Customer Reviews

The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Vol. 1

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Originally named "The Barbara Stanwyck Theatre", this anthology series starring the four-time Best Actress Oscar nominee made its debut on September 19, 1960, on the NBC television network. Renamed "The Barbara Stanwyck Show", the series ran for only one season, despite the fact that its host and star received the Emmy Award as Outstanding Actress in a Television Series (Lead). A total of 36 episodes aired, but the show never went into syndication following its initial run; thus, it has been virtually unseen by the general public for almost half a century.

This eagerly anticipated DVD collection includes 15 of the series' first 22 half-hour episodes, plus the never televised pilot episode. Missing are the first four episodes: "The Mink Coat", "Good Citizen", "Discreet Deception", and "The Seventh Miracle"; episode 10, "We Are the Women Who Wait"; episode 12, "No One"; and episode 13, "The Cornerstone".

The search to locate, preserve and restore the long lost gems offered in this collection has taken years of hard work and dedication on the part of the copyright owner and a handful of determined archivists, assisted by loyal fans of the supremely talented Miss Stanwyck. Their efforts are especially appreciated by happy viewers like me, who have waited decades for the chance to see one of their favorite actresses in her first, acclaimed weekly television series.

EPISODES INCLUDED:

"The Key to a Killer" (originally aired 10.31.1960). Stella King's (Stanwyck) husband is a sheriff and she's his deputy. So when he falls ill, she's left in full charge of killer Leroy Benson (Vic Morrow).

"House in Order" (11.07.1960). Dr. Steele tells Elizabeth Mowry (Stanwyck) she needs heart surgery immediately. Elizabeth suddenly realizes that she may only have a few hours left to regain the love of her husband (Shepperd Strudwick) and daughter (Yvonne Craig).

"The Miraculous Journey of Tadpole Chan" (11.14.1960). In China, Josephine Little (Stanwyck) is bickering with Mr. Dobson (Ralph Bellamy) of the American consulate about some silk dresses she wants to ship to New York. This was the first of three episodes in which Stanwyck played Josephine Little.

"The Secret of Mrs. Randall" (11.21.1960). Liz Randall (Stanwyck) has been the president of an oil-drilling company since the death of her husband. She arranges for the parole of Roy Turner (Bruce Gordon), who was jailed for stealing the company payroll.

"Ironback's Bride" (11.28.1960). Ella (Stanwyck) doesn't want her son to grow up like his father - shiftless outlaw Charlie Cahill (Gerald Mohr). So she gets a divorce and becomes the mail-order bride of a wealthy man (Charles Bickford).

"Out of the Shadows" (12.19.1960). Mental patient Victor Brackett's (William Stephens) case is coming up for review. But after interviewing Brackett, Dr. Susan Bryce (Stanwyck) decides that he's not ready to be released.

"Night Visitors" (01.09.1961). Estranged from her wealthy husband, Marian Andrews (Stanwyck) plans a trip to Europe. Julie London and Michael Ansara guest star.

"Size Ten" (01.16.1961). Designer Maggie Wenley (Stanwyck), relentlessly dedicated to her business, feels that her staff is completely loyal. It's a shock to find that one of her secret sketches is missing. Robert Paige and Robert Strauss guest star.

"Dear Charlie" (01.23.1961). Tessie and Elvie (Lurene Tuttle and Katherine Squire) are a couple of lonely old maids who decide they need someone around the house to care for. They put an ad in the paper for a male boarder (Milton Berle). Stanwyck hosts this episode, which was an unsold pilot for a proposed new series for Berle.

"Dragon by The Tail" (01.31.1961). Stanwyck returns as Josephine Little, an American importer caught up in intrigue in Hong Kong. Anna May Wong guest stars.

"The Sisters" (02.06.1961). Janet Jones (Stanwyck) indulges in a bit of shoplifting in Julius Ulrich's (Michael Rennie) jewelry store ... but it's all part of a plan. Janet wants to meet Julius, the former husband of her sister Kate (Ellen Drew).

"Big Career" (02.13.1961). Harriet Melvane (Stanwyck) pursues a new career against her husband's wishes. Gene Raymond, Elizabeth Patterson, Frank Overton and Amanda Randolph costar.

"Confession" (02.20.1961). Unhappy in her marriage to Morgan Manning (Kenneth MacKenna), Paula (Stanwyck) seeks legal advice. Jud Hollister (Lee Marvin), her lawyer, believes a divorce may be difficult to obtain, and suggests an alternate plan.

"Along the Barbary Coast" (02.27.1961). Stanwyck stars as Trixie Callahan, a con artist who falls in with bad company. Richard Eastham and Jerome Thor costar.

