Starring Anthony Perkins, Charmain Carr, Dorothy Stickney, and Larry Gates
Directed by Paul Bogart
Music and Lyrics by Stephan Sondheim
Even as Funny Thing debuted on the big screen, home viewers got their own taste of Sondheim with this special made for the anthology ABC Stage 67. Anthony Perkins isn't the first guy you'd think of in a musical, but he was a good friend of Sondheim's. He even went on to pen the mystery film The Last of Sheila with him. In a way, though, this very strange and eerie tale of a man who falls for a girl living with elderly people hiding in a department store is rather fitting for a man best known for the Hitchcock movie Psycho. How does this eerie tale look nowadays? Let's start just outside of Stern Brothers' Department Store in New York as a young man enters with the crowds and find out...
The Story: Charles Snell (Perkins) is a poet who has fled the problems of the outside world by hiding in a department store. Turns out he's hardly the only person with that idea. He's discovered by a group of elderly people who have lived in the store for years, headed by seemingly kind Mrs. Monday (Stickney). Ella (Carr) is her gentle servant who was abandoned in the store as a child and has never seen the outside world. Charlie will take her there...if they can evade a disapproving Mrs. Monday and the "dark men" who turn humans into mannequins...
The Song and Dance: Weird little musical does have its charms. Perkins is a better singer than you might think; he and Carr are an especially sweet and sensitive couple. Stickney makes a subtly menacing grand dame, too. Some good songs in Sondheim's score, along with a haunting background score that nicely reflects the odd story. The faded black and white copies currently available actually go a long way to making the low-budget show seem spookier than it actually is.
Favorite Number: The show kicks off with the driving "If You Can Find Me, I'm Here" as Charles explores the store and reveals why he's there. "I Remember" is Ella's touching solo as she recalls her childhood in the outside world. Charles wonders "When?" he can see Ella again, as Mrs. Monday and the other people living in the department store try to keep them apart. Ella wants Charles to "Take Me to the World" in an outdoors display but Charles isn't sure...until they do finally attempt escape.
Trivia: Was originally broadcast in color, but the masters have since been lost.
Bogart wanted to film in Macy's, but they pulled out at the last minute. He ended up filming during the early morning hours in the now-defunct Stern's Department Store in Manhattan instead. Some footage of Perkins outside of Macy's in the opening does survive.
What I Don't Like: This is one strange musical. I give them credit for the unique plot, based after a short story, but...people living in an underground community in a department store? It's more like a musical Twilight Zone episode and isn't as scary as it would like to be. Bogart's indifferent direction and the cheap and dull production don't help matters. And yes, the horror aspects make this relatively dark, especially for TV in the mid-60's. It's not really for kids, or for people looking for something sunnier and more upbeat.
The Big Finale: Worth checking out at least once if you love Sondheim, Perkins, or are looking for a small-scale musical with a fairly dark plot.
Home Media: Out of print and expensive on DVD. Streaming is by far your best bet.
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