The Star Wagon

I saw this on public television when I was 15 and alone at home one night when my parents went out for the evening. I was too young to appreciate the actor behind a character, or what it took to make a character compelling. All I knew was that watching Hanus (Dustin Hoffman) was somehow hypnotic and I wanted to watch it again. Which I did, several times. It was only years later that I put two and two together and realized who it was!

I noticed that this televised version of the Maxwell Anderson play "The Star Wagon" has glowing reviews...with 9s and 10s. Additionally, several reviewers remarked how brilliant Dustin Hoffman was in this one. Well, to both, I strongly disagree. Hoffman is a brilliant actor and I loved him in many films. Here in the script, however, he mostly burps and mumbles...and yes, that IS how his part is written. Brilliant? No. And, as far as the play goes, it really could have used a trimming and I kept hoping the story would go somewhere.

Orson Bean plays Steven, a brilliant inventor but an incredibly foolish man. The story begins with his wife, Martha, harranguing him because again and again, he practically gives away his inventions...making millions for others but leaving them poor. His unappreciative boss soon fires him when Steven tries to show him his latest invention...a machine that will transport you through time and space! Despite the possibilities, it's amazing how slow Steven is to use the machine...and when he does and goes back to 1905, the story just drags and the pacing is leaden. You really want to see this worm turn...but instead of grasping at his second chance, he's once again a bit of a putz....making many of the same choices even though he KNOWS he shouldn't. This just didn't make much sense and by the time something DOES happen, well, I just didn't care any more since the story is nearly two and a half hours long and the plot is pretty simple.

While I usually hate it when Hollywood buys the rights to a play and then hacks it apart, this production could have used such a treatment. A reworking and trimming of the script could have resulted in a marvelous story. But, as it is, it's not exactly fun and seems to drag and drag.

I suggest you see the play on YouTube and find out for yourself. Is it brilliant or a letdown...or something else?

I remember watching this in 1966, when it was on TV.

I finally got a DVD copy of it in 2022, so watched it again.....66 years later.

It was worth the wait. Sweet, moving, and profound. Dustin Hoffman got 3rd to 4th billing, which was correct for this, but he and Orson Bean really made the film.

This is the way TV used to be. We miss it.

I was so excited to find this website through my search for "The Star Wagon." Fortunately, I was able to remember the title of this unique 1960's production which I watched several times on public television when I was in my 20's.

I remember being absolutely mesmerized by Dustin Hoffman's performance; it was clear he was headed somewhere big. And the storyline, ah, the delicious food-for-thought storyline about "fate" and the different paths our lives can take depending on the choices we make.

It was absolutely marvelous, I've never forgotten it and I've often wondered why I've never seen it anywhere since. If IMDb does nothing else for me ever, it has justified its existence merely by finding "The Star Wagon" for me again.

This TV movie made a lasting impression on me. It opens with Dustin Hoffman being an old man. I thought he was an old man and couldn't figure out how I had never heard or seen him before. Later in the story he plays a young man and I realize that the actor is really just a young man, an unknown actor who is destined to make it big. Shortly afterwards, The Graduate opened and the rest is history.

I also remember Orson Bean who got top billing. He was adequate. In the 1960's he was mostly on talk shows playing at being a charming imp.

Maybe because Hoffman made such an impression on me, the story is less memorable. The story was good but not great.