David Susskind
Brash boxer Cassius Clay burst into the American consciousness in the early 1960s, just ahead of the Civil Rights movement. His transformation into the spiritually enlightened heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali is legendary, but this religious awakening also led to a bitter legal battle with the U.S. government after he refused to serve in the Vietnam War. This film reveals the perfect storm of race, religion and politics that shaped one of the most recognizable figures in sports history.
In 1961, David Susskind conducted a series of interviews with former President Harry Truman in Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri. After picking Truman up at his home to take him to the Truman Presidential Library for the interviews over a number of days.
Story of the federally-ordered integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957.
One in this series of dramatic specials presented by Hallmark. In this production, Charles Durning appears as the legendary baseball manager Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel.
A young wife discovers that she has Hodgkin's Disease. It can be treated, but complicating the situation is the fact that she is pregnant and the treatment can endanger the life of her unborn baby as well as herself.
A teenage girl sets off on an odyssey from her Illinois farming community with her free-spirited but frail grandfather to thwart her uncle's plans to put him in a home for the aged.
The story of Tom and Joann Hammil, a divorced couple who explore new relationships while maintaining their mutual affection a year after their sixteen-year marriage has ended. A sequel to Breaking Up (1978).
A sequel to "A Circle of Children" (1977). A teacher of "emotionally disturbed" children takes on a new student who is considered to be "untrainable" by public school authorities, psychiatrists, and medical doctors. Even the child's own mother, who is very loving, does not have the tools to reach her "hopeless" child. This is the further story of a teacher who understood what it was like to be eight years old and hurt and angry and confused; a teacher who saw these children for who they were, rather than who they seemed to be.
Based on the best-selling book, this movie focuses on John F. Kennedy's first run for a congressional seat in 1946.
Based on the book by Mary Carter, "Tell Me My Name" is about a girl's visit to the woman who gave her up for adoption 19 years earlier. The adoption was a secret which now threatens to destroy the entire family.
The story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during their 12-year stay at the White House.
A newspaper sportswriter has a special connection to the supernatural.
On Our Own is an American television series broadcast on CBS as part of their 1977-78 schedule. It featured Lynnie Greene as Maria Bonino and Bess Armstrong as Julia Peters, two employees in the Bedford Advertising Agency in New York who also share an apartment. Toni McBain was their boss, while April Baxter and Phil Goldstein were their coworkers. On Our Own was shot at CBS studios in Manhattan and edited at Unitel. The editor was Frank Herold. The show was filmed on location in New York in front of a live audience, which was somewhat unique for a show of its genre during the late 1970s, as most sitcoms were typically taped in Hollywood. The show aired from 9 October 1977 until 27 August 1978.
Buffalo Bill plans to put on his own Wild West sideshow, and Chief Sitting Bull has agreed to appear in it. However, Sitting Bull has his own hidden agenda, involving the President and General Custer.
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to March 19, 1985 on CBS. The series is based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job working at a roadside diner on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the episodes revolve around events at Mel's Diner.
The story of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, from early youth to his election as President of the United States, as told from Eleanor's point of view.
A televised version of the Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's play. A cynical, self-hating, failed actor visits the gruff, earthy daughter of his scheming Irish tenant farmer and passes a soul-baring night of guilt-ridden confessions, tenderness, and absolution.
After her husband dies, Alice and her son, Tommy, leave their small New Mexico town for California, where Alice hopes to make a new life for herself as a singer. Money problems force them to settle in Arizona instead, where Alice takes a job as waitress in a small diner.
Frank Elgin's career in the theater is all washed up — but his friend Bernie thinks he can make a comeback, as long as his wife Georgie doesn't interfere.
Amanda Wingfield dominates her children with her faded gentility and exaggerated tales of her Southern belle past. Her son plans escape; her daughter withdraws into a dream world. When a "gentleman caller" appears, things move to crisis point.
Life in a black ghetto isn't easy for 14-year-old Billie Jean Sims, who has a father in jail, a blind grandmother, and a brother with a drug habit. Growing up among drug pushers, prostitutes, and pimps, Billie Jean still has some things going for her: fierce pride, a loyal friend named Fish, and, at last, enough savings to visit her father 1200 miles away in prison.
William Popper is the son of a stockbroker and is thoroughly disenchanted with "the system." So much so that even though he can prove that he ran over a woman in his car entirely by accident, he accepts a sentence for manslaughter.
Mike Vecchio and Susan Henderson are preparing for their upcoming wedding. However, they seem to be the only two people at the wedding that are happy. Mike's brother Richie and his wife Joan are going through a divorce, which is upsetting his overly devout Catholic mother Beatrice. Also, Susan's father is carrying on an affair and her sex starved older sister Wilma is going through her troubles with her husband Johnny. All this is going on while Mike's best friend Jerry is trying to bed the maid of honor, Susan's cousin Brenda.
A 1968 made-for-television remake of the 1957 film, based on the disturbing 1956 Michael V. Gazzo play, as performed by members of The Actors' Studio on ABC (American Broadcasting Company) television.
Two ranch workers, one of them simple-minded, look for work and happiness during the Great Depression, but luck is not in their cards.
In post-war Cape Breton, a doctor's efforts to tutor a deaf and mute woman are undermined when she is raped, and the resulting pregnancy causes scandal to swirl.
Recreating the one-man show he starred in on Broadway, Hal Holbrook portrays Mark Twain as a 70-year old humorist who skewers politicians, newspapermen and so-called patriots in this 90 minute monologue. Holbrook adapted Twain's own words for a commentary on slavery, religion and politics, mixing the satire with comic yarns about life on the Mississippi and a very effective ghost story. The show's highlight are the lengthy passages from "Huckleberry Finn".
