The Waltons

Filmed 1973-1978 But it was more than a perfect fit. In 1973 when I directed THE CHICKEN THIEF (http://senensky.com/the-chicken-thief/), my first episode of THE WALTONS, I had been directing television for a dozen years. But it was still a thorny … Continue reading →

Filmed July 1974 I had my first piano lesson when I was 7 years old. Was that because I had shown an early talent for music? No way! It seemed to me at the time, everyone my age took piano … Continue reading →

Filmed July 1976 When I started this project, first with the blog, RALPH’S TREK, which ran for a year and a half, and then this website, RALPH’S CINEMA TREK, my intention was to make each post a fly-on-the-wall-view visit to … Continue reading →

My first contact with Beulah Bondi was a telephone conversation in 1957. 17 years later I met her in person, face-to-face, in producer Robert Jacks’ office on the Warner Brothers lot. We had cast her as Martha Corinne Walton in … Continue reading →

Directing in the 70s was different. There were bookings, but most of them were chores. The days of a decade earlier of going from a great script on TWILIGHT ZONE to another on DR. KILDARE and then on to a … Continue reading →

Filmed November 1974 I directed twelve episodes of THE WALTONS, but so far I’ve only done posts on eleven of them. The missing one is THE BEGUILED. Why has it been overlooked? Was directing it such an unpleasant experience that … Continue reading →

FILMED August 1978 Last week after I posted THE MONEY FARM, an episode of JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE, on my website, I received the following e-mail from a friend: We just finished watching/reading The Money Farm and loved it. Sure … Continue reading →

FILMED February 1978 Ellen Corby had suffered a serious stroke sometime after we had worked together on THE PONY CART in October, 1976. When I reported to begin prep on GRANDMA COMES HOME, I was told that as an amnesiac … Continue reading →

Filmed August 1977 Again with a nod to ALL ABOUT EVE’s Margo Channing: Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy fight. The day following completion of photography on THE GRANDCHILD I received the replacement script for my … Continue reading →