''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at
CBS Television City
Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...
in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s usually were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual: a weekly series of hour-and-a-half-long dramas rather than 60-minute plays.
Background
The producers of the show were
Martin Manulis
Martin Ellyot Manulis (May 30, 1915 – September 28, 2007) was an American television, film, and theatre producer. Manulis was best known for his work in the 1950s producing the CBS Television programs ''Suspense'', '' Studio One Summer Theatre' ...
,
John Houseman
John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director ...
Hubbell Robinson
Hubbell Robinson (October 16, 1905 - September 4, 1974) was an American broadcasting executive who "was noted for his adeptness with programs both of artistic merit and of broad popular appeal." William Paley, who was chairman of CBS when Robinson ...
. The leading director was John Frankenheimer (27 episodes), followed by
Franklin J. Schaffner
Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920July 2, 1989) was an American film, television, and stage director. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for ''Patton'' (1970), and is known for the films ''Planet of the Apes'' (1968), ''Nicholas and Al ...
(19 episodes). Other directors included
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for ''12 Angry Men'' (1957), ''Dog Day Afternoon'' (1975), ''Network'' (1976), ...
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
's
adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
. The following week, ''
Requiem for a Heavyweight
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
'', also scripted by Serling, received critical accolades and later dominated the 1956 Emmys by winning awards in six categories, including best direction, best teleplay and best actor. Serling was given the first
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
for television writing. For many viewers, live television drama had moved to a loftier plateau. ''Playhouse 90'' established a reputation as television's most distinguished anthology drama series and maintained a high standard for four seasons (with repeats in 1961).
From the start, productions were planned to be both live and filmed, with a filmed show every fourth Thursday to relieve the pressure of mounting the live telecasts. The first filmed ''Playhouse 90'' was '' The Country Husband'' (November 1, 1956) with Barbara Hale and Frank Lovejoy portraying a couple in a collapsing marriage. The filmed episodes were produced variously, by
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
, with
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
in an early role), and the original television version of ''
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
'', featuring
Maximilian Schell
Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was an Austrian-born Swiss actor, who also wrote, directed and produced some of his own films. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1961 American film ''Judgment at Nuremberg'', h ...
Claude Rains
William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
role.
''Playhouse 90'' received many
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
nominations, and it later ranked #33 on the ''TV Guide'' 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. In 1997, the acclaimed ''Requiem for a Heavyweight'' was ranked #30 on the ''TV Guide'' 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked ''Playhouse 90'' #65 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series.
Early on, in 1956, ''Playhouse 90'' faced some controversy due to scheduling. It was thought by independent producers that, in ''Playhouse 90s procurement, scheduling, and promotion decisions, major networks favored programs that they produced or, in which they had ownership interest. Worried about this issue, CBS suspended its plans for the series in fear that they had violated antitrust laws. Soon afterward, however, CBS received an oral opinion from its legal counsel that no laws had been violated, and the show continued.
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
,
Whitfield Cook
George Whitfield Cook III (April 9, 1909 – November 12, 2003) was an American writer of screenplays, stage plays, short stories and novels, best known for his contributions to two Alfred Hitchcock films, ''Stage Fright'' and '' Strangers on ...
,
David E. Durston
David E. Durston (September 10, 1921 – May 6, 2010) was an American screenwriter and film director best known for directing the Charles Manson-inspired, horror movie '' I Drink Your Blood'', released in 1971.
Career
Durston wrote and directed ...
Frank D. Gilroy
Frank Daniel Gilroy (October 13, 1925 – September 12, 2015) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film producer and director. He received the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''The Subject Was Roses' ...
,
Roger O. Hirson
Roger Overholt Hirson (May 5, 1926 – May 27, 2019) was an American dramatist and screenwriter best known for his books of the Broadway musicals, ''Pippin'', for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, and '' Walking Happy''. He contributed ex ...
,
A. E. Hotchner
Aaron Edward Hotchner (June 28, 1917 – February 15, 2020) was an American editor, novelist, playwright, and biographer.Loring Mandel,
Abby Mann
Abby Mann (December 1, 1927 – March 25, 2008) was an American film writer and producer.
Life and career
The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Mann was born as Abraham Goodman in Philadelphia. He grew up in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
D ...
, J. P. Miller, Paul Monash, and Leslie Stevens. Playwright Tad Mosel, who wrote four teleplays for ''Playhouse 90'', recalled, "My first ''Playhouse 90'' was ''Glamour''... ''Glamour'' had come to television because CBS had built this magnificent Television City in Los Angeles... Television had come to deserve buildings for itself. This was a whole new idea, that you'd have a building for television. ''Playhouse 90'' was one of the first shows to go into that mammoth building."
