Douglas was a freckle-faced Irish-American who had a minor career as a singer in radio and with Kay Kyser's band. He was the singing voice of Prince Charming in Disney's Cinderella, but by the early-1960s Douglas was pretty much struggling until he landed a job hosting a Cleveland-based daytime talk show beginning in 1961. His ability to charm his guests led to some unusually Big Names agreeing to do the show, which went national in 1963 before moving to the more conveniently located Philadelphia in 1965, with important guests actually shuttled all the way to and from New York by limousine.

There were basically two reasons for the show's immense popularity: the eclectic, engaging choice of guests booked for the show and Douglas's own natural charm and the way he supported his guests with a kind of boyish enthusiasm they appreciated and which audiences could easily relate to.

Though unfortunately the younger generation likely has never even heard of Mike Douglas, they'll certainly recognize his long list of impressive guests. The DVD includes clips of Mike chatting with Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola (about The Godfather), Paul Newman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmy Stewart, and Muhammad Ali. A two-year-old Tiger Woods demonstrates his driving and putting skills to Mike and Bob Hope, while Arnold Schwarzenegger, Billy Crystal, David Letterman, and Jay Leno all make early career appearances.

In a new interview, Crystal notes that while stand-up comedians had to "earn" the right to sit on the sofa next to Johnny on The Tonight Show, Douglas welcomed you with open arms no matter how well you did. Della Reese remembers that if you were black and had a hit record The Ed Sullivan Show would have you on but slam the curtain down as soon as the song was over, while Douglas was eager to sit and chat with you, and maybe sing a duet or two.

He didn't steer away from controversy, either. One clip has him inviting Dr. King, who decries the disproportionate number of blacks being drafted and sent off to Vietnam, King urging them to stay home as conscientious objectors. Perhaps most famously in February 1972 he gave John Lennon and Yoko Ono the opportunity to co-host the show pretty much carte blanche for an entire week; they in turn invited such guests as Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale and Chicago Seven member Jerry Rubin, doubtlessly raising the ire of the blue-haired housewives that were Douglas's base. (Lennon also finds time to fawn over and jam with Chuck Berry in a performance of "Johnny Be Good.")

The weird juxtaposition of talent is at times mesmerizing. I remember a show from about 1973 that consisted of something like Norman Mailer, Laurence Harvey, and Moe Howard of the Three Stooges (alas not included). One clip shown here features Gene Simmons of KISS, in full costume and makeup, sitting down next to an utterly bemused Totie Fields.

The documentary offers one great clip after another, buttressed by new interviews with frequent guests like Della Reese and Bill Cosby, along with a few surprising faces like Mariette Hartley and Billie Jean King. Dr. Bernard Timberg, author of Television Talk, makes several astute observations about Douglas and what distinguished him from the competition.

The reasons are pinpointed by the various interview subjects. Rare among talk show hosts (indeed, in sharp contrast to Larry King for one) Mike Douglas actually listened to his guests. He didn't plow through a laundry list of questions; if they said something intriguing Douglas would go with the flow, and throughout was admirably non-judgmental: a guest as doubtlessly, bizarrely alien to Mike as Gene Simmons was treated with the same courtesy and interest as Louis Armstrong or Bette Davis.

Douglas had a boyish fan quality that was appealing; like Merv Griffin he was a movie buff and obviously enjoyed having older singers and musicians whose careers he had followed for many years ("He was so cute that way," his widow says). Douglas sang a lot on the show but even then it was more like watching someone perform on "karaoke night" than the star throwing his weight around to hog the spotlight. As Bill Cosby says in a new interview, "He sang in a way where you think, 'Hey, man - I can sing, too!'"

Video & Audio

Mike Douglas - Moments & Memories is presented in its original full frame format. The clips, from shows shot on tape and mostly in color, all look to be in exceptionally good shape, with good sharpness (all things considered) and little in the way of age-related damage. The mono audio is strong (which helps performances by John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Darin, etc.) though the lack of subtitles is unfortunate.

Extra Features

As mentioned above, included as an extra feature is about an hour's worth of expanded interviews with the following: Ingrid Bergman, Alex Haley, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Tim Conway, Paul Newman, Johnny Cash, Ron Howard, Alfred Hitchcock, and Mother Teresa. Additional Mike Douglas biographical material is also included, and the two-sided full-color insert offers an unusually good scene index.

Parting Thoughts

Outside of the minor complaint that the clips aren't dated, the only thing wrong with Mike Douglas - Moments & Memories is its brevity: I didn't want it to end. A bargain disc with something for everyone, it comes Highly Recommended. A few years before his death Mike Douglas appeared on Rosie O'Donnell's talk show; she wanted to pay tribute to the man that inspired her show. He seemed both pleased and genuinely taken aback by the standing ovation and thunderous applause that greeted him. His show now a fond but distant memory, his audience likewise forgot just how much they miss him.

　 Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV's latest books, Japanese Cinema and The Toho Studios Story, are now available for pre-order.