Crusader: The Girl Across the Hall (1956)

CBS aired the dramatic series Crusader starring Brian Keith in 1955 and 1956. In the first season, Matt Anders travels all around the world to combat Communism and oppression and as each episode's title card suggests:

Crusader records the struggle of democratic people against the enemies of freedom and justice at home and abroad. These are the stories of the people who have been helped by the many great organisations which are dedicated to bringing truth to those who are fed lies, light to those who live in darkness, protection to those who live in fear.

In its second season, Matt involves himself more in criminal stories that take place in America.  There are still international intrigue episodes, but Inger's episode is an example of how the show turned to more domestic issues, such as murder and organized crime.

Martin Kroll is murdered as he enters a residence. Two men, assumed to be in the mob, quickly flee the scene. After the murder is featured in the newspaper, the sole eyewitness comes forward. She is a young dancer named Alicia Devar (Inger) and her picture and personal details are splashed on the front page of the newspaper. For Alicia's protection, Matt and the local police post themselves in the boarding house where Alicia lives with a grouchy old landlord and a middle-aged diner cook. Matt is perplexed that Alicia has come forward as the witness and subjected herself to the media, but has yet to agree to be a witness in the trial.

The police have asked the landlord and other tenant to leave, but they refuse. The landlord refuses because he "wanna see what happens. It's part of being old. You don't get scared anymore." The old man is not fond of Alicia at all because she's three weeks late on her rent and he feels:

She coulda got a job waitressing but, oh, no, she's gotta be this high and mighty dancer!

Fred, the other tenant in the house, feels differently. He brings Alicia nightly dinners from the diner and coddles her. It is clear he's smitten.

Alicia seems amused by the attention but not as frightened as you would expect a woman in danger to be. She stays up late sharing her life story with Matt over a cup of coffee. She tells him she's from Iowa and that she's been struggling in the city but does not want to return home a failure. When Matt talks to another officer in the house about it, the officer says the story is slightly different than the one she was told. She chalks it up to a crush Alicia may have for Matt and remarks:

She's a kid...It's all part of the game.

Matt replies that it is impossible not to like Alicia because "she's like a lost kitten." He interviews Fred about his housemate and Fred mentions that he finds it strange Alicia didn't mention that she witnessed the murder while they were watching television on the night in question. In fact, Alicia never mentioned anything about the murder at all until she went to the police. Instantly suspicious, Matt questions Alicia about what she saw. Alicia recalls that she was walking when she saw the car go by and she remembers the elm trees. But when Matt asks Alicia the color of the car, she cannot answer. Elm trees were mentioned in the newspaper article. Car color was not. 

It's obvious that Alicia lied about witnessing the murder. She took information from the article and used it in order to gain publicity. The trick works. Publicity agents call Alicia after seeing her photo in the paper wanting to represent and audition her. She is elated.

Matt accuses Alicia:

You were gonna go before the grand jury in court to swear a lie for what you could get out of it!

Desperate to be a famous dancer, Alicia says:

Why shouldn't I? I'm tired of being a nobody! And, anyway, what difference would it make? Everybody knows they did it.

Outraged, Matt counters:

And you picked yourself to sit in judgement, eh? I hope the judge and jury you get are less prejudiced.

Alicia's publicity stunt has dire consequences.  Innocent people are murdered as the killers hunt for her. And yet, Alicia has no feeling whatsoever over the madness she causes. She only thinks of herself. When confronted with all the damage she has caused, Alicia's only response to Matt is:

You don't care for me at all, do you?

Inger typically played what she wrote to her brother were "good girl" roles so it is a departure to see her ultimately play an unsympathetic character here. Inger manages to balance the part so that you see Alicia is acting out of ignorance, adolescence and the desperation to succeed. Most of Inger's characters seemed wiser than their age (to me) yet Alicia is too immature to see the predicament she's created. In less than a half hour, Inger's character switches from a lovely, down-on-her-luck dancer to a selfish, manipulative young woman. Alicia is a character so completely wrapped up in her own needs and wants that she is unable to understand or feel guilty for the damage her actions have. 

