Thursday, December 6, 2018

OTR Holiday Month Day 6: My Friend Irma

Marie Wilson's portrayal of the titular Irma in My Friend Irma must be one of the great prototypical 'dumb blondes' of fiction. Wilson portrayed the character on the radio, television and in film. Unfortunately, she was upstaged in her own movies thanks to the presence of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis.

Wilson was supported by a first-rate radio cast, including John Brown as Irma's no-good boyfriend Al and Cathy Lewis as Irma's sensible best friend Jane. In this Christmas episode from December 20, 1948, Irma is eager to celebrate the holidays with her friends, only to find Al, Jane and the rest have other plans.

You can listen to the episode at archive.org here.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for posting all of these OTR Christmas dramas. Tonight, on a warm May evening, I listened to My Friend Irma's tale of loneliness, set during the holiday season in 1948. This sentimental tale is somehow very uplifting, as it provides a wonderful expression of the Christmas spirit that shows up unexpectedly at the last moment due to the kindness of her friends.

Your 31 days of OTR Christmas programs includes a good two dozen episodes I've never heard before. Thanks for all these wonderful Christmas programs. There's something very meaningful in sharing the Christmas thoughts and feelings, and the hopes and dreams of these characters celebrating the holidays 70 years ago. A Christmas auld lang syne, as the song goes.

Michael Hoskin said...

Thank you very much! I'm especially glad to have pointed you toward some quality OTR!