Frances Langford

The Frances Langford Show (officially Maxwell House Coffee Time) was a 1947 half-hour variety show starring singer and actress Frances Langford and featuring Toby Reed as announcer and sidekick and Carmen Dragon as orchestra leader. Each episode featured a mix of songs and snappy patter and included a short comedy skit, usually featuring a "typical American family."

Langford, distinguished for her rich contralto voice, was a major figure in mid-Twentieth Century show business, with a career that spanned from the 1930's to the 1960s, though she never quite reached the level of stardom as persons like Elizabeth Taylor and Bing Crosby. Today, she is probably best remembered for playing Don Ameche's shrewish wife in The Bickersons and for her many appearances with Bob Hope during USO tours in World War II; indeed, some credit her with helping convince Hope to agree to do those tours.

Commercials were woven directly into the scripts, as was common at the time. Some of the commercials are among the cleverest I've heard (and I've heard a lot of commercials!). In one, for example, the announcer starts out talking about the different parts of an orchestra--strings, woodwinds, etc.--and somehow ends up praising Maxwell House coffee.

For more information, see Frances Langford at Wikipedia.

Series description provided by Frank Bell.

Club members, listen to Frances Langford now.