Our American Heritage (1959-61)
Sponsors
Equitable Life Assurance Society
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV
Archive
with contributions by: Rina Fox
references:
TV Guide /
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive
Writers Guild of America (wga)
---------------------
OUR AMERICAN HERITAGE
---------------------
NBC Production / Produced by Mildred Alberg
in cooperation with American Heritage Magazine
Presented by Equitable Life Assurance Society
NBC (Sundays 8pm EST) (season 1)(6 episodes)(180ct59 - 10Apr60)
NBC (Various days/ time slots)(season 2)(7 episodes)(21Oct60 - 13May61)
US American History Anthology series 1959-61 13 episodes x 60
min Color
Hosted by Lowell Thomas
(season 2)
Premise: A monthly series that dramatizes little-known incidents in the lives of
historic Americans.
NOTE: Shared the timeslot with the "Sunday Showcase" series.
###### Our American Heritage ######
######## Season 1 1959-60 #########
###################################
NBC (Sundays 8pm EST) (season 1)(6 episodes)(180ct59 - 10Apr60)
[01] Our American Heritage: DIVIDED WE STAND
18Oct1959 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by Morton Wishengrad
starring
Ralph Bellamy ....... Thomas Jefferson
Arthur Kennedy ...... Alexander Hamilton
Howard St. John ..... George Washington
Ron Randell
Synopsis:
The famous protagonists are seen in an unfamiliar perspective, as we hear
Hamilton virtually accuse Jefferson
of treason, and listen to Jefferson explain to President Washington why, in
peacetime, he believes the reverse
of "United we stand, divided we fall." [RF]
*Note: Today's best program and an auspicious beginning for this new series on
Americana.
[02] Our American Heritage: THE PRACTICAL DREAMER
22Nov1959 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
starring
Burgess Meredith ..... Eli Whitney
Mark Stevens
Betsy Palmer
Peggy Ann Garner
Ralph Bellamy ........ Thomas Jefferson (in one scene)
Synopsis:
The story tells how Whitney, after inventing the cotton gin, is penniless
because his patent has been stolen
and he has wasted 10 years in various countries trying to obtain royalties. He
convinces the Army that he can
make a musket with inter-changeable parts; manages to obtain $134,000 to achieve
the biggest financial
transaction in the country up to that time, and begins America's first
production line. [RF]
[03] Our American Heritage: DESTINY, WEST!
24Jan1960 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
starring
Jeffrey Hunter ....... John Charles Fremont
Susan Strasberg ...... Jessie Benton Fremont
Howard St. John ...... Senator Thomas Hart Benton
James Daly ........... Kit Carson
Synopsis:
The heroic visions and explorations of John Charles Fremont, the first white man
to cross the Rockies to reach
California. John Charles Fremont one of America's boldest explorers and his wife
the daughter of Senator Thomas
Hart Benton who backed Fremont's daring probes into the savage wilds of the
West. The ill-informed map-makers of
the time claimed everything west of the Mississippi was desert. [RF]
[04] Our American Heritage: SHADOW OF A SOLDIER
21Feb1960 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by John Whedon
Directed by Alex Segal
starring
James Whitmore ....... Ulysses S. Grant
Melvyn Douglas ....... Mark Twain
Teresa Wright ........ Julia Grant
John Baragrey ........ Robert E. Loo
Paul Tripp ........... Dr. Douglas
Ford Rainey .......... Abraham Lincoln
George Ebeling ....... General Sherman
Arthur Anderson ...... Leonard Swett
Henderson Forsythe ... General Buckner
Griff Evans .......... Rawlins
Jack Manning ......... Lieutenant Hunt
Allen Nourse ......... Governor Yates
Alfred Sandor ........ Lieutenant Hodges
Fred J. Scollay ...... General McClernand
Frank Tweddell ....... General Smith
Ken Konopka .......... Congressman
Synopsis:
At age 63, Ulysses S. Grant learns he is dying of cancer. Mark Twain, his
friend, remarked, "He was groping in
the past to find himself, to salvage from the wreckage of his life some remnants
of his self-esteem." The story
unfolds in flashbacks through his illustrious life. [RF]
[05] Our American Heritage: AUTOCRAT AND SON
20Mar1960
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by Ernest Kinoy
starring
Christopher Plummer .. Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr.
