"The Second Man" was an American

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

broadcast live on February 12, 1959 as the 100th episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

television series, ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, 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 in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...

''. The cast was led by

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

. The teleplay was written by

Leslie Stevens Leslie Clark Stevens IV (February 3, 1924 – April 24, 1998) was an American producer, writer, and director. He created two television series for the ABC network, '' The Outer Limits'' (1963–1965) and '' Stoney Burke'' (1962–63), and ''Sea ...

as an adaptation of the novel, ''

The Second Man ''The Second Man'' is a 1956 crime novel by the British writer Edward Grierson. It won the Gold Dagger award of the Crime Writers' Association. Synopsis A new female barrister Marion Kerrison defends a man accused of murdering his aunt to get h ...

'', by

Edward Grierson Edward Grierson (9 March 1914 - 24 May 1975) was a Northumberland barrister and a writer of crime novels. His debut crime novel is the outstanding ''Reputation for a Song'', a classic inverted detective story. Grierson also wrote five novels, six ...

Plot

A woman barrister at a prestigious London chambers tries to save a young man accused of murdering his wealthy aunt.

Cast

The cast included the following: *

- Hesketh *

Margaret Leighton Margaret Leighton, CBE (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included (her first credited debut feature) in Anatole de Grunwald's ''The Winslow Boy'' (1 ...

- Miss Kerrison *

Hugh Griffith Hugh Emrys Griffith (30 May 1912 – 14 May 1980) was a Welsh film, stage, and television actor. He is best remembered for his role in the film '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), which earned him critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Acto ...

- Jaggers *

Diana Wynyard Diana Wynyard, CBE (born Dorothy Isobel Cox; 16 January 1906 – 13 May 1964) was an English stage and film actress. Life and career Born in Lewisham, South London, Wynyard began her career on the stage. After performing in Liverpool and Lond ...

- Jane Birman *

Kenneth Haigh Kenneth William Michael Haigh (25 March 1931 – 4 February 2018) was an English actor. He first came to public recognition for playing the role of Jimmy Porter in the play ''Look Back in Anger'' in 1956 opposite Mary Ure in London's West End ...

- Maudsley

Production

The program was presented live from Television city in Hollywood on February 19, 1959, on the CBS television series ''Playhouse 90''. The teleplay was written by

as an adaptation of the novel, ''The Second Man'' (1956), by

Reception

Television critic William Ewald of the UPI wrote: "The play was the sort of thing I believe Britons refer to as jolly good theater. It is dead-end theater -- predictable, fully charted, bounded by convention -- but even so, it is a joy to watch when it's parceled attractively. . . . The players bit into this chunk with enormous relish and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Second Man, The 1959 American television episodes Playhouse 90 (season 3) episodes 1959 television plays