MAX LIEBMAN PRESENTS: RODGERS' AND HART'S DEAREST ENEMY (TV)
Summary
One in this series of Spectaculars presented by Max Liebman and sponsored by Oldsmobile. Cyril Ritchard, Anne Jeffreys, Robert Sterling, Cornelia Otis Skinner star in Rodgers and Hart's 1925 musical comedy which proports to tell the "true" story of why the British lost the American Revolution. The musical opens at the British Officers Club in London in 1788, where five Redcoats -- including John Copeland, General Howe, and General Cornwallis -- discuss the news that the colonies have elected George Washington as President and berate themselves for losing the war. Captain Copeland confides that the real cause for the British defeat was that he dropped in for "a bloody cup of tea at Mrs. Murray's" one afternoon. In flashback, he recalls the arrival of the British soldiers in New York in 1776 to fight in the colonies. Meanwhile at Mrs. Murray's, the young women cook treats for their fighting sweethearts and dance a minuet, which turns into a lively can-can-like frolic. Suddenly a woman runs in to announce that the British have landed at Kips Bay. Mrs. Murray informs the girls that her household is also at war against the British. At Kips Bay, Captain Copeland encounters the lovely and patriotic Betsy Murray, who is swimming and has lost her clothes. He offers her his redcoat, and they immediately become political enemies. He then takes Betsy at gunpoint to Mrs. Murray's and requests that General Howe be allowed stop and have tea there. Mrs. Murray, in turn, graciously serves the general her special tea -- flavored with gunpowder. Meanwhile, honoring a request from General Washington, the women detain the British soldiers at Murray Manor by serving them a banquet of savories and a giving a dance for them. Captain Copeland and Betsy discover that they have fallen in love. When a courier arrives with an important military message for Captain Copeland, Betsy diverts him toward the cellar, where the the woman torture him with their tempting foods into revealing his secret message that the British must prevent General Putnam from joining Washington's forces at Harlem Heights. Mrs. Murray, flattering General Howe that he brought a warmth to a widow's heart, convinces him that General Washington plans a meeting in her house that evening. Just then, the king's courier escapes and delivers his message to the general. After the British have left, Mrs. Murray confesses that, just as Betsy misses Captain Copeland, she was becoming fond of General Howe. Soon after, a revolutionary soldier brings Captain Copeland back as a prisoner of war to be held in Mrs. Murray's cellar. Betsy brings him his dinner and helps him escape back to England. The story returns to the British Officers Club where the men admit they were outwitted by two beautiful women. Just then they hear that Mrs. Murray and Betsy have landed in England from America, and the couples are reunited. The Rodgers and Hart score includes: "Cheerio," "Sweet Peter," "Heigh-Ho, Lackaday," "War Is War," "I Beg Your Pardon," "Old Enough to Love," "Here in My Arms," ""Gavotte," "In My Lady's Eyes," "Where the Hudson Flows," "Bye and Bye," "Hermits," "I'd Like to Hide It," and "Here's a Kiss." Includes commercials.
(This is a black-and-white copy of a program that was telecast in both color and black-and-white.)
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 26, 1955 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:29:38
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:25811
- GENRE: Specials; Music
- SUBJECT HEADING: Music, popular (songs, etc.); Musical shows, revues
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1955
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Oldsmobile automobiles
- TV - PSA - Safe Driving Day
- TV - Promos - "Max Liebman Presents: Babes in Toyland"
- TV - Promos - "Max Liebman Presents: The Maurice Chevalier Show"
- TV - Promos - "Variety Hour"
CREDITS
- Max Liebman … Producer, Director
- Bill Hobin … Associate Producer, Associate Director
- Hal Janis … Supervisor for NBC
- Marcia Kuyper … Assistant Director
- Milton Lyon … Director, Book staged by
- James Starbuck … Director, Dances and musical numbers by, Choreographer
- Herbert Fields … Writer, Book by
- William Friedberg … Writer, Television play by
- Simon, Neil (See also: Simon, Doc) … Writer, Television play by
- Richard Rodgers … Music by
- Lorenz Hart … Lyricist
- Charles Sanford … Conductor
- Clay Warnick … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical adaptation by, Choral Director
- Mel Pahl … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical adaptation by
- Irwin Kostal … Music (Misc. Credits), Arrangements by
- Anne Jeffreys … Cast, Betsey
- Robert Sterling … Cast, John Copeland
- Cornelia Otis Skinner … Cast, Mrs. Margaret Murray
- Cyril Ritchard … Cast, General Howe
- Donald Burr … Cast, Cornwallis
- Donn Driver … Cast, a Courier
- Leila Martin … Cast, Amanda
- Wynne Miller … Cast, Clara
- Elaine Spaulding … Cast, Adele
- Greta Gray … Cast, Florence
- Byron Halstead … Cast, General Tryon
- Lewis Brooks … Cast, General Clinton