title: Film distributor

text: The primary distribution companies will usually receive some billing for the film. For example, "Gone With the Wind" was shown on the one sheet as "A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release". A modern example, "Jurassic Park", would be the credit "Universal Pictures presents ...". The Universal production logo also opened the film's trailer. In some cases, there is split distribution as in the case of "Titanic" (1997): "20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures present ...". Both companies helped to finance the film.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Pierre Nkurunziza (18 December 19648 June 2020) was a Burundian politician who served as the ninth president of Burundi for almost 15 years from August 2005 until his death in June 2020.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: A member of the Hutu ethnic group, Nkurunziza taught physical education before becoming involved in politics during the Burundian Civil War as part of the rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy ("Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie", CNDD–FDD) of which he became leader in 2000. The CNDD–FDD became a political party at the end of the Civil War and Nkurunziza was elected president. He held the post controversially for three terms,facing bloody opposition, sparking significant public unrest in 2015.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: He announced his intention not to stand for re-election in 2020 and instead ceded power to Évariste Ndayishimiye, whose candidacy he had endorsed. He died on 8 June 2020 shortly before the official end of his term. He was the longest-ruling president in Burundian history.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Pierre Nkurunziza was born on 18 December 1964 in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, shortly after the country's independence from Belgian rule in 1962. He was one of six children born into a family from Buye in Mwumba, Ngozi Province, where Nkurunziza spent his early years. His father, Eustache Ngabisha, was a politician from the Hutu ethnic group and a Catholic. Ngabisha was involved in the nationalist politics under the ruling Union for National Progress ("Union pour le Progrès national", UPRONA) and was elected to the National Assembly in 1965. Ngabisha became a provincial governor but was killed in the genocidal violence of 1972. Nkurunziza's mother, Domitille Minani, was an assistant nurse from the Tutsi ethnic group who was Protestant. Nkurunziza himself was considered to be Hutu.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza attended school in Ngozi and studied at the prestigious "athénée" in Gitega after his father's death. He enrolled at the Institute of Physical Education and Sports at the University of Burundi and obtained a degree in physical education in 1990. At the time, he was not known to be politically active. After graduating, he taught at a school in Muramvya before becoming an assistant lecturer at the university in 1992. He was also a football coach for Muzinga FC and Union Sporting in the country's first division. Alongside his other roles, he taught at the Higher Institute for Military Cadres ("Institut supérieur des cadres militaires", ISCAM) where he made important personal contacts with officers in the Burundian National Army who would subsequently become leading figures within the major rebel groups during the Civil War. Nkurunziza married Denise Bucumi in 1994.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: The newly elected president Melchior Ndadaye was assassinated in an attempted coup d'état in October 1993. The killing sparked a wave of ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions and the start of the Burundian Civil War. Nkurunziza was still teaching at the University of Burundi but was forced to flee in 1995 after hundreds of Hutu students were killed. He spent several years in hiding in the bush and was himself sentenced to death in absentia by a government-backed court in 1998 for planting land mines. At the time, he became associated with the moderate rebel group National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy ("Conseil National Pour la Défense de la Démocratie – Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie", CNDD–FDD), largely supported by ethnic Hutus. By 1998, he had risen to the position of General Secretary of the CNDD–FDD and was in charge of coordinating the political and military wings. He fought for their militia and gained the nickname "Pita". He was nearly killed near Gitega in 2001 but interpreted his survival as a sign that he was destined to lead the group. Nkurunziza himself became a born-again Protestant and supported the integration of Tutsis and other minority groups into the CNDD–FDD. All five of Nkurunziza's siblings were killed in the Civil War, three of whom while fighting for the CNDD–FDD.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza became the president of the CNDD–FDD on 28 August 2000 and presided over the movement as it moved towards a political compromise with the government. A series of agreements in 2003 paved the way for the CNDD–FDD to enter national politics, and allowed Nkurunziza to be reunited with his wife and surviving family members. He became Minister for Good Government and the General Inspection of the State in the transitional government of Domitien Ndayizeye which was considered "a springboard post at a moment when electoral preparations were under way to complete the transition". He was re-elected president of the CNDD–FDD, now a political party, in August 2004, and became its candidate for the forthcoming legislative and presidential elections. The elections brought Nkurunziza and the CNDD–FDD to power with a large majority of the vote. He succeeded Ndayizeye as the President of Burundi.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza's term as president began on 26 August 2005 and he soon adopted a number of popular policies. He presided over the reconstruction of the Burundian state on the basis of the inter-ethnic compromise enshrined in the Arusha Accords which mandated the partition of state positions between Tutsi, Hutu, and the minority Twa ethnic groups. The Party for the Liberation of the Hutu PeopleNational Forces of Liberation ("Parti pour la libération du peuple HutuForces nationales de libération", PALIPEHUTU–FNL), the final Hutu rebel faction in the Civil War, was demobilised in 2008. Burundi became actively involved in the African Union and the state's outstanding public debt was cancelled in 2009 by the "Paris Club". However, Nkurunziza's reputation became increasingly tarnished in the face of political factionalism, corruption, and continued insecurity. Hussein Radjabu, a leading figure in the CNDD–FDD, was imprisoned for insulting Nkurunziza in 2008. However, Nkurunziza was re-elected for a second term in July 2010 with a big majority but was effectively unopposed, as the polls were boycotted by opposition parties.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza's second term saw rising discontent with his leadership. Outdoor jogging was banned in June 2014 out of fear that group exercise might be used as cover for political meetings. Dissent came to a head with the public announcement on 25 April 2015 that Nkurunziza would stand for a third term in the presidential elections scheduled for June that year. This appeared to be contrary to the term limits established in the Arusha Accords and sparked widespread protests in Bujumbura and elsewhere which led to violent confrontations. However, the Constitutional Court ruled on 5 May that the projected third term was legal. The protests then escalated and dozens were killed.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: A military uprising was attempted on 13 May 2015 by soldiers loyal to Godefroid Niyombare but collapsed after extensive fighting in Bujumbura. Assassinations of opposition politicians and critics took place and it was reported that detained protesters were tortured or raped at so-called "black sites" by regime loyalists from the National Intelligence Service ("Service national de renseignement", SNR). The following months also saw the assassination of a number of CNDD–FDD officials and loyalists including Adolphe Nshimirimana. A rebel group emerged as the Republican Forces of Burundi ("Forces républicaines du Burundi", FOREBU) and large numbers of civilians fled into exile. Despite the instability and a continuing opposition boycott, the elections took place in July and Nkurunziza was re-elected for a third term.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza's third term saw the country's increasing isolation in light of international condemnation of the repression which accompanied the 2015 unrest. On 4 August 2015, he ordered the police to find the murderers of his ally, Lieutenant General Adolphe Nshimirimana, within ten days who was represented as the right-hand man of the president.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: The East African Community and African Union attempted to mediate the conflict unsuccessfully and Nkurunziza's regime became increasingly isolated. Fearing an outbreak of genocidal violence, the African Union attempted to dispatch a peacekeeping force to Burundi in 2016 but this was blocked by Nkurunziza. 1,700 civilians were estimated to have been killed in the subsequent repression and 390,000 fled across the border into Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Poverty increased and many middle-class Burundians emigrated. Nkurunziza withdrew Burundi from the International Criminal Court in 2017 and advocated constitutional reforms which would allow longer presidential terms which were approved in a disputed referendum in May 2018. However, in June 2018 he announced that he would not be standing for a fourth term and that he would consequently step down in 2020. The same year, he was given the title of "Permanent Visionary" ("Visionnaire permanent") by the CNDD–FDD.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: In March 2019, three girls were arrested for drawing on the president's portrait. Global outrage, with denunciations from Human Rights Watch and an international campaign on networks under the Hashtag #FreeOurGirls, forced the government, which agreed to release the three girls.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Ahead of his resignation, Nkurunziza endorsed Évariste Ndayishimiye as his candidate for leadership of the CNDD–FDD ahead of the elections scheduled for 2020. Ndayishimiye was considered to be a "close ally" and it had been reported that Nkurunziza "wanted to run the country from behind the scenes" after his resignation using Ndayishimiye as a puppet ruler. The elections took place in May 2020 and resulted in a large majority in favour of Nkurunziza's candidate but occurred against the backdrop of criticism of Nkurunziza's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Burundi in which Nkurunziza expelled representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) from Burundi. Election monitors from the East African Community were also kept out. Local sources assured that the COVID-19 had aggravated his ailment and that is why he declined a fourth term.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza died on 8 June 2020, aged 55, at the Fiftieth Anniversary Hospital in Karuzi. The Burundian government gave his cause of death as a heart attack, but it was widely suspected that he died of COVID-19. A week earlier, Kenyan newspaper "The Standard" reported his wife had flown without him to Nairobi, Kenya for COVID-19 treatment.


title: Pierre Nkurunziza

text: Nkurunziza's death occurred after the 2020 elections, but ahead of the projected hand-over of power in August. It had been announced in May 2020 that he would continue to remain prominent in public life in the post of "Supreme Guide of Patriotism" ("Guide suprême du patriotisme") with a retirement award of $540,000 (USD) and a villa provided by the government of Burundi. Seven national days of mourning were announced in Burundi following his death. Other states in the East African Community also observed official periods of mourning. One day of mourning was also observed in Cuba.