Inger Stevens Models Designs by Dominique

Inger modeled dresses by California designer Dominique in the May 25, 1963 issue of TV Guide. It is not surprising that Inger would be drawn to a designer whose clothes had "a simple, uncluttered look with a touch of newness" as Inger defined her fashion choices as simple and timeless over the years. According to the article, Dominique was inclined to use a lot of crepe and jersey in her designs, fabrics that led to a more flowing feel and led Inger to say that the dresses "happily reflect the carefree life of California."

Source:

My scans from TV Guide dated May 25, 1963.

Sometimes I Just Want to Go AWWRRRK!

Inger, Mickey Sholdar and William Windom
Source: TV Guide, 1963.

In 1963, Inger talked to friend-journalist Robert Roos for TV Guide. I've featured some of her noteworthy quotations below. Her remarks show that Inger held an interest in working with developmentally delayed children early on and that she was never afraid to question the importance of acting. Some actresses may have worried about job security or backlash from their managers and publicity folks, but not Inger. She was a straight shooter when it came to candidly discussing her career—when it came to her interracial marriage, however, she showed more caution and played coy. 

In these comments, I see a woman who is a grateful, hard worker, but restlessly searching for more meaningfulness in her life. I also see a funny little jab at former boyfriend Bing Crosby! In interviews, Inger talks a lot about being "found out" to be a fraud, or, in other words, a bad actress lucking into plum roles—all the while those around her sing her praises to no end. We know that Inger was incredibly modest, but could she have truly doubted her abilities? I tend to think these comments were perhaps a defense mechanism. Inger had been disappointed so many times in her life. I wonder if she thought that if she playfully put herself down first, it wouldn't hurt so much if others criticized her later. I'm just speculating, of course, and would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Show writer Steven Gethers calls Inger an "angel" and remarks that Inger's "the best I've ever seen." Director Don Taylor elaborates:

She is as professional an actress as I've ever worked with. You give her a kernel of an idea and she comes back with the whole acorn. She's a delight. She is prepared to work, she wants to work and she is on time for work.

Still, Inger expressed doubt:

Sometimes when I'm doing a part, I think, 'My heavens, I'm not really capable of doing any of this. Some day they're going to find out I just can't do it.

On her youth:

I only knew a little English—just what I'd picked up from coloring books. I used to get terrible headaches when I was learning English. I remember the day I started thinking in English. I felt all light and airy—like I had been liberated...I did odd jobs, mostly in the garment district and looked for theater jobs during my lunch hour. But that's not a very good time because everyone is out to lunch.

On her first movie:

I never thought in a million years that I would get that part, but I went in there and just sort of did it. It scared the living daylights out of me. I'd never done a movie before—and to work in a film with Bing Crosby! My gosh or gee whiz—I can't say anything stronger because Mr. Crosby is a very religious man.

Roos notes that Inger laughed a "deep laugh and did not clarify the remark." However, Bing married Kathryn Grant shortly after his relationship with Inger. In that marriage and as he aged, Bing became stricter in his attitude and more narrow in tolerance. In fact, reading Inger's jest reminded me that Rosemary Clooney talked about this change in her autobiography Girl Singer. Rosemary wrote that "Bing had been intolerant and judgmental, as reformed playboys and quasi-alcoholics often are" and, post-1957, often lectured others on their "scandalous behavior." It must have been exasperating for Inger to see this dichotomy in Bing's character because she loathed this type of superficiality in others.

On The Farmer's Daughter:

I realize I'm lucky, but the series takes away my freedom—my freedom to come and go. I've always worked from early in the morning to late at night but now it's every week with no time off. I find I get very irritable. There are people around all the time, touching me, fixing my hair or makeup or adjusting my clothes. Sometimes I just want to go 'Awwrrrrk,' but I don't. After all, the series could run five years if it is successful. That's a lot out of a person's life.

Inger shared that although she spent most of her time working, her hobbies included playing guitar, painting, cards and going to the horse races. On acting and life, Inger shared:

I like to do things I can get completely involved in, like chess. My mind jumps around a lot, and when I can really concentrate on something, it relaxes me...I'm working so hard I feel I'm wasting time. When I lie down at the end of the road, I'll want to have left something behind—even if it is just having helped one other person. I would like to utilize myself to the best possible advantage...I think one of these days I'll stop being an actor. There is another step for me to take. I don't think you are capable at 16 of deciding what you want to do with the rest of your life. I like acting and I'm not knocking the theater. It's just that I don't know whether acting is the way I ought to spend my life...I'm interested in working with retarded children. I realize I'm not qualified now, but children are no different from other people—they're just shorter.

