Tallulah Bankhead and Richard Denning star in this half-hour TV drama from 1957, "Eyes of a Stranger," about a woman who is going blind and needs a transplant.
Love Tallulah's elegant style and grace. When she shows Denning her ancestor's portrait, I'm thinking of her real-life background, born into a prominent Southern family....
Thank you for posting this. Tallulah looks good here, especially in the 'Margot Channing' gown. She's the perfect Margot Channing. It also shows she could have been a greater movie actress than many give her credit and opportunity for. Alfred Hitchcock knew how to direct her, and she did great in Lifeboat. I cannot imagine anyone else in that role.
Tallulah did far more than Lifeboat. Some of her work from the 30's is outstanding such as The Cheat. Had she been less controversial and a more conventional actress, she undoubtedly would have taken up where Jenne Eagles left off. And, it's a great pity we missed those performances.
SUPERB.EXCELLENT. Tallulah Bankhead was exquisite. LOVE LOVE LOVE this period in movies.The 30's-70's.Even up to 1985. But these black and white gems are awesome and beautiful to see.Thank You for posting Mr. Eichler.
Thanks for posting this! Tallu had her faults but was a tremendously great actress! I wish that I could have seen her in "The Little Foxes" but I was born too late!
You have to wonder if this script "inspired" the later Rod Serling NIGHT GALLERY story about a woman going blind, played by Joan Crawford and directed by a 20-year-old Steven Spielberg.
Reading the comments you received and several others saying the same thing about Bette in "Dark Victory" and some others but that is what Hollywood and the Theatre too all redoing the same ole thing. It the Theatre they also turn almost anything into a musical! Not complaining much I just can not help thinking of all the new things that are being written that we never get to see! Come on and allow some fresh blood in!
Have you ever heard her do the role? There is a radio recording. And she's a hoot. Bette Davis can't touch a Tallulah line reading of "remind me to you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke."
I believe this was the last period in her life that she looked alright. After this she slowly slipped down to her unfortunate appearance in 1967. So sad for such a great talent. I feel that if she’d taken a gram of interest in health and had her alcoholic tendencies assessed….and ate more she might have lived more than she did. ❤️
I read a biography of her. When she died she weighed only 78 pounds, possibly because she ate little due to her alcoholism and drug addiction. Her cause of death was supposedly malnutrition. A sad end to a remarkable talent
@@ericnyamu9981I think it refers to the movie, “Die, Die, My Darling” in which Bankhead plays a demented religious fanatic bent on murdering her deceased son’s fiancée. It was the first Bankhead movie I ever saw (I was a kid) and it absolutely terrified me. I watched it again recently and her performance was brilliant
"You might become a bongo." Every dimestore Ebert is having a field day comparing this to Bette's "Dark Victory" and Joan's "Twilight Zone." Bette dies; Joan recovers her sight for the duration of a blackout. There's only one real connection. A woman with eyes and some money. Otherwise, totally different. Sheesh.
A GREAT contribution to Tallulah's very few filmed performances.. I recommend her In THE CHEAT and (US TITLE ) DiE DIE MY DARLING ALSO her fantastic CAMP role as BLACK WIDOW.. in 6Os TV series BATMAN..
I know that the stage was Tallulah's home, but it is such a shame that so little of her body of work was filmed. She was a remarkably versatile and talented actress whose greatest triumphs went unfilmed and live on only in legend.
She had her furneral in a Episcopal church and is buried in the church grave yard, her sister who died later was buried next to her. In this show her manager was the restaurant owner in the later years of Perry Mason in 65-66
Aaaah, the 50s...when people dressed for going out to parties. No sweat shirts, cargo shorts, sneakers or yoga pants. Also, no annoying brats interrupting adult conversations.
They’re so clever some of these 25 minute dramas. Big stars, even the director is a big star. Strong characters. Direct, no frills plots with brilliant twists. So much today is padded out. I love the stylishness of the clothes and this set of people. I also love Tallulah cigarette meeting a doctor and asking ‘May I have a cigarette?’ And him having a full cigarette case on him!
She tried to talk Diana Barrymore out of destroying herself with her alcoholism. "Who am i to tell you..." was how she started, but she did proceed to give her some sound advice
Tallulah was fabulous here, even if she was playing herself. What style! What glamour and personality. You can sense that Bette Davis copied her in more ways than one. Ah, what could have been with her film career.. At times I thought she was slurring her words, or perhaps it was just her accent, but no matter. It suited the character. She also looked quite well preserved here at 55.
O my gosh , this the same story ( slightly altered ) that later was Steven Spielberg “s first dictorial debut directing Crawford for a tv show where she is blind , is restored to sight but then wakes to not being able to see as the city in a blackout ?
