The Secret Storm

Infobox Television
show_name = The Secret Storm


caption = Title card for "The Secret Storm", 1960
format = soap opera
camera =
picture_format =
runtime = 15 (later 30) minutes
creator = Roy Winsor
developer =
executive_producer =
starring = Peter Hobbs
Jada Rowland
Marla Adams
narrated =
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = USA
network = CBS
first_aired = February 1, 1954
last_aired = February 8, 1974
num_episodes = 5195
website =
imdb_id = 0046641
tv_com_id =

"The Secret Storm" was a soap opera which aired on CBS from February 1, 1954 to February 8, 1974.

"The Secret Storm" was created by Roy Winsor, the man responsible for the long-running soap operas "Search for Tomorrow" and "Love of Life". Gloria Monty of "General Hospital" fame was a longtime director of the series.

For most of its run, "The Secret Storm" aired at either 4 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time), and was usually the final soap opera in CBS's afternoon block.

Plot

To clarify, the soap's original time slot was 4:15 p.m., just after the 15 minute soap The Brighter Day and just before the 30 minute soap The Edge of Night. In the early 1960s when The Brighter Day was moved to an early morning time slot [which contributed to its demise] , The Secret Storm took over the 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. time slot, where it remained until the late 1960s. In the late 1960s, the program was moved to a 3:00 p.m. time slot, where it ultimately did not fare as well against the then popular Another World on NBC and General Hospital on ABC. In the early 1970s the program was moved to 3:30 p.m., the time slot which The Edge of Night had held for many years after it was shifted back by 1 hour when the networks gave the 4:30 time slot back to its affiliates. The program did somewhat better, but still faced competition from Return To Peyton Place on NBC and One Life To Live on ABC. Finally, CBS moved the program back to the 4:00 p.m. time slot, where it stayed until the end of its run. Its competition in that time slot was NBC's "Somerset"(f/k/a "Another World-Somerset"), in some markets, although in other markets "Somerset" aired at 1:00 p.m. Several affiliates, however, chose to broadcast The Secret Storm on a delayed basis, on the next weekday in another time slot.

At the soap's center was the Ames family, a prominent clan in the fictional Northeastern town of Woodbridge (eventually located in New York). The Ames family consisted of Peter, his wife Ellen, and their three children: Susan, Jerry and Amy. The mother Ellen was killed off in the first episode and subsequent stories focused on the widower Peter raising his three children. Lending a hand, however dubiously, was Peter's former fiancee/sister in-law, Pauline Rysdale.

An interesting fact to note is the character of Amy was allowed to age in real time and not to be subjected to rapid aging as most soap operas do. Jada Rowland played the character, minus a few breaks, for the length of the show's run.

One of the most unforgettable villains of the time was Belle Clemens. Belle was played by Marla Adams, up to the show's end and was the main source of trouble for Woodbridge, taking up where Aunt Pauline, who was the show's original villainess, left off. Origially due to die of kidney disease, the writers had Belle's daughter drown in an accident, and Belle blamed Amy for the death.

Actress/writer Stephanie Braxton and actor Dan Hamilton met while performing on the show. They later married in real life. Lori March, who played Valerie Hill Ames for many years, later played the wife of her real-life husband Alexander Scorby. Actress Diana Muldaur married her co-star, James Vickery, in real-life, also.

Actress Diane Ladd who played the role of Kitty Styles, would go on to greater fame in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (she played Florence Jean Castleberry) and would later on play the role of Isabelle Amanda Dupree on the television show that was based on the movie.

Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford guest starred on this series playing the role of Joan Borman Kane, from 21 - 25 October 1968. Although no full shows with Joan Crawford are known to exist, clips from some episodes have appeared on YouTube.

Demise

The main reason for the show's demise was CBS's choice to buy the show from the original sponsor/producer, American Home Products, in 1969. The show suffered from numerous changes in head writers and producers, as well. In September 1973, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco, KPIX, stopped airing "The Secret Storm" without warning, replacing it with "The Mike Douglas Show". According to Bob MacKenzie of "TV Guide", KPIX's switchboards received 400 calls that afternoon, and one woman in Oakland wrote, "We all are wondering what Belle is up to and what Amy is doing and how Brian is coping with his problems." Another viewer wrote to "TV Guide", "I am addicted to it, and they simply cut it off in the middle of a fascinating plot. This is not fair! Onions to the station!" In November, a decision was made to cancel the serial. American Home Products repurchased the rights to the show in an attempt to move the show to another network. After NBC executive Lin Bolen rejected the show in favor of How to Survive a Marriage, and ABC chose to use its daytime budget to buy out Agnes Nixon's soaps, an effort to syndicate the show failed because of daytime clearance issues among the largest market affiliates.

The final episode aired in February 1974. CBS replaced the show in its timeslot with "Tattletales"

Title sequences

The series had three distinctive opening visuals. The first was a shot of a tree with windblown branches. The second was a shortlived shot of a town with shots of people walking about similar to "Peyton Place". The third, perhaps the most remembered one, had shots of the surf at high tide, crashing against the rocks in the opening titles similar to that of "Dark Shadows" (the ABC television show which aired opposite "The Secret Storm" and whose popularity contributed to its demise). The in-house organist was Charles Paul. Carey Gold provided the music during the show's last years.

Theme Song

For the last several years of the show, the theme song was the theme from the second movement of the Concerto for Violin and Violincello by Johanes Brahms.

Characters

usan Ames Dunbar

Susan was the eldest daughter of Peter Ames and his wife, Ellen. After her mother's tragic death in a car accident, she became the new mother figure in the family. She was usually responsible for the well being of her younger siblings, Jerry Ames, and her youngest sister, Amy. She also resented any plans of her father to remarry, a situation shared by her maternal aunt, Pauline Rysdale. Despite all her plans, though, he did eventually remarry.

She was married to a man named Alan Dunbar, a former golf pro who was involved in a drug ring. He slowly broke away from that life, and married Susan. She also had his son named Peter, named after her father, Peter. Susan and Alan were happy, despite some storms, especially dealing with his fellow newspaper reporter Ann Wicker, who was seducing Alan. He almost succumbed to tempation, but still remained a good husband, until he was presumed dead in Vietnam.

Thinking that he's dead, Susan married a man named Frank Carver. Until Alan turned up alive, and his war experiences made him psychotic. He also reestablished his mafia connections. Susan annulled her marriage to Frank and returned to Alan. She and Alan left Woodbridge in the late 60's and early 70's, leaving her sister, Amy, to be the only Ames left in Woodbridge. Her brother, Jerry, married to a painter named Hope, had already moved to Paris.Susan Ames Dunbar Carver was played by several different actresses.
Jean Mowry originated the role in 1954 and departed The Secret Storm in 1956, going on to play Pat Cunningham in As the World Turns from 1957-1959 until retiring from acting to marry.
Rachel Taylor then took on the role before departing the show in 1957. Actress Tori Darnay temporarily played Susan. Norma Moore stepped into the role in 1958 but was soon replaced by Mary Foskett that same year who successfully carried on Susan's role until 1964 when Frances Helm took on the role for a few months before she was replaced by Judy Lewis (the illegitimate daughter of Loretta Young and Clark Gable). Lewis left the show in 1968 and Diana Van der Vlis temporarily replaced her. Van der Vlis was then replaced by Mary McGregor who was in turn replaced by Lewis when she returned to the show in 1969. Lewis played the role until 1971 when the character took her exit.

External links

*imdb title|0046641