George Wallace, Australian comedian, composer, dancer and singer, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist from live 1940s-50s radio.

Of interest in the comedy selections of George Wallace from 1940s-50s radio is his early 20th century working class Australian accent and WW1 vintage vaudeville stage delivery.

In a 1949 interview, Wallace admitted that he found it hard to adapt his comedic techniques to radio. “The hardest thing, is keeping [my voice] down. After years on the stage where you have to raise your voice to make a point, I found in radio that this only made the mike blast and it took me a long time to break the habit of wanting to shout at it.”

Nonethesless, Wallace’s delivery hasn’t dated and is still funny, in my opinio. The commercial radio actors he’s working with are very much of their time.

The Phantom Dancer produced and presented by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton can be heard online from 12:05pm AESDT Tuesday 10 March at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

The last hour is all vinyl.

GEORGE

George Stephenson “Onkus” Wallace died the day I was born.

He was an Australian comedian, vaudevillian, radio personality and film star. During the early to mid-20th century, he was one of the most famous and successful Australian comedians on both stage and screen, with screen, song and revue sketch writing amongst his repertoire.

His father toured in minstrel shows and George junior appeared at age three in a Sydney pantomime. He was in his parents’ song-and-dance act until they divorced. He later busked in Pyrmont, New South Waleswaterfront, worked in his stepfather’s ink factory, and was a farm-hand and canecutter in North Queensland. He then joined a road show at age sixteen.

MOVIES

The 1930s saw George turn his talents to film. He starred in five films, all comedies and was the biggest, if not the biggest, Australian star. Three of these, His Royal Highness (1932), Harmony Row (1933) and A Ticket in Tatts (1934), were directed by F. W. Thring for Thring’s company, Efftee Film Productions.

He said in 1933 that he turned down an offer from Universal to film in the US.

The other two, Let George Do It (1938) and Gone to the Dogs (1939), were directed by Ken G. Hall for Cinesound Productions. Wallace’s contributions to these films extended beyond his performances. He developed the concepts for His Royal Highness, Harmony Row and A Ticket in Tatts by drawing on his stage revues, and co-wrote Let George Do It and Gone to the Dogs. Wallace’s other film work included a 1932 short film, “Oh! What a Night!”, which he is said to have directed unofficially.[8] In later years, he was seen in supporting roles in two dramatic films, The Rats of Tobruk (Charles Chauvel, 1944, Australia) and Wherever She Goes (Michael Gordon, 1953, USA/Australia).

STYLE

In his physical presentation as well as his performance style, George Wallace differed from international stars of slapstick comedy. For instance, his clothing and speech allude to an Australian working-class type and contrast with Charles Chaplin’s mock-dapper Tramp persona. The fact that Wallace’s performances combine tap-dancing with pratfalls makes him unusual among film comedians anywhere. Moreover, Wallace’s films prefigure developments in Hollywood comedy. An example is the fictional country of Betonia in His Royal Highness, which predates satirical depictions of fictional nations in such celebrated films as The Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup (1933) and Charles Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940). Other aspects of Wallace’s films that are relatively unusual for the period are the comedic treatment of haunted houses in Harmony Row and Gone to the Dogs and scientific experimentation in Gone to the Dogs, which emphasize the resourcefulness of Australian filmmaking in the face of Hollywood’s international dominance.

JUNIOR

George Wallace had one child, George Leonard Wallace (George Wallace Jnr.), who became a famous comedian in his own right. At age two he debuted on stage in his father’s and mother’s vaudeville act joining them in acrobatic poses. He had success on TV in the late 1950s and 1960s. George Wallace Jnr’s television show, Theatre Royal, which originated in Brisbane, won a Logie Award in 1962 and 1963.

Make sure you come back to this blog, Greg Poppleton’s Radio Lounge, every Tuesday, for the newest Phantom Dancer play list and Video of the Week!

10 MARCH PLAY LIST