title: Trifles (play)

text: Trifles is a one-act play by Susan Glaspell. It was first performed by the Provincetown Players at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on August 8, 1916. In the original performance, Glaspell played the role of Mrs. Hale. The play is frequently anthologized in American literature textbooks. Written during the first wave feminist movement, the play contrasts how women act in public and in private as well as how they perform in front of other women versus how they perform in front of men.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The play is loosely based on the murder of John Hossack, which Glaspell reported on while working as a journalist for the "Des Moines Daily News." On December 2, 1900, Hossack's wife, Margaret, reported to the police that an unknown person broke into their house and murdered John with an axe while she slept next to him. Margaret was arrested for the murder a few days later at John's funeral. Glaspell followed the story closely and reported on its development, filing a total of twenty-six stories on the case over the course of Hossack's arrest and trial. Initially, Glaspell's reporting painted a rich portrait of Hossack as a formidable, cold-blooded woman, thoroughly capable of "having beaten [her husband's] brains out with an axe". However, after Glaspell visited the Hossack family farmhouse to gather materials for her next column, her tone shifted considerably. Subsequent reports from Glaspell showed Hossack under a much more sympathetic light as a meek woman who missed her children.


title: Trifles (play)

text: In her article on the inspiration for "Trifles", Linda Ben-Zvi writes, "It is likely that what caused Glaspell to alter her description was her own visit to the Hossack farm, the event she uses as the basis for "Trifles"". After Hossack's conviction, Glaspell resigned her position as a journalist to write fiction. In April of 1903, Hossack's case was retried. After the jury failed to return a unanimous decision, she was released and able to return home. The lawmen in "Trifles" are inspired by the original investigators: the County Attorney and the Sheriff. Mr. Hale's character is Glaspell's creation. His name is possibly derived from one of the Indianola farmers who testified at the Hossack trial.


title: Trifles (play)

text: A year after "Trifles"' success, Glaspell turned the play into a short story, retitling it "A Jury of Her Peers". Glaspell used third-person, limited-omniscient to express the point of view of Martha Hale. "A Jury of Her Peers" adds irony by "highlighting the impossibility of women facing such a jury at a time when women were systematically denied the right to be jurors".


title: Trifles (play)

text: Furthermore, Glaspell "capitalized on the growing interest in this form of narrative, a genre that was first popularized in the United States by Edgar Allan Poe". Her dedication towards the mystery genre "advances her feminist agenda: all members of the audience, regardless of sex, come to understand each piece of the puzzle through the perspectives of the women sleuths as they grapple the evidence".


title: Trifles (play)

text: Lewis Hale: Neighbor of the Wrights and husband to Mrs. Hale (originally played by George Cram Cook).


title: Trifles (play)

text: Mrs. Hale: Neighbor of the Wrights and wife of Lewis Hale (originally played by Susan Glaspell, and later by Kim Base).


title: Trifles (play)

text: The play begins "in the now-abandoned farmhouse of John and Minnie Wright". On command from the county attorney, Mr. Hale recounts his visit to the house the previous day. He found Mrs. Wright behaving strangely and her husband upstairs dead, with a rope around his neck. Mr. Hale notes that when he questioned her, Mrs. Wright claimed that she was asleep when someone strangled her husband. While the three men are searching the house for evidence, "the women begin to explore the domestic space on their own. As they interact with the stage environment, the two women discover clues to the couple's personalities as well as potential evidence in the case". Although Minnie and John Wright are not physically present they "become vivid figures for us via the dialogue and actions of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters". Through evidence, the wives soon realize that Mr. Wright killed his wife's pet bird, and that led to Mrs. Wright killing her husband. Although the men find no evidence upstairs in the Wright house that would prove Mrs. Wright guilty, the wives piece together that Mrs. Wright was a victim of abuse by her husband. They understand how it feels to be oppressed by men. After the women discover the truth, they hide the dead bird, knowing that it would otherwise be used to make the case against Mrs. Wright. Whether Mrs. Wright is convicted is neither confirmed nor denied at the end of the play.


title: Trifles (play)

text: "Trifles" explores the theme of identity through the absence of its key persona: Mrs. Wright. By leaving this character off stage, Glaspell demonstrates how a person's identity is "just as much constructed as innate". The audience can only form their perception of Mrs. Wright through the lens of the on-stage characters as they rehash and discuss her personal life and alleged crime, and these characters may not all perceive Mrs. Wright the same way. The varying perspectives of the group in the farmhouse afford the audience a well-rounded view of Mrs. Wright and how her identity is fluid and changes depending on the prejudices of the other characters.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The power of silence speaks louder than actions in this drama. The theme of powerful silence is portrayed through the dynamic between men and women in the play. The women are mostly silent at the beginning of the play, and their minimal conversation consists mostly of trivial things—well, at least the men see it that way. The men believe that their comments and findings are "trifles," however, the power in their silence and trivial conversation is implied at the play’s end. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, find the dead canary and decide to hide it from the men. The women’s silence in their knowledge of the canary reflects the social position of women during the specified time period. The men saw their conversation as trivial, which was generally how women were viewed by men in society. The women’s silent solidarity on the topic of the canary reflects their understanding of Minnie’s oppression and the often-diminished role of women in society.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The entrapment of women to the gendered role of domesticity is exemplified throughout the drama. Throughout the play, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are both shown to stay inside the house of Minnie Foster while the men go outside to do their "real work" of investigating this crime. Although women are entrapped into this gendered role, "women's lives are both shaped and empowered under the restrictions of a domestic space". The domestic role in which the women are confined places them in the position to find the canary and solve the investigation. Because they stay inside while the men investigate, the two women find the dead canary and figure out the real meaning behind this murder.


title: Trifles (play)

text: Trailing the portrayal of domestic roles, the portrayal of masculinity is another key element to this drama. The men leave the women inside to discuss “trifles” while they go outside to do the ‘real’ investigation. The play’s title "trifles" emphasizes that the men mock and dismiss women’s concerns. The male characters view the house and the women’s concerns as a physical space with no attached emotion. “Greek writer Xenophon, who insisted that the gods made women for indoors, and man for outdoor pursuits.” Ultimately, as the men diminish the women’s concerns, their ‘trifling’ concerns are what led to them solving the investigation.


title: Trifles (play)

text: Justice is a major theme of "Trifles", especially as it pertains to women. The theme could also be viewed as a sort of silent justice. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale both know and understand why Mrs. Wright killed her husband. The title of Glaspell's short story based on "Trifles" is "A Jury of Her Peers," which refers to the fact that women were not allowed to serve on a jury at this time. Because of this aspect, a truly fair trial by a jury of one's peers, as promised by the American Constitution, was impossible for a female defendant. The biggest irony of justice in "Trifles" is that a woman's social situation, exacerbated by patriarchal culture, may lead a woman to crime and then unjustly punish her for it. The play draws a clear line between the legal definition of justice, which would mean Mrs. Wright being convicted and sentenced for killing her husband, and the moral definition of justice, which would mean Mrs. Wright is not punished for freeing herself from her abuser. With "Trifles," Glaspell paints a picture of the life of Minnie Wright, Margaret Hossack, and the countless women whose experiences were not represented in court because their lives were not deemed relevant to the adjudication of their cases. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale "try Minnie Wright in an alternative venue, using a process that reveals details of her experience and possible motives—aspects of the case that the men's investigation will never discover." Although the play ends without a legitimate verdict, it is valid to assume that the woman reached their own verdict, leaving the audience to decide who the victim is. Glaspell, "like many other writers of mysteries...uses amateur detectives—the two women—who turn out to be more perceptive than the male experts investigating the case." Overall, Glaspell "made important contributions to the development of American Modernism, and her writing reflects a forceful commitment to the country's foundational principles of democracy and personal liberty."


title: Trifles (play)

text: The theme of guilt is presented in "Trifles" as Mrs. Hale dwells on the idea that she could have come over or spoken more to Minnie Foster. She harbors guilt that she could have prevented this path of destruction. This idea can be seen when Mrs. Hale states, "I wish I had come over sometimes when she was here. I—"(looking around the room)"—wish I had". Mrs. Hale shows the guilt of not listening to some of the struggles that Minnie Foster might have had, as she understands the hardships that Minnie may have gone through as a woman in this time period. Mrs. Hale expresses "guilt that initially motivates [her] reiterated wish that nothing be revealed to worsen Mrs. Wright's position".


title: Trifles (play)

text: The quilt is a subtle but complex symbol of Mrs. Wright's struggle in her marriage. Mrs. Wright couldn't physically escape being held hostage in this house by Mr.Wright. The "log cabin" quilt pattern that Mrs. Wright was following traditionally includes a red square in the middle, symbolizing a hearth, the center of a warm and inviting home built against a harsh landscape. Through this pattern, Mrs. Wright was attempting to construct a warm and peaceful life which contrasts her abusive reality. The only way Mrs. Wright could have a peaceful life was by murdering her husband and going to jail. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters notice that while most of the stitching is neat and skillful, some parts of it are "all over the place". This shows the first indication that something was amiss- in other words, the missing piece of evidence that the men were searching for upstairs. Mrs. Hale begins to unravel the haphazard stitching, claiming "Bad sewing always made me fidgety." In reality, this is the first act of covering up evidence that the two women partake in. The piecing of the quilt also symbolizes the communicative nature of quilting, as the two women use the quilt to interpret Mrs. Wright's story "patch by patch."


title: Trifles (play)

text: Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters deduce that Mrs. Wright had intended to "knot" the quilt. This knot is significant because it alludes to the knot on the noose that Mrs. Wright placed around Mr. Wright's neck. In addition, having the words "knot it" as the last spoken lines hints at this meaning, and gives a firm finality to the women's decision to protect Mrs. Wright and keep their found evidence hidden. The men on the crime scene take this idea of knotting the quilt as a mere mistake in Mrs. Wright's quilting technique. It also symbolizes the domestic sphere of the house, as it is a specific, technical term for quilting that the men are ignorant of. This underlines the validity of the female experience, in contrast to its dismissal as "trifles" by the men.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The canary symbolizes Mrs. Wright, who Mrs. Hale recalls used to sing herself. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find the dead canary hidden in Mrs. Wright's things and realize that Mr. Wright strangled it. The deceased canary signifies Mr. Wright's silencing of Mrs. Wright, who was cut off from the community and prevented from having contact to the world outside their farmhouse. He killed her bird who represented her singing and joy, therefore she killed him. The discovery of the dead canary triggers childhood memories for Mrs. Peters, who until this point had resisted taking sides, but now seems to join Mrs. Hale in a silent agreement to protect Mrs. Wright, The canary symbolizes, "female helplessness in front of male brutality".