Inger sounds like she is considerably aware of just how fleeting time and our opportunities are in this life. She consistently brings up a fear of wasting time, of missing out on the experience of living—remarks that take on a more poignant meaning now.

Source:

Clooney, Rosemary. Girl Singer. New York, Doubleday, 1999.

Roos, Robert. "'Sometimes I Just Want to Go AWWRRRK.'" TV Guide. September 28, 1963.

The Millionaire: The Betty Perkins Story (1956)

Inger Stevens in The Betty Perkins Story, 1956.

At the age of 22, Inger starred as Betty Perkins in The Betty Perkins Story episode of The Millionaire. The episode aired on CBS on December 26, 1956. The 30-minute anthology show ran from 1955 to 1960 and was a popular hit among viewers. Occasionally, reruns of The Millionaire have cropped up on Decades, Heroes and Icons and TV Land stations.

Although each episode contains a different storyline, the show always begins with character Michael Anthony (Marvin Miller) introducing himself:

My name is Michael Anthony. For many years, I was executive secretary to a remarkable man, John Beresford Tipton...

Then viewers see Mr. Anthony approach Tipton (Paul Frees), but the camera never reveals the man's face.  Tipton would hand papers that reveal his selected person to be rewarded one million dollars along with a check to Mr. Anthony. In The Betty Perkins Story, Tipton is glass blowing when Anthony arrives. As he hands over the information, Tipton states:

Here's our next millionaire, Mike. Let's give her the tools she needs to change herself.

Mike explains to viewers that the recipient is Betty Perkins, a small town girl who chased romance down to Miami but ended up alone running a switchboard. Betty (Inger Stevens) is shown managing a switchboard as Anthony enters the office. Worried that he's a salesman and her boss will grow angry for allowing him to stay, Betty anxiously shoos Anthony away. He presents her with a check and a list of conditions (including that she cannot reveal the source or the exact amount of the check), but Betty is so inundated with work calls and skeptical of his intentions that she barely hears any of this exchange. He wants to stay and explain the terms, but Betty begs him to leave so that her employer does not catch him.

It is not until Betty arrives on a business errand to the country club that her endowment becomes a reality for her. As she waits to hand deliver papers to a client, Betty decides to order a champagne cocktail. It's clear that this is not a beverage she is accustomed to ordering since she immediately and demurely asks the waiter, "Well, is that alright?" When the drink arrives, Betty fully takes in the moment. As Betty, Inger smiles to herself as she realizes this drink may signal the beginning of her new life.

At the country club, Betty meets Donna and Bob McKeever (Amzie Strickland and Preston Hanson, respectively) and their bachelor friend John Baxter (Phillip Reed). They all assume she's at the club waiting for her husband and that she must be wealthy to be a club member. Because she's a bit on the shy side and in a most unusual situation, Betty is not able to speak up to correct them. Her new friends always interrupt her and she's too gracious to break up the conversation. When she tells him her last name is Perkins and that she's not originally from Miami, the handsome bachelor John Baxter assumes her husband owns the Perkins Cable Company near St. Louis and must be relocating his office. Again, Betty is interrupted before she can tell Baxter the truth. 

John is quickly smitten with Betty and the foursome go dining and dancing. Easily the most beautiful woman in the room but completely modest, Betty asks:

Could I...no, maybe I should say could the champagne ask you a very rude question, because I wouldn't dare?

Betty asks him why he's never married and he replies that he hasn't found the right woman. The next day Donna visits Betty's new apartment and is surprised to find the closet empty. Betty finally gets up the courage to tell Donna the truth when Donna shares that John only goes after married women because they are safe. Donna shares that if Betty wasn't married, John simply would lose interest. Betty decides to keep her mouth shut and play along, never having experienced a lifestyle or a wooing like this. 

In a funny scene, Betty is in a department store buying multiple pants and shoes for her husband "Peter" as well as 31 striped ties and the salesman's "old chewed-up pipe." Betty is totally engrossed in this fairytale now and spends her money on the new apartment, her make believe husband's wardrobe and even buys an office and supplies for the Perkins Cable Company she's opened in town. 

