The Ford 50th Anniversary Show
The program was the first so-called "Television Spectacular". Ford presented the show without commercial interruption. It is believed to be the first time that Edward R. Murrow appeared on NBC in a professional capacity. Also, in 1953, it was necessary for Ford to buy time on two networks to ensure maximum coverage of US TV households - at the time, neither CBS nor NBC reached 100% of them. The famed 1953 television special celebrating the Ford Motor Company's 50th anniversary brought together two of the greatest leading ladies Broadway has ever known. The highlight of the program is Merman and Martin’s 13-minute duet medley, where they sing the songs that made them famous, plus much more. On their own, Merman sings “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” and “Mademoiselle from Armetières” and Martin performs a brilliantly comic routine about changes in fashion over the first half of the 20th century.
From the archive
Anniversary Show "Ten years ago today", broadcast on WNBT (W2XBS) on April 30, 1949. Host: Ben Grauer - Guests: Earl Wrightson, Kyle MacDonnell and The Three Flames On April 30, 1939 NBC launched Television as a regular public service with a telecast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and others in formal opening of the New York World Fair of 1939. This program contains some remarkable Kinescope excerpts: - "Pickup from Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Leyte at sea" (Aug. 29, 1948), - "Election returns" (Nov. 2, 1948), - "Howdy Doody for President" (Nov. 13, 1948).
Why this is free to watch
The Ford 50th Anniversary Show (1953) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. No signup, no payment and no advertising interrupts playback. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Jerome Robbins
- Starring
- Mary Martin, Ethel Merman
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