Fame Is the Name of the Game is a 1966 American made-for-television drama film starring Tony Franciosa that aired on NBC and served as the pilot episode of the subsequent series The Name of the Game. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg and was produced by Ranald MacDougall, who also wrote the teleplay, from the novel One Woman by Tiffany Thayer.[1]
| Fame Is the Name of the Game | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Mystery fiction |
| Based on | One Woman by Tiffany Thayer |
| Written by | Carol Sobieski |
| Screenplay by | Ranald MacDougall |
| Directed by | Stuart Rosenberg |
| Starring | Tony Franciosa Jack Klugman Susan St. James Robert Duvall |
| Theme music composer | Benny Carter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Ranald MacDougall |
| Cinematography | John F. Warren |
| Editor | Edward W. Williams |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production company | Universal TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release |
|
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | The Name of the Game |
The film stars Tony Franciosa as investigative journalist Jeff Dillon and also presents the screen debut of 20-year-old Susan Saint James as Peggy Chan, Dillon's new editorial assistant. (In the series, St. James's character is renamed Peggy Maxwell, and she is the research assistant to all three of the rotating lead characters.) In the film, Jeff Dillon writes for Fame magazine, a publication of Janus Enterprises, and Glenn Howard (George Macready) is just the managing editor. In the subsequent series, Dillon writes for People magazine, a division of Howard Publications, and Glenn Howard (Gene Barry) is head of the whole company.
The telefilm also features Jill St. John, Jack Klugman, and Robert Duvall.
An investigative reporter looks into the murder of a call girl. His investigation unearths her diary, which has the names of many prominent people inscribed within its pages. He sets out to find her killer from among the names contained in the diary.
In the weeks before the telefilm's first broadcast, NBC ran an unprecedented blitz of TV ads which erroneously billed Fame is the Name of the Game as television's first "world premiere" of a "major motion picture". The film garnered phenomenal ratings, leading to the spin-off series.