I watched this yesterday and was astounded by the performances of all, but especially Mickey Rooney. He is so natural and fluid. His performance is seamless. For those who think of Mickey Rooney as a happy-go-lucky character type, this performance will floor you. He is nasty and ruthless and heartless. The rest of the cast is similarly flawless. How much time did it take to rehearse, I wonder? Watching these old live broadcasts is also a revelation. That they were able to have such variety and density in such confined environs is amazing. While some things such as transitions and breaks are crude by today's standards, that they did all of this live is impressive. There is a montage near the end of the program with cross-fades and multiple locations. How did they do it? The writing is equally spectacular. Can one think of anything similar being done today? As another reviewer noted, the denouement does have something of a false ring to it. I won't spoil it here. I know how I would have ended it. It would be interesting to read the Ernest Lehman story on which the show is based to see if it is the same.
11 Reviews
An amazing show....
planktonrules27 August 2010
This is one of the teleplays included on the three DVD set from Criterion. All the plays were performed live and it's amazing how good the production values were considering they were put on week after week! Among the films in the set are some amazingly good television events--ones that went on to have expensive Hollywood remakes and in some cases they won Oscars! Such great productions as "Marty", "Requiem for a Heavyweight" and "Days of Wine and Roses" all began first on television--and in some cases this TV version is superior! The basic story idea for "The Comedian" is very, very reminiscent of several other exceptional films from the 1950s. In many ways, it's like José Ferrer's "The Great Man" (1956), Andy Griffith's "A Face in the Crowd" (1957) as well as part of the wonderful film "A Thousand Clowns" (1965) in that all three involve a megalomaniac and downright vicious beloved star--one that America just doesn't know for the jerk he really is.
These stories were all were inspired by a real-life event. In the early 1950s, Arthur Godfrey was one of the most trusted and beloved TV personalities--mostly because he came off as so sweet and down to earth. However, in 1953, his anger got the best of him and he actually fired one of his acts ON AIR! And, in subsequent years, his hellish nature became apparent...and his popularity dwindled to nothing. No doubt writer Rod Serling was inspired, at least in part, by Godfrey's example.
The comedian from the title is a character played by Mickey Rooney--a huge TV star who has a mean streak a mile wide and takes it out on everyone behind the scenes. He browbeats everyone--but particularly takes it out on his meek brother (Mel Tormé) who is his own personal whipping boy! Mel's wife (Kim Hunter) pressures him to quit--to be a man and stop taking the mistreatment, but his self-esteem is so low that he can't make himself do what he needs to do. In addition to Tormé, a lot of Rooney's wrath is directed to his writer (Edmund O'Brien). Something has to give...as not only these men but everyone who works with Rooney can't stand him and his boorish ways.
Overall, it's a very good show--and it's amazing to watch these people doing the show live. However, I must also say that I prefer the films I listed above--they were a bit more subtle and enjoyable--particularly "The Great Man". Still, it's well worth seeing...and an amazing show.
These stories were all were inspired by a real-life event. In the early 1950s, Arthur Godfrey was one of the most trusted and beloved TV personalities--mostly because he came off as so sweet and down to earth. However, in 1953, his anger got the best of him and he actually fired one of his acts ON AIR! And, in subsequent years, his hellish nature became apparent...and his popularity dwindled to nothing. No doubt writer Rod Serling was inspired, at least in part, by Godfrey's example.
The comedian from the title is a character played by Mickey Rooney--a huge TV star who has a mean streak a mile wide and takes it out on everyone behind the scenes. He browbeats everyone--but particularly takes it out on his meek brother (Mel Tormé) who is his own personal whipping boy! Mel's wife (Kim Hunter) pressures him to quit--to be a man and stop taking the mistreatment, but his self-esteem is so low that he can't make himself do what he needs to do. In addition to Tormé, a lot of Rooney's wrath is directed to his writer (Edmund O'Brien). Something has to give...as not only these men but everyone who works with Rooney can't stand him and his boorish ways.
Overall, it's a very good show--and it's amazing to watch these people doing the show live. However, I must also say that I prefer the films I listed above--they were a bit more subtle and enjoyable--particularly "The Great Man". Still, it's well worth seeing...and an amazing show.
