MGM Parade - Season 1

First aired: 9/14/1955 22 episodes

Episodes

1. Episode 1

Aired: 9/14/1955

A promotional film hosted by George Murphy promoting the studio's past and its current release of "It's Always Fair Weather."

2. Episode 2

Aired: 9/21/1955

In recapping the presentation of the "If I Only Had the Nerve/We're Off To See The Wizard" musical number, host George Murphy hopes that it will bring back fond memories for adults who have seen The Wizard of Oz (1939), and will encourage children who haven't seen the movie to see it. He is appropriately in the MGM trophy room to introduce the short The Story of Alfred Nobel (1939). He is visited by young Leo, who wants George to showcase his friends Screwball Squirrel and Meathhead as they duke it out in animated short Screwball Squirrel (1944). And he visits with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse on the set of It's Always Fair Weather (1955). Gene is featured in the "I Like Myself" roller skating musical number from the movie.

3. Episode 3

Aired: 9/28/1955

After thanking the viewing audience for their positive reception to the show, host George Murphy introduces from the MGM vaults the classic movie A Free Soul (1931), showing a clip featuring the Academy Award winning performance by Lionel Barrymore. Next, he shows a short film, One Against the World (1939), which chronicles the career of Dr. Ephraim McDowall, who was the first person ever to perform internal surgery, which was before then considered sacrilegious and was therefore unheard of. Then he shows Guest Pests (1945), which demonstrates the different kinds of house guests that can be an annoyance. And in the coming attraction, he shows a few scenes from Trial (1955), based on the Harper Award winning novel of the same name by Don Mankiewicz, who adapted his novel for the big screen.

4. Episode 4

Aired: 10/5/1955

Includes clips of "Trial" (1955) and the musical number "The French Lesson" from "Good News" (1947). Also shown is a tour of Lake Metro on the MGM back lot.

5. Episode 5

Aired: 10/12/1955

Host George Murphy talks about masks as his introduction to the short film, The Face Behind the Mask (1938), which tells the true story of Louis XIV of France and the unknown man he imprisoned behind an iron mask. He then introduces one of the late Robert Benchley's classic comic "how to" shorts, How to Train a Dog (1936). Murphy next introduces the MGM hall of fame movie of the week, Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), which is about composer, Jerome Kern. In the film clip shown, Tony Martin sings "All the Things You Are" written by Kern. Murphy lastly receives a visit from actor John Hodiak, who talks about his latest movie, Trial (1955).

6. Episode 6

Aired: 10/19/1955

Clips from "The Amazing Mr. Nordill", Greta Garbo in "Anna Christie", and an interview with Robert Taylor.

7. Episode 7

Aired: 10/26/1955

Included are clips from the Carey Wilson Miniature Changed Identity (1941) and the Tex Avery Cartoon The Early Bird Dood It! (1942), as well as an interview with Debbie Reynolds.

8. Episode 8

Aired: 11/2/1955

Features film clips from The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946).

9. Episode 9

Aired: 11/9/1955

Marlon Brando drops and talks about his role with scenes from his most recent movie, "Guys and Dolls".

10. Episode 10

Aired: 11/16/1955

Host George Murphy introduces clips from "A Guy Named Joe" (1943), the Carey Wilson Miniature "A Door Will Open" (1940), and the Pete Smith Specialty "You Can't Win" (1948).

11. Episode 11

Aired: 11/23/1955

Features clips from the John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short "Strange Testament" (1941), the Pete Smith Specialty "Let's Talk Turkey" (1941), and an interview with Susan Hayward.

12. Episode 12

Aired: 11/30/1955

Host George Murphy introduces clips from "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944), "Home Movies" (1940), and "Master Will Shakespeare" (1936), as well as a preview of the then-upcoming "Kismet" (1955).

13. Episode 13

Aired: 12/7/1955

Host George Murphy introduces clips featuring Fernand Gravey in The Great Waltz (1938), Susan Hayward in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), and the MGM Historical Mystery The Miracle of Salt Lake (1938).

14. Episode 14

Aired: 12/14/1955

Host George Murphy introduces segments from two MGM productions, the feature length movie Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and the short film The Greatest Gift (1942). He then presents a few common pet peeves, dramatized by an unfortunate man, who must wait to use the only pay telephone booth around which is occupied by a very talkative woman; as a shopkeeper, who is waiting on a customer who doesn't seem to want to spend any money but causes calamity in the store; who slips on a loose rug at the top of a flight of stairs; who battles a stuck ice cube tray in a freezer; and who needs to find the burnt out bulb on a string of Christmas tree lights. Murphy then meets with actor/singer Howard Keel, who is to appear in the upcoming MGM musical Kismet (1955).

