I was interested in the item The News in ‘52 (Advertiser, January 23) and in particular the content under the heading January 12, when the famous comedian Frank Randle came to the Palace Theatre.
Frank toured the number one's, i.e. the Moss Empire’s circuit of theatres for 10 years in the 1940s and early 1950s under the production name of Randle's Scandals Of 99(whatever the year was). I saw the show at the Birmingham Hippodrome in 1949.
Six weeks before the event mentioned in the news item, to everyone's surprise, the famous Palace Theatre manager of that period, Jack Leuty, persuaded him to bring a reduced version of the revue to the Palace and for a full week packed the theatre at every performance.
On the last performance on the Saturday night, Jack came onstage and said that owing to the enormous success, he had booked the show to return for another week's run in six weeks' time. It is important to understand that it was Frank himself, a very famous star of stage and films, who was the draw.
On the Monday night of the return visit I was at home watching What's My Line on television. Almost all TV during this period was live. When it came time for the panel to put on blindfolds for the mystery guest to 'Sign in please', it was Frank Randle. I couldn't believe my eyes and said to the family, 'He should be down at the Palace tonight.'
In those days, Monday night audiences conveyed on the following morning to their colleagues at work what the show was like and could make or break a show. When word got around that Frank was not in it, the Palace was empty for the Tuesday performance. Due to this on Wednesday, the cast left town and as a result, Jack Leuty sued for breach of contract for which he received £106 damages. Randle's defence was that although the production was called Randle's Scandals, it did not say he was appearing.
I am surprised at the reason given in the press report of a more prestigious engagement at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End of London because Randle was not popular in the south due to the crude nature of his material. He was an eccentric figure, bordering on the genius, but he was dogged with ill health and a drink problem. During his first week at Redditch he spent much of his time in the Nags Head.
Colin Wheeler