In this episode, we have another crush story. Bert Monker, Deli Owner, has a serious thing for Sally Rogers, though he's been disguising it under a cover of comedy.
But things are brought to a head when he gives Sally a rose anonymously, causing speculation about a secret admirer.
He also gives her a ticket to a play, cleverly keeping the other ticket in the pair so that he can surprise her at the theatre without actually having to ask her out on a date. Note: Bardfilm does not recommend this.
But it's the Shakespeare that interests us here at Bardfilm. Here's a clip that includes a scene from the beginning and a small segment from later in the plot—after Sally has gone home under the pretext of a headache so she won't have to see Bert:
Bert refers to his gift of the rose as "a little token of love for the Cleopatra [pronounced as Jimmy Durante would have] of Comedy from the Caesar of Sandwiches . . . to the Juliet of Jokes from the Romeo of Rye."
The Romeo and Juliet connection is clear. But Cleopatra and Caesar? Is Bert showing an inaccurate knowledge of Shakespeare's couples? Or is he thinking of Cleopatra's love for Julius Caesar (which predates her love for Anthony and was between a younger woman and an older man)? Or is he thinking of the possibility of a relationship between Cleopatra and Octavius Caesar after Anthony dies in Shakespeare's play? Or is he not thinking of Shakespeare at all but remembering the 1963 film Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor? Later in the episode, he leaves the play early—perhaps he also failed to make it through the entire 1963 film (which runs an astonishing five hours and twenty minutes).
From other references in The Dick Van Dyke Show, we know the writers associate Anthony with Cleopatra, so we can deduce that it's not a slip on the writers' part. Perhaps it's simply the alliteration—"Anthony of Sandwiches" doesn't have the same ring as "Caesar of Sandwiches."
Later, Bert leaves the Caesar to the side, calling up a version of the balcony scene where Romeo brings Juliet soup.
The other point of interest (though not specifically of Shakespearean interest) is the avant-garde play. In the plot, Sally gives Rob the ticket, and he gives it to Laura. When she shows up, Bert is perplexed, and it leads to some humorous moments. The play itself is titled Waiting for an Armadillo—which must be a sly reference to Waiting for Godot. Although Waiting for an Armadillo has nothing to do with Shakespeare (Waiting for a Fretful Porpentine would have been a dead giveaway), I can't resist showing that scene:
Alas, there's no Shakespeare there that I can detect, but I find this attitude toward the off-off-Broadway play interesting. It will be a few years before we get Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but it's a decade after Waiting for Godot. And the great Allan Sherman will release his "It's a Most Unusual Play" (a parody of the song "It's a Most Unusual Day") in 1965.
In tracking down the date of that song, I stumbled upon a performance of the song on The Dean Martin Show in 1966. I know we're going further and further from Shakespeare (except for the line "Everybody wants to know / Where we found this handsome Romeo" in the dance number preceding the song), but here's that performance:
This mockery of avant-garde theatre seems to be part of the mid-1960s zeitgeist. Plays like Waiting for an Armadillo certainly had everyone talking—and, I think, rather nervous!
As a final note, I see that some of the lyrics from the song on Sherman's 1965 album My Name Is Allan: Allan Sherman Sings Great Movie Hits & Songs From The Cutting Room Floor have been changed for this performance. Compare these original lyrics with those sung in the performance above:
Original:It's a play where something went wrong’Cause it's five hours twelve minutes wrong.If you sit there, my friend, from beginning to end,Then your bladder better be strong.Dean Martin Show Performance:It's a play where something went wrong’Cause it's five hours twelve minutes wrong.If you sit there, my friend, from beginning to end,Then your backbone better be strong.Original:There are people hitting people.There's a couple in a cage.There's neurotics, there's narcotics,And the bathroom is right on the stage.Dean Martin Show Performance:There are people hitting people.There's a couple in a cage.There's neurotics, there's psychotics,And the bathroom is right on the stage.
Next time, we'll try to stick to the Shakespeare. See you then!
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
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