Tactic (partially found public service series featuring William Shatner and Alfred Hitchcock; 1959)

Promotional image of the first episode, featuring William Shatner and Alfred Hitchcock.

Status: Partially Found

On May 2nd, 1959, NBC, in collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the Education Television and Research Center released the first episode of Tactic, a public service series with the purpose of breaking down the taboo on public discussion of cancer. The first episode included director Alfred Hitchcock and Star Trek actor William Shatner as guests.^[1] .

Content and background

Six episodes were broadcast, with the first one themed around the topic of fear surrounding cancer. Three segments were included in this episode, a speech by the director of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Charles S. Cameron explaining how thousands of people die each year of cancer because they avoid treatment, three dance numbers introduced by choreographer Hanya Holm and a 12-minute section featuring film director Alfred Hitchcock, first talking about fear and how it affects cancer patients and then setting up a scene with actors Diane van der Vlis and William Shatner performing a semi-improvised scene in which a young doctor informs a female model that she has breast cancer, Hitchcock occasionally stops the scene to direct the actors as the improvisation progresses^[2], being this the only extended footage we have of Hitchcock directing.

There is no much information about the other five episodes, other than its guests included Celeste Holm, Wally Cox, Ilka Chase and Steve Allen ^[3] .

Availability

While the first episodes can be viewed at The Paley Center for Media in New York City, it is unknown if any other copies are available elsewhere, and the episode can not be viewed outside of the Center. There is no much information about the other 5 episodes, and they are probably lost. According to film historians Alain Kerzoncuf and Charles Barr in their book, Hitchcock Lost and Found: The Forgotten Film, the show was filmed lived and then kinescoped, so there's a possibility that the other five episodes were never conserved after its first broadcast.

Only two clips are known to be available on the internet, both from the Hitchcock segment; The first minute and 9 seconds of the improvisation section, which was included in the 2011 documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc.^[4], as well as the last 13 seconds of that same section that features Alfred Hitchcock thanking William Shatner and Diane Van Der Vlis for their performances, that was uploaded in June 2022 to YouTube by user HistoricArchives. Two other stills are available in the book Hitchcock Lost and Found: The Forgotten Films.