Rod Taylor starred with Joanne Dru in this half-hour drama that's part of
the "Goodyear Theatre" anthology series that aired on NBC 1957-60.
Taylor played Alan Ballister, a TV writer who's left penniless, courtesy of
taxes and alimony. He's talked into forming a corporation and selling stock -- in
himself -- to raise money.
Ballister makes himself and his stockholders wealthy
while he churns out TV fare. Writer's block sends him back into dire financial
straits. But his ex-wife has played the stock market shrewdly, to the good
fortune of them both.
Rod is likeable and enthusiastic as the
writer: insecure, snappy and highly susceptible to flattery -- a
familiar version of the species. The episode demonstrates Rod's
flair for high comedy...
A brief review of the show in the Fort Lauderdale News on Feb. 1,
1960, said praised the episode for having "the virtue of being
different." The piece goes on to elaborate:
"Capital Gains" is part-comedy,
part-romance, part-satire about a writer (Rod Taylor) who is
turned into a corporation by a promoter. His stock is quoted on
the big board, and among those who buy in are Taylor's ex-wife
and a gangster. There's a funny montage of scenes from the TV
shows he writes (the same basic plot, with a different setting)
and more humor in the fancy office designed to make a writer
write. Joanne Dru is the ex-wife and Peggy Moffitt a sexy
secretary who both want him. This isn't too exciting, but
anybody who writes will enjoy the inside jokes about the writing
profession.
"Capital Gains" was revived in 1987 as part of a "Golden Age of
Television" series aired by Arts & Entertainment Cable Network.
A&E packaged two half-hour vintage dramas for each "Golden Age"
presentation. "Capital Gains" was paired with another Goodyear
Theatre installment, "Points Beyond," in which Sterling Hayden
confronts the supernatural. The shows aired on A&E in January and
April 1987.
Here is "Capital Gains," taped years ago from A&E, converted
and uploaded for your viewing pleasure!
