Product Details

• Actors: Jack Bailey
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: First Look Pictures
• DVD Release Date: May 24, 2005
• Run Time: 210 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007UDCB2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,791 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The 50’s were the Golden Age of television’s game and quiz shows. In 1957, 5 of the top 10 programs on TV were quiz shows. Five days a week, the voice of Jack Bailey, master of ceremonies, carried across the nation via the ABC network to ten million viewers who settled in to see another Cinderella story unfold. After hearing the often heart wrenching personal misfortunes of the candidates, the live audience in the Hollywood, Moulin Rouge Theater voted for their Queen. Using an "Applause O Meter", the winner would be crowned "Queen for a Day." This is the original pop culture television classic, which coined the phrase "Queen for a Day." Between radio and TV, the show had a run of nearly 20 years. These are the only surviving seven episodes of this influential show.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this one., January 5, 2006

By 

Susan Nunes (Medford, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen for a Day (DVD)

Many critics over the years regard Queen for a Day as one of the worst television shows of all time because of what they believe was the exploitation of human misery for ratings and prizes. There is merit to that opinion. The "game" went something like this: Four (or five) women would tell host Jack Bailey what gift they would like and why. Usually the stories would be hard-luck stories, although sometimes they weren't. The woman who told the most miserable story, as measured by audience applause using an "applause meter," won and would be crowned "Queen for a Day" by Bailey, and would actually sit on a throne to the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance." The woman not only got what she wished, but she also received literally hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of prizes.

And actually the show was little more than one long 30-minute or 45-minute commercial, but it was profitable for ABC. And while the show might have been shameless exploitation, people like me (who saw it as a child) loved it.

What is sad in retrospect is that like so many live programs, very little footage remains of this legendary show. According to the box of this DVD, just seven complete episodes survive. While the show can be viewed today as high camp, it is also an interesting look at what consumer culture was like in the 1950s-1960s.

The transfer is good for these discs, and most of the surviving episodes appear to be from the early 1960s when I saw it. I enjoyed these shows immensely, and they brought back a lot of memories. The original commercials are also a nice touch.

Don't miss a chance to see this show.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TV Queens, August 30, 2005

By 

E. Freedman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen for a Day (DVD)

This 3-disc set includes: "The only surviving 7 episodes... transferred from their original Kinescope elements... [and] also includes additional rare rescued footage from 5 other episodes." Since product placement is built into the structure of this program, ads are intact as well. And this is a very good transfer (in terms of both image and audio). For scholars and fans who have been looking for this classic television show, which went on the air in the mid-50s, this is a nice addition to the limited amount of golden age TV available on DVD. The material is indeed spread across 3 discs, which seems like an excessive amount of discs for an estimated 210 program minutes (plus bonus footage); but this seems a minor point.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't Believe It!, December 8, 2006

By 

B. Babb "kites0852" (Virginia Beach, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Queen for a Day (DVD)

I hope the things I have read are true! I have ordered this. My mother was pregnant with me when she appeared on this show (and won)! I have tried forever to find episodes of this in hopes I could find the one episode (in the early 60s) she appeared in to present to her. She still has a watch from this show with diamonds and the photo given of her crowning signed by Jack Bailey.