GREAT PERFORMANCES: THEATER IN AMERICA: SECRET SERVICE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of regional theater productions. This episode presents a performance of “Secret Service,” a play about a Union spy operating in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War, produced by the Phoenix Theatre in New York.
On an October evening in Richmond, Virginia, in 1864, a Union artillery siege of the city rages on. Wilfred Varney, a young man, wishes to join the Confederate army and is tired of staying behind, but his mother has reservations about him going without his father’s permission; his father is serving in the Confederates himself as a brigade commander. Wilfred’s sister Edith comes home from a visit with President Davis. She has secured a commission in the telegraph service for Captain Thorne, a soldier she fancies, and is excited to give him the news, although her mother is not enthusiastic about her daughter’s attraction to Captain Thorne. Edith is confused to find contradictory orders for Captain Thorne have already arrived, but she suspects that it was the work of Benton Arrelsford, a rejected suitor of hers’ working in the war department. Lieutenant Maxwell arrives to deliver a missive from the president, and Captain Thorne arrives soon thereafter, greeted by Edith. Captain Thorne prepares to leave for the front lines soon, and Edith is discouraged at how eager he seems to go. They share a mutual attraction and she tells him about the commission she secured for him. He does not wish to take the commission despite the chance it would give him to spend more time with Edith.
Captain Thorne tries to leave but is interrupted by the arrival of Caroline Mitford, who announces that she is holding a party that night and that Edith expects him to escort her there. He agrees to take Edith but insists he cannot stay. Wilfred returns and speaks with Edith; they were engaged but it was broken off. He chides her for throwing a party while the battle rages on only a few miles away. She is resentful that Wilfred hadn’t joined in the army and speaks of her humiliation at being surrounded by other young women with beaus on the front line. Wilfred reveals his intentions to join the Confederate army and that he has obtained the uniform of a dead soldier from the hospital in Richmond, and she helps Wilfred make alterations. She is ecstatic that he intends to join up, but they must keep it a secret for now, as Mrs. Varney has not yet written to Wilfred’s father.
Arrelsford arrives suddenly with a number of soldiers and tells Mrs. Varney that they have evidence that Jonas, one of her slaves, is a spy for the Union. He hopes to obtain a communique containing information which could allow the Union forces to break through Richmond’s defenses from Jonas without alerting him to their knowledge of his espionage. He also reports that they recently arrested one of the two Dumont brothers, more Union agents, and are hunting for the other one; the Dumont brother allowed himself to be captured in order to pass the message on to Jonas from within prison. Mrs. Varney sends for Jonas as Arrelsford and his men lay an ambush for him. They restrain Jonas and get his message as Arreslford attempts to interrogate him about the identity of his co-conspirator. They take him out to torture him when he reveals nothing. The note indicates that a plan will be sent to the Union soldiers via the Confederate telegraph office for an attack that night, and Arrelsford quickly deduces that Captain Thorne is the spy amidst their forces, and is actually Lewis Dumont. He intends to perform an act of counterespionage to beat Dumont at his own game.
Mrs. Varney and Arrelsford tell Edith about “Thorne’s” treachery, although she refuses to believe them. She is disgusted that Arreslford will not face Thorne with his accusations, but Arrelsford intends to continue spying on him in the hopes that he will expose himself. Edith proposes that Arrelsford bring Dumont’s brother out of prison under the pretense of allowing him to escape so that they can confront each other in the Varney household and Arrelsford can expose them all in one fell swoop. Once Arrelsford leaves, Edith reveals to her mother that “Thorne” refused the commission at the telegraph office, seemingly at odds with Arrelsford’s evidence; she is confused and distraught. Thorne enters Edith takes him out onto the veranda.
Caroline finishes the alterations for Wilfred’s uniform and they emerge. He is anxious about showing his mother, but she enters with a soldier bearing a message from his father asking him to come out immediately to the front line. Now that he is actually leaving, both he and Caroline are uneasy about the whole thing. Wilfred leaves and Caroline exits soon after, dejectedly announcing that there will be no party after all. Mrs. Varney sends her servant Martha with Caroline as she intends to visit the telegraph office. Arrelsford brings the other Dumont brother, Henry, up to the house and prepares to release him inside, lowering all the lights and securing the entranceways. Edith has second thoughts about the whole operation, confessing that she and Thorne love each other. Arrelsford convinces her to stay and help expose Thorne and prove his innocence or guilt, and he has her make sure that Thorne receives the communique. Thorne enters again, professing his love for her and sorrow that he cannot stay. Before he can leave, Edith gives him the note and he reads it. Before he can take any more action Edith yells that “they’ve lied about you” before running off. Arrelsford’s men corner Henry in the living room, leaving him to Thorne. During their struggle Henry secretly tries to get Thorne to shoot him in the leg so as not to arouse their suspicions. They struggle over Thorne’s gun and he accidentally shoots and kills Henry as the others enter; Thorne pretends to have done this deliberately.
At the telegraph office, Caroline receives permission to send a message to the front, but is reluctant to show her message to the telegraph official due to its private nature. Before they can send it, however, they receive an order from Arrelsford specifically preventing her from sending any dispatches; he suspects her of somehow being involved in the Dumont plot. Caroine and Martha try to coerce the telegraph officer into ignoring the order, but they settle for simply allowing him to retain the unsent message and Caroline sits in the telegraph office and refuses to leave. Arrelsford arrives and demands to see Caroline’s telegram, but she argues with him. Arrelsford gets the officer to read the telegraph aloud, and it bears a message asking Wilfred to forgive her. Caroline and Martha leave, and Arrelsford continues to suspect more conspiracy is afoot. Edith arrives, distressed from witnessing Henry being shot. Arrelsford and his men suspect that Thorne is forging orders from the war department in order to seize control of the telegraph and enact his plan. Edith hides as Thorne enters and presents the telegraph officer with an order to attend to the president himself for a cipher message. The officer is suspicious but complies anyway. Once the room is empty, Thorne secretly gets in telegraph communication with the Union army, all the while watched by Arrelsford and Edith from the balcony.