A Really Great Guy!
theowinthrop10 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I suspect there were two figures, maybe three, who were the basis for the character of early television comic giant Sammy Hogarth in this drama. First there were Sid Caesar and Red Buttons, both of whom were notably difficult to write comedy for (Caesar less than Buttons, in that he was just outspoken when presented by second-rate material; Buttons made a name for himself - and a hash of his comedy variety success - by firing comic writers almost weekly in the second year of his show). The other may be Arthur Godfrey, another "beloved" television personality of the 1950s who was something less than likable in his relations with his staff (ask the unfortunate Julius La Rosa, for example).
THE COMEDIAN was a drama by Rod Sterling that was revived on television by Sonny Fox in 1994 in a series showing the best surviving kine-scopes of live television shows from the golden age of television drama. The others included the original BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, NO TIMES FOR SERGEANTS, and REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. THE COMEDIAN starred Mickey Rooney as the energetic, dynamic, and totally lousy Hogarth, an ego-maniacal comic genius who demanded the best from everyone around him. He dominates his nervous and downtrodden brother, Lester (Mel Torme, in a surprisingly good performance as a snook who finally seems to grow claws). Kim Hunter plays Julie Hogarth, the wife of Lester, whom has had to fight off the attentions of Sammy. And Edmund O'Brien plays Al Preston, a script writer for Hogarth who is finding the comedian less and less easy to work for and less and less satisfied by his work. Preston's wife Connie (Constance Ford) is trying to convince him that despite the salary it is not worth the aggravation tied to such a creep as Hogarth. O'Brien is almost convinced, and then a disaster hits in the form of a script.
Before Preston had been on the staff, another writer worked for Hogarth, and this writer had died. That was why Preston was hired. What Hogarth did not know was that the previous writer had written a full script for Hogarth, and Preston ends up in possession of the script. But the script is in the other writer's name, and if Preston uses it, and the act becomes known, it can ruin his reputation. But if it is used and nobody discovers the truth, Preston's reputation is secured.
In the meantime, Hogarth does a series of jokes about noted critic Elwell (Whit Bissell). Elwell discovers all about Hogarth's relationship with his sister-in-law, and publishes it. While this is going on, the purloined script is being produced, and Hogarth is very pleased by it. But each day approaches the date of the television production, and Preston is growing worried. Is he sure he's safe, or will the truth come out to hurt him? Like the contemporary film THE GREAT MAN (also based on Arthur Godfrey), and the business in the contemporary British comedy THE NAKED TRUTH (or YOUR PAST IS SHOWING) concerning British television star "Wee Geordie" MacGregor (Peter Sellers), THE COMEDIAN showed the difference between the real world of television personalities and the final production the public loved. It strives too hard at times at being a bit philosophical (O'Brien finally demanding from Rooney what makes him tick - in real life he would not have bothered to ask). But the drama was a very good one, and certainly added to the laurels of it's five stars (Rooney, O'Brien, Ford, Hunter, and especially Torme). And it added another feather to the legend of Rod Sterling, that peerless television dramatist before the coming of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
THE COMEDIAN was a drama by Rod Sterling that was revived on television by Sonny Fox in 1994 in a series showing the best surviving kine-scopes of live television shows from the golden age of television drama. The others included the original BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY, NO TIMES FOR SERGEANTS, and REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. THE COMEDIAN starred Mickey Rooney as the energetic, dynamic, and totally lousy Hogarth, an ego-maniacal comic genius who demanded the best from everyone around him. He dominates his nervous and downtrodden brother, Lester (Mel Torme, in a surprisingly good performance as a snook who finally seems to grow claws). Kim Hunter plays Julie Hogarth, the wife of Lester, whom has had to fight off the attentions of Sammy. And Edmund O'Brien plays Al Preston, a script writer for Hogarth who is finding the comedian less and less easy to work for and less and less satisfied by his work. Preston's wife Connie (Constance Ford) is trying to convince him that despite the salary it is not worth the aggravation tied to such a creep as Hogarth. O'Brien is almost convinced, and then a disaster hits in the form of a script.
Before Preston had been on the staff, another writer worked for Hogarth, and this writer had died. That was why Preston was hired. What Hogarth did not know was that the previous writer had written a full script for Hogarth, and Preston ends up in possession of the script. But the script is in the other writer's name, and if Preston uses it, and the act becomes known, it can ruin his reputation. But if it is used and nobody discovers the truth, Preston's reputation is secured.
