AMERICAN SHORT STORY, THE: THE MUSIC SCHOOL {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramatized American short stories. Henry Fonda introduces this adaptation of John Updike's "The Music School," which concerns a middle-aged writer who experiences a crisis of faith when he learns that an acquaintance has been the victim of a senseless murder. Writer Alfred Schueigen begins to question the wisdom of modern life as he ponders different subjects: adultery, psychiatrists, an unwritten novel, and the changes in the Catholic Church that make him uneasy. He attempts to find solace by taking his daughter to her piano lessons at a music hall that he loves. After the drama, Fonda lectures about the history and tradition of the American short story. He introduces excerpts from other presentations of "The American Short Story," including Stephen Crane's "Blue Hotel"; Flannery O'Connor's "Displaced Person"; Richard Wright's "Almost a Man"; William Faulkner's "Barn Burning"; and James Thurber's "The Greatest Man in the World." Includes a brief clip of a 1966 interview with Updike.

Acquisition and cataloging of this program was made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Details

• NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
• DATE: May 10, 1977 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:58:51
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:19576
• GENRE: Drama
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Literature - Analysis, appreciation
• SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1977-1980
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• For "The American Short Story":
• Robert Geller … Executive Producer
• Paul Morgan … Producer, Director, Writer
• Brian Benlifer … Producer
• Marjorie Lebow Ruttiman … Associate Producer
• Bishop, Phyllis M. G. … Associate Producer
• Henry Fonda … Host
• For "Music School":
• Robert Geller … Executive Producer, Series conceived by
• Dan McCann … Producer
• John Korty … Director, Writer, Screenplay by
• Arthur Barron … Series conceived by
• John Updike … Writer, Based on a story by
• Ed Bogas … Music by
• Dmitri Kabalevsky … Composer, Based on themes from "A Sad Little Tale" by
• Ludwig van Beethoven … Composer, Based on themes from Piano Concerto No. 5, "The Emperor"
• Ron Weyand … Cast, Alfred Schueigen
• Dana Larsson … Cast, the Wife
• Cathleen Bauer … Cast, the Daughter
• Tom Dahlgren … Cast, the Computer Expert
• Vera Stough … Cast, the Computer Expert's Wife
• Jeffrey Cain … Cast, the young Priest
• Anne Lawder … Cast, the Divorced Woman
• George Leonard … Cast, the Hero of the Novel
• Elizabeth Huddle … Cast, Maggie Johns
• Budd Steinhilber … Cast, the Doctor
• Chrissy Nelson … Cast, the Wife
• Sumire Jacobs … Cast, the Hostess
• Bob McCullough … Cast, Alfred as a Youth
• Frank Albertson … Cast, the Country Priest
• Stephen Crane
• William Faulkner
• Flannery O'Connor
• James Thurber
• Richard Wright