gets poor Jerome back in the good graces of his girlfriend only to lose her once again, to Boyd Floyd, the lastest crooning sensation.

The title for program #7 should be 'Eddie Designs A Suspension Bridge That Goes Nowhere', or 'The Suspension Bridge Paved with Good Intentions', rather than 'Eddie Designs A Bridge.'

The title for program #8 should be 'Sonja, the Smartest Dog In The World', rather than 'Sonja, the Smart Dog.'

The title for program #9 should be 'Lord Deveridge and Lady Ravier', not 'Lord Deveridge and Lady Revere', for obvious reasons.

The title for program #10 should be 'Agatha Schlump's Boarding House', rather than 'Stranded in Bartonville.' The script revolves around Bartonville landlady, Agatha Schlump [Lurene Tuttle] and her 'makeover' under Maisie's supervision.

The title for program #11 should be 'Hotel Mercury Night Clerk', or 'The Fake Baron and Baroness', not 'Owes Money to Night Clerk.' The script revolves around Maisie mistaking a newly married couple, The Schmidts [Hans Conried and Lurene Tuttle], for Baron Probocznik, a 'dignitary' from Russian Georgia. Her present dilemma--having to work off a hotel bill as a Night Clerk--is only incidental to the plot.

The title for program #12 should be 'All Kinds of Crazy Laws', rather than 'Trouble with The Law.'

The title for program #13 should be 'A Suit for Aiding and Abetting', rather than 'Clothes for The Poor.'

The title for program #14 should be 'Bixel's Department Store Kissing Contest', rather than 'The Sales Contest.' Maisie's beau, Eddie Jordan, is batting zero in a sales contest at Bixel's Department Store. Maisie's solution? Offer to give any man who buys something from Eddie a kiss.

The title for program #15 should be 'Maisie, The Farmer's Matchmaker', rather than 'On the Farm.'

The title for program #16 should be 'Maisie Bets Joe's Tonsorial Parlor and Shaving Solarium On A Horse', rather than 'The Manicurist - Bookie in the Barbershop.'

The title for program #17 should be 'Chester Drake's Phony Love Letter', rather than 'Chester Drake, Actor, Is Maisie's Idol.'

The title for program #18 should be 'The Stage-Door Jasper Caper', rather than 'Jasper, Love Sick Fan of Chorus Girl Maisie.' Maisie is shadowed by a lovesick stage-door Johnny named Jasper. She's saved from his advances--and Jail--by a similarly smitten Taxi Driver, Pete Hagenschmittenfeldt.

The title for program #19 should be 'Maisie Inherits The Millvale Sentinel', rather than 'The Missing Heir.'

The title for program #20 should be 'Maisie Wrecks A Wreck and Bags A Bag ', rather than 'Maisie Wrecks Old Car and Must Pay.'

The title for program #21 should be 'Maisie Gets The Charity Ball Rolling', rather than 'The Costume Ball.'

The title for program #22 should be 'Millie The Moll Alias Moitle The Moiderer', rather than 'Safe Cracking.'

The title for program #23 should be 'Maisie and The Professor', rather than 'Professor Elliot.'

The title for program #24 should be 'Hazel La Verne', not 'Hazel.' This program is significant because Audrey Totter fills in for Ann Sothern and her Maisie character as fellow burlesque girl, Hazel La Verne. MGM builds Ann Sothern's 'excuse' into the script--laryngitis.

The title for program #31 should be 'Bill Jones' Memories of Maisie', not 'Paul Jones, Soldier on Leave.' MGM Star Gene Kelly fills in for Ann Sothern, while Florence Halop subs for the Maisie Ravier character.

The title for program #32 should be 'Maisie and The Maharani Mix-up', not 'Stranded In India.' Although the first two minutes mention that Maisie is stranded in India, the arc of the plot centers on one of Maisie's old Hollywood acquaintances--a gold digger--and her impending marriage to Maharajah Ishmael, Extreme Potentate of Mustafabam, Prince of Ishman Ho, Rajah of Magarak, Plenipotentiary of Booghadof, Ruler, Emperor, Soverign and Prince of Karawagoni. The future Maharani, Delores King, demands that Maisie act as her maid, to gain ocean passage money to return to the U.S.. The Maharajah's valet [Hans Conried] arrives at Ms. King's hotel suite to collect her for a visit with the Maharajah at his palace. The valet finds Maisie dressed in Delores' wedding gown, believing Maisie to be the Maharani-to-be. Predictable hilarity and confusion ensue.

