Kukla, Fran and More

Here's another bit of footage from Kukla, Fran and Ollie, which I wrote about here.  As I said in the original article, there's quite a bit of material online, largely taken from the series of DVDs of the show, but none of them individually capture the show.  Together you get a good sense, but only watching one clip won't do it.  That's part of why I've posted several.  Well, that and I just love them.

This is an example of what I mean.  The clip has Fran in it -- but no Kukla and Ollie.  However, it's a terrific scene which is very funny and also how remarkable Fran Allison was in making you believe that she believed with all her heart that these Kuklapolitan characters were absolutely real.  And it also shows that the program wasn't all sweetness, but sometimes the characters got pissed off at each other.  It's just that there's only the very briefest bit of Kukla and no Ollie.

In this case, the sequence is largely Fran and the officious Fletcher Rabbit.  I'm not quite sure the background of the sketch, but I get the sense that the show -- which was based in Chicago -- went to New York for a few weeks and did several episodes from there.  And now they were leaving to come back home.

Burr Tillstrom, as always, does his typical wonderful work.  (And you even get to hear a bit of Jack Fascinato, the music director, who chimes in from time to time in the series.)  But the standout here for me is Fran Allison.  She just throws herself in the world of the Kuklapolitans.  And any actress who wants to understand the concept of committing to a role should watch this.