Television V: "Hallmark Hall of Fame"

Looking back, I'm always impressed with how much of his work my father shared with me. Over the years we lived in Linden, he would take me with him into the city just about any time my school schedule would permit (and occasionally even when it didn't). And one of my favorites was spending entire Sundays with him when, in about 1955, he became Associate Producer of "Hallmark Hall of Fame".

What had begun in 1952 as a series of half-hour dramas had grown into ninety-minute productions broadcast live on Sunday nights. Produced at the NBC 'color' studios at 14th Street and Avenue M in Brooklyn (color was still a novelty in which only a few programs were broadcast and few people could receive), "Hallmark" boasted the most elaborate productions yet seen on television. Produced by George Schaefer in association with actor-director Maurice Evans, their greatest success was with serious dramas, adaptations of classics and historical plays.

My father and I would leave early Sunday mornings, take the Staten Island Ferry across New York Harbor (the Verrazano "Narrows" Bridge had not yet been built) to Brooklyn and I would spend the day observing the preparations and mounting tension of rehearsals leading up to the live broadcast. There were two studios that opened up to become the biggest television studio I'd ever (or have ever) seen, considerably larger than Studio 8-H in Manhattan. If "Kraft" was big, "Hallmark" was bigger *.

Among the most memorable "Hallmark" productions were "The Green Pastures" with William Warfield, Maxwell Anderson's "Winterset" with George C. Scott and Piper Laurie, "The Lark" with Julie Harris and Boris Karloff, "Born Yesterday" with Mary Martin and Paul Douglas and James Costigan's original drama "Little Moon of Alban" with Christopher Plummer and Julie Harris.

Often**, I was allowed to sit in the back of the control room, watching directors 'prep' the show, seeing how cameras were positioned and shots rehearsed, how all the elements of audio and video were merged into a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Given how relatively primitive the technology was, the overall effect depended entirely on creativity and imagination, truly a 'magic lantern show'.

Of the many things that impressed me about "Hallmark", the sets were especially amazing. They were not only full-scale but 'practical', meaning not only did everything work, the sets had a front and rear so that the audience would never see the back of a flat if a cameraman accidentally shot off-set.

I remember one set in particular, a castle built for Shakespeare's "Richard II", starring Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson, complete with battlements, watchtowers, a dungeon and even a working drawbridge over a moat. Unlike my earlier experiences with television production, these sets were complete down to the smallest detail and absolutely exquisite. For me, it always seemed tragic that after the production was over they would wheel them outside and burn them.



* Years later, that enormous stage was often under utilized on lesser-scale productions. One that stands out was "The Perry Como Show", which seemed lost in that massive space. Another was "The Sammy Davis Jr. Show", but it gave me the opportunity in 1964 to meet Sammy's guest-host when he became ill, Sean Connery.

** But sometimes, when things were not going well or there was a director who didn't like some kid in his control room, I would be sent to a nearby movie theater. It was there I saw my first grown-up movie, "From Here To Eternity".