The title for program #33 should be '1-Year, 4-Month, 8-Day Anniversary at The Ritz Garden', rather than 'Anniversary for Eddie and Maisie.'

The title for program #34 should be 'Maisie the Hollywood Matchmaker', rather than 'In Hollywood to See Stars.' Maisie enlists famous Hollywood movie star, Jonathan Bradshaw's support [Frank Nelson] in a matchmaking conspiracy.

The title for program #35 should be 'The Orphanage Benefit Speaker Mix-up', rather than 'Two Speakers With Same Speech.'

The title for program #36 should be 'Maisie Reforms An Ex-Convict', rather than 'The Ex-Convict.' Ex-convict Harry Johnson [Gerald Mohr], pulls a hold-up of the dues money [$9.28] from Maisie's "The Hotcha Dance Palace Girls Book Reading and Culture of All Kinds Club [The HDPGBRCAKC]." The cops nab him, but at his trial soft-hearted star-witness Maisie caves on the witness stand.

The title for program #37 should be 'Fontaine's Phony Talent Scout Racket', rather than 'Phony Screen Test.'

The title for program #38 should be 'Maisie The Financial Counselor', rather than 'The Money Manager.'

The title for program #39 should be 'Maisie Saves The Orphanage', rather than 'The Orphanage.'

The title for program #40 should be 'Maisie The Deserted Wife', rather than 'Birthday Gifts.'

The title for program #41 should be 'Maisie and The Dueling Actors', rather than 'Theatrical Agent.'

The title for program #42 should be 'Maisie Sells Restoro Skin-Rejuvenator', rather than 'Eddie Sells Cemetery Plots.'

The title for program #43 should be 'Nancy Hummerschlager's Vacation', rather than 'Helping A Working Girl.'

The title for program #55 should be 'Spike 'Romeo' McCloskey and The Milk Fund', rather than 'Small Town Newspaper.'

The title for program #56 should be 'Eddie and Maisie, Inc.', rather than 'Home Movies.'

The title for program #57 should be 'Larry Cooper, The Wolf with The Five Grand Bracelet', rather than 'The Stolen Bracelet.'

The title for program #58 should be 'Maisie and The 10,000 Dollar Statue', rather than 'Eddie Changes Apartments.'

The title for program #59 should be 'Maisie, Stand-In for Yvonne DuWitté, Prima Ballerina', rather than 'Yvonne of The Ballet.'

The title for program #60 should be 'Maisie, as 'Portrait of An Angry Woman'', rather than 'The Artist's Model.'

The title for program #61 should be 'J.C. Higgenbottom and The Overlapping Grip', rather than 'Insurance.'

The title for program #62 should be 'Maisie Sinks Duke Johnson's Gambling Ship', rather than 'Duke Johnson.'

The title for program #63 should be 'Maisie and 25,000 Dollar The Cover-up', rather than 'Off To Rio.'

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The Adventures of Maisie Program Log

The Adventures of Maisie Biographies

An MGM series planned for Jean Harlow was sidelined when Harlow unexpected died on June 7, 1937. The following year Joan Bennett and Ann Sothern wowed audiences in Trade Winds (1938). Ann Sothern, especially, impressed audiences with her snappy delivery of witty dialogue. So it was that Louis B. Mayer found his replacement for the legendary Harlow. He signed Ann to an MGM contract and cast Sothern as Maisie, the first of ten 'Maisie' features over the next 8 years. Sothern's Maisie took no guff from anyone--least of all, wolves--loved fellas she could 'help' in some way, and remained a great pal to competing gals. In short, everyone loved Maisie--and everyone was quickly falling in love with Ann Sothern.

Ann Sothern's Radio career, though not as prolific as her Film career, was certainly as entertaining. It was Ann Sothern's appearance on Lux Radio Theatre's adaptation of 1941's Maisie Was A Lady that first alerted CBS to Sothern's natural Radio talent. After over three years of contractual wrangling, CBS persuaded M-G-M to undertake a syndicated radio version of Maisie Ravier's adventures, appropriately entitled, The Adventures of Maisie. M-G-M had long maintained that Ann Sothern's contract prohibited her from performing as Maisie Ravier over any other medium. M-G-M finally reached a compromise with CBS, with M-G-M producing and pressing the electrical transcriptions and retaining syndication rights, and CBS gaining the right to air its first run.

The contractual dispute having been resolved, CBS began airing The Adventures of Maisie on July 5, 1945. The reviewers of the day loved the Radio rendition of the Maisie character, as much as Ann Sothern's wonderful depiction of her over Radio. An M-G-M production from the start, its production values were a cut above other radio productions of the World War II era. Ann Sothern's cast and crew welcomed the opportunity to work with her on the air.

