"The Hostess with the Mostes'" | |
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Playhouse 90 episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 25 |
Directed by | Paul Nickell |
Written by | Speed Lamkin, Hagar Wilde |
Original air date | March 21, 1957 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Hostess with the Mostes'" was an American television play broadcast live on March 21, 1957, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90 . It was the 25th episode of the first season. Shirley Booth played the part of socialite Perle Mesta.
The play tells the story of socialite Perle Mesta, who was known for her lavish social parties. She grew up in Oklahoma, married the president of a steel company, and served as the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. [1] She was also the inspiration for Irving Berlin's musical, Call Me Madam . [2]
The cast included performances by: [3]
Perle Mesta hosted and narrated the broadcast.
Martin Manulis was the producer. Paul Nickell directed. The teleplay was written by Speed Lamkin and Hagar Wilde. Albert Heschong was the art director. [3]
In The New York Times, Jack Gould called it "a bewildering bouillabaisse of cliche and corn" and proclaimed: "Unreservedly, it was the worstes'." [4]
Jack O'Brian of the International News Service called it "a long, friendly, slow, patient explanation of Perle Mesta, virtually a 90-minute commercial setting the record straight through Mrs. Mesta's rose-colored memory." [5]
Natalie Schafer was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964–1967).
Call Me Madam is a Broadway musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s usually were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual: a weekly series of hour-and-a-half-long dramas rather than 60-minute plays.
Eleanor Audley was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mother, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided Disney animated features with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.
Harold Vernon Goldstein, better known as Harold Gould, was an American character actor. He appeared as Martin Morgenstern on the sitcom Rhoda (1974–78) and Miles Webber on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–92). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, Gould acted in film and television for nearly 50 years, appearing in more than 300 television shows, 20 major motion pictures, and over 100 stage plays. He was known for playing elegant, well-dressed men, and he regularly played Jewish characters and grandfather-type figures on television and in film.
Perle Reid Mesta was an American socialite, political hostess, and United States ambassador to Luxembourg (1949–53).
Mister Cory is a 1957 American CinemaScope film noir directed by Blake Edwards and starring Tony Curtis, Martha Hyer, Charles Bickford and Kathryn Grant.
Evelyn Rudie is an American playwright, director, songwriter, film and television actress, and teacher. Since 1973, she has been the co-artistic director of the Santa Monica Playhouse. As a costume designer, she uses the pseudonym Ashley Hayes.
Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the original radio version and known, in full, as The Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. Ford Theatre was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (1934–42).
Norma Varden Shackleton, known professionally as Norma Varden, was an English-American actress with a long film career.
General Motors 50th Anniversary Show is a 1957 television special, broadcast live and in color on NBC-TV, directed by Charles S. Dubin, produced by Jess Oppenheimer, and written by Helen Deutsch.
"Days of Wine and Roses" was a 1958 American teleplay by JP Miller which dramatized the problems of alcoholism. John Frankenheimer directed the cast headed by Cliff Robertson, Piper Laurie and Charles Bickford.
Maudie Prickett was an American character actress who performed in over 300 stage, film, and television productions during a career that spanned nearly four decades.
Hillyer Speed Lamkin was an American novelist and playwright. He is best known for his first novel Tiger in the Garden (1950) and was called "the poor man's Truman Capote" by the composer Ned Rorem. He was a recipient of a 1950 O. Henry Award for his short story Comes a Day.
Nora Marlowe was an American film and television character actress.
John Francis Donohue was an American film actor, screenwriter, director, producer, composer, and choreographer.
William George Roerich was an American actor. He is particularly associated with the stage, but also played in many films and TV productions. He was also a stage manager and writer. His name is sometimes given as William Roehrick.
"Forbidden Area" was an American television play broadcast live on October 4, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the premiere episode of the series. The play concerns efforts to thwart a massive, Christmastime nuclear attack from a fleet of Russian submarines located off the coast of the United States. Rod Serling wrote the screenplay, and John Frankenheimer directed. Charlton Heston, Tab Hunter, Diana Lynn, and Charles Bickford starred.
"No Time at All" was an American television film broadcast on February 13, 1958, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the 23rd episode of the second season of Playhouse 90.
"The Green Pastures" was an American television play first broadcast on NBC on October 17, 1957, as part of the television series Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was adapted from Marc Connelly's 1930 Pulitzer Prize–winning play which was in turn adapted from Roark Bradford's Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun (1928). It was one of five programs nominated as Best Program of the Year at the 10th Primetime Emmy Awards.