Winner Take All

This short-lived revival of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman's original 1948 "Winner Take All" was most notable for introducing a young Bill Cullen to a national television audience. Cullen, who would be forever associated with legendary game shows such as "The Name's The Same," "I've Got A Secret" and countless others, shows here why his career endured. Likable, fresh-faced and witty, Cullen has great fun with an array of contestants--shy housewives, cranky retirees, military officers--and handles ad-libbing with ease. The game itself was remarkably dull--first one to answer three questions wins a prize, usually a major appliance the size of a Humvee. It's fascinating to watch the contestants--for whom television is a fresh new novelty--as they struggle with working the buzzer, finding cameras and microphones, and waving to the folks back home. As a study of early 1950s America, and extremely early television style, "Winner Take All" is a fascinating document.