The Twentieth Century information

*The Twentieth Century*
The Twentieth Century
	Composer Harold Arlen and singer Tony Bennett rehearsing for a 1964 program about Arlen's works
Genre	Documentary
Written by	Earle Luby
Directed by	Peter Poor (1961-1966); Willard Van Dyke (1961-1965); Nicholas Webster (1960-1965); Wade Bingham (1961); Robert K. Sharpe (1961-1963); Av Westin (1961-1962); Harry Rasky (1963); Burton Benjamin (1964); Earle Luby (1966)
Narrated by	Walter Cronkite
Theme music composer	George Antheil
Composers	Many contemporary classical and film composers
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	219
Production
Executive producer	Burton Benjamin
Producers	Burton Benjamin; Isaac Kleinerman
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	October 20, 1957 –; 1966
Related
	The 21st Century (1967-1970). The 20th Century with Mike Wallace (1994-2005).
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The Twentieth Century was a documentary television program that ran on the CBS network from 1957 until 1966. The series produced 112 historical compilation films and 107 "originally photographed documentaries" or contemporary documentaries, each running a half-hour. Productions were narrated by Walter Cronkite and drew on the resources of CBS News. The compilations mixed newsreel footage and eyewitness interviews, focusing on great events, unfamiliar historical episodes, and biographical portraits, including contemporary figures in the arts, sciences, law, and politics. As the series progressed, the compilation films were gradually outnumbered by the contemporary documentaries, similar to the work being done in the CBS Reports series, but often treating social and political change overseas rather than in the U.S. Popular and critically-acclaimed, audiences averaged 13 million viewers a week, and the series was an influential forerunner to many subsequent television documentary series.^[1]

The program was sponsored during its entire run by the Prudential Insurance Company, whose Rock of Gibraltar symbol was often the backdrop for the opening and closing credits. But the company approved the topics and limited the treatment of issues it felt to be potentially upsetting to a large audience, particularly social and religious subjects. Prudential -– and the Department of Defense which provided film footage and cooperation for many episodes—also wanted an uncritical portrayal of the U.S. military. Prudential withdrew sponsorship after the ninth season when sports programming seriously cut into the number of its 6 pm Sunday timeslots, and contemporary subjects came to dominate productions.^[1]

The series’ theme music, in which a ragtime-tinged orchestral cacophony abruptly changes to a triumphal contemporary march, was famous in its day. Aired in several versions, it was written by the erstwhile avant-garde composer George Antheil and is arguably his most heard work.^[2] (Curiously, the theme never had an on-screen credit and has been available only on copies of the original broadcasts.) Many episodes had original scores commissioned from a wide range of contemporary classical and film composers, including Antheil, Auric, Creston, Gould, Hovhaness, Kay, Kubik, Milhaud, Nascimbene, Rosenthal, Shapero, Siegmeister, Tcherepnin, and Waxman. Alfredo Antonini composed half the scores and led the CBS Orchestra in performances.^[1]^[3]^[4]

^ ^a ^b ^c Richard C. Bartone, “The Twentieth Century,” in The Encyclopedia of Television (1997, Museum of Broadcast Communications).
^ TV Guide, "When The Melody Lingers On..." May 17, 1958, pp. 22-23, cited by classicthemes.com.
^ Sehnsuchtshafen, "George Antheil – The Twentieth Century (1957/1994)”, Film Score, Blog Discussion, Sept 23-27, 2021.
^ Kritzerland, “The Twentieth Century” (Soundtrack CD description)

[:0-1] Richard C. Bartone, “The Twentieth Century,” in The Encyclopedia of Television (1997, Museum of Broadcast Communications).

[2] TV Guide, "When The Melody Lingers On..." May 17, 1958, pp. 22-23, cited by classicthemes.com.

[:1-3] Sehnsuchtshafen, "George Antheil – The Twentieth Century (1957/1994)”, Film Score, Blog Discussion, Sept 23-27, 2021.

[4] Kritzerland, “The Twentieth Century” (Soundtrack CD description)

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