John Frankenheimer
Between 1954 and 1960, John Frankenheimer directed 152 live television dramas, an average of one every two weeks. During the 1950s he was regarded as television's top directorial talent and much of his significant work was for ''Playhouse 90'', for which he directed 27 teleplays between 1956 and 1960. He began with '' Forbidden Area'' (October 4, 1956), adapted by Serling from the Pat Frank
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
about Soviet sabotage, following with '' Rendezvous in Black'' (October 25, 1956), adapted from Cornell Woolrich's novel of twisted revenge; '' Eloise'' (November 22, 1956), adapted from
the book
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight; and '' The Family Nobody Wanted'' (December 20, 1956), from the Helen Doss book about a childless couple who adopt a dozen children of mixed ancestry, a book brought to television again in 1975.
As ''Playhouse 90'' moved into 1957, Frankenheimer directed a science fiction drama, ''The Ninth Day'' (January 10, 1957), by
Howard
Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
as an abrasive, manipulative television comedian. In later interviews, Frankenheimer expressed his admiration for Rooney's acting in this memorable drama. A kinescope of ''The Comedian'' survives and remains available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles.
After ''The Last Tycoon'' (March 14, 1957), adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
about a film studio head, Frankenheimer followed with Tad Mosel's ''If You Knew Elizabeth'' (April 11, 1957) about an ambitious college professor; another Fitzgerald adaptation, ''
Winter Dreams
"Winter Dreams" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was first published in '' Metropolitan'' magazine in December 1922 and later collected in '' All the Sad Young Men'' in 1926. The plot concerns the attempts by a young man to win the a ...
'' (May 23, 1957), dramatizing a romantic triangle; ''Clash by Night'' (June 13, 1957), with
Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley (born Patricia Kimberley Reid; February 11, 1925 – August 20, 2001) was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances.
She began her acting career in theatre, and subsequently at ...
The Troublemakers
''The Troublemakers'' is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez, published in 2009. It is one of a number of stand-alone graphic novels featuring Hernandez's character Fritz acting in stories inspired by pulp fiction and exp ...
'' (November 21, 1957) was George Bellak's adaptation of his own 1956 play about a campus newspaper editor killed by other students. Frankenheimer ended the year with '' The Thundering Wave'' (December 12, 1957), starring James and Pamela Mason in an Aurthur drama about an acting couple who agree to do a play together despite their separation.
Frankenheimer kicked off 1958 with '' The Last Man'' (January 9, 1958), an
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...
revenge drama, followed by ''
The Violent Heart
''The Violent Heart'' is a 2020 American drama film written and directed by Kerem Sanga. It stars Jovan Adepo, Grace Van Patten, Lukas Haas, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Cress Williams, Jahi Di'Allo Winston, and Mary J. Blige. The film premiered at ...
'' (February 6, 1958) from the Daphne du Maurier story of romance on the French Riviera, '' Rumors of Evening'' (May 1, 1958) about a World War II pilot obsessed with a USO entertainer, and Serling's ''
Bomber's Moon
''Bomber's Moon'' is a 1943 American wartime propaganda film, produced by 20th Century Fox, based on an unpublished magazine serial "Bomber's Moon" by Leonard Lee.
Plot
Captain Jeff Dakin ( George Montgomery) is shot down over Germany on a bomb ...
'' (May 22, 1958) about a World War II pilot accused of cowardice. '' A Town Has Turned to Dust'' (June 19, 1958), a Serling drama about an 1870
lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
of an innocent Mexican in a southwestern town, was based on the
Emmett Till
Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...
case.
In '' The New York Times'' for October 3, 1958, the day after J. P. Miller's '' Days of Wine and Roses'' was telecast, Jack Gould wrote a rave review with much praise for the writer, director and cast:
:It was a brilliant and compelling work... Mr. Miller's dialogue was especially fine, natural, vivid and understated. Miss Laurie's performance was enough to make the flesh crawl, yet it also always elicited deep sympathy. Her interpretation of the young wife just a shade this side of delirium tremens—the flighty dancing around the room, her weakness of character and moments of anxiety and her charm when she was sober—was a superlative accomplishment. Miss Laurie is moving into the forefront of our most gifted young actresses. Mr. Robertson achieved first-rate contrast between the sober man fighting to hold on and the hopeless drunk whose only courage came from the bottle. His scene in the greenhouse, where he tried to find the bottle that he had hidden in the flower pot, was particularly good... John Frankenheimer's direction was magnificent. His every touch implemented the emotional suspense but he never let the proceedings get out of hand or merely become sensational.
''
Old Man
Old Man may refer to:
Basic meanings
* An elderly man
* A father (especially as the phrase "my old man" to mean "my father")
* A husband
* Commanding officer of a military unit
* Captain of a merchant ship or a warship
* Any male amateur radi ...
