The United States Steel Hour

The United States Steel Hour
Rod Serling's The Rack, a production of The United States Steel Hour on April 12, 1955, was later published in this 1957 Bantam paperback.
Also known asTheater Guild on the Air
GenreAnthology drama
Written byVarious writers
Directed byVarious directors
Presented byLawrence Langner, Roger Pryor
StarringBroadway and Hollywood actors
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
Production
Executive producersArmina Marshall, George Lowther
ProducersGeorge Kondolf, Carol Irwin
Running time60 minutes
Production companyTheatre Guild
Original release
NetworkABC (09/09/45-06/05/49)
NBC (09/11/49-06/07/53)
Release1953 (1953) –
1963 (1963)

The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel).

Theatre Guild on the Air

The series originated on radio in the 1940s as Theatre Guild on the Air. Organized in 1919 to improve the quality of American theater, the Theatre Guild first experimented with radio productions in Theatre Guild Dramas, a CBS series which ran from December 6, 1943 to February 29, 1944.

Actress-playwright Armina Marshall (1895–1991), a co-administrator of the Theatre Guild, headed the Guild's newly created Radio Department, and in 1945, Theatre Guild on the Air embarked on its ambitious plan to bring Broadway theater to radio with leading actors in major productions. It premiered September 9, 1945 on ABC with Burgess Meredith, Henry Daniell and Cecil Humphreys in Wings Over Europe, a play by Robert Nichols and Maurice Browne which the Theatre Guild had staged on Broadway in 1928–29.[1]

Within a year the series drew 10 to 12 million listeners each week. Presenting both classic and contemporary plays, the program was broadcast for eight years before it became a television series.

Playwrights adapted to radio ranged from Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde to Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams. Numerous Broadway and Hollywood stars acted in the series, including Ingrid Bergman, Ronald Colman, Bette Davis, Rex Harrison, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Deborah Kerr, Sam Levene, Agnes Moorehead, Basil Rathbone, Charles Tyner and Mary Sinclair. One notable performance was John Gielgud as Hamlet, in an expanded 90-minute broadcast with Dorothy McGuire as Ophelia.[2] Fredric March was heard in his only performance as Cyrano de Bergerac, a role he played neither onstage or onscreen.[3] The series also featured the only radio broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein's flop musical, Allegro.[4]

The radio series was broadcast until June 7, 1953, when U.S. Steel decided to move the show to television.

The September 8, 1946, episode was "Angel Street", starring Hayes, Victor Jory, and Leo G. Carroll.[5]

Television

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a musical production for The United States Steel Hour on November 20, 1957, with (l to r) Jimmy Boyd, Basil Rathbone, Jack Carson.

The television version aired from October 27, 1953, to 1955 on ABC, and from 1955 to 1963 on CBS. Like its radio predecessor, it was a live dramatic anthology series. During its first season on television, the program alternated bi-weekly with The Motorola Television Hour.

By its final year in 1963, it was the last surviving live anthology series from the Golden Age of Television. It was still on the air during President John F. Kennedy's famous April 11, 1962, confrontation with steel companies over the hefty raising of their prices. The show featured a range of television acting talent, and its episodes explored a wide variety of contemporary social issues, from the mundane to the controversial.

Notable guest star actors included Martin Balsam, Tallulah Bankhead, Ralph Bellamy, James Dean, Dolores del Río, Keir Dullea, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm, Sally Ann Howes, Jack Klugman, Sam Levene, Peter Lorre, Walter Matthau, Bennye Gatteys, Paul Newman, George Peppard, Suzanne Storrs, Albert Salmi, George Segal and Johnny Washbrook. Washbrook played Johnny Sullivan in The Roads Home in his first ever screen role. Griffith made his onscreen debut in the show's production of No Time for Sergeants, and would reprise the lead role in the 1958 big screen adaptation. In 1956–57, Read Morgan made his television debut on the Steel Hour as a young boxer in two episodes titled "Sideshow". Child actor Darryl Richard, later of The Donna Reed Show, also made his acting debut in the episode "The Bogey Man", which aired January 18, 1955. In 1960, Johnny Carson starred with Anne Francis in "Queen of the Orange Bowl".