title: Trifles (play)

text: The rocking chair serves as a presence for Mrs. Wright since she is never actually present throughout the play. The audience is reminded that she lived in that house and her presence is still there. Her absence forces the audience to consider her situation rather than judging her as a person or presence. By representing Mrs. Wright as an empty chair, Glaspell allows the audience to easily put themselves in her place.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The jar of preserves symbolizes Mrs. Wright's relationship with her husband. After her arrest, the jar has frozen and burst because of the coldness of the untended, empty farmhouse. This echoes the lack of warmth in Mrs. Wright's life, whose isolation and abuse caused her to "explode" and murder her husband. Similar to being under the pressure of constant isolation and coldness as the jars the only way Mrs.Wright could escape was by bursting. This comparison is a "reminder of the causal relationship between isolation and violence."


title: Trifles (play)

text: The home that Mr. and Mrs. Wright live in is a symbol of confinement and hostage. While a home is supposed to be a place of peace and comfort, it was a cage of terror for Mrs. Wright. Critic Yi-Chin Shin claims that the Wright "home is a good example to show how a home is a place for psychological and physical abuse for many women. Minnie was restricted within her home without a social life and that is considered psychological abuse".


title: Trifles (play)

text: "Feminism as a theme should not be understood as simply a call for women's rights on the part of the playwright or her characters. Rather, it may be a statement about feminine consciousness, the feelings and perceptions associated with a female character's identity of a woman".


title: Trifles (play)

text: The two female characters, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale are able to sympathize with Mrs. Wright and understand her possible motive leading them to hide the evidence against her. The men, meanwhile, are blinded by their cold, emotionless investigation of material facts.


title: Trifles (play)

text: "[Mrs. Hale] regrets not visiting 'Minnie Foster'" to possibly help Mrs. Wright with her situation and prevent the "desperation that led to the murder" because both women are going through similar situations of their own.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The two women, having pieced together the murder, face the moral dilemma of telling the men about the motive or protecting Mrs. Wright, whom they see as a victim. Their choice raises questions about solidarity among women, the meaning of justice, and the role of women in society as a source of justice.


title: Trifles (play)

text: In "Trifles", women and men view the nature of Mrs. Wright's crime very differently. The men in this play are blind to the emotional abuse that she went through from her husband. When the play was first published, women were not allowed to vote, serve as legislators, judges, or be on a jury. In America, the sixth amendment states that the accused are allowed to have a jury of their peers, in 1917 America, if a woman committed a crime and had to go to trial; she would not be surrounded by her peers. However, in this instance, the women act as Mrs. Wright's unofficial jury in the kitchen. The women find evidence of abuse and realize that is why Mrs. Wright killed her husband. They end up hiding the evidence.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The role reversal of Mrs. Peters acting as the sheriff and investigator, her husband's job, shows that women are able to act on their own volition and that women do not belong to their husband. Her investigation turns up different leads than her husband which shows that "her decisions [are] not necessarily coinciding with her husband's or with the male hegemony".


title: Trifles (play)

text: Taking an analytical approach based on developmental psychology, Phyllis Mael writes that the moral development of women differs from those of men. A woman's moral judgement is "tied to feelings of empathy and compassion", whereas a man's moral judgement is "impersonal" and "independent of its emotional origins".


title: Trifles (play)

text: This play was adapted by James P. Cavanagh for an episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", which first aired on December 26, 1961, with the alternate title "A Jury of Her Peers" which was directed by Robert Florey. Its cast included Ann Harding, Philip Bourneuf, Frances Reid, Robert Bray, June Walker, and Ray Teal. Hitchcock added his usual disclaimer at the end, stating that the killer and her "accomplices" were caught and convicted.


title: Trifles (play)

text: Susan Glaspell's adaptation "A Jury of Her Peers" is a story version of her play "Trifles". This short story would be similar to "Trifles" are regarded as two works that are essentially alike. This short story version of "Trifles" generic translation is consistent but also varies in different aspects.


title: Trifles (play)

text: "Trifles", a chamber opera in one act, premiered in Berkeley, California, at the Live Oak Theatre on June 17 and 19, 2010 was composed by John G. Bilotta and its libretto was written by John F. McGrew. The chamber opera is scored for five singers and six instruments, including a piano, and it requires some basic stage props. As in the play, the central figures (Mr. and Mrs. Wright) are absent from the cast of characters. Instead, through the libretto, Lewis Hale reenacts the events surrounding the discovery of Mr. Wright's murder, where he was present.


title: Trifles (play)

text: The 1916 production of "Trifles" by the Washington Square Players at the Comedy Theater included Marjorie Vonnegut as Mrs. Peters, Elinor M. Cox as Mrs. Hale, John King as Lewis Hale, Arthur E. Hohl as Henry Peters, and T.W. Gibson as George Henderson. The production opened on August 30, 1916 in Manhattan, New York City.


title: Peter Spears

text: Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing "Nomadland" at the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony in 2021. The film also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, PGA Award, and the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. Spears also produced the critically acclaimed 2017 film "Call Me by Your Name", and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He directed the underground cult-favorite short film "Ernest and Bertram", which portrayed "Sesame Street" characters Bert and Ernie as gay lovers in a loose parody of Lillian Hellman's "The Children's Hour". Spears also developed the television series "Nightmare Café" and "John from Cincinnati".


title: Peter Spears

text: In 2020, Spears founded his own production company, Cor Cordium. The company has multiple projects in development across film and television, including the upcoming "Bones and All", which reunites Spears with filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet.


title: Peter Spears

text: In addition to his career as a film director and producer, Spears is also an actor, having appearing in films such as "Call Me By Your Name", "Something's Gotta Give", "The Opposite of Sex," and "Father of the Bride Part II", as well as several television series, including "Friends" and "E.R." He was most recently seen in the film "Sublet," directed by Eytan Fox.


title: Peter Spears

text: Spears also co-founded OutSet: The Young Filmmakers Project, a collaboration between the Outfest Film Festival and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The 6-month film lab selects a group of diverse 16-to-24-year-old emerging filmmakers to share their stories through film, by embarking on courses in screenwriting, pre-production, production and post-production, mentored by industry experts. The program culminates in the filmmakers' final thesis projects presented at the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.


title: Peter Spears

text: Spears is married to talent agent Brian Swardstrom, and the couple splits their time between upstate New York and California.


title: Dads (film)

text: Dads is an American documentary film directed by Bryce Dallas Howard in her feature film directorial debut. The film follows a portrait of contemporary fatherhood. It features celebrity fathers including Ron Howard, Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel, Will Smith, Hasan Minhaj, Ken Jeong and Kenan Thompson, and everyday men around the world.


title: Dads (film)

text: It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019. It was released on June 19, 2020, by Apple TV+.


title: Dads (film)

text: A portrait of contemporary fatherhood, the film blends the reflections of Howard's own father, film director Ron Howard, other Hollywood celebrity fathers and everyday men from around the world on what being a father means to them.


title: Dads (film)

text: In October 2018, it was announced Bryce Dallas Howard would direct the film, with Imagine Entertainment producing.


title: Dads (film)

text: The film premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was named second runner-up for the . Prior to, Apple TV+ acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on June 19, 2020.


title: Dads (film)

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 94% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "As solidly dependable as the fathers it depicts, "Dads" pays affectionate -- and affecting -- tribute to some of the many ways parents can make a difference." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Dads (film)

text: Tomris Laffly of Variety wrote: "It’s mostly a vanilla documentary with no real destination, but one with plenty of cuteness to go around."


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Andrew William Nembhard (born January 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida Gators and the Gonzaga Bulldogs.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Nembhard was recruited to the University of Florida from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida. In his freshman season with the Gators, he started every game and tallied the fourth-highest freshman assist total in school history. After averaging 8.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists, and finishing fifth in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in assist-turnover ratio, Nembhard was named to the conference all-Freshman team. Just a few days later, Nembhard hit a buzzer-beater to upset Louisiana State University (LSU) in the 2019 SEC tournament.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Nembhard declared for the 2019 NBA draft, but ultimately chose to return to the Gators for his sophomore season. As a sophomore, Nembhard averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game and led the SEC with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Following the season he declared for the 2020 NBA draft but hired an NCAA-certified agent, allowing him the option to return to Florida. On May 30, 2020, Nembhard withdrew from the draft and entered the NCAA transfer portal.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: On June 23, 2020, Nembhard announced that he would transfer to Gonzaga. He chose the Bulldogs over offers from Duke, USC, Memphis, Georgetown and Stanford. He was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility on November 24.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: In his first Gonzaga season, he primarily came off the bench (though he played more minutes per game than two Bulldogs starters), averaging 9.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game for a team that entered its conference tournament unbeaten. Nembhard was named the West Coast Conference's inaugural Sixth Man of the Year, and was also named to the all-conference second team. He averaged 11.8 points, 5.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game as a senior. Nembhard was named to the First Team All-WCC. On April 21, 2022, Nembhard declared for the 2022 NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Nembhard was selected with the 31st overall pick by the Indiana Pacers. Nembard joined the Pacers' 2022 NBA Summer League roster. In his Summer League debut, Nembhard scored five points, five rebounds, and five assists in a 96–84 win over the Charlotte Hornets. On July 22, 2022, Nembhard signed a four-year, $8.6M rookie contract with the Pacers, the largest rookie contract ever given to a second-rounder. On November 28, Nembhard scored a buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer in a 116–115 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On December 5, with Tyrese Haliburton injured, Nembhard scored a career-high 31 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds, and 5 three-pointers in a win over the Golden State Warriors


