GENERAL MOTORS FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY SHOW (TV)
Summary
General Motors celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with this all-star variety special hosted by Kirk Douglas with assistance from Ernest Borgnine as his straight man. Douglas first explains that the purpose of this show is to present the idea "It's nice to be happy" by using every means at its disposal -- comedy, satire, film, and song and dance -- and forewarns the viewer that there will also be a healthy dose of sentimentality in this exploration of "the pursuit of happiness." Clips of universal "moments of joy" such as a wedding, the birth of a baby, and soldiers and sailors reunited with their families are shown. Next Pat Boone -- as a young man alone at the Marti Gras -- sings the plaintive ballad "Where Are You?" Ernest Borgnine interrupts Douglas's narrative to ask what Boone's song has to do with the theme of happiness and Douglas explains that even sad experiences are part of feeling alive. The first skit is a spoof of "Pursuit of Happiness" specialists and the phenomenon of self-help books: Eddie Bracken plays Charlie Smith and Hans Conried portrays the helpful bookstore clerk who persuades him to buy an armload full of books to help improve his life. Explaining that the secret of happiness is to live every moment and to relish everyday experiences that are often overlooked, Douglas next narrates Willard Van Dyke's film essay "Symphony of the Senses" illustrating the beauty of familiar sensory objects. The program returns to the story of Charlie Smith to see how he's fairing in his pursuit of happiness and finds his attempts to enforce family togetherness on his distracted wife (Alice Ghostley) and reluctant children degenerating into a family fight. In contrast, Kirk Douglas next looks in on two friends Tom (Steve Lawrence) and Bill (Dan Dailey) reminiscing on the patio before dinner; after singing "Back Home Again in Indiana," Bill remembers -- through the gloss of rose-colored memory -- his family and college sweetheart, Ruth Swanson (Carol Burnett), a band singer who sings a lethally off-key rendition of "Red Sails in the Sunset"; Tom, on the other hand, doesn't think about the past, but lives in dreams of the future; he sings "Far Away Places" and fantasizes about being on a South Seas island surrounded by women and dancing with a sultry native woman (Chita Rivera); Douglas explains that there is nothing wrong with Bill and Tom's pipe dreams because they are also enjoying the present, and to illustrate, Dailey, Lawrence, and Burnett sing a medley of old songs including "Down By the Old Mill Stream," "Juanita," and Jerome Kern's"The Bullfrog Patrol." In the next segment, revealing how we often take things for granted and forget to appreciate the little things of life, Don Ameche plays Henry Sylvester an exasperated man who learns to appreciate the lively horseplay of his children after learning of a friend's tragic loss. The next vignette stars Claudette Colbert and Kent Smith as the Colliers who reminisce about "first times" and realize that there are many firsts yet to come in their lives. In the final morality tale, Cyril Ritchard plays a man whose plans for committing suicide are interrupted by a persistent young girl who so charms him that the two land up singing a spirited duet of the "Mutual Admiration Society." In the final segment of the special, Douglas examines the various categories of songs written about love: to spotlight songs about the longing for love, Dinah Shore is joined by Doretta Morrow, Howard Keel, and Dan Dailey in singing "They Say It's Wonderful"; next,the magic moment when lovers first meet is illustrated by Howard Keel singing "Where or When"; Doretta Morrow sings about the joy of acceptance and the full realization of love with "My Romance" followed by Jacques d'Amboise and Bambi Linn in a romantic pas de deux; Shore, Dailey, Keel, and Morrow sing a medley to demonstrate the miseries and quarrels of love gone wrong, followed by a ballet interpretation of "This Thing Called Love" with Chita Rivera as the vamp who comes between Jacques d'Amboise and Bambi Linn; the next songs -- dealing with the aftermath of loneliness, longing, and trying to forget that follow a quarrel --include Dinah Shore singing "These Foolish Things," Linn and D'Amboise dancing to "Hi Lili, Hi Lo" and "Lover," and Dan Dailey taping to "Taking a Chance on Love"; finally Helen Hayes recites a moving story about planting a white magnolia tree the year that she was twenty-one. In conclusion, Douglas explains that happiness is also pride in work well done and offers the message: "Dare to live and know you're alive." To underline why we must savor every moment while we are living it, June Allyson portrays Emily Webb and Carmen Mathews plays her mother in the last scene from "Our Town." Kirk Douglas leaves the audience with the exhortation: "Don't forget this tomorrow!" Includes commercials. (This is a black-and-white copy of a color telecast.)
