"Studio One" on DVD: Its time has come again
If you're looking for a holiday gift that isn't loaded with F-bombs or carries a triple-digit sticker price, check out Studio One Anthology
I was struck by how well these one-hour teleplays have held up over more than half a century. (Actually, they're 50 minutes if you deduct the time when Betty Furness is telling America about those wonderful Westinghouse appliances.)
The authors include Rod Serling and Gore Vidal as well as lesser-known but no less accomplished luminaries as Reginald Rose and Tad Mosel. This was where "Twelve Angry Men" made its claim to fame. A couple of great works are adapted for the screen here: "Julius Caesar," "1984" and "Wuthering Heights."
Look for Jack Lemmon, Eddie Albert, Leslie Nielsen, Elizabeth Montgomery, Art Carney, Lee Remick, Sal Mineo and Charlton Heston among the talent featured in the 18 live dramas restored and preserved in this set (which is from Koch Vision and selling online for as little as $50).
The choreography for "Studio One" is efficient and ingenious. As you watch 1954's "The Remarkable Incident at Carson Corners," and see the same actors appearing in present day and in the past in a series of flashbacks, just remember -- both scenes are on live TV! "The Strike," about an officer in Korea faced with a horrible command he must give, would simply not be as gripping were it not for the lens swooping in for crucial close-ups.
Despite some heroic remastering by the Archive of American Television (a program of the TV Academy that gives out the Emmys), the audio can be hard to hear at times. Fortunately, all the shows are subtitled, and though it may seem odd to do so with a TV show filmed in America, I suggest leaving subtitles on while watching the "Studio One Anthology."