In the meantime, Hogarth does a series of jokes about noted critic Elwell (Whit Bissell). Elwell discovers all about Hogarth's relationship with his sister-in-law, and publishes it. While this is going on, the purloined script is being produced, and Hogarth is very pleased by it. But each day approaches the date of the television production, and Preston is growing worried. Is he sure he's safe, or will the truth come out to hurt him? Like the contemporary film THE GREAT MAN (also based on Arthur Godfrey), and the business in the contemporary British comedy THE NAKED TRUTH (or YOUR PAST IS SHOWING) concerning British television star "Wee Geordie" MacGregor (Peter Sellers), THE COMEDIAN showed the difference between the real world of television personalities and the final production the public loved. It strives too hard at times at being a bit philosophical (O'Brien finally demanding from Rooney what makes him tick - in real life he would not have bothered to ask). But the drama was a very good one, and certainly added to the laurels of it's five stars (Rooney, O'Brien, Ford, Hunter, and especially Torme). And it added another feather to the legend of Rod Sterling, that peerless television dramatist before the coming of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
Hard-hitting drama with brilliant performances
rmears128 June 2001
A searing behind-the-scenes look at a larger than life television personality, which still packs a punch today in spite of its many imitators. Written by "The Twilight Zone"'s Rod Serling as a "Playhouse 90" televised drama, it contains an explosive performance by Mickey Rooney that stands unparalleled in his body of work, prior to or since.
Rooney plays Sammy Hogarth, an egomaniacal comedian who demands perfection from everyone around him. His main target is his weak brother, Lester (singer Mel Torme), whose job description basically consists of taking Sammy's round-the-clock abuse, doing his dirty work, and pretending to worship the ground he walks on. Another outlet for Sammy's wrath is his head writer (Edmond O'Brien), who has lost his edge and who, in his desperation to please Sammy, has stolen material from a dead comic. Lester's wife (Kim Hunter) is fed up with her husband's role as Sammy's whipping post, and threatens to leave him if he doesn't rectify the situation. His opportunity to do so comes when he catches wind of the plagiarism, and he threatens to expose Sammy to an acidic columnist unless he cuts a monologue which savagely ridicules Lester.
All of the events in the story lead up to a 90-minute telecast which Sammy believes will be the highlight of his career, and must therefore be flawless. That means no last-minute cuts the day before the show, especially the monologue. O'Brien is forced to be the go-between amongst Sammy, Lester, and the columnist, navigating his way with carefully chosen words and ego-stroking. The film is told largely from O'Brien's point of view, and the audience can honestly feel for him as he digs himself into an ever-deeper hole. However, Serling's screenplay is too smart to portray Sammy as a one-dimensional hothead. Actually, he's not at all predictable. In a lesser film, upon discovering the theft of material he would simply explode, screaming his lungs out at everyone in sight. Watch the finesse with which he handles the situation here, and you will witness a marriage of great writing and direction (by John Frankenheimer).
That's not to say that Sammy isn't a hothead. As played by Rooney, in a grand, scenery-chewing performance, he is a man so determined to win the undying love of all his fans that he will go to any extreme in achieving that end. Torme demonstrates great acting potential in the role of the spineless brother. His final on-camera breakdown is amazing. O'Brien has perhaps the film's most difficult role, walking a very narrow tightrope and pulling it off marvelously. The most amazing part of the production is the fact that it was filmed live, with no second chances. The actors were obviously comfortable with their assignments, as they were able to move past plain remembrance of lines and create expressions, gestures, etc. "The Comedian" stands as a testament to the capability of television to tell stories in an equally compelling manner as theatrical films.
Rooney plays Sammy Hogarth, an egomaniacal comedian who demands perfection from everyone around him. His main target is his weak brother, Lester (singer Mel Torme), whose job description basically consists of taking Sammy's round-the-clock abuse, doing his dirty work, and pretending to worship the ground he walks on. Another outlet for Sammy's wrath is his head writer (Edmond O'Brien), who has lost his edge and who, in his desperation to please Sammy, has stolen material from a dead comic. Lester's wife (Kim Hunter) is fed up with her husband's role as Sammy's whipping post, and threatens to leave him if he doesn't rectify the situation. His opportunity to do so comes when he catches wind of the plagiarism, and he threatens to expose Sammy to an acidic columnist unless he cuts a monologue which savagely ridicules Lester.
