"Talking to a Stranger" (1966) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Christopher Morahan

Writer:

John Hopkins (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 1969 (USA)

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win

Cast

Judi Dench	...	Terry Stevens - Daughter
Margery Mason	...	Sarah Stevens - Mother
Michael Bryant	...	Alan Stevens - Brother
Maurice Denham	...	Edward 'Ted' Stevens - Father
Pinkie Johnstone	...	Jess
Emrys James	...	Gordon Lester
Timothy Carlton	...	Geoffrey Lawrence
Calvin Lockhart	...	Leonard Ngana
Ann Mitchell	...	Mother as a young woman
Frederick Pyne	...	Father as a young man
Barry Stanton	...	Father's Friend
Gaynor Jones	...	Terry as a child
Keith Kent	...	Alan as a child
Windsor Davies	...	Detective Sergeant Wilson
Maryann Turner	...	Mrs. Hayter (as Mariann Turner)

Runtime:

90 min (4 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Consisted of four episodes, telling the same events from each major character's point of view: - Anytime You're Ready I'll Sparkle (Terry's story) - No Skill or Special Knowledge Is Required (Father's story) - Gladly, My Cross-Eyed Bear (Alan's story) - The Innocent Must Suffer (Mother's story)

Quotes:

Terry Stevens - Daughter: This is one of my really ugly days.

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Talking to a Stranger" (1971)

Topnotch miniseries from the golden age of TV

I saw "Talking to a Stranger" when it was first telecast in the US back in the 1960s. I recall it vividly as a great piece of writing, directing, casting, and acting. What a superb idea, telling the same story from four different viewpoints--and with such telling dramatic and thematic impact!

Few telecasts have remained in memory that long or that vividly. And nearly all of them hearken back to the 1960s--or even the late 1950s, when live television dominated the teledramas and comedies. Newton Minnow, who described TV then as a "vast wasteland," must be rolling in his grave over the shallow, tasteless stuff on TV today.

I sure wish I could rent "Talking to a Stranger" on DVD, or even VHS, because I would love to get reacquainted with this small masterpiece of television art.