Cedric Hardwicke ..... Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Anne Francis ......... Fanny Dixwell
Ann Harding .......... Amelia Holmes
Bramwell Fletcher ....
Synopsis:
The story of Justice Holmes called the great dissenter having stepped out of his
father's famous shadow to challenge
a nation's traditionst. Holmes Sr. the Boston surgeon who was a famous poet, a
true wit of his time and his son
Holmes Jr. who became one of America's greatest Supreme Court Justices. The
story covers Holmes Jr. in his return
from the Civil War, thrice wounded and his indecision about his future. [RF]
[06] Our American Heritage: MILLIONAIRE'S MITE
10Apr1960 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Teleplay by Ernest Kinoy
Directed by Jack Smight
starring
David Wayne .......... Andrew Carnegie
Judith Anderson ...... Margaret Morrison Carnegie
Neva Patterson ....... Louise Carnegie
Eddie Hodges ......... Young Andrew Carnegie
Synopsis:
The story of Andrew Carnegie, America's industrial genius who devised the
world's first systematic theory of
philanthropy. Tonight's episode casts a genial eye on Andrew Carnegie—what
motivated the Scottish immigrant boy
who grew up to amass a huge fortune and spend much of his later life disposing
of same sagely. [RF]
*Note: Andrew Carnegie (1835 - 1919] came to the United-States from Scotland in
1848 with his poverty stricken
parents and began his career as a bobbin boy in Allegheny. Pa., at $1-20 a week.
In an age of moguls, he became
the greatest steel man on earth. Almost single-handedly, he lifted the United
States from fifth to first place
as a producer of steel accomplishing the feat in less than 30 years. [RF]
**Note: "Our American Heritage" presented six one hour programs. James F. Oates,
President of Equitable said the
introduction of the programs is a result of Equitable's desire to experiment
with greater programing.
The first show for the second season will be televised on October 21, 1960.
###### Our American Heritage ######
######## Season 2 1960-61 #########
###################################
NBC (Various days/ timeslots)(7 episodes)(21Oct60 - 13May61)
2.01 [07] Our American Heritage: NOT WITHOUT HONOR
21Oct1960 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Directed by Alex Segal
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
Arthur Kennedy ....... Alexander Hamilton
John Collcos ......... Aaron Burr
Ralph Bellamy ........ Thomas Jefferson
Roddy McDowell ....... Philip Hamilton
Robert Emhardt
Howard St. John
Synopsis:
A dramatization of the last four years of the life of Alexander Hamilton. The
famous duel between the two
early American statesmen draws to a fatal head at Weahawken N.J. on June 11,
1801. [RF]
2.02 [08] Our American Heritage: BORN A GIANT
02Dec1960 NBC Sun
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
Bill Travers ......... Andrew Jackson
Barbara Rush ......... Rachel Jackson
Farley Granger ....... Charles Dickinson
Walter Matthau ....... John Overton
John Colicos ......... Aaron Burr
Griff Evans .......... Seth
Robert Redford
Synopsis:
A chronicle of Andrew Jackson's life beginning as a young lawyer and congressman
in Nashville during the
period of 1790 to 1806 and his efforts to overcome personal and political crisis
that threatened his career.
The story focuses on his much maligned wife Rachel and how he defended her honor
in a duel. Rachel Donelson
Jackson died a month before he became President. Andrew Jackson who was the hero
during the Battle of
New Orleans against the British now had much more to deal with. [RF]
*Note: The climatic duel between Jackson and Dickinson was taped on location in
Irvington, N.Y.
