Imagine - James Dean, had he lived, would be 84 today.
In his twenties for all eternity, Dean, Ronald Reagan, and Constance Ford star in "The Dark, Dark Hours," a half-hour presentation of General Electric Theater.
There were tons of these shows in the '50s - and Dean appeared in several, as he initially lived in New York: Studio One, CBS Television Workshop, Playhouse 90, Omnibus, Kraft Theatre, Philco Goodyear Television Playhouse and on and on, plus actors like Loretta Young, Robert Montgomery, and others all had their own anthology shows.
Reagan plays a doctor, and very late at night, Bud, (Dean) shows up with his friend, Peewee (Jack Simmons, a friend of Dean's in real life) who appears injured.
The doctor realizes that it's a gunshot wound, and insists on calling the police. Bud pulls a gun on him. The doctor has no choice but to operate, with not much help from his wife (Constance Ford) who is terrified of the sight of blood.
There's lots of hepcat talk in the dialogue: "dad," "man," and snapping of fingers, but through it, Dean gives an emotional and sad performance as a volatile young man.
Dean's appearance spawned dozens of wannabes: Michael Parks, Christopher Jones, etc., and even today, actors like James Franco (who played Dean in a TV movie) and Luke Perry.
Reagan actually was quite good.
After the show, Reagan told the viewers what was coming up on the next show.
Great to see this. In those days, you could have a half hour or even a fifteen-minute program, and there was no need to use a lot of filler to make a show into an hour. Also, a half hour show back then was closer to a half hour than today; today it's closer to 20 minutes.
In his twenties for all eternity, Dean, Ronald Reagan, and Constance Ford star in "The Dark, Dark Hours," a half-hour presentation of General Electric Theater.
There were tons of these shows in the '50s - and Dean appeared in several, as he initially lived in New York: Studio One, CBS Television Workshop, Playhouse 90, Omnibus, Kraft Theatre, Philco Goodyear Television Playhouse and on and on, plus actors like Loretta Young, Robert Montgomery, and others all had their own anthology shows.
Reagan plays a doctor, and very late at night, Bud, (Dean) shows up with his friend, Peewee (Jack Simmons, a friend of Dean's in real life) who appears injured.
The doctor realizes that it's a gunshot wound, and insists on calling the police. Bud pulls a gun on him. The doctor has no choice but to operate, with not much help from his wife (Constance Ford) who is terrified of the sight of blood.
There's lots of hepcat talk in the dialogue: "dad," "man," and snapping of fingers, but through it, Dean gives an emotional and sad performance as a volatile young man.
Dean's appearance spawned dozens of wannabes: Michael Parks, Christopher Jones, etc., and even today, actors like James Franco (who played Dean in a TV movie) and Luke Perry.
Reagan actually was quite good.
After the show, Reagan told the viewers what was coming up on the next show.
Great to see this. In those days, you could have a half hour or even a fifteen-minute program, and there was no need to use a lot of filler to make a show into an hour. Also, a half hour show back then was closer to a half hour than today; today it's closer to 20 minutes.