Five Dummies That Couldn't Be Silenced

In writing about old-time radio I've mentioned that comedy programs are frequently the most difficult for me to appreciate. One of the big comedy stars of old-time radio was Edgar Bergen with his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy. Much has been made of how unusual it was that ventriloquism could be a hit on the radio when audiences couldn't even see Bergen & McCarthy. Bergen cast a pretty large shadow, considering he lived long enough to make a cameo (with Charlie) in The Muppet Movie (1979). I think it's fair to say that when people tell fictional stories about ventriloquists and their dummies they tend to be inspired by Bergen.

One unusual trend in fiction about ventriloquists is the idea of the ventriloquist developing a split personality, engaging in a conflict with his dummy over which of them is the dominant personality. It has been played out in a few different places and I thought it would be fun to look at the most prominent instances. However, I'm not going to consider stories where the dummy is simply an independent force (ie, Twilight Zone's "Caesar and Me"), the dummy has to be in some way a part of the ventriloquist's personality.

As ventriloquist dummies are pretty creepy, each dummy will graded on the Charlie McCarthy scale. A rating of '1 Charlie' means the dummy is as creepy as Charlie McCarthy, '2 Charlies' means twice as creepy and so forth.

OTTO

From: "The Rival Dummy" (1928) a short story by Ben Hecht; also adapted into The Great Gabbo (1929), a film directed by James Cruze, as "The Rival Dummy" into an episode of the radio series Molle Mystery Theater (1946) and as an episode of the television series Studio One (1949).

Creep factor: 1 Charlie

What's His Deal?: As best as I can tell, Hecht's story is the originator of the 'evil dummy' genre and he wrote it 8 years before Bergen's breakout success! (Bergen was in vaudeville at the time) This dummy is not exactly evil and there is nothing supernatural about the story, but the ventriloquist Gabbo (played by Erich von Stroheim in the picture) finds himself over-indulging in his dummy, losing his own identity. Later writers took this concept, added a bit of Bergen and a lot of terror!

TOBY

From: Dead of Night (1945), a film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti; also adapted into an episode of the radio show Escape (1947)

Creep factor: 1 Charlie

What's His Deal?: This is easily the most famous 'evil dummy' story. Maxwell Frere (played by Michael Redgrave in the picture) finds his dummy Toby keeps saying things against his will. It might be the work of a rival ventriloquist -- or the dummy might have a life of his own. Note that the radio adaptation goes in quite a different direction from the movie.

RIABOUCHINSKA

From: "Riabouchinska" (1947), written by Ray Bradbury as an episode of the radio series Suspense; subsequently published as a short story "And So Died Riabouchinska" (1953), adapted to television's Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956) and to television's Ray Bradbury Theater (1988).

Creep factor: 0.5 Charlies

What's HisHer Deal?: Riabouchinska is the female dummy of John Fabian (played by Claude Rains in the picture), a ventriloquist who previously used a Charlie-esque male dummy but later modeled a new dummy on the assistant he had been infatuated with. This is an interesting reversal of the usual evil dummy stories -- in this case, Riabouchinska is the embodiment of good while Fabian is evil!

WILLIE

From: "The Dummy" (1962) an episode of television's The Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling.

Creep factor: 2 Charlies

What's His Deal?: Ventriloquist Jerry Etherson (played by Cliff Robertson in the picture) is having a lot of trouble in his act; he has two dummies: the Charlie-esque Willie and the Mortimer Snerd-esque Goofy Goggles. But, as in Dead of Night, the dummy has a big ego, one which is overwhelming the ventriloquist -- however, it leads to a much more horrifying outcome than that film!

FATS

From: Magic (1976), a novel by William Goldman; also adapted into the film Magic (1978) directed by Richard Attenborough.

Creep factor: 5 Charlies

What's His Deal?: Corky Withers (played by Anthony Hopkins in the picture) is a frustrated stage magician who suffers a mental breakdown when success keeps eluding him. He reinvents his magic act by adopting Fats, a ventriloquist dummy. He cleverly uses Fats as a distraction to help him execute magic tricks and soon he gains all the success he wanted -- but Fats has developed into a separate personality and he's on the verge of a much more dangerous mental breakdown.