Backstage

Paul (Charles Boyer) a charming and well known actor/director goes for a walk after a poker game.

He encounters a desperate woman Amy (Marcia Henderson) contemplating suicide. He takes her to a hotel for the night. When Paul checks up on Amy, she has disappeared.

Fearing that Amy might have killed herself he desperately searches for her. Ignoring that his new play is about to open and it has lost its leading lady.

There is an acidic performance from Hillary Brooke who plays a woman who shines a torch for Paul.

The teleplay very much is a riff on the movie All About Eve which was released several years earlier.

The writing team of Gwen and John Bagni came up with a wonderful storyline in "Backstage", a drama that uses the backdrop of the theatre to concoct a winning and original tale, with Charles Boyer super in the main role.

It's built around a familiar, if apocryphal, notion that if one save's someone's life then you're responsible for them from then on. Boyer is an actor-director with a theatre company on tour, and on a walk home one rainy night saves gamin Marcia Henderson from committing suicide by jumping into the river.

Several ingenious plot twists, revolving around the central theatrical premise lead suspensefully to a charming and surprisingly upbeat ending. Film director Robert Florey adds some atmospheric touches, and Hillary Brooke is quite fine as the nominal (but not really) "bad guy" in the story, as an actress with a crush on Chuck.

In this installment of "Four Star Playhouse", Charles Boyer stars as Paul--a famous director of plays. When the show begins, Paul is leaving a poker game and wants to find a cab home. After all, although he is fond of walking, it's raining outside. However, on the way out he notices a young woman about to jump off a bridge! Paul is a very decent man and decides to help Amy. However, what happens next is a bit strange and it involves counterfeit stage money as well as a job with the acting troop.

As usual, Boyer is wonderful in his role. He seems very natural and you like the guy he plays. The story is very interesting and the twist also very interesting. Believable? Not for a second...but very enjoyable. And what's not to believe? Well, I'd rather not say as it would spoil the episode.

This is an excellent example of what can be done with television drama and is a superior 1950's effort. Highly trained, dedicated actress Marcia Henderson gives a skilled and nuanced performance that demonstrates her solid talent. What she accomplishes here is difficult to do given the parameters of the story that initially present her character as a potential suicide.

Charles Boyer got better as years passed and his portrait of a compassionate, mature man is terrific but he makes it look so effortless it is a pleasure to view. Some of his performances are strong and skilled by this point in his career.

All of the cast is good and this short TV program from the Four Star Playhouse is a recommend for me.