In that same vein, here's an interesting quote from the Mason City Globe-Gazette from July 19, 1945 that sums up Ann Sothern's Radio work ethic:

"THE MILLIONS of fans of Ann Sothern's "Maisie" pictures for M-G-M have come to expect that Maisie Ravier will overcome all obstacles the hard way—and that's the way Miss Sothern does it in real life. For instance, at her radio debut last Thursday, Producer Tony Stanford noticed that she'd memorized her script.

"That isn't necessary," he told her. "Why not do it the easy way and simply read it into the mike?"

"But I'm used to memorizing my lines," protested Ann. "Reading them would be the hard way!""

Shortly after Ann Sothern's Radio debut in The Adventures of Maisie, the Mason City Globe-Gazette from July 31, 1945 recorded this charming anecdote:

"WHEN ANN SOTHERN, star of the "Maisie" CBS air series, stepped from the stage following the show last week she was handed a bouquet of American Beauty roses sent by the MGM star's husband, Lieut. Robert Sterling, who's now in the Army Air Force."

In all, Ann Sothern recorded seventy-eight programs of The Adventures of Maisie under her M-G-M contract for CBS Radio. They aired over CBS until the Spring of 1947. The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) persuaded Sothern to re-record the entire run for the Mutual Don-Lee Network beginning in 1949. The entire series ran over Mutual for two more years until the Christmas season of 1952.

It was while re-recording the MBS series that Ann Sothern was stricken with a series of illnesses that eventually spanned two years of frequent hospitalizations and recovery cycles. In the process she underwent a thyroidectomy that caused her to to gain weight and retain excessive fluids for the remainder of her life. The complications from the removal of her thyroid gland created other medical problems for her that often sidelined her acting career for months at a time.

Not long before she'd undertaken re-recording her Adventures of Maisie for Radio, the vaunted Hollywood studio system had begun to collapse under its own weight. Ann Sothern, no stranger to the vagaries of the old studio system, landed yet again on her feet with her electrifying performance in 1949's A Letter To Three Wives. Ann Sothern portrayed a radio writer married to teacher Kirk Douglas, while trying to juggle the demands of a demanding employer with the wounded ego of her sensitive husband.

Throughout the years 1950 to 1952, Ann Sothern faced the daunting task of undertaking a Radio program and two critically acclaimed 1950 films--MGM's Nancy Goes To Rio and RKO's The Judge Steps Out. Shooting was interrupted several times during production of both movies for Ann Sothern's health problems. Indeed, for three months of her recording sessions for The Adventures of Maisie good friends Audrey Totter and Gene Kelly filled in for her. The remaining air dates of the period were filled in with re-broadcasts.

The hospitalizations and permament transformation to her metabolism left her much heavier and more and more uncomfortable with her appearance. But even with the increased weight, Ann Sothern was still viewed by her fans as an attractive, sensual, good-humored performer. Even still, it was becoming obvious to her that Television might be a more manageable vehicle for both her talent and ongoing medical recovery.

As might be expected, her Television career was as successful as her Film and Radio careers had been. No stranger to Television, Ann Sothern had already made over 20 appearances on the small screen before she launched her Private Secretary series in 1953. Private Secretary as an immediate success, running from 1953 through 1957. Ann Sothern's Susie McNamara character was as endearing to her fans as Maisie had been. But Susie McNamara was more urbane and sophisticated than Sothern's Maisie.

Sothern followed her Private Secretary series with The Ann Sothern Show, which ran from 1958 to 1961. Sothern's Katy O'Connor character was even more sophisticated and canny than her Maisie and Susie McNamara characters. And in her role as Assistant Hotel Manager for a large metropolitan hotel, Ann Sothern was able to take on even more sophisticated scripts. Indeed even though her weight had almost doubled during the intervening ten years since her thyroid was removed, the middle-aged Ann Sothern remained as charming and endearing as ever to a new generation of fans. Together, the two Television series were nominated for five prime-time Emmy's.

Upon completing her own Television series' Ann Sothern continued to appear in over a hundred more Television episodes, often in recurring roles, as in the two Lucille Ball programs, The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show and The Lucy Show. Ann Sothern eventually got to reprise A Letter to Three Wives as a 1985 Television special, but this time as Ma Finney. She peformed in four more films, capping her Film career with her first Oscar nomination for The Whales of August, in which her daughter Tisha also appeared.

