Inger's star was on the rise as 1954 concluded. Inger had spent the last two years modeling, studying at the Actor's Studio, endlessly auditioning for roles, and working hard at summer stock. On August 9, 1954, after appearing in summer stock productions of "The Women" with Gypsy Rose Lee and "Glad Tidings" with Signe Hasso, Inger was introduced to television audiences in the "Sue Ellen" Studio One production. Three months later, Inger costarred with Paul Newman in a Goodyear Playhouse —the first of five TV gigs in five weeks! Between November 21 and December 29, Inger could be seen on Goodyear Playhouse, Armstrong Circle Theater, Mister Peepers, Danger, and Kraft Theatre.
Inger was on a sensational streak and audiences took notice. She was noted as "the fast-rising Swedish discovery with the pensive face" by "Strangers in Hiding" critics. The Memphis Press predicted that she was "headed for Hollywood and a movie." Following "Thunder of Silence" with Paul Newman in November, Inger became an instant hit with the United States Navy Hospital Corpsmen. The men wrote her a letter praising her performance and beauty and crowned her "The Queen of Dorm 6." From New York City, Inger Stevens wrote a reply, "I have never been 'Sweetheart' or 'Queen' of anything in my whole life, but now I feel that I can die happy."
Inger's performance in "Thunder of Silence" earned her a notice in the December 6, 1954 issue of Time Magazine. Time defined Inger's beauty as "fragile and hauntingly attractive" and wrote, "her big-eyed silences were more eloquent than all the speeches of her fellow actors."
Inger's final television role of 1954 was that of Kriste in Kraft Television Theatre's "Strangers in Hiding". Like so many of Inger's television parts, Kriste is a foreigner searching for the American dream while being misunderstood by the Americans she meets. The show costars Harold Lang, Bradford Dillman, and Doro Merande. The Minneapolis Star reported, "Dancer Harold Lang is well cast along with Inger Stevens in straight dramatic roles concerning an immigrant couple who hide out after their work permits expire so that their child may be born an American. Story is simply written and has several touching moments."
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| Inger Stevens in "Strangers in Hiding", 1954. |
I was able to view "Strangers in Hiding" in the archives of the Library of Congress earlier this year and was struck by its similarity to Inger's Emmy-nominated role in "The Price of Tomatoes" eight years later.
Pregnant dancer Christe (Inger Stevens) and her dancer husband Mikail fail to get back on the bus when it stops in New Hampshire. Hoping to hide out until the birth of their baby in a few weeks, the couple sleep in a barn-turned-theater. They're happy to know their baby may be born an American citizen. Mikail dances on the deserted stage. Someone begins to open the door and the couple hides in the adjoining room. College flunkout Tom (Bradford Dillman) frequently sneaks in to play the piano when he's supposed to be studying at the library. Tom finds and pockets a locket by the piano, but he does not discover the couple. Tom's deceased father was a Hungarian violinist, and his American Aunt Ella (Doro Merande) is concerned that her nephew be a prominent real estate agent.
When Mikail goes off to find food, Kriste encounters Tom. Terrified that he will report the couple to immigration, Kriste explains that her husband is German and she is Polish and that they did not have opportunities as dancers in Germany. They were able to make a good living as dancers in the United States until their six month work permit expired. Tom assures Kriste that his father was also an immigrant and he will keep their secret. Still, Kriste goes to sleep full of anxiety.
The following morning, a gossiping friend visits Tom's house. She tells Aunt Ella about the fugitive couple rumored to be hiding in town. Ella is not surprised. "They're foreigners, you know...Nazis, communists. They're foreigners, aren't they?..If I had my way, they wouldn't let them in here in the first place." Soon after, Ella reminds Tom to be "just like the other real American boys." She becomes suspicious when she finds an inscribed locket in Tom's jacket pocket.
Back in the barn, Kriste is distraught over the missing locket, a good luck charm for the couple. Mikail assures her, "Our luck will not change." Tom returns to the barn with groceries and goodwill. He encourages the couple to dance and sing while he accompanies them on piano. At the market, Ella learns that her nephew has already purchased groceries and realizes he's feeding the fugitives.
When Ella arrives at the barn, Kriste goes into labor. Instead of reporting the couple to the authorities, Aunt Ella shifts into maternal mode and protects Kriste and her unborn child. Ella confesses that she was never able to have a child of her own. To ensure that Kriste and her child, arriving prematurely, are healthy, Ella rides with Kriste in the ambulance to the hospital. When the local sheriff Sam and an immigration officer arrive at the hospital, Ella orders them to "go out and catch some criminals or take some change out of some parking meters." Kriste delivers a healthy baby boy ("We have an American son!") and her locket, which reads 'Have Faith' in German, is returned.
As Inger's name appeared on the closing credits, the show's host announced:
We welcome lovely young Inger Stevens this evening in her first appearance in Kraft Television Theatre. Her theater experience includes Glad Tidings and The Women.
The themes of otherness and acceptance that Inger's Kriste and Doro's Ella, respectively, represent follow a common pattern in Inger's work. Inger's a Hungarian mother-to-be here, had been a Czechoslovakian teen in "Thunder of Silence", would be a new Swedish mother in "Burning for Burning", a pregnant Romanian widow in "Price of Tomatoes", and of course Swedish Katy in The Farmer's Daughter. Having moved to America just shy of ten years old, Inger knew what it felt to be non-native. Before settling in Kansas, the Stensland family lived in Manhattan where Inger noted:
I felt like a real foreigner...it was difficult adjusting to new people. My English was still broken and the atmosphere was so strange...I couldn't have [new clothes] for the realistic reasons that my serviceable Swedish clothes were worn ten times longer than they should have. I wallowed in self-pity to a revolting degree. I fit nowhere...I was...well...Swedish. I was embarrassed because I didn't look or act like anybody else...Everything was new...my stepmother, the country, and the language. Finding myself with a language barrier at such an impressionable age left me with a shyness I still haven't overcome. But I discovered that an easy way to make friends is to be a good listener.
Watching young Inger as Kriste in "Strangers in Hiding" on videotape in the archives of the Library of Congress was a rare delight. The thrill continued as I exited the library to the sight of Washington, D.C. monuments all around me. Katy Holstrum's monuments. Katy Holstrum's D.C. Being in the nation's capital where Inger (as Katy) walked, one could not help but to reflect on the compelling course of Inger's life—from a shy, fearful Swedish girl in New York City to the hopeful young actress on Kraft Television Theatre to the celebrated star of her own American television sitcom.
Sources:
"Actress Finds Regular Work a Nuisance." Waco Tribune-Herald. December 25, 1954.
"From Sweden to Hollywood." St. Louis Globe-Democrat. February 15, 1959.
Chicago Tribune. December 25, 1954.
Memphis Press-Scimitar. December 29, 1954.
Minneapolis Star. December 29, 1954.
"TV Actress is Popular with USNH Corpsmen." Great Lakes Bulletin. December 30, 1954.
Time Magazine. December 6, 1954.
"Kraft Theatre: Strangers in Hiding." Library of Congress archives.