All of the events in the story lead up to a 90-minute telecast which Sammy believes will be the highlight of his career, and must therefore be flawless. That means no last-minute cuts the day before the show, especially the monologue. O'Brien is forced to be the go-between amongst Sammy, Lester, and the columnist, navigating his way with carefully chosen words and ego-stroking. The film is told largely from O'Brien's point of view, and the audience can honestly feel for him as he digs himself into an ever-deeper hole. However, Serling's screenplay is too smart to portray Sammy as a one-dimensional hothead. Actually, he's not at all predictable. In a lesser film, upon discovering the theft of material he would simply explode, screaming his lungs out at everyone in sight. Watch the finesse with which he handles the situation here, and you will witness a marriage of great writing and direction (by John Frankenheimer).
That's not to say that Sammy isn't a hothead. As played by Rooney, in a grand, scenery-chewing performance, he is a man so determined to win the undying love of all his fans that he will go to any extreme in achieving that end. Torme demonstrates great acting potential in the role of the spineless brother. His final on-camera breakdown is amazing. O'Brien has perhaps the film's most difficult role, walking a very narrow tightrope and pulling it off marvelously. The most amazing part of the production is the fact that it was filmed live, with no second chances. The actors were obviously comfortable with their assignments, as they were able to move past plain remembrance of lines and create expressions, gestures, etc. "The Comedian" stands as a testament to the capability of television to tell stories in an equally compelling manner as theatrical films.
Intense, unexpectedly moving, and fine acting by Micky Rooney...
XTC-26 July 1999
This tells the story of an old vaudevillian comic (Rooney) who will do ANYTHING for the show, and at the same time, totally ignore the feelings of his family, particularly his brother (Mel Torme).
It is a fascinating production, where Rooney's character, empty of soul, fills the screen with venom and vitriol.
Torme, the weaker, less-talented brother, suffers him silently until the end, where he finally loses his grip.
I was surprised to see Rooney in such a devastating performance. It makes "Mr. Saturday Night" look like a film-strip.
It is a fascinating production, where Rooney's character, empty of soul, fills the screen with venom and vitriol.
Torme, the weaker, less-talented brother, suffers him silently until the end, where he finally loses his grip.
I was surprised to see Rooney in such a devastating performance. It makes "Mr. Saturday Night" look like a film-strip.
For Drama Fans A Fine Piece of Entertainment
DKosty12312 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
If you pulled out a tape of an old radio drama, and then migrated it to television, this would be a great example. Most of the CBS Playhouse 90 dramas fit this logical mode but what makes them special is the fact they are done live like the old radio dramas were. It helps having a great script which Lehman & Rod Sterlings interpretation here sparkle.
Mickey Rooney gives a great performance as the over-bearing comic star who is the boss of his own comedy television show whose over-bearing on his brother & his staff are making everyone pay a toll to him. His ego knows no bounds as is illustrated many times throughout this drama. Rooney is fantastic as his work over the years illustrates the talent he has, but here in particular you understand how much talent he has.
The surprise is Mel Torme who plays Rooney's brother. He is the pin cushion in this drama as he has to take everything his brother dishes out including monologues on every show making fun of him. His brother tries to do everything he can to him including putting stress on his marriage. Kim Hunter is here to play that role and she proves again as in other live dramas (Req For A Heavyweight) she did in the 1950's that she is up to the role. Torme & Hunter provide great support here. Edmond O'Brien is great in support as the Head Writer who has his own tormented plot twist here.
A small role that I can't find a credit for here is the scandal sheet gossip columnist role who is trying to find dirt on Rooney. That's because either he has a twin brother or this role is filled by an uncredited Richard Basehart. This is a small but important role as this columnist is very much involved in the plot with Rooney's brother & the head writer.
This is a high class drama when live drama was the king of prime time in the 1950's. Especially haunting is the huge door with the blow up photo of Rooney on it. It is used to great effect here.
