Rinse the Blood Off My Toga

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Rinse the Blood Off My Toga
Written by
Characters
  • Flavius Maximus
  • Brutus
  • Calpurnia
  • Cassius
  • Mark Antony
  • Tiberius
  • Claudius
  • Regulus Bibendus[1]
Date premiered1954 (1954)
Place premiered
  • McGill Street Studios[2]
  • Toronto, Ontario
  • (CBC Radio)
SubjectAssassination of Julius Caesar
GenreSketch comedy
SettingRoman Senate

"Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" is a comedy sketch by the Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster. First broadcast on The Wayne and Shuster Hour on CBC Radio in 1954, it was reenacted for their British television debut in 1957 and their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. The sketch recasts the Shakespearean historical tragedy as a detective story with gangster overtones. Set in the Roman Senate right after the assassination of Julius Caesar, the script has Brutus (Shuster) engaging the services of private eye Flavius Maximus (Wayne) to identify Caesar's assassin. Several lines from the sketch became popular catchphrases, including Flavius's order of a "martinus" (a single martini) in a Roman bar, and the repeated lament of Caesar's widow Calpurnia in a thick Bronx accent, "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' " It is considered Wayne and Shuster's most famous sketch.[3]

History[edit]

The original 13-minute sketch of "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" was broadcast on CBC radio in 1954.[4][5] Written by Frank Shuster and Johnny Wayne, the sketch was produced by Drew Crossan.[4] Shuster stars as Brutus and Wayne plays "private Roman eye" Flavius Maximus, whom Brutus hires to identify Caesar's assassin. Supporting players included Don Ewer, Jacob Reinglass, Ed McNamara, Johnny Shapiro, Peggi Loder, and Sylvia Lennick as Caesar's widow Calpurnia.[4][6]

The sketch was first televised on CBC on February 11, 1955,[7] and reworked for another CBC television broadcast in January 1958.[8][9] A 20-minute version of the sketch was performed for the duo's British television debut on October 2, 1957,[10] on Granada's Chelsea at Nine.[11]

On May 4, 1958, Wayne and Shuster performed the sketch in their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.[12] The original script was shortened slightly for this televised performance.[4]

Description[edit]

Bartender: What're you drinking?
Flavius: Gimme a martinus.
Bartender: You mean a martini.
Flavius: If I wanted two I'd ask for them.

–"Rinse the Blood Off My Toga"[4]

The sketch recasts Shakespeare's historical tragedy Julius Caesar as "a hard-boiled detective story".[5][8] Fresh after Caesar's assassination, Brutus (Shuster) engages the services of "private Roman eye" Flavius Maximus (Wayne) to identify the killer, and Flavius goes around interrogating suspects.[5] The sketch also parodies gangster narratives:[13] "The play's characters are treated as if they had Mob connections as Flavius looks for Mr. Big".[5] Caesar himself is referred to as "Big Julie".[8] Flavius delivers his lines with the clipped pronunciation of Joe Friday from Dragnet.[14] Eventually Flavius identifies Brutus as the perpetrator.[15] Meanwhile, Caesar's widow Calpurnia walks around lamenting over her dead husband in a thick Bronx accent, "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' "—referring to Caesar's decision to go to the Roman Senate that day.[16]

In addition to the roles of Flavius, Brutus, and Calpurnia, there are eight supporting male roles.[13] Like other sketches by the comedy duo, the script requires audience familiarity with history, the classics, and even Latin for an appreciation of its humour.[8]

Reception[edit]

Flavius: He's dead. He was stabbed through the portico.
Brutus: That's even more painful than the rotunda.

–"Rinse the Blood Off My Toga"[17]

Wayne and Shuster's 1957 British television performance of the sketch received praise from British TV producers and invitations to return. Though the newspapers did not review the sketch, a Canadian-born critic for The Evening Standard sent a note to their hotel, stating, "Well done. Canada is proud of you."[10]

Wayne and Shuster's performance of the sketch in their debut on The Ed Sullivan Show was an immediate success.[12] Jack Gould of The New York Times declared Wayne and Shuster to be "the harbingers of literate slapstick on TV".[8] The show's ratings—which had dropped from No. 1 to the low 20s[18]—soared that night,[19] and Sullivan called the duo "the biggest hit on my show in the ten years we've been on the air".[20]

