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TV in 1950s movies
- Thread starter dustintv
- Start date
dustintv said:
An Affair to Remember was released in 1957. The first color TVs were sold in 1954, and the first color broadcast was the Rose Parade in that year. There were 486 hours of color programming broadcast in the entire year of 1956. So it's not totally unrealistic to believe that characters in a 1957 movie were watching a color TV program.
If you're wondering if it was realistic, the question to ask is - were the characters in the movie supposed to be wealthy? The first color sets cost $1,000, or about half the cost of a new 1957 Chevy. Adjusted for inflation, that TV would cost the equivalent of $7,500 in today's dollars.
http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/20031231colortv1231p3.asp
Sidetracking just a bit...
In a post-1965 color episode of Andy Griffith where Howard Sprague tells
jokes on a local variety show out of Raleigh and ticks off the locals until
Andy bails him out, the rest of the goobers (including Goober) are seen
watching the show in Andy's living room--in color on what is obviously
not a color TV. To compound the continuity errors, in the scenes inside
the TV studio the cameras are all B&W, with lens turrets even!
In a post-1965 color episode of Andy Griffith where Howard Sprague tells
jokes on a local variety show out of Raleigh and ticks off the locals until
Andy bails him out, the rest of the goobers (including Goober) are seen
watching the show in Andy's living room--in color on what is obviously
not a color TV. To compound the continuity errors, in the scenes inside
the TV studio the cameras are all B&W, with lens turrets even!
Even though it's a movie that was filmed in 1968 ( not the 50's ) the Dustin Hoffman/Jon Voight movie "Midnight Cowboy"...those TV scenes in that movie have always fascinated me for some reason.
The scene when Jon ( Joe Buck ) is having sex with a woman only to have the woman's dog on jump on the remote to turn on the TV and the channels were just a flipping. Was that real 1968 NYC TV or just fake stuff? Some years back there was actually a debate on IMDB about that. But anyway here is what I can remember in that "TV scene"...
1. A game show called "Spaceline"...I could swear I remember seeing Bill Cullen in that clip ( though not credited on IMDB ) but he was doing "Eye Guess" at the time. "The set for "Spaceline' looked similar to that for "Eye Guess".
2. A commercial for Jolly Green Giant Cream Corn..complete with HO HO HO.
3. Some Godzilla movie. Could this had been "Ultraman"?
3. A priest saying "God is dead"...some say this was none other than Bishop Sheen..ah I doubt that very much.
Later in the movie there was another TV scene of some guy who looked way to much like Wally Cox dressing up a dog as a woman on a variety show while the audience is screaming with laughter while at the same time Jon Voight ( Joe Buck ) starts to cry..feeling sorry for the dog. For the record Wally Cox was NOT credited on IMDB either, if it was him..but that guy sure looked like him. Was this a real show or something made just for Midnight Cowboy?
I know this thread is about movies from the 50's but this movie I wonder....
The scene when Jon ( Joe Buck ) is having sex with a woman only to have the woman's dog on jump on the remote to turn on the TV and the channels were just a flipping. Was that real 1968 NYC TV or just fake stuff? Some years back there was actually a debate on IMDB about that. But anyway here is what I can remember in that "TV scene"...
1. A game show called "Spaceline"...I could swear I remember seeing Bill Cullen in that clip ( though not credited on IMDB ) but he was doing "Eye Guess" at the time. "The set for "Spaceline' looked similar to that for "Eye Guess".
2. A commercial for Jolly Green Giant Cream Corn..complete with HO HO HO.
3. Some Godzilla movie. Could this had been "Ultraman"?
3. A priest saying "God is dead"...some say this was none other than Bishop Sheen..ah I doubt that very much.
Later in the movie there was another TV scene of some guy who looked way to much like Wally Cox dressing up a dog as a woman on a variety show while the audience is screaming with laughter while at the same time Jon Voight ( Joe Buck ) starts to cry..feeling sorry for the dog. For the record Wally Cox was NOT credited on IMDB either, if it was him..but that guy sure looked like him. Was this a real show or something made just for Midnight Cowboy?
I know this thread is about movies from the 50's but this movie I wonder....
Joe Buck? Hmmm, I recall Dustin Hoffman's character name being Rizzo,
not Tim McCarver (or Troy Aikman)! <grin>
Getting back to near the ballpark on topic, it's likely many of the regular
R-I posters will remember Midnight Cowboy for the scene on the Greyhound
bus approaching New York where Buck locks in to 77/WABC on his radio,
listening to Ron Lundy. "Hello, Love!"
not Tim McCarver (or Troy Aikman)! <grin>
Getting back to near the ballpark on topic, it's likely many of the regular
R-I posters will remember Midnight Cowboy for the scene on the Greyhound
bus approaching New York where Buck locks in to 77/WABC on his radio,
listening to Ron Lundy. "Hello, Love!"
1957's A Face in the Crowd, which starred Andy Griffith as a TV personality showed not only the studio, but the network control room, and many scenes of people watching Griffith on TV.
Also from 1957, Desk Set starred Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn who worked in a network's research department, and had numerous scenes of people watching TV.
Obviously, TV had an effect on movies in more ways than one.
Also from 1957, Desk Set starred Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn who worked in a network's research department, and had numerous scenes of people watching TV.