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Nembhard represented Canada in FIBA competition at the U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels. In 2019, he made the senior national team for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.


title: Andrew Nembhard

text: Nembhard is the son of Mary and Claude Nembhard. His younger brother Ryan plays basketball for Creighton.


title: Anzio

text: Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola, and Ventotene. The town bears great historical significance as the site of Operation Shingle, a crucial landing by the Allies during the Italian Campaign of World War II.


title: Anzio

text: The symbol of Anzio is the goddess Fortuna, in reference to her veneration in the ancient Antium, whose territory Anzio occupies a very important part; so that it retains the heritage of the ancient town in archaeological terms: the settlement of Antium, over the centuries, was certainly present in the area of modern Anzio (the Capo d'Anzio).


title: Anzio

text: In the Roman era the territory of Antium almost entirely corresponded to modern Anzio and nearby Nettuno.


title: Anzio

text: In the Middle Ages Antium was deserted in favour of Nettuno, which maintained the legacy of the ancient settlement.


title: Anzio

text: At the end of the 17th century Innocent XII and Clement XI restored the harbour, not on the old site of the Roman one of Nero, but to the east of it, with the opening to the east, a mistake which leads to its being frequently silted up; it has a depth of about . The sea is encroaching slightly at Anzio, but some kilometres farther north-west the old Roman coast-line now lies slightly inland (see Tiber).


title: Anzio

text: A village arose and developed after the construction of the new harbour - completed in 1700 - with the Roman aristocracy discovering the area.


title: Anzio

text: In 1857 Pope Pius IX founded the modern municipality ("comune") of Anzio, with the boundaries of Nettuno being redrawn to accommodate the new town; however, the official name of the new municipality was Porto d'Anzio until 1885.


title: Anzio

text: Anzio and Nettuno are also notable as sites of an Allied forces landing and the ensuing Battle of Anzio during World War II. The Commonwealth Anzio War Cemetery and Beach Head War Cemetery are located here.


title: Anzio

text: In February 1944 American soldiers (the U.S. Fifth Army) were surrounded by Germans in the caves of Pozzoli for a week, suffering heavy casualties. A film based on the events called "Anzio" (1968, directed by Edward Dmytryk) was made, starring Robert Mitchum and based on a book by Wynford Vaughan-Thomas.


title: Anzio

text: On 18 February 1944, the British light cruiser was struck by two torpedoes off the coast of Anzio and sunk with a loss of 417 crew.


title: Anzio

text: In the same region Lieutenant Eric Fletcher Waters of the British Army lost his life in battle while serving as a member of the 8th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), part of the 167th (London) Infantry Brigade of the 56th (London) Infantry Division which fought at Anzio for nearly six weeks. His son, Roger Waters, became the bassist and main lyricist of progressive rock band, Pink Floyd. In his honour and remembrance Roger Waters recorded the song "The Fletcher Memorial Home", which is the maiden name of Eric Waters' mother. (Also see "When the Tigers Broke Free".)


title: Anzio

text: On September 14, 1948, a waterspout came ashore in the town, which threw a mobile home and threw a car “violently” into a tree. This tornado never received an official rating from the European Severe Storms Laboratory, however, the La Stampa newspaper wrote an article how it was “exceptionally violent”. According to La Stampa, a wooden and brick home was completely destroyed, ten homes had their roofs completely torn off, and about 50 large pine trees were completely uprooted. The tornado caused several million lire in damage.


title: Anzio

text: Along the coast are numerous remains of Roman villas. One, the "Domus Neroniana", has been identified as a residence of Nero; him and Caligula were born in Antium and, according to Giuseppe Lugli, right there ("one or more villas of the Julia gens"). There are also the ruins of the villa of Cicero.


title: Anzio

text: In Anzio can be found the Anzio War Cemetery, located close to the Communal Cemetery and Beachhead Museum. The Beach Head War Cemetery is located 5-kilometre north on the No207 Road.


title: Anzio

text: Near the ruins of the Villa of Nero, in scenic position near the beach, lies the military sanatorium of the Italian Army, one of the most important works of Florestano Di Fausto, built in 1930–33.


title: Anzio

text: All along the coast a large number of beaches and sea resorts can be found, including hotels and the famous fish restaurants of the port of Anzio. The town once hosted a Casino called Paradiso sul mare, that is no longer active and now hosts cultural events. In the southern part of Anzio, close to the border with Nettuno, are many Italian art nouveau style houses.


title: Anzio

text: The town is connected to Rome by the Via Nettunense (SS207), the Via Ardeatina (SS601) and by the Roma-Nettuno railway that connects Anzio with Roma Termini in around 1 hour. The railway line also stops in the stations of Padiglione, Lido di Lavinio, Villa Claudia, Marechiaro, Anzio Colonia to the north of Anzio.


title: Todd Lasance

text: Todd James Lasance (born 18 February 1985) is an Australian actor, best recognised for his roles in Australian television including Aden Jefferies on "Home and Away", Cam Jackson on "", Ben McMahon on "Crownies" and Major Sydney "Syd" Cook on "ANZAC Girls". He has also appeared in American television roles, such as Julius Caesar on "", Julian on "The Vampire Diaries" and Edward Clariss / Rival on "The Flash". In 2020, he partnered with "Spartacus" co-star Liam McIntyre to create the gaming series "Get Good" for the "CouchSoup" YouTube channel, following a charity livestream benefiting Black Summer.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In 2006, Lasance made his acting debut on the teen drama series "Blue Water High". In 2007, he was cast in the Seven Network soap opera series "Home and Away" as Aden Jefferies, which is generally recognized as his breakout role. In October 2007, Seven announced he would become a regular for its 2008 season. In May 2009, he won the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor. In December 2009, Lasance announced he would be leaving the series with a view to pursuing his acting career in America. He filmed his final scenes on December 11, 2009.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In 2008, Lasance made his film debut with a small role in the film "Fool's Gold". In 2010, Lasance was cast in one of the planned film spin-offs to the Australian crime drama series "Underbelly". The film "Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer Was Here" concerns the murder of two Victorian police officers and the subsequent hunt for their killers. He portrayed police detective Dean Thomas who was part of the investigation team. The film premiered on February 7, 2011.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In March 2010, the "Sydney Morning Herald" reported Lasance had signed on to co-star in the drama mini-series "Cloudstreet", based on the Tim Winton novel of the same name, in which he played the role of Quick Lamb. The story follows the lives of two working-class Australian families who live together on One Cloud Street and was filmed in Perth. The series premiered on the subscription channel Showcase on 22 May 2011 to positive reviews from critics.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In September 2010, Nine Network announced Lasance had signed on to appear in a recurring role on the third season of the adventure drama series "". He played the role of Cam Jackson, a member of a rival rescue firm which competes with the show's main team.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In January 2011, Lasance was confirmed to be a principal character on the ABC1 legal drama series "Crownies" in which he played the charismatic young lawyer Ben McMahon. The series reunited Lasance with his former "Home and Away" cast member Indiana Evans. The series premiered on July 14, 2011 and ran for one season.


title: Todd Lasance

text: After his appearance on "Crownies", Lasance was cast in the Nine Network television film "The Great Mint Swindle" in the role of Peter Mickelberg, one of three Mickelberg brothers suspected of involvement in the Perth Mint Swindle. The film premiered on March 11, 2012 to mixed reviews from critics.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In 2012, Lasance played the role of the young Julius Caesar in the fourth and final season of the American historical action series "Spartacus": "". The season premiered on January 25, 2013.


title: Todd Lasance

text: Lasance is the son of Robert and Jan Lasance and has an older brother, Chad. He and his family lived in the town of Medowie, New South Wales before moving to the nearby city of Newcastle in 2002. He attended St. Philip's Christian College and studied drama as part of his Higher School Certificate before receiving further formal training as an actor at Screenwise in Sydney. In December 2008, he returned to Screenwise to teach a short acting course for young students.


title: Todd Lasance

text: His acting career required him to relocate to Sydney where he shared a flat with former "Home and Away" co-star Mark Furze. He has also shared an apartment with Lincoln Lewis, who played his enemy on the show.


title: Todd Lasance

text: In December 2008, he appeared in the music video of the song "Favourite Habit", by Mark Furze's band Falcon Road. He was a candidate for the 2009 Cleo Bachelor of the Year.


title: Todd Lasance

text: Lasance was involved in a car accident on August 10, 2008 in which his Toyota Supra collided with an elderly woman's Honda Civic. He and his passenger escaped with minor injuries, while the elderly driver was taken to hospital in a serious condition but later recovered sufficiently to be released.


title: Todd Lasance

text: On 12 December 2009, Lasance was arrested at a Kings Cross nightclub in Sydney for possession of cocaine. He was subsequently ordered to serve a 12-month good behavior bond. This good behaviour bond has since been lifted.


title: Buddy Stephens

text: Wofford Oran "Buddy" Stephens Jr. is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at East Mississippi Community College, where he has won five NJCAA national championships and coached players such as NFL players Chad Kelly and Jarran Reed. With an overall record of 115–16, Stephens is the NJCAA all-time leader in winning percentage (.878).