Mickey Rooney gives a great performance as the over-bearing comic star who is the boss of his own comedy television show whose over-bearing on his brother & his staff are making everyone pay a toll to him. His ego knows no bounds as is illustrated many times throughout this drama. Rooney is fantastic as his work over the years illustrates the talent he has, but here in particular you understand how much talent he has.
The surprise is Mel Torme who plays Rooney's brother. He is the pin cushion in this drama as he has to take everything his brother dishes out including monologues on every show making fun of him. His brother tries to do everything he can to him including putting stress on his marriage. Kim Hunter is here to play that role and she proves again as in other live dramas (Req For A Heavyweight) she did in the 1950's that she is up to the role. Torme & Hunter provide great support here. Edmond O'Brien is great in support as the Head Writer who has his own tormented plot twist here.
A small role that I can't find a credit for here is the scandal sheet gossip columnist role who is trying to find dirt on Rooney. That's because either he has a twin brother or this role is filled by an uncredited Richard Basehart. This is a small but important role as this columnist is very much involved in the plot with Rooney's brother & the head writer.
This is a high class drama when live drama was the king of prime time in the 1950's. Especially haunting is the huge door with the blow up photo of Rooney on it. It is used to great effect here.
Very engrossing but..
anasazi-145-68212723 April 2019
Everything about this show is great except the ending. I couldn't quite buy that Lester would go back to Sammy after what transpires just moments earlier. Thus 6 out of ten. Nevertheless all the performances are top notch from.Mickey Rooney to Kim Hunter. Notably Mickey Rooney would sort of redo the Comedian in a Twilight Zone episode several years later with a somewhat different outcome!
Rooney Gives Electrifying Performance
CitizenCaine30 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Fresh on the heels of the release of his successful feature film debut The Young Stranger, John Frankenheimer directed this Rod Serling-penned study of a television comedian, played by Mickey Rooney, who is a megalomaniac. The story is based on a novelette by Ernest Lehman. Mickey Rooney is mesmerizing as Sammy Hogarth, an abusive and obnoxious lout who has everyone in his orbit cow-towing to him. Mel Torme must have been a dramatic revelation at the time playing Rooney's put upon brother Lester who finally has the goods, albeit, temporarily on Hogarth. Kim Hunter is Lester's frustrated wife who loves her husband but can't stand the passive wimp he has become. Edmond O'Brien is the head writer desperately trying to hang on to a career that has become increasingly ethically challenged.
Frankenheimer effectively casts Rooney, who gives one of his finest adult performances, as the little man who runs everyone into the ground. Rooney is absolutely ruthless and stops at nothing to salvage his broadcasts when things go awry. Torme is equally pathetic, sad, sympathetic, and wimpy as a man at the end of his rope trying to assuage his wife and fend off his brother's abuse simultaneously. Hunter is excellent as a torn woman trying to force her husband away from the demon Hogarth. O'Brien is very good as the writer who makes a terrible mistake and then must play politician as his career crumbles in front of him. Frankenheimer directs the story with the right mix of close-ups, two-shots, and zoom shots featuring the ferocious performances he gets from his actors. Rod Serling received his third Emmy Award for his script which moves the story tautly and quickly. Frankenheimer directed several other programs for television in the 1950's, but with The Comedian, he demonstrated he was a force to be reckoned with for future dramatic productions. This is one of the many tremendous productions yielded by Playhouse 90. ***1/2 of 4 stars.
Frankenheimer effectively casts Rooney, who gives one of his finest adult performances, as the little man who runs everyone into the ground. Rooney is absolutely ruthless and stops at nothing to salvage his broadcasts when things go awry. Torme is equally pathetic, sad, sympathetic, and wimpy as a man at the end of his rope trying to assuage his wife and fend off his brother's abuse simultaneously. Hunter is excellent as a torn woman trying to force her husband away from the demon Hogarth. O'Brien is very good as the writer who makes a terrible mistake and then must play politician as his career crumbles in front of him. Frankenheimer directs the story with the right mix of close-ups, two-shots, and zoom shots featuring the ferocious performances he gets from his actors. Rod Serling received his third Emmy Award for his script which moves the story tautly and quickly. Frankenheimer directed several other programs for television in the 1950's, but with The Comedian, he demonstrated he was a force to be reckoned with for future dramatic productions. This is one of the many tremendous productions yielded by Playhouse 90. ***1/2 of 4 stars.
