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Reviews47
sataft-2's rating
It is very difficult to describe the true effect of this particular television program. It is far better to understand that one had to be curled up on a sofa, legs tucked under you, with a bag of potato chips or popcorn and a soft drink nearby.
One has to also envisage that the room lights were incandescent, and the heavy baroque furniture and lamp shades (very few had ceiling lights back then) cast shadows over the room.
The show opens with the faces of terribly frightening people looking out at you from a black & white television screen, with an image nowhere as clear as the one we have become used to today.
Now the announcer's voice intones the opening of the show: "What are these people waiting for? They are all waiting for....the... Unexpected!"
No, the 30 minute mini dramas on average never lived up in intensity to the famous opening, but from time to time they came across with one or two that stuck with you..right into your bedtime dreams. Like someone being buried alive, or a vindictive spouse coming back from the grave, or someone on the edge of going to the electric chair for a crime they did not commit.
The show was presented in a 30 minute time frame (with the occasional commercial) and it had to be done reasonably well. No, they weren't as yet up to the quality of the as yet to come - Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but for the time and audience, for the most part, they were entertaining.
Still, . all in all, considering the crap offered to us on cable or satellite television today ... it was not bad!
One has to also envisage that the room lights were incandescent, and the heavy baroque furniture and lamp shades (very few had ceiling lights back then) cast shadows over the room.
The show opens with the faces of terribly frightening people looking out at you from a black & white television screen, with an image nowhere as clear as the one we have become used to today.
Now the announcer's voice intones the opening of the show: "What are these people waiting for? They are all waiting for....the... Unexpected!"
No, the 30 minute mini dramas on average never lived up in intensity to the famous opening, but from time to time they came across with one or two that stuck with you..right into your bedtime dreams. Like someone being buried alive, or a vindictive spouse coming back from the grave, or someone on the edge of going to the electric chair for a crime they did not commit.
The show was presented in a 30 minute time frame (with the occasional commercial) and it had to be done reasonably well. No, they weren't as yet up to the quality of the as yet to come - Alfred Hitchcock Presents, but for the time and audience, for the most part, they were entertaining.
Still, . all in all, considering the crap offered to us on cable or satellite television today ... it was not bad!
It took me a moment or so before I could remember this film - and then it came to me. At the time this film came out, I was 20 years old and living in a hotel on 44th Street, just off Broadway in New York City. Right around the corner, playing in a movie theater (located just below the then famous "Camels" smoking man display) was this film.
Outside they had hooked up a series of telephones near the lobby entrance, so that you could talk (pre-recorded) to a "Call Girl." The voice you heard was that of actress Anne Francis as the film's central character.
At the time I thought it was quite hokey and, at first, didn't spend my scarce funds on the film. But some days later a friend treated me to the film, and I was quite surprised and very impressed.
This was a damn good film for its time. The theme was hardly ever touched upon in films in those days. In fact, in most, at best hinted at briefly in the dialog.
This film, however, was well scripted and laid the subject bare with well written dialog. In my opinion, had it been produced some two or so decades later, Ms. Francic would have been deservedly nominated for an Academy Award.
Outside they had hooked up a series of telephones near the lobby entrance, so that you could talk (pre-recorded) to a "Call Girl." The voice you heard was that of actress Anne Francis as the film's central character.
At the time I thought it was quite hokey and, at first, didn't spend my scarce funds on the film. But some days later a friend treated me to the film, and I was quite surprised and very impressed.
This was a damn good film for its time. The theme was hardly ever touched upon in films in those days. In fact, in most, at best hinted at briefly in the dialog.
This film, however, was well scripted and laid the subject bare with well written dialog. In my opinion, had it been produced some two or so decades later, Ms. Francic would have been deservedly nominated for an Academy Award.
With no disrespect meant to the first commentator, something is definitely wrong here! First of all, I remember this show as being quite intriguing when I was age 14, which would have been in 1954.
In New York City where I lived, the show usually came on about 8:00 pm, right after the news which we watched on CBS with Douglas Edwards. After it was over, we switched to another network to see this show.
Secondly, I remember the show as having 'more' than 4 episodes and, thirdly, I remember the show having changed time venues in relationship to its scripts.
Why am I so certain of this? Because I remember the Major going behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany, being led by an undercover German citizen. And while they are traveling on foot toward their destination, at a roadblock, a staff car containing Adolph Hitler stops for a moment, and the major actually reaches for a hidden gun. His German companion then stops him and says, "No, even I cannot allow that!"
Just to check myself and recollection, I called an old childhood friend in Pennsylvania who is now a TV producer. He was also incredibly fond of this show: which he had to watch in my home in and as his parents couldn't afford a TV set.
His recollection is the same as mine. He too remembers the show's time venue changing mid run. And he too remembers more than 4 episodes. However, being that he is in the business, he comments that it is highly unlikely that any production company would have made only 4 shows, as it would be expensively foolish - even at that time.
He points out that even the studio that made the "Rocky Jones Space Ranger" TV series in 1954, produced 39 episodes before abandoning the project in the same year.
That said, I personally think the earlier episodes that dealt with the end of WW ll were better! And they must be out there somewhere.
In New York City where I lived, the show usually came on about 8:00 pm, right after the news which we watched on CBS with Douglas Edwards. After it was over, we switched to another network to see this show.
Secondly, I remember the show as having 'more' than 4 episodes and, thirdly, I remember the show having changed time venues in relationship to its scripts.
Why am I so certain of this? Because I remember the Major going behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany, being led by an undercover German citizen. And while they are traveling on foot toward their destination, at a roadblock, a staff car containing Adolph Hitler stops for a moment, and the major actually reaches for a hidden gun. His German companion then stops him and says, "No, even I cannot allow that!"
Just to check myself and recollection, I called an old childhood friend in Pennsylvania who is now a TV producer. He was also incredibly fond of this show: which he had to watch in my home in and as his parents couldn't afford a TV set.
His recollection is the same as mine. He too remembers the show's time venue changing mid run. And he too remembers more than 4 episodes. However, being that he is in the business, he comments that it is highly unlikely that any production company would have made only 4 shows, as it would be expensively foolish - even at that time.
He points out that even the studio that made the "Rocky Jones Space Ranger" TV series in 1954, produced 39 episodes before abandoning the project in the same year.
That said, I personally think the earlier episodes that dealt with the end of WW ll were better! And they must be out there somewhere.