''Four Star Revue'' (also known as ''All Star Revue'' and ''All Star Summer Revue'') was an American variety/

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953. The series originally starred four celebrities, Ed Wynn, Danny Thomas, Jack Carson, and

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

(hence the name ''Four Star Revue''), alternating as hosts of the program every week. Other stars would join the show beginning with its second season, causing the title to change to ''All Star Revue''. Some of the other stars to pass through during the second season were

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, Spike Jones and Helen Grayco, and

Paul Winchell Paul Winchell (''né'' Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922 – June 24, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, humanitarian, inventor and ventriloquist whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted ''The Paul Winchell S ...

. As the series progressed, several permanent hosts were added to replace the original four. Some included actress and singer Martha Raye, boxer Rocky Graziano, actor and toastmaster George Jessel, and actress Tallulah Bankhead. At the time that the show originally aired in the early 1950s, ''Four Star Revue'' was known as the second most expensive hour on television. Each episode initially cost approximately $50,000 to produce. The most expensive was its sister series, '' The Colgate Comedy Hour''.

Overview

The ''Four Stars''

Like its sister series, ''Four Star Revue'' started out with four rotating hosts. They were actors Ed Wynn,

, and Jack Carson and nightclub entertainer Danny Thomas. Before ''Four Star Revue'', Ed Wynn had been involved in show business for almost 50 years. Wynn began his career in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

in 1903. He was also a star of the Ziegfeld Follies beginning in 1914. Wynn also made it big in the radio scene. He first started on a radio program '' The Fire Chief'' in the early 1930s. Wynn also had experience in the then new medium of television. During the 1949-50 television season, Wynn hosted one of the first

- variety television shows on CBS, entitled ''The Ed Wynn Show''. Danny Thomas was born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Before ''Four Star Revue'' and his most memorable role on '' Make Room for Daddy'', which premiered in 1953, Thomas had already established himself as an entertainer. Thomas had started his career as a performer on local

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, station WMBC program ''The Happy Hour Club'' in 1932. In August 1940, Kairouz began performing at the 5100 Club in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, under the pseudonym "Danny Thomas" (after two of his brothers). Thomas enjoyed success in the nightclub business and also found some success in the radio medium. Thomas made appearances on such radio shows as ''

The Bickersons ''The Bickersons'' was a radio comedy sketch series that began September 8, 1946, on NBC, moving the following year to CBS where it continued until August 28, 1951. The show's married protagonists, portrayed by Don Ameche (later by Lew Parker) a ...

'', '' The Baby Snooks Show'', and '' The Big Show'' starring future recurring ''Revue'' hostess Tallulah Bankhead. Thomas got a stint at his own radio show entitled ''The Danny Thomas Show'', which ran from 1942 to 1943 on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

and again from 1947 to 1948 on CBS.

, known to many as ''The Schnoz'' and ''the Great Schnozzola'', established himself as a comedian and talented musician long before ''Revue'' and before the beginning of television itself. Durante first became known as a member of the

Original New Orleans Jazz Band The Original New Orleans Jazz Band was one of the first jazz bands to make recordings. Composed of mostly New Orleans musicians, the band was popular in New York City in the late 1910s. The group included some of the first New Orleans style play ...

, the first recognizable jazz band in New York. Durante was the only member of the group not originally from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. His routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke, with band or orchestra chord punctuation after each line, became a Durante trademark. In 1920 the group was renamed Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. Later on in the 1920s, Durante spent time in vaudeville and formed the comedy trio of Clayton, Jackson, and Durante, also known as The Three Sawdust Bums with fellow comedians

Lou Clayton Lou Clayton (also Lew Clayton, born Louis Finkelstein; 1890-1950) was an American song-and-dance vaudeville performer, best known for his teaming with Jimmy Durante and Eddie Jackson, as Clayton, Jackson, and Durante, or "The Three Sawdust Bums". ...

and Eddie Jackson in 1923. He was also known for his recording of the Ben Ryan-composed Inka Dinka Doo in 1933 which, after its debut in the 1934 movie '' Palooka'', was Durante's "theme song" for the rest of his life. Durante also had a relatively good career in radio. He had a recurring role on

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

's NBC radio program ''

The Chase and Sanborn Hour ''The Chase and Sanborn Hour'' is the umbrella title for a series of American comedy and variety radio shows sponsored by Standard Brands' Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company, Chase and Sanborn Coffee, usually airing Sundays on NBC Radio Network, NBC ...

