Dial M for Murder Hallmark Hall of Fame 1958

''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in the history of television, it first aired in 1951 and continues into the present day. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been broadcast in color. It was one of the first video productions to telecast in color, a rarity in the 1950s. Many television films have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty-one Emmy Awards, dozens of

Christopher Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or " Anointed", and φέρε� ...

and Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is one of the last remaining television programs where the title includes the name of its sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule. The ''Hall of Fame'' films have an above average budget and production values nearing that of a feature film.

History

Early years

The series is the direct descendant of two old-time radio dramatic anthologies sponsored previously by Hallmark: ''Radio Reader's Digest'', adapting stories from

the popular magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matter ...

(though the magazine never sponsored the show); and, its successor, '' Hallmark Playhouse'', which premiered on CBS in 1948. ''The Hallmark Playhouse'' changed to more serious literature from all genres. ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'' debuted on December 24, 1951, on NBC television network, with the first opera written specifically for television, '' Amahl and the Night Visitors'' featuring the ballet dancer Nicholas Magallanes. ''Playhouse'' was hosted by Sarah Churchill and was a weekly half-hour. In 1953, the series was renamed ''Hallmark Hall of Fame''. It was the first time a major corporation developed a television project specifically as a means of promoting its products to the viewing public. The program was such a success that it was restaged by Hallmark several times during a period of fifteen years. ''Amahl'' was also staged by other NBC television anthologies. Under the supervision of creative executives at its advertising agency, Foote, Cone, and Belding in Chicago, Hallmark also transformed its radio ''Hallmark Playhouse'' into a ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' format—this time, featuring stories of pioneers of all types in America—from 1953 through 1955. Early productions included some of the classical works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

: ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', '' Richard II'', ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...

'', '' Macbeth'', '' Twelfth Night'', and '' The Tempest''. Biographical subjects were very eclectic, ranging from

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

to Father Flanagan to

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

. Popular Broadway plays such as '' Harvey'', '' Dial M for Murder'', and '' Kiss Me, Kate'' were made available to a mass audience, most of them with casts that had not appeared in the film versions released to theatres. In a few cases, the actors repeated their original Broadway roles. Actors such as Richard Burton,

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

, Maurice Evans, Katharine Cornell, Julie Harris,

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

and Peter Ustinov all made what were then extremely rare television appearances in these plays. Two different productions of ''

'' have been broadcast on the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', one featuring Maurice Evans (1953) and the other a British one featuring Richard Chamberlain (1970). Neither version was more than two hours long. Evans and actress Judith Anderson performed their famous stage ''Macbeth'' on the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' on two separate occasions, each time with a different supporting cast. The first version in 1954 was telecast live from NBC's Brooklyn color studio while the second in 1960 was filmed on location in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and released to movie theaters in Europe after its American telecast. The Richard Chamberlain version of ''Hamlet'', which was also telecast in Britain on ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'', won five Emmys when telecast on the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', out of a total of thirteen nominations. It may have set a record for the most-nominated Shakespeare production to ever be televised. In 1955, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' switched its format to a special series seen only four to eight times a year around greeting card holidays and in 90-minute or 120-minute length. Starting in 1970, the frequency dropped to two to three times a year. The source material were plays and novel from major authors and were produced with stage actors and actresses. ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'' and the other Shakespeare plays presented on ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' were cut (sometimes drastically) to fit the time limits of a standard film or of the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' itself, which during the 1950s, '60s and '70s never ran longer than two hours and frequently even less. It was left to National Educational Television (NET) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to be the pioneers in presenting nearly complete Shakespeare productions on American television. As a result of Foote, Cone, and Belding Advertising executive and producer Duane C. Bogie's influence, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' began to offer original material, such as ''Aunt Mary'' (1979) and ''Thursday's Child '' (1983), although its lineup still primarily consisted of expensive-looking '' Masterpiece Theatre''-style adaptations of American and European literary classics, such as John Steinbeck's '' The Winter of Our Discontent'' (1983),

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's '' The Master of Ballantrae'' (1984), and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

's '' A Tale of Two Cities'' (1980), '' Oliver Twist'' (1982), and ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas ...

