User Reviews

This is basically a one-woman showcase. Despite being an old movie and TV freak, I'd never seen or heard of Elizabeth Seal (not exactly a movie star name). But now she's permanently registered in my little fan book. All in all, she's an extraordinary TV presence. Neither pretty by Hollywood standards nor statuesque, hers is one of the most distinctively expressive faces I've seen. I didn't just watch Rosemarie's (Seal) sadness, I felt it, in spades. And that's thanks to a sensitive inner projection behind her outer emotions. Here, Seal plays a lead dancer who's lost her artistic motivation because of a lost love.

Buzz and Tod serve mainly as onlookers giving Rosemarie timely encouragement for her marginal comeback. Yet what fine professionals they are, even when only secondary in the story. Note how they too engage instead of just standing by with occasional lines of their own. Then too, it's interesting to see backstage CBS Television City where the boys work as prop men. I expect the building was still pretty new, and certainly a lot of shows have originated there. It's also interesting and rather poignant watching the girl dancers auditioning on stage. That turns out to be a real nail-biter for the uncertain Rosemarie (Seal) trying to get a job in the back row of a chorus line. But what's with that opening burial scene. Looks like the gravediggers dug a hole curbside in a city park for the mourners to attend. I hope they filled it back in after filming.

Anyhow, the 60-minutes is a tour-de-force for an obscure actress, showing again how much talent dwells behind those sometimes anonymous names.

Since another reviewer was lukewarm on this episode, I'm motivated to make a correction: this is one of my favorite Route 66 episodes. First, the script by Leonard Freeman is excellent. Tod and Buz are working at CBS Television City when they encounter an old crush of Tod's from his college days, named Rosemarie Brown, a dancer whose actor husband has just died after battling alcoholism. She is understandably depressed, so the men try to cheer her up, and encourage her to audition for a dance role at the studio. The script is clearly written by a show-biz insider who works out memorable characters most notably the dancer herself, and the executive producer, wonderfully played by Akim Tamiroff. We are kept in suspense: will Rosemarie be able to battle her depression? If yes, will she win a role in the chorus line against younger dancers in better shape?

Some have said that Seal's performance is "flat," but come on! She is playing a woman whose husband has just died. Of course she looks a little depressed at the beginning. But she expertly portrays Rosemarie's efforts to climb out of sadness and re-establish herself as a dancer. It's a perfect line when Tod is urging her to audition, and she looks down at the table, saying, "Oh, I couldn't." Then she looks up, manages one-tenth of a smile, and says, "Could I?" We are rooting for her all the way. Seal has a wonderfully expressive face and amazing eyes, all of which she uses to great advantage.

If you are even the smallest Route 66 fan, watch this episode. You will enjoy it.

Messrs. Milner and Maharis are supporting players to this showcase written for Elizabeth Seal, Tony Award winning actress/dancer.

Everyone, especially the audience, can't help but get involved in this 'Rocky' styled story of a lost soul struggling to find her courage to live back again.

Admirably supporting the story, Akim Tamiroff is a power to be reckoned with as a television show producer, and Tony Monaco, actor/choreographer, is equally showcased along with his excellent choreography for this episode.

Mr. Nelson Riddle's score for this episode is one of my favorites and helps frame the story beautifully.

The boys are now in California, working as stage hands at the CBS studio there, (no road show this week: a cost savings measure?). There Todd encounters a dancer he had a crush on when he saw her form when he was back a Yale. She had a promising career then but fell in love with an even more promising actor and became his wife. He insisted there was only room for one star in the family so she gave up her career for him. And he needed someone to take care of him, for he was an alcoholic. When the episode begins he has died and we see his grave being dug while Todd narrates the story, (as he does in many of the episodes at this point of the series).

The show then becomes the story of the dancer's attempts at a comeback, urged on by Todd and, to a lesser extent, Buz, (who again tends to hang back before committing to a personal reclamation project). But the lady is laden with grief and lacks confidence in her abilities after being idle for years. She's also competing against younger, more energetic and supple performers. She gets a job in the chorus of a CBS show only because the producer remembers her. So does the star of the show, who knew the couple before he made it big and doesn't want anyone around who reminds him of when he wasn't a big shot.

The cancer comes back from her exhausting first day on the job feeling defeated and collapses on her bed. Todd and Buz try to gently challenge her not to surrender and she finally shows some energy, turning on them in anger, describing what it was like taking care of her drunken husband all these years. Somehow, that outburst frees her from her malaise and she comes to the studio the next day more determined and dances well, bringing back her confidence.

It's a nice story, (although the interesting conflict with the star remains unresolved). The dancer is played by Elizabeth Seal , who had originated the role of Irma La Douce on Broadway. The arrogant star is played by her then husband, Zack Matalon. I've read some of the other responses to this episode on this page and Elizabeth Seal's. She's described as an under-appreciated talent. I found her performance rather flat and unmemorable. I understand she's playing a mentally exhausted, grieving widow who has lost confidence in her abilities. She's not going to be very charismatic or charming in such a role. But she comes off more limp than sad. I hate to say it but I can see why she didn't make it big on the screen. Maybe you had to see her on stage for the magic to come out- and in a role that allowed her to shine more than this one. As it is, this failed to become a memorable episode largely due to the flat central performance.