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
, who took this play to Broadway for a run of 36 performances during October to November 1960. The following year, Frankenheimer began with '' The Blue Men'' (January 15, 1959), an Alvin Boretz drama about the trial of a police detective who refused to make an arrest.
A. E. Hotchner
Aaron Edward Hotchner (June 28, 1917 – February 15, 2020) was an American editor, novelist, playwright, and biographer.Ernest Hemingway's '' For Whom the Bell Tolls'' into a two-part
format
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
(March 12 and March 19, 1959). ''
Journey to the Day
"Journey to the Day" was an American television play broadcast on April 22, 1960, as part of the CBS television series, ''Playhouse 90''. It was the 14th episode of the fourth season of ''Playhouse 90''.
Plot
Dr. Gutera is assigned to lead group ...
'' (April 22, 1960) was a Roger Hirson drama about group therapy.
Live to tape
''Playhouse 90'' began as a live series, making a transition to tape in 1957. Kevin Dowler, writing for the Museum of Broadcast Communications, noted:
:Its status as a "live" drama was short lived in any case, since the difficulties in mounting a 90-minute production on a weekly basis required the adoption of the recently-developed videotape technology, which was used to record entire shows beforehand from 1957 onward. Both the pressures and the costs of this ambitious production eventually resulted in ''Playhouse 90'' being cut back to alternate weeks, sharing its time slot with ''The Big Party'' between 1959 and 1960.
:The final eight shows were aired irregularly between February and May 1960, with repeats broadcast during the summer weeks of 1961...
:The success of ''Playhouse 90'' continued into the 1957-58 season with productions of ''The Miracle Worker'', '' The Comedian'', and ''The Helen Morgan Story''. Although these shows, along with ''
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'' and ''
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
'' were enough to ensure the historical importance of ''Playhouse 90'', the program also stood out because of its emergence in the "film era" of television broadcasting evolution.
:By 1956, much of television production had moved from the east to the west coast, and from live performances to filmed series. Most of the drama anthologies, a staple of the evening schedule to this point, fell victim to the newer types of programs being developed. ''Playhouse 90'' stands in contrast to the prevailing trend, and its reputation benefited from both the growing nostalgia for the waning live period, and a universal distaste for Hollywood on the part of New York television critics. It also is probable that since the use of videotape (not widespread at the time) preserved a "live" feel, so that discussion of the programs could be easily adapted to the standards introduced by the New York television critics.
Normally, the program was telecast in black-and-white, but on Christmas night, 1958, it offered a color production of Tchaikovsky's '' The Nutcracker'', starring the New York City Ballet and choreographed by
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
. The program (hosted by June Lockhart) was presented live, rather than on videotape, however, and it was long thought to have survived only on a black-and-white kinescope version. In 2021, the color videotape version was uploaded to YouTube.
Television listings
Source for films
Several teleplays in the series were filmed later as theatrical motion pictures, including ''
Requiem for a Heavyweight
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
''. ''
Seven Against the Wall
"Seven Against the Wall" is an episode of the American anthology series ''Playhouse 90''. It was about the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre''.
Cast
* Paul Lambert (actor), Paul Lambert as Al Capone
* Dennis Patrick as Bugs Moran, George 'Bugs' Moran ...
'' was scripted by Howard Browne, who later reworked his teleplay into the screenplay for Roger Corman's 1967 movie, ''
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 14, ...
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
role, was shown on cable television in 1997 by Showtime.
Awards
; Peabody Awards
* 1957
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
for ''
Requiem for a Heavyweight
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
''
* 1959 ''Playhouse 90''
; Golden Globe Awards
* 1957 Best TV Show – ''Playhouse 90''
* 1958 Best Dramatic Anthology Series – ''Playhouse 90''
; Emmy Awards
* 1957 Best New Program Series – ''Playhouse 90''
* 1957 Best Art Direction - One Hour or More – Albert Heschong for "
Requiem for a Heavyweight
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show ''Playhouse 90'' on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey R ...
"
* 1957 Best Single Performance by an Actor – Jack Palance in "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
* 1957 Best Single Program of the Year – "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
* 1957 Best Teleplay Writing - One Hour or More –
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...
for "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
* 1957 Best Director - One Hour or More – Ralph Nelson for "Requiem for a Heavyweight"
* 1958 Best Single Performance by an Actress – Polly Bergen in "The Helen Morgan Story"
* 1958 Best Single Program of the Year – " The Comedian"
* 1958 Best Teleplay Writing - One Hour or More – Rod Serling for "The Comedian"
* 1959 Best Dramatic Series - One Hour or Longer – ''Playhouse 90''
* 1960 Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama – ''Playhouse 90''