Country United States Home station WEAF | Running time 28-31 minutes Language(s) English | |
Other names The Circus ConcertThe Fire-Chief ProgramThe Fire-Chief ShowJumbo Fire-Chief Program | ||
The Jumbo Fire Chief Program was an American old-time radio program starring Jimmy Durante, Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton. The series was broadcast from WEAF radio and syndicated nationally over NBC radio. The series was based on Billy Rose's musical circus act Jumbo which premiered on Broadway in November 1935 and a continuation of sponsor Texaco's The Fire Chief, a radio program starring Ed Wynn that ended its three-year run several months before Jumbo' s premiere. The program starred Jimmy Durante as Claudius "Brainy" Bowers, overzealous circus promoter of the Consodine circus act who usually gets the show in financial crisis due to his over exaggeration of the show's profits, and Donald Novis and Gloria Grafton as young love interests Matt Mulligan, Jr. and Mickey Consodine. Consodine is the daughter of John Consodine, the owner of the circus act.
Contents
- Ed Wynns The Fire Chief
- Billy Roses Jumbo
- Texacos Jumbo Fire Chief
- Cast and characters
- Unheard characters
- References
The radio program broadcast 12 episodes over the NBC from October 22, 1935–January 14, 1936. The series was recorded from the New York Hippodrome with an average audience of 4500–5000 people each week.
Ed Wynn's The Fire Chief
The series originated from Ed Wynn's departure from NBC's The Fire Chief in early 1935 and the show's sponsor Texaco wanting to continue the series.
Texaco and NBC premiered The Fire Chief in 1932. Comedian Ed Wynn played the title role of the Fire Chief. The series was popular and one of the first radio programs to be recorded before a live studio audience. Wynn left the program temporarily in 1933 when, in September of that year, Wynn along with Hungarian-born violinist Ota Gygi founded his own radio station, the Amalgamated Broadcasting System. The station lost money and went out of business five weeks later in November 1933. He returned to The Fire Chief which continued until being cancelled in early 1935.
Billy Rose's Jumbo
On November 22, 1935, Billy Rose's musical Jumbo premiered at The Hippodrome in New York City. The musical told the story about a financially strapped circus. The musical also starred Durante, Novis and Grafton. At the end of each performance, Durante would lay down on the stage and permit a live elephant to place its foot upon his head. The musical closed on April 18, 1936, after 233 performances.
Texaco's Jumbo Fire Chief
The Texas Company, aka Texaco, decided to continue their sponsored Fire Chief with The Jumbo Fire Chief Program. The Jumbo Fire Chief Program used the title of its predecessor and the premise of Jumbo. The serialized version of Jumbo premiered on October 29, 1935, from the Hippodrome and was broadcast over NBC. The series shared the same premise as the musical, which was the tale of a financially strapped circus and the tale of two young love interests; Matt Mulligan, Jr., (Donald Davis), and Mickey Consodine, (Gloria Grafton). The series failed to reach popularity amongst viewing audiences and only aired 12 episodes before being cancelled on January 14, 1936.