TOAST OF THE TOWN: THE COLE PORTER STORY, PT. 1 OF
2 {COLE PORTER, DOLORES GRAY, WILLIAM GAXTON, MIMI
BENZELL, LISA KIRK} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of variety programs presided over by
Ed Sullivan. Part one of this two-part tribute to
Broadway composer/lyricist Cole Porter. Sullivan opens
the salute with a list of other notables who came from
the state of Indiana, besides Porter, a native of Peru,
Indiana. Sullivan insists that "nothing ever quelled
the song in Cole Porter's heart," including a dry spell
of nine years without a hit after his first success; the
thirty-three operations he has endured; and the negative
reviews of his first Broadway show, "See America First"
which caused him to enlist in the French Foreign Legion.
In the same theater where "See America First" opened in
1916, Sullivan recounts the details of Porter's personal
life and career as an all-star performs songs by the
"giant of musical theater." Highlights include:
footage of the Yale football team singing "Bulldog,
Bulldog Bow Bow Wow," written when Porter was a Yale
student; former Metropolitan Opera soprano Mimi Benzell
and Met tenor Brian Sullivan sing "Wunderbar" from "Kiss
Me Kate" (1949); former Yale professor Monty Woolley
sings Porter's spoof of folk ballads, "Miss Otis
Regrets"; Pierre De Angelo and Ana dance to Porter's
first hit, "Old-Fashioned Garden" from the Ziegfeld
production "Hitchy-Koo" (1919); Sullivan declares that
the 1937 accident, in which a saddle horse threw Porter,
and the thirty-three painful operations he endured as a
result did not deter Porter from writing one of his
biggest hits the following year; Lisa Kirk then sings
the hit song "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" from "Leave It
to Me" (1938), which made Mary Martin a star; Pierre De
Angelo and Ana dance to Porter's secret favorite song,
"Love For Sale" (1930); Benzell sings an operatic
rendition of "In the Still of the Night" from the 1937
film "Rosalie"; Sullivan then thanks Benzell for
persuading Margaret Truman to make her debut on "Toast
of the Town"; next, Sullivan asks Pierre De Angelo,
Anna, and musical director Ray Bloch to take a bow; the
dancing chorus and Helen Wood, the sixteen-year-old
dancing star of the revival of "Pal Joey," dance to a
medley of "Anything Goes" and "It's De-Lovely" (from the
1936 musical, "Red, Hot and Blue"); Dolores Gray and
Porter veteran William Gaxton sing "You're the Top" from
"Anything Goes" (1934); Sullivan then introduces "this
genius of American music," Cole Porter; Dolores Gray
sings the hit "Night and Day" from "The Gay Divorce"
(1932); Sullivan has the Notre Dame basketball team
take a bow from the audience and introduces Temple
University student Tom Sanders; and, to conclude the
tribute, Sullivan brings on stage Cole Porter and the
entire company. Includes commercials. Continues with
T:05217.
(Series title varies; as above, 1948-1955; as "The Ed
Sullivan Show," 1955-1971.)
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 24, 1952 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:09
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:05127
- GENRE: Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Dance; Music, popular (songs, etc.)
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1948-1955
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Lincoln-Mercury dealers
- TV - Commercials - Lincoln automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Mercury automobiles
- TV - Promos - James Melton and "The Ford Festival"
CREDITS
- Marlo Lewis … Producer
- Ed Sullivan … Producer
- John Wray … Director, Choreographer
- Ray Bloch … Music by, Musical Director
- Ed Sullivan … Host
- Cole Porter … Honoree
- Ana … Performer, Dancer
- Mimi Benzell … Performer, Singer
- De Angelo, Pierre … Performer, Dancer
- William Gaxton … Performer, Singer
- Lisa Kirk … Performer, Singer
- Brian Sullivan … Performer, Singer
- Helen Wood … Performer, Dancer
- Monty Woolley … Performer, Singer
- Tom Sanders