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 17, 1957 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:59:30
- COLOR/B&W: B&W copy of a color telecast
- CATALOG ID: T:01142
- GENRE: Specials; Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Music, popular (songs, etc.)
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1957
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - General Motors Automobiles
- TV - Promo - "Annie Get Your Gun" (voice only)
- TV - Promo - "Pied Piper of Hamelin" (voice only)
- TV - Promo - "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (voice only)
- TV - Promo - "The Loretta Young Show" (voice only)
- TV - Promo - "The Vikings" (Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine appearing in film) (voice-only)
- TV - Promo - "Wide Wide World: Miracle in the Desert" (voice only)
- TV - Promo - RCA Victor album of "The 50th Anniversary Show"
CREDITS
- Jess Oppenheimer … Producer
- Julian Bercovici … Associate Producer
- William Hammerstein … Production (Misc.), NBC Program Supervisor
- Van Dyke, WIllard … Production (Misc.), "Symphony of the Senses" prepared by
- Affiliated Film Producers, Inc. … Production (Misc.), "Symphony of the Senses" prepared by
- Charles Dubin … Director
- Marcia Kuyper … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Helen Deutsch … Writer
- Arne Sultan … Writer (Misc.), Special material, written in collaboration with Miss Deutsch, by
- Marvin Worth … Writer (Misc.), Special material, written in collaboration with Miss Deutsch, by
- Richard DeRoy … Writer (Misc.), Special material, written in collaboration with Miss Deutsch, by
- John Butler … Choreographer
- Sammy Fain … Composer, Theme composed by
- Bernard Green … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical Director
- Ray Carter … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical integration by
- Milton Weinstein … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical arrangements by
- Clare Grundman … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical arrangements by
- Sid Fine … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical arrangements by
- John Morris … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical arrangements by
- Stanley Flink … Film Co-ordinator
- Kirk Douglas … Host
- Bill Wendel … Announcer
- Ernest Borgnine … Guest
- Pat Boone … Performer, Singer
- Carol Burnett … Singer, Cast, Ruth Swanson
- Dan Dailey … Singer, Cast, Bill
- Jacques D'Amboise … Performer, Dancer
- Helen Hayes … Performer
- Howard Keel … Performer, Singer
- Steve Lawrence … Singer, Cast, Tom
- Bambi Linn … Performer, Dancer
- Doretta Morrow … Performer, Singer
- Cyril Ritchard … Singer, Cast, Orlando B. Cartwright (the Potential Suicide)
- Chita Rivera … Performer, Dancer
- Dinah Shore … Performer, Singer
- June Allyson … Cast, Emily Webb ("Our Town")
- Don Ameche … Cast, Henry Sylvester
- Eddie Bracken … Cast, Charlie Smith
- Claudette Colbert … Cast, Mrs. Collier
- Hans Conried … Cast, the Bookseller
- Alice Ghostley … Cast, Mrs. Smith
- Peg Lynch … Cast, Mrs. Sylvester
- Carmen Matthews … Cast, Mrs. Webb ("Our Town")
- Kent Smith … Cast, Mr. Collier
- Tirrell Barbery … Cast, Charlie Smith's daughter
- Dennis Joel … Cast, Charlie Smith's son
- Claudia Crawford … Singer, Cast, Orlando B. Cartwright's friend