The ladybug made
no sound but her wings' whisper
as the mourning dove moaned.
If all the world's a stage, somebody's got to be the audience.
Normally I’d only reminisce about Edward Duke on the anniversary of his birth (June 17), but ‘tis the season of my “Jeeves” reflections, ignited this year by the spectacularly long-overdue revival of Edward’s Jeeves Takes Charge stage frolic.
At the time I saw it, JTC was billed as a “one-man, two-act, 12-character, award-winning comedy tour de force.” Now, the new adaptation lists 22 characters, managed nimbly (I imagine) by Australian heartthrob Sam Harrison in three sold-out performances, February 11–12, at London’s Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick.
Sam Harrison |
It is thanks to the P.G. Wodehouse Society of U.K. (and X/Twitter knowing all about my interests) that I discovered this revival. Following all the rabbit holes of social media, I also discovered that Edward’s IMDb page had been (lovingly, respectfully, and I assume accurately) updated.
The biggest treat of all was discovering the archive of original publicity photography for Edward’s “cheap little show” when it landed at New York’s Roundabout Theatre in 1983.
Only a sample here; credit to Martha Swope, photographer; Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1983.
Edward Duke as Bertie Wooster |
Edward Duke as Jeeves |
FADE IN.
EXT. Heavenly Way Station (or is it a “weigh” station?) It’s a dark and stormy night. Or day? Who can tell?
CLARENCE, attired in his favorite pale-pink chiffon angel gown, confers with long-time Way Station clerk JACOB “BIFF” MARLEY. They are watching scenes from The Sound of Music on a tiny past-viewing tablet at Marley’s workstation.
CLARENCE
Hills alive with music and dancing, a convent filled with worshipful worshipers worshiping and taking vows. What a beautiful scenario. (He twirls around to enjoy the floating chiffon gown.)
MARLEY (scrolling and fast-forwarding)
And Nazis.
CLARENCE
What do Nazis have to do with the price of schnitzel?
MARLEY
Nazis are the classic foils for all of us putting-right-what-once-went-wrong guys.
Entering the scene quietly in a serene shimmer is our distinguished Way Station manager, the nattily attired and twinkly-eyed MR. JORDAN.
JORDAN
That’s right, darling Biff, you have anticipated me. Our mission is once again to save a soul left behind. Have you finished the scenario?
MARLEY
Just polishing up the second draft now, Mr. Jordan!
JORDAN
Now, Biff, don’t try and con me!
MARLEY
No, no, of course not, sir. I mean, Clarence and I are just going over the major plot points. We’re looking for the fork in this young fellow’s fate.
CLARENCE
Rolfe! Rolfe!
JORDAN
Down, boy. Good Clarence. Yes, quite. Now, why would this young Austrian tenor with a dancer’s remarkable agility suddenly take up with these … I even hate the word itself. Name-callers call people names with it nowadays.
MARLEY
I know what you mean. Even Nazis call other people Nazis. It’s so, so …
CLARENCE
It’s so “I’m rubber and you’re glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks on you.”
JORDAN
Yes, in a preemptive sort of way. Exactly so. Now, sweet Biff, what are the coordinates for this past scenario we are amending?
MARLEY
We’re in Salzburg, Austria, in the last golden years of the Thirties.
CLARENCE
That’s the nineteen-thirties, sir.
JORDAN
Ah, I see. Between those two so-called World Wars. Well, if I recall my history, young men began rallying together to protest economic inequity, or something like that. Can we really blame them?
CLARENCE and MARLEY gaze at each other uncertainly and fail to answer JORDAN’s clearly rhetorical question.
JORDAN
Of course we do! Who answers being bullied by bullying everyone else? Bullies! And Cowards!
CLARENCE and MARLEY
And Nazis!
CLARENCE
Oh, my!
Drawing his lovely enormous wings around his two direct-reports, JORDAN soothes their fears and directs their attention to the images on MARLEY’s small viewer. He then sweeps his wings magically to cast the images onto a much larger cloud-view-screen-thing.