It is a zany storyline, to be sure, but Inger's emotive yet disciplined acting style make it more down to earth and the character completely empathetic for me. Inger is always able to handle comedic scenes with a certain control that makes even the silliest scenarios realistic for me. We see it from her in The Farmer's Daughter, absolutely, but all through her work. She embraces humorous scenes, like the department store part in Betty Perkins, but she never ever overacts or "hams" it up. I appreciate and enjoy that about her performances.

In the end, the gossip surrounding John Baxter's involvement with a married woman begins to hurt his reputation and the kind and ever generous Betty disappears so as not to cause harm. After days of searching, he finds her. Betty, with tears in her eyes, confesses all.

I thought I could buy belonging...to life, John. Don't you see? If you're someone who doesn't like to be mean or selfish or nervy, it won't work no matter how much money you have!

Betty Perkins gets her happy ending, though, because John has fallen in love with her as she truly is. 

Bonus note: Twenty-two year old Inger has the sweetest, cutest little face with the most adorable cheeks in this show. She's so endearing at every age and in each changing style of the fifties and sixties.

For links to more summaries and screenshots of Inger's movie and tv work, please visit my Films, Shows and Television page on this site.

Inger in Picture Show Annual

Picture Show was a weekly film fan magazine from the United Kingdom that ran from 1919 to 1960. In its final two years of publication, Inger was featured as a new face in the industry.

1959: "When Inger Stevens worked part time in a record shop during her college days and found that Bing Crosby discs were among the most popular, she little dreamed that she would make her film debut opposite him in Man on Fire. Her engagement for this picture came as a result of her success in television. The year before she had also made her first appearance on Broadway, having previously toured in a couple of days."

1960: "Beautiful Swedish-born Inger Stevens nearly didn't make her screen debut. She was stricken with appendicitis two days before shooting started, but luckily for her the company thought she was worth waiting for. A blue-eyed blonde, she is independent, self-sufficient and determined, admits to a weakness for clothes, takes most jewelry in moderation, but has a passion for pearls."

Source: 

Picture Show Annual. Media Lantern Digital History: https://lantern.mediahist.org/

Happy Birthday, Inger

Inger during filming of House of Cards. This is
currently my favorite photo of Inger. 
Source: Scan from an original photo in my collection.

Inger Stevens was born Inger Stensland on October 18, 1934. It's hard to imagine she would be 86 years old today. If she were around today, would she be painting by the shore with a cozy cottage just steps away? Or would she finally be embracing a life of travel, as she mentioned yearning to do in many interviews? Would she be with a longterm partner (reconciled with Ike Jones or perhaps someone new) and maybe have a child and grandchildren, or would she be embracing the single life and taking time for herself and her life's goals? 

Which film would she recall as being her favorite?  Would she have a Golden Globe or Academy Award on a shelf in her home? Would she have transitioned into being a notable director and/or producer? 

Would she be happily heading her own charitable organization to help children with special needs?  Would she have resembled the aged version of herself that The Farmer's Daughter makeup team helped her achieve to film the second season episode, "Katy's 76th Birthday"?

Inger made up to be 76 years old in 1964.
Source:eBay

Inger and William Windom in
aging makeup.
Source: Mr. Television, Sitcoms Online

We can only imagine where Inger might be today, but all of these possibilities put a smile on my face as I write this. What a broad range of talent and passion our Inger possessed! What a remarkable life she lived in the brief 35 years she was here.

Whatever Inger may have embraced post-1970, we can rest assured she would have tackled life and work with her trademark wit, a streak of rebelliousness and absolutely on her own authentic terms.

Happy Birthday, dear Inger.

Outtakes from Inger and William Windom's TV Guide Cover

Inger Stevens and William Windom, stars of The Farmer's Daughter, graced the cover of TV Guide for the week of May 2-8, 1964. This is the cover photo that the editors selected:

Nearly 2 months later, TV Guide shared seven charming outtakes from the cover photo session in the issue for the week of June 27-July 3, 1964. The photo set was titled "36 Weeks and Still Friends" and the writers had fun assigning imaginary exchanges to each picture.

Source:

Scans are from originals in my collection and originally found in TV Guide dated June 27-July 3, 1964.