'' in late-1933. From there he went on to ''

The Jumbo Fire Chief Program ''The Jumbo Fire Chief Program'' is an American old-time radio program starring Jimmy Durante, Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton. The series originated from WEAF radio in New York and was broadcast nationally over the Red Network of the Nationa ...

'' for a year from 1935-36. He then teamed up with comedian

Garry Moore Garry Moore (born Thomas Garrison Morfit; January 31, 1915 – November 28, 1993) was an American entertainer, comedic personality, game show host, and humorist best known for his work in television. He began a long career with the CBS network ...

to do '' The Durante-Moore Show'' from 1943–1947. After Moore left, the program became known as ''The Jimmy Durante Show'' and ran for three more years until being cancelled in 1950. John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born American-based film actor. Carson had done several memorable films during the 1930s and 1940s before his role on ''Four Star Revue''. He also had a stint with his own radio show in the early 1940s.

Season One

''Four Star Revue'' premiered on NBC on Wednesday, October 4, 1950. After several episodes had aired, a few problems with the show had come to light. The first problem was location. The second problem was the amount of money put into each episode of the show. The third problem was trying to keep a sole sponsor. In 1950, it wasn't yet possible to broadcast coast-to-coast, so ''Four Star Revue'', like most live shows, originated from New York (with viewers in other time zones watching a delayed

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

). At the start of the season, Ed Wynn was the only host to use the Center Theatre (formerly a venue for ice shows but recently converted to a TV studio) at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. The others at first declined to follow suit because of the theater's huge, 3700-seat capacity, fearing that the audience wouldn't have a good view of the stage and might not laugh at the appropriate moments. But when NBC installed a television monitor there in January 1951, the problem was solved and Durante, Thomas, and Carson relocated. Television set manufacturer

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

opened the season as sole sponsor of the show, but cut back after 13 episodes. In January, they began sharing sponsorship with Pet Evaporated Milk and Norge refrigerators, each paying a third of the cost. ''Four Star Revue'' cost $50,000 a week to produce, compared to only $17,500 for its CBS competition, ''

Arthur Godfrey and His Friends ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 1949 to June 1957 (as ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' after September 1956), then again as a ...

''. But according to the Videodex ratings service, Revue reached an average of 2,339,000 homes, while ''Godfreys homes totaled 3,519,000. That worked out to a cost of $6.89 per viewer for Revue, compared to $1.46 for ''Godfrey''. The season 1 finale aired on July 18, 1951.

Season Two

The second series premiered on a new night, Saturday, and under a new title. Owing to the decision to increase the number of guest hosts, when the show's second season premiered on September 8, 1951, it was renamed ''All Star Revue''. Several factors influenced NBC's decision in 1951 to expand the number of ''Four Star Revue'' hosts. First, some of the stars were having trouble producing the expected ratings. Second, with more and more money flowing into television, the competition from other networks was becoming fierce. Third, NBC had found with '' The Colgate Comedy Hour'' that scheduling conflicts, illnesses, and the simple fact that some of its stars simply weren't well suited to the revue format meant that it was important to have a backup plan. To hedge its bets, the network brought in additional hosts, who could be called upon to fill in for or replace the regulars if needed. Holding on to its original four stars, ''Revue'', in its second season, added the likes of Olsen and Johnson and Martha Raye in four episodes each, Spike Jones and Helen Grayco in two, and

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

, the Ritz Brothers, and Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney, each doing one apiece. With a larger stable of hosts, the old ''Four Star'' name was no longer accurate, so the show was rechristened ''All Star Revue''. The decision to move ''Revue'' from Wednesday nights to Saturday nights had to do with the fact that CBS's ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' crushed ''Revue'' in the ratings. ''All Star Revue'' replaced the cancelled '' Jack Carter Show'', in the hope that it would prove a better lead-in to the popular '' Your Show of Shows''. The move had some success; with only Ken Murray and

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...

as competition, ''Revue'' finished the season with a 36.3 rating (tied with '' Dragnet'' for 20th place). The time slot change would seem to be minor compared to the major cast change that occurred after the February 16, 1952, telecast. Jack Carson, one of the original four stars, left the show temporarily to star in a 1952 Broadway revival of the

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

musical '' Of Thee I Sing''. But that February 16 telecast would turn out to be Carson's last appearance on the show. Despite the improved ratings, holding on to sponsors didn't get any easier. With an increase in cost to $60,000 per episode, Motorola and Norge dropped out. NBC managed to hold on to Pet Milk and persuaded

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

and Snow Crop orange juice to sign on. But the latter cut out after the May 31st telecast and was replaced the following week by Hazel Bishop Cosmetics. While starting the season at the Center Theatre in New York City, construction of the transcontinental cable line allowed the show to move to the west coast in November. It was a boon to hosts like Ed Wynn, Jimmy Durante, and Danny Thomas, who were based in Hollywood, but Jack Carson and Carson's replacement Martha Raye continued to originate their shows from New York. The second season finale aired on June 21, 1952.

