The Great Man's Whiskers | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Written by | John Paxton |
Directed by | Philip Leacock |
Starring | Dean Jones Ann Sothern Dennis Weaver John McGiver |
Music by | Earl Robinson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Adrian Scott |
Cinematography | John F. Warren |
Editor | John Elias |
Running time | 74 minutes |
Production company | Universal Television |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | May 2, 1972 |
The Great Man's Whiskers is a 1972 American made-for-television drama film about Abraham Lincoln, directed by Philip Leacock. It was based on a play by Adrian Scott. The film featured a number of well known theatre and television character actors. Harve Presnell, featured as a ballad singer in the film, sings "The Wilderness Man" written by Earl Robinson with lyrics by Yip Harburg. Isabel Sanford sings "Things Go Bump in the Night" also written by Robinson and Harburg. [1] This was Mr. Harburg's last work. [2]
A ten-year-old girl (Elizabeth Cooper) encourages Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard. Lincoln's inaugural journey, by train, from Illinois to Washington, D.C. takes him through New York state. The journey includes a stop in the girl's hometown of Westfield, New York. Lincoln, now with a full beard, takes the opportunity to meet the young girl.
The screenplay was inspired by the true story of Grace Bedell, who wrote Lincoln just before his election to the presidency in 1860.
In 1947, it was announced Adrian Scott would make his directorial debut with an adaptation of the play. John Paxton would produce. [3] However, RKO fired Scott because of the blacklist. [4] For a time, it seemed RKO would still complete the project but the studio eventually dropped it. [5]
The screenplay by John Paxton was eventually directed by Philip Leacock at Universal City Studios in 1969. [6] The film aired on NBC as a “TV Movie of the Week” on May 2, 1972, and was rebroadcast on February 13, 1973. [7]
The Los Angeles Times called it "foolish and belaboured." [8]
Crossfire is a 1947 American film noir drama film starring Robert Young, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan which deals with the theme of antisemitism, as did that year's Academy Award for Best Picture winner, Gentleman's Agreement. The film was directed by Edward Dmytryk and the screenplay was written by John Paxton, based on the 1945 novel The Brick Foxhole by screenwriter and director Richard Brooks. The film's supporting cast features Gloria Grahame and Sam Levene. The picture received five Oscar nominations, including Ryan for Best Supporting Actor and Gloria Grahame for Best Supporting Actress. It was the first B movie to receive a Best Picture nomination.
Edgar Yipsel Harburg was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "April in Paris", and "It's Only a Paper Moon", as well as all of the songs for the film The Wizard of Oz, including "Over the Rainbow". He was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his leftist leanings. He championed racial, sexual and gender equality and union politics. He also was an ardent critic of high society and religion.
Edward Dmytryk was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s noir films and received an Oscar nomination for Best Director for Crossfire (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their investigations during the McCarthy-era Red Scare. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. In 1951, however, Dmytryk testified to the HUAC and named individuals, including Arnold Manoff, whose careers were then destroyed for many years, to rehabilitate his own career. First hired again by independent producer Stanley Kramer in 1952, Dmytryk is likely best known for directing The Caine Mutiny (1954), a critical and commercial success. The second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was nominated for Best Picture and several other awards at the 1955 Oscars. Dmytryk was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include One Million B.C. (1940), My Darling Clementine (1946), Kiss of Death (1947), Samson and Delilah (1949), and The Robe (1953). He also appeared in many musicals opposite such stars as Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable.
Isabel Sanford was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1975) and The Jeffersons (1975–1985). In 1981, she became the second African-American actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award after Gail Fisher and the first African-American actress to win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
George Harvey Presnell was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid-1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States.
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film noir drama Crossfire (1947).
Robert Adrian Scott was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was one of the Hollywood Ten and later blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses.
Edward Small was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Brewster's Millions (1945), Raw Deal (1948), Black Magic (1949), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Solomon and Sheba (1959).
Grace Greenwood Billings was an American woman, notable as a person whose correspondence, at the age of eleven, encouraged Republican Party nominee and future president Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard. Lincoln later met with Bedell during his inaugural journey in February 1861.
John Paxton was an American screenwriter.
The Power is a 1968 American tech noir, science fiction thriller film from MGM, produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin, that stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette. It is based on the 1956 science fiction novel The Power by Frank M. Robinson.
A Man to Remember is a 1938 American drama film directed by Garson Kanin, his first film credit as a director. The picture was based on the short story Failure, written by Katharine Haviland-Taylor, and the screenplay was penned by Dalton Trumbo. The story tells of a saintly small-town doctor working under difficult circumstances somewhere in the United States after World War I. The movie is a remake of One Man's Journey (1933) starring Lionel Barrymore.
Easy Living is a 1949 American drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Victor Mature, Lucille Ball and Lizabeth Scott. The film features the real-life Los Angeles Rams football team.
The Petty Girl (1950), known in the UK as Girl of the Year, is a musical romantic comedy Technicolor film starring Robert Cummings and Joan Caulfield. Cummings portrays painter George Petty who falls for Victoria Braymore (Caulfield), the youngest professor at Braymore College who eventually becomes "The Petty Girl".
At Sword's Point, also known as Sons of the Three Musketeers, is a 1952 American historical action adventure film directed by Lewis Allen and starring Cornel Wilde and Maureen O'Hara. It was shot in Technicolor by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was completed in 1949 but was not released until 1952.
Gambling House is a 1951 American film noir crime film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Victor Mature, Terry Moore and William Bendix.
13 West Street is a 1962 American neo-noir crime film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Rod Steiger and Alan Ladd, whose own production company produced the film. It is based on the 1957 novel The Tiger Among Us by Leigh Brackett, who called the film "very, very dull."
Two Blondes and a Redhead is a 1947 American musical film directed by Arthur Dreifuss and starring Jean Porter.
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