A Lucky Strike Discount

Back in September of last year, when I began this blog, my second entry was called 'Twas Rock & Roll That Killed Your Hit Parade, which looked back at the Lucky Strike Hit Parade show of the early 1950's.

Shortly thereafter I received a very kind email from Andrew Lee Fielding, whose mother Sue Bennett was one of the early stars of television, and a regular on Your Hit Parade.

We exchanged several emails, and Andrew told me about a book he had written about his mother's career and early television. He was nice enough to send me a copy.

I wrote a full review of The Lucky Strike Papers in And Now, A Lucky Strike Extra . . .

Andrew also has his own blog, which you’ll find linked on my sidebar.

This highly entertaining and informative book would make a worthy addition to anyone's library, and with the Holidays upcoming, would be a terrific gift for anyone with a love of nostalgia.

I bring this up today because Andrew is running a special price on the book, for a limited time.

If you are interested, I’d hurry up and order. I’ve no idea how long this special will last.

Hollywood Palace 1965

 

 

 

 

Variety shows, more than any other medium, show us where our heads, and our hearts were at over the first two decades of TV. In the early 1950’s, many of the shows were largely extensions of Vaudeville or Burlesque, filled with acrobats, baggy pants comedians, and `specialty’ numbers. 

 

The budgets were miniscule, the production values nil (unless you count the stage curtain), and the novelty of actually watching TV was so great, that it really didn’t matter what you were watching a lot of the time.  

 

There were exceptions, of course.  

 

Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town, and Dumont’s Cavalcade of Stars, Your Show of Shows, The Colgate Comedy Hour, and others often put on extraordinary shows for the times. 

 

By the mid 1950s, once Television had proved it could sell advertising and turn a profit, budgets increased and Variety Shows became big budget extravaganzas with lots of big name guest stars.

 

ABC Television was the 3rd network, lacking in affiliates, prestige, and ratings throughout much of the 1950s and 1960s.  They viewed the powerhouse variety shows like CBS’s Ed Sullivan and Red Skelton shows, and NBC’s Bob Hope and Andy Williams shows with more than a little envy, and wanted a `big’ variety show of their own. 

 

In January of 1964, after the Jerry Lewis Show failed to gel in the fall of 1963, they turned to Bing Crosby to produce an all star variety show for Saturday nights.   While never the powerhouse that Ed Sullivan created for CBS, The Hollywood Palace proved to be durable enough to run for 7 years.

 

Having the highly rated Lawrence Welk Show as a lead-in, no doubt helped, but that also meant that The Hollywood Place played to an older audience than many other shows. 

 

They routinely lost out in the ratings to shows like NBC’s Saturday Night At The Movies,  Gunsmoke, and Mission Impossible. In 1967, the show was moved to Tuesday nights where they got beat by NBC’s Tuesday Night at The Movies.  

 

In 1968, they returned to Saturday nights.

 

Unlike most variety shows, The Hollywood Palace used `guest’ hosts, although Bing Crosby hosted at total of 31 times (including all of the Christmas Specials).    While never a ratings powerhouse (never in the top 20), the show was a solid if not spectacular variety show.

 

Today we’ve 5 shows from 1965.   The video quality on these aren’t the best in the world, but the nostalgia factor and entertainment value remain superb. 

 

These shows are on the Internet Archive, and are presumed to be public domain . . . but I’d get them while you can.  Variety shows have a bad habit of being contested regarding their pubic domain status.

 

 

Hollywood Palace - February 6, 1965

 

David Janssen as host (formerly Richard Diamond, and now Dr. Richard Kimble of The Fugitive) with --Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, Edie Adams singing "Love," "I'm Glad There Is You" and "The Man That Got Away", Tim Conway, Vic Damone singing "But Not for Me," "Fascinatin' Rhythm" and "They Can't Take That Away from Me", and the Harlem Globetrotters do basketball tricks. Add in a knife throwing act and a Trapeze act, and you have pretty full hour of entertainment.

 

 

 

Hollywood Palace - March 27, 1965

Hosted by Tony Randall and featuring Diana Ross and the Supremes. --Allan Sherman sings "Crazy Downtown" (parody of Petula Clark's "Downtown") --Nelson Eddy and Gale Sherwood sing duets,--Vikki Carr sings  "The Good Life," "So in Love" and "The Days of Wine and Roses" . Throw in Pat Morita, some acrobats, a high wire act, and a wrestling bear . . .   and well, that’s variety for you!