Obviously, TV had an effect on movies in more ways than one.
Of course, "A Face In The Crowd" was centered on a
television show; Lonesome Rhodes' downfall comes
when Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) turns up the volume
so the audience can hear him put them down. That movie,
in fact, is believed to have been inspired by Arthur Godfrey,
who seemed like such a folksy guy on the air but was really
a tyrant (BTW, the anniversary of his firing Julius LaRosa comes
up this coming Monday).
television show; Lonesome Rhodes' downfall comes
when Marcia Jeffries (Patricia Neal) turns up the volume
so the audience can hear him put them down. That movie,
in fact, is believed to have been inspired by Arthur Godfrey,
who seemed like such a folksy guy on the air but was really
a tyrant (BTW, the anniversary of his firing Julius LaRosa comes
up this coming Monday).
H
Hal Erickson
Guest
Evidently Tony Randall and his kid sister have color TV in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER (1957). And apparently ALL local live shows are in color on New York television (hardly the case at the time!)
I enjoy those late 1940s-to early 1960s movies which show what TV actually looked like to viewers of the era viia "kinescope" shots--that is, filiming the TV screen while something is being telecast.
Examples that come to mind are STATE OF THE UNION (1948), WHO WAS THAT LADY? (1960), MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1962).
Then there are those scattered films like RHUBARB (1951), which "attack" a rival medium by faking technical difficulties (static, vertical roll etc.).
I enjoy those late 1940s-to early 1960s movies which show what TV actually looked like to viewers of the era viia "kinescope" shots--that is, filiming the TV screen while something is being telecast.
Examples that come to mind are STATE OF THE UNION (1948), WHO WAS THAT LADY? (1960), MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1962).
Then there are those scattered films like RHUBARB (1951), which "attack" a rival medium by faking technical difficulties (static, vertical roll etc.).
S
searadiofreak
Guest
OK, I would have to go back and check, but I believe in "The Graduate" (1967) there are some very amusing scenes of Anne Bancroft's husband watching the Newlywed Game, in color. Which isn't surprising to the story, since Bancroft and husband were quite well off. Completely trivial, but interesting nonetheless. My favorite scenes in "Graduate" happened inside the Bancroft house (certainly not in a poor neighborhood, to be sure). And this is also the locale where we see for a milli-second Anne's breasts. Quite racy for the time. You've got to freeze frame it, but by golly, it's (they're) there!
S
searadiofreak
Guest
RicoGregg said:searadiofreak said:
One word: Plastics.
Certainly not what I was referring to, but nonetheless, a great line from the movie. I will rank The Graduate in my Top5, easily. Certainly a turning-point in dramatic-comedy cinema. For those under 30, I beg you to watch this movie and understand how great screenwriting, acting, music, and directing can come together to produce a masterpiece. We need more of this today, IMHO. And if you are afraid it might be too dated, guess again.
...I'll have to dig up my videotape to check, but I strongly recall seeing a BBC-TV newscast on a set in The Quatermass Xperiment...and, since The Graduate and Midnight Cowboy have been brought up, I'll add a couple of comparable vintage: Medium Cool, about a TV news reporter during the Chicago Police Riots, and I Am Curious (Yellow), which contains part of a Sverge Radio (Swedish) television newscast...
S
searadiofreak
Guest
oldiesfan6479 said:
Absolutely! It hooked me into the movie, and I'm glad it did because it was, and is, a terrific movie. Another must-see for those under 30 who might not be aware of it.
1935's "The Phantom Empire", starring Gene Aury has an early version of television with Queen Tika using it to spy on people. I first saw this movie/serial on Boston TV
(Channel 7) back in the 50's.
(Channel 7) back in the 50's.
Aunt Bee won the family's color tv ( a round tube 21" Magnavox, I think) while on the Taylor's fab trip to Hollywood. Bee appeared on a TV quiz show and won a boatload of appliances, and the color TV. Clara Edwards was so envious Bee had to get rid of the appliances, but Andy apparantly insisted she keep the TV since it appeared in all future episodes. Notes: The Taylors were one TV family who actually did watch a good bit of TV, especially Andy on those romantic dates with Helen (and Barney and Thelma Lou). Regarding Emment appearing on a local Raleigh telecast in color, it's possible since the then only station there, WRAL, went local color about '66 I think. When Aunt Bee had her cooking show on local channel 12 (Winston-Salem?) it was done in color (Bee drove her snazzy56 Ford convertible to the studio every day). Even in the earliest b&w episodes, the TV shop next to Floyd's Barber Shop always had placards promoting color tv, so we know Mayberry was tuned into the coming color revolution.oldiesfan6479 said:
fortmill said:
You're right about TAGS featuring a lot of television. Another one was the Dick Van Dyke show. Even though DVD was set in New York state, there must've been somebody on the staff of the DVD show from Indianapolis. In the episode "Bupkis" Rob Petrie calls up a radio station whose call letters were "WIFE" while I can remember another show where Laura turns on the TV to see the Alan Brady show where the call letters "WISH" were given.
At the time of DVD, I believe WIFE was Indy's main top 40 radio station while the local CBS affiliate in Indianapolis was/and still is WISH-TV channel 8.
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