A Lover of Power With No Power To Love
billseper29 January 2010
Mickey Rooney plays Sammy Hogarth, a famous comedian of stage and television, adored by the masses, hated and despised by his intimates.
There are two plots here, the lesser involving Sammy's brother, Lester, played by Mel Torme--a grown crybaby who clings to his big brother's shirttail from which comes his job as an abused go-for, and along with the job comes a weekly sketch portraying him as Lester the bumbling fool. There's a desire to get out from under this character abuse, but poor, weak Lester hasn't the backbone to properly make his stand without the aid of his endearing, but troubled wife played by Kim Hunter.
Edmond O'Brien plays the pivotal role in this production as Sammy's head comedy writer, and the plot involving a less than honorable script he's come up with is the real fuel for this story. Deceit is the name of the game in this television... well, let's call it a mini-movie since that's what Playhouse 90 more or less turned out, and as usual, O'Brien upstages pretty much everyone he's on screen with. Mickey Rooney certainly gives him a run for his money though. Unfortunately, these bad guy type roles Rooney started playing in the 50s were a big part of what contributed to his losing the public's admiration even though he did them well.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with anything, except perhaps the ending, which may leave you less contented than ole' Bossy on a late milking day. It's done well though.
There are two plots here, the lesser involving Sammy's brother, Lester, played by Mel Torme--a grown crybaby who clings to his big brother's shirttail from which comes his job as an abused go-for, and along with the job comes a weekly sketch portraying him as Lester the bumbling fool. There's a desire to get out from under this character abuse, but poor, weak Lester hasn't the backbone to properly make his stand without the aid of his endearing, but troubled wife played by Kim Hunter.
Edmond O'Brien plays the pivotal role in this production as Sammy's head comedy writer, and the plot involving a less than honorable script he's come up with is the real fuel for this story. Deceit is the name of the game in this television... well, let's call it a mini-movie since that's what Playhouse 90 more or less turned out, and as usual, O'Brien upstages pretty much everyone he's on screen with. Mickey Rooney certainly gives him a run for his money though. Unfortunately, these bad guy type roles Rooney started playing in the 50s were a big part of what contributed to his losing the public's admiration even though he did them well.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with anything, except perhaps the ending, which may leave you less contented than ole' Bossy on a late milking day. It's done well though.
Intense and riveting show
Chocolate_roseZ320 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The Comedian is an amazing story. Mickey Rooney's performance is mesmerizing. He is despicable, ruthlessly hateful and is a monster to anyone who doesn't bow down at his feet and give him what he wants instantly. What a revelation to me who only really saw him in the movies with a young Judy Garland. The rest of the cast is outstanding. Mel Torme is brilliant as the brother. I kept waiting for him to stand up for himself, but except for a few moments where you think he's reached the end of his tolerance, he backs down like a little mouse. Edmond O'Brien is good as the head writer but he doesn't quite match the intensity of Mickey Rooney or Mel Torme.
To think this was performed live and 90 minutes long. A powerful story that you won't soon forget.
To think this was performed live and 90 minutes long. A powerful story that you won't soon forget.
I Remember Monster
tostinati5 August 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers. See it first.
A story in one of those "Whatever Became Of...?" books from several years ago convinced me without aiming to that Sammy Hogarth is a thinly veiled composite of the top two or three TV comics of TV's Golden Age. (No names please.) In that book, a second string comic who did a lot of TV in the 50s talks at length, with deadly, convincing examples, of the bloated egotism, vanity and ugly cruelty of THE names of early TV comedy. "The really big ones" he said "they were all b****rds."
That certainly describes Mickey Rooney as Sammy Hogarth to the letter. Once you accept the premise --that over-the-top success breeds monsters of the ego-- it is easy to get swept up in a paranoid who-was-he-really? guessing game. Is Rooney as good as he is at playing Sammy because he IS Sammy? (After all, success and wealth came to him a a very early age, and he apparently had the kind of women most red-blooded American Male's dream of on tap throughout his 20s and 30s.) --Or is it another non-comic air personality, of the legendary and ultimately self-immolating high temper, a saint before the camera, a beast behind the scenes, whose rise and fall was encapsulated for all time in the contemporaneous Face In the Crowd? Clearly, turning over all the stones in the field is madness. Sammy is a postulate.