The Hilliards are a middle class family whose lives are put in danger when escaped convict Glenn Griffin invades their home. Griffin is crazed, tormenting the Hilllards plus his meek brother Hank. Sadistic Robish is also present.
A monologue of a woman talking on the phone with her longterm lover who is about to marry another girl.
Recounts the events of the final years of Napoleon, culminating in his exile on the isle of St. Helena.
Mr. Broadway is an American 13-episode CBS adventure and drama television series starring Craig Stevens as New York City public relations specialist Mike Bell. The program aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Saturdays from September 26 to December 26, 1964. Also featured were Bell's assistant, Toki, portrayed by Lani Miyazaki, and his police contact, Hank McClure, played by Horace McMahon. Mr. Broadway, a Talent Associates Production, was created by Garson Kanin and produced by David Susskind and Daniel Melnick. Dave Brubeck supplied the music and theme. It was shot on location in New York City. Mr. Broadway episodes have unusual titles. The series included rare guest appearances by Liza Minnelli, in her first television dramatic role, as Minnie in "Nightingale for Sale"; Sandy Dennis in "Don't Mention My Name in Sheboygan", and Lauren Bacall as Barbara Lake, with Martin Balsam as Nate Bannerman, in "Something to Sing About". Other episodes are "Keep an Eye on Emily" with Tuesday Weld as Emily and Oleg Cassini as himself, "Take a Walk Through a Cemetery" with Lauren Bacall, again, but also with Jason Robards, Jr., and Jill St. John, "Try to Find a Spy" with Barbara Feldon and Simon Oakland, "Between the Rats and the Finks" with Larry Hagman, Dyan Cannon, Bruce Gordon, and Patrick McVey, "The He-She Chemistry" with Tammy Grimes, "Maggie, Queen of the Jungle", with Nina Foch in the title role, "Smelling Like a Rose" with Art Carney, Hal Roach, and Tina Louise, "Bad Little Rich Girl" with Diana Van der Vlis as Mary Beth Warren and Larry Pennell as John Chambers, "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones" with Philip Abbott as Geoffrey Karr and Lola Albright as Duff Daniels. Albright had been Stevens's co-star on Peter Gunn, and "Pay Now, Die Later", the series finale, with David Wayne as John Zeck and John Ireland as Jimmy King. In the latter episode the wealthy Zeck hires Mike Bell to write his obituary ahead of his death.
The historic interview that stopped JFK in his tracks...
East Side/West Side is an American drama series starring George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson, and later on, Linden Chiles. The series aired for only one season and was shown Monday nights on CBS. TV Guide ranked it #6 on their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".
Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.
Based on Graham Greene's novel about a flawed but devoted priest in 1930s Mexico who attempts to perform his duties while eluding a police lieutenant determined to capture him.
A staid, dull Englishman abruptly deserts his wife and children to become a painter in the South Seas.
In this charming TV adaptation of the 1947 film classic, a kindly old gentleman (Ed Wynn) working as a Macy's department store Santa causes a commotion when he claims to be the real St. Nick. Forced to prove his sanity, he is taken to court where he must convince the judge and his friends that he actually is Santa Claus. The faith of one skeptical little girl (Susan Gordon) and a Christmas miracle are the keys to his true identity.
Too Young to Go Steady was a live primetime sitcom that aired on NBC in 1959. It centered on the romantic awakening of Pamela Blake, a pretty 15-year-old girl struggling to make the transition from tomboy to young lady.
In pre-WW1 England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
A presentation of three one-act plays: "Moony's Kid Don't Cry", "The Last of My Solid Gold Watches", and "This Property Is Condemned".
An army deserter and a black dock worker join forces against a corrupt union official.
A notice appears in the paper of a small English village, Chipping Cleghorn: "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m. Friends accept this, the only intimation." And on that cheery piece of news hangs the tale.
Jamie is a sitcom television series, created by David Susskind's Talent Associates, that was telecast live in the United States of America by ABC-TV from October 5, 1953, until October 4, 1954. The series was the result of the success of the pilot, an episode of the ABC Album/Plymouth Playhouse entitled Jamie, which aired on April 26, 1953. The pilot cast would return for the series, except that of Eva Marie Saint who would be replaced by Kathleen Nolan. Star of the show was 11 year-old Brandon deWilde, whose rising fame had catapulted him to national prominence in a period of 3 years. Debuting on Broadway in The Member of the Wedding in 1950, he followed with the film version in 1952. He then received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1953 portrayal of the young Joey Starrett in George Stevens' film Shane, his most memorable role. Jamie was to be aired live and there was some publicity at the time about the problems of a youngster, however gifted, being so deeply involved in the pressures of a weekly series. De Wilde's parents had obtained a contract that allowed him to drop out of the series on short notice if he wanted to, or if his parents felt it was impairing his emotional growth.
Armstrong Circle Theatre is an American anthology drama television series which ran from 1950 to 1957 on NBC, and then until 1963 on CBS. It alternated weekly with The U.S. Steel Hour.
The fascinating 1973 interview with a mid-level hitman named “Joey” who describes in detail his life in the mob that included the murder of 38 men.
The 1973 program that explored Howard Hughes’ connection to Watergate and the alleged $100,000 bribe to Nixon that may have precipitated the break-in.
An extensive interview originally broadcast in Feb. 1979. Host David Susskind and Truman Capote discuss the icon's history, his writing, his social persona and impact. More than an interview, the wide-ranging conversation between longtime friends delves into topics you are unlikely to see elsewhere.
In the year AIDS was first defined by the CDC, this 1982 program is a human rights debate between religious scholars and notable gay New Yorkers.
