Sunday, December 22, 2013

Countdown to Christmas: A Star Shall Rise (1952)

Independent producer Roland Reed was a major player in the early days of television, but a lot of his series have usually ended up in public domain.

One such case is this Christmas episode of Family Theatre, produced in 1952. A Star Shall Rise take a closer look at the Three Wise Men: Gaspar, Melchior, & Balthazar, who'd eventually travel to Bethlehem for the birth of the Baby Jesus. Raymond Burr, well before achieving iconic status as Perry Mason, was cast as Balthazar.



An impressive production, long forgotten, save for the 2011 Mill Creek "Holiday Classics" DVD compilation.

Rating: A-.

2 comments:

Randall Hamm said...

Just found on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kci7adfOGYM

The full production is back up !

hobbyfan said...

Just tried it. It was taken down, Randall. Sorry.