Above, the "Air Corps scene" from the 1946 revue Call Me Mister. The skit satirized the fancy and adoring reception that returning Army Air Corps pilots would get on their homecoming - as opposed to the lack of ceremony that most regular GI's would receive.
The title of the revue was taken from a widespread expression used by American GIs in 1945. Many - especially among enlisted men - were glad to shed their military rank at the close of the war. "Call me Mister, oh boy!," yelled one wounded veteran in a military hospital in Michigan when he heard about the Japanese surrender in August of 1945. "Get out that grey flannel suit," responded a fellow patient, "civilization here we come." (Ironically, the following generation of American men would grow to despise the metaphorical conformity of the "grey flannel suit," in its turn.)
Call Me Mister, though we didn't mention this in the podcast episode - came to the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia in March of 1946. It premiered at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, like a great many shows back then. It then spent two weeks at the Forrest in Philadelphia, before going on to Broadway, where it ran for 734 performances at three different venues. (Little remembered today, its title would later be adapted for the 1950 Irving Berlin musical Call Me Madam, starring Ethel Merman.)
Above, a photo of Muriel Smith in the original 1943 production of Carmen Jones, which premiered at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, followed by a photo of Smith and a blurb from the Inquirer about the show. (The paper claims her as a Philadelphian, because she was studying at the Curtis Institute of Music at the time.)
Below, a photo of Karl Malden, Marlon Brando, and Jessica Tandy published in the Inquirer in November 1947. The shot was likely taken during initial rehearsals for Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, which were conducted at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, some time in October 1947.
Above, a collage of images from the January 1948 opening of Mister Roberts at the Walnut Street Theatre - including the photo that appeared in the Inquirer with Eva Marie Saint in the role of Lieutenant Ann Girard. However, in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York are rehearsal photos which show her replacement Jocelyn Brando rehearsing with David Wayne, and posing with the goat from the show.
Below is the often- reproduced photo of the production of Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Hedgerow Theatre in August 1948. The sets - including the typical Brechtian sign announcing the play's title - were by local artist, sculptor and architect Wharton Esherick. Alvis Tinnin can be seen sitting in the chair at center, as Azdak.
Above: Alvis Tinnin in the Carleton College production, 1948.
Below, a newspaper ad and a publicity photo for Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding, taken during rehearsals at the Walnut in December of 1949. This is a very rare image, which I have never seen reproduced elsewhere. (For instance, I've never seen Ethel Waters wearing glasses before.) The image really shows how young both Harris and DeWilde looked when the play first premiered. By the time the Hollywood movie was made in 1952, both of them were looking a bit too old for their roles as originally written, and certain aspects of the script had to be updated.