title: Buddy Stephens

text: He is primarily known as the head coach from the first two seasons of the Netflix series "Last Chance U". Buddy is also known for his many Championships won at EMCC. He has won more games at EMCC than any other coach in history. The school is in talks to have a statue erected in his honor.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The Global Vipassana Pagoda is a Meditation dome hall with a capacity to seat around 8,000 Vipassana meditators (the largest such meditation hall in the world) near Gorai, north-west of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The pagoda was inaugurated by Pratibha Patil, then President of India, on 8 February 2009. It is built on donated land on a peninsula between Gorai creek and the Arabian Sea. The pagoda is to serve as a monument of peace and harmony. The Global Vipassana Pagoda has been built out of gratitude to Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899 - 1971), Vipassana teacher and the first Accountant-General of Independent Burma, who was instrumental in Vipassana returning to India, the country of its origin.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: Built entirely through voluntary donations, the purpose of the Global Vipassana Pagoda is to: 1) share information about Vipassana, and 2) spread information on Gotama the Buddha and his teachings. Vipassanā is the practical quintessence of the universal, non-sectarian teachings of the Buddha.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: Its traditional Burmese design is an expression of gratitude towards the country of Myanmar for preserving the practice of Vipassana. The shape of the pagoda is a copy of the Shwedagon Pagoda (Golden Pagoda) in Yangon, Myanmar. It was built combining ancient Indian and modern technology to enable it to last for a thousand years.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The center of the Global Vipassana Pagoda contains the world's largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars. The height of the dome is approximately 29 meters, while the height of the building is 99.06 meters, which is twice the size of the previously largest hollow stone monument in the world, the Gol Gumbaz Dome in Bijapur, India. The external diameter of the largest section of the dome is 97.46 m and the shorter sections are 94.82m. The internal diameter is 85.15 m. The inside of the pagoda is hollow and serves as a very large meditation hall with an area covering more than 6000 m (65,000 ft). The massive inner dome seats over 8000 people enabling them to practice the non-sectarian Vipassana meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka and now being practiced in over 100 countries. An inaugural one-day meditation course was held at the pagoda on 21 December 2008, with Goenka in attendance as the teacher.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: Ten-day vipassana meditation courses are held free of charge at the Dhamma Pattana meditation center that is part of the Global Vipassana Pagoda complex.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: Planning for the construction of the Global Vipassana Pagoda began in 1997, while actual building work started in 2000.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The pagoda consists of three sub-domes. The first and largest dome was completed in October 2006 when bone relics of Gotama Buddha were enshrined in the central locking stone of the dome on 29 October 2006, making it the world's largest structure containing relics of the Buddha. The relics were originally found in the stupa at Bhattiprolu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, South India. They have been donated by the Mahabodhi Society of India and the prime minister of Sri Lanka to be kept at the Global Vipassana Pagoda. The second and third domes sit atop the first dome. Construction of the third dome was structurally completed on 21 November 2008.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The Global Vipassana Pagoda complex is an evolving construction. A museum depicts the historical life and non-sectarian teaching of Gotama the Buddha. The Global Vipassana Pagoda's educational displays communicate the Buddha's teaching of the universal practice of Vipassana as a path towards real happiness.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The south pagoda contains 108 meditation cells for use by Vipassana students taking a meditation course at the adjoining meditation centre.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The foundation of the dome consists of basalt, while the dome itself is made from sandstone brought from Rajasthan. The individual blocks of sandstone weigh 600–700 kg each and are kept in place due to the unique design of the bricks. Each of the bricks interlock with the ones adjacent to it and lime mortar is used to fill in any remaining gaps. The circumambulation path is laid in marble.


title: Global Vipassana Pagoda

text: The pinnacle of the pagoda is adorned with a large crystal. The spire is covered in real gold, while the rest of the pagoda is covered in gold paint. The spire is topped with a special ornamental umbrella piece donated by the Burmese. The main doors to the pagoda are wooden and hand-carved in Myanmar (Burma).


title: Philco

text: Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased by Ford and, from 1966, renamed "Philco-Ford". Ford sold the company to GTE in 1974, and it was purchased by Philips in 1981. In North America, the Philco brand is currently owned by Philips. In other markets, the Philco International brand is owned by Electrolux.


title: Philco

text: In the early 1920s, Philco made storage batteries, "socket power" battery eliminator units (plug-in transformers), and battery chargers. With the invention of the rectifier tube, which made it practical to power radios by electrical outlets, in 1928, Philco entered the radio business. They followed other radio makers such as RCA, Atwater-Kent, Zenith Electronics, Freshman Masterpiece, FADA Radio (Frank A. D'Andrea Radio), and AH Grebe into the battery-powered radio business. By the end of 1930, they were selling more radios than any other maker, a position they held for more than 20 years.


title: Philco

text: Philco built many iconic radios and television sets, including the classic cathedral-shaped wooden radio of the 1930s (aka the "Baby Grand"), and the Predicta series of television receiver sets of the 1950s.


title: Philco

text: Philo Farnsworth, credited for inventing the first fully functional all electronic vacuum tube television system (patent # US1773980- filed Jan 7, 1927), worked at Philco from 1931 to 1933.


title: Philco

text: Philco was founded in 1892 as Helios Electric Company. From its inception until 1904, the company manufactured carbon-arc lamps. As this line of business slowly foundered over the last decade of the 19th century, the firm experienced increasingly difficult times. As the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company, in 1906 it began making batteries for electric vehicles. They later supplied home charging batteries to the infant radio industry. The Philco brand name appeared in 1919. From 1920 to 1927, all radios were powered by storage batteries which were fairly expensive and often messy in the home.


title: Philco

text: A very successful August 1925 product, called the "Socket Power Battery Eliminator", was a rectifier unit which enabled users to operate their battery-powered radios from standard light or wall sockets. By 1927, over a million of these units had been sold, but the invention of the vacuum tube rectifier (incorporated into the coming 1928 line of radio sets) made this technology obsolete.


title: Philco

text: In 1926, Philco decided to begin making radios. The first Philco radios were introduced in mid-1928, and 96,000 were produced that year, making Philco radios 26th in the nation in production volume. Up to that time most radios were handmade and priced for relatively wealthy consumers. Atwater Kent, the leading radio seller, coincidentally was also located in Philadelphia.


title: Philco

text: The Philadelphia Storage Battery Company decided that prices of radios could be scaled for a mass market by incorporating assembly line techniques then only used by the automobile industry. By the 1929 model year, Philco was in third place behind Atwater Kent and Majestic (Grigsby-Grunow Corp) in radio sales. In 1930, the company sold 600,000 radios, grossed $34 million, and was the leading radio maker in the country. By 1934, they had captured 30% of the domestic radio market.


title: Philco

text: Philco radios were notable for their economy of design without sacrificing quality or durability. Like other makers of the era, they offered a wide line of radios beginning with five-tube sets all the way up to high-fidelity consoles with 20 tubes in 1937-38. Philco also made battery-powered radios which were by then called "farm radios", most of which had cabinets identical to their AC powered versions. The Philco "Baby Grand" (today called "cathedral" radios by collectors) was a shape that featured an arched top that wrapped from the sides over the top. This was for economic reason partly, as one piece of wood formed both the top and sides. Philco sold far more of this style than any other maker, a total of over two million (in over twenty models, with from four to eleven tubes) from 1930 to 1938; many of them exist today in collections. By today's standards, most are still excellent performing AM band radios when restored.


title: Philco

text: A few of their innovations were very futuristic. From 1939 to 1941, they sold radios that were remotely operated by wireless controls, the one-tube "Mystery Control", used on their 13-tube model 116RX-SU (or 39-116). This feature was not offered by any other maker until the 1970s stereo receivers. Philco ranked 57th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.


title: Philco

text: Another interesting product was the Philco "Beam of Light" 78 RPM record players offered in 1941 and 1942. These units had a tiny mirror attached to the player's needle. A beam of light was focused on the mirror which caused a vibrating light to hit a photoelectric cell and produce the audio signal. While this system had some advantages over the standard crystal phono cartridge of the time, it was unreliable and is today a very difficult unit to restore.


title: Philco

text: Philco began marketing car radios in 1930 and later expanded into other areas including air conditioners (1938), refrigerators (1939), home freezers (1946), consumer televisions (1947), electric ranges (1949), home laundry washers and dryers (1954), and home entertainment products. Their first consumer television set, the 1948 table Model 48-1000, had a screen and sold for US$395.


title: Philco

text: By 1954, Philco had led the radio industry in volume sales for 24 straight years, selling over 30 million radios.


title: Philco

text: Philco was also a pioneer in television broadcasting, launching experimental station W3XE in 1932. In 1941, the station became the third commercially licensed TV operation in the United States as WPTZ. It was sold to Westinghouse Broadcasting in 1953 and operates today as KYW-TV, a CBS owned and operated station.


title: Philco

text: The Philco Predicta TV set was introduced in 1957 for the 1958 model year. It was a black and white television with the picture tube mounted in a unique steerable pod on a pedestal. There were many versions: 17" or 21" picture tubes, wood or metal cabinets and table or floor standing versions, some with rare UHF tuners. Its specially designed, high-deflection-angle (to achieve a shallow front-to-back depth) picture tube turned out to be a very unreliable design, and cost the company dearly in repairs and reputation. Many of them were sold to motels and bars due to the convenience of the swivel tube arrangement. It was discontinued in 1960; a great failure for Philco. Today, due to the unique design, the Predicta is a collector's favorite and restored examples can easily be found.


title: Philco

text: In late 1953, engineers at Philco Corporation invented the surface-barrier transistor, the first high frequency transistor suitable for use in high speed computers. Philco Corporation had produced a late 1950s production film about its surface-barrier transistor manufacturing processes and product developments that was titled, ""Philco Transistors - The Tiny Giants Of The Future"".


title: Philco

text: In June 1955, the National Security Agency and the United States Navy entered into a contract with Philco to build a specialized scientific transistorized computer based on Philco's surface barrier transistor technology. The project was called SOLO, since the idea was to have powerful personal workstations, and the computer was later commercially named the Philco Transac S-1000. The SOLO transistorized large scale scientific computer was finally built and delivered to the National Security Agency in November 1957. Philco also entered into a contract with the U.S. Navy's David Taylor Basin Research Division in 1955, to build a larger scale fully transistorized computer using its surface-barrier transistor technology, which was named the CPXQ model and later became the Philco Transac S-2000.