"Shock" (03.06.1961). Rachel Harrison (Stanwyck) has just made a discovery vital to the national defense. Before she can transmit the information, she gets news of her daughter's death, and enters a state of shock. Eduard Franz, Mike Deene, Ross Elliott, and Donald Buka costar.

DVD BONUS FEATURES:

1. The never aired pilot episode, "Sponsor's Table"
2. Stanwyck's 1961 Emmy Acceptance Speech
3. Booklet including contributions by film historian and TCM host Robert Osborne

For fans of Barbara Stanwyck, this 3 disc DVD set is like finding a vein of pure gold in a mine of lost treasures. Included are 16 episodes of the BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW which aired during the 1960-1961 television season, plus an unaired pilot. Although the series lasted only a single season, it earned Stanwyck the 1961 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series". After viewing these DVDs, it's easy to see why she won.

Stanwyck stars in 16 of the 17 episodes. The exception is one in which a sleezy Milton Berle plays Romeo to two old maid sisters, scheming to become the heir in both their wills. The shows starring Stanwyck fit nicely with the roles she played on the big screen. In the majority of them, she plays powerful, sucessful women - female executives, wealthy wives, a psychiatrist, even an atomic physicist. In several, her career causes problems with her family life. She was certainly not afraid to play unsympathetic characters. Her only repeated role is that of Hong Kong importer-exporter Josephine Little in two of these episodes.

Two of the programs are westerns. In the first, she is Charles Bickford's mail-order bride. The marriage gets complicated when her first husband in the form of Gerald Mohr shows up. In the second, Barbara is the wife of the town marshall. She has to nurse her sick child and protect her home against a man who has come to town to kill her husband.

The brightest gems of the collection are the ones closest to film noir. Disc 1 opens with her playing the wife of a deputy sheriff. She is handcuffed to punk killer Vic Morrow trying to get him to the nearest town and into jail. Will the punk escape? Will she get him into the slammer? Will she make him cry "mama"? In the terrific episode "Night Visitor", saucy Julie London invades Stanwyck's home and with the help of her boyfriend Michael Ansara, who is also Barbara's butler, takes her hostage in an effort to force her to open her safe and hand over the stacks of cash inside. Delicious! "Confessions" is a TV cousin to DOUBLE INDEMNITY. When Barbara walks through his door, third rate lawyer Lee Marvin sees his big chance to get the girl, frame her husband for murder, and end up with a bundle of money. It's "straight down the line" one more time, with deadly results, of course.

All the programs are crisply written and directed. In her introductions, Stanwyck makes a point of mentioning who wrote and directed each episode. This collection is also a reminder of how much television lost with the disappearance of the half-hour dramatic anthology series. This collection is solid gold.

The great Barbara Stanwyck, on nearly everyone's list of the five best film actresses of alltime, starred in this long-unseen one-season anthology series for NBC in 1960-61, which was a critic's darling but apparently did not pull in high enough ratings for the network to renew it for a second season. Stanwyck would go on to win the Emmy award for "Best Actress in a Dramatic Series" at the end of the season and the show quietly slipped away into TV history after that although for decades it has been the subject of much lament by Stanwyck buffs at the frustration at not having the chance to see the acclaimed program. Now almost 50 years after it's initial run, THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW has at last been unearthed! Sadly, a number of episodes are to date not known to survive (most alarming is the fact that this set has only 15 of the 36 episodes produced although the accompanying booklet says a "volume two" set is in the works, it seems apparent that at this point most of the remaining episodes have yet to be found.) Several of the episodes here are in less than pristine shape, with a few scenes with film scratches or imperfect picture quality but one suspects in many cases the producers of this set were working with mostly 16mm film prints and most likely single copies of most of them. The print quality generally is very good to excellent however and let's just be grateful we have these considering the unknown status of most of the other episodes.

Barbara Stanwyck proves again and again in these episodes she well deserved that Emmy. These little 25-minute dramas may have to use economy to tell their stories (the endings are often a bit rushed) but most of the episodes are highly satisfying. Stanwyck's roles run the gamut to fashion tycoon to brillant physicist to upperclass housewife and, as in her film roles, Stanwyck is always believable and natural. She also has a number of excellent costars including Ralph Bellamy, Charles Bickford, Gene Raymond, Ellen Drew, Elizabeth Patterson, and Lee Marvin. There's also the excellent character actress Doris Packer, a very familiar face on television during this era, giving Babs a run for her money as her domineering mother-in-law in THE SECRET OF MRS. RANDALL, my favorite episode of the lot. There are lots of other notable supporting players although it is disappointing the Anna May Wong who appears in one episode is not the famous star of the 1930's but another actress who used the same name.

