User Reviews

A story based on true historical facts, telling us the authentic tale of this German printer who, during eighteenth century, was accused of sedition because he claimed in his papers, on his work, that corruption spread among the politics: governors, attorney generals, all kinds of deputies. This man was a hero indeed, risking his own freedom to permit his fellow citizens to have theirs, the most precious, the freedom of speech. Maybe there were other films or documentaries made about this man. But anyway, I am highly pleased to watch this episode. And also to discover a young Eddie Albert in his early years. I also learned that this hero allowed the First Amendment to exist: Freedom of the Press.

"Studio One" was an amazing show. Each episode was a live teleplay-- like a mini-movie performed in one take on national television. Many of the shows were wonderful plays that later went on to become movie classics (such as "12 Angry Men")--and of the several dozen episodes I have seen (many are not now available), they have been uniformly excellent.

While "The Trial of John Peter Zenger" is not one of the more famous episodes in this series, it's among the best. It's about a real episode of American history--one that laid the foundations for our First Amendment and its guarantee of freedom of the press. In the mid- 1700s in Colonial America, it seems that a publisher, Zenger, printed a newspaper critical of the Royal Governor of New York. While the articles were essentially true, Zenger was jailed for eight months without a trial. When he finally was tried, he was accused of libel--though his lawyer was able to establish the concept that libel can only apply when the written words are untrue- -and the case was dismissed. In this teleplay, Eddie Albert played Zenger but the real standout was the man who played his lawyer, Mr. Hamilton (John W. Austin). Austin's performance was magnetic--and when he got wound up, you really are mesmerized by his eloquence. Well worth seeing--and very well made.