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The Switch Point - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:43 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Ernest Kinoy, (Screenwriter) ; Harry Bannister, (cast) ; Ford Rainey, (cast) ; Robert Pastene, (cast) ; Anthony Malloy, (cast) ; Hon. John Brademas, (Moderator)
One evening, John Holden, chairman of the Citizens Committee for Better Schools, asks Martin Swayne to be a candidate for the School Board. Martin protests that he has been out of school affairs too long to be a good candidate, but Holden asks him to think it over. The following day, Ralph Peters, chairman of the Economy Bloc, tries to persuade Martin not to run and hints that Martin in his plumbing and heating business will be a sitting duck for mud-slingers. During a luncheon with Swayne, Holden draws attention to Tommy, their waiter, as a special student who is learning to be a short order cook in one of the so-called "frill" courses. In the closing scene Swayne has decided to run but learns from Holden that Frank Hornmeyer, a former school superintendent, will run instead. Holden asks Swayen to accept the less glamorous task of chairing the Ways and Means Committee. Theme: Our responsibility to our community. The eighth program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Civic responsibility; Education; Elections; Politics; School elections; Television programs
ID: TB-08-switch

The Volunteer - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:46 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Mayo Simon, (Screenwriter) ; Joanna Roos, (cast) ; Joan Chandler, (cast) ; Richard Kendrick, (cast) ; Hope Sansberry, (cast) ; Barbara Townsend, (cast) ; Gloria Baron, (cast) ; Dr. Dale White, (Moderator)
Ruth Waggoner, receives a letter from the Helen Hope Nursery School, asking for her help. Although it is a form letter, she thinks of it as a personal invitation to use her training as a former school teacher. Upon arrival at the school, she discovers that she is one of a number of volunteers who are to get out a financial appeal mailing. The staff of the school do not have time to listen when she tries to tell them of her real desire to teach. As she works with the other volunteers, her feeling of rejection grows as they hear her words but do not understand their meaning. In the final scene with the director, Mr. Devere, she tries to tell him of her desire to teach, but he assures her that Miss Freeman is the one who will telephone her. As she leaves feeling rejected and unhappy, Mr. Devere realizes that Mrs. Waggoner is the retired teacher he has been trying to reach all day to confer with about a teaching vacancy. Theme: The importance of feeling needed. The eleventh program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Age and employment; Aged volunteers; Aging; Career changes; Problems of the aged; Rejection; Television programs
ID: TB-11-volunteer

And Gwendolyn, Too - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:43 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Claire Roskam, (Screenwriter) ; Clarice Blackburn, (cast) ; Joe Sullivan, (cast) ; Milo Boulton, (cast) ; Patty Duke, (cast) ; Deborah Marlin, (cast) ; Dr. Ross Snyder Merle Emory, (Interviewer) ; Dr. Maude Jensen, (Interviewee)
Charles and Dorothy are planning to sell their business and move to the city with their daughers, Gwendolyn and Alice. Alice, age 6, is blind and needs a special school. Dorothy believes strongly that the move is God's will. Charles has second thoughts and recognizes Dorothy's over- anxiety for Alice, her neglect of Gwendolyn's feelings and of his opinions, and her insistence of one perfect answer, hers. Charles is confused by her "direct inspiration." Theme: How can we know God's will and what are the issues of the handicapped child in the home? The third program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Child development; Children, Blind; God -Will; Psychology of personality; Special education; Television programs
ID: TB-03-gwendolyn