Thorne turns down the lights and checks for spies, his revolver at the ready. As he continues communications, Arrelsford shoots him in the hand and reveals himself, ordering Thorne to stand down. Arrelsford promised Edith that he would not kill Thorne and intends to make good on that promise. He brings Edith in to serve as a witness to Thorne’s arrest and calls for the guard, although Edith protests and manages to leave. Thorne tricks the guards into breaking in and arresting Arrelsford for threatening him with a gun. Caroline brings General Randolph down to confront Arrelsford, and he is suspicious of Arrelsford’s activities. Thorne shows him the forged orders he created and without Edith about to reinforce his testimony Arrelsford is under suspicion. At Thorne’s suggestion the general has his order sent back to the war office to be verified. However, Thorne’s story is called into question when the original telegraph officer returns and points out the “mistake” in his orders. Edith returns and Arrelsford calls upon her for testimony, but she betrays Arrelsford and supports Thorne, displaying his commission from the president. The general has Arrelsford taken away and takes his leave. Edith points out that Thorne can use the opportunity to escape from Richmond before his identity is discovered, and he decides to revoke the dispatch and refuse the commission.
The attack on Richmond intensifies and the Union makes considerable headway. Arrelsford arrives, released from arrest, and demands to speak to Edith, but Mrs. Varney and Caroline prevent him from doing so. A band of soldiers arrive with a warrant to search the house for Thorne, who is now a fugitive. Wilfred is brought into the house after suffering an injury in a skirmish. He wants to join the fighting but passes out and Caroline tends to him. He awakens and they talk, and Wilfred realizes what happened at the telegraph office, intending to speak to Edith about it. While Caroline and Mrs. Varney go to fetch her, Thorne dashes inside to hide from the approaching soldiers. Wilfred struggles against him and Thorne comes out on top, but hands Wilfred his gun and says he doesn’t care what happens as long as he gets to see his brother’s face one last time. His brother’s body is not present and Wilfred runs off to alert the guards. Edith and Thorne find each other, and he begs her to help him one last time, explaining that his line of work in the secret service is brutal, lonely, and without reward. Wilfred seizes Thorne along with Arrelsford and his men, but protests when Arrelsford orders Thorne shot, insisting that he receive a fair trial first. Arrelsford consents to a drumhead trial, and they move to the dining room to conduct it. Meanwhile, Jonas sneaks into the living room to sabotage their musket ammunition; Edith witnesses this but says nothing. He hopes that Thorne will feign death and escape at an opportune moment, but instructs Edith to relay his instructions to Thorne to prevent Arrelsford’s men from shooting him again.
Thorne is led out to be executed and Edith requests that she have a final word with him beforehand. She surreptitiously passes on Jonas’s plan to him, but he decides to reveal the sabotage to the sergeant, who has his men replace the ammunition. The execution is interrupted by the arrival of General Randolph, who announces that the dispatch was not sent./ Furthermore, the Union attack was ultimately repulsed and the troop emplacement was not tampered with, seemingly exonerating Thorne of his crime. However, the general points out to Edith that Thorne was still discovered behind enemy lines, which would ordinarily be grounds for execution. However, the president orders that he be taken as a prisoner of war instead due to his refusal to send the dispatch. This is done with the understanding that he will enter the service of the Confederacy and use his expertise against the Union, but he refuses. Thorne and Edith share a last kiss before he is escorted to prison. Various Civil War-era folk songs are performed between acts, including “God Save the South,” “Green Fields,” “Goober Peas,” and “The Year of Jubilo.”
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: January 12, 1977 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:57:24
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:19937
- GENRE: Drama, spy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, spy
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1974-1979
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jac Venza … Executive Producer
- Ken Campbell … Producer
- Phylis Geller … Associate Producer
- David Freudenberger … Director
- Peter Levin … Director
- William Gillette … Writer
- Arthur Miller … Music by
- Paul Allen Levi … Music by
- Hal Holbrook … Host
- Don Scardino … Cast, Wilfred Varney
- Louise Stubbs … Cast, Martha
- Alice Drummond … Cast, Mrs. Varney
- Meryl Streep … Cast, Edith Varney
- David Harris … Cast, Jonas
- Frederick Coffin … Cast, Lieutenant Maxwell
- John Lithgow … Cast, Captain Thorne
- Marybeth Hurt (See also: Mary Beth Hurt) … Cast, Caroline Mitford
- Charles Kimbrough … Cast, Benton Arrelsford
- Joe Grifasi … Cast, Corporal Matson
- Stuart Warmflash … Cast, Private Eddinger
- Moultrie Patten … Cast, Cavalry Orderly
- Lenny Baker … Cast, Henry Dumont
- Jonathan Penzner … Cast, Lieutenant Allison
- Rex Robbins … Cast, Lieutenant Foray
- Hanford Rowe … Cast, Messenger A
- Arthur Miller … Cast, Messenger B
- Jeffrey Jones … Cast, Sergeant Wilson
- Roy Poole … Cast, Maj. General Randolph