2.03 [09] Our American Heritage: THE INVINCIBLE TEDDY
13Jan1961 NBC Fri
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by Tad Mosel
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
George Peppard ....... Teddy Roosevelt
Glenda Farrell ....... Martha Roosevelt
Ina Balin ............ Edith Roosevelt (his second wife)
Thomas Mitchell ...... Joseph Murray
Arthur Hill .......... Samuel Gompers
Joanne Linville ...... Alice Hathaway Roosevelt (his first wife)
Synopsis:
Events that helped mold Roosevelt into the figure of steel he was later to
become is dramatized. The program
covers a period of two years in his life, beginning when he was elected to the
N.Y. State Assembly while
still in his early twenties and ending with the death of his wife and mother. [RF]
2.04 [10] Our American Heritage: THE SECRET REBEL
11Mar1961 NBC Sat
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by Mann Rubin
Directed by Alex Segal
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
Hugh O'Brian ......... John Honeyman
Howard St. John ...... General George Washington
Gerald S. O'Loughlin.. Grogan
Betty Miller ......... Mary
Jack Collins ......... Colonel Rail
Norman Barrs ......... Bates
Lou Robb ............. Von Drachow
Alfred Sandor ........ Wilson
Alexander Holt ....... Sentry
Humphrey Davis ....... Magistrate
Joseph Della Sorte ... Soldier
Synopsis:
The little known hero of the American Revolution who served as a spy for General
George Washington, John Honeyman
is dramatized. John Honeyman, the first counterspy in American history. Honeyman,
in fact, was an agent for
Gen. George Washington and supplied information making it possible for
Washington's crossing of the Delaware to
be successful which was a turning point of the Revolutionary War in 1776. [RF]
*Note: This was the third time Howard St. John portrayed George Washington in
the "Our American Heritage" series.
2.05 [11] Our American Heritage: NOT IN VAIN
01Apr1961 NBC Sat
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Directed by Jack Smight
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
Raymond Massey ...... President Abraham Lincoln
Synopsis:
The drama examines the reasons for Lincoln's trip to Gettysburg and shows the
reactions of the press, public
figures and general public to his famous Gettysburg Address. The irony of
Lincoln's Gettsburg Address is that
all who attended the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetary on November
19, 1863 regarded the President's
remarks as ineffective and insufficient. Lincoln himself was cruelly
disappointed by reaction to his speech and
until his death from an assassin's bullet some 18 months later, regarded
Gettysburg as a scene of personal failure.
Yet of all the speeches delivered in the course of American history, it is
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address that has
become the most memorable both for its vision and for what it had to say about
the nation. [RF]
*NOTE: Was tentatively called "The Last Full Measure" in previews.
2.06 [12] Our American Heritage: GENTLEMAN'S DECISION
22Apr1961 NBC Sat
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by John Whedon
Directed by Jack Smight
Host Lowell Thomas
starring
Dean Jagger ......... General Robert E. Lee
Robert Emhardt ...... General Winfield Scott
Barbara Babcock ..... Annie Lee
Hazel Jones ......... Mary Custis Lee
Ken Konopka ......... General Ulysses S. Grant
Philip Bosco ........ General Gordon
Jay Barney .......... General Longstreet
Mark O'Daniels ...... General Alexander
James Duncan ........ Custis Lee
David O'Brien ....... Rooney Lee
Allen Nourse ........ Venable
Bill Berrian ........ Currier
Dirk Kooiman ........ Soldier
Synopsis:
A dramatization of General Robert E. Lee's personal integrity and pays tribute
to his courage and intelligence
in victory and defeat that led to the surrender at Appomattox. The story is set
against a little known incident
that occurred early on the morning of April 9, 1865 at Lee's embattled field
headquarters. [RF]
2.07 [13] Our American Heritage: WOODROW WILSON AND THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER
13May1961 NBC Sat
Produced by Mildred Alberg
Written by David Shaw
Host Lowell Thomas
Narrated by Don Ameche
starring
Judson Laire ......... Woodrow Wilson
Synopsis:
The story of the 28th President and the unknown soldier whose fate he had hoped
to end forever for
mankind. Through the use of actual films taken by the Army Signal Corps during
World War I and its
aftermat, and the echo of Wilson's battered dreams of United States
participation in the League of
Nations, the potentials of the United Nations take on special meaning. [RF]
*Note: Final show of the series.
############# Our American Heritage ##########
################## the end #################
##############################################
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