He did, in fact, play George Cooper (husband of Liz Cooper, played by - you guessed it! - Lucille Ball) on "My Favorite Husband" on CBS Radio. While he didn't get to play Lucy's husband on TV (she insisted on her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, as her co-star on what would become "I Love Lucy," in large part to try to save their marriage), he did co-star with Barbara Britton in the TV version of "Mr. and Mrs. North" from 1952 to 1954. And, later on (1960-61), he played the title role in the TV version of "Michael Shayne."
@@EYE_GOTCHA I was a nurse in the late 70's and eighties. We even smoked at the nurses station in ICU and the coronary care unit. Even our oncologist smoked at that time. The was even tall commercial ashtrays all over the grocery stores so you could smoke and shop!
Get the distinct impression Miss Bankhead was soused during much of filming; no matter - glib aplomb all over the place. “Listening? I never stop talking; haven’t you heard?” 16:02.
Very Southern and enchanting at the right moments. If you don’t understand Southern manners, and the director did, you will miss much of the import of this performance.
Fun to see this. Thanks for posting. It's clear, though, that Tallulah had become a parody of herself and that's probably why she didn't get much of a range of roles offered to her.
Wrong.... inspired by "All About Eve" and Margo Channing played by Betty Davis.... that is almost exactly the same dress and hairstyle Betty Davis had as Margo Channing.
It is the truth, stories were far more interesting and well knit, well written , and a intelligent consummate writer knows these differences from what is being given today as entertainment in terms of stories in audio visual., expensively carelessly put together nonsense, which doesn't touch any human sense, very seldom in fact, art of storytelling is very important and with today's scenario of glut of services, even more so.
I was very lucky to have family friends that had a few of her stage filmed and would show them. I was 6 or 7 the 1st time, but will always remember Her! Not until years later did I see "Lifeboat" and I figured oot who she was! Had not known her name as a child or hear the adults talk about her so I had heard her name but Lifeboat put it altogether and then watch the "horror movie" she did with Stephanie Poewrs(?) again slighty bad movie but just watching her was enough for and the next 7 plus times since! OMG and when she did "I Love Lucy'!!! best line, Miss Bankhead said to Lucy "And you doooo a lousy interpretation of me!!!! in the Only Tallulah's way,Darling!as Lucy walk out and slight pause, back comes Lucy "And So Do you, darling!" hahaha I think only one other movie but hope for more! xoxo
Exactly! Tallulah actually created the role of Judith Trahern on Broadway in the original play, and Margo was actually based on her. Her radio performance of "All About Eve" can be heard at: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MQJnqebLESY.html&spfreload=10
+Alan Eichler Alan, I LOVE your channel, I had no idea Bette worked so much on television she's grand in the episodes and always filled the crooks and crannies of the scripts. I will share a bit of personal memories regarding the great Bette Davis. I am a retired actor and worked in all that is show business. Many decades ago, Bette starred in a musical version of The Corn is Green which was to park itself on Broadway after a national tour. The director was the famous Joshua Logan and I got to the very final call backs which were held at the Ambassador Theater on Broadway where I met and read onstage with the legend herself. The actors at the finals were not informed Miss Davis was there to read with us. Of the 5 of us I was last to read with Bette. I will tell you that it is to this day my most treasured and beloved past memory. She greeted me like an old friend knowing full well how nervous we all were of the Everest challenge ahead. I was surprised to see how petite she was and physically frail and her eyes fascinated me. When we started the process was Bette Davis professional as if she was shooting a scene at Warner's. When we finished she said "That was GOOD! wasn't Joshua!". I came in 3rd for the choice and another boy was cast and another as understudy, with the promise of 1st Choice replacement from the producers as was told to my agent. As I remember, I felt a winner just getting to read on a Broadway stage with the great Bette Davis. The compliment she paid me helped in the lean times most actors go through. Going back to this post, I recall Bette always praising Bankhead and even admitted to stealing her stage performance of Regina Giddens in the film The little Foxes, according to Davis's statement, "There was no other way to play it." Tallulah recording of Margo has it's moments, but nowhere near Davis's snap, crackle and pop. Thank you for sending! I loved it.
Oh thank goodness they didn’t kiss, I couldn’t have watched, the gobs of gummy lipstick, ugh. That aside, I really couldn’t figure out if they were heading someplace romantically.
She was wonderful. (I can't stand Richard Denning!). Too bad so few directors could capture Tallulah on film for the big screen. Only Hitchcock, really.
This is pretty awful. Bad sadistic script.Looks like it was written by the Gestapo or fbi. Doctor is a sadist. Cameraman is tipsy. Supporting cast.. Crazy. Bankhead saves this from being unwatchable. She may have been forced to do this at gunpoint. When you concider the sadists that wrote it and financed it, that's more than likely.