Forget Richards! - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:55 inutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Art Wallace, (Screenwriter) ; Biff McGuire, (cast) ; Frank Schofield, (cast) ; John Gibson, (cast) ; Raymond Bramley, (cast) ; Dr. Robert Moon, (Moderator)
John Parker, responding to a call by the office manager, Mr. Carlisle, meets Frank Richards nonchalantly arriving for work a half-hour late. When his boss berates Parker for not having the inventory complete, Parker asks how he can be expected to have it ready when his assistant comes to work late. During this conversation, the owner, Mr. Whitmore, interrupts, demanding to know who is responsible for the loss of the Hunt Cosmetic account. The cause was traced to Richards. Whitmore demands the Richards be fired immediately. Later Carlisle and Parker find that Carlisle, not Richards, has misplaced the order. Carlisle realizes that he can be fired for the error. He fails to see why Parker should object to Richards taking the blame since he has repeatedly said that Richards is incompetent. Theme: Applying Christain principles to business. The sixth program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Business ethics; Ethics; Industrial relations; Television programs; Work environment
ID: TB-06-richards

A Portrait of Hector - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:39 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Irving Gaynor Nieman, (Screenwriter) ; Howard Morris, (cast) ; Frances Sternhagen, (cast) ; Narrated by: Jonathan Harris, (cast) ; Rev. Jameson Jones, (Moderator)
The story is a humorous fantasy dealing with our preoccupation with security. It is done chiefly with voice-over narration in rhyme with pantomime action against a stylized art backdrop. Hector McQuarry from birth to his hundredth birthday is in search of security. At the ago of twelve, Hector sees a sign "Gauranteed Safety for 100 Years" and proceeds to try to acquire this security - pills for health, insurance against all kinds of eventualities, and finally, insurance for the next world. But through it all Hector has not known a peaceful moment. Something went wrong. What was it? This is the question the story leaves with us. Theme: The real meaning of security. The twelfth program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Assurance (Theology); Personality development; Security (Psychology); Television programs
ID: TB-12-hector

Congo Journey - Missions Series


Date:1958
Length: 28m
Lloyd Young, (producer) ; Douglas Cox, (Director) ; H. Kenn Carmichael, (Screenwriter) ; Verne Smith (Narrator), (cast) ; Jules Padilla (Editorial), (cast)
Description taken from Audio-Visual Research Guide (published nine editions, 1949-1972) of the National Council of Churches. A personal guide takes viewers on a tour of Methodist mission activity in the Belgian Congo. Beginning in rural areas with glimpses of daily life, customs, and religious rites, the film moves on to cities and their contemporary scenes of people and places. When focusing on Christianity's impact upon the country, the film documents the increasing role played by indigenous clergy and lay leadership, and especially its role in helping rural Congolese adjust to city life as they move in search of the benefits of industrialization. Challenging without being particularly moving, the material could be useful with others than Methodists. As is almost expected in a half-hour film, only some of the pertinent problems and accomplishments are covered but those that are receive generally adequate attention. Some may feel the approach is too general; others will welcome the absence of statistics and an attempt at probing beneath them. As implied above, the various Methodist identifications are not excessive or distracting; in truth, the note of urgency sounded on behalf of this entire continent is most valid for all Christians. The film is recommended for instruction and promotion with juniors through adults.
Topics: Africa; Congo; Education, secondary; Missions; Moving image
ID: MS-003

The Little Ball Bounces - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:41
John Clayton, (Director) ; Irving Gaynor Neiman, (Screenwriter) ; Liam Dunn, (cast) ; Ruth White, (cast) ; John McGovern, (cast) ; Grant Code, (cast) ; Dickie Olson, (cast) ; Rev. Jameson Jones, (Moderator)
Eric Adams has had bad and good breaks, but neither make much sense to him. There was the promotion he deserved but lost; the victory of his Road Improvement Plan resulted in the tearing down of his house; and then the TV contest he won without any effort. Eric wonders what he has done to deserve the bad or good breaks. What can he really count on? Alice, his wife doesn't consider bad breaks as "moments of trial" but just bad breaks. Theme: What place does luck have in our lives? The fourth program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Gambling; Human relations; Job security; Television programs; Work ethic
ID: TB-04-ball