As central as Sammy is to the experience of The Comedian, the story isn't really about him. It's about Al, Sammy's harried head writer, a middle-aged man who finds himself at a personal crossroads. Deep in a lucrative career most of his peers would kill for, he has come reluctantly to the realization that he doesn't have what it takes anymore. His co-writers are carrying him; he is acting mostly as editor, passive catalyst, critic and executive comedy writer. The crushing grind of turning out huge volumes of material on the tightest schedules has used up whatever he may have had. --Or maybe he never had it to begin with; Al is never sure. (Friends say this character was the great Rod Serling himself, always unsure of his own talent.)
Whatever his perceived personal inadequacies, Al recognizes and savors brilliance when he sees it. Years before, he crossed paths with an aspiring young comedy writer named Davey Farber. Farber wrote knockout stuff; Al says he (Al) would be dining daily on Farber's dust, were his rival-aborning/idol alive now. But Farber was killed in WWII. Al keeps an original set of Davey's unused, unsubmitted scripts from the old days in a locked drawer in his office. Why? --To commune from time to time with a kindred spirit and dead friend/mentor/demon? --As insurance against the day when inspiration fails him, and he has to come in contact with the Godhead via the service entrance? To steal the work of somebody better than he ever was? Your answer to this question is as ultimately just as crass and condemning or as shaded and empathetic as you want it to be. Al's relationship with the image of Farber isn't exactly love/hate, but it is masochistic, and he probably hates himself for the emotions those scripts bring out in him. Every time he removes those scripts from his hiding place, he bathes in his own failure. He admires Farber immensely, while feeling stung that he could never be one of the brilliant ones, like the long departed author of his hard-copy inspiration. It's his connection with Farber that will eventually put him to the test.
Sammy's brother Lester is the comedian's home base foil. For all the abuse Sammy heaps on everyone else-- and that's plenty-- he saves the very best for family, as people will. Lester is the brunt of the savage monologue that opens Sammy's show every week. Lester's wife is beginning to hate him for taking it lying down. He is squeezed tight between the allure of a cushy sustaining spot on his brother's payroll and his wife's impatient shame at a husband who got everything he will ever own by submitting to his brother's public mistreatment. Lester's desperate search for a way out of the non-stop humiliation and threatened end of his marriage sets things in motion that will force Al to finally deal definitively with his dark secret.
Into a charged situation sashays gossip columnist Otis Elwood, a dilettante and foppish slimeball, with fur-collared great coat, crisp fedora and shades he never removes. His pompous and high-blown everyday speech betrays his inflated image of himself. But right off, despite all the creep cues thrown our way, we share one undeniable affinity with this 'villain' that prevents us writing him off: We despise Sammy every bit as much as Elwood does. Like him, we ache to see the little weasel fall. It may be hard for modern audiences to realize the kind of power the Earl Wilsons, Luella Parsons, Hedda Hoppers and Walter Winchells used to wield. But they did, and Elwood is no far-fetched deus ex machina. Lester hates Elwood, mumbling into his collar at the beginning of act one "He thinks he's God or somethin'." He will turn to Elwood before the play is over, for leverage against Al and his brother and for salvation from his personal hell.
The obsessions of the main characters are essentially Serling's: career (as in how to earn a dollar and retain one's dignity), place in society (as in one's ultimate deemed status in the human community), the nature of talent, and the question of the importance of legacy. In Serling's world, it isn't a question of wanting to fit in and keep up with the other corporation men. Materialistic failure is always an option for Serling. But to be a nonentity, to do something that causes you to slip through the cracks of human memory, is not.
If anyone wants to see what all the talk over TV drama from the Golden Age of television is about, this is the place to start.
Ten Stars.
A story in one of those "Whatever Became Of...?" books from several years ago convinced me without aiming to that Sammy Hogarth is a thinly veiled composite of the top two or three TV comics of TV's Golden Age. (No names please.) In that book, a second string comic who did a lot of TV in the 50s talks at length, with deadly, convincing examples, of the bloated egotism, vanity and ugly cruelty of THE names of early TV comedy. "The really big ones" he said "they were all b****rds."
