The Man Who Came To Dinner (1972)

[Wellesnet]

Broadcast this day in 1972:
http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=11614

[Kane76]

Surely someone has a copy of this somewhere, other than the Paley Center..

[Le Chiffre]

Apparently not. I'd love to see it sometime. I remember seeing some of the later TV version with Nathan lane. That was in the 90's, I think.

[Wellesnet]

This weekend marks an extremely rare opportunity to see "The Man Who Came To Dinner" at the Paley Center in New York, showing two weekends worth of Welles's television work:
http://www.paleycenter.org/pp-orson-welles

[tonyw]

I hope they release "The Man Who Came to Dinner" in a remastered form. Orson in his obnoxious personal would be definitely great in the title role!

[Le Chiffre]

Tony, Hallmark owns the rights, and Ray has contacted them, but they don't seem interested in releasing it for some reason. I'd settle for having them broadcast it on their Cable channel.

[Wellesnet]

From Wellesnet Facebook:

John F. Colerisi: "My recollection of seeing it when aired was that I found the production mostly unfunny/dull and although Welles was seated most of the time), he seemed to walk through his role. I might not be alone thinking this way because according to Wiki: "The New York Times criticized Sam Denoff's updating of the original play (Welles's Whiteside was a television personality competing with Johnny Carson) and listed the production in its 1972 'Worst of Television' list." This may be one reason according to the article why Hallmark has "no immediate plans to release it on home video as they have some of their other shows." I wonder if I will have the same opinion watching it again after all these years."

[Roger Ryan]

I played the role of Sheridan Whiteside in our 1981 high school production of the play and strongly argued that we retain the original 1938 time frame. Alas, the play was performed with bizarre references to Brooke Shields and Farrah Fawcett! With its thinly-disguised send-ups of personages such as Noel Coward, Harpo Marx and Alexander Woollcott, the play only really works by remaining in its late-30s period when radio was the dominant media. Not having seen the 1972 Hallmark version, I didn't realize it was updated - that's a bad sign and I don't doubt the results are disappointing.

[RayKelly]

In the 1972 Hallmark version, Sheridan promises he will send a script to Liz Taylor. There is a reference to Jackie and Ari. Sheridan is the host of a late night TV talk show and Carson is his rival. I *may* have misheard during my viewing at the Paley Center two weeks ago, but I think there was also a reference to the Shah of Iran. Watching on a computer screen with headphones in a library is not ideal, but the direction seemed flat at the start and improved as the show went on.
As for why it has not been released, the digital copy at the Paley Center looked like a very good 2nd generation VHS dub. And I wonder if back in 1972 Hallmark secured the rights for repeated airings.

[RayKelly]

Did anyone ever respond to this? I'd love to see it.

I watched it (again) at the Paley Center in NYC last year. I have yet to find a copy.
And Hallmark ignored a few emails I sent asking about the title.

[Wellesnet]

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER was first televised on November 29, 1972. It starred Orson Welles as Sheridan Whiteside in Moss Hart and George S. Kauffmann’s play about a famed radio star who terrorizes a household. It also featured Don Knotts, Joan Collins, Lee Remick, Marty Feldman, and Mary Wickes, who was in Welles’s "Too Much Johnson." "The Man Who Came To Dinner" is unavailable on streaming or physical media. However, a fan who taped the broadcast on reel-to-reel tape has shared the audio with us.
https://vimeo.com/1137529019?fl=ip&fe=e ... VCteGRI34w

[JMcBride]

I asked Welles about this show, and he remarked
that when you act on network TV, you can't think
about how you have 40 million viewers or you
would freeze up, so he didn't think of the audience
watching him.