Product Description
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As host of his eponymous talk show for nearly a quarter of a
century, Merv Griffin said his audience saw him as "every
mother's favorite son-in-law." Merv was the man who brought
glamour and laughter into America's homes, but didn't shy away
from spotlighting serious cultural leaders, controversial figures
of the day, or mostly unknowns like Jerry Seinfeld and Tom
Cruise. The three-discs of this initial set are filled with
almost nine hours of remarkable interviews, including four United
States Presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and
Ronald Reagan); Hollywood royalty like John Wayne, Ingrid Bergman
and Orson Welles; and titled royalty like Princess Grace. Culled
from the 5,500 shows and 25,000 guests that appeared on the
award-winning, critically accled talk-show during its historic
broadcast run, The Merv Griffin Show: 40 Of The Most Interesting
People Of All Time. Merv Griffin was recently honored with a
Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 Daytime Emmys, adding
another Emmy to the sixteen he already owns; he also was the sole
honoree at the 2005 Museum of Television and Radio Gala, at the
Waldorf-Astoria in New York attended by more than a thousand
industry leaders and celebrities. Provocative, and
always entertaining, The Merv Griffin Show: 40 Of The Most
Interesting People Of All Time hearkens back to an era when the
art of conversation was truly an art!
.com
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A goldmine of archived interviews with some of the most
entertaining and influential people in 20th-century America, The
Merv Griffin Show: 40 of the Most Interesting People of Our Time
is both a pleasure and an educational resource. Using material
gathered from a quarter-century of The Merv Griffin Show (1962 to
1986), this three-disc boxed set captures a number of newsworthy
figures in very relaxed circumstances, open and funny, speaking
freely about their careers or views on world affairs. Griffin,
often kidded by Johnny Carson (whose brother, Dick Carson,
directed Griffin's program) for producing what The Tonight Show
host often called "Merv's fabulous theme shows," actually looks,
in retrospect, like a very capable interviewer who can challenge
his guests without the sting of confrontation. Thus, when Griffin
asks Richard Nixon in 1967 if running for the presidency a second
time won't be difficult because of Nixon's reputation as a
"loser," the question doesn't seem provocative so much as
probing--yet the effect is the same, i.e., getting Nixon to
answer a tough query.
Each interview excerpt feels substantial; there are no quick
sound bites here. Among the great moments is frequent guest Orson
Welles's last appearance on the show in 1985, taped mere hours
before his death. Welles, at 70, speaks of old age and the burden
of regret and a stricken conscience. He also reflects on great
pain from his career and personal life, without getting specific
or maudlin. And, uncharacteristically, he speaks frankly and
lovingly about women from his past, including Rita Hayworth and
Marlene Dietrich. There's also footage from Griffin's visit with
Ingrid Bergman in Cannes, 1973, during the actress' brief reign
as president of that year's film festival jury. Absolutely lovely
and luminous, Bergman discusses contemporary movies, the end of
the star system, and returning to the stage. From 1981 is a
pleasant chat with David Niven, virtually co-interviewed by
Griffin and chatty, previous guest Robert Blake. Roger Vadim and
then-wife Jane Fonda drop by in 1967 on their way to begin
production of Barbarella; Grace Kelly, in 1976, destroys the myth
of royal idleness while discussing her schedule in Monaco; and
Lord Laurence Olivier speaks warmly about his children and
playing girls in his early, pantomime roles.
Jack Benny and John Wayne are each honored with lengthy, rich
segments, the Duke with a montage of clips from numerous
appearances (the best from a black-tie show in New York, where
Hollywood's most iconic movie cowboy never seemed more
cosmopolitan), and Benny spending an hour telling delightful
stories from his movie career. (He adored Ernst Lubitsch, who
directed him in To Be or Not to Be.) The world of politics and
journalism is represented by Martin Luther King Jr., whose 1967
interview explains principles of nonviolence; Robert F. Kennedy,
also from 1967, who articulates the frustration of young people
and details America's quagmire in Vietnam; Walter Cronkite,
championing real television journalism in the days before cable
news; and Gerald R. Ford, who tells an astonishing story about
meeting his her--very briefly, only once--during his teens.
--Tom Keogh