Barbara Stanwyck a few years later did enjoy a big tv success with the western THE BIG VALLEY which won her a second Emmy and ran for four years. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW was the highlight of Stanwyck's small screen career and I can't wait for "volume two".

Barbara Stanwyck was a class act unto herself. She could be great at comedy, drama, and melodrama as she proved time and again over her long film and T.V. Career. But here in this DVD of her first Television series from 1961 she shines like a rare star sapphire.
I won't go into a list of the shows or who the quest stars are since my fellow reviewers have covered that aspect all too well. What I will tell you about this wonderful surprise from Miss Stanwyck and company is that each half hour show is superbly mounted as if it were a feature film. Great lighting, direction, acting, music, story, the entire resources of Desilu where thrown at the show and with great results. These treasures are mini movies that pack a wallop as few other shows of the period did. Some are ahead of their time in fact. That they could pack so much story and drama into each 24 minute episode just leaves me astounded. A short story can be just as compelling here as a 90 minute feature.
A brilliant and fun collection that you can revisit again and again and well worth spending the bucks on.

I bought this show thinking it would be mediocre. However, boy was I surprised. Barbara Stanwyck, one of the most underrated actresses in Hollywood, gives a superb performance in every episode. From a jailer's wife, snotty wife, victimized hostage, scientist, saloon owner, and etc, Barbara gives all of her best performances in these rare 14 performances. There is only one show, which doesn't feature her. It features Milton Berle. It is funny but doesn't compare to Stanwyck's performances. This is a dvd collection, which you will want to save and rewatch again. From watching this dvd collection, I want to buy more Barbara Stanwyck movies and her most famous show, The Big Valley. Also, I hope the researchers are successful in finding all the remaining lost episodes of the only season of the Barbara Stanwyck Show. So, as fans, we can watch Volume 2 of this collection. This is worth your money. Enjoy.

P.S. Barbara with her tiny waist and few wrinkles makes today's women over 50 with their plastic surgery and liposuction, pathetic.

A fan of Stanwyck since I was a child and saw the Big Valley then grew up to see her classic films including Double Indemnity, Stella Dallas, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers--this show is suprisingly contemporary with excellent scripts, surprising guest stars and Stanwyck's emotional range on vivid display.

And I have to say whoever did her wardrobe surely deserved accolades as well, the gowns are magnificent at the beginning of the show and her wardrobe for the "Little Jo" episodes is distractingly sexy.

I am quite shocked yet grateful this compilation of stanwyck's tv show
from the 50's is being brought to dvd. I commend the producers for this since where i live it is not being broadcast on tv and i dont remember it being on vhs...this series was highly regarded and reviewed well from what i read about it and i'm a big fan of stanwyck's.Can't wait!

anthony m

toronto

I have always been a fan of Miss Stanwyck, but did not realize that she had a TV show. On the order of the Loretta Young Show, this weekly series has a different teleplay each time and one is more interesting than the next...

I am enjoying this first set so much that I was almost late for work today as I got so involved in the episode I was watching! Miss Stanwyck is as lovely as ever at the age of 53.
This is a must for any fan of the wonderful actress!

E1 Entertainment (formerly Koch Home Video) partnered last year with the Archive of American Television to release some extremely rare television shows from their archives on home video. Nearly all of these shows have not been seen by the public since they were broadcast over 50 years ago! Thanks to both early videotape and Kinescopes (live TV broadcasts preserved on film) we are able to re-live what were originally one-time performances. This DVD is one such event.

The Barbara Stanwyck Show was one of many "anthology" shows (Four Star Playhouse and The Loretta Young Show were others) that featured original half-hour stories (comedy, drama, suspense) usually (but not always) starring the shows' host. Because there were less commercials then the actually story ran about 27-minutes.

This DVD collection (marked Volume 1 - so we may get more I hope) contains 15 episodes (including the pilot). Each has been listed by an earlier reviewer so I won't repeat them here. Stanwyck did not appear in EVER show and it is comedian Milton Berle who helms the black comedy "Dear Charlie" - which would have been a perfect episode on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. These shows were shot on film before airing and the prints are superb.

I remember watching a few of these when originally aired and even remember one of the episodes. What id didn't remember was how many times Stanwyck plays a liberated and strong female role as the owner of a business. There are at least three here in which she takes on that role, long before "women's liberation". One episode in particular - "Daragon By The Tail" - has lost much of its relevance because of the end to the cold war and the threat of Chinese Communism. But that's a minor gripe.

With excellent packaging and high production values, this set will allow younger generations to understand the high quality of American TV before "reality TV" and the need to pay for HBO to see quality scripts and quality acting on TV.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

What a classy program with a classy lady. All the episodes were short and to the point. I don't think there is one episode that I didn't like.