15. Episode 15

Aired: 12/21/1955

Host George Murphy introduces clips from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) (as Judy Garland sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas), A Christmas Carol (1938), and Kismet (1955) ("Stranger in Paradise").

16. Episode 16

Aired: 12/28/1955

Host George Murphy introduces the musical number "Czaritza" from the movie, Maytime (1937), sung by one of the most enduring set of screen sweethearts, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. He then introduces the short film That Inferior Feeling (1940), where everyman Joe Doakes provides examples of how men can feel inferior and, thus, make themselves look more inferior than they are. Next, Murphy introduces a short movie about a non-inferior man, Matthew Fontaine Maury, who is credited with creating the first maritime wind and currents charts. That movie is Prophet Without Honor (1939). And finally, Murphy presents a few scenes from I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), where real-life singer Lillian Roth, portrayed by Susan Hayward, admits her alcoholism.

17. Episode 17

Aired: 1/4/1956

Host George Murphy, who has been told that most Latin dances are flirtation set to music, presents one of the most flirtatious ever put on screen, from The Kissing Bandit (1948), featuring Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller. He then presents two shorts: The Forgotten Step (1938) in which a man recently hit hard by the stock market crash, tries to regain his fortune through committing what he considers the perfect crime; and The Story of 'The Jonker Diamond' (1936) which tells the story of the the discovery and post-discovery journey of one of the most famous jewels in the world. And finally, he introduces a scene from the new movie Diane (1956), where Marisa Pavan plays Henry VIII's current wife, Catherine de Medici, and Lana Turner plays Diane de Poitiers, the Countess de Breze, the woman that Catherine suspects Henry truly loves.

18. Episode 18

Aired: 1/11/1956

Host George Murphy, in the hall of fame segment, introduces a scene with two of the screen's greatest stars, Greta Garbo and John Barrymore, from Grand Hotel (1932), that scene which contains one of Garbo's most famous on-screen quotes. He then presents the short film The Man on the Rock (1938) which questions what are the historically recorded facts surrounding Napoleon Bonaparte's death. Next, one can witness what it would be like to have lion cubs as pets in Lions on the Loose (1941). And Murph makes a visit to the set of Diane (1956) to speak with one of the movie's stars, Roger Moore who portrays King Henri II of France and who presents a scene from the movie.

19. Episode 19

Aired: 1/18/1956

Host George Murphy first introduces the song and dance number "The Babbit and the Bromide" performed by Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in Ziegfeld Follies (1945), that number which satirizes clichéd social niceties. Next, several serial cartoonists are shown at work in the short film People on Paper (1945). Murph then introduces another short film, Ghost Treasure (1941), which details the treacherous search for gold in the inhospitable Death Valley. And in the coming attractions segment, he introduces Ransom! (1956), the clip shown which highlights the pros and cons of paying ransom in a kidnapping situation.

20. Episode 20

Aired: 1/25/1956

In the family album segment, host George Murphy introduces the water ballet performed by Esther Williams in Ziegfeld Follies (1945). Next, he introduces the short film Our Old Car (1946), which presents the various automobiles owned by one family over the years and generations. The transportation/travel theme is continued with the next short film, What Do You Think?: Tupapaoo (1938), which describes the first encounter between a South Pacific island's inhabitants and the first non-native to land on the island. Finally, Murphy pays a visit to actress Donna Reed, who talks about her intense role in the soon to be released film, Ransom! (1956), from which a scene is shown.

21. Episode 21

Aired: 2/1/1956

In the MGM trophy room, host George Murphy is proud to display the latest award for the studio, specifically Redbook Magazine's annual movie award to Dore Schary. In the hall of fame segment, Murph introduces a scene from The Champ (1931), where the character portrayed by Wallace Berry, who won a Best Actor Oscar for this performance, announces from his prison cell his long term future plans for his adoring son, Dink. Next, he introduces the short film The Lady or the Tiger? (1942), which posits whether a cold hearted woman would rather send her lover to death or into the arms of another woman. He then introduces the "Number Please" skit from the movie revue, Ziegfeld Follies (1945), where an exasperated man is having problems getting through to his friend Louis on the telephone though of no fault of his own. Finally, he chats with Russ Tamblyn about his latest movie, The Last Hunt (1956).

30. Episode 30

Aired: 4/4/1956

Host by Walter Pidgeon, presents the film career of the legendary Greta Garbo, starting with her brief European beginnings before moving to Hollywood silent films in the mid-1920's, her debut in talkies in 'Anna Christie' (1930), and taking the retrospective as far as the mid 1930's. Irene Papas discusses filming the 'Tribute to a Bad Man' (1956) starring James Cagney.