This is not to be confused with the CMT concert series of the same name.
Crossroads was a religious anthology drama produced in the mid-to-late 50's, a forerunner, if you will, to later, similarly formatted series such as Insight and This Is The Life, which predominantly aired on Sunday mornings when most of us were growing up. Crossroads, on the other hand, aired in primetime, at least in some markets, during its initial run. Sad to say, when I first discovered the other shows, Crossroads was no longer running anywhere.
Crossroads was also similar to the crime anthology, Gang Busters, in that the stories were based on real events, or so it would appear. Crossroads was able to attract some well known stars of the period, including Conrad Nagel, Richard Arlen, and even horror legend Vincent Price. One particular episode features Kent Taylor (Boston Blackie) as a mob-connected casino owner at loggerheads with an employee (Barbara Hale, Perry Mason) when he begins dating her naive younger sister. A young Richard Jaeckel is seen as a troubled paratrooper with a chip on his shoulder. Susan Oliver, who made the rounds of TV dramas well into the 60's & 70's, is a young wife who has to deal wtih a former partner in crime who wants her to do one more job or he'll turn her over to the police.
I wish I could find a video clip to post, but none are available on YouTube. Suffice to say, I wouldn't have known about Crossroads were it not available on sale through Radio Spirits. Alpha Video holds the rights to the show, and now I'm interested in finding Insight & This Is The Life on DVD, if they are available. I can't see why not.
Rating: A+.
Update, 3/6/15: I've added the episode, "Call For Help", which stars a young Michael Landon.
Very belatedly:
ReplyDelete- In 1955,Crossroads aired on the ABC network in prime time, for two seasons on Friday nights; that's when I remember seeing it when I was a kid.
Crossroads set great store by the fact that the stories, which always centered on clergymen, were vetted by an advisory board consisting of a priest, a minister, and a rabbi (the three major faiths were represented on the show in loose rotation).
Oh yeah ... the priest, the minister, and the rabbi did indeed walk into a bar.
... And the bartender said "What is this, a joke?"
Cute.
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