April 28th, 1957- April 18th, 1968 (with Mike Wallace) continuing till September 14th, 1958-ABC

A half-hour interview series with host Mike Wallace.
On this debut show, Mike interviews actress Gloria Swanson.

Series Premiere.  

NOTE:
   Status of The Mike Wallace Interview
A total of 72 episodes of The Mike Wallace Interview were broadcast by ABC between 1957 and 1958. The series premiered on April 28th, 1957 and was sponsored by Phillip Morris through the April 18th, 1958 episode. The Fund for the Republic then sponsored a 13-week set of interviews entitled “Liberty and Freedom” (one of which was never broadcast) followed by an additional six episodes. The final broadcast took place on September 14th, 1958.

My article about The Mike Wallace Interview can be found here.

The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin has 66 of the 72 episodes of The Mike Wallace Interview. Five are only available as audio recordings while the rest are kinescopes that have been digitized and made available for viewing online. The Ransom Center also has a transcript of the Ben Hecht interview (broadcast February 25th, 1958) but no audio or video. One of the episodes the Ransom Center does not have a copy of is the controversial Mickey Cohen broadcast from May 19th, 1957.

According to Steve Winston, Associate Curator of Film at the Ransom Center, “There are reports that the BBC still has some excerpts though we have not been able to locate the specific department that might hold them. Other than that, the interview appears to be lost.” Audio of the Cohen episode is part of Archival Television Audio, Inc. collection.

Also missing from the Ransom Center’s collection are the two retractions read by ABC’s Oliver Treyz on May 27th and December 14th. According to Winston, “We have no idea why the footage was not included in the kinescope. We don’t know if they were removed later, or if they were never recorded in the first place.” Archival Television Audio, Inc. has the May 27th retraction read by Treyz.

The UCLA Film & Television Archive has two episodes of the series: the Cyrus Eaton interview that is audio only at the Ransom Center and the Ben Hecht interview that the Ransom Center only has a transcript for. Both the Museum of Broadcasting and The Paley Center for Media have several episodes that are also part of the Ransom Center’s collection.

(According to a December 1957 article in The Los Angeles Times, a filmed “stand-by interview” with Evelyn Rudie was always ready to be used in the event a guest didn’t show up. It is not included in the episode count and its current whereabouts are unknown.)

Abbreviations:                                             

Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper looks back over the thirty years she has spent in the movie capital. Guests are Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Lucille Ball, Robert Cummings, Anthony Perkins, Don Murray, Hope Lange, John Cassavetes, Stephen Boyd, Gloria Swanson, Janet Gaynor, Francis X. Bushman, Ramon Novarro, Marion Davies, Jody McCrea, Walt Disney, William Daniels, Westmore Brothers, Anne Bauchens, King Vidor, Teddy Rooney and Bob Hope. Liza Minnelli sings a song her mother made famous, "Over the Rainbow."             

This version of Hedda Hopper's Hollywood is a complete audio air check which includes the original opening and contains all Rexall commercials. It's drawback is that this air check was recorded by open mike and not by direct line like Archival Television Audio #6: Hedda Hopper's Hollywood.  

NOTE:
If requested, for a small additional fee, a special edited version can be processed using the best elements available, combining the original opening and all Rexall commercials with the more pristine direct line audio represented in ATA#6, creating the best audible complete version of this broadcast available.                          

What's wrong with Hollywood? 

Comments on this two part series related to the star system and its pressures, the impact of television, the influx of foreign films and  independent producers vs. the big studios. 
Comments from Jack Lemmon, Gloria Swanson, Lee Remick, Stanley Kramer, Sheilah Graham and Joseph E. Levine.

Host: Howard K. Smith.                                       

September 30th, 1963-September 28th, 1964 (NBC)

Joseph Cotton hosted and narrated this documentary series about American movies. 

Host: Joseph Cotton.   
                                  

Bing Crosby who hosted opening night at the palace on Jan. 4, 1964, brings down the curtain with a large sampling of highlights from the past six years. Celebrities include Nat King Cole, Ed Wynn, Eydie Gorme, Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Martha Raye, Ray Bolger, Jimmy Durante, Mrs. Miller, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Don Adams, Marty Allen, Jack Benny, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Burns & Schreiber, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Petula Clark, Perry Como, Tim Conway, Bette Davis, Joey Forman, David 
Janssen, Van Johnson, Buster Keaton, Bert Lahr, Peter Lawford, Liberace, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Buddy Rich, Don Rickles, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Kate Smith, Gloria Swanson and Tiny Tim.   

Dupe of #1087.          

Special saluting performers and songwriters who have entertained generations of Americans, These veteran entertainers perform the songs and sketches that made them famous. 

Produced By Grey Lockwood.                                                                              

Special saluting performers and songwriters who have entertained generations of Americans, These veteran entertainers perform the songs and sketches that made them famous. 

Produced By Grey Lockwood.          




Dupe of 7219.                                                                                  

December 29th,1969-January 1st,1975 (ABC) 

Dick Cavett is back on television as ABC's new entrant in the late-night race. The format is desk and sofa five nights a week like the Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin shows. As Cavett sees it, it's the chemistry that counts. His forte:an articulate way with an interview, plus approaches to comedy that range from youthful innocence to the cynicism of WC.Fields. 

Guests: Gloria Swanson, Edmund Muskie, George Bush.