My Little Margie 2 - The Albright's Apartment

In Part One I provided an overview of My Little Margie. In this second part I have attempted to reconstruct the floor plan of the Albright's upscale and fashionable Carlton Arms Fifth Avenue apartment (also known as the Park Carlton) in Manhattan.

But, first, here are two exterior shots of the supposed Carlton Arms (Park Carlton) Manhattan apartment. Not only are these pictures of two different buildings, but their style and structure are not indigenous to Manhattan buildings, but rather to buildings of Southern California. Also, the Albrights live on the tenth floor and, as you can see, the building on the right doesn't have a tenth floor! But, in the early 1950s, without DVD, VHS and Youtube, who would know?

And now, the floor plan.

The Albright's apartment, number 10A, is indeed befitting a wealthy investment counselor. With its large, well-appointed living room, foyer, open terrace, full dining room, large bedrooms, a den, a full kitchen and even a back porch, this apartment has all the trappings of upscale life.

Here is the main entry foyer of the Albright's apartment. Notice the decorative murals on the walls.

And here is the Albright's large living room with fireplace. Notice the doors leading to the outdoor terrace on the right.

My Little Margie 1 - Overview

The 1950s sitcom, My Little Margie, which first ran as a replacement for I Love Lucy, starred Gale Storm as Margie Albright and Charles Farrell as Vernon Albright, her widowed father and wealthy investment counselor at Honeywell and Todd.
They lived in an upscale environment at the fashionable Carlton Arms Fifth Avenue Manhattan apartment (also known as the Park Carlton).
The My Little Margie main title sequence included a slow dolly to a double-frame featuring photographs of Margie and Vern. As the photos come to life, Vern speaks first, talking about the concerns he has for his attractive and love-hungry twenty-one year old daughter. When Margie speaks, she expresses her concerns that her father, "nearly 50 now", is too much the playboy and should settle down into old age!

Gale Storm was actually Josephine Owaissa Cottle, who had won a contest held by RKO Studios. Her win gave her both an acting contract and her acting name. Subsequent to My Little Margie, Gale Storm starred in another popular television series, The Gale Storm Show (Oh! Susanna)


Charles Farrell had been in the motion picture business for many years, and was, in fact, a leading man in the late silent and early sound era of motion pictures. He was also one of the early founders of Palm Springs, California, for which he later served as mayor. After My LIttle Margie Charles Farrell starred in his own television series, The Charlie Farrell Show.

Adding to the merriment of My Little Margie were the regular cast members, which included Vernon's bosses, George Honeywell and Mr. Todd.

On the domestic side, there were plenty of characters to go around, including
Freddie Wilson (Don Hayden), who provided Margie's on-again-off-again love interest; Roberta Townsend (Hillary Brooke), who played Vern's romantic interest and next door neighbor;

Mrs. Florence Odetts (Gertrude Hoffman) , the 80+ years old next door neighbor, and Charlie (Willie Best), the elevator operator, often served as Margie's co-conspirators.