Halls of Ivy
Benita Hume and Ronald Colman
The Halls of Ivy - List of Episodes at End of This Article
The Halls of Ivy starred Ronald Colman as William Todhunter Hall, the president of Ivy College. His wife, Victoria, a former British musical comedy star who sometimes felt a longing for her former profession, was played by Benita Hume, the real life wife of Colman.
The show followed their relationships with students, friends, and college trustees. Others in the cast included Herb Butterfield as the nasty board chairman Clarence Wellman, Willard Waterman as board member John Merriweather, and Bea Benaderet, Elizabeth Patterson, and Gloria Gordon (Gale Gordon's mother) as the Halls' respective maids.
The series ran between 1950 and 1952, with Don Quinn, Jerome Lawrence and Robert Lee writing most of the scripts. Quinn, who earlier wrote (and produced) Fibber McGee & Molly for years, was given this opportunity to write more sophisticated language play (inverted cliches and swift puns) which he does with great aplomb.
The Halls of Ivy was notably ahead of its time in its willingness to tackle controversial topics. Subjects like fraternity hazing, racial prejudice and an unmarried pregnancy all made there way into this witty, wicked-smart program.
Listen to The Halls of Ivy and you will find yourself laughing one minute and crying the next. And the beautiful college chorus singing the title song in each episode is enough to bring a tear to the eye of even the most cynical listener.
Listen to Episodes of The Halls of Ivy by Clicking on the Title of the Episode