Confessions of a Nervous Man (1953) User Reviews (2)

Wow, this one is sure different!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 18 October 2010]

In the last couple couple months, I've seen at least a couple dozen teleplays that where shown back from the late 1940s through the 1950s. While most of these were originally aired live, Kinescope copies were made in order to show the programs again on the West Coast due to different time zones. For the most part, they are great entertainment and I really wish more were available on DVDs.

Of all these shows I've recently seen, "Confessions of a Nervous Man" clearly is the most daring and unusual. Instead of a typical play written for television or a recreation of a classic novel, this one consists of showing the process through which writer George Axelrod went through in awaiting to find out if his latest play was a success! The show begins with the real life Axelrod addressing the audience and introducing this teleplay. Then, in the role of Axelrod we find Art Carney--who then talks about what happened the night his play "The Seven Year Itch" debuted. While we now know it was a big success and went on to star Marilyn Monroe in the movie version, Axelrod was naturally a mass of confusion and self-doubt until he learned if the critics loved or hated this work. During this interim period, we see Carney's imagined fantasies of either abject failure or insanely grandiose success. These were all quite humorous and surreal and make the show well worth your time.

Despite being very creative and fun, this is not a show without problems. The biggest is that this format doesn't work as well as a movie version as fantasy elements work best with nice sets, special effects and full-color. The cheapness of some of these fantasy pieces takes you out of the moment. The other problem is that I think the piece actually went on a bit too long, as it probably would have worked better had they ended it a few minutes later. Still, these do not detract from the show that much--it is still well worth your time--particularly if you are a writer.

humorous essay on the art of theater

[winner55 · 10/10 · 14 February 2009]

Anther moment when the low rating at IMDb doesn't make much sense.

This is a 1950s television comedy by George Axelrod, as a comment on his experience as a young playwright ("The 7 Year Itch," which was filmed a year after this show and immediately made Marilyn Monroe an iconic figure by having her skirt blown upward by a wind from a subway vent). That in itself makes it historically important. It is also well to remember that this was recorded live - there were no covering takes, what you see is what they did as they did it, which required considerable staging acumen. of course it also involved a number of flaws. While the cast had to be well rehearsed, if they weren't "on" that night, they would fizzle.

But fortunately the cast - made up of recognizable character actors from the New York theater of the time - happens to be very much "on" - especially star Art Carney, who reminds us here why he achieved respect as an actor, his work with Jackie Gleason aside.

Finally the dialog. It is 'sophisticated' in a very 1950s sense, so I suppose that's easily missed now. It is well to remember that "The 7 Year Itch" was a sex farce, and that the original play involved an actual extra-marital affair and not just an infatuation. The audience this is written for would have known that; consequently the implications of the fantasy sequences (where the Author imagines how "Itch" would play in other countries) would have played like the racier cartoons in Esquire.

The writing is clearly something of a 'throwaway' for Axelrod - not intended as "deathless prose," but something along the lines of a humorous essay, like that Thurber was well-known for. But of course, most people have forgotten Thurber, or what "humor" once meant in literary and dramatic terms, so perhaps the low rating here is understandable - it reflects a culture that has forgotten how to laugh and which has developed such bad taste that 'sophistication' is a pointless exercise.

Ah, me... well, I had fun watching this, and if you can put aside current biases, you might too.