After the Whales of August, Ann Sothern retired from Film and Television, devoting the remainder of her life to her family and pastimes. She retired to Ketchum, Idaho to live near her daughter and granddaughter, continuing to enjoy friends and family for another twenty years until she passed of natural causes in 2001, at the age of 92.

After she turned 15, her family relocated to Monrovia, California, where Lurene Tuttle began her performing career in earnest. She obtained her formal dramatic training at the Pasadena Playhouse, appearing in many of their productions with great success. She later joined Murphy's Comedians, a vaudeville troupe, and began performing as a dramatic ingénue in stock productions.

Though Broadway eluded her, Lurene Tuttle performed on Stage regularly until the 1930s.

Known for her fine speaking voice and extraordinary range of dialects, The Depression Years lead her to work in Radio, a natural medium for her extraordinary voice talent. For the next 25 years of the Golden Age of Radio, Lurene Tuttle became one of Radio's most recognized voices in virtually every Radio venue in which she performed.

From the August 1947 issue of Radio Mirror, in Lurene Tuttle's Own words:

By Lurene Tuttle

I WONDER if the first "split-personality" a psychologist ever discovered wasn't an actress?  And if you're a radio actress as well, believe me--my personality isn't just split, it's all in little pieces.
     In the morning I wake up, peer at myself in the mirror and--yes--I can recognize the Ted hair and the grey eyes that belong to Lurene Tuttle; but an hour later I'm standing in front of a microphone, sneering my way through a broadcast as a blackhearted murderess . . . or as an eighty-year-old grandmother . . . or as a brat or as a queen . . or a barmaid.
     And that goes on all day long.

Aptly referred to as "The First Lady of Radio," she was most fondly remembered for her role as Effie, the deliciously endearing "Girl Friday," to Howard Duff's Sam Spade on The Adventures of Sam Spade. Dyed-in-the-wool Sam Spade fans universally refer to the interaction between Duff and Tuttle as pure Radio magic--and deservedly so. Her comedic timing and interplay with Duff was absolutely superb, rivalled only by the Radio chemistry between Frances Robinson and Bob Bailey in Let George Do It.

By the time Film and early Television discovered her acting talent she found second and third careers as a durable, versatile character actress in a wide range of roles characterized primarily by their depiction of archetypal middle-American wisdom and warmth. Later years found her in recurring characterizations as a 'brittle' world-weary matron.

She debuted in Film in Heaven Only Knows (1947), then appeared alongside Cary Grant in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) and Room for One More (1952). She performed with Marilyn Monroe in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) and Niagara (1953). She also appeared with Joan Crawford in Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) and Leslie Caron in The Glass Slipper (1955). To Film's everlasting shame, she never got her chance to appear as a lead, not for lack of either versatility or talent. As it was, she continued to develop her talent as a durable, reliable character actor--and occasional scene-stealer.

Indeed her innate ability to steal any scene--on big screen or small--with an impish, knowing grin or world-weary, cynical glance remained two of her signature characterizations throughout her remarkable career. Her only real lead during this period was her portrayal of the crazed Ma Barker, in Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960), a B-movie that's reached cult status.

Television was more cognizant of Lurene Tuttle's natural warmth and wisdom, which, given the kinder, gentler, family oriented fare of 1950s Television, found her performing regularly in a wonderful array of sitcoms, appearing as a starchy relative, gossipy gadfly, or archetypal down-home townfolk.

Lurene Tuttle married fellow actor and announcer, Mel Ruick a performer she met often while both were performing in Radio. Their daughter, Barbara Ruick, became an actress best known for her portrayal of Carrie Pipperidge in the wonderful musical comedy Carousel (1956). Barbara Ruick later married famed American composer John Williams, but died unexpectedly in 1974, just as John Williams' world-renowned talent was becoming recognized.

Lurene Tuttle became a widely-respected Drama and diction coach for several decades. She taught radio technique in the 1940s and re-trained several prominent actors returning from World War II duty. After her Television career in the 1950s, Lurene Tuttle returned to teaching. Her students included Red Skelton, Orson Welles, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Jayne Meadows. She joined the faculty of The University of Southern California, teaching acting technique, and remained in Southern California until she succumbed to cancer at the age of 78.

"I have a full life - radio acting, TV shows, movies, and my daily teaching - all crammed with delight. I find that the best way for me to conduct my life is to run my life - my way." -- Lurene Tuttle

Thankfully, her fame endures as new generations of Golden Age Radio and Television fans continue to discover her anew. Thus she remains to this day--and throughout the forseeable future--as one of the most beloved, most enjoyed and most admired voice and character talents of The 20th Century.

Lurene Tuttle as listed with Wormser, Heldfond & Joseph circa 1986