"A taste of every sort of knowledge is necessary to form the mind." —John Locke

Thornton Wilder's OUR TOWN: Two Historic Productions on Two DVD

1977 – "A national treasure." Andrew Sarris

"Our Town holds a secure place within the handful of lasting masterpieces written for the American theater in this century. This production brilliantly reminds us why." New York Times

"An excellent cast directed sharply by Gregory Moser captures Wilder's poetry in the joys of life." WNYW

"In this exquisite production nothing gets in the way of the play." ABC-TV

"Robustly funny. Spalding Gray brings a fiesty and brooding quality to the cusomarily benign stage manager." Time Magazine

Thornton Wilder was unhappy with the 1940 film and 1957 musical versions of Our Town. Before his death, in 1975, he worked with producer Saul Jaffe and director George Schaefer in an attempt to leave behind a definitive version of his masterpiece. The result of that collaboration was broadcast on NBC in 1977, featuring a stellar cast that included Hal Holbrook, Ned Beatty, Sada Thompson, John Houseman, Glynnis O'Connor and Robby Benson, and was such a success that the trustees of Wilder's estate decided to never permit another television version of the play. The author had his definitive version.

Since its original production in 1938, Our Town has been produced on stage somewhere every single day, often by school or community theaters drawn to its simple set design, large cast and American themes. Gregory Mosher, who directed the Lincoln Center Theater's stage production, felt that as a result the play had been turned "into a holiday greeting card, reduced by a consensus that it was a superficial, nostalgic, flag-waving poem to a lost America." His production reflect’s Wilder's "very particular version of what life in this century had been and might become." The production, featuring Spalding Gray, Frances Conroy, Roberta Maxwell, Penelope Ann Miller and Eric Stoltz, ran on Broadway for 136 performances, and the trustees were so impressed by the Tony Award-winning production that in 1989 they granted permission for its presentation on PBS's Great Performances series.

Our Town is considered one of the greatest American plays. Epic in scope yet profoundly intimate in its depiction of small town life early in the twentieth century, Wilder's aim was to leave a time capsule for future generations curious about life in early 20th century New England. Upon his death he could not have known that his desire for a definitive television production of his play would be satisfied not once but twice. It's hard to imagine he wouldn't have been pleased.

Thornton Wilder's Our Town: Two Historic Productions on Two DVD, $59.95

To learn more about Thornton Wilder and Our Town visit the Thornton Wilder Society.

Thornton Wilder's Our Town 1977 (VHS), 2 hours, $74.95

Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is brought to the screen starring Hal Holbrook, Barbara Bel Geddes, John Houseman, Robby Benson, Ronny Cox and Sada Thompson. Here in this Emmy Award-winning production is the portrayal of love, life and death in a small American town that has brought pleasure to millions.

Thornton Wilder's Our Town 1989 (VHS), 1:45 hours, $74.95

"Our Town holds a secure place within the handful of lasting masterpieces written for the American theater in this century. This production brilliantly reminds us why." The New York Times

The Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center/PBS Great Performances production stars Spalding Gray, as the stage manager, Eric Stoltz and Penelope Ann Miller.

Gieldgud's Chekhov I (VHS). 55 minutes, $74.95

Sir John Gielgud is your host-narrator for these dramatizations of the immortal playwright's works. In this edition are productions of the Fugitve, Desire for Sleep, and Rothchild's Violin, stories dealing with the theme of escape, literal and figurative. The last is reminiscent of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol.

Gieldgud's Chekhov II (VHS), 52 minutes, $74.95

Sir John Gielgud is your host-narrator for a pair of engrossing dramas that deal with different forms of illicit love. Volodya and the Boarding House are two of the great Russian writer's best-loved works. The twist endings are not unlike the stories of O. Henry.

Gieldgud's Chekhov III (VHS), 50 minutes, $74.95

In Sir John Gielgud's pairing of The Wallet and Revenge, the incomparable Chekhov goes to the wellspring of human emotions as he examines the themes of avarice and revenge; two classic emotions as old as mankind, as contemporary as today..

Turgenev's Month in the Country: Suzannah York (VHS), 91 minutes, $74.95

"Burning hate is hidden with the most ardent love," wrote Ivan Turgenev. In one of the earliest and best Russian psychological dramas, beautiful Natalia (Suzanna York) trivles with Rakitin's love for years, then seeks to recapture the passions of her youth with young Beleyev (Ian McShane). This classic is both tragic and pathetically comic, in the grand tradition of Chekhov.

Strindberg's Miss Julie: Royal Shakespeare Company (VHS), 102 mins., $74.95

"August Strindberg has been one of the prime innovators of our time. . . . The impact of his dramatic method reflected in his Miss Julie is probably greater and less acknowledged than any other modern writer. Strindberg struck strongly into O'Neill, Beckett and Tennessee Williams... entering the subconscious where sexual encounter has a fight to the death..." -Arthur Miller, The New York Times.

The 1971 Royal Shakespeare Company production stars Helen Mirren.

On This Page

Our Town DVD

Our Town VHS

Gieldgud's Chekhov VHS

Month in the Country VHS

Miss Julie VHS