On Air

This omnibus release consists of three playlets filmed and aired during television's Golden Age, and starring some of the legends of film and television. The collection originally ran as a two-hour segment on December 14, 1959, on the anthology series The Play of the Week, broadcast locally in New York City via the independent radio station WNTA. Each "tale" in the anthology was adapted from a single tale by the inimitable Sholom Aleichem, regarded by many as the "Yiddish Mark Twain". Included are: "A Tale of Chelm" starring Zero Mostel and Nancy Walker in the story of a bookseller attempting to buy a goat; "Bontche Schweig" about a poor man (Jack Gilford) whose recent arrival in Heaven makes the angels cry; and "The High School" about a Jewish merchant (Morris Carnovsky) persuaded by his wife (Gertrude Berg) to let their son attend a particular high school despite the enforcement of quotas for Jewish students.

Two young men and a girl, going through all the dilemmas of their generation, live together and try to build different world, to find their place in society. The manner of their life, understanding of truth and justice, love and passion, gets each of them in conflict with environment, with people who want to change their relationship and fit them into accepted moral norms. They are giving in slowly, and their whole world changes. Some of them will fit the dull everyday's life, and some will find strength to resist.

A coming-of-age story about the first time you act against your true nature. Inspired by the old wives tale - eating the bread crusts makes your hair go curly - Paris explores and her relationship with her crusts, her best friend, and her hair.

One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry, which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life.

Bastien, an ambitious young production assistant, catches the attention of Jean-Louis, a producer of high regard, and is granted a shot at his own television show.

Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs modern classic conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an explosive examination of public masks and private torment.

All she knows comes from the screens. All she has known is the screens. A screen breaks and everything changes.

Inundated by the relentless, breakneck pace of Seoul, a weary woman seeks to anesthetize her misery with alcohol and partying. Longing to break free, she will have to take a leap of faith to find solace and serenity.

Henry Irving is dead. Join Irving’s restless spirit as he tells the story of how he transformed himself from a stuttering, spindly country boy into the most formidable actor of the nineteenth century. It is a story of a man who petrified London with his Gothic portrayals of mad monarchs, guilt-stricken murderers and the devil himself. A story of a man who could never escape his monsters – even in death. A filmed version of the live one-man stage play by James Swanton.

Albert has spent his whole life wanting to travel but he has been stuck at home, living in a small town making enamel signs. He has saved up everything he has and reluctantly sells his home and livelihood to embark on this trip, a lifelong dream that will honor a deceased friend. But the journey he will embark on is not what he has anticipated.

Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.

A playboy stages a dating show to earn his inheritance by granting his father's last wish: for his son to marry the most beautiful girl in the world.

In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.

Julie Andrews was nominated for an Emmy for portraying the titular scullery maid who finds true love with a prince in this legendary adaptation of one of the most famous fairy tales of all time. A musical, made-for-television, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, it is the only of the legendary composing team's musicals created specifically for that medium. It was originally broadcast live on CBS on March 31, 1957, and was a phenomenal success, viewed by more than 107 million people. Though it originally aired in full color, only a black & white kinescope of the production has survived.

Set in an alternate, post-apocalyptic 1976, a filmmaker follows a worn and disillusioned photographer who, despite the circumstances, continues to make pictures.

In pre-WW1 England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.

The historic, original, live airing of what would become an annual Christmas tradition throughout the 1950s, this opera tells the story of Amahl, a crippled shepherd boy, and his destitute mother, who provide temporary shelter to three men who are following a star to the newly-born Christ child.

In a community where residents pay for access to sunlight, a father goes to extreme lengths to support his daughter’s entry in a school competition to grow sunflowers.

Henry Fonda stars as Col. J. C. Kincaid, crusty patriarch of a Texas family. Kincaid's weak-willed son Floyd (George Grizzard) wants to get into the old man's good graces so that he can develop the Colonel's vast land ownings. Floyd arranges a city-wide celebration lauding Kincaid as the oldest living graduate of a nearby military academy. The festivities serve only to make the already sour Kincaid even more truculent and miserable. Adapted from Preston Jones' 1974 play and originally telecast live from Dallas' Southern Methodist University on April 7, 1980.

An impromptu singing contest at a dive bar turns a lonely night into a soul-baring moment of shared harmony.