The Five-Star Theater was a radio show featuring the Marx Brothers. The series was originally broadcast in the United States on the National Broadcasting Company’s Blue Network beginning November 28, 1932, and ended May 22, 1933. The episodes were thought entirely lost until 1988, when 25 of the 26 scripts were rediscovered in the Library of Congress storage and republished.
About Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel in brief
The series was originally broadcast in the United States on the National Broadcasting Company’s Blue Network beginning November 28, 1932, and ended May 22, 1933. Sponsored by the Standard Oil Companies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Louisiana and the Colonial Beacon Oil Company, it was the Monday night installment of the Five-Star Theater. The show depicts the misadventures of a small New York law firm, with Groucho as attorney Waldorf T. Flywheel and Chico as Flywheel’s assistant, Emmanuel Ravelli. Many of the episodes’ plots were partly or largely based upon Marx Brothers films. The episodes were thought entirely lost until 1988, when 25 of the 26 scripts were rediscovered in the Library of Congress storage and republished. Adaptations of the recovered scripts were performed in the UK, on BBC Radio 4, between 1990 and 1993. In 1996, some recordings of the original show were discovered, including a complete recording of the last episode to air. In 1932 Texaco introduced its “Fire Chief” gasoline to the public, so named because its octane rating was 66, higher than the U.S. government’s requirements for fire engines. Ed Wynn played the fire chief in front of an audience of 700 and the show was aired live over the NBC Red Network, beginning April 26, 1932. It immediately proved popular with over two million regular listeners and a Co-Operative Analysis of Broadcasting Rating of 44. 8%. Upon seeing the success of Wynn’s Fire Chief, the Standard Oils in New Jersey,.
Louisiana and Pennsylvania, and Colonial Beacon, decided to sponsor their own radio program to promote Esso Gasoline and Essolube Motor Oil. They turned to the advertising agency McCann Erickson, which offered a different show each night of the week. In contrast, Harpo was paid as a cast member, although it was impossible to give him an appearance on the radio without giving him an earful. By comparison, Greta Garbo’s weekly salary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the same period was also 6,500, though this was for a 40- or 50-hour week. During the Great Depression this was considered a high sum for 30 minutes’ work, especially since radio required no memorization and only a few minutes needed for costume, hair and makeup. In contrast, almost two-thirds of American families were living on fewer than 26 dollars a week during the Depression. In the 1930s, the average American family was living on two-three-quarters of a million dollars per week. The Marx Brothers shared a weekly income of $6,500 for appearing in the show. It is thought that Mary McCoy played secretary Miss Dimple, and it is believed that Broderick Crawford also appeared as various characters. The series was initially titled Beagle, Shyster, and Beagle. It was originally titled Beagle, until a real lawyer from New York named Beagle contacted NBC and threatened to file a lawsuit unless the name was dropped.
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