''All Star Summer Revue''

In 1952, instead of taking a break for the summer, ''All Star Revue'' continued. But this summer series had little relationship to the regular season show. Originating from New York's Center Theatre, there were no regular hosts, though Dave Garroway and

Jan Murray Jan Murray (born Murray Janofsky; October 4, 1916 – July 2, 2006) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game-show host who originally made his name on the Borscht Belt and later was known for his frequent television appearances over se ...

repeated, as did a few of the guests. The budget was considerably lower, which explains why there were fewer big-name guests. Sponsors were Pet Evaporated Milk, Kellogg's Cereals ( Shredded Wheat and All-Bran), and the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed F ...

. The ''Summer Revue'' ran from June 28 to August 30, 1952.

Season Three

George Jessel Professor Gonzamacher All Star Revue 1953

Season 3 of ''All Star Revue'' premiered on September 6, 1952. Unfortunately, Thomas and Wynn did not make it past season 2. Olsen and Johnson were not successful among viewers either. At the time of the third-season premiere, Durante was the only one of the original four stars still on the program. Martha Raye also managed to survive the second season. To fill the open slots, NBC decided on hiring a number of showbiz veterans, including

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", "Louise", " Mimi", and "Thank Hea ...

and Harold Lloyd, before eventually settling on actors George Jessel and Tallulah Bankhead as regular hosts. Other hosts that season were Dennis Day, Rosalind Russell, the Ritz Brothers, Walter O'Keefe,

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

, and

Ben Blue Ben Blue (born Benjamin Bernstein; September 12, 1901 – March 7, 1975) was a Canadian-American actor and comedian who had a career that spanned nearly 50 years. Early life He was born Benjamin Bernstein in Montreal, Quebec on Septem ...

. There was also a special ice skating show starring

Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norway, Norwegian figure skating, figure skater and film star. She was a three-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic champion (Figure skating at the 1928 Winter Olympics, ...

with guest Harpo Marx. Because of sponsor skittishness, there almost wasn't a third season. When Snow Crop pulled out at the end of the previous year, NBC considered cancelling the show. But Kellogg's and Pet Milk remained, and eventually, the network managed to lure Del Monte to sign on as well. Nonetheless, sponsorship was still unstable. Both Kellogg's and Del Monte dropped out at the end of 1952, leaving only Pet. Beacon Wax came on board briefly for the first show in January before being quickly replaced by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

(makers of Band-Aid plastic strips). With only two sponsors remaining (Pet and J&J), NBC was forced to pay for one-third of the expenses—which didn't bode well for the show's future. Ratings were also very poor, as they had been for most of the show's run. The show could not compete in the ratings with CBS's new series ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'' (the show ran for two years prior to premiering on CBS on DuMont under the name ''Cavalcade of Stars''). Bankhead and Jessel were not asked to return for the fourth season, nor was Durante. The third-season finale aired on April 18, 1953.

Season Four

At the end of the 1952-1953 season, it looked as though ''All Star Revue'' had finished its run. But when NBC's Saturday night comedy extravaganza '' Your Show of Shows'' decided to switch to a three-out-of-four weeks format, the network needed something to plug into the fourth week. ''All Star Revue'' got the nod and found itself back in business. Because ''Show of Shows'' was ninety minutes long, an extra half-hour had to be tacked onto ''Revue'' to fill out the time slot. The plan was to retain the rotating hosts arrangement, with Hoagy Carmichael, Henie, Ethel Merman, and

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

mentioned at various times as possible hosts. Martha Raye also returned for season four. But when Raye led off the season and scored big in the ratings, NBC decided to keep her coming back. The critics liked her as well, with writer-director Nat Hiken singled out as one of the major factors in the comedian's success. By the start of 1954, after all but one of the episodes had been hosted by Raye, it was decided to change the name to ''

The Martha Raye Show Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

''. This time, ''All Star Revue'' was gone for good. The last episode of the series under the ''Revue'' title aired on December 26, 1953. ''The Martha Raye Show'' aired until 1956. Jimmy Durante also received a spin-off of the series, entitled ''

The Jimmy Durante Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', which ran until 1956.

