Hedda Gabler 1963 - Ibsen's immortal classic featuring Ingrid Bergman in the title role

Ingrid Bergman and Michael Redgrave in Hedda Gabler (1963)

IMDB Link
IMDB Rating: 7,3

Director: Alex Segal
Main Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Trevor Howard

"In one of the great dramatic roles in all of theater, the always magnificent Ingrid Bergman seethes with frustrated ambition. Hedda Gabler is a woman who, for financial security, has married an earnest and dutiful academic who lacks the passion and imagination that drive Hedda. When Eilert Lovborg (Trevor Howard), a former lover, returns to their city, she discovers that a new woman has rescued him from his alcoholism and given him the strength to write a brilliant book. Consumed with jealousy, Hedda seizes an opportunity to ruin Lovborg's life - and by doing so, places herself in the power of the glib and predatory Judge Brack (Ralph Richardson), who longs to have his way with her.
This 1963 British television version of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler is skillfully condensed into a taut 75 minutes, fantastically played by the superb cast (which also includes Michael Redgrave). Bergman and Richardson, in particular, draw out every drop of hidden resentment and lust."

Download links (Youtube):

The lover 1963 - Eroticism on early television

Vivien Merchant

Alan Badel

IMDB Link
IMDB Rating: 7,2

Director: Joan Kemp-Welch
Main Cast: Vivien Merchant, Alan Badel, Michael Forrest

"At the time his first play for television, 'A Night Out' was broadcast, Harold Pinter was just beginning to attract attention. By the time of The Lover, Pinter was already well-established as one of the most gifted and versatile writers of his generation, switching freely between stage, television, radio and, shortly, film - his first screenplay, The Servant (directed by Joseph Losey) was released later in 1963.
The Lover is a typically claustrophobic work, in which a suburban middle-class couple, played by Alan Badel and Pinter's then wife Vivien Merchant, become trapped in the sexual role-playing games they use to spice up their otherwise conventional marriage.
From its striking opening, in which two sets of silhouetted fingers tap upon a drum and entwine themselves like a pair of mating tarantulas, the play creates an atmosphere of eroticism unusual for television in 1963."

Download links (Youtube):

Calamity Jane 1963 - Part of the Carol Burnett Special

Carol Burnett in the title role of Calamity Jane (1963)

IMDB Link
IMDB Rating: 7,7

Director: Dick Altman
Main Cast: Carol Burnett, Art Lund, Bernard West

"For her first comedy special of the season, Carol Burnett plays Calamity Jane, a Western wildflower with a penchant for buckskin, brawling and back-slapping. She also drives the local stagecoach, quells a barroom rebellion and even falls in love - with calamitous results.
Carol first played Calamity in summer stock during 1961, when Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster augmented their 1953 movie score ( which starred Doris Day).  Phil Shuken adapted the book for television adding more ribald humor to the original. Dick Altman and choreographer Ernest Flatt directed. Joe Hamilton (Carol's husband) was the producer.
The witty dialog crackles and the song favorites include - 'Secret Love' ( as a finale-duet!), 'Windy City', 'Deadwood Stage', 'I Can Do Without You', 'Keep It Under Your Hat', 'Higher Than A Hawk', 'A Woman's Touch'   and others."

Download links (Youtube):