A Time for Waiting - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:43 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Joyce Sloan, (Screenwriter) ; Claire Kirby, (cast) ; Eileen Ryan, (cast) ; Nan Martin, (cast) ; Robin Howard, (cast) ; Dr. Evelyn Berger, (Moderator)
Four wives, Ruth, Linda, Karen and Dolores are in Ruth's home for a social evening while their husbands are away on a hunting trip. A telephone call brings news that there has been an accident and that one of the husbands my have been killed. While waiting for further word, the four women reveal varying attitudes toward the possible tragic loss of a loved one. Dolores is full of self-pity and the feeling that God is punishing her; Linda is filled with a sense of guilt over things she should or should not have done in her married life; Ruth reminds Linda of the wonderful years they have had with their husbands; Karen is busy helping others and will not face the thought of losing her husband. Theme: The Christian approach to the problem of suffering. The seventh program of the Talk Back TV series.
Topics: Grief; Hunting - Accidents and injuries; Hysteria; Prayer; Remorse; Television programs
ID: TB-07-waiting

The Secret - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 28:48 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Alvin Boretz, (Screenwriter) ; Ed Peck, (cast) ; Jane Lloyd-Jones, (cast) ; Crahan Denton, (cast) ; Matt Crowley, (cast) ; Richard Dixon, (cast) ; Pat Haggard, (cast) ; Dr. Dale White, (Moderator)
Ralph and Edith Miller say goodbye to their daughter as she boards the train for college. Edith expesses a hope that they will be able to keep Judy in college. Ralph is confident because he has devised a way to re-align his machine at the shop to speed up production, which he feels sure will get him the foreman's job. At work he secretly accomplishes the re-aligning job and the production out-put increases. But the inceased speed causes too much strain and, in the accident that follows, Fred his assistant, loses three fingers and a thumb. When Ralph returns home, he wants to tell his wife, but she misunderstands and he doesn't get the confession out. The next day the boss questions him, but he still doesn't reveal his part in the accident. Ralph breaks under the sense of guilt and spends an afternoon wandering about. When he finally arrives home, Edith questions him, saying that something is wrong. She presses him, but Ralph flares up. Edith tells him she wants to help, but cannot if he will not let her. Since the incident occurred, Ralph has been ashamed of what took place, however, he internally vowed to himself to keep the secret, slowly driving him paranoid. The guilt was eating him alive, his lack of communication to Edith, his boss, and Fred causes him to put himself on a mental island where anxiety, guilt, and shame surrounds him. Theme: Guilt and our need for forgiveness. The second program of the Talk Back television series.
Topics: Industrial relations; Interpersonal relationships; Television programs; Trust (Psychology)
ID: TB-02-secret

Pressure - Talk Back Television Series


Date:1958
Length: 23:46 minutes
John Clayton, (Director) ; Joyce Sloan, (Screenwriter) ; Jeffrey Lynn, (cast) ; Nancy Coleman, (cast) ; Judson Rees, (cast) ; Kimetha Laurie, (cast) ; Harry Stanton, (cast) ; James Reese, (cast) ; Dr. James Doty, (Moderator)
Sam Douglas, an advertising man in his early forties, has promised the car to Bud, his 16-year-old son, for a special date. Sam discovers at the end of the working day that his company has promised a piece of work in less than normal time. An unexpected meeting with the client causes him to be late in reaching home. He tries to telephone, but Pat, the 13-year-old daughter, keeps the line busy. Bud gets more and more upset as the date-time approaches. When Sam arrives home, the pressures build into a heated climax. Bud in his hurry grinds the gears of the car; Sam refuses to let Bud take the car and put him in a taxi. Helen (Mrs. Douglas) gets mad at Sam and at Pat, who is gossiping to a friend on the telephone; everyone is unhappy. Helen, in tears asks, "What has come over us?" Theme: The pressures of modern life. The first program of the Talk Back television series.
Topics: Family life; Human relations; Interpersonal relationships; Television programs; Work environment
ID: TB-01-pressure