Crew

Directing staff

* Joseph Stanley * Sid Smith * Nat Hiken * Grey Lockwood * Ernest D. Glucksman *

James V. Kern James V. Kern (September 22, 1909, New York City, New York – November 9, 1966, Encino, California) was an American singer, songwriter, screenwriter, actor, and director. Educated at the Fordham Law School, Kern worked for a while as an attorn ...

* Charles Isaacs *

Garry Simpson Garry Chalmers Simpson (February 16, 1914 – November 19, 2011) was an American director, writer, and producer for more than 35 years. Simpson was the first stage management, stage manager for NBC, NBC Television. He was also known for havin ...

Tim Whelan Tim Whelan (November 2, 1893 – August 12, 1957) was an American film director, writer, producer and actor best remembered for his writing credits on ''Harold Lloyd'' and ''Harry Langdon'' comedies, and his directing of mostly British films (e.g ...

* Jim Jordan * Sid Kuller * Mortimer Offner * Dick Berger * Dee Englebach * Buzz Kulik

Production staff

Producers

* Joe Santley * Karl Hoffenberg * Ernest D. Glucksman * Leo Morgan * Bill Harmon * Norman Zeno * Al Capstaff *

Dean Elliott William Lorenzo Bunt (May 11, 1917 – December 31, 1999), known professionally as Dean Elliott, was an American television and film composer. Career Elliott was born William Lorenzo Bunt on May 11, 1917 in Sioux City, Iowa to George Leroy Bunt ...

* Dee Englebach *

* Mortimer Offner

Associate producers

* Karl Hoffenberg * Phil Cohen

Executive producers

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget B movie, genre movies with controversial themes, often ...

* Peter Barnum * Harold Kemp

Other

* Joe Bigelow (production supervisor/production manager) * Peter Barnum (production supervisor for NBC) * Harold Kemp (production supervisor for NBC) * William Harmon (associate production supervisor/production manager)

Writing staff

* Matt Brooks * Sam Carlton * Dick Chevillat * Eddie Davis * Stanley Davis * Sid Dorfman * Jack Elinson * Dee Englebach * Hal Fimberg * Marvin Fisher * George Foster * Billy Friedberg * Larry Gelbart * Ernest D. Glucksman *

Hal Goodman Harold "Hal" Goodman (May 9, 1915 - September 3, 1997) was an American producer and screenwriter. He wrote for ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', with his partner Larry Klein. Career Goodman started his career writing for the telev ...

* Mort Green * Paul Henning * Nat Hiken * Charles Isaacs * George Jessel * Larry Klein * Sid Kuller * Charles Lee * Virginia Lee * Mannie Manheim * Larry Markes * Elon Packard *

Bob Schiller Robert Achille Schiller (November 8, 1918 – October 10, 2017) was an American screenwriter. He worked extensively with fellow producer/screenwriter Bob Weiskopf on numerous television shows in the United States, including ''I Love Lucy'' (1955 ...

* Jerry Seelen * Danny Shapiro * Ray Singer *

Ben Starr Benjamin Starr (October 18, 1921 – January 19, 2014) was an American television producer, creator, writer and playwright. Biography Born in Manhattan, New York, to Jewish Russian immigrants, Starr grew up in Brooklyn and worked in his pare ...

* Norman Sullivan * Snag Werris

Broadcast history

NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series in bold text. * Wednesday at 8:00-9:00 pm on NBC: October 4, 1950–July 18, 1951 * Saturday at 8:00-9:00 pm on NBC: September 18, 1951–April 18, 1953 * Saturday at 9:00-10:30 pm on NBC: October 3, 1953–December 26, 1953

All Star Summer Revue

* Saturday at 8:00-9:00 pm on NBC

Ratings

Theme music

''Four Star Revue'' used several different themes during its run especially for the first two seasons of the series. This was mainly done in part to distinguish between the four celebrities; Wynn, Thomas, Durante, and Carson, and any one episode that a celebrity would host. Theme one (for Danny Thomas): "Danny Thomas Theme" ::Composer: Jack Mason Theme two (for

): "You Gotta Start Off Each Day with a Song" ::Composer: Jimmy Durante Theme three (for other comedians): "All-Star Original Music" ::Composer: Jack Mason Theme four (for Olsen and Johnson, et al.): "All-Star Opening Theme" ::Composer: Milton DeLugg

Awards and nominations

References

{{Reflist 1950s American variety television series 1950 American television series debuts 1953 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows NBC original programming Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows filmed in California