General Electric Theater (TV Series) The Dark, Dark Hours (1954) User Reviews

James Dean in an early GE production

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 26 September 2015]

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.

Held captive by beatniks!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 26 September 2015]

Although James Dean is a major cult star, I've never really understood why. After all, he only starred in three films before his early death at age 24--and two of these films came out after he was dead. However, a lot of people don't realize that most of his work was on early television--appearing in many live teleplays. Several were very nice--a few were truly awful. Now I am NOT saying it's Dean's fault-- sometimes he just had awful material. Fortunately, in this installment of "G.E. Theater" he has a decent script.

Like so many of the "G.E. Theater" episodes, it's not only introduced by Ronald Reagan but he stars in it as a doctor. His night is interrupted rudely when a couple beatnik criminals (one of which is Dean and he talks like a real hep cat) break in to his home and hold the Doc and his wife hostage. It seems one was shot and the Doctor is going to fix him up...or else! Well, being a doctor, he agrees to help. Plus, if he doesn't he and his wife could get their head blown off as Dean's character seems like a hot head. What's next? See the show.

This episode seems very much like the excellent film "The Desperate Hours" with Humphrey Bogart and Frederic March. Tense, well acted and worth seeing. If you do watch it, see what you think of the wife...I really HATED her! Well worth your time.

Truly historical on every level.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 19 January 2022]

A trio of a fabulous cast fleshed out this terrific drama, maybe not original in storytelling especially for its mid 50's setting, but thrilling and gut-wrenching from start to finish. Ronald Reagan is a doctor whose sleep is interrupted by banging at the door, with James Dean and a man who has been shot on the other side. He is forced at gunpoint to remove the bullet, and while he's performing the operation, Dean is far too busy scatting to the radio station has put on to notice what is going on in the operation. Frantic wife Constance Ford desperately wants to protect their child, and wants Reagan to do whatever he can to overpower Dean. Twists occur that threaten to make Dean more violent, and it's up to Reagan to maintain a cool head to get his family through this crisis.

As the opening narration indicated who was in this episode of The General Electric Theater, all I could say twice in a row was wow, wow! Constance Ford has been one of my favorite actresses since seeing her in the movie "A Summer Place" and as a very different mother on the soap opera "Another World", and it's interesting to see her playing a character who isn't as strong as others that she would play in many anthology shows and movies in the late 1950's and early 60's. Her characters are usually there e assertive, and here, her character doesn't show that at all. Dean, a year prior to his screen debut in a major role (having had several minor parts in films) shows exactly why he is still considered a legend even with only three major movies. An out of breath Reagan comes on at the end, obviously exhausted from what he had just done life. This is what makes classic TV so memorable when you find an ensemble as great as this and a very introguing story.

Hints of Dean's greatness!

[taylorgs8 · 10/10 · 28 October 2015]

James Dean has always been one of my favorite actors! East of Eden is an amazing and powerful film and a lot of it is due to Dean's presence!

Traces of this can be seen in this teleplay. Aired in 1954 this episode is even more notable in that Dean acts with Ronald Reagan which in itself is remarkable! Reagan is actually quite good in this episode as a doctor being terrorized by Dean and his companion played by jack Simmons. Without giving away much of the plot the interplay between the principals is quite good and seeing Constance Ford in this episode is also very cool!

Dean is a consummate actor. For someone so young his range was incredible and he is so convincing in this teleplay. Although the quality of this black and white episode is grainy and the audio is less than stellar you can see flashes of the brilliance of Dean for sure!

Reagan is surprising in his range in this teleplay as well! Having only seen Reagan in a couple of B comedies I was quite impressed with his acting in this teleplay.

James Dean Is The Beatnik King

[richardsh-13046 · 10/10 · 22 July 2023]

James Dean was an incredible actor he could convey so much emotion in the simplest of gestures.

I had no idea that General Electric Theatre existed until a month ago and was pleasantly surprised Ex-President Ronald Reagan would be both producing and acting in this series.

The story is simple, two beatnik teenagers take over a doctors office after hours because one of them has been shot.

Seeing James Dean being erratic and listening to jazz was amazing! I also loved the raw emotion he brought to the role breaking down and acting erracting throughout the episode terrorising the doctor and wife.

It was a solid playlet and loved the acting, plot and cinematography because it felt so claustrophobic.

"I have a gun, man. I'm a big man."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 3 October 2015]

A month prior to this episode's original air date, General Electric Theater host Ronald Reagan introduced a story titled 'I'm a Fool' that included James Dean in the cast. Here Reagan actually appears in the story with Dean as a doctor who's awakened in the middle of the night by Dean's character Bud and his pal PeeWee (Jack Simmons), who's suffering from a bullet wound.

Now if you're watching the show, a number of thoughts have to immediately cross your mind if you're paying attention. For starters, the pair of young hoodlums are out and about wearing jackets and ties, and they pick 'Joe's' house because they know he's a doctor. I guess that's possible if they were all from the same small town, but it just seemed like a bit of a stretch for me to accept. At the moment when Joe and his wife Betty were awakened, one observes that they're sleeping in separate beds, which for the 1950's was par for the course. One can trace the progressive path TV shows have taken over the decades with the bedroom habits their main characters reveal.

Once it becomes apparent that PeeWee is seriously injured, Dean's character goes into the strangest, some would call it weird, beatnik mode of expression that seems out of character with the type of individual he was portraying. In my summary line, he uses the word 'man' twice to intimidate the good doctor into patching up his buddy, emboldened by the use of a weapon he retrieves from his back pocket.

Meanwhile, the doctor's wife gives him the business for reacting the way one would expect to react when faced with a hoodlum brandishing a gun pointed at you. I can't imagine what she thought her husband should have done under the circumstances, but it's borne out subsequently after PeeWee dies and Bud goes a bit haywire in his response. Having had about enough of the young thug, the doc catches Bud off guard and does him in, proving to his wife and the viewer that he was no pushover, simply biding his time until the opportunity presented itself to take charge of the situation.

Funny, but my only other recent recollection of the actress who played the wife, Constance Towers, was in two of the first three episodes of Boris Karloff's 'Thriller' series from 1960. She portrayed the same kind of character, for example in the first episode 'The Twisted Image', she was the spiteful sister of a man who wanted to be someone else, while in 'Worse Than Murder, she was, for the lack of a better description, worse than murder.