VIEW: Message-boy ROLFE arrives at the von Trapp mansion to deliver a telegram, speaking with fellow Nazi-sympathizer FRANZ the butler.
BACK TO the angels conferring
MARLEY
A bit of a little-man-in-the-shadows-of-the-big-man syndrome, if you ask me. The butler and the messenger boy want to cut the Austrian Naval hero down to size, you betcha.
JORDAN
Yes, we’ve seen this situation often enough in this Way Station, haven’t we, sweet Clarence?
CLARENCE
Oh, yes. But sometimes the big men are the problems. Remember Mr. Potter? It was the little guy, our dear George Bailey, at the root of Potter’s wicked envy.
JORDAN
Yes. And in the scenario before us, the big man, again, is the problem.
CLARENCE
The Captain? But he’s the hero who saves his family and leads them to escape! How was he the problem?
JORDAN
It was he who was at the root of young Rolfe’s wicked envy. My dear Marley, if you please, let us first look at a few of young Rolfe’s exquisite production numbers, featuring von Trapp’s eldest daughter, Liesl.
ROLFE (on screen)
Some people think we ought to be German,
ROLFE (on screen)
I’ll take care of you!
MARLEY (voice-over)
A promise is a promise, Herr Rolfe.
LIESL (on screen)
I’ll depend on you!
MARLEY (voice-over)
After all, he is all grown up at seventeen going on eighteen, right, Liesl?
CLARENCE (voice-over)
Oh, what a beautiful couple they are! They just make me want to sing and dance and head for Fezziwig’s House of Brides warehouse …
BACK TO the three angels conferring.
CLARENCE (continuing)
See, see? Didn’t I tell you? This is where they start the happily-ever-aftering, isn’t it?
MARLEY
This is still only Act One, you stoo--
JORDAN
Now Biff. Language!
MARLEY presses a few buttons futilely trying to fast-forward the cloud-screen image.
JORDAN (with a sweep of his magnificent wings)
Oh, never mind.
On the big SCREEN: ROLFE confronts CAPTAIN VON TRAPP at the convent.
VON TRAPP (voice on screen)
Come away with us!
ROLFE (voice on screen)
“I’ll kill you!”
VON TRAPP (voice on screen)
You’ll never be one of them.
FREEZE briefly on ROLFE’s reaction, then BACK TO the angels
JORDAN, MARLEY, and CLARENCE, as one:
Stop!
JORDAN
I believe we’re there. The crucial moment. Young Rolfe is disarmed and humiliated by the “big man” his friends call the enemy.
CLARENCE
Why was the Captain so nasty?
MARLEY
Derisive? Disdainful?
JORDAN
We don’t know. But we must undo the damage, or young Rolfe is lost to us forever.
MARLEY
He should have stopped at “Come away with us.”
JORDAN
I know, right?
CLARENCE
Is this where I quantum-leap in to somebody? Oh, oh, can I be the Mother Abbess?
CLARENCE sweeps his smaller-than-JORDAN’s wings across the cloud-viewer to show who he means, with a CUT there-to
CLARENCE (voice-over)
Shouldn’t she be the one singing to Rolfe, so he can climb that mountain at the end with the von Trapps?
BACK TO the angels
MARLEY
I could go. I know who needs to put right what once went wrong.
JORDAN
I’m sure you do, darling Biff, but I need you here for now. Our sweet Clarence can handle this. He is more, oh what’s the word. Romantic.
JORDAN sweeps his magical angelic wings and, with thunder and lightning and other grand effects, CLARENCE leaps into the convent rooftop where LIESL recognizes ROLFE
EXT. Convent roof top. Night.
CLARENCE (as LIESL)
It’s Rolfe! Father, please, will you let me handle this? He is my would-be boyfriend, after all!
CLARENCE (as LIESL, continuing)
Rolfe, please! Come away with us! We need you! You promised, remember? You’ll take care of me! I’ll depend on you!
ROLFE
I’ll … I’ll kill you!
