4/5 Four examples of The General Electric Theater
  by Annie Van Auken (Planet Earth)
All four half-hour dramas in Volume #1 of TV GOLDEN AGE THEATER are from season #4 of "General Electric Theater." This show aired for 10 seasons (from 2/1/53 to 9/1/62) on the CBS network and was hosted by Ronald Reagan, who also appeared occasionally as part of an episode's cast.

SYNOPSES--

FEATHERTOP-- Adapted from a Nathaniel Hawthorne tale set in 1600's New England of a scarecrow that magically comes to life.

THE GOLDEN KEY-- An elderly, retired railroader develops a friendship with a young boy. This one has an interesting supporting cast. Kenny Delmar portrayed Senator Claghorn on radio in the "Allen's Alley" segment of "The Fred Allen Show." Mel Blanc adapted Delmar's Southern accent and voice for the Foghorn Leghorn rooster cartoons produced by WARNER's. Van Dyke Parks (a small boy here) is best known for his musical collaborations in the late 1960s with Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Their "Heroes and Villains" was a Top 40 hit in 1968.

THE HONEST MAN-- A piano tuner gets caught up with fast women, gangsters and stolen jewels.

LET IT RAIN-- A ghost story set in a small Southern town that well recalls its Civil War past.


TV GOLDEN AGE THEATER, Vol. 2 features four more season #4 "General Electric Theater" episodes that star Ricardo Montalban, Joan Fontaine, Macdonald Carey and Gisele McKenzie.


Details below include episode numbers, original airdates and featured actors.

(#75) Feathertop (12/4/55) - Natalie Wood/John Carlyle/Carleton Carpenter

(#99) The Golden Key - Joe E. Brown/Kenny Delmar/Van Dyke Parks

(#86) The Honest Man (2/19/56) - Jack Benny/Charles Bronson/Zsa Zsa Gabor/Jack LaRue

(#77) Let it Rain (12/18/55) - Ronald Reagan/Cloris Leachman

3/5 fantastic blast from the past!
  by Byron Kolln (the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood)
Four classic episodes from GENERAL ELECTRIC THEATER, the long-running anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan. "General Electric Theater" ran between 1953-1962, but did not become hugely popular until Reagan took over as the host, beginning the second season in 1954. The show was alternately broadcast from New York and Hollywood, boasting a galaxy of stars from stage and screen, in adaptations of short stories and novellas, as well as original screenplays.

"Let It Rain" - Ronald Reagan and Cloris Leachman star in this tale of a writer who finds romance in a sleepy Southern town, haunted by the spirits of the Civil War.

"Feather Top" - Natalie Wood stars in a tale about a scarecrow (Carleton Carpenter) who comes magically to life. Based on the story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

"The Golden Key" - The comedian Joe E. Brown in a rare dramatic turn, as a retired railroad worker whose friendship with a young boy changes his life.

"The Honest Man" - Jack Benny, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Charles Bronson in the zany story of a piano tuner who gets mixed up in a world of shady gangsters and pilfered jewels.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:
Single-sided, single-layer disc
Keep case
Audio: 2-channel stereo (remixed mono)