Ford Star Jubilee

Ford Star Jubilee routinely featured major stars, such as Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Debbie Reynolds, Shirley Jones, Orson Welles, Julie Andrews (at the time that she was preparing for her starring role in My Fair Lady on Broadway), Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Gordon MacRae, Lillian Gish, Charles Laughton, Jack Lemmon, Raymond Massey, Lauren Bacall, Claudette Colbert, Noël Coward, Nat 'King' Cole, Mary Martin, Eddie Fisher, Ella Fitzgerald, and Red Skelton.

Instead of the usual live performance staged especially for Ford Star Jubilee, the final episode on November 3, 1956 was a special, two-hour presentation of the 1939 MGM theatrical Technicolor film The Wizard of Oz, hosted by Bert Lahr, 10-year-old Liza Minnelli and young Oz expert Justin Schiller. This marked the first time that the film had ever been shown on television, and the only time that one of the film's actual actors (Lahr) as well as one of the children of the film's star (Judy Garland) hosted it. The broadcast was a ratings smash with a Nielsen rating of 33.9 and an audience share of 53%.{{cite magazine|title=Hit Movies on U.S. TV Since 1961|magazine=Variety|date=January 24, 1990|page=160}} In contrast, the presentation of "This Happy Breed" had a rating of 13.6.{{cite book |last1=Baughman |first1=James L. |title=Same Time, Same Station: Creating American Television, 1948–1961 |date=March 26, 2007 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-7933-3 |pages=142–143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PP1tHJN8h6AC&dq=%22Ford+Star+Jubilee%22&pg=PA142 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |language=en}}

Another rare instance of Ford Star Jubilee presenting a filmed, rather than live, program was their 1956 musical version of Maxwell Anderson's High Tor, starring Bing Crosby and Julie Andrews. Music was by Arthur Schwartz, composer of such scores as those for The Band Wagon and Revenge with Music. Crosby, according to sources, had insisted the production be filmed rather than presented live, because he did not feel comfortable acting in a live television musical play.Other reasons it was filmed: "High Tor will not be telecast live, the usual form for a large-scale show. It will be produced as a color film, which will permit later theatrical exhibition overseas and this will bring additional revenue to its originators." Oscar Godbout, "Hollywood Notes", The New York Times, September 4, 1955, p. X9. It was actually shot in black and white. "Christmas Can Stay — Radio and TV Are for It", The Washington Post, December 11, 1955, p. J3. Although it was filmed in color, the musical version of High Tor has never been released on VHS or DVD.

Executives at Ford and their counterparts at CBS sometimes had "major differences on the type of shows most suitable for 'Jubilee'."{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Val |title='Ford Star' show may leave video: C.B.S. and Sponsor Have Not Agreed on Program to Follow 'Wizard of Oz' Nov. 3 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/23/archives/ford-starshow-may-leave-video-cbs-and-sponsor-have-not-agreed-on.html |access-date=March 15, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=October 23, 1956 |page=67|url-access=subscription}} The series ended when they were unable to agree on what would be presented on Dec. 1, 1956, making The Wizard of Oz the last episode.

Robert McNamara, who was president of Ford Motor Company at the time, was concerned about overall low ratings for the program, writing that they had "lowered the productivity of Ford Star Jubilee to a point where it is difficult to defend on a budgetary basis". He added, "a half-hour of prime time on CBS, correctly programmed, would serve our advertising objectives better than Ford Star Jubilee over the long pull." After Ford Star Jubilee ended, the company became a co-sponsor of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.

The series's executive producer was Jack Rayel.{{cite news |title=TV Debut Oct. 6 for Cole Porter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/07/16/archives/tv-debut-oct-6-for-cole-porter-initial-ford-star-jubilee-show-will.html |access-date=March 15, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=July 16, 1956 |page=43|url-access=subscription}} Arthur Schwartz was a producer.{{cite news |last1=Gould |first1=Jack |title=TV: 'A Bell for Adano': Music Added to Hersey Story on 'Ford Star Jubilee' Is Found Distracting |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/06/04/archives/tv-a-bell-for-adano-music-added-to-hersey-story-on-ford-star.html |access-date=March 15, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=June 4, 1956 |page=53|url-access=subscription }} Directors of episodes included Paul Harris,{{cite book |last1=Hawes |first1=William |title=Filmed Television Drama, 1952-1958 |date=December 26, 2001 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-1132-0 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0pQKmPSfHCQC&dq=%22Ford+Star+Jubilee%22&pg=PA26 |access-date=March 16, 2023 |language=en}} Paul Nickell and Franklin Schaffner.