That certainly describes Mickey Rooney as Sammy Hogarth to the letter. Once you accept the premise --that over-the-top success breeds monsters of the ego-- it is easy to get swept up in a paranoid who-was-he-really? guessing game. Is Rooney as good as he is at playing Sammy because he IS Sammy? (After all, success and wealth came to him a a very early age, and he apparently had the kind of women most red-blooded American Male's dream of on tap throughout his 20s and 30s.) --Or is it another non-comic air personality, of the legendary and ultimately self-immolating high temper, a saint before the camera, a beast behind the scenes, whose rise and fall was encapsulated for all time in the contemporaneous Face In the Crowd? Clearly, turning over all the stones in the field is madness. Sammy is a postulate.
As central as Sammy is to the experience of The Comedian, the story isn't really about him. It's about Al, Sammy's harried head writer, a middle-aged man who finds himself at a personal crossroads. Deep in a lucrative career most of his peers would kill for, he has come reluctantly to the realization that he doesn't have what it takes anymore. His co-writers are carrying him; he is acting mostly as editor, passive catalyst, critic and executive comedy writer. The crushing grind of turning out huge volumes of material on the tightest schedules has used up whatever he may have had. --Or maybe he never had it to begin with; Al is never sure. (Friends say this character was the great Rod Serling himself, always unsure of his own talent.)
Whatever his perceived personal inadequacies, Al recognizes and savors brilliance when he sees it. Years before, he crossed paths with an aspiring young comedy writer named Davey Farber. Farber wrote knockout stuff; Al says he (Al) would be dining daily on Farber's dust, were his rival-aborning/idol alive now. But Farber was killed in WWII. Al keeps an original set of Davey's unused, unsubmitted scripts from the old days in a locked drawer in his office. Why? --To commune from time to time with a kindred spirit and dead friend/mentor/demon? --As insurance against the day when inspiration fails him, and he has to come in contact with the Godhead via the service entrance? To steal the work of somebody better than he ever was? Your answer to this question is as ultimately just as crass and condemning or as shaded and empathetic as you want it to be. Al's relationship with the image of Farber isn't exactly love/hate, but it is masochistic, and he probably hates himself for the emotions those scripts bring out in him. Every time he removes those scripts from his hiding place, he bathes in his own failure. He admires Farber immensely, while feeling stung that he could never be one of the brilliant ones, like the long departed author of his hard-copy inspiration. It's his connection with Farber that will eventually put him to the test.
Sammy's brother Lester is the comedian's home base foil. For all the abuse Sammy heaps on everyone else-- and that's plenty-- he saves the very best for family, as people will. Lester is the brunt of the savage monologue that opens Sammy's show every week. Lester's wife is beginning to hate him for taking it lying down. He is squeezed tight between the allure of a cushy sustaining spot on his brother's payroll and his wife's impatient shame at a husband who got everything he will ever own by submitting to his brother's public mistreatment. Lester's desperate search for a way out of the non-stop humiliation and threatened end of his marriage sets things in motion that will force Al to finally deal definitively with his dark secret.
Into a charged situation sashays gossip columnist Otis Elwood, a dilettante and foppish slimeball, with fur-collared great coat, crisp fedora and shades he never removes. His pompous and high-blown everyday speech betrays his inflated image of himself. But right off, despite all the creep cues thrown our way, we share one undeniable affinity with this 'villain' that prevents us writing him off: We despise Sammy every bit as much as Elwood does. Like him, we ache to see the little weasel fall. It may be hard for modern audiences to realize the kind of power the Earl Wilsons, Luella Parsons, Hedda Hoppers and Walter Winchells used to wield. But they did, and Elwood is no far-fetched deus ex machina. Lester hates Elwood, mumbling into his collar at the beginning of act one "He thinks he's God or somethin'." He will turn to Elwood before the play is over, for leverage against Al and his brother and for salvation from his personal hell.
The obsessions of the main characters are essentially Serling's: career (as in how to earn a dollar and retain one's dignity), place in society (as in one's ultimate deemed status in the human community), the nature of talent, and the question of the importance of legacy. In Serling's world, it isn't a question of wanting to fit in and keep up with the other corporation men. Materialistic failure is always an option for Serling. But to be a nonentity, to do something that causes you to slip through the cracks of human memory, is not.
If anyone wants to see what all the talk over TV drama from the Golden Age of television is about, this is the place to start.
Ten Stars.
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