Cole Porter's Anything Goes (1954) Colgate Comedy Hour

Bob in Boston · #21 02-14-2011, 06:26 AM

In his article, "Sinatra Meets Television" (c.f. Sinatra on TV essay), Museum of Television & Radio curator Ron Simon provides a brief description of Frank Sinatra's role in this TV program:

Quote:

Even before the 1954 Oscar telecast, when Sinatra received the Academy Award for his Eternity role and his comeback became official, NBC producers wanted to capitalize on the multifaceted talents of Sinatra, which were hidden for so many years. He was cast in a lavish, color production of Anything Goes (February 28, 1954), supervised by Leland Hayward and featuring the original star, Ethel Merman. This is the only record of Sinatra in a live Broadway musical, ironically playing the role his idol Bing Crosby made famous in the 1936 movie. How timely and appropriate the part of Harry Dane is; Sinatra gets to perform two Cole Porter songs that would follow his new mature style, "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Just One of Those Things," the latter reworked into his 1954 film Young at Heart. Both recordings were also essential to his commercial and critical renaissance at Capitol Records...

I found it very interesting that this live program was broadcast and/or filmed in color. Can anyone confirm that a color print actually exists?

Note: Color broadcast technology was in its absolute infancy when this show aired. Indeed, per Wikipedia, the very first Westinghouse consumer color TV was introduced in the US on the VERY SAME DAY as this telecast; only 30 sets were sold in its first month. Kinescope technology was strictly black-and-white at the time, I think.

[I hesitate to discuss the upcoming unofficial DVD here, but I'll be interested to learn if it is really a color version rather than a black-and-white kinescope copy as has been shown on modern TV.]

**Marty** · #22 02-14-2011, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob in Boston

Can anyone confirm that a color print actually exists?

An educated guess would suggest one does not, Bob, the technology for film reproduction of any television broadcast at the time only preserved in monochrome, so if the show did form the part of an early colour test broadcast there wouldn't have been any technology, either film or tape, advanced enough to preserve the colour signal, one also has to wonder just how well defined a colour programme from the technology's infancy (what with little or no colour correction in early receivers) would actually be.

As far as I understand it wasn't until Ampex introduced colour capable videotaping later in the decade that any preservation of a primitive colour broadcast would be possible.

Bob in Boston · #23 02-14-2011, 07:50 AM

I agree, Marty. I became interested in the topic when I read an unconfirmed report that the new DVD will be in color. Based on my (our) understanding of the technology of the day, I find that highly doubtful. I even wonder if the "color" mention in Simon's essay is accurate? At least, there were no color TV sets in the hands of American consumers in early 1954.

**Marty** · #24 02-14-2011, 08:01 AM

given that many so called "public domain" television and film items find themselves the victims of unsympathetic and cheap computer colorisation in unofficial release packages, it seems a safe bet that this is probably the case here and would be yet another reason to avoid this particular item.

Bob in Boston · #25 02-14-2011, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob in Boston

Note: Color broadcast technology was in its absolute infancy when this show aired. Indeed, per Wikipedia, the very first Westinghouse consumer color TV was introduced in the US on the VERY DAY of this broadcast; only 30 sets were sold in its first month. Kinescope technology was strictly black-and-white at the time, I think.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty

As far as I understand it wasn't until Ampex introduced colour capable videotaping later in the decade that any preservation of a primitive colour broadcast would be possible.

I should have read further in my own linked reference, Marty.

From that same Wikipedia article:

Quote:

Early color telecasts could be preserved only on the black and white kinescope process introduced in 1947. It wasn't until September 1956 that NBC began using color film to time-delay and preserve some of its live color telecasts. Ampex introduced a color videotape recorder in 1958, which NBC used to tape An Evening With Fred Astaire, the oldest surviving network color videotape.

**Marty** · #26 02-14-2011, 07:46 PM

Chronological List of Colour TV firsts in relation to NBC

though concise the above is particularly useful (and thorough) list of NBC's roll out of it's early colour broadcast standard. NBC were the real pioneers worldwide of colour TV technology and I would certainly assume that should this show have been a "color" presentation at such an early (and expensive) stage in the development of the system then it would certainly be referenced here. I can't find mention in any of the books I have on the subject either, so I have the feeling Ron Simon has perhaps inadvertantly erred in his article on this particular point.

***Nancy*** · #27 02-14-2011, 09:01 PM

Sorry I can't be helpful here but we checked the vault and so far all we have is a black and white copy.

jack · #28 02-14-2011, 10:07 PM

...saw the show live on our black and white set, so that doesn't help with the color question.

loved frank's singing...thought the show itself was too broad and frantic and ethel merman's style...so great on the stage and in a few of her pictures ...wasn't good for tv. plus the show is too rushed...condensing a broadway play into a shorter tv time slot.

William · #29 03-28-2011, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob in Boston

[I hesitate to discuss the upcoming unofficial DVD here, but I'll be interested to learn if it is really a color version rather than a black-and-white kinescope copy as has been shown on modern TV.]

According to an early review I read, it is a b&w kinescope, but supposedly Ethel Merman's personal copy, so maybe it will be in better shape than what we've seen before.

Bob in Boston · #30 04-06-2011, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William

According to an early review I read, it is a b&w kinescope, but supposedly Ethel Merman's personal copy, so maybe it will be in better shape than what we've seen before.

I can now confirm that it is indeed a black-and-white kinescope (and it's NOT been subjected to computerized colorization, as some have reported elsewhere). It was restored from Ethel Merman's own 16mm film copy, and the quality is excellent. It truly gives one a feel for what it must have been like to have viewed the original 1954 telecast (with better quality on today's TV sets, in all likelihood).

I'm unsure of the legal status vis-à-vis the Sinatra estate, so I'll refrain from further comment about the new DVD release pending Nancy's permission.

Bob in Boston