Critic Jack Gould, writing in The New York Times, praised Reynolds's "vitality and youthful charm" in "I Hear America Singing", and he complimented the singing of Cole and the dance numbers led by Bobby Van.{{cite news |last1=Gould |first1=Jack |date=December 19, 1955 |title='Ford Star Jubilee' Is Seen on Channel 2: American History Presented in Song and Story |page=49 |work=nnyt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/12/19/archives/-ford-star-jubilee-is-seen-on-channel-2-american-history-presented-.html |url-access=subscription}} In contrast, he wrote that Fisher "seemed just a shade lonesome and forlorn", Fitzgerald's singing was backed by a too-loud orchestra, and one of Skelton's skits was "not very funny", while andother had an ending that was "in truly abominable taste."

After "Blithe Spirit" was broadcast, Time magazine said, "Viewers last week were treated to the raciest—and most profane—language that has ever been heard on TV."{{cite magazine |date=January 23, 1956 |title=Radio: The Week in Review |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,861923,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=March 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316160714/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C861923%2C00.html |url-status=live |archive-date=March 16, 2023}} The review said that Coward "acted with silky efficiency" and noted Mildred Natwick's "comic zest" in a supporting role. However, it said that Colbert and Lauren Bacall looked better than they acted, adding that Bacall "seemed uneasy when reciting the litany of her infidelities". Overall, the review said, "The show itself was one of the highlights of a drama-studded week."

Gould said that the decision to present a musical version of "A Bell for Adano" was "an unfortunate error in judgment." Four musical selections that were inserted into the play "merely compromised and diluted it", he said. He also questioned the reduction of Joppolo's part and the expansion of Tina's part that resulted from the addition of musical components, while "Sergeant Borth was reduced practically to a walk-on and the townspeople of Adano to mere gesticulating caricatures of Italians."

Time described the show's tribute to Cole Porter's work as "breezy, beautiful" and "radiant".{{cite magazine |date=October 15, 1956 |title=Radio: The Week in Review |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,865545,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=March 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316163225/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0%2C33009%2C865545%2C00.html |url-status=live |archive-date=March 16, 2023 }} It commended the episode's choreography and singled out Dorothy Dandridge's "You Do Something to Me" and Dolores Gray's and George Sanders's performance of "Let's Do It" as the top numbers on the program.

{{Episode table |total_width=70 |background=#DAA520 |overall=6 |title=30 |airdate=20 |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = The Judy Garland Special

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1955|9|24}}{{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Alex|title=Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present |date=1996|publisher=Penguin Books USA, Inc.|location=New York, New York|isbn=0-14-02-4916-8|page=296 |edition=4th}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = Together With Music

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1955|10|22}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1955|11|19}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = I Hear America Singing

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1955|12|17}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Blithe Spirit

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|1|14}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = The Day Lincoln Was Shot

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|2|11}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = High Tor

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|3|10}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = Twentieth Century

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|4|7}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = This Happy Breed

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|5|5}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = A Bell For Adano

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|6|2}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = You're the Top

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|10|6}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = The Wizard of Oz

| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1956|11|3}}

| ShortSummary =

| LineColor = DAA520

}}

}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0047731|title=Ford Star Jubilee}}
• [http://ctva.biz/US/MusicVariety/FordStarJubilee.htm List of episodes at CVTA]

{{Delbert Mann}}

Category:1955 American television series debuts

Category:1956 American television series endings

Category:1950s American anthology television series

Category:Black-and-white American television shows

Category:CBS television dramas

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Ford Motor Company