Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:12 — 2.6MB)
Nerves run high as Abner deals with the stress of his daughter, Little Pearl, getting married. Lizabeth is more nervous than a frog sitting on a hot stove, and Lum tries to help Abner get dressed. Is it possible that women actually like the tears, and this kind of thing?
Neck ties go untied as Ben Withers pops in for a visit. Can the gents do Ben a favor, and help him tie his tie as well?
Imn the church, the music starts as people take their place. Will Lum keep the ceremony short? In his words we find that Pearl is marrying a wounded vet. The two met when he went to the military hospital where Pearl was also serving, and they are going to settle down away from Pine Ridge.
Lum officiates the vows between Erwin Francis Cotter, and Lucy Pearl Peabody. The service is indeed brief, but Abner can’t hold back the tears in this milestone event in his life.
PS: Does anybody have a clue about the shows that lead up to this one? When did Pearl get back? Is there followup to this episode? Who did the voice we hear for Pearl in the show? The next shows I can scrounge together leave a big gap between this one, and the next one in a couple months.
I had the honor of being the first to hear this episode after it was considered lost for 50 years. This was part of a collection rescued by the National Lum and Abner Society thanks to the efforts of Sam Brown.
thanks for that added information uncle Donnie. I always wondered who played the part of little Pearl. Too bad there’s not more episodes in the story, they would be nice to listen to. Do you know if any of the scrips might exist?
You’re welcome. We never located scripts that I can recall, only a synopsis written by someone named R. T. Smith (if memory serves) who apparently sold story ideas to Lauck and Goff. Roz Rogers was the head writer. If I remember right, many changes were made. But how would I know that if there are no other recordings or scripts? I’ll check on that. Tim Hollis would likely remember more details. In 1997, before hearing the above show (it was an unlabeled disc I had not yet dubbed), I wrote (hastily) a script in which Gildersleeve’s niece is in town and L&A are celebrating Pearl’s 50th wedding anniversary, so Mary Lee played both parts. This was also a sequel to our 1993 script in which Gildy came to Pine Ridge (Willard Waterman) for a fishing vacation. Mary Lee was great. She was a last-minute (almost literally – we had a week to prepare) substitute for our scheduled guest. People arrived in Mena and were stunned!