 

Hollywood Palace - April 10, 1965

 

Host Groucho Marx invites long time comedic foil Margaret Dumont (her last TV appearance)to reprise their classic "Captain Spaulding,"  number from "Animal Crackers."  Groucho’s Daughter (who tried to have a pop singing career) --Melinda Marx sing a `girl group’ number then does a duet with Groucho. Gordon and Sheila MacRae sing and do impressions.  Add to this Shecky Greene, Miriam Makeba, a flamenco dancer, a Scottish comedian, and trick unicyclists from Denmark. 

 

Hollywood Palace - October 2, 1965

Fall of 1965 brought COLOR to much of ABC’s lineup.

 

Host Fred Astaire sings and dances, musical guest  We Five do "You Were on My Mind" – Jazz organist Jimmy Smith does "The Organ Grinder's Swing"  --Astaire dances some more -- Jackie Mason does stand-up.--Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn do a ballet pas de deux and Paul Lynde & Carmen Phillips  appear in a comedy sketch.

Hollywood Palace - November 13, 1965

 

Hosted by Judy Garland who sings "Once in a While," I Loved Him" and "We're a Couple of Swells" and a medley of other numbers.  Then is joined by Vic Damone to sing a West Side Story Medley.Chita Rivera dances, the comedy of Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber, and throw in some acrobats and musical clowns for good measure.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set . . .

 

 

 

 

Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to... The Outer Limits.

— Opening narration  – The Control Voice

 

For those of us who grew up huddled around black & white TV sets and could get an ABC affiliate in 1963, these words remind us of one of the great, early science fiction shows of television.  

 

Although not a commercial success at the time (only 49 episodes over 1 1/2 seasons was produced), it is now widely regarded as having been ahead of its time.  

 

Following in the footsteps of The Twilight Zone, and to a lesser extent Science Fiction Theatre, The Outer Limits presented a darker view of the future, and the dangers of technology. 

 

Interestingly, some of the special effects that were used on this seminal series ended up on Star Trek a few years later.  The `transporter effect’ was first used to represent an `ion storm’ in an episode called The Mutant.

 

And just like Star Trek, it’s first pilot episode, was turned down by the network.

 

You’ll also find a number of actors who would either guest, or even star, on Star Trek in these shows.  James Doohan and Grace Lee Whitney appear in two of the episodes below, but William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both starred in episodes as well.

 

The Outer Limits was an hour long anthology series.  There were no continuing characters, no ongoing story line.  Each story took place in its own `universe’.   

 

YOUTUBE has a small selection of episodes in the Classic TV section.  Hopefully they will add to this collection, but for now we have 5 1-hour episodes for your viewing pleasure.  

 

There is a short commercial to endure before each show begins.  A small price to pay for a return to . . . The Outer Limits.

 

 

 

1006 The Outer Limits: The Man Who Was Nev... (51:21)

(V) Martin Landau portrays a time-traveller desperately trying to stop the birth of an inventor whose bacterium turns humans into mutants.

 

 

 

1008 The Human Factor (51:30)

(V) On a military base, in the frozen vastness of Greenland, an army psychiatrist devises a machine which enables him to tune in directly to his patients' thoughts.  

You’ll find a lot of familiar faces in this one including Gary Merill, Harry Guardino, Sally Kellerman, and Ivan Dixon. 

 

 

1016 Controlled Experiment (51:28)

(V) The inhabitants of Mars and its satellites, worried by the fact that Earth's warlike humans might spread their ways to other planets, send two messengers to research the peculiar phenomenon known only to the human race -- murder.

 

Look for Carroll O’Conner, Grace Lee Whitney, and Barry Morse in this episode.

 

 

1036 The Expanding Human (51:18)

(V) Roy Clinton, a university professor experiments with a drug that expands human consciousness. 

Starring Skip Homeier, James Doohan, and Keith Andes.

 

 

1048 The Premonition (51:14)

(V) Under instruction from flight control director Baldwin, test pilot Jim Darcy executes a maneuver which causes his supersonic plan to exceed heretofore known velocities.

 

 

My thanks to a reader who pointed out that HULU also has episodes from the original (and revived during the 1990s) version of The Outer Limits.    These show may only be available inside the US.

 

You’ll find 32 episodes from the original series here.

Follow That Show . . . err, Man

 

 

 

 

(Cue dramatic music)

A man running frantically down the street.  He is being followed by a black sedan.  He ducks into a building, climbs the stairs, and knocks on a door.  

 

Before anyone can answer a machine gun cuts him down.

 

   

 

Door opens and private detective Mike Barnett appears.

 

Barnett hears a click – ducks – and the gun fires another salvo  . . .  and ROLL CREDITS

 

 

 

And so opens another episode of one of the earliest of the TV detective shows, originally called `Man Against Crime’, but retitled as `Follow That Man’ starring  Ralph Bellamy. 