Many notable writers contributed episodes, including Ira Levin, Richard Maibaum and Rod Serling. The program also broadcast one-hour musical versions of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The latter was broadcast on November 20, 1957, with a cast including Jimmy Boyd, Earle Hyman, Basil Rathbone, Jack Carson and Florence Henderson. Boyd had previously played Finn in the earlier telecast of Tom Sawyer.[6][7][8]

Controversy

Rod Serling was not regarded as a controversial scriptwriter until he contributed to The United States Steel Hour, as he recalled in his collection Patterns (1957):

In the television seasons of 1952 and 1953, almost every television play I sold to the major networks was "non-controversial". This is to say that in terms of their themes they were socially inoffensive, and dealt with no current human problem in which battle lines might be drawn. After the production of Patterns, when my things were considerably easier to sell, in a mad and impetuous moment I had the temerity to tackle a theme that was definitely two-sided in its implications. I think this story is worth repeating.

The script was called Noon on Doomsday. It was produced by the Theatre Guild on The United States Steel Hour in April 1956. The play, in its original form, followed very closely the Till case in Mississippi, where a young Negro boy was kidnapped and killed by two white men who went to trial and were exonerated on both counts. The righteous and continuing wrath of the Northern press opened no eyes and touched no consciences in the little town in Mississippi where the two men were tried. It was like a cold wind that made them huddle together for protection against an outside force which they could equate with an adversary. It struck me at the time that the entire trial and its aftermath was simply "They’re bastards, but they’re our bastards." So I wrote a play in which my antagonist was not just a killer but a regional idea. It was the story of a little town banding together to protect its own against outside condemnation. At no point in the conception of my story was there a black-white issue. The victim was an old Jew who ran a pawnshop. The killer was a neurotic malcontent who lashed out at something or someone who might be materially and physically the scapegoat for his own unhappy, purposeless, miserable existence. Philosophically I felt that I was on sound ground. I felt that I was dealing with a sociological phenomenon—the need of human beings to have a scapegoat to rationalize their own shortcomings.

Noon on Doomsday finally went on the air several months later, but in a welter of publicity that came from some 15,000 letters and wires from White Citizens' Councils and the like protesting the production of the play. In news stories, the play had been erroneously described as "The story of the Till case". At one point earlier, during an interview on the Coast, I told a reporter from one of the news services the story of Noon on Doomsday. He said, "Sounds like the Till case." I shrugged it off, answering, "If the shoe fits..." This is all it took. From that moment on Noon on Doomsday was the dramatization of the Till case. And no matter how the Theatre Guild or the agency representing U.S. Steel denied it, the impression persisted. The offices of the Theatre Guild, on West 53rd Street in New York City, took on all the aspects of a football field ten seconds after the final whistle blew.[9]

Awards

Theater Guild on the Air won a Peabody Award for drama in 1947.[10] The United States Steel Hour won Emmys in 1954 for Best Dramatic Program and Best New Program. The following year it won an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series, and Alex Segal was nominated for Best Direction. It received eight Emmy nominations in 1956, then one nomination for the years 1957, 1959, and 1961.[11] In 1962, the episode "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[12]

