Alcoa-Goodyear Theater 1-18-60 "Birthright" Eli Wallach, Martin Balsam

Alcoa-Goodyear Theater 1-18-60 "Birthright": Two different men claim to be Czech-born Joseph Lanowski: One has been in the United States for years and started a family, the other is newly arrived. Only one of them will be allowed to remain in the country. Stars Eli Wallach, Martin Balsam, Kay Stewart, Frank Maxwell, and Sam Flint. Directed by Paul Stewart, story by Theodore Apstein, teleplay by Theodore Apstein and Howard Rodman. Alcoa Theatre was a half-hour anthology series that ran from September 30, 1957 through May 23, 1960. You can find more episodes of this and other vintage TV anthologies in the BetaGems playlist "Anthology Television 1950s-1960s."

BetaGems are culled from an archive of over 1000 beta video tapes recorded from 1983 into the 1990s. Most feature live music performances broadcast on television in San Diego CA, though there are also rarely seen commercials, comedy clips, and other material that doesn't seem to be anywhere else on Youtube or online. Most of the tapes were recorded on a Sony SL-HFT7 Super Beta Theater Hi-Fi Stereo - the same model was refurbished and is being used for these digital transfers and uploads.

In rare occasions where a BetaGems clip does appear elsewhere, we're only uploading if our own beta master is better quality or contains material not seen previously. Much footage comes from public television and public access broadcasts that the taper, who worked for a local cable TV production company in the 1980s, monitored nightly for several years. Some of the programming is strictly regional, mostly from the San Diego area.