Several lines from the script became popular catchphrases. Flavius's order of a "martinus" (a single martini) in a Roman bar prompted some New York bars to begin offering a "Martinus Special".[4] A Toronto bar introduced a drink called "Big Julie", after the sketch's moniker for Julius Caesar.[12]

The line that received the biggest laugh was the lament of Caesar's widow Calpurnia, played by Toronto actress Sylvia Lennick. She wailed over and over in a thick Bronx accent: "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' "[6][12][15] It became one of the most memorable lines of 1950s North American television.[19] The enthusiastic response to that line both in rehearsals and during the live broadcast surprised Lennick, who had been hesitant to put on the accent in front of a New York City audience.[6][15][21] In a 2008 interview with the Toronto Star to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sullivan performance, Lennick stated that when she first read the script, she hadn't thought that "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' " would be the sketch's biggest laugh line: "I thought I was going to kill them when I said, 'It's the Ides of March, already' ".[6]

Further success on Sullivan[edit]

Sullivan had signed Wayne and Shuster to appear 26 times in the 1958–59 season, but due to the positive feedback to "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga", he invited them to return the following week, on May 11, to perform their sketch "The Brown Pumpernickel" (a spoof of The Scarlet Pimpernel ).[12] Lennick was also called back to repeat her catchphrase in her Roman costume, receiving a warm reception.[22][23] Two weeks later, Sullivan brought Wayne and Shuster back again to host the show in his absence. In a bit written by the duo,[12] Lennick again delivered her catchphrase. This time, she sat in the audience, playing a woman whose husband, one Julius Melnik, had been waiting ten years to be introduced on camera, and now that the camera was focused on his seat, he had stepped out. Lennick appropriately wailed: "I told him, 'Julie, don't go!' "[12] Wayne and Shuster went on to appear on Sullivan a total of 67 times.[8][24]

Retrospectives and preservation[edit]

A radio recording of the sketch from June 18, 1959,[25] was chosen for special preservation in 2000 and restored as part of the Masterworks program of National Archives Canada.[26] It was subsequently released on Wayne and Shuster: The Radio Years.[25] It is often played on CBC Radio on March 15.[a][27]

A version appears, along with others of their most popular skits of the time, on their 1960 record, In Person Comedy Performance.

In the 1980s, a colour version of "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" and other material from Wayne and Shuster's CBC programs was included in 80 half-hour episodes[28] which were syndicated internationally to two dozen countries.[18]

A colour version of the sketch is included in The Wayne & Shuster Years, a 75-minute retrospective of their 50+ year career, broadcast on CBC Television on February 24, 1991,[29][30] and released on home video on May 28, 1996.[31]

The sketch was also included in Wayne and Shuster in Black and White, a retrospective series of 22 half-hour episodes, edited from the CBC archives and broadcast on CBC Television in 1996.[32][33] While assembling this material, Shuster felt that the 1958 performance was "much superior" but found that two important lines—including Lennick's "Julie, don't go!"—had been cut out with scissors. He carefully guided the editing of material from the 1954 version into the gaps of the 1958 version, with an explanation of this decision in his introductory narration.[34]

Legacy[edit]

Wayne and Shuster agreed that "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" was their most celebrated sketch.[35][36] A performance photograph of the sketch is included on the Comedy Wall of Fame in the Canadian Broadcasting Centre.[37]

The working script for "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga", along with other donated Canadian entertainment memorabilia, was sealed in a time capsule placed under the cornerstone for Toronto's Performing Arts Lodge (PAL) in a ceremony on May 5, 1992.[38] Located on The Esplanade,[38] the lodge is a residence for retired and young performing artists.[39]

The sketch has been screened[40] and staged theatrically at benefits.[41][42] The sketch was screened at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2016, as part of a Toronto Jewish Film Festival event which posthumously honoured the duo and their work.[43]

