Studio One: The Defender (1950) Review

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(More customer reviews)Studio One made a name for itself doing teleplays for television. These plays were preformed like stage shows for the camera. Most were shot on video live. In the late 1970's CBS destroyed most of these viseo tapes.
The Defenders video tape survived. I know how nor why. If you are a Star Trek Fan, this 1957 tele-play has the acting talents of William Shatner, long before he donned the Star Fleet uniform of James T Kirk and beamed aboard the Starship Enterprise. He plays the son of a father and son legal team. You see, even before he was Denny Crane of TV's Boston Legal, he was a lawyer
This teleplay also starred Ralph Bellamy (as Shatner's Legal eagle father), Steve McQueen (before he was in TV's Wanted: Dead or Alive and the movies The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape) and Martin Balsam.
This was the age of Live TV. However, You could not find a flub in these two episodes of live TV. Nor could you find a bad preformance in these shows
If you are fan of TV history, The Defenders became a regular TV series in the 1960's. Bellamy's father role was played by E.G. Marshall & Shatner by Robert Reed (TV Brady Bunch).
If you are a fan of old TV, a good collection to showcase classic Television
Bennet Pomerantz, AUDIOWORLD

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Police TV - 29 Episodes (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Following in the footsteps of St. Clair Vision's 3-DVD set titled "Western TV," comes another 3-disc set "Police TV," comprised of episodes of mostly 1950s crime shows. This is a really nice collection of some easy to find, as well as some rare police shows. Audio/visual quality is about average with the Peter Gunn episodes above average for these type of public domain releases. Here's the breakdown:
Disc 1
Dragnet - 8 episodes; Dragnet has been done to death on DVD, but this collection includes several episodes that have been harder to find on DVD.
Dick Tracy - 2 episodes; a very tough find on DVD, one of the episodes, "BB Eyes," is making its debut on DVD.
Disc 2
Peter Gunn - 2 episodes; same two episodes that have appeared on other collections from Platinum and Diamond, but these are better looking than the other two.
The Man Behind the Badge - 8 episodes; as far as I know, this may be making its DVD debut on this collection and, as such, is the rarity on this set, along with Dick Tracy.
Disc 3
Burke's Law - 1 episode; the only hour long episode and the only show from the 1960s on this set; this same episode "Who Killed Jason Shaw?" has circulated on other PD collections.
Racket Squad - 8 episodes; there have been a few releases of this show and there is some duplication here from other discs, but still a harder-than-usual show to find on DVD.
The comparatively low price of this DVD set combined with a few genuinely rare television series make this a worthwhile addition for those who enjoy classic crime dramas on the small screen.


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Primetime Television "CLASSIC SUSPENSE" Review

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(More customer reviews)DIGIVIEW's slimline cased DVDs feature unrestored public domain films and TV shows that have no subtitles or extras. Audio levels are some of the highest you'll find, which makes these ideal for laptop PC or portable disc player watching.
In their CLASSIC SUSPENSE volume, we get nine examples of 1950s TV series, from the famous ("Dragnet") to the obscure ("Lights Out"). Some don't have their original theme songs (several drops-ins for "Dragnet" are particularly egregious). Mixed here with crime dramas is a kid's show ("Captain Gallant"), a sitcom ("My Hero") and an occult program ("One Step Beyond"). Some episodes are incorrectly IDed by DIGIVIEW; this is corrected below.
PROGRAM--
Video quality is indicated by a 1 to 10 parenthetical number.
[8] THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Case of the Texas Cowgirl (11/8/54) - Ronald Howard/H. Marion Crawford/Archie Duncan/Lucille Vines (dubbed music)
[6] DRAGNET: The Big Crime (9/9/54) - Jack Webb/Ben Alexander/Virginia Christine/Paul Richards (dubbed music)
[3] GANG BUSTERS: The O'Dell-Griffin Case (1/1/52) - House Peters Jr./Jack Edwards/Hal Taggart/Phillips H. Lord (narrator) (blurry image; overmodulated sound)
[6] MY HERO: Beauty and the Beast (3/14/53) - Bob Cummings/Julie Bishop/John Litel
[5] LOCK UP: Music to Murder By (11/28/59) - Macdonald Carey/John Doucette/James Griffith/Harry Dean Stanton
[5] DECOY: Shadow of Van Gogh (12/12/58) - Beverly Garland/Raymond Reinhardt/Curt Conway/Eleanor Phelps
[4] LIGHTS OUT: Curtain Call (2/12/54) - Otto Kruger/Alan Bunce/Elinor Randel/Frank Gallop (narrator)
[4] CAPTAIN GALLANT OF THE FOREIGN LEGION: Stolen Treasure (5/29/55) - Buster Crabbe/Fuzzy Knight/Cullen Crabbe (audio distorts)
[6] ONE STEP BEYOND: The Vision (3/24/59) - Bruce Gordon/Pernell Roberts/John Newland (narrator)

