Kern–Oh Boy A Pal Like you youtube

When George sees the telegram and reads it, he is suddenly afraid that his Aunt may stop his allowance. He shows Lou Ellen the telegram, and Lou Ellen offers to go home until Aunt Penelope leaves. George agrees that he will pretend that he is still a bachelor. Lou Ellen explains that her only goal is to be a good wife. She sings “An Old Fashioned Wife.”

Lou Ellen and George leave via the front door, and a woman named Jackie enters through a window. She is being pursued by an angry policeman. She had been at the Cherrytree Inn and was trying to avoid “lingering looks” from an older gentleman, going by the name of Tootles. In the melee that ensued, she accidentally hit the policeman and lost her purse.

She bumps into one of George’s bachelor friends, a playboy named Jim, who had entered the apartment earlier through the same window. He encourages her to stay and pass herself off as George’s wife. Jim is smitten and they sing “A Pal Like You.”

With the help of a marvelous website, called jacksonupperco.com, we are able to provide a clip from a 1919 recording of the song by the stars from the London production of the show, renamed Oh, Joy. Hal Forde played Jim in New York, and Billy Leonard played the role in London. Anna Wheaton played the role of Jackie in New York, but Beatrice Lillie played the role in London. So, here is Billy Leonard and Beatrice Lillie singing “A Pal Like You.”