''The Magnificent Yankee'' is a 1965 biographical film in the ''
Hallmark Hall of Fame'' television anthology series. The film was adapted by
Robert Hartung from the
Emmet Lavery
Emmet Godfrey Lavery (November 8, 1902 – January 1, 1986) was an American playwright and screenwriter.
Born in Poughkeepsie, Lavery trained as a lawyer, before devoting his career to the theatre and to film. He wrote the English libretto for E ...
1946
play of the same title, which was in-turn adapted from the 1942 book ''Mr. Justice Holmes'' by
Francis Biddle
Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during the postwar Nuremberg Trials as well a ...
. The story examines the life of
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
Justice
Oliver Wendell Holmes. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne won
Primetime Emmy Awards for their performances.
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten ...
reprised his role as
Louis Brandeis from the
original 1950 film version.
Director
George Schaefer won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment, Phil Hyams as lighting director, and Bob O'Bradovich as make-up artist. Nominations went to
Robert Hartung for the screenplay,
Noel Taylor for costume design, and
Warren Clymer
Warren Clymer (December 29, 1922 – July 16, 2007) was an American art director, production designer and set decorator. He won two Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for five more in the category Outstanding Art Direction for his work o ...
for scenic design.
Cast and characters
*
Alfred Lunt
Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...
–
Oliver Wendell Holmes
*
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...
– Fanny Holmes
*
Jordan Charney
Jordan Charney (born April 1, 1937) is an American character actor.
Many of his earliest roles were on daytime television, with appearances in numerous soaps. Jordan created the role of creepy Julian Dark in the early to mid-1960s on the CBS so ...
– Halloran
*
Grover Dale
Grover Dale is an American actor, dancer, choreographer, theater director, and publisher.
Early life
Dale was born Grover Robert Aitken in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Emma Bertha (Ammon) and Ronal Rittenhouse Aitken, a restaurateur. He stud ...
– Mapes
*
James Daly –
Owen Wister
Owen Wister (July 14, 1860 – July 21, 1938) was an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing '' The Virginian'' and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.
Biography
Early life ...
*
Robert Emhardt
Robert Emhardt (July 24, 1914 – December 26, 1994) was an American character actor who worked on stage, in film and on television. Emhardt was frequently cast as a villain, often a crooked businessman or corrupt politician.
Early years
E ...
–
Henry Adams
Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents.
As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fr ...
*
Eduard Franz
Eduard Franz Schmidt (October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1983) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film ''Sins of Jezebel'', Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten ...
–
Louis Brandeis
*
William Griffis –
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
*
Ion Berger – Mason
*
Brenda Forbes – Mary
*
Walter Moulder – Copeland
* Lee Goodman – Dixon
*
Donald Symington – Hamilton
*
Dennis Cooney – Northrop
*
Max Jacobs – Rogers
*
Nan McFarland – Ellen Jones
References
External links
*
*
1965 television films
1965 films
American courtroom films
Films directed by George Schaefer
Hallmark Hall of Fame episodes
Television shows based on American novels
Television shows based on plays
Television remakes of films
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
1960s American films
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