'' (1984). ''A Tale of Two Cities'' was the first ''Hallmark'' production (and to date, one of the very few) to run three hours. The late 1980s featured productions such as ''Foxfire'' (1987), '' My Name is Bill W.'' (1989), '' Sarah, Plain and Tall'' (1991), '' O Pioneers!'' (1992), ''

To Dance With the White Dog ''To Dance with the White Dog'' is a 1990 novel by Georgia author Terry Kay, based on the experiences of his father. Plot summary Sam Peek happily resides in Hart County, Georgia, as a pecan farmer and local celebrity featured in many gardening/h ...

'' (1993), ''

The Piano Lesson ''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga se ...

'' (1995), and '' What the Deaf Man Heard'' (1997). One installment, '' Promise'' (1986), featuring James Garner and James Woods, won five Emmys, two Golden Globes, a Peabody award, a Humanitas Prize, and a Christopher Award.

Post-NBC

For nearly three decades the series was broadcast by NBC, but the network cancelled it in 1979 due to declining ratings. Since then, the series has been televised by CBS from 1979 to 1989 (except for briefly on PBS in 1981), then on ABC from 1989 to 1994. Through the 1980s and 1990s, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' movies often had twice the budget of other network movies. ''Hallmark'' movies also ran (in some cases) approximately 10–15 minutes longer (or up to 110 minutes minus commercials) because Hallmark Cards fully sponsored the movies and had fewer commercial breaks. Unlike most network movies of the period, ''Hallmark'' always filmed on location, and usually filmed for 24 days, compared to 18–20 days for most other TV-movies. Richard Welsh Company was retained in 1982 to work on developing HoF projects. Brad Moore was placed in charge of the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' in 1983. In February 1992, Hallmark Cards had formed Signboard Hill Productions as sister production company leveraging HHOFP management and expertise to produce some ''Hall of Fame'' movies. CBS picked up the series again from 1994 until 2011 (16 years), when that network cancelled the series due to low ratings. The series was three movies a year with the last one, ''Beyond the Blackboard'', on April 24, 2011. On November 27, 2011, ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' returned to ABC with '' Have a Little Faith'', which debuted to very low ratings for the night. The total number of viewers was estimated at 6.5 million, compared to 13.5 million for the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' presentation of '' November Christmas'' on the weekend after Thanksgiving in 2010. Encore broadcasts of these ABC episodes aired on Hallmark Channel a week after their initial broadcast on ABC. The films were also available for streaming on the website Feeln.com a few days after airing. In September 2014, it was announced that the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' will air exclusively on the Hallmark Channel for the foreseeable future, ending the program's 63-year run on broadcast television. The first episode to debut on Hallmark Channel was ''One Christmas Eve'', starring

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...

. On the cable channel, four original movies at most would air as a part of the Hall of Fame with multiple encores. The HHOF library would also be available. In February 2016, Hallmark Cards, which had been directly involved in the production of ''Hall of Fame'' from its inception, would transfer the series' division to a subsidiary, Crown Media Productions. Hallmark Cards will still continue to sponsor the program and oversee the creative process.

Episodes

Only a small number of ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' episodes have been released on VHS and DVD. The 1960 production of ''the Tempest'' and the 1966 production of ''

Lamp at Midnight ''Lamp At Midnight'' is a play that was written by Barrie Stavis, and first produced in 1947 at New Stages, New York. The play treats the 17th Century Galileo affair, which was a profound conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and Galileo Gal ...

'' were released as VHS tapes by Films for the Humanities; they have not been released in DVD format. The Hallmark Hall of Fame division does not own most of the films from the series from 1951 to the 1970s. Hallmark Channel since 1999 has attempted to gain rights to these films.

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions LLC (HHOFP) is a TV film production company that produces films for the Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions and is owned by Crown Media Productions. Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions' first credited film was an adaptation of '' The Tempest'' in 1960. Richard Welsh Company was retained in 1982 to work on developing HoF projects. Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, Inc. was incorporated on September 27, 1994. In February 1992, Hallmark Cards had formed Signboard Hill Productions as sister production company leveraging HHOFP management and expertise. The Hallmark Hall of Fame division, including production, was transferred to affiliate Crown Media Productions.

References

External links

*
Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions
at BFI
Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of ''Hallmark Playhouse''.
*
''Amahl and the Night Visitors'' - Premier episode of the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951) on archive.org
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