MANY, many moons ago, during an age long passed called the 1950s, life was very different than it is today. This was perhaps the best of times overall, economically and culturally for the American People. It was during this decade that those strong, tough and decent men and women who had weathered the Great Depression and won an uneasy peace for the World by aiding our European and Asian Allies to defeat the domination by the Axis Powers.
AT this particular juncture, it was seemingly going to be a real paradise for the Blue Collar/Working Class/Proletariat peoples. Families, who had and could not afford even an old jalopy prior to World War II, now had a new family car in their garage; many families now becoming two-car families. Not knowing any better, working stiffs (like those in our family), actually thought that we were now "Middle Class."
ANYWAY, the point is that we were smack dab in the midst of a period when social climbing was on the minds of our nation. Status seekers were actively and openly 'climbing the ladder'; whether or not they were conscious of it. The concept of bettering one's family's position was clearly a widespread and attainable goal.
MUCH of our Pop Culture gives us mute testimony to that fact; what with the great glut of sitcoms and dramas all seemingly set in sparkling, new suburban communities. One would swear that all poverty and substandard, aging and tenement housing had been eradicated in this seemingly 99% Caucasian TV World.
PLAYING to the heart of this mass economic upward movement trend were certain items in the popular culture. And then there were some that, while still reinforcing that impulse, there were others that may well have been successful because they followed the trend; rather than being instrumental in starting this widespread social climbing movement.
WHAT we think of as being a good example of being a product of this movement is today's honoree, THE MILLIONAIRE (Don Fedderson Productions/CBS Television Network, 1955-60).
SUCCESSFUL from the very start, MILLIONAIRE was able to capture a great number of its followers from a wide perimeter of a demographic chart. It appears that the series had a high level of appeal to all age groups. It wasn't a comedy, cop or western series; yet the kids that we remember all seemed to enjoy the weekly half hours. Deep down, we (those Baby Boomers) bought in to the show's premise and even tended to believe that it was dramatizing actual events.
THE MILLIONAIRE was just this in the old proverbial nutshell. It featured the weekly stories of how receiving the gift of $1,000,000.00, tax-free, would affect the recipient. The million came in the form of a cashiers check made out in the name of individuals chosen by the anonymous patron. The conditions required that recipient was not to divulge just how he had come into the money.
CLASSIFICATION of the series would be that of a Dramatic Series, but an Anthology. There were no continuities that extended from one show to the next. Each story was complete unto itself.
ANCHORING the series and providing the mechanism to propel each story forth, while at the same time giving form to the heart of the series basic premise, is the use of the two recurring characters. First, we have the character of Michael Anthony (Marvin Miller), whose job it is to introduce each story; always explaining how he had been personal secretary for years to the fabulously wealthy Multi-Billionaire, John Beresford Tipton (And that's the best kind!)
FURTHER explaining the premise (while at the same time saving a lot of time that would be unnecessarily spent with exposition) that Mr. Tipton was a wealthy old codger, who had a rich man's hobby of picking out strangers and giving them the million through Mr. Anthony. Mr. Tipton was portrayed as an elderly, albeit very active, renaissance man; who was always dabbling in some sundry activities when he summoned his personal secretary/chief cook & bottle washer, Mr. Anthony again.
WHATEVER the activity that was occupying his attentions at that time would invariably lead into some rhetorical questions or observations about some human frailties and that would be followed with Mr. Tipton's handing a note to Anthony, invariably proclaiming: "Our next Millionaire, Mike!"
FROM there the story would concentrate on the characters of this week's story and whatever difficulty that they were going through in their lives of not so"quiet desperation".
PART of the gimmickry that was applied to make the series unique was the very different sort of portrayal of the great benefactor was that we never saw Mr. John Beresford Tipton's face. His countenance was kept a mystery during the full run of the series and all the way through all of its years in reruns.
ADDING to this unique sort of mystique was the way the credits would be listed as an episode would by signing off; for as the signature music was playing the play bill would list the actors' names and their characters in the usual manner. Then, always at the end, the final entry would read: "
.and John Beresford Tipton." Adding to that feeling of the show's illusion of being based in reality, there was no actor's name credited behind it.
APPEARING in an uncredited manner was that wizard of a thousand voices, Mr. Paul Frees; who as we've stated never showed us his face. It was a most effective tool and served as a unique brand in the largely nondescript herds of TV Series.
POODLE SCHNITZ!!
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