References

  1. ^ Fowler, Glenn. "Armina Marshall Is Dead at 96," The New York Times, July 22, 1991.
  2. ^ "Theater Guild on the Air".
  3. ^ "Theater Guild on the Air".
  4. ^ "Theater Guild on the Air".
  5. ^ "Helen Hayes To Be Starred In 'Angel Street'". The Jackson Sun. September 8, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved November 17, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Musical Huck Finn Catches Book's Spirit; Has Fine Tunes", by Harriet Van Horne, syndicated column in Evansville (IN) Press, November 21, 1957, p.54
  7. ^ "'Huck Finn' to Music Is Wildly Improbable", by Jack Gould, The New York Times, November 21, 1957, p.50
  8. ^ "Musical 'Huck Finn' Is Called Totally Inept", by Jack Gould, reprinted in The Courier-Journal (Louisville KY), November 21, 1957, p.2-2
  9. ^ Schlich, Stephen (1957). "Introduction to the 1957 Bantam paperback "Patterns"". Patterns (Paperback ed.). New York, New York, United States: Bantam Books.
  10. ^ "Theatre Guild on the Air". Retrieved 2020-12-24.
  11. ^ "U.S. Steel Hour". Television Academy. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  12. ^ "1962 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. 2007-07-26. Retrieved 2023-03-19.

Further reading

  • William L. Bird, Jr. "Better Living": Advertising, Media, and the New Vocabulary of Business Leadership, 1935–1955. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1999. [ISBN missing]

Listen to

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The United States Steel Hour.

Read other articles:

Bentley Flying Spur (2005)

Bentley Flying Spur2019 Bentley Flying Spur W12InformasiProdusenBentley MotorsJuga disebutBentley Continental Flying Spur (2006–2013)Masa produksiNovember 2005–sekarangModel untuk tahun2006–sekarangPerakitanBritania Raya: Bentley CreweJerman: Dresden (Transparent Factory (hanya 2005 dan 2006))Bodi & rangkaKelasFull-size mobil mewah (F)Bentuk kerangka4-pintu saloonTata letakF4 layout Bentley Flying Spur adalah sebuah sedan mewah yang diproduksi oleh Bentley Motors Limi...

 

SMA Negeri 1 Jatibarang

Artikel ini bukan mengenai SMA Negeri 1 Sliyeg. SMA Negeri 1 JatibarangInformasiDidirikan2003JenisNegeriAkreditasiA (sangat baik)Kepala SekolahPramudia, S.Pd., M.A.Ketua KomiteH. Ali SadikinJurusan atau peminatanIPA dan IPSRentang kelasX IPA, X IPS, XI IPA, XI IPS, XII IPA, XII IPSKurikulumKurikulum Tahun 2013AlamatLokasiJalan Ampera Bulak, Jatibarang, Indramayu, Jawa Barat,  IndonesiaMoto SMA Negeri 1 Jatibarang adalah SMA Negeri di Kabupaten Indramayu, yang beridiri pada tang...

 

Gregor Mendel

Gregor MendelLahirGregor Johann Mendel(1822-07-22)22 Juli 1822Heinzendorf bei Odrau, Kekaisaran Austria (sekarang Hyncice, Republik Ceko)Meninggal6 Januari 1884(1884-01-06) (umur 61)Brno (Brünn), Austria-Hungaria (sekarang Republik Ceko)KebangsaanKekaisaran Austria-HungariaAlmamaterUniversitas OlomoucUniversitas WinaDikenal atasMenciptakan ilmu GenetikaKarier ilmiahBidangGenetikaInstitusiBiara St Thomas di Brno Gregor Johann Mendel (bahasa Ceska: Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 Juli 1822...

Movimento operaio

Il movimento operaio è un movimento politico e sindacale. Il Quarto Stato, dipinto di Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. Il movimento operaio consiste di due ali principali: il movimento sindacale da un lato, e il movimento politico del lavoro dall'altro lato. Il movimento sindacale consiste nell'organizzazione collettiva dei lavoratori sviluppata per rappresentare e fare campagne per migliori condizioni di lavoro e trattamento da parte dei loro datori di lavoro e, mediante l'attuazione delle leg...

