High Tor
- Episode aired Mar 10, 1956
- 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
29
YOUR RATING
A musical version of Maxwell Anderson's never-filmed fantasy play.A musical version of Maxwell Anderson's never-filmed fantasy play.A musical version of Maxwell Anderson's never-filmed fantasy play.
Richard Keene
- 2nd Sailor
- (as Dick Keene)
Bobby Jordan
- 3rd Sailor
- (as Bob Jordan)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPlaywright Maxwell Anderson first considered a musical adaptation of "High Tor" for television in 1949. In mid-1954 CBS Chairman William Paley approached Anderson about producing the play for his newly planned live-action, 90-minute anthology series, Ford Star Jubilee (1955). Anderson and writer John Monks Jr. decided to adapt the play as a musical fantasy, with music composed by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Anderson, and starring Bing Crosby. Crosby was not comfortable with doing live television--especially 90 minutes of it nonstop--and insisted that the production be filmed. His production office was on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, and he did not want to use the CBS studio in Hollywood nor the New York studio for the shooting. Desilu Studios--formerly the RKO Pictures lot--was across the street from the Paramount lot, and an agreement was reached to shoot the production there. CBS wanted to shoot it on videotape, as it normally did with live shows, but Crosby didn't want that. He reached a deal with CBS that would result in his covering the additional expense of shooting the production on film, and any associated costs. In the end the show's budget reached $450,000, making it the most expensive TV production up to that time (Crosby himself was reported to have been paid $375,000). Shot in November of 1955 by cinematographer Lester Shorr and directors James Neilson and Franklin J. Schaffner--all of whom had previously worked on both live and filmed shows--it was broadcast on March 10, 1956, to lukewarm reviews. The show's score was released that year on Decca Records.
- Quotes
Judith: But you only worked three weeks out of the year.
Van Van Dorn: That's all I need.
Judith: The rest of the time you hunt, of fish, or swim or sleep, or heaven knows what.
Van Van Dorn: Ain't it the truth?
- ConnectionsRemake of The Philco Television Playhouse: High Tor (1950)
Featured review
Charming songs, unusual story and a fresh Julie Andrews
First, to correct some errors in the prior reviews, this production was not broadcast live but shot on film and edited as any film would be. It was rehearsed and filmed in 1955 before Julie Andrews, then 20, went into rehearsal for the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady, which opened just five days after High Tor was broadcast.
There had been some talk along the way of releasing High Tor theatrically instead, but this would surely have been a mistake, as the look of the production is very drab, and projecting it on a movie screen (which is how I myself saw it) only draws attention to the inadequate budget. It is about as cinematic as an episode of The Andy Griffith Show.
The strong points of this musical version of High Tor include an excellent score (including the rather "September Song"-like "When You're in Love") and the first film appearance of Ms. Andrews, whose charm and voice more than make up for her slightly stiff and conventional approach to her acting. By her own account and the accounts of others, she would grow greatly as an actress immediately after High Tor, under the guidance of My Fair Lady's director Moss Hart. Even so, audiences used to actress/singers such as Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson must have been dazzled by Andrews' freshness.
The story's combination of mysticism, environmentalism, romance and slapstick (courtesy of comic villain Hans Conried) is slightly indigestible but unusual enough to be engaging for ninety minutes.
I recuse myself from commenting on Mr. Crosby, since his appeal has always eluded me.
There had been some talk along the way of releasing High Tor theatrically instead, but this would surely have been a mistake, as the look of the production is very drab, and projecting it on a movie screen (which is how I myself saw it) only draws attention to the inadequate budget. It is about as cinematic as an episode of The Andy Griffith Show.
The strong points of this musical version of High Tor include an excellent score (including the rather "September Song"-like "When You're in Love") and the first film appearance of Ms. Andrews, whose charm and voice more than make up for her slightly stiff and conventional approach to her acting. By her own account and the accounts of others, she would grow greatly as an actress immediately after High Tor, under the guidance of My Fair Lady's director Moss Hart. Even so, audiences used to actress/singers such as Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson must have been dazzled by Andrews' freshness.
The story's combination of mysticism, environmentalism, romance and slapstick (courtesy of comic villain Hans Conried) is slightly indigestible but unusual enough to be engaging for ninety minutes.
I recuse myself from commenting on Mr. Crosby, since his appeal has always eluded me.
helpful•41
- DryToast
- Oct 4, 2011
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