It just occurred to me that Carol's wig looks like Eunice's hair...and she calls her character's mother "Mama". The joke is also that Carol's character does a lot of drinking in this skit, so... I wonder if there was any sort of internal joke that this skit was canonically Eunice's last night before marrying Ed?
My dad is the same age as Dan Rather; Dad was also 10 years old in 1941, and clearly remembers hearing on the family radio the announce of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had been listening to a show on the radio in the parlor when the announcement broke. The adults were in the kitchen, and he ran in to tell them what had happened. He says that life completely changed on that day.
I have a Tammy Grimes story that bears telling: In 1960 I received my commission as a lieutenant in the Army. I was stationed at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. I gal I knew invited me to a party in New York City. Tammy Grimes was there. She was staring in Unsinkable Molly Brown. As we were talking, she asked me if I'd like to invite a group of the soldiers to see her show. Of course I agreed. A couple of days later I received a call from one of her aides. Tammy Grimes set aside 20 tickets to Unsinkable for the Fort Monmouth group. We were invited to meet the cast after the show. Only condition: The soldiers must be in uniform. She paid for every ticket and each soldier received a souvenir of the show. I still have the hot plate tile she gave me. A bus load of soldiers, men and women, headed to NY and had the time of our lives. Tammy Grimes was a patriot and a true lady.
I've watched this performance many times, and one very subtle thing she does at the very end, is for a brief moment, she looks directly into the camera, and directly to the television audience, connecting them with the emotions of her character.
I saw Tammy on tour in Los Angeles and loved her. Paired with Harve Presnell (please forgive me if I misspelled his name) who was big and so attractive paired with small Tammy. I dreamed of playing the part. But when the movie came out it was Debbie Reynolds paired with a newly boyish and slender Harve and I hated it! Why must they so often cast Broadway shows with movie stars! Molly Brown was Meredith Wilson's female answer to his Music Man and had great patter songs that seemed to have been lost. What a great part! The show deserves to be recreated. I don't know if it was ever done again on Broadway but it should be.
CB brings me to tears with this interpretation. She is one of my childhood crushes that I never got over. She's a national treasure and will remain with me always.
Many people say that Judy Collins's version is the best, but I think this is far better than her bland, half-asleep version. Carol Burnett is a treasure.
As one of the Great Clowns your voice was as wonderful as your Comedy is funny. I truly love the way you sang the song. You are a national treasure. Bless you.
Wow, I have been researching "singers" who have performed this great song. Until the last 3 weeks, I only knew and loved the Sinatra version. Saw Judy Collins and 1 or 2 others. This is stunning from an actress and great comedian!
I want to appreciate the brilliant script. In a few short minutes, they establish likable and full-formed characters, they created a compelling story and a plot which gives context to Sondheim’s classic song and the scene pulls you in emotionally. There are full length Hollywood blockbusters out now which cannot do any of those things.