title: Philco

text: Philco had developed and produced a miniature transistorized computer brain for the Navy's jet fighter planes in 1955, which was called the "Transac" (C-1000, C-1100) and which stood for "Transistor Automatic Computer". It used Philco's high-frequency surface-barriers transistors in its circuitry design.


title: Philco

text: Chrysler and Philco announced that they had developed and produced the world's first all-transistor car radio and it was announced in the April 28, 1955, edition of the "Wall Street Journal". Chrysler made the all-transistor car radio, Mopar model 914HR, available in Fall 1955 for its new line of 1956 Chrysler and Imperial cars, as a $150 option ($ in dollars ). Philco's radio manufacturing plant in Sandusky, Ohio, had produced the all-transistor car radio unit for the Chrysler Corporation, which also used Philco's surface-barrier transistors in its circuitry design.


title: Philco

text: In 1955, Philco developed and produced the world's first all-transistor phonograph models TPA-1 and TPA-2. This was originally announced in the June 28, 1955, edition of the "Wall Street Journal". Philco had begun selling these all-transistor phonographs in the fall of 1955 for $59.95. The October 1955 issue of "Radio & Television News" magazine (page 41) printed a full-page, detailed article, on Philco's new consumer product all-transistor phonograph. The Philco all-transistor portable phonograph TPA-1 and TPA-2 models played only 45rpm records and used four 1.5v "D" batteries for its power supply. "TPA" stands for "Transistor Phonograph Amplifier". Its circuitry used three Philco germanium PNP alloy-fused junction audio frequency transistors. After the 1956 season ended, Philco decided to discontinue the all-transistor portable 45rpm phonograph models, for transistors were too expensive compared to vacuum tubes.


title: Philco

text: The Philco Transac models S-1000 scientific computer and S-2000 electronic data processing computer, were the first commercially produced large-scale all transistor computers, which were introduced in 1957. It used discrete surface barrier transistors instead of vacuum tubes (as the integrated circuit had not yet been invented). It also used a fast adder, originally invented by Bruce Gilchrist, James H. Pomerene and Y.K. Wong of the Institute for Advanced Study. It incorporated a speed up technique for asynchronous adders reducing the time for additive carry-overs to propagate.


title: Philco

text: In 1959, Philco developed and produced the world's first battery-powered portable transistorized TV. This TV model was called the "Safari" and it contained 21 transistors inside. Philco had developed the VHF micro-alloy diffused-base (MADT) transistors and used them in the Safari portable TV. The retail selling price was $250.00 ($ in dollars ) plus the cost of the rechargeable battery, which was $5.25 extra ($ in dollars ).


title: Philco

text: In 1962, the Philco 2000 Model 212 computer was chosen for use in the North American Aerospace Defense Command's famous Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Three of the machines were installed that year and ran until 1980. The machines were also used by research labs at Westinghouse Electric and General Electric.


title: Philco

text: In 1960, the Courier 1B, built by Philco, became the world's first active repeater satellite. Courier 1B was built by the Western Development Labs (WDL) division of Philco, previously known as "Army Fort Monmouth Laboratories" (Fort Monmouth).


title: Philco

text: In 1960, NASA contracted with Philco to build the worldwide tracking station network for Project Mercury, and all subsequent man-in-space projects until the ground station network was replaced by the TDRS communication satellites in the 1990s. Philco's Western Development Labs ultimately became Space Systems/Loral, which continues to manufacture spacecraft. In later years, the company produced automotive electronic controls, aerospace tracking systems, and artificial satellites.


title: Philco

text: In 1963, Philco was also responsible for the design, manufacturing, installation, and service of all the consoles used in both Mission Operations Control Rooms (a.k.a. Mission Control) at Building 30 of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Philco technical representatives worked with NASA staff to design and integrate the consoles with NASA hardware and systems. The consoles were used for the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle missions until 1998. The Philco-designed and installed consoles in Mission Control 2 at the Johnson Space Center have been preserved and will be restored to their Apollo-era configuration for historical purposes. The control room is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the "Apollo Mission Control Center".


title: Philco

text: In 1971, Philco-Ford began to sell reverse osmosis-based water purification systems that used tube-shaped membranes developed by the company to filter and desalinate raw polluted water for municipal utilities and manufacturing.


title: Philco

text: On December 11, 1961, Ford Motor Company purchased Philco and continued to offer consumer products, computer systems and defense related projects. The company, which had supplied Ford with some of its car radios as early as the 1930s, continued to provide Ford with car and truck radio receivers; consumer product investments were also made to color television production. Along with color and black and white television, Philco continued to produce refrigerators, washers, dryers, air conditioners, stoves, radios, portable transistor radios, portable phonographs, audio console systems with high quality "Mastercraft" furniture cabinets, and component stereo systems.


title: Philco

text: The company branded Philco products as "Philco-Ford" in 1966, and console stereo systems reached their zenith during 1966 and 1967, with high quality cabinet construction and powerful stereo chassis systems of 100- and 300-watt consoles. Philco at one time was one of the largest furniture producers in the world, but the end was near for "high quality" furniture cabinets along with stereo equipment. Solid wood cabinets with veneers were replaced with cheaper wood composites covered in vinyl paper and plastic wood pieces. The quality electronic systems that had been built in the United States were replaced with new designs and systems, engineered and built at a plant owned by Philco-Taiwan. Eventually, all consumer electronic goods would be made by Philco-Taiwan, to lower costs of production and be more competitive in the market. The prevailing industry trend was to move consumer electronic manufacturing to Asia in order to lower the cost of labor and production, and Philco-Ford was no exception to this movement. Heavy consumer goods (major appliances) such as refrigerators, air conditioners and washer-dryers continued to be built in the United States, along with television receivers.


title: Philco

text: In 1973, a complete line of breakthrough refrigerators was introduced, consisting of eight side-by-side "Cold Guard" models, which used about one-third less electricity than comparable competitive makes. But by January of 1974, Ford was eager to rid itself of the home products in Philco's lines, which was not doing well. Negotiations with appliance maker White Consolidated Industries (WCI) started in January, but were called off in March. By September, Ford and GTE Sylvania – Philco's largest competitor – announced the sale of the non-automotive parts of the business, with the exception of the new refrigerator range, which Ford also kept. The deal closed on December 11.


title: Philco

text: In 1977, GTE sold Philco International to earlier suitor White Consolidated Industries. (In 1986, WCI was bought by AB Electrolux.)


title: Philco

text: The company (as well as the Sylvania brand name) was acquired from GTE by Philips in 1981 so that Philips could gain the rights to use its trademark in the United States. Philco had been able to keep Philips from using its trademark because of the similar-sounding names, so Philips had sold its products in the United States under the name "Norelco". Philips later used the Philco name for promotional consumer electronics and licensed the name for private brands and retro-style consumer electronics. Philips also licensed the Philco brand name to Funai for digital converter boxes for analog TVs in the USA. As of September 2019, the US website is no longer functioning.


title: Philco

text: In Brazil, Philco (then Philco-Hitachi) was acquired in 1989 by Itautec, becoming Itautec-Philco and in August 2005 Itautec sold Philco to Gradiente. In August 2007, Gradiente sold the brand to a group of investors, who intended to license the brand to Brazilian appliance maker Britânia.


title: Philco

text: In 2003, the Merloni Group acquired rights to the Philco brand (from Philco International) for use in Italy. The Italian Philco produces household appliances in affiliation with ex-Bendix Corporation and Thorn EMI Moyor Electronics (e.g. Bendix 71258 1000 automatic washing machine 1986). As of 2006, the company is mainly recognised in Australia.


title: Philco

text: In Argentina, in March 2004, Philco was acquired by a group of Argentine investors. The presence of Philco in Argentina dates since 1930 and remains a traditional mark of appliances in this country. It currently manufactures refrigerators by Helametal Catamarca S.A. (Philco Argentina). All the line electronics, LCD TV, Car Stereos, Air Conditioning, MWO, Audio & DVD, is represented by Newsan SA SANYO and DatandHome SA, with the line of washing machines, dishwashers, air conditioning, water heaters, also the same group.


title: Philco

text: In Chile, the brand belongs to Fuji Corp S.A., a company that markets speakers, headphones, accessories for audio, TV and telephony, as well as appliances and electrical items, under this brand.


title: Alluvial plain

text: An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smaller area over which the rivers flood at a particular period of time, whereas the alluvial plain is the larger area representing the region over which the floodplains have shifted over geological time.


title: Alluvial plain

text: As the highlands erode due to weathering and water flow, the sediment from the hills is transported to the lower plain. Various creeks will carry the water further to a river, lake, bay, or ocean. As the sediments are deposited during flood conditions in the floodplain of a creek, the elevation of the floodplain will be raised. As this reduces the channel floodwater capacity, the creek will, over time, seek new, lower paths, forming a meander (a curving sinuous path). The leftover higher locations, typically natural levees at the margins of the flood channel, will themselves be eroded by lateral stream erosion and from local rainfall and possibly wind transport if the climate is arid and does not support soil-holding grasses. These processes, over geologic time, will form the plain, a region with little relief (local changes in elevation), yet with a constant but small slope.


title: Alluvial plain

text: The "Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms", maintained by the United States' National Cooperative Soil Survey, defines an "alluvial plain" as "a large assemblage of fluvial landforms (braided streams, terraces, etc.,) that form low gradient, regional ramps along the flanks of mountains and extend great distances from their sources (e.g., High Plains of North America)" Use of "alluvial plain" as a general, informal term for a broad flood plain or a low-gradient delta is explicitly discouraged. The NCSS glossary instead suggests "flood plain".