 

Syringe

Medical injection device Disposable syringe with needle, with parts labelled: plunger, barrel, needle adaptor, needle hub, needle bevel, needle shaft A typical plastic medical syringe fitted with a detachable stainless steel needle; the syringe is fitted with a male Luer lock fitting which the needle, which is equipped with a female Luer-Lock fitting (purple), screws into According to the World Health Organization, about 90% of the medical syringes are used to administer drugs, 5% for vaccina...

 

Gereja Katolik di Afrika

Bagian dari seriGereja Katolik menurut negara Afrika Afrika Selatan Afrika Tengah Aljazair Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Chad Eritrea Eswatini Etiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guinea Khatulistiwa Jibuti Kamerun Kenya Komoro Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagaskar Malawi Mali Maroko Mauritania Mauritius Mesir Mozambik Namibia Niger Nigeria Pantai Gading Republik Demokratik Kongo Republik Kongo Rwanda Sao Tome dan Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia Somaliland ...

El Salvador at the 2019 World Athletics Championships

Sporting event delegationEl Salvador at the2019 World Championships in AthleticsWA codeESAin DohaCompetitors1[1] (1 man)Medals Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0 World Championships in Athletics appearances1983198719911993199519971999200120032005200720092011201320152017201920222023 El Salvador competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, from 27 September–6 October 2019. Result Key Note–Ranks given for track events are for the entire round Q = Qualified fo...

 

كرفس

  لمعانٍ أخرى، طالع كرفس (توضيح). اضغط هنا للاطلاع على كيفية قراءة التصنيف الكَرَفْس الكرفس حالة الحفظ   أنواع غير مهددة أو خطر انقراض ضعيف جدا [1] المرتبة التصنيفية نوع[2][3]  التصنيف العلمي النطاق: حقيقيات النوى المملكة: النباتات الشعبة: البذريات الشعيب...

 

William S. Youngman

American politician William Sterling Youngman50th Lieutenant Governor of MassachusettsIn office1929–1933GovernorFrank G. AllenJoseph B. ElyPreceded byFrank G. AllenSucceeded byGaspar G. Bacon42nd Treasurer and Receiver-General of MassachusettsIn office1925–1928GovernorAlvan T. FullerPreceded byJames JacksonSucceeded byJohn W. HaigisMember of theMassachusetts State SenateNorfolk and Suffolk District[2]In office1923[1]–1924[1]Preceded byWesley E. MonkSuccee...

Несторианство

ХристианствоБиблия Ветхий Завет Новый Завет Евангелие Десять заповедей Нагорная проповедь Апокрифы Бог, Троица Бог Отец Иисус Христос Святой Дух История христианства Апостолы Хронология христианства Раннее христианство Гностическое христианство Вселенские соборы Н...

 

Kopsis Glacier

Glacier in Antarctica Kopsis GlacierLocation of Sentinel Range in Western AntarcticaLocation of Kopsis Glacier in AntarcticaTypetributaryLocationEllsworth LandCoordinates78°03′20″S 85°16′00″W / 78.05556°S 85.26667°W / -78.05556; -85.26667Length7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi)Width2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi)ThicknessunknownTerminusEmbree GlacierStatusunknown Sentinel Range map. Kopsis Glacier (Bulgarian: ледник Копсис, r...

 

الواسط (بني قيس الطور)

  لمعانٍ أخرى، طالع الواسط (توضيح). قرية الواسط  - قرية -  تقسيم إداري البلد  اليمن المحافظة محافظة حجة المديرية مديرية بني قيس الطور العزلة عزلة ربع الشمري السكان التعداد السكاني 2004 السكان 89   • الذكور 44   • الإناث 45   • عدد الأسر 18   • عدد المساكن 1...

Kosei Line

Railway line in Japan This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Kosei Line – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Kosei LineSpecial Rapid Service train (right) and Thunderbird limited express (left) at Hira StationOverviewNative name湖�...