 

 

Beginning in 1949, and produced and broadcast live as a stage bound production (as many shows were at that time) until 1952, the show was one of the early hits of Television for CBS.

 

It moved to the Dumont network in 1953 and 1954, and ran on NBC from 1953-1956 (it was simulcast by Dumont and NBC during 1953-54).  The show was sponsored by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, and the star was often seen smoking cigarettes (of course, everyone did back then).

 

As world weary, but tough as nails P.I. Mike Barnett, Ralph Bellamy broke a lot of the `rules’ for TV detectives.  He didn’t carry a gun, and was chummy with the police . . .sometimes even working with them on cases.

 

Ralph Bellamy (1904-1991) had a career that spanned 6 decades.  During the 1930’s he was part of the Hollywood group known as the `Irish Mafia’, A-List actors who were mainly of Irish descent.  They included James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, Frank Morgan and Frank McHugh.

 

Bellamy was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor in  The Awful Truth (1937) and saw good reviews in His Girl Friday (1940). He portrayed a different detective - Ellery Queen - in a few films during the 1940s, but he never really made it as a leading man in film.

Bellamy did television, and appeared on Broadway to much acclaim during the 1950s, and is perhaps best remembered for his role as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello.  Bellamy reprised that role in 1960 in the film version.

Filmed as tough, often violent, little film noirs Follow That Man episodes hold up pretty well after more than half a century.  We’re lucky enough to have a pretty good selection from seasons 4 and 5 residing on the Internet Archive.

 

A Complete List of Available episodes can be viewed here.

 

Day Man

The Third Rail

The Iceman

Free Ride

The Coconuts Eye

Room 505

The Doll Bandit

The Polecat Shakedown

The Wire Tappers

Petite Larceny

Death Takes a Partner

Hot Fur

Sic Transit Gloria

A Family Affair

The Hitch Heisters

Black Leg and White Tie

The Main Bout Is Murder

The Cube Root of Evil

Paradise Lost

Fuller's Folly

The Silken Touch

Ferry Boat

Killer Cat

Get Out Of Town

The Roads To Romance

 

 

 

 

During the late 1940’s and through the 1950’s, the American car maker Chevrolet commissioned the creation of a series of 3 and 4 minute mini-travelogues which were used to encourage Americans to `get out on the road and see America’ in their new Chevrolet.

 

The series was called The Roads To Romance.

 

Okay, these were thinly veiled commercials.   But they are no less interesting for it.

 

Travelogues were once a big part of entertainment.  At a time when few people were afforded the opportunity to travel – particularly to the more exotic and obscure places of the world – travel films gave people a way to see how other people in the world live.

 

Perhaps the most famous of these were the James Fitzpatrick travelogues produced for MGM during the 1930’s and 1940’s (as the sun slowly sets in the west . . .we bid fond adieu to the quaint and happy people of  . . .)

 

The rap on these, and other travel films of the era was that they were often little more than moving picture postcards, showing only the positive and `pretty side’ of life. 

 

Social commentary and gritty realism was great stuff in film noir, but it wasn’t often found in travelogues.

 

Admittedly, access to places like Borneo, or Lithuania, or Peru (or even some places in America!) for these producers would have been shut down in a hurry if documentary filmmakers has focused on poverty, crime, and human rights.

 

We view movies (particularly musicals, fantasies, romances, etc) through a lens that allows for artistic distortions of reality, with little complaint.   As long as we don’t try to view these travelogues as `documentaries’, we ought to be able to enjoy them for what they are.

 

A glimpse back at the way we used to be, viewed through the lens of the American Dream of the 1950’s. 

 

So . . . if you’ve a half hour or so, and any desire to see the United States of the late 1940s and 1950’s through the windshield of a classic Chevrolet  . . .  sit back and enjoy these Sunday drives.

 

 

Roads to Romance: 1949 

Actually 4 different travelogues – each running about 3 minutes in length.  This film features road trips to Oak Creek Canyon (Arizona), California Coastal Highway (San Luis Obispo, San Simeon), San Diego’s Cabrillo Freeway,  and lastly Western Michigan’s "Queen of the Great Lakes"

 

 

 

Coral Gables, Florida

 

Admittedly, for a Floridian who grew up during the 1950s in this state, this one has special appeal.   `Old Florida’ is just about gone, replaced by high rise condos, fast food restaurants, and Interstate Highways.

Romanticized?   You bet, but still a wonderful trip back to the past.

 

 

 

Roads To Romance Pt1

Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis and the Pennsylvania Turnpike

 

 

 

 

Roads To Romance Pt2

Cayuga Lake in New York, Olympic National Park in Washington, Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah, and the Columbia River Highway in Oregon

 

 

 

 

Roads To Romance: Santa Cruz Trail