Presenting the Transcription Feature 191: THE HALLS OF IVY & OUR MISS BROOKS

It’s back-to-school time on this episode of “Presenting the Transcription Feature.”  And we all need to laugh, so here’s two comedy episodes.  First, we’ll visit Ivy College, where the mellifluous British actor Ronald Colman and his real-life wife, the equally mellifluous Benita Hume, star as “The Halls of Ivy.”  He is the president of one of those small Midwestern colleges that predominated in movies and radio shows of the era.  She, his wife, who has given up her career on the stage to be his helpmeet.  This episode, while full of laughs, has a lot of heart too.  The show’s dialog is informed and witty – as befits Colman’s always-sophisticated persona, and “The Halls of Ivy” even won a Peabody Award in 1950.  Then we drop in on high school to see “Our Miss Brooks.”  Here, Eve Arden plans a relaxing pre-return-to-work picnic.  But those plans soon go awry.  This episode starts off a little silly.  There’s the sit-com trope of people pretending to be other people, but, as we approach the end, it really pays off hilariously.  Plus, you get Gale Gordon and Frank Nelson in one episode.

Episodes

The Halls of Ivy
March 19, 1952
“The Oldest Living Graduate”
2:35

Our Miss Brooks
September 11, 1949
“The School Board” aka “Head of the Board”
28:23