OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: I'M A FOOL

From November 14, 1954, an episode of G.E. True Theater:  "I'm a Fool," based on a short story by Sherwood Anderson.  Eddie Albert narrates a coming of age story about a boy (James Dean) and a girl (Natalie Wood) and the consequences of a lie.  Rounding out the cast were Roy Glenn (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), Eve March (The Curse of the Cat People), Leon Tyler (Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow -- we can't all be in classic films), Gloria Castillo in her first role (she then jumped to The Night of the Hunter), and Fiona Hale (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).  The weakest link seems to be the Gipper, Ronald Reagan, who served as the series host.

The 30 minute episode was adapted by Arnold Schulman and directed by Don Medford., giving us such films as Funny Lady, Goodbye, Columbus, The Night They Raided Minsky's, and Cimmarron, as well as a number of television shows.  Schulman was a noted scriptwriter  Medford spent his directing career in television working on ten television movies and over 60 television shows, most notably Dynasty, Baretta, The F.B.I., and Tales of Tomorrow, as well as 20 other episodes of G.E. True Theater; he helmed only three theatrical features, including Sidney Poitier's The Organization and a remix of early The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

I'm A Fool was remade in 1977 as a television movie staring Ron Howard and Amy Irving.

G.E. True Theater began as General Electric Theater, first projected as a summer radio replacement for The Bing Crosby Program in 1953, then began airing on CBS television on February first, 1953.  The show ran until May 27, 1962.  It's long-time host, Ronald Reagan, began his run in late September, 1954, and hosted until 1962 when General Electric fired him because of political comments he made about the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Reagan's son Michael eventually claimed that then Attorney General Bobby Kennedy pressured G.E. into firing Reagan.  (Reagan eventually found work in another field, or so I've heard.)  The show died in 1962 and was replaced by G.E. True, hosted by Jack Webb.

The anthology series had an estimated 209 episodes, all but one were adaptations, however IMDB lists Reagan as host for 261 episodes.  Go figure.

No matter.  A young James Dean and a young Natalie Wood...a pretty great combo, don't you think?


https://archive.org/details/ImAFoolgeTheater