Studio One: Sentence of Death

Sponsored by Westinghouse, Studio One represented the best of live television drama from the late '40s through late '50s, as the likes of John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet, and Rod Serling cut their directing teeth doing episodes for the weekly show. In "Sentence of Death," the first episode of this double feature, James Dean plays a young man falsely convicted of robbery and murder thanks to questionable eyewitness testimony. The second outing, "The Night America Trembled," finds Edward R. Murrow chronicling the chaos caused by Orson Welles'1938 radio dramatization of The War of the Worlds, and features a 20-year-old newcomer named Warren Beatty. Unfortunately, neither of these presentations is exemplary in the manner of, say, Requiem for a Heavyweight. Both kinescopes--filmed off a television screen--are typically fuzzy looking, with included commercial breaks providing examples of old-style product plugs. In addition, there's also a brief documentary on the series, featuring interviews with Charlton Heston, Jack Klugman, and John Frankenheimer, along with clips from several episodes with up-and-coming actors. More interesting for historical value than as entertainment, this is an optional purchase. Also available: The Defender (a two-parter with William Shatner and Steve McQueen) and The Laughmaker (with Jackie Gleason; also featuring "The Square Peg" with Orson Bean). Optional. (T. Rich)