"Amahl And The Night Visitors"
This is the 1955 telecast of Gian Carlo Menotti's operetta. It's TV history, it's appropriate to the season, and it was first broadcast the year I was born - all reasons I knew I had to have a copy. I only have vague memories of it in one of its last re-broadcasts, but it could be I'm thinking of the 1963 remake (when the original was thought to be lost).This operetta was before all Christmas specials had to be animation or yet another reworking of "Christmas Carol" or "It's A Wonderful Life". It was commissioned for Television, and served as the debut production for 'Hallmark Hall of Fame'.
This was back when there was still some hope on the East Coast that TV might be more than just Murrow's prediction of "wires in a box", back in the days of 'Studio One', 'Playhouse 90', and 'Omnibus'. I doubt it could be made today; remade, maybe.....
I better get off the soapbox. I'm getting a nosebleed.......
BCnU!
Toby OB
Toby, you're absolutely right. Amahl is a remarkable piece of work, regardless of which version you see (although Menotti himself strongly disapproved of the 1963 version). I've recently written a piece about the 1951 premiere of Amahl, which is at TVParty.com.
ReplyDeleteI also couldn't agree with you more about the state of TV today. My problem isn't nosebleeds; instead, it's a headache from banging my head against the wall so often... :)
Mitchell