Duffy's Tavern

"Hello - Duffy's Tavern where the elite meet to eat, Archie the manager speakin', Duffy ain't here. – Oh, hello Duffy." This greeting, preceded by "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" played on a tinny piano, announced to millions of radio listeners that it was time for DUFFY'S TAVERN. Fans of this popular program knew they were in store for laughs, big-name guest stars, sometimes a little music and always their favorite characters holding forth at the New York dive headed by Archie himself. Ed Gardner, a former piano player, salesman, talent agent and radio director (in that order) created the program and cast himself in the lead when he couldn't find an actor that spoke "New York bartender" as well as he did. The series ran from 1941-1952, premiering on the CBS Radio Network and later moving to NBC. Each episode opened with the proprietor Duffy, who never appeared, phoning his manager and setting up the action that would follow in the next half hour. Archie was known for insulting his guest stars and his Damon Runyanesque speech. (In fact Abe Burrows, co-writer with Runyon of GUYS AND DOLLS, got his start on DUFFY'S TAVERN.) Regulars included Eddie Green as the wise-cracking Eddie the waiter and Charles Cantor as the intellectually-challenged Finnegan. Gardner's wife Shirley Booth originated the role of Miss Duffy, the ditzy, man-hungry daughter of the owner. At least a dozen other actresses played the role during the series 11 year run. Though DUFFY'S TAVERN made the transition to television in 1954, it only lasted for one season. The program inspired future TV shows with a friendly neighborhood bar as the setting, most notably Jackie Gleason's "Joe the Bartender" sketches with Crazy Googenheim (Frank Fontaine) filling in for Finnegan, ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE, and the 1980's sitcom CHEERS. Lucky for us, at least 100 episodes of the radio series survive and are available on cassette and MP3.

Attempting to duplicate the success of other radio programs that made the transition to the big screen (FIBBER MCGEE & MOLLY, THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE, HENRY ALDRICH, etc.), studio executives at both MGM and Paramount set their sites on Duffy's for their next radio crossover picture. Paramount's proposal of a "stars-go-all-out-for-the-war-effort" variety film in the vein of Hollywood CANTEEN and THANK YOUR LUCK STARS caught Gardner's fancy. And so it was that contract players Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, Robert Benchley and more than two dozen others were signed up for cameos while the radio actors (save for Broadway actress Ann Thomas as a new Miss Duffy) reprised their familiar roles.

The story is a pretty basic "let's put on a show to save the __________." Unbeknownst to his boss Duffy, soft-hearted Archie has been providing out-of-work veterans with free meals and spirits. The servicemen had worked at a phonograph record company owned by Archie's pal Michael O'Malley (Victor Moore) before the war. The factory was forced to close because of a war time shortage of shellac and the bank turned down a loan to O'Malley to reopen the plant. O'Malley's daughter Peggy (Marjorie Reynolds) works as a switchboard operator at a hotel where a number of celebrities are staying. In due course the stars are persuaded to help raise funds to reopen the plant by performing at a block party hosted by our favorite barkeep. There are some yucks along the way, a little romance between Peggy and soldier Danny Murphy (Barry Nelson) and plenty of entertainment at the big show.

Betty Hutton is a tornado of energy performing "Doin' it the Hard Way" and Cass Daly, the gangly gal with the overbite, sings a rousing number, "You Can't Blame a Gal for Trying." Bing and Betty parody the Oscar winning song "Swinging on a Star" from Paramount's 1944 hit GOING MY WAY and Bing shares a scene with his four young sons Gary, Lin and twins Phillip and Dennis.

Variety posted a mixed review, finding the translation of weekly audio program to celluloid "stale," but they praised the vaudeville portion of the film. Eddie Bracken was singled out for "….playing the double role of a cowboy here, taking successively a beating by a bandit mob, a water dunking and some pies in his face, all constituting a nostalgic throwback to the good old Mack Sennett days and as hilarious a sequence as one will find in any film-comedy."

Admittedly, DUFFY'S TAVERN may not hold up well with most present-day viewers who haven't known the wonder of old-time radio and have little or no knowledge of Betty Hutton and Bing Crosby, let alone Cass Daley. Fans of movies from the 40's and Olt-Time radio buffs however, should find DUFFY'S TAVERN an elite place to meet many of their favorite old stars and have a great deal of fun along the way.

