Shirley Booth was into her decade of filmmaking in the 1950's, after over 30 years as a Broadway actress. She, of course, won the Oscar with her film recreation of her greatest stage role "Come Back Little Sheba" but in her fifties (though publicly passing at in her forties) there weren't that many starring roles for women in that age range back then and there were only three additional films, all of them quite well-received by the critics and, to a lesser degree, by the public. This Playhouse 90 adaptation of Perle Mesta's life story was Booth's first major entry into television where in the 1960's she would enjoy her greatest fame, starring in the sitcom "Hazel".
Perle Mesta was a rich widow from Pittsburgh who moved to Washington DC in the forties and became one of the most popular society hostesses with the political community, eventually appointed by President Truman as one of the first female Ambassadors. Her story became the basis for a Broadway comedy-musical starring Ethel Merman, "Call Me Madam", which was such a hit there was also a film version. Mesta's life story, however, was turned into a cartoon, not unlike Annie Oakley's in Merman's more enduring musical smash "Annie Get Your Gun". This "straight" drama based on Mesta's life, opens with admiring words about the musical but it's clear this drama wants to set the record straight about Perle, still alive and well in 1957 and appearing at the end of this teleplay to comment on her current charity work inspired by her period as an Ambassador.
Though as long as a feature film, this drama seems a little too rushed as it jumps through the episodes of Perle's life, starting with her childhood as the daughter of an Oklahoma oil man. Litte Perle deams of being an opera singer and as an adult, moves to New York to study voice. Unfortunately, she's not very good (one feels for Shirley, singing in her own voice that was able to pull off several Broadway musicals, with the scripted comments about her lack of singing talent). Perle's cackling does however provide an opening for an introduction to her upstairs neighbor (Robert Lowery) a steel magnate from Pittsburgh who begins to fall for her. They marry and move to Pittsburgh but Perle's other childhood dream of being a party hostess is crushed by a Pittsburgh socialite who wanted to marry Lowery herself as she and her friends freeze Perle out of society. Widowed early, Perle decides to settle down in Washington D. C. She also revives her dream of being a society hostess to great success and her subsequent friendship with Truman (unseen but voiced by a mimic) leads to the Ambassadorship.
Broadcast live in 1957, this program enjoys one of the better kineoscope copies I've seen of one of these vintage live shows. Unfortunately, the drama itself isn't all that interesting. The program badly needs a light touch a times, but even Perle's disasterious first D. C. party isn't really played for humor. Booth is elegantly dressed in the show, appropiate for the moneyed heiress, and while she always gives a sweet performance, I do feel she played her role a little too timidly . This was perfect for her troubled screen heroines in "Come Back Little Sheba", "About Mrs. Leslie," and "Hot Spell" but Mesta was apparently a confident chatterbox able to charm apples off a tree and that does not quite come through here in this characterization. Shirley could certainly play such roles as "The Matchmaker" and "Hazel would later prove.
None of the supporting cast really has that much to do although it was wonderful to see longtime film character actress Louise Beavers in a live production and I enjoyed the obscure actress Carol Veazie as a Republican senator's wife who becomes Democrat Perle's first D. C. friend, a nice touch emphasizing Mesta's diplomacy skills. Given this is a biopic of the recent past in 1957 and a couple of the supporting roles are unflattering characterizations, one wonders if these were real people, composites, or just fictional characters. We don't have all that much recorded for posterity on the great actress Shirley Booth beyond the "Hazel' sitcom so while "The Hostess with the Mostes'" is at best a qualified success, one is grateful it still exists.
Perle Mesta was a rich widow from Pittsburgh who moved to Washington DC in the forties and became one of the most popular society hostesses with the political community, eventually appointed by President Truman as one of the first female Ambassadors. Her story became the basis for a Broadway comedy-musical starring Ethel Merman, "Call Me Madam", which was such a hit there was also a film version. Mesta's life story, however, was turned into a cartoon, not unlike Annie Oakley's in Merman's more enduring musical smash "Annie Get Your Gun". This "straight" drama based on Mesta's life, opens with admiring words about the musical but it's clear this drama wants to set the record straight about Perle, still alive and well in 1957 and appearing at the end of this teleplay to comment on her current charity work inspired by her period as an Ambassador.
Though as long as a feature film, this drama seems a little too rushed as it jumps through the episodes of Perle's life, starting with her childhood as the daughter of an Oklahoma oil man. Litte Perle deams of being an opera singer and as an adult, moves to New York to study voice. Unfortunately, she's not very good (one feels for Shirley, singing in her own voice that was able to pull off several Broadway musicals, with the scripted comments about her lack of singing talent). Perle's cackling does however provide an opening for an introduction to her upstairs neighbor (Robert Lowery) a steel magnate from Pittsburgh who begins to fall for her. They marry and move to Pittsburgh but Perle's other childhood dream of being a party hostess is crushed by a Pittsburgh socialite who wanted to marry Lowery herself as she and her friends freeze Perle out of society. Widowed early, Perle decides to settle down in Washington D. C. She also revives her dream of being a society hostess to great success and her subsequent friendship with Truman (unseen but voiced by a mimic) leads to the Ambassadorship.
Broadcast live in 1957, this program enjoys one of the better kineoscope copies I've seen of one of these vintage live shows. Unfortunately, the drama itself isn't all that interesting. The program badly needs a light touch a times, but even Perle's disasterious first D. C. party isn't really played for humor. Booth is elegantly dressed in the show, appropiate for the moneyed heiress, and while she always gives a sweet performance, I do feel she played her role a little too timidly . This was perfect for her troubled screen heroines in "Come Back Little Sheba", "About Mrs. Leslie," and "Hot Spell" but Mesta was apparently a confident chatterbox able to charm apples off a tree and that does not quite come through here in this characterization. Shirley could certainly play such roles as "The Matchmaker" and "Hazel would later prove.
None of the supporting cast really has that much to do although it was wonderful to see longtime film character actress Louise Beavers in a live production and I enjoyed the obscure actress Carol Veazie as a Republican senator's wife who becomes Democrat Perle's first D. C. friend, a nice touch emphasizing Mesta's diplomacy skills. Given this is a biopic of the recent past in 1957 and a couple of the supporting roles are unflattering characterizations, one wonders if these were real people, composites, or just fictional characters. We don't have all that much recorded for posterity on the great actress Shirley Booth beyond the "Hazel' sitcom so while "The Hostess with the Mostes'" is at best a qualified success, one is grateful it still exists.