Once in a Lifetime

Summary

1988 BBC production of the comedy Once in a Lifetime by George F. Kaufman and Moss Hart, presented on Christmas Day.

Theatre play

Once in a Lifetime by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart [more information]

Play synopsis

'The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry. When the New York City vaudevillean team of Jerry Hyland, May Daniels, and George Lewis find themselves in a faltering vaudeville act, they decide to head west and present themselves as elocution experts in the hope someone will hire them to train actors unaccustomed to speaking on screen. On the train they meet gossip columnist Helen Hobart, who introduces them to megalomaniac film mogul Herman Glogauer when they arrive in Hollywood. The trio’s misadventures include encounters with Lawrence Vail, a New York City playwright driven to distraction and eventually a sanatorium by studio bureaucracy and a lack of work to keep him busy; silent screen beauties Phyllis Fontaine and Florabel Leigh, whose voices sound like nails on a blackboard; two pages in 18th century dress who periodically arrive carrying placards with announcements about Glogauer’s latest doings; a ditzy receptionist who wears an evening gown to work; and aspiring actress (and proverbial dumb blonde) Susan Walker and her chaperoning stage mother. Dimwitted George becomes a director who shoots the wrong script, forgets to turn on the soundstage lights, and audibly cracks nuts during filming, yet his movie is called a masterpiece and he’s declared a genius by trend-conscious journalists who believe he’s ahead of his time’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_in_a_Lifetime_%28play%29).

Production history

'Hart had written the play himself in 1929 and invited Kaufman to work with him on several rewrites. The original Broadway production, directed by Kaufman, opened at the Music Box Theatre on September 24, 1930 and ran for 406 performances’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_in_a_Lifetime_%28play%29).

Date of transmission

Sunday 25 December 1988

Time

8.30-10.15pm

Channel

BBC2

Production company

BBC; WNET

Credits

Director

Robin Midgley

Producer

Shaun Sutton

Lighting

Alan Horne

Playwright

Moss Hart

Playwright

George S. Kaufman

Composer

Carl Davis

Designer

Tony Burrough

Costume Designer

Joyce Mortlock

Cast

Brian Blessed	Rudolph
Niall Buggy	George Lewis
Sheila Gish	Miss Leighton
Rosemary Leach	Mrs Walker
Lynda Marchal	Helen
Edward Petherbridge	Lawrence Vail
Catherine Roman	Susan
David Suchet	Herman Glogauer
Kristoffer Tabori	Jerry Hyland
Zoë Wanamaker (1949-)	May Daniels

Additional details

Play tags

American drama; comedy; film, as theme; theatre or acting, as theme

Audiovisual sources

Title

Once in a Lifetime (BBC, 1988)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 15 December 1988 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, with image, p. 99