Charlie McCarthy Meets Snow White

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy were no strangers to working with Walt Disney. Throughout the 1940s, Bergen starred in no less than four different live radio broadcasts of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (see earlier post). Of course, they also appeared in the very humorous Mickey and the Beanstalk segment of Fun and Fancy Free (1947) and on the television special One Hour in Wonderland (1950).

Yet before all this, we find that Edgar and Charlie were actually featured in the following 1938 book, Edgar Bergen's Charlie McCarthy Meets Walt Disney's Snow White. Published by Whitman Publishing Company.

Front Cover

Title Page

We've seen before the madcap scenarios that can arise as personalities from different stories are thrown into the mix together, like in the 1947 comic Thumper Meets the Seven Dwarfs. Then there was the 1967, The Wizard Of Bahs, where the Dwarfs and Old Witch end up as characters in the land of Oz. But uniting Charlie McCarthy with the Snow White gang has to be one of the earliest--and strangest--mashups of all.

The book is written almost as if it was taken from a transcript of a live radio performance. In fact, it's quite possible that is exactly what it is. The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show aired for nearly 20 years, getting its start in May of 1937. Episode #33 occurred on the evening of December 19, 1937, two days before the Carthay Circle premiere of the Disney film. According to old-time radio author Martin Grams, Jr., the cast of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs appeared on this episode and performed a recreation. Unfortunately, a recording hasn't been found of this program. Yet this book might very well represent what occurred during that performance.

Bergen begins the book by telling Charlie that he has a great treat in store for him. McCarthy is introduced to the Dwarfs and nearly meets his match in Grumpy.

Next Charlie meets the Queen and talks to the Magic Mirror.

Snow White enters and Charlie thinks she's "a knockout." It's funny how the illustrations sometime depict Charlie as being dummy-size and in others as tall as the princess.

Charlie saves the day by locking the Old Witch in a closet.

Edgar Bergen was an immensely popular performer. So it makes sense from a selling point that Walt would want to link the ventriloquist's most well-known persona with his own box office hit Snow White. However, when you think about it, it's just a little unusual that someone known for his exceptional ventriloquism is featured in a book with no means of showing off his talents. Just another reason why I think this may simply be a transcript-turned-book from a live radio performance.

What a terrific look back at a time when the personality of a dummy named Charlie could steal the show.

Rear Cover

Special thanks to Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog for his insights on The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show and especially for taking the time to photograph and share the pages of this book from his collection.

The Screen Guild Theater Radio Broadcasts of Snow White

Probably the best known radio broadcast of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was that of the 1938 Lux Radio Theater (see earlier post) which featured an appearance by Walt Disney himself. Yet, the Screen Guild Theater performed at least five more radio adaptations of Disney's Snow White, each were half-hour shows that aired live from Hollywood. The first in 1944 was followed by one in 1946, two in 1948 and another (that was paired with Pinocchio) in 1950.

The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio show from 1939 to 1952. It was broadcast on CBS for the majority of its run from 1939-1948 with NBC taking it over from 1948-1950, ABC from 1950-1951 and back again to CBS for one more season in 1952. It also went by different names depending upon who the sponsor was: The Gulf Screen Guild Theater, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater, The Camel Screen Guild Theater.

Big name Hollywood stars performed on the show to help raise money for the Motion Picture Relief Fund, a charitable organization which assisted retired actors and others in the movie industry who may have fallen on hard times. The salaries from the radio performances were usually donated to this fund.

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Original Airdate April 24, 1944...

Listen to the entire 29:06 minute 1944 CBS Snow White performance via the Internet Archive. Starring Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Jane Powell and Billy Gilbert. 

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Original Airdate December 23, 1946...

The entire 27:57 minute 1946 CBS Snow White performance via the Internet Archive. Starring Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Mary Jane Smith and Charles Kemper. 

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Original Airdate June 7, 1948...

The entire 27:28 minute 1948 CBS Snow White performance via the Internet Archive. Starring Margaret O'Brien, Jimmy Durante, Mary Jane Smith and Mel Blanc. 

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Original Airdate December 23, 1948...

1948 NBC Snow White performance. Starring Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Mary Jane Smith and Charles Kemper. (Audio file not yet located.)

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Original Airdate December 28, 1950...

1950 ABC Snow White/Pinocchio performance. Starring Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Fanny Brice and Hanley Stafford. (Audio file not yet located.)

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The first three Snow White Screen Guild Theater programs were broadcast on CBS and generally followed the same script, the first two sponsored by Lady Esther and the third by Camel. The fourth program (the second of 1948) was also sponsored by Camel but aired on NBC. The script was probably similar to the earlier ones (but I have not yet located the audio recording to confirm). The last Screen Guild performance of Snow White aired on ABC in 1950.

Both the '44 and '46 performances were narrated by the popular Edgar Bergen with his "side-kick" Charlie McCarthy. The 1948 CBS show featured eleven year old Margaret O'Brien telling the story to Jimmy Durante. Then later in 1948, the NBC program again starred Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy as did the ABC episode in 1950.

Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy image via Ventriloquist Central.

Margaret O'Brien image via Wikimedia Commons. Jimmy Durante image via AllStarPics.

Fifteen year old (not 14 as stated in the program) Jane Powell played the singing voice of Snow White the first time around. Fourteen year old Mary Jane Smith replaced her two years later in '46 and again in both of the 1948 programs.

The 1944 broadcast saw Billy Gilbert return from the original film to reprise his role as Sneezy. This is probably why Sneezy ends up having the most lines of all the dwarfs in the script. Charles Kemper played the role in '46 while Mel Blanc took it over in the 1948 CBS version. There are moments in Blanc's performance that you can hear distinct shades of Yosemite Sam. Charles Kemper returned in 1948 for the NBC show.