Cosmopolitan Theatre is an American anthology series which aired on the DuMont Television Network from October 2, 1951, to December 25, 1951.[1]
| Cosmopolitan Theatre | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Anthology |
| Directed by | David Pressman Louis G. Cowan David Crandall Albert McCleery |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Louis G. Cowan Sherman Marks Albert McCleery |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | DuMont Television Network Louis G. Cowan Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | DuMont |
| Release | October 2 – December 25, 1951 |
Synopsis
editThe series consisted of live presentations of stories written for Cosmopolitan magazine, and was one of many TV series airing "tele-plays" at the time.[2]
Episode status
editThe program was broadcast live. If any episodes exist, they would be in the form of kinescope recordings.[3]
Episodes
edit| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate | Guest star(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "The Secret Front" | October 2, 1951 | Marsha Hunt, Kurt Katch, and Lee Tracy[4] |
| 1-2 | "Be Just and Fear Not" | October 9, 1951 | Joseph Schildkraut and June Walker[5] |
| 1-3 | "Incident in the Blizzard" | October 16, 1951 | Betty Field and E. G. Marshall |
| 1-4 | "Reward, One Million" | October 23, 1951 | Dennis Hoey and Beatrice Straight |
| 1-5 | "Mr. Pratt and the Triple Horror Bill " | October 30, 1951 | Constance Dowling and Tom Ewell |
| 1-6 | "Last Concerto" | November 6, 1951 | Lon Chaney Jr., Susan Douglas, and Ruth McDevitt |
| 1-7 | "I'll Be Right Home, Ma" | November 13, 1951 | Charles Nolte |
| 1-8 | "The Tourist" | November 20, 1951 | Peggy Allenby, John Boruff, and John Hoyt |
| 1-9 | "Time to Kill" | November 27, 1951 | John Forsythe, Phyllis Love, and Torin Thatcher |
| 1-10 | "The Beautiful Time" | December 4, 1951 | Joseph Buloff and Lili Darvas |
| 1-11 | "Mr. Whittle and the Morning Star" | December 11, 1951 | Peggy Conklin and Bramwell Fletcher |
| 1-12 | "The Sighing Sounds" | December 18, 1951 | Bethel Leslie and Gordon Mills |
| 1-13 | "One Red Rose for Christmas" | December 25, 1951 | Jo Van Fleet |
Production
editLouis G. Cowan packaged Cosmopolitan Theatre; Sherman Marks was the producer and director.[6] Writers of episodes included Richard Macauley[4] and David Shaw.[5]
The show replaced Cavalcade of Bands[6] from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays.[2] It originated from WABD and was carried live to 14 stations with 10 more showing it via kinescope.[6]
Critical response
editIn December 1951, critic John Crosby called Cosmopolitan Theatre "the Dumont network's most elaborate entry into the dramatic field".[7] He noted that restricting the show's content to stories from the magazine "places a rather severe limit not only on the range of material but also on the type of material open to this program."[7] He noted that the two forms of media differed greatly in the ways they affected audiences and ended the review with the comment, "TV has conditioned us to accept a much harder degree of reality than most slick fiction has ever attempted."[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 182. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- ^ a b Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ Spigel, Lynn; Mann, Denise (1992). Private Screenings: Television and the Female Consumer. U of Minnesota Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-8166-2053-1. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ a b "Tuesday, October 2". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. September 29, 1951. p. 9. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ a b "Tuesday, October 9". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. October 5, 1951. p. 8. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c "This Week -- Network Debuts, Highlights, Changes". Ross Reports on Television including The Television Index. September 30, 1951. p. 2. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c Crosby, John (December 18, 1951). "Newspapers, Not Slicks, Best TV Material Source". Tampa Bay Times. p. 22. Retrieved June 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Bibliography
edit- David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-59213-245-6