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Molly returns after her long, unexplained absence. Molly is amazed at the condition of Fibber’s recordkeeping of the household finances while she was gone. Feeling the wrath of Molly, even a visit from a door to door salesman is a welcome distraction for Fibber. Not to be distracted herself, Molly looks for places to cut back on spending. Billy Mills plays and Donald Novas sings, You’re the Only One for Me.
Heading downtown to get a book on money management, Fibber rides the street car where he encounters The Old Timer, who tells it the way he hear’d it, and a little about the boxing matches. Next, a laughing Gildersleeve has a word for his old chum. Fibber’s quest for books on balancing his books is interrupted by Harlow Wilcox, and a mid show commercial.
In the book store, Boomer shares his insights on budgeting. Abigail Uppington offers her expertise on finances. Gotta watch that pearl buying and cut back. The Four Notes sing, the Hawaiian War Chant. Doing some shopping, Fibber encounters Teeny. Where does she live anyway, and what’s her good news? Will Fibber ever get his budget under control?
Note: Molly had been missing from the show for most of the season. It is never explained in the show, and was kept quiet in the press. Family members who are still around today don’t even know, or they aren’t telling. The rumor mill of the day had her out of the picture for things from simply wanting to get out of the business, to a nervous breakdown, to having an alcohol problem. The show had been on the air for a few years in Chicago, and was beginning to catch on with the public in a huge way.
The show is on the brink of moving from the mid-West to Hollywood where it would remain until the end, and the biggest years for the series are yet to come. If Molly had any of the mentioned problems, either her doctor performed a miraculous cure, or there must have been some other compelling reason that drew Molly back to the hectic pace of producing a weekly radio show. She never was off the show again, and as far as I know, she never appeared in the gossip columns as having any serious trouble with substance abuse. If her character in the show is any indication of her off stage character, she was a stabilizing factor in Fibber’s life, keeping him on the straight and narrow, and keeping him from going overboard with those crazy ideas. She could have a little streak of being a prankster, but I think she mostly kept that side of herself to her portrayal of Teeny. But not always, since she would take part in getting Mayor Latrivia confused at some of his figures of speech.
Whatever her reason for the absence, It’s good to have her back. I just wish they could have used Zazu Pitts more often after Molly’s return.