CLARENCE (as LIESL)
But don’t you want to join our new act? We need your clear, bright tenor voice! Especially with Kurt just about to hit that voice-destroying teenager thing.
While ROLFE struggles with his conscience, the von TRAPPS escape. The LIEUTENANT enters to find out what’s keeping ROLFE from the rest of the storm-troopers. Er, the Nazis.
ROLFE
Run, Liesl, run!
CLARENCE looks heavenward for guidance
JORDAN (voice-over)
Run, Clarence, run!
CLARENCE dissolves away and real LIESL exits, running
CUT TO: Ext. The mountains to Switzerland. Day
A single RIFLE SHOT is heard in the far distance, stopping LIESL cold.
BACK TO:
EXT. WAY STATION. Day or night or whatever. It's cloudy up there..
CLARENCE and MARLEY stare at the large cloud-screen as the image fades out on the von Trapps
CLARENCE
Was that shot what I thought it was? Oh golly. Those Nazis. I am so sorry, Mr. Jordan. I really thought I could save him. Poor Rolfe. What a sweet, young boy.
JORDAN
Oh, but you did save him. Because he saved the von Trapps. Don’t you see, darling? We are really only interested in souls up here. And as for you, Biff. Oh, sorry. Jacob. Mr. Jacob Marley. I have one task for you now. Please go to the waiting room and bring our friend here.
MARLEY
Right away, sir! My pleasure!
MARLEY exits and just as quickly returns with ROLFE.
JORDAN
Now my dear ones, I have one last surprise. Jacob Marley, Clarence Odbody: Your time at this Way Station has ended. You may now escort young Rolfe here up where he belongs, to join his beloved Liesl.
CLARENCE and MARLEY happily embrace each other, then JORDAN, and sweep ROLFE into their arms and, all dissolving upward into the clouds, whereto we also dissolve to the awaiting LIESL
LIESL
Wheeeee!!
FADE OUT.
Love, hosaa
And thereby we conclude our adventures of Clarence, the Wonderful Life Angel who just wanted to make everyone’s stories come out right. Me too.
Continuing a casual habit of inspecting the art work used as set decoration in films and television, I've grabbed a couple of interesting screen shots from Downton Abbey's alleged Piero della Francesca painting (or study for a larger piece, as the plot develops).
Not only are the season one and season five images themselves different, but so are the frames. I'm not the first one to notice this, as a quick Internet search confirms. A historian also disputes the authenticity of the piece and the fiction of the Crawley family owning it in the first place.
Truthfully, I'm pretty forgiving of these inconsistencies, especially when I love the fiction bringing art to us masses. Maybe that's why I related to Cora more than any other character at the Abbey.
The explanation, I think, is that prop masters may not anticipate what their show will require in future seasons, and how many seasons those shows will run. In Downton Abbey, the first della Francesca might have been lost between seasons one and five, requiring a reconstruction, frame and all. The latter set piece makes appearances in two episodes (two and four), and was a major plot point in that season.
Following my mother into her addiction to the Brit series As Time Goes By, I also get a kick out of noticing things like the brass bed that switches between two different designs as the series goes on through 10 seasons. And the front door that changes door handles on the inside and colors on the outside. It pleases me that my observational powers have not completely abandoned me.
For Edward Duke, who would have been 70 on June 17.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to be a member in good standing of the U.S. branch of The Wodehouse Society, and Plum’s deathless prose lives on, as deathless prose is wont to do. But it is my recollection of Jeeves-and-Wooster impersonator Edward Duke who keeps my heart young, merry, and seeking the sunny side of life.
The sunrise cast the same framing shadows this morning that it did two years ago, in the picture above. It suddenly struck me why I never noticed this phenomenon before, in a space I've now occupied for 40 years.
I retired. I no longer vacate this morning gallery in order to hurry to work.
Why should shadowreveal my frame of mind?Is it the art of my heartor the artifact of evaporating shine,a vision long neglectedin the haste of abusier time?
The fleeting, floating framereminds me of a timewhen dreams came easily.There once was awonderfulness there,slight, divine.