Footnotes[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ March 15 is the Ides of March, the day of the assassination of Julius Caesar.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga by Wayne and Shuster". Informal Music. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  2. ^ Bawden, Jim (October 18, 1996). "Back home: The Wayne and Shuster show returns on CBC in a newly edited series". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. SW 56. ProQuest 437556556. Shuster has spent the last couple of years editing down their best work into 22 half hours called Wayne And Shuster In Black And White [...] The duo got a CBC radio series in 1946 and in 1948 [...] MCA talent agency tried to whisk them to the States [...] But it wasn`t any better than CBC's McGill St. studios.
  3. ^ Anderson, Jason. "The Wayne & Shuster Hour". Canada on Screen. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga". Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project. University of Guelph. 2004. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Delahunt, Scott (March 18, 2017). "Lost in Translation 203 – Rinse the Blood Off My Toga". seventhsanctum.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d Ouzounian, Richard (May 2, 2008). "50 years since she said, 'Julie, don't go!'". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Whittaker, Herbert (February 10, 1955). "Showbusiness". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario: The Globe and Mail Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. 11. ProQuest 1289472055.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "The Archivist". Library and Archives Canada. April 10, 2000. Archived from the original on July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  9. ^ Sinclair, Gordon (May 3, 1958). "Gordon Sinclair". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. 25. ProQuest 1425703772.
  10. ^ a b "No reviews but grand job all the same". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . The Canadian Press. October 3, 1957. p. 8. ProQuest 1288677274.
  11. ^ Drylie, William (March 10, 1958). "Wayne, Shuster Write Own Ticket On Sullivan Show". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . pp. 1–2. ProQuest 1425711670. Last year they were guest stars in the top British show, Chelsea at Nine, on which they fractured the viewers with 'Rinse the Blood Off My Toga'.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Moon, Barbara (July 19, 1958). "How Wayne & Shuster took New York". Maclean's. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Comedy in One Act" (PDF). www.theatrealberta.com. Edmonton, Alberta: Theatre Alberta Society. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019. It is a parody of the death of Julius Caesar, using the cool, gangster-type style of the novels of Mickey Spillane to poke fun at Shakespeare's tragedy.
  14. ^ Ryan, Andrew (May 4, 2012). "Wayne and Shuster debut on The Ed Sullivan Show". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario: The Globe and Mail Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. A2. ProQuest 1010870531.
  15. ^ a b c Martin, Sandra (August 11, 2009). "She told him: 'Julie, don't go!'". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  16. ^ Lungen, Paul (August 22, 2017). "Wayne and Shuster: The iconic comedy team that delighted audiences for years". Canadian Jewish News. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  17. ^ Youth Specialties (2010). Drama, Skits and Sketches. Zondervan. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-310-87206-1.
  18. ^ a b Rasky, Frank (February 15, 1992). "Looking back on a partnership built on laughter". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario: The Globe and Mail, Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. C7. ProQuest 385399698.
  19. ^ a b Glassman, Marc (May 26, 2008). "Wayne and Shuster: Duo were Canada's comedy ambassadors". Playback. Toronto, Ontario. p. 55. ISSN 0836-2114. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  20. ^ "Canada's Wayne and Shuster". Coronet. 45 (3). David A. Smart: 116. January 1959.
  21. ^ "Sylvia Lennick, actress with Wayne & Shuster, dies". CBC News. August 11, 2009. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  22. ^ Drylie, William (May 12, 1958). "Glance". Toronto Daily Star. p. 30. ProQuest 1425701882. ...take care lest Wayne and Shuster become Wayne and Shuster and Lennick. Sylvia got a warm reception still dressed in her Roman robes of last week, and she repeated her "I told him, Julie don't go" show stopper.(Subscription required.)
  23. ^ Sinclair, Gordon (May 9, 1958). "Sullivan Wants Sylvia". Toronto Daily Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. 34. ProQuest 1425704300. Sylvia Lennick has had a hurry-up call to join the Ed Sullivan show Sunday and her ... "I told Julie not to go" has become a sort of by-word down there.
  24. ^ "Frank Shuster, 85, the Subtler Half Of Wayne and Shuster Comedy Act". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 16, 2002. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  25. ^ a b "Wayne and Shuster: the radio years". WorldCat. OCLC 49767231.
