About this season
Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.
Episodes (6)
1. A Salute to the 25th Anniversary of the Hallmark Hall of Fame
Aired 20 October 1975 • 120 min
Documents a tribute to Mr. Joyce C. Hall, Chairman, Hallmark Cards, Inc., and to the Hallmark hall of fame on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Includes clips from eight Emmy award-winning Hallmark hall of fame programs (Little Moon of Alban, The Magnificent Yankee, The Snow Goose, Eagle in a Cage, Teacher, Teacher, Macbeth, Elizabeth the Queen, and A Storm in Summer).
2. Eric
Aired 10 November 1975 • 120 min
A dramatization of the last years of a young man dying of leukemia.
3. Valley Forge
Aired 3 December 1975 • 120 min
Adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's stage play about the plight of the Continental Army in the winter of 1776-77.
4. The Rivalry
Aired 12 December 1975 • 120 min
Adaptation of the stage play by Norman Corwin which dramatizes the 1858 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas.
5. Caesar and Cleopatra
Aired 1 February 1976 • 120 min
Julius Caesar (Alec Guinness) arrives in Egypt and attempts to settle the dispute over who should rule Egypt, Cleopatra (Genevieve Bujold) or her brother Ptolemy (Jolyon Bates), by having them rule jointly but the ambitious Cleopatra has other ideas. This adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play lacks the lavishness of the better known 1945 film version. But the lack of pageantry allows more attention to Shaw's text without the distraction of spectacle. The director, James Cellan Jones, lets the story unfold simply so that the political maneuvers are at the forefront. Guinness plays Caesar with an air of resignation rather than power and his chemistry with Bujold is good. Bujold makes for a cunning, sexy Cleopatra with her impish, wicked grin. Though much of Shaw's play has been severely edited, it still makes for a satisfying production.
6. Truman at Potsdam
Aired 8 April 1976 • 120 min
Documentary-style dramatization of the Potsdam Conference, based on the book Meeting at Potsdam by Charles L. Mee, Jr.