Could this have been Sonnie Hale's first credited byline?
The mischievous column here supplied (complete with author's photo) for The People newspaper in April 1925 refers to the advent of his father, Robert Hale, to replace Alfred Lester in the cast of the "Punch Bowl" revue, which had been running since May the previous year and had given twenty-two-year-old Sonnie his first big personal success. According to earlier coverage by The People (April 12 1925), "young Sonnie Hale has been playing quite a lot of the parts that Alfred Lester appeared in" during the interim period before Robert Hale arrived, so it may have been his job to coach his father in Lester's former parts — although since this new 'edition' of the revue consisted almost entirely of fresh material, not much of such coaching can have been involved!
The scene alluded to below in which father and son dance together was probably the spoof "Yes, Yes, Flanelette" in which Sonnie impersonated his sister Binnie and her contemporary success in "No, No, Nanette" (hence, one assumes, her presence at the rehearsals).BRINGING UP FATHER by SONNIE HALE.
The People
April 26 1925, p9
IT is indeed a terrible thing for a mere stripling like myself to have to look after his own father!
The weight of responsibility is making me almost round-shouldered. Not that father is by any means in the decrepit stage. Don't think it. he's still as hearty as he's Hale.
But fancy being suddenly called upon to produce your own paternal parent, in the show you yourself have been working in for just about a year. And then, just to further complicate things, Sister Binnie must butt in.
The Hale family, as near as no matter, were on the spot at rehearsals when I was struggling to show him how I wanted him to work.
At times he was most tractable, most teachable. But at others—!
Of course, there has been a certain amount of satisfaction to be derived from the experience. I have had the opportunity, for instance, of laying down the law to my old Dad, for the first time, and on the quiet, I have assaulted him more or less violently on the stage on more than one occasion and he can't very well retaliate.
That's the best of it. At last, in a surreptitious sort of way, I am able to get my own back and make some kind of return for the frequent very personal meetings he and I used to have in his study when I was a year or two younger than I am now.
Of course, he doesn't always believe that these stage assaults are quite so unpremeditated as I pretend they are.
Only the other night we had quite a heated argument while working on the stage.
We were dancing together, and I happened, purely by accident, to give him ever such a little kick on the shins, and he lost his temper. He did, really.
"Don't do that again, old man!" he breathed at me in a loud whisper. "Old man!" mind you! And he old enough to be my father.
Still, taking everything into consideration, we get on fairly well together.
Indeed, sometimes we become so really friendly that, unless you knew, you would never for a second imagine we were related to each other in any way. It's a fact.
Then, again, it's nice to have Dad working where I can keep my eye on him.
But, as I've said, it is a heavy responsibility for a young man to father his Dad.