Betty White Movies

One of the earliest filmed syndicated comedy series in the United States, Life With Elizabeth was a showcase for actress Betty White -- a full-fledged star two decades before The Mary Tyler Moore Show and three decades before Golden Girls. The series originated as a series of short comic sketches, telecast live on a local basis from the Los Angeles studios of KLAC-TV beginning in 1952. Originally telecast as part of the station's daily, five-hour variety show Hollywood on Television, Life With Elizabeth concerned itself with the marriage of heroine Elizabeth (White) and her husband Alvin (played by L.A. announcer and future Jerry Lewis movie regular Del Moore). The stories covered a variety of familiar domestic situations, from bringing the boss home to dinner to building an addition to the porch.
In some episodes, Elizabeth and Alvin were newlyweds; in others, they had been united in the bonds of holy matrimony for several years. Whatever the case, the KLAC announcer traded quips with the two main characters at the beginning of each sketch, in fine "golden age" radio fashion; and at the end of each playlet, Elizabeth and Alvin would turn to the cameras and bid the viewers at home a fond goodbye. This basic format, right down to the breaking of the traditional "fourth wall," was retained when Life With Elizabeth was committed to film beginning in 1953, then syndicated by producer Don Fedderson (The Millionaire, My Three Sons) on behalf of Guild Films. Stars Betty White and Del Moore were joined by such featured players as Lois Bridge, cast as the couple's neighbor Chloe Skinridge; Ray Erlenborn, as Alvin's boss; Dick Garton as Alvin's dimwitted buddy Richard; and veteran radio personality Jess Kirkpatrick, who was usually cast as one of Elizabeth's relatives. Rounding out the cast were the couple's pets, Stormy the St. Bernard and Bandie the Pekinese. Prolific game show MC Jack Narz was the announcer, while the series' head prop man was none other than future film director Sam Peckinpah! In the spirit of its local L.A. original, the filmed version Life With Elizabeth contained three unrelated sketches per half hour episode. This was done because star Betty White was worried that her character was not strong enough to sustain a full half-hour story every week. The "fragmentation" of each of the series' 65 half-hours proved beneficial to some local TV stations, who ran Life With Elizabeth as a daily 10- to 15-minute "filler," thereby having 195 separate "episodes" at their disposal. The series remained in production until 1955, and in active syndication for at least ten years thereafter. As popular as Life With Elizabeth was in the United States, it was even more so abroad; at one time it was Australia's highest-rated filmed sitcom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With the first batch of 39 Life With Elizabeth episodes raking in big bucks in every local TV market to which the series had been sold, producer Don Fedderson (My Three Sons, Family Affair) opted to produce an additional 26 installments, which were first circulated in mid-1954. As in the first 39 shows, the series stars a very young Betty White as perky bride Elizabeth and character actor Del Moore as her husband Alvin. Each episode is divided into three brief, unrelated segments, depicting the trials and tribulations facing the "typical" young married couple of the era. In some of the stories, Elizabeth and Alvin are newlyweds; in others, they have been comfortably settled into connubial bliss for several years. Whatever the case, the series adheres to several "constants": The angelic harp glissando introducing each episode, the narration of announcer Jack Narz (who sometimes interracts with the on-screen characters); and the end of each separate installment, wherein the actors "break character" and bid the viewers a cheery farewell. Depending on the needs of local stations, the 65 Life With Elizabeth episodes filmed between 1953 and 1955 were shown as "whole units" or broken up into 195 ten-minute fillers. Either way, the series was immensely successful, and remains a delightful experience when seen today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vanished earned a niche in video history as the first two-part TV movie. Based on Fletcher Knebel's novel, the story concerns the sudden disappearance of a top Presidential adviser. Grilled by the media, the President's press secretary (James Farentino) reveals very little, simply because he knows very little. But the chief executive himself (Richard Widmark) has more information than he's willing to make public; the FBI has proof that the vanished adviser was homosexual, and subject to blackmail. Based in part on the Lyndon Johnson/Walter Jenkins imbroglio of 1964, Vanished is given an aura of credibility via cameo appearances by Washington newscaster/journalists Chet Huntley, Herbert Kaplow and Martin Agronsky. The film was first telecast on two consecutive evenings: March 8 and 9 of 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season five of The Mary Tyler Moore Show gets under way with all but one of its familiar regular characters in attendance: Valerie Harper has departed the series in the role of Rhoda Morganstern to star in her own weekly spin-off, Rhoda. However, Harper and Mary Tyler Moore would be reunited in a "crossover" Rhoda episode telecast October 28, 1974, in which Rhoda is married to her boyfriend, Joe Gerard (David Groh). Otherwise, it is business as usual in Minneapolis, as Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) divides her time between her associate-producer duties in the WJM-TV newsroom and her home life in the apartment house owned by flighty Phyllis Lindstrom (Cloris Leachman). Mary's grouchy boss, Lou Grant (Edward Asner), is still adjusting to his recent divorce; newswriter Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod) continues to mask his neuroses with a smile and a wisecrack; the "humanization" of dimwitted, self-centered anchorman Ted Baxter (Ted Knight) carries on under the watchful and loving eye of his fiancée, Georgette Franklin (Georgia Engel); and "Happy Homemaker" Sue Ann Nivens proves tireless in her efforts to sleep with every eligible man within a 50-mile radius.

Season five kicks off with the Emmy-winning "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail," in which wide-eyed Mary finds herself in the slammer with a pair of cynical "working girls" after she refuses to reveal a news source. Subsequent first-rate episodes include "You Sometimes Hurt the One You Hate," with a contrite Lou Grant bending over backward to patch things up with Ted Baxter after tossing him through his office doors over an on-the-air gaffe; "Lou and That Woman," featuring Sheree North as Lou's sometimes girlfriend, lounge singer Charlene Maguire; "The Outsider," guest-starring Richard Masur as WJM's new business consultant, who manages to get on the wrong side of everyone in the newsroom; "A New Sue Ann" (or "All About Eve in Minneapolis"), in which Sue Ann is hoodwinked into hiring a perky young assistant (Linda Kelsey) who is plotting to take over as the Happy Homemaker; "Mary Richards: Producer," Mary's annual blow struck on behalf of feminism; "Marriage Minneapolis Style," in which Ted finally pops the question to Georgette -- then begs his friends to help him break the engagement; and the deathless "Ted Baxter's Famous Broadcasters' School," which surely needs no synopsis. Arguably, the season's most interesting episode is "Phyllis Whips Inflation," which serves a the pilot for Cloris Leachman's own spin-off series, Phyllis. Ranking at number 11 in the 1974-1975 ratings, the fifth season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was also the first in which the program earned an Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Also earning Emmys were Betty White as Outstanding Supporting Actress and Cloris Leachman for Outstanding Single Performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide