Episode Number 5. Original Airdate October 25,1963. Referred to as "The Story of Nathan Hale" Includes Next Weeks Preview of "Go Down Moses" and the Commentary from the NEA.
Just watched this episode today for the first time since it originally aired in 1963. I was in 6th grade at the time. Really enjoyed watching this show back in the day. It only lasted one season but "The Great Adventure" was an excellent series. It aired on Friday night at 7:30 on CBS. This particular episode, "The Secret" is the one I remember the most. It's a shame that a quality series like this would never be done today. Thanks for posting!
I remember this great series on American history and a powerful theme music, it's a pity it only had a short run. They don't make tv series like that anymore.
I watched this when it originally aired, age 10. I then portrayed Nathan Hale for my cub scout troop that year. I loved this series and remember this episode and the one about the CSS Hunley as well.
Many, Many Blessings to you, jeffilm80! In my humble opinion, the very best television series ever broadcast. Thank you for unearthing another gem. Merry Christmas.
I happened upon a compilation of shows from 1964 and heard that theme song which has been stuck in my brain since I watched this show back in the early 60s. So glad I learned its source and now it is letting me see this show. I watched it alone when it was on as I don't think anyone else was as interested in history as I was and am. It remains one of the best shows to ever air, not perfect, but history in 1964 -- our version and understanding of things before us -- was vastly different than now. I can't believe the makeover Andrew Johnson received, thank God. Back in the 60s and before, historians, especially those from the South protrayed him as someone who unified the country, survived impeachment and in the end strengthening the office of the president. We know now that he undid so many of the forward-looking advancements of civil rights put forth during Reconstruction, took all of that away and pushed us in the direction of Jim Crow.
This was a great series. The episode I remember the most was the one about President Grover Cleveland (Leif Erickson) secretly being operated on a train car removing a cancer from the roof of his mouth.
I would really like to see all the episodes of this program, :The Great Adventure, in numerical order so that I do not miss any of the ones THAT STILL EXIST. THANK YOU!!!!
I miss the episode about Wild Bill Hickok and the one about the founder of the ASPCA. I am sure the first is not in this collection, and I don't think the other is here, either.
I wish all the episodes of "The Great Adventure" could be located and posted on RU-vid. I only regret that some events are highly fictionalized, such as the multiple killings during his short time as a spy and the implication he succeeded in collecting and disseminating vital information for Washington. In reality, it was another spy, Hercules Mulligan, who proved to be indispensable to Washington and remained a successful spy throughout the war.
Yeah, Abraham Woodhull from Long Island, NY was a more effective spy for Washington. Nathan Hale is more the exemplar of stoicism, who died for his country.
Great soundtrack on this episode, but I am afraid I cannot tell the difference between Handel and Bach or between either of them and Mozart. Some of the music used here sounds familiar, though.
I've tried off and on for over 10 years to find the full set of this program. I agree that it is maybe highly fictionalized and there might be some revisionist history being written now. And the revisions might be needed. But. Here I am remembering it (e.g., The Hunley), and I'm 68. Maybe it was a combination of the age I was then, and the music, and maybe the scripts were well-written. I DO know that 60 years on, I STILL remember it.
@Tom H I’m a card-carrying member of the east coast Antifa Senior Leadership Council (ASLC) and one of their largest public fundraisers, and I can tell you, I enjoyed this episode quote a bit. There’s more that unites us than divides us.
