This episode of "Goodyear Theatre" is deceptively simple, but has some serious undercurrents. Story is straightforward: An uncle played by Jim Backus visits his sister Viginia Gregg and her teen daughter Carolyn Kearney, and the braggart (and con man) seems to be a bad influence on the kid, resulting in Gregg ready to throw him out. He tries to make amends and somehow there's a happy ending in store for all of them.
Beneath this synopsis are some deep issues. With Backus perfectly cast, he emerges as a sympathetic character, especially in a dramatic scene where Gregg calls bro a failure. He's broke and there to mooch off sis as well as try to raise money from her for one of his phony get-rich-quick schemes. His faux pas is to encourage Kearney in her dream of an acting career, when mom Gregg is dead set against such a pipe dream and wants her daughter to marry and live happily ever after rather than a career.
Sounds like typical Fifties pablum, but the serious side is that Backus is encouraging a free spirit rather than stultifying "square" existence. Sure, he's never made it but at least he can still dream. And ultimately his niece seems poised to make a decent run at achieving her own show biz dream. The happy ending manages to include some food for thought about what the future really holds for the story's true dreamers, since we know the mandatory happy ending on screen does not guarantee or even make likely success for either of them (other than a pyrrhic "be true to yourself" satisfaction).
A sidelight: This episode was written by Carolyn Kearney's husband, and despite her guest shots in many TV series over the next decade, her acting career never really took off.
Beneath this synopsis are some deep issues. With Backus perfectly cast, he emerges as a sympathetic character, especially in a dramatic scene where Gregg calls bro a failure. He's broke and there to mooch off sis as well as try to raise money from her for one of his phony get-rich-quick schemes. His faux pas is to encourage Kearney in her dream of an acting career, when mom Gregg is dead set against such a pipe dream and wants her daughter to marry and live happily ever after rather than a career.
Sounds like typical Fifties pablum, but the serious side is that Backus is encouraging a free spirit rather than stultifying "square" existence. Sure, he's never made it but at least he can still dream. And ultimately his niece seems poised to make a decent run at achieving her own show biz dream. The happy ending manages to include some food for thought about what the future really holds for the story's true dreamers, since we know the mandatory happy ending on screen does not guarantee or even make likely success for either of them (other than a pyrrhic "be true to yourself" satisfaction).
A sidelight: This episode was written by Carolyn Kearney's husband, and despite her guest shots in many TV series over the next decade, her acting career never really took off.