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PRIMETIME TELEVISION: Classic Suspense - 9 Classic Episodes Review

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(More customer reviews)DIGIVIEW's slimline cased DVDs feature unrestored public domain films and TV shows that have no subtitles or extras. Audio levels are some of the highest you'll find, which makes these ideal for laptop PC or portable disc player watching.
In their CLASSIC SUSPENSE volume, we get nine examples of 1950s TV series, from the famous ("Dragnet") to the obscure ("Lights Out"). Some don't have their original theme songs (several drops-ins for "Dragnet" are particularly egregious). Mixed here with crime dramas is a kid's show ("Captain Gallant"), a sitcom ("My Hero") and an occult program ("One Step Beyond"). Some episodes are incorrectly IDed by DIGIVIEW; this is fixed below.
PROGRAM--
Video quality is indicated by a 1 to 10 parenthetical number.
[8] THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Case of the Texas Cowgirl (11/8/54) - Ronald Howard/H. Marion Crawford/Archie Duncan/Lucille Vines (dubbed music)
[6] DRAGNET: The Big Crime (9/9/54) - Jack Webb/Ben Alexander/Virginia Christine/Paul Richards (dubbed music)
[3] GANG BUSTERS: The O'Dell-Griffin Case (1/1/52) - House Peters Jr./Jack Edwards/Hal Taggart/Phillips H. Lord (narrator) (blurry image; overmodulated sound)
[6] MY HERO: Beauty and the Beast (3/14/53) - Bob Cummings/Julie Bishop/John Litel
[5] LOCK UP: Music to Murder By (11/28/59) - Macdonald Carey/John Doucette/James Griffith/Harry Dean Stanton
[5] DECOY: Shadow of Van Gogh (12/12/58) - Beverly Garland/Raymond Reinhardt/Curt Conway/Eleanor Phelps
[4] LIGHTS OUT: Curtain Call (2/12/54) - Otto Kruger/Alan Bunce/Elinor Randel/Frank Gallop (narrator)
[4] CAPTAIN GALLANT OF THE FOREIGN LEGION: Stolen Treasure (5/29/55) - Buster Crabbe/Fuzzy Knight/Cullen Crabbe (audio distorts)
[6] ONE STEP BEYOND: The Vision (3/24/59) - Bruce Gordon/Pernell Roberts/John Newland (narrator)

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TV Favorites 150 Episodes Review

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(More customer reviews)All of the programs contained on MILL CREEK's TV FAVORITES - 150 Episodes are in the public domain. This double side-recorded 13 DVD set is a fine sampling of many genres of primetime programming that were available in the 1950s and '60s. Included are dramas, adventure series, sitcoms, westerns and police/detective shows.
(Please note that with recent releases, this manufacturer intermittently superimposes a company logo on screen.)
Fans of early television will also want to check out MILL CREEK's BEST OF TV DETECTIVES and WESTERN TV CLASSICS. Both of these are 150 episode collections.
PROGRAM LIST:
(1954-55) The Adventures of Long John Silver - Robert Newton
(1952-66) The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - Ozzie & Harriet Nelson
(1954-59) The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin - Tommy Farrell
(1955-58) The Adventures of Robin Hood - Richard Greene
(1960-68) The Andy Griffith Show - Andy Griffith
(1962-71) The Beverly Hillbillies - Buddy Ebsen
(1955-59) The Bob Cummings Show - Bob Cummings
(1959-73) Bonanza - Lorne Greene
(1951-53) Boston Blackie - Kent Taylor
(1956-57) The Buccaneers - Robert Shaw
(1952-53) Dangerous Assignment - Brian Donlevy
(1950-53) Dick Tracy - Ralph Byrd
(1951-59) Dragnet - Jack Webb
(1954-55) Flash Gordon - Steve Holland
(1952-56) Four Star Playhouse - Powell/Niven/Boyer/Lupino
(1950-58) The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show - George Burns/Gracie Allen
(1950-65) The Jack Benny Program - Jack Benny
(1959-61) The Lawless Years - James Gregory
(1953-55) Life With Elizabeth - Betty White
(1949-57) The Lone Ranger - Clayton Moore
(1962-68) The Lucy Show - Lucille Ball
(1952-54) Mr. and Mrs. North - Richard Denning/Barbara Britton
(1959-61) One Step Beyond - John Newland (host)
(1954-55) The Public Defender - Reed Hadley
(1951-53) Racket Squad - Reed Hadley
(1951-71) The Red Skelton Show - Red Skelton
(1957-60) Richard Diamond, Private Detective - David Janssen
(1954-55) Sherlock Holmes - Ronald Howard
(1950-55) Trouble With Father - Stu Erwin
(1950-61) You Bet Your Life - Groucho Marx

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