Ed Gardiner, creator and star of popular radio show Duffy's Tavern took the act to the silver screen at the end of World War II and Paramount provided him with an all star cast in support. Every studio had those all star cast variety shows at some point during the World War II years, some studios made more than one. I must admit I'm a sucker for them, so there's no way I could give this a bad review. Especially with the

guest stars headed by America's number one star at the time, Bing Crosby.

The plots of these extravaganzas were always paper thin. In this case Victor Moore owns a record factory and World War II, material and price controls have left him without shellac needed to produce those 78 rpms. Also the war has stripped him of his labor force. But the guys are

back from the war, but Moore has no money to open the factory and no shellac. His recently discharged from the service employees are eating and drinking on credit at Duffy's Tavern, managed by inimitable and resourceful Archie played by Ed Gardiner.

Taverns have always been a great source for comedy and drama of all kinds throughout the centuries. You could go all the way back to Shakespeare with Sir John Falstaff and Prince Hal and their boon drinking companions. Or for drama, what better than Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. Or in a lighter vein, William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life.

But Duffy's ain't that kind of a joint. Archie is part bartender, philosopher, with a touch of reprobate in him. We never see Mr. Duffy, but Archie reported in to him by phone several times during a given radio show. The bar is populated with a usual crew of characters who Archie comiserates with once a week. Archie's command of the English language is only equaled by Leo Gorcey's. I'm sure Gorcey must have studied under him.

So Ed Gardiner and Victor Moore set about to get the factory running and the men back to work. They have a master recording of Bing Crosby which should do the trick. A whole bunch of stars including Crosby, are staying at a hotel in New York where Moore's daughter Marjorie Reynolds is a switchboard operator.

If you can't figure the rest of this out, you ain't seen too many films from the forties.

Duffy's Tavern ran for years on radio. Ed Gardiner tried to take it to television, but it didn't succeed there. Strange because so many TV shows like Archie Bunker's Place, Jackie Gleason's Joe the Bartender sketches and George Carlin's show from a few years ago owe the format to what Gardiner did on radio.

A great place Duffy's Tavern, a place where Archie liked to say, "where the elite meet to eat."

To me, this is a classic movie for the end of war era. The first few reviewers cited the cavalcade type ones already. They need to be viewed and reviewed in the context of the time or the viewer misses the point. It is appropriate to note this, possibly, for people who do not realize there had been an all out world war for the past 4 to 6 yrs, depending on where one lived. mysterymoviegoer hit the nail on the head as far as I am concerned. I like to see the kinds of humor, the environments and attitudes that the movie portrays- not to mention the parade of stars and luminaries from the time. I did not see Maltin's review, gave up on it as a resource many yrs ago and hadn't even considered the intern angle. Nice to see another person take the time to record a most appropriate comment on this special kind of movie theme from a special time in history.

The previous two reviewers do a very good job of detailing this film. It has greater historical value now than entertainment value because the type of humor --- radio and vaudeville--- are long gone and the stars like Ladd and Hutton and Lake and Crosby don't mean that much now. Leonard Maltin labeled it a Bomb. It's no masterpiece, but that's a gross injustice. Wonder which intern came up with that? Leonard needs to look at it himself. My guess is that it appealed to older viewers even at the time of its release 1945, the end of WWII. And it has a certain ethnic charm as well that will puzzle today's audiences. But a bomb? We are producing more bombs per season now than we were in 1945 with far less historic value. I shutter to think what Maltin's intern of 2075 will have to say about The Lone Ranger and Hangover 3. Worth a peek if you like old movies.

There were a number of movies made in the 30s and 40s to take advantage of the popularity of top rated radio programs like Duffy's Tavern.

I am a fan of old time radio particularly just before during an after the Second World War and have watched a number of these type of movies like, the great Gildersleeve, fibber McGee and Molly and Lum n Abner lol... be warned these movies are usually not that good... Short on plot and are really just created for the fan base to see the faces behind the voices they've come to know over the years. And for today'sold Time radio fans it's just as fun as it was in the late 30s and 40s.