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Fibber McGee and Molly (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most popular and enduring radio series of its time, it ran as a stand-alone series from 1935 to 1956, and then continued as a short-form series as part of the weekend "Monitor" from 1957 to 1959. The title characters were created and portrayed by Jim and Marian Jordan, a husband-and-wife team that had been working in radio since the 1920s.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: "Fibber McGee and Molly" followed up the Jordans' previous radio sitcom "Smackout". It featured the misadventures of a working-class couple: habitual storyteller Fibber McGee and his sometimes terse but always loving wife Molly, living among their numerous neighbors and acquaintances in the community of Wistful Vista. As with radio comedies of the era, "Fibber McGee and Molly" featured an announcer, house band and vocal quartet for interludes. At the peak of the show's success in the 1940s, it was adapted into a string of feature films. A 1959 attempt to adapt the series to television with a different cast and new writers was both a critical and commercial failure, which, coupled with Marian Jordan's death shortly thereafter, brought the series to a finish.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The stars of the program were husband-and-wife team Jim Jordan (1896–1988) and Marian Driscoll Jordan (1898–1961), who were natives of Peoria, Illinois.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Jordan was the seventh of eight children born to James Edward Jordan, a farmer, and Mary (née Tighe) Jordan, while Driscoll was the twelfth of thirteen children born to Daniel P., a coalminer, and wife Anna (née Carroll) Driscoll.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Jim wanted to be a singer, and Marian wanted to be a music teacher. Both attended the same Catholic church, where they met at choir practice. Marian's parents had attempted to discourage her professional aspirations. When she started seeing Jim Jordan, the Driscolls were far from approving of either him or his ideas. Jim's voice teacher gave him a recommendation for work as a professional in Chicago, and he followed it. He was able to gain steady employment, but soon tired of the life on the road. In less than a year, Jim came back to Peoria and went to work for the Post Office. Marian's parents now found Jim (and his career) to be acceptable, and they stopped objecting to the couple's marriage plans. The pair married in Peoria, August 31, 1918.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Five days after the wedding, Jim received his draft notice. He was sent to France, and became part of a military touring group which entertained the armed forces after World War I. When Jim came home from France, he and Marian decided to try their luck with a vaudeville act. They had 2 children, Kathryn Therese Jordan (1920–2007) and James Carroll Jordan (1923–1998). Marian returned home for the birth of Kathryn, but went back to performing with Jim, leaving her with Jim's parents. After Jim Jr. was born, Marian stayed with the children for a time, while Jim performed a solo act. Marian and the children joined him on the road for a short time, but the couple had to admit defeat when they found themselves in Lincoln, Illinois in 1923 with 2 small children and no funds. The couple's parents had to wire them money for their return to Peoria. Jim went to work at a local department store, but still felt an attraction of being in show business. He and Marian went back into vaudeville.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: While staying with Jim's brother in Chicago in 1924, the family was listening to the radio; Jim said he and Marian could do better than the musical act currently on the air. Jim's brother bet him $10 they couldn't. To win the bet, Jim and Marian went to WIBO, where they were immediately put on the air. At the end of the performance, the station offered the couple a contract for a weekly show, which paid $10 a week. The show's sponsor was Oh Henry! candy, and they appeared for 6 months on "The Oh Henry! Twins" program, switching to radio station WENR by 1927.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: When it seemed to the couple they were financially succeeding, they built a home in Chicago, which was a replica of their rented home, complete to building it on the lot next door. For their 1939 move to the West Coast, the Jordans selected an inconspicuous home in Encino. Some of Jim Jordan's investments included the bottling company for Hires Root Beer in Kansas City.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: "Fibber McGee and Molly" originated when the small-time husband-and-wife vaudevillians began their third year as Chicago-area radio performers. Two of the shows they did for station WENR beginning in 1927, both written by Harry Lawrence, bore traces of what was to come and rank as one of the earliest forms of situation comedy. In their "Luke and Mirandy" farm-report program, Jim played a farmer who was given to tall tales and face-saving lies for comic effect. In a weekly comedy, "The Smith Family", Marian's character was an Irish wife of an American police officer. These characterizations, plus the Jordans' change from being singers/musicians to comic actors, pointed toward their future; it was at this time when Marian developed and perfected the radio character "Teeny". It was also at WENR where the Jordans met Donald Quinn, a cartoonist who was then working in radio, and the couple hired him as their writer in 1931. They regarded Quinn's contribution as important and included him as a full partner; the salary for "Smackout" and "Fibber McGee and Molly" was split between the Jordans and Quinn.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: While working on the WENR farm report, Jim Jordan heard a true story about a shopkeeper from Missouri whose store was brimming with stock, yet he claimed to be "smack out" of whatever a customer would ask him for, though he always had tall tales in stock. The story reached the halls of nearby Columbia College, and the students began visiting the store, which they called "Smackout", to hear the owner's incredible stories.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: For station WMAQ in Chicago, beginning in April 1931, the trio created "Smackout", a 15-minute daily program that centered on a general store and its proprietor, Luke Grey (Jim Jordan), a storekeeper with a penchant for tall tales and a perpetual dearth of whatever his customers wanted: He always seemed "smack out of it". Marian Jordan portrayed both a lady named Marian and a little girl named Teeny, as well as accompanying the program on piano. During the show's run, Marian Jordan voiced a total of 69 different characters. "Smackout" was picked up by NBC in April 1933 and broadcast nationally until August 1935.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: One of the S. C. Johnson company's owners, Henrietta Johnson Lewis, recommended that her husband, John, Johnson Wax's advertising manager, try the show out on a national network. The terms of the agreement between S.C. Johnson and the Jordans awarded the company ownership of the names "Fibber McGee" and "Molly".


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: If "Smackout" proved the Jordan-Quinn union's viability, their next creation proved their most enduring. Amplifying Luke Grey's tall talesmanship to Midwestern braggadocio, Quinn developed "Fibber McGee and Molly" with Jim as the foible-prone Fibber and Marian playing his patient, common sense, honey-natured wife. In its earliest incarnation, "Fibber McGee and Molly" put focus on Fibber's tall tales and extended monologues. During these earliest episodes of the series, Molly had a pronounced Irish dialect. while Fibber's voice was somewhat higher and more cartoonish; both of the Jordans eventually switched to more realistic, Americanized dialects closer to their own natural tones over the course of the late 1930s as the series evolved into the more familiar domestic sitcom format. The show premiered on NBC April 16, 1935, and though it took three seasons to become an irrevocable hit, it became the country's top-rated radio series. In 1935, Jim Jordan won the Burlington Liars' Club championship with a story about catching an elusive rat.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Existing in a kind of Neverland where money never came in, schemes never stayed out for very long, yet no one living or visiting went wanting, 79 Wistful Vista (the McGees' address from show No. 20, August 1935 onward) became the home Depression-exhausted Americans visited to remind themselves that they were not the only ones finding cheer in the middle of struggle and doing their best not to make it overt. The McGees won their house in a raffle from Mr. Hagglemeyer's Wistful Vista Development Company, with lottery ticket #131,313, happened upon by chance while on a pleasure drive in their car. With blowhard McGee wavering between mundane tasks and hare-brained schemes (like digging an oil well in the back yard), antagonizing as many people as possible, and patient Molly indulging his foibles and providing loving support, not to mention a tireless parade of neighbors and friends in and out of the quiet home, "Fibber McGee and Molly" built its audience steadily, but once it found the full volume of that audience in 1940, they rarely let go of it.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Marian Jordan took a protracted absence from the show from November 1937 to April 1939 to deal with a lifelong battle with alcoholism, although this was attributed to "fatigue" in public statements at the time. The show was retitled Fibber McGee and Company during this interregnum, with scripts cleverly working around Molly's absence (Fibber making a speech at a convention, etc.). Comedian ZaSu Pitts appeared on the "Fibber McGee and Company" show, as did singer Donald Novis.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: While his wife was ill, Jim Jordan had been closing his radio shows by saying "Goodnight, Molly." In early 1938, the Federal Communications Commission ordered him to stop, claiming it violated a rule about using public airwaves for personal communications. After a few weeks' deliberation, the Commission found that no regulations had been broken, because Molly was a fictional character. Jordan then resumed using the "Goodnight, Molly" signoff. In January 1939, the show moved from NBC Chicago to the new West Coast Radio City in Hollywood.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: "Fibber McGee and Molly" was one of the earliest radio comedies to use an ensemble cast of regular characters played by actors other than the leads, nearly all of whom had recurring phrases and running gags, in addition to numerous other peripheral characters unheard from over the course of the series.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The radio show was run on a tight schedule, considered to be one of the best organized broadcasts on the networks. Perhaps because or despite his having a good memory, Jim Jordan insisted that everyone affiliated with the program must take a two-day rest, following the Tuesday broadcast. Nothing was done about the following Tuesday's show until Friday morning, when Jim and Marian Jordan got together with writer Don Quinn and agency producer Cecil Underwood to talk through the following weeks' script. They worked in a business office because they were convinced a businesslike and efficient atmosphere helped them get the work done in 2 hours. By Saturday morning, Quinn had the first draft of the script ready, which "Fibber" read, and then Quinn revised into the final, working script. He did this Sunday night, working all night and finishing Monday morning, when the cast would gather at NBC's Hollywood studios, and rehearse for 2 hours. After this, Quinn made any final changes. Tuesday morning the entire cast (including Billy Mills' orchestra) would run through the script about 4 times, ending with a complete run-through at 3 pm. At 5:30 p.m. (Pacific time), the show went on the air. This pattern of preparation never varied by much more than an hour from week-to-week.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: For most of the show's history, the usual order of the show was the introduction followed by a Johnson Wax plug by Harlow then his introduction to the first part of the script (usually 11 minutes). Billy Mills usually followed with an instrumental (or accompanied by Martha Tilton in 1941). The musical interlude would segue into the second part of the script, followed by a performance (by the vocal group, the Kings Men – occasionally featuring a solo by leader Ken Darby). The final act would then begin, with the last line usually being the lesson learned that day. A final commercial, then Billy Mills' theme song to fade. Later, Harlow would meet up and visit with the McGees, and work in a Johnson Wax commercial, sometimes assisted by Fibber and Molly.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Much of the show's humor relied on recurring gags, unseen regulars and well-timed punch lines. The 30-minute show usually opened with the audience in full laughter as announcer Harlow Wilcox called out "The Johnson Wax Program with Fibber McGee and Molly!" To McGee’s periodic bad jokes Molly often answered "T'ain't funny, McGee!", which became a familiar catchphrase during the 1940s. Molly's Uncle Dennis, who lives with the couple, is apparently a dedicated alcoholic and a punch line for many Fibber jokes; at times he was the main subject of some shows in which he "disappeared".


