The Philco Television Playhouse

Summary This live dramatic series featured original stories and adaptations of novels, plays, etc., during its eight-year run. During the first year, the show was sponsored by the Actor's Equity Association, and featured adaptations of Broadway plays and musicals. Bert Lytell, the former President of the Association, acted as host. During the second season, an agreement was made with the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the plays were adaptations of current novels. Starting in the third season, the television plays were adaptations of plays, novels, dramas, etc., by known and unknown authors. The title of the show was changed to "Repertory Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.29 to 1.31 and "Arena Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.32 to 1.38. Effective with episode 1.39, the original title was used. Starting with the fourth season, this show alternated weekly with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951); starting in the eighth season, this program alternated with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951) and "The ALCOA Hour" (1955). View more details

The Philco Television Playhouse

Directed : Unknown

Written : Unknown

Stars : Bert Lytell E.G. Marshall Jay Jackson Bob Stanton

7.5

Details

Genres : Drama

Release date : Oct 2, 1948

Countries of origin : United States

Language : English

Production companies : Showcase Productions

Summary This live dramatic series featured original stories and adaptations of novels, plays, etc., during its eight-year run. During the first year, the show was sponsored by the Actor's Equity Association, and featured adaptations of Broadway plays and musicals. Bert Lytell, the former President of the Association, acted as host. During the second season, an agreement was made with the Book-of-the-Month Club, and the plays were adaptations of current novels. Starting in the third season, the television plays were adaptations of plays, novels, dramas, etc., by known and unknown authors. The title of the show was changed to "Repertory Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.29 to 1.31 and "Arena Theatre" (1949) for episodes 1.32 to 1.38. Effective with episode 1.39, the original title was used. Starting with the fourth season, this show alternated weekly with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951); starting in the eighth season, this program alternated with "The Goodyear Theatre" (1951) and "The ALCOA Hour" (1955). View more details

Details

Genres : Drama

Release date : Oct 2, 1948

Countries of origin : United States

Language : English

Production companies : Showcase Productions

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So Close to Home

So Close to Home

Maggie, a professional women in her 30s, is in the sleeping compartment of an overnight train to Sydney. Maggie is a workaholic who drowns her loneliness in a busy world. Unable to relax, she pulls out her laptop. But on this night, Maggie's lifestyle of extreme order and isolation is disrupted when a 14-year-old Albanian girl silently demands her seat and Maggie is forced to travel backwards. The next morning as Maggie anxiously prepares to meet her estranged mother, Ramona, she is disturbed to realize that the girl, Azra, is following her. To Ramona's incredulity, Maggie invites the stranger home and there Azra begins to reveal a deep secret. Ramona's world of quiet suburbia, where novelty letterboxes front the neat yards, is an unlikely scene for a clash of language, culture and family turmoil. But as Azra reveals she is a refugee from Kosovo, the fragile walls of suburban familiarity begin to crack. Her family shattered by war, all Azra has to hold on to is a hand-made postcard of the Opera House, which her mother sent from a detention center in Australia. Azra's past is glimpsed in a nightmarish memory, which is echoed by the childhood experience that Ramona later relays to her own daughter. These fragments within the story add a personally poetic layer to the underlying politics of exile and belonging. Both emotionally troubled, Maggie and Ramona struggle to deal with the stranger. Ramona is highly critical of Maggie, who in turn resents her mother's overbearing ways. Their relationship is turned on its head, when Azra'search leads to a surprising and ultimately moving discovery. In the current climate, where the issue of asylum seekers has polarized opinion, So Close To Home is a remarkable depiction of the ironies and challenges involved in the idea of strangers. What begins as a story of boundaries is soon transformed into an exploration of the bonds of family and in particular, motherhood.

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