  26. ^ "Canadian audio-visual works officially preserved". Whitehorse Star. Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The Canadian Press. February 22, 2000. p. 17. ProQuest 362111177.(Subscription required.)
  27. ^ "AM*Radio*FM". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . March 9, 1985. p. A73. ProQuest 1151622400.
  28. ^ Barris, Alex (July 19, 1990). "Johnny Wayne: Canada Loses A Legend". The Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. B7. ProQuest 436232708.
  29. ^ "Television – Sunday". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . pp. 26–29. ProQuest 1151208124. The Wayne & Shuster Years – TV and radio clips and sketches including Rinse the Blood Off My Toga and Shakespearean Baseball salute the duo's 50-year career.
  30. ^ Bawden, Jim (February 23, 1991). "Bawden's Best". Starweek. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. 6. ProQuest 1370150063. The Wayne & Shuster Years, a 90-minute compilation of the Canadian duo's best sketches [...] Shakespearean baseball, Rinse The Blood Off My Toga
  31. ^ Adilman, Sid (May 17, 1996). "Wayne & Shuster video recalls duo's TV heyday". The Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. C3. ProQuest 437471825. Tuxedoed Frank Shuster narrates the tribute [...] 'our personal best', says Shuster – a Shakespearean baseball game.
  32. ^ "New for '96 Canadian Series". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . September 12, 1996. p. SW 52. ProQuest 437532126.
  33. ^ Strachan, Alex (November 25, 1996). "Still Dreaming of Jeannie: The TV hits of yesterday are becoming the TV hits of today". Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, British Columbia: Postmedia Network Inc.  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. C1. ProQuest 243007521. CBC's retrospective series of 22 half-hour Wayne & Shuster sketches in black-and-white was culled from the comedy duo's classic period between 1954 and 1966, and includes [...] Rinse the Blood Off My Toga
  34. ^ Adilman, Sid (August 27, 1994). "CBC finally makes call to replay classic Wayne and Shuster shows". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. H3. ProQuest 437070892. [Shuster:] Use the 1954 version, which I don't like and won't use? I don't want to be remembered for that one. So, I placed that line and the other missing one from the 1954 version on the 1958 version and I explain to the audience what I've done and why.
  35. ^ "Frank Shuster: Canadian comedy legend". Galgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta: Southam Publications Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . January 19, 2002. p. OS4. ProQuest 244881055. Wayne and Shuster agreed their most celebrated skit was Rinse the Blood Off My Toga, an uproarious takeoff on the assassination scene in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
  36. ^ "Legendary Frank Shuster mourned". Packet and Times. Orillia, Ontario: Postmedia Network Inc.  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . The Canadian Press. January 15, 2002. p. B13. ProQuest 351847468.
  37. ^ "The legacy of Frank Shuster". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario: Metroland Media Group – via ProQuest (subscription required) . The Canadian Press. January 15, 2002. p. D12. ProQuest 270093752.
  38. ^ a b "NOISES OFF What do Snow and Bateman have in common?". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario: The Globe and Mail Inc.  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . May 5, 1992. p. C4. ProQuest 387372241. There are time capsules and time capsules, but the objects going under the cornerstone of the Performing Arts Lodges building today at 11 a.m. might make this project unique – and uniquely Canadian. [...] Frank Shuster has donated the working script of the classic Wayne and Shuster skit, Rinse the Blood off My Toga, which he performed with his late partner Johnny Wayne.
  39. ^ Hayes, David (May 26, 2007). "Residents take centre stage at lodge". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  40. ^ Kerr, Grant (July 14, 2005). "Shaking up Caesar; Saint Johns fourth annual Summer Shakespeare Festival puts a new twist on Julius Caesars story". Telegraph-Journal. Saint John, New Brunswick: Postmedia Network Inc.  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . ISSN 1910-8001. ProQuest 423249400.
  41. ^ "Night of Canadian theatre helps Daly House Museum". The Brandon Sun. Brandon, Manitoba: FP Canadian Newspapers  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . February 5, 2013. ProQuest 1284194876.
  42. ^ Minty, Melanie (March 28, 2008). "Spring is music to your ears". Surrey Now. Surrey, B.C.: Southam Publications Inc. – via ProQuest (subscription required) . p. 28. ProQuest 359055060.
  43. ^ Slotek, Jim (April 29, 2016). "Wayne & Shuster to be honoured at Jewish Film Festival". The Toronto Sun. Toronto, Ontario: Postmedia Network Inc. Archived from the original on July 7, 2019. Retrieved July 7, 2019.

External links[edit]

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