BW - EP159—003: NYC In January 1956 With Johnny Dollar—Grace Kelly Gets Engaged

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers It’s a little after midnight on the morning of Monday January 9th. We’re at P.J. Clarke’s on the corner of 55th street and 3rd avenue, getting warm the best way we know how. The weather is nasty outside. It’s about fifteen degrees with freezing rain and gale force winds. Clarke’s is a bar from another time. It’s wonderfully trapped in nostalgia—all burnished wood and chased mirrors. Orson Welles is opening King Lear at The City Center to good reviews. The years in Europe did him well, but he’s happy to be back in New York. Welles is in the back with none other than Frank Sinatra. They’ve known each other since the 1930s, and since they both missed each other’s fortieth birthdays last year, we’re celebrating. Joining us is Jilly Rizzo and Bill Stern. The next round of drinks is on me. That’s Daniel Levazzo. He bought the bar from the Clarke family a few years ago. Hey Dan, three Jacks straight up, a negroni for Orson, and I’ll have Hendricks on the rocks. You want something? Hey Dan, let me borrow your phone, I’ve got to file my story. Hello Operator, give me CBS at 485 Madison Avenue please. (Beat) Yes I know what time it is. I’m a producer there. (Beat) Put me through. (Beat) Thank you. Some things never change. Hello Cindy, it's Scully. Is Ed Murrow still there? (Beat) Could you put me through to him? (Beat) Thank you. (Beat) Hey Ed, It’s James Scully. I’m glad I caught you. Bill Paley’s got you burning the midnight oil huh? (Beat) I did. Orson was good. I’m a P.J. Clarke’s with him and Sinatra right now. Bill Stern’s here too. You want to swing by? I’ll get Dan Levazzo to break out the moonshine. (Beat) With those two? We’ll be here a while. (Beat) Ha! Ok I’ll see you soon. Ed Murrow’s a good man. The gang will be happy to see him. Dan, Do me a favor, turn the TV up for a second. The Tonight Show with Steve Allen is just finishing on NBC-TV and there’s a little news item on the tube before programming signs off. Everyone is talking about Grace Kelly’s engagement to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. It was announced in Philadelphia on January 5th and their party is going to be at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here in New York. Grace and Rainier went their separate ways on Saturday. She’s going back to Hollywood to keep working on High Society. The only thing is, one of her co-stars is Sinatra, and he’ll be in no mood to fly to the coast tomorrow. That’s not the only talk of love and marriage going on around New York City. Look at that Sunday Daily News cover. Heiress Juliette Wehle stood up her husband-to-be on their wedding day. She supposedly slipped away at 2AM wearing just a negligee to elope with another man. Don’t worry, it’s not a roving producer from CBS. The twenty-year-old heiress later returned home, unmarried. Excuse me, I’m missing out on the fun. Oh, before I go, I should say that the story of a woman jilting one man for another is ironically a centerpiece in the upcoming plot within Yours Truly Johnny Dollar’s “The Todd Matter.” The first episode will air later tonight at 8:15PM over CBS radio. And remember, it stars Bob Bailey.