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: That Fibber lacked a regular job led to numerous references and jokes: Mayor La Trivia often offered McGee mundane jobs at City Hall using flowery decriptions such as "looking in on the higher-ups at City Hall" (a window-cleaning job). Another was for Fibber to work in disguise for days at a time as the Wistful Vista Santa Claus.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: "Fibber" McGee is overly proud of past misdeeds, sometimes recalling nicknames acquired; many involved a bad pun. An accusation of being a glib talker became "Ad Glib McGee". And making expressions with his eyes led to the nickname "Eyes-a-muggin' McGee" (a play on the popular Stuff Smith swing tune "I'se A-muggin). The opening involved much boastful alliteration.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The couple's Peoria schoolmate (and Molly’s earlier boyfriend) Otis Cadwallader is the subject of a longstanding one-sided grudge by Fibber. The "corner of 14th and Oak" in downtown Wistful Vista was routinely given as a location for various homes, places of business and government buildings throughout the show's run. Whenever someone asks the time it is always half-past.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: McGee has a reputation for telling tall tales, and there are occasional jokes linking this propensity to his name "Fibber". In the episode "Fibber Changes His Name" (March 25, 1941), he goes so far as to claim that "Fibber" is his actual given name and not just a nickname. According to McGee, "I was named after my fourth cousin, Walpole J. Fimmer ... but the minister who christened me had a cold in his head."


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: None of the show's other running gags was as memorable or enduring as the overstuffed hall closet. The gag involved McGee's frequently opening a cacophonous closet, with the bric-a-brac it contained clattering down and out and, often enough, over McGee's or Molly's heads. "I gotta get that closet cleaned out one of these days" was the usual McGee observation once the racket subsided. Naturally, "one of these days" almost never arrived. A good thing, too: in one famous instance, when a burglar (played by Bob Bruce) tied up McGee, McGee informed him cannily that the family's silver was "right through that door, bud... just yank it open, bud!" Naturally, the burglar took the bait and naturally, he was buried in the inevitable avalanche, long enough for the police to apprehend him.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: This gag appears to have begun with the March 5, 1940, show, "Cleaning the Closet". Molly opens the closet looking for the dictionary and is promptly buried in Fibber's "stuff" ("arranged in there just the way I want it"). Cleaning out the closet becomes the show's plot, inventorying much of the contents along the way: a photo album, a rusty horseshoe, a ten-foot pole. After repacking the closet, Fibber realizes the dictionary has been put away too—and he opens the closet again, causing an avalanche. This episode also features a cameo by Gracie Allen, running for president on the Surprise Party ticket. Toward the end of the September 30, 1941 show, "Back from Vacation; Gildy Says Goodbye", next-door nemesis Gildersleeve—who has moved to Summerfield to finish raising his orphaned niece and nephew (and already begun his successful spin-off show "The Great Gildersleeve")—has come back to Wistful Vista to wind up his affairs there. In a farewell to the show that made him famous, Gildersleeve opens the closet to be buried in the usual avalanche.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: On at least one occasion, the gag is flipped, and the closet is silent: in "Man's Untapped Energies" (broadcast March 11, 1947), visiting Dr. Gamble makes to leave. Molly warns, "No, Doctor, not through that door, that's the hall closet!" As the audience chuckles slightly in anticipation, Fibber explains: "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Molly, I straightened out the hall closet this morning!" This was certainly not the end of the gag, though, as the closet soon became cluttered once again, leading to many more disasters.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Like many such trademarks, the clattering closet began as a one-time stunt, but "the closet" was developed carefully, not being overused (it rarely appeared in more than two consecutive installments, though it never disappeared for the same length, either, at the height of its identification, and it rarely collapsed at exactly the same time from show to show), and it became the best-known running sound gag in American radio's classic period. Jack Benny's basement vault alarm ran a distant second. Both of these classic sound effects were performed by Ed Ludes and Virgil Rhymer, the Hollywood-based NBC staff sound effects creators. Exactly "what" tumbled out of McGee's closet each time was never clear (except to these sound-effects men), but what signaled the end of the avalanche was always the same sound: a clear, tiny, household hand bell and McGee's inevitable post-collapse lament. "Fibber McGee's closet" entered the American vernacular as a catchphrase synonymous with household clutter.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Each episode also featured an appearance by announcer Harlow Wilcox, whose job it was to weave the second ad for the sponsor into the plot without having to break the show for a real commercial. Wilcox's introductory pitch lines were usually met with groans or humorously sarcastic lines by Fibber. During the many years that the show was sponsored by Johnson Wax, Fibber nicknamed Wilcox "Waxy", due to Wilcox's constant praises of their various products, and during the years the show was sponsored by Pet Milk, Fibber changed the nickname to "Milky". In a style not unusual for the classic radio years, the show was typically introduced as, "The Johnson Wax Program, with Fibber McGee and Molly". Johnson Wax sponsored the show through 1950; Pet Milk through 1952; and, until the show's final half-hour episode in mid-1953, Reynolds Aluminum. Fibber sometimes referred to Harlow as "Harpo".


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The show also used two musical numbers per episode to break the comedy routines into sections. For most of the show's run, there would be one vocal number by The King's Men (a vocal quartet: Ken Darby, Rad Robinson, Jon Dodson and Bud Linn), and an instrumental by The Billy Mills Orchestra. For a short time in the early 1940s, Martha Tilton would sing what was formerly the instrumental.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Before and during America's involvement in World War II, references to or about the war and the members of the Axis Powers were commonplace on the show. Just after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Jim Jordan, out of character, soberly ended the "Fibber McGee" show by inviting the studio audience to sing "America". During the show of December 9, the Mayor is seeking a globe in order to keep up with current events. Molly asks him, "Do you want one with Japan on it?" The mayor says, "Why, of course." "Then you better get one quick," Molly says, receiving thunderous applause from the studio audience.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Also commonplace were calls to action to buy war bonds (both through announcements and subtle references written into the script), and condemnation of food and supply hoarding. On the other hand, the Jordans gladly cooperated in turning the show over to a half-hour devoted entirely to patriotic music on the day of the D-Day invasion in 1944, with the couple speaking only at the opening and the closing of the broadcast. This show remains available to collectors amidst many a "Fibber McGee and Molly" packaging.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: When the shows were broadcast overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS), all three commercials were eliminated from the program. Harlow Wilcox's middle ad was edited out, and the two advertisements at the beginning and end of the show were replaced by musical numbers, so that the show on AFRS would have two numbers by Billy Mills and the Orchestra, and two by The King's Men.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: The Jordans were experts at transforming the ethnic humor of vaudeville into more rounded comic characters, no doubt due in part to the affection felt for the famous supporting cast members who voiced these roles, including Bill Thompson (as the Old Timer and Wimple), Harold Peary (as Gildersleeve), Gale Gordon (as La Trivia), Arthur Q. Bryan (as Dr. Gamble; Bryan also voiced Elmer Fudd for the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoons, which also borrowed lines from "Fibber McGee and Molly" from time to time), Isabel Randolph (as Mrs. Uppington), Marlin Hurt (a white male who played in dialect the McGee's maid, Beulah), and others. They were also expert at their own running gags and catchphrases, many of which entered the American vernacular: "That ain't the way "I" heeard it!"; "'T'ain't funny, McGee!" and "Heavenly days!" were the three best known.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: "Fibber McGee and Molly" spun two supporting characters off into their own shows. By far the most successful and popular was Harold Peary's Gildersleeve, spun into "The Great Gildersleeve" in 1941. This show introduced single parenthood of a sort to creative broadcasting: the pompous, previously married Gildersleeve now moved to Summerfield, became single (although the missing wife was never explained), and raised his orphaned, spirited niece and nephew, while dividing his time between running his manufacturing business and (eventually) becoming the town water commissioner. In one episode, the McGees arrived in Summerfield for a visit with their old neighbor with hilarious results: McGee inadvertently learns Gildersleeve is engaged, and he practically needs to be chloroformed to perpetuate the secret a little longer.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Peary returned the favor in a memorable 1944 "Fibber McGee & Molly" episode in which neither of the title characters appeared: Jim Jordan was recovering from a bout of pneumonia (this would be written into the show the following week, when the Jordans returned), and the story line involved Gildersleeve and nephew Leroy hoping to visit the McGees at home during a train layover in Wistful Vista, but finding Fibber and Molly not at home. At the end of the episode, Gildersleeve discovers the couple had left in a hurry that morning when they received "Gildy's" letter saying he would be stopping over in Wistful Vista.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Marlin Hurt's "Beulah" was also spun off, leading to both a radio and television show that would eventually star Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters.


title: Fibber McGee and Molly

text: Jim and Marian Jordan themselves occasionally appeared on other programs, away from their Fibber and Molly characters. One memorable episode of "Suspense" ("Backseat Driver", February 3, 1949) cast the Jordans as victims of a car-jacking; Jim Jordan's tense, interior monologues were especially dramatic.