Katharine Cornell
- 1957
First staged on Broadway in 1940 with Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Montgomery Clift in the starring roles, Robert Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning play There Shall Be No Night was originally set in Finland in the years before the outbreak of WW2. For this Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, the character names have been altered and the setting changed to Hungary just prior to the 1956 Soviet invasion, but otherwise the plot remains substantially the same. Charles Boyer and Katherine Cornell star as Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian scientist Karoly Valkay and his American-born wife Miranda. Though a fiercely outspoken critic of Communist totalitarianism, Valkay is essentially a pacifist, and hopes that Hungary will someday regain its freedom without bloodshed. But when the Russians start rattling their sabers, Valkay is shamed into renouncing his pacifism by his son Erik (Bradford Dillman), who has joined the Hungarian freedom fighters. Adapted for television by Morton Wishengrad, There Shall be No Night was originally telecast live and in color. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Boyer, Katharine Cornell, (more)
- 1956
Irregularly scheduled on NBC from 1954 through 1957, Producers' Showcase was a series of lavish, full-color 90 minute specials, bringing the best of Broadway to the 21 inch screen. The series' April 2, 1956 presentation was Guthrie McClintic's adaptation of Rudolf Besier's 1931 Broadway hit The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Repeating her celebrated stage role as the fragile, invalided poetess Elizabeth Barrett was McClintic's wife, Katherine Cornell, in her first television appearance. Set in London in 1845, the play recounts the familiar story of the romance between Elizabeth and the dashing, much-younger poet Robert Browning (Anthony Quayle), who is determined to rescue Elizabeth from the autocratic grip of her domineering father, Edward Moulton-Barrett (Henry Daniell), who holds the rest of the grown Barrett children in tyrannical thrall in their home at 50 Wimpole Street. Previously filmed by Hollywood in 1934 with Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Charles Laughton, The Barretts of Wimpole Street would again go before the cameras one year after this well-mounted Producers' Showcase production, this time with Jennifer Jones, Bill Travers and John Gielgud. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Cornell, Margalo Gillmore, (more)
- 1954
Unconquered is a documentary on the life of Helen Keller. Narrated by stage star Katharine Cornell, the film covers Keller's 72 years on Earth, from her overcoming the twin handicaps of deafness and blindness, to her commiserating with the great political and literary figures of the 20th century. Also given generous screen time are the two most important people in Helen's life: her teacher-mentor Annie Sullivan, who died in 1936, and her companion-interpreter Polly Williams. In addition to still pictures and newsreel footage, the film also incorporates clips from Deliverance, a 1919 Helen Keller biopic. Unconquered was later renamed Helen Keller in Her Story and won the 1955 Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
