ECP 318: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie - Back from Detroit (November 8, 1950)
The gang returns from the motor city
What I watched: An episode of the early children's show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. "Back from Detroit" was directed by Lewis Gomavitz and aired on Wednesday, November 8, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.
What happened: The trio are just heading into the studio as we open the show. Kukla is still carrying his luggage and wearing a stocking cap. Fran explains the whirlwind process of flying from Chicago to Detroit after last night’s show and making it back in time for this one. Kukla describes the fancy suite he stayed in, including a separate bed just for his hat.
Ollie pops up, also wearing a fancy hat. He gets an idea, and ominously asks Kukla “who’s going to stop me” from what he has in mind. This turns out to be jumping Kukla and stretching his big hat across his snout, until he can’t see any more. After Fran sorts out the struggle, she has a conversation with Madame Oglepuss, who is rather upset with Beulah Witch for causing a scene by scaling down the side of the hotel. This disapproving chat is interrupted by Beulah, wearing a coat festooned with sunflowers. Beulah dismisses Madame O’s concerns as jealousy and imitates jumping on a pogo stick.
It’s time for the crew to do their customary “salute” to a town they visited. Kukla says that he almost stayed in Detroit after being offered a job by the Ford Motor Company, on their production line. Well, he should be able to get in a good few decades of union work before the automation hits. They act out being on the production line and sing a song about making a Ford. It’s nice, if a little craven. They even have little cars with the gang’s name on it. Ollie trips and lands on Beulah’s pogo stick, leading to much shenanigans.
Kukla receives a message from a man looking to meet Fran after the show. It turns out to be Colonel Crackle, who really lays the charm on. Fran agrees to a candlelit dinner, although she doesn’t seem romantically interested in the puppet. Crackle sings a song about wanting to go back to Michigan, although it sounds like he’s longing for the country more than Detroit. Madame O joins in for a song about mother calling them.
What I thought: There’s a lot to say about Detroit in 1950. Detroit was Ford (and GM, and Chrysler, but Ford is the one that fits best into the mythology), and Ford was Detroit. At this time, Detroit was still a symbol of American productivity and technological innovation, producing the cars that would define 1950s suburban society. It would be decades until Detroit became the problem child of American cities, a reputation it is still struggling to fight off.
And so, Kukla, Fran and Ollie’s trip to Detroit seems like a fairly jaunty one. There’s a mention of a number of Ford-related events, which no doubt were convenient cross-promotion with the series’ Wednesday-night sponsor. The sketch about Beulah showing off her witchy powers in public is also a nice way to make it seem like these puppets are actual characters who can go out in the world and interact with it.
Yet it feels like something is missing from this episode. What’s missing, primarily, is the actual visit, which was presumably a live event that took place off-camera. This is similar to Milton Caniff’s visit, which mostly happened off-screen. The series being limited to the Chicago stage generally helps it from unnecessary distraction, but I found myself wishing for some footage from the visit to give me an idea of what we were talking about. Instead, we get a bunch of comedic sketches which are funny, but not exactly what I expected.
Coming up next: We fill in some more back material with a game show from the distant days of 1949.