In December 1950, DeSoto distributed a twelve inch 78rpm recording featuring highlights from You Bet Your Life and a holiday message from Groucho to their dealers. The nine minute recording includes an excerpt from Groucho’s November 17, 1947 radio interview with Mr. and Mrs. Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children. This interview has become legendary for a portion of it that never aired.
Groucho: “Why do you have so many children? It must be a terrible responsibility and a burden.”
Mrs. Story: “Well, because I love my children and I think that’s our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.”
Groucho: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”
Considering how many people have claimed to have seen or heard that exchange over the years it would seem likely that it must exist somewhere. But of the ninety-nine radio episodes of You Bet Your Life that aired prior to the show’s television debut, fewer than half of them survive. And the show with Mr. and Mrs. Story is not among them. The famous exchange would certainly have been edited out anyway. The brief clip from Season’s Greetings from DeSoto - Laughs with Groucho is all that remains of this episode. And the only people who witnessed that legendary moment were in the studio audience that fateful night in 1947.
This is that clip. From my personal copy of the 78.
22 авг 2024
