Teletek: T.V. Treasures from the WCFTR
 The Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research has one of the richest television collections in the United States. As screening wing of the WCFTR, the Cinematheque mines the archive’s vaults to bring you 11 exemplary television productions dating from 1948 to 1963. Programs 1 and 3 present the best of New York production, from the live shows of the “Golden Age” to the prestige series East Side, West Side. Programs 2 and 4, on the other hand, display L.A.’s finest, with syndicated shows ranging from the thrilling to the bizarre. Along the way, the series highlights great talents of stage and screen from Altman to Ziv, by way of Bardot, Bellamy, and Bridges, not to mention Edward R. Murrow, Ed Sullivan, David Susskind and Gore Vidal.
All prints courtesy of the WCFTR. Special thanks to Michele Hilmes, Maxine F. Ducey, and Dorinda Hartmann (all WCFTR).
Friday, July 18, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Program 1: A Golden Age (90 min.)
This double feature showcases the best of the period when television programming was experimental and alive (literally). Original commercials included!
Goodyear Televison Playhouse, "Visit to a Small Planet"
USA, 1955, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Jack Smight
With Cyril Ritchard, Dick York, Louis Edmonds
Gore Vidal’s script for this celebrated episode reads like Oscar Wilde riffing on War of the Worlds. In it, intergalactic traveler/armchair historian Kreton lands on Earth, with the intention of starting a thrilling little war. |
The Ed Sullivan Show, excerpt
USA, 1958, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Ed Sullivan
With Jacques Tati, Brigitte Bardot, the Platters
Ed visits the Brussels World’s Fair, where he reflects on the international political sphere. Featured guests include the Platters, Jacques Tati, Brigitte Bardot, William Holden, Sophia Loren, and a troupe of trained bears.
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Friday, July 25, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Program 2: Ziv! (100 min.)
Tonight’s program celebrates the most prolific producer of syndicated series in 1950s television: Frederick Ziv.
Yesterday's Newsreel, episode no. 6
USA, 1948, 16mm, b/w
Ziv’s early compilation effort features footage of Machine Gun Kelly, the Pickford-Fairbanks wedding, and fur beach-wear, circa 1914.
Science Fiction Theatre, "Dead Storage"
USA, 1955, 16mm, color
Directed by Jack Herzberg
With Virginia Bruce, Robert H. Harris, Douglas Henderson
In the only color episode in our summer series, Virginia Bruce stars as a lady scientist who befriends a thawed baby mammoth. |
Sea Hunt, "The Mark of the Octopus"
USA, 1958, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Andrew Marton
With Lloyd Bridges, Philip Barnes, Willis Bouchey
Diver/investigator Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) rises to the defense of the noble octopus when the creature is accused of cold-blooded murder.
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Bat Masterson, "The Death of Bat Masterson"
USA, 1959, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Alan Crosland, Jr.
With Gene Barry, Cliff Edwards, Claude Akins
The gambler with the gold-tipped cane rides back into Bonanza, CO, where he is greeted by his own grave.
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Friday, August 1, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Program 3: East Side, West Side (75 min.)
Program 3 showcases two of early T.V.’s most socially committed talents: Edward R. Murrow and producer David Susskind.
Person to Person, excerpt, "Ralph Bellamy"
USA, 1956, 16mm, b/w
With Edward R. Murrow, Ralph Bellamy, Alice Murphy
Murrow discusses painting, 15th century Spanish stirrups, and inadvertent slapstick with the ever-charming Bellamy. |
East Side, West Side, "Who Do You Kill?"
USA, 1963, 35mm, b/w
Directed by Tom Gries
With George C. Scott, Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones
Way ahead of its time, Susskind’s show set the story of social worker Neil Brock (George C. Scott) to a throbbing jazz score. We are thrilled to present a stunning 35mm print of this seminal episode, in which an impoverished couple (played by the great Cicely Tyson and a young James Earl Jones) comes to terms with the death of their daughter in the New York ghetto.
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Friday, August 8, 7:00 p.m.
Program 4: Hot War, Cold War (75 min.)
T.V. doesn’t get campier than the three L.A. productions that compose our final program.
Troubleshooters, "Harry Maru"
USA, 1960, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Robert Altman
With Keenan Wynn, Bob Mathias
In this episode directed by Robert Altman, Kodiak’s crew pits tractor against grenade when they stumble upon a deranged Japanese commander from WWII.
I Led 3 Lives, "Secret Call"
USA, 1953, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Eddie Davis
With Richard Carlson, Will Greenberg, Jo-Anne Cooper
The pilot to this series finds our hero—based upon real-life advertising executive, Communist spy and FBI counter-spy Herbert Philbrick—on a top secret run for the “Comrades.” |
WOG (World of Giants), "Special Agent"
USA, 1959, 16mm, b/w
Directed by Otto Lang
With Marshall Thompson, Arthur Franz, Bob Gallaudet
Like Herbert Philbrick, Mel Hunter is a spy. Unlike Philbrick, Hunter is only 6” tall. What will he do when the enemy’s lair is invaded … by a house cat?!
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