The Edsel Show (1957) (TV)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Seymour Berns

Writer:

William Morrow (written by)

Release Date:

13 October 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Music

Plot:

Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra host a program that's wall-to-wall music. |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Tap Dance | College Campus | Jazz Music | Trumpet

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Himself - Host / Performer
Frank Sinatra	...	Himself - Host / Performer
Rosemary Clooney	...	Herself - Singer
Louis Armstrong	...	Himself - Singer / Trumpet Player
Lindsay Crosby	...	Himself - Singer
The Four Preps	...	Ivy League Quartet (also as The 4 Preps)
Edmond Hall	...	Himself - Clarinetist
James Young	...	Himself - Trombonist (as Trummy Young)
Billy Kyle	...	Himself - Pianist
Barrett Deems	...	Himself - Drummer
Bob Hope	...	Himself - Sketch Actor / Singer
The Norman Luboff Choir	...	Themselves - Singers
Conn and Mann	...	Themselves - Dance Team (as Mr. Conn and Mr. Mann)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company:

Gonzaga University Productions

Trivia:

Not the first, but currently the oldest surviving show on videotape. It was aired live in 1957 in prime time, and simultaneously taped and filmed in kinescope for the sole purpose of broadcasting for the three-hour time delay on the West coast. In those days, shows which were taped (and not erased later) were ALSO kinescoped because the thought was that the tape might malfunction in the middle of the broadcast, but a kinescope film- which was all recorded off of a monitor and developed like motion picture film- would remain intact. Most TV retrospectives only air the kinescope, but a clip of the very pristine tape can be seen in the 2002 documentary "CBS: 50 Years from Television City."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Nick at Nite Holiday Special (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi

Videotape pioneer.

"The Edsel Show" is generally not remembered today, but if you saw the 2002 retrospective of the famed CBS Television City studio in Hollywood, you saw a clip of this 1957 show in a medley of memorable musical variety moments. Its place in history is more technical than anything else; it has the distinction of being one of the first ever TV shows to be videotaped (and currently resides as the oldest surviving videotaped show), as opposed to being filmed on kinescope. If you were to purchase the tape of this show today, you'll only find a kinescope print on VHS, but there is a surviving show videotape of it which looks sensational (it resembles a live performance, clear as a bell, but in black-and-white) and is begging to be digitally restored. Maybe a DVD edition of this could be researched?