Well if you're a James Dean fan and were tuned in to Turner Classics last night as I write this (evening of 9/25-9/26, 2015), you would have hit the mother lode. Not only did they air Dean's three major movie roles, but they brought out eight of his TV anthology appearances from the early 1950's, in honor of the sixtieth anniversary of his untimely death on September 30th, 1955. Some of them have not been seen since their original air date, so with incredible good luck timing I managed to record them all and will get around to reviewing them here in due course.
First up was this entry from the Campbell Summer Soundstage Series, Campbell being the soup company that sponsored the show. It originally ran on July 17th, 1953, and evidence of Dean's form of method acting is visibly on display. A small time hood, his character Joey is attempting to go straight, but can't resist one last robbery before calling it quits. What follows isn't very believable, but you have to consider the limitations of the era, and the fact that they were filming this live leaving little margin for error. Joey attempts to mug a young woman in an alley for her rent and dance money ($29 went a long way back then), but the theft is interrupted by a beat policeman. Astoundingly, the young woman Noli (Susan Douglas) covers for Joey by stating they were simply having a conversation.
Where the title of the story figures into things is explained when Joey states that he aspires to having a meaningful job like the men in business suits he sees going to work with a briefcase at their side. Noli inspires Joey by her dedication to hard work and prayer as the means to attaining her goals in life. Joey makes inroads into the relationship but is summoned by big time gangster Sloan (Robert Middleton) to participate in a major heist. When Joey refuses, Sloan works him over and leaves him sprawling. Seeking out his new girlfriend, the story closes with Joey admitting that with her in his life, this is the closest he'll ever get to heaven.
Simplistic yes, but if you get a chance to see early TV in it's infancy, this is very much par for the course. The drawing card for viewers is obviously James Dean, otherwise there's not a lot to recommend here. One scene in particular that turned out rather humorous in this otherwise sober melodrama occurred when Dean abruptly rises from the bed in his apartment and staggers into a sink on the wall, an obvious prop that wobbled significantly before Dean corrected himself. No do-overs for early live TV.
First up was this entry from the Campbell Summer Soundstage Series, Campbell being the soup company that sponsored the show. It originally ran on July 17th, 1953, and evidence of Dean's form of method acting is visibly on display. A small time hood, his character Joey is attempting to go straight, but can't resist one last robbery before calling it quits. What follows isn't very believable, but you have to consider the limitations of the era, and the fact that they were filming this live leaving little margin for error. Joey attempts to mug a young woman in an alley for her rent and dance money ($29 went a long way back then), but the theft is interrupted by a beat policeman. Astoundingly, the young woman Noli (Susan Douglas) covers for Joey by stating they were simply having a conversation.
Where the title of the story figures into things is explained when Joey states that he aspires to having a meaningful job like the men in business suits he sees going to work with a briefcase at their side. Noli inspires Joey by her dedication to hard work and prayer as the means to attaining her goals in life. Joey makes inroads into the relationship but is summoned by big time gangster Sloan (Robert Middleton) to participate in a major heist. When Joey refuses, Sloan works him over and leaves him sprawling. Seeking out his new girlfriend, the story closes with Joey admitting that with her in his life, this is the closest he'll ever get to heaven.
Simplistic yes, but if you get a chance to see early TV in it's infancy, this is very much par for the course. The drawing card for viewers is obviously James Dean, otherwise there's not a lot to recommend here. One scene in particular that turned out rather humorous in this otherwise sober melodrama occurred when Dean abruptly rises from the bed in his apartment and staggers into a sink on the wall, an obvious prop that wobbled significantly before Dean corrected himself. No do-overs for early live TV.
