The Hollywood Palace 

Various guest hosts present a musical variety show.

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Bing Crosby	...	Himself - Host 32 episodes, 1964-1970
Milton Berle	...	Himself - Host / ... 17 episodes, 1965-1970
Jimmy Durante	...	Himself - Host / ... 15 episodes, 1964-1970

Storyline

Popular, long-running Saturday night variety show of the mid-to-late 1960's, originating from the Hollywood Palace Theater (formerly the El Capitan) on Hollywood Boulevard. There was a revolving guest host, usually a singer or comedian, each week. Bing Crosby was the most frequent guest host (including, of course, the Christmas Week show), but other frequent guest hosts included Sammy Davis, Jr., Jimmy Durante, Don Adams, Fred Astaire, and Judy Garland. The Rolling Stones made their first U.S. TV appearence on the show in 1964. The waning popularity of weekly variety shows contributed to "Hollywood Palace" being cancelled in early 1970, but it's still well-remembered by its many fans.

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Plot Keywords:

variety show | 

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Taglines:

From Hollywood, The Entertainment Capital of the world. ABC-TV presents "The Hollywood Palace!"

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Music

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 January 1964 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Palace Theater - 1735 N. Vine Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC),United Artists Television,Zodiac Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (1964-1965) Color (1965-1970)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Every Saturday night, ABC's "The Hollywood Palace" television variety show was a special media entertainment event. The program's opening format established an unusual unprecedented fifteen minute segment unbroken by any commercial advertising interruption for a prime-time network program. The show immediately introduced the show's host in a unique vaudeville proscenium stage frame with an elaborate electrical chase-light picture-frame-work designed by production designer Jim Trittipo. After this theatrical introduction, the opening principle stage set was like a book, opening to turn into another "theme-stage-set look" with a choreographed musical production number featuring the show's host or another musical performer; then followed by a comedian's stand-up routine, or an animal act performed in front of the show's electric framed stage proscenium, in front of a translucent silk stage curtain before the show would break for a commercial advertising time spot-break. Making each transition became a novelty because of the design team's stage setting. After the opening host musical production introduction, the stage set would then open up, like a children's pop-up centerfold book, turning the setting into a completely different stage "look" for the show's opening musical production feature headline act, either a female or male singer with a choreographed dance line choreographed back-up. Jim Trittipo, the production designer, in his own personal approach of a "white on white" design style "look" always painted his stage settings a "tech off-white pigment based monochrome non-color white." Jack Denton, the show's terrific lighting designer, would "paint" the stage-sets through his lighting technique with color. Because the program was broadcast live or in video-tape, viewed only in black and white, Denton's subtle color gel stage-lighting enhanced the value scale of the B&W viewing transmission but the viewing audience never saw the program's subtle color palette. Several of Trittipo's stage set designs employed construction techniques that made the setting appear as an enhanced giant paper sculpture visual valentine or a Christmas pop-up card. The show's producers Nick Vanoff, Bill Harbach and Director Grey Lockwood instructed their stage-center and rear ramp electronic camera operators to maintain wide shots which gave the performance a feature film production quality. This full frame long shot was always established, maintained, in every choreographed production number performance, especially with dancing-hosts Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Donald O'Connor and Fred Astaire. In 1966, when the ABC network switched to a broadcasting color network, the West Coast "The Hollywood Palace" studio-stage became the first ABC West Coast television facility converted from B&W to color. Nick Vanoff "ordered" Trittipo to cease "white on white" scenery and only use painted "colorful" stage scenery. With Jack Denton's lighting techniques, his lighting further enhanced the show's variations in the color palette. "The Hollywood Palace" design team received a 1966 EMMY in the Series Art Direction award category: Individual Achievements in Art Direction and Allied Crafts - Art Direction - The Hollywood Palace.

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Connections

Referenced in Bewitched: Baby's First Paragraph (1966)

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Soundtracks

Put On A Happy Face
Written by Gower and Margie Champion
Performed by the Les Brown Orchestra and then the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra and the Mort Lindsey Orchestra

User Reviews

Playing the Palace

How I loved the Hollywood Palace back in the day. It was ABC TV's best contribution to our culture back in the day. Of course the fact that the most frequent guest host was the Greatest Entertainer Ever made it a must see item.

Highlights that I remember would include such things as: Bing Crosby dueting with Sonny&Cher, Nelson Eddy making his last big or small screen appearance, Tony Martin and Rudy Vallee, not singing together, but dueting with the clarinet and saxophone, instruments that both played but put aside when their singing careers took over.

The show was a homage to the old Palace Theatre in New York City. In the days of vaudeville it was the summit of every entertainer's ambition; to play at the Palace Theatre.

It was good that people got to see a lot of these folks. I wish that TV Land would broadcast some of these shows.

Classics every one.