Lauren Bacall in Applause was on television

[sparkleplenty]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 3:58pm

I remember when Applause with the OBC was broadcast on television after the Broadway run. I wonder if that version is out there somewhere - to be available on DVD or whatever someday. Anyone know if this is possible?

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:03pm

to quote Yental "ANYTHING is possible!!!"

Who knows... other more obscure stuff has surfaced for commercial dvd sale. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

There are some clips on youtube. The museum of Broadcasting has it. And there are forbidden-to-discuss versions floating around.

Good Luck

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:04pm

You can often find this on ebay but no official release was made. It is well worth having.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:05pm

Too bad it won't be released. Oh well, just look around. It's out there.

Updated On: 1/16/08 at 04:05 PM

[nmartin]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:08pm

Somebody let me nkow if my memory is right. I don't think Len Cariou was in the television broadcast.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:11pm

Though it did have Lauren Bacall and Penny Fuller, it was not the original Broadway cast but the London cast (hence Larry Hagman and no Len Cariou).

It aired on CBS TV in 1973 and I am fortunate to have on DVD an excellent direct copy of the master tape -- not that grainy copy everyone seems to have with the barcode on the lower portion of the picture. I might be compelled to post again on YouTube.com "But Alive" and "One Hallowe'en" from MY copy.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:13pm

It was taped during or right after the London run. Alex Cohen produced (West End & TV) so if his son owns the tapes, write him and ask if he has plans, etc...

[sparkleplenty]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:16pm

Thanks for the correction - I'd forgotten it wasn't the OBC (no Cariou!) Well, after all it has been a few years since I saw it.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:55pm

Also is missing a song or two, I would guess for time as well as because Hagman was no singer.

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:59pm

I would love to see this. I love the OBCR and I don't think there's any way of getting up to NYC for Encores!

[WickedBoy2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:59pm

I have a copy. Its not he best production but its great to have. Not of a quality good enough to put on DVD i dont think.

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:59pm

I would love to see this. I love the OBCR and I don't think there's any way of getting up to NYC for Encores!

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 4:59pm

Duple Poste.

Updated On: 1/16/08 at 04:59 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 5:12pm

WickedBoy2 -- the copy I have is a direct copy of the master tape so the quality is broadcast quality so it CAN be released on DVD as is.

A grainy and multi-generation copy has been in circulation for ages on the bootleg circuit, but mine isn't that one. That old copy has a time-code bar in the lower portion of the screen, too. Mine doesn't have that at all and the quality is crisp and sharp... just like it aired originally.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:47pm

For those interested... I just posted on YouTube.com 2 clips from my DVD of the 1973 CBS TV movie version of APPLAUSE.

Enjoy!

"But Alive": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlEbGPQKC7U
"One Hallowe'en": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBPt3YwJSNI

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:48pm

Thanks!

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 10:54pm

Groovy!

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 11:59pm

This was the first show I went to NYC to see by myself on Broadway and I remember my dad laughing and saying "You picked the swishiest show on Broadway, huh." He never saw the stage version but when the CBS telecast was on, he did chuckle at "But Alive." Wish now I'd asked him what that was about...

Anyway, the show on Broadway was sort of a new experience for me. The audience was not families but all adults. I felt so grown up. The subject matter was pretty racy for the time which was, I think 1970 or 71. I remember there was a great deal of buzz in the audience about Bacall, and the people on both sides of me had opera glasses to really check out her features.

The overall audience opinion was "Wow" when she started to dance. This was Bogie's wife forgoshsakes, up on stage, dancing with chorus boys and girls and holding her own.

When the CBS version was released, I tape recorded the show - just the audio - as I did with SO many movies and shows. I used a full size Sony tape recorder, which my parents got me as a gift during the run of the first musical I ever directed.

I ran across those tapes in my storage locker in Hollywood back last October. They're 1/4 reel-to-reels. Probably still play. And if I listen to them closely, I'll bet I can hear my father's "Huh" and the sounds of breathing of a kid turning into a man, who would fly 1,500 miles all by himself to see Lauren Bacall at the Palace Theater, a kid who wanted to go to Broadway and ended up on the other coast, working in the movies instead.

Thanks for the fond memories, BrodyFossee123. I hope you share more of this wonderful resource with us....

[Not Barker, Todd.]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 12:18am

Brody, would you ever consider uploading the whole thing? Applause 1/9 sort of a deal? Not all at once necessarily, but just thought I'd ask.

Is the TV movie a good representation of the show? Is the show good? I sooo wish I lived in NYC.

Updated On: 1/17/08 at 12:18 AM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 12:25am

Just FYI-
Brody's is the third that I know exists. There is the grainy one, and then another (my copy) which is about 2 steps below Brody's but still VERY watchable.

[alterego]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 12:48am

This was shown on cable in Australia about 18 months ago - it is not good. There is no atmosphere whatsoever. The show was taped in a studio, there is no audience, so at the end of a big number i.e. But Alive, Lauren Bacall is left in a pose with absolutely no noise - not even canned applause. Somehow watching it is like watching an early episode of General Hospital, interesting to see once, but it makes you wonder how this show could have won any awards. Truly terrible.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 12:53am

Alterego-
I couldn't disagree more. I'm watching it now, and it's fantastic...I still can't believe they could get away with all the gay references in the film.

[alterego]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 1:19am

Really? I just felt embarrassed for them - all that dead silence.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 1:46am

"Though it did have Lauren Bacall and Penny Fuller, it was not the original Broadway cast but the London cast (hence Larry Hagman and no Len Cariou)."

Well, it was the London cast with a couple of ringers. As far as I know, neither Hagman nor Harvey Evans was in the London production (or any production). Certainly neither was in the production when it opened.

One problem with the TV production is that Bacall seems to be playing to the balcony of a very large theatre.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 1/17/08 at 2:44am

I seem to remember hearing that it was a "fly to London to tape" for her and Robert Mandan and Hagman and Fuller because they had some $$$$ over there and, like the DB Pennybaker "Company" documentary, "Applause" was supposed to be the first of a series of shows that never got made.

I don't agree that the show is bad, it's of its time and thus so hard to watch today. In 1973 or so, it seemed rather classy for television (has anyone ever seen the Armstrong Floors production of "Brigadoon" made for TV in the 60s?).

It's like opening a gay version of King Tut's tomb - although now that I think about it, King Tut's tomb was pretty gay to begin with...