Letter to Loretta

I remember watching this show with my Mom when I was a little girl. Loretta Young was always a favorite of hers, and she taught me to love these classic movie stars too. I vividly recall her entrance, and the beautiful clothes. Okay, the episodes are campy by todays standards, but they are still a delight to see- Simple stories that entertain, how many times can you say that now about the garbage on TV? Loretta and some familiar character actors complete each wonderful episode. I just bought the 3 DVD set of the first season, and I have been enjoying reliving my childhood! If you get a chance buy the DVD set, you won't be sorry.

I saw reruns of Loretta Young's TV show when I was little.

My lingering impression was... one of the most beautiful women on TV, and a lady of class and kindness.

When I purchased a DVD with a few old TV show episodes, I found my childhood impression essentially---correct. Note also the beauty of her gowns.

One episode (based on a reader letter) of Loretta as the devoted wife working to save her husband in an iron lung from dying during a power outage was quite touching.

Young is also great in the 1940's movie "The Farmer's Daughter" as a Swedish immigrant's daughter turned politician, and in an earlier 40's movie "The Minister's Wife" with Cary Grant.

In 1953 Loretta Young left films and ventured to television.

Remember how she would come out on the screen in elegant gowns? She would thank John, the man who introduced her.

This television series was an anthology. Loretta tackled a different role each week. Most of the shows were dramas but Ms. Young had the ability to do comedy as well.

She really did some fine acting here. I vividly remember the show where she played a woman dying of a brain tumor. I'll never forget when she met the priest by the gate and said that she wasn't Catholic but was dying. How about the one where the principal of a school visits her home at the end of summer vacation. She is the typical spinster teacher here. The principal tells her of his archaeological adventures that summer. When she comes back from making him tea in the kitchen, she discovers him dead. The whole town engages in vicious gossip on what must have been going on between the 2. I'll also not forget when Walter Slezak appeared as Emil Kronstadt, a chemistry or physics teacher who told a child not to wear falsies. Still another memorable episode was where Loretta comforted her next door neighbor when the latter lost his wife in a hit and run accident.

The opening music to the show was marvelous as Loretta waltzed in. She gave us some wonderful memories!

I grew up too with my Mom and I watching Loretta on Sunday evenings. But perhaps I was too young to understand the plots. I just remember Moms intense focus for the show. Now I can surely understand all the awards this series won. What a treasure trove of stories recounting the values of the "real America" after the wars. We as a nation were so thankful for our successes maintaining our liberties and recounting the values that made us great.

This show has been running in reruns on a Christian station for some years now (since maybe 2004) and it really is a good show. Ms. Young was able to really show the real depth of her talent for possibly the first time, in all kinds of roles, which is what she loved about the series, that she could do all kinds of parts, in the abbreviated 30 minute anthology format. There are a few episodes that are extra special, in which she plays a nun (same character in at least 2 shows) and you can really tell she wanted to pay tribute to them. They are both set in a hospital and really have not dated. In another, she is a lady who befriends a little Oriental boy and thinks he has cheated her; when she discovers he has not she feels awful. It is one of her best acting scenes ever. Also another episode in which she loses her husband in the war, falls in love again, and then the husband comes back. It was set in a beach setting and her performance (with her regular co star, John Newland I think his name is) is a great one. Also a performance from I think the early 60s, she is a teacher in love with her principal, and is accused of an affair. She has a lot of facial props to make her look unattractive and this half hour is probably the best acting she ever did. You really see the depth of her talent in this show and the shows are upbeat, realistic, but make you typically feel better or make you think of their topic. She did a great job, as she was not only the principal actor, she also was the principal director. It really was Loretta Young's show.