Aline MacMahon - Bess
David Hedison - Allen
Barbara Barrie - Charlotte
Susan Anspach - Terry
Joyce Van Patten - Alice
George Furth - Martin
Written by Oliver Hailey
David on the set of For The Use of the Hall with
author Oliver Hailey and director Lee Grant.
"I loved working on For The Use of the Hall on PBS. It
had a sensational cast and a dream director, Lee Grant. The rehearsal
period was joyous." 
Directed
by Lee GrantProduced by George Turpin
Broadway Theater Archives
A 1975 presentation of KCET/Hollywood Television Theater
DVD Studio: Kultur
Release: July 15, 2003
This
madcap, yet heartfelt comedy about success and failure is built on
wonderfully ridiculous situations and uproarious dialogue.
Charlotte is a penniless heiress, who with
her failed art broker consort Allen, are reduced to squatters in the summer
cottage of friends, living without heat and surviving on canned goods stolen
from elderly neighbors. Charlotte is awaiting the arrival of Martin, a
childhood friend and former lover. It is her hope to rekindle their flame and
use his friendship for a place to live. Charlotte knows he'll arrive soon
because Martin had a play open on Broadway the night before, and Martin's
plays are so repugnantly bad that he returns to the cottage to hide until
the criticism has subsided.
Unexpectedly, Martin's sister arrives. Terry
is a nun suffering from a loss of faith, and she has come to her childhood
sanctuary to reassess her life and her commitment to the church. Martin
arrives, despondent and prone to blackouts, with an unexpected addition, his
new wife Alice.
Bess, the mother of Martin and Terry is a dowager determined to outlive her children, just to see how they turned out. She serves as a narrator, recounting the story at a future point, knowing the turns and fates of the players whose lives will change that cold January in 1975 in a cottage in the country.
| "In
September and early October [1974], I was working on two Television
shows simultaneously. One was a 90 minute drama with Diane Baker [ABC
Afternoon Playbreak], which incidentally airs today. The other is a new
play by Oliver Hailey called For the Use of the Hall, directed by Lee
Grant (the actress) and will be on January 2, [1975]. I hope this
particular play is sent to England. I know you'd all love it." -- David Hedison October 17, 1974 |
"Meanwhile, I
have been quite active here in television. The highlight was a play called
For the Use of the Hall, that was presented on the Public Broadcasting
System. Oliver Hailey wrote the play and Lee Grant directed it. She did a
beautiful job, giving the play the proper suspension between drawing room
comedy and savage satire - like playing Private Lives on the Titanic! It was
all very well-received.
-- David Hedison
May 15, 1975