 

Livia Cesarini

Livia CesariniContessa consorte di Santa FioraStemma Altri titoliSignora di Genzano NascitaRoma, 21 luglio 1646 MorteGenzano di Roma, 2 febbraio 1711 Luogo di sepolturaChiesa di San Francesco DinastiaCesarini PadreGiuliano III Cesarini MadreMargherita Savelli ConsorteFederico Sforza di Santa Fiora FigliGaetanoGiangiorgioOlimpiaCornelia Livia Teresa I Cesarini, V duchessa di Civitanova, III signora di Genzano (Roma, 21 luglio 1646 – Genzano di Roma, 2 febbraio 1711), ultima dei Cesarin...

 

Scottish Register of Tartans

Scottish Register of TartansCoat of armsNon-ministerial department overviewFormedFebruary 5, 2009 (2009-02-05)HeadquartersNew Register House55°57′15″N 3°11′25″W / 55.9542°N 3.1902°W / 55.9542; -3.1902Keeper responsibleAngus RobertsonParent departmentNational Records of ScotlandWebsitetartanregister.gov.uk Scottish government department for the recording of tartans The Scottish Register of Tartans (SRT) is Scotland's official non-ministerial d...

Leo Todeschini

Leo TodeschiniNascitaZevio, 1916 MorteVerona, 27 marzo 1982 Dati militariPaese servito Italia  Repubblica Sociale Italiana Forza armataRegio Esercito ArmaFanteria SpecialitàCarristi RepartoI Battaglione, 4º Reggimento carri Anni di servizio1938-1942 GradoCapitano GuerreSeconda guerra mondiale BattaglieBattaglia delle Alpi OccidentaliOperazione Compass Decorazionivedi qui dati tratti da La Medaglia d'oro Leo Todeschini è salito nel cielo rosso-azzurro[1] voci ...

 

Tomy Yunus

Tomy YunusTomy Yunus 2018Lahir27 Juli 1986 (umur 38) Belinyu, Bangka Belitung, IndonesiaKebangsaan IndonesiaAlmamaterBina Nusantara University, IndonesiaRenmin University of China, BeijingDikenal atasPendiri dan Direktur Utama (CEO) Cakap Tomy Yunus (lahir di Belinyu, 27 Juli 1986; umur 36 tahun) adalah seorang pengusaha.[1] Tomy Yunus merupakan seorang alumni Universitas Bina Nusantara dan Universitas Renmin Cina-Beijing. Saat ini dikenal sebagai salah satu Co-Founder dan juga ...

 

酒泉市

中華人民共和国 甘粛省 酒泉市 莫高窟莫高窟 甘粛省中の酒泉市の位置甘粛省中の酒泉市の位置 簡体字 酒泉 繁体字 酒泉 拼音 Jiŭquán カタカナ転写 ジュウチュェン 国家 中華人民共和国 省 甘粛 行政級別 地級市 面積 総面積 167,996 km² 人口 総人口(2004) 91 万人 経済 電話番号 0937 郵便番号 735000 ナンバープレート 甘F 行政区画代碼 620900 公式ウェブサイト： http://www.jiuqua...

Law of cotangents

Trigonometric identity relating the sides and angles of a triangle A triangle, showing the incircle and the partitioning of the sides. The angle bisectors meet at the incenter, which is the center of the incircle. By the above reasoning, all six parts are as shown. Trigonometry Outline History Usage Functions (sin, cos, tan, inverse) Generalized trigonometry Reference Identities Exact constants Tables Unit circle Laws and theorems Sines Cosines Tangents Cotangents Pythagorean theorem Cal...

 

Ladon (river)

For the river in Elis, see Ladon (river of Elis). River in GreeceLadonLocationCountryGreecePhysical characteristicsSource  • locationPeloponnese Mouth  • locationAlfeios • coordinates37°35′35″N 21°49′13″E / 37.59306°N 21.82028°E / 37.59306; 21.82028Length70 km (43 mi)Basin featuresProgressionAlfeios→ Ionian Sea Martin Tyroff: Rivergod Ladon turns his daughter Daphne into a laure...