It’s Higgins, Sir

It's Higgins, Sir

Ah, the British. The radio show, It’s Higgins, Sir, was based on a British butler, named Higgins, who insisted that his new American employers call him “Higgins” – not Mr. Higgins. The obvious culture clash causes chaos as Higgins attempts to bring some British order to the ever so casual American family, the Roberts.

Higgins is appalled that the Roberts’ daughters wear mostly jeans and that the family has no place for which to set a formal table. Higgins was bequeathed to distant American cousins of the British gentleman Sir Philip Robertson who he worked for -- along with the silver he polished for him. Higgins has no choice but to try and mold the family into a more sophisticated clan.

The Roberts’ new butler arrives at their suburban American door with a tea set and the sad news of their British cousin’s demise and that – besides the tea set – the Roberts also get him as a butler. What follows is madcap hilarity as Higgins attempts to wait on the Roberts as he had been trained and the Roberts’ unease at having someone wait on them.

Harry McNaughton makes the perfect British butler and carries off his humorous lines with aplomb. McNaughton never really found similar work after his stint on It’s Higgins Sir, mainly because there were other character actors on radio at that time who also played engaging parts as “gentleman’s gentleman.”

McNaughton also had roles in other radio shows such as Honolulu Bound, also starring Phil Baker and announcer, Harry Von Zell. He was also cast as a panelist on It Pays to Be Ignorant, a quiz show spoof that featured Tom Howard as the announcer and George Shelton and Lulu McConnell as fellow panelists.

In as early as 1939, McNaughton was also cast as a panelist on Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One, starring Milton Berle as the host and Cal Tinney, Peter Arno and Lionel Stander also as panelists.

Much later, It’s Higgins, Sir was spun into a television situation comedy starring Stanley Holloway. It was called Our Man Higgins and began its broadcast in 1962, running for only one season. Timing is everything in television, and there were also other domestic comedies playing at the same time. One was Hazel, starring Shirley Booth as an irascible housekeeper.

It’s Higgins, Sir was a situation radio comedy and a summer replacement for The Bob Hope Show. It included 13 episodes of typical American situations accompanied by butler, Higgins, sarcastic humor and disdain for how the Americans lived. The show was a comedy with a twist - combining humor with the clash of cultures.

Paul Harrison wrote and directed this radio comedy which began its broadcast in July of 1951 on NBC radio. Higgins was played by Harry McNaughton and the American family’s cast included Vinton Hayworth, Peggy Allenby, Charles Nevil, Pat Hosley and Denise Alexander.

We have all 13 episodes of It's Higgins, Sir and will be adding them to RUSC throughout the week for your enjoyment.

Happy listening my friends,