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IMDbPro

Playhouse 90

  • TV Series
  • 1956–19611956–1961
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
367
YOUR RATING
"Eighty Yard Run, The" (Playhouse 90) Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. 1957 CBS
  • Comedy
  • Crime
  • Drama
Of the many anthology series, this is considered the most ambitious with outstanding talent in front of the camera. Attracting top ranked directors and scripts, it was often filmed live incl... Read allOf the many anthology series, this is considered the most ambitious with outstanding talent in front of the camera. Attracting top ranked directors and scripts, it was often filmed live including the entire first season.Of the many anthology series, this is considered the most ambitious with outstanding talent in front of the camera. Attracting top ranked directors and scripts, it was often