GBH Openvault
American Playhouse; Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, The
Part of New Television Workshop.
02/26/1982
License Clip
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- Series
- American Playhouse
- Program
- Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, The
- Series Description
Weekly series of drama, comedy and musical productions. See individual titles or press kit for more info. or description. First production: John Cheever's "The Shady Hill Kidnapping." AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE productions have included filming stage presentations; theatrically released films; produced for television dramas. Series release date: 1/1982
- Program Description
Jean Shepherd’s hilarious and universally appealing television memoir of a Fourth of July holiday in middle America, when children and adults behave exactly alike. starring Matt Dillon as the young Shepherd, James Broderick and Barbara Bolton. In “The Great American Fourth of July” writer Jean Shepherd, as an older “Ralph,” recalls his memory of a particular Fourth of July from his high-school years in Hollman, Indiana. Ralph plays the sousaphone in the high-school band to the instructions of the baton-twirling drum master Wilbur Duckworth. Ralph is grudgingly set up on a blind date, only to find himself in the company of the gorgeous Miss Junior Corn Blossom, who rejects his advances. On the Fourth of July Duckworth causes a power outage by twirling his baton onto an electrical line during a parade; the town drunk Ludlow Kissel sets off an enormous firework that explodes under his own porch; and Ralph’s father entertains the neighbors with his annual dramatic display of fireworks.
- Duration
00:60:00
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Fourth of July
- Marching bands
- Fireworks
- Dramas
- Genres
- Drama
- Topics
- Theater
- Creators
- Shepherd, Jean ()
- Olivia Tappan (Producer)
- Linda Merrill (Producer)
- Contributors
- Cox, Arnie (Subject)
- Broderick, James (Subject)
- McCullough, Andrea (Subject)
- Blood, John (Subject)
- Daphne (Dog) (Subject)
- Moore, Mike (Subject)
- Smiar, Brian (Subject)
- Lampley, William (Subject)
- Edinberg, Ruth (Subject)
- Hardwick, Dana (Subject)
- Childs, Christopher (Subject)
- Yonis, Jeff (Subject)
- McMaster, Paul (Subject)
- Jacobsen, Lisa (Subject)
- Ine, Jay (Subject)
- Wilson, Harriet (Subject)
- Dillon, Matt (Subject)
- Riker, William R (Subject)
- Bolton, Barbara (Subject)
- Dolan, Frank (Subject)
- Citation
- Chicago: “American Playhouse; Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, The,” 02/26/1982, GBH Archives, accessed April 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_600E7CC2452949C1B8F7B384CA160703.
- MLA: “American Playhouse; Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, The.” 02/26/1982. GBH Archives. Web. April 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_600E7CC2452949C1B8F7B384CA160703>.
- APA: American Playhouse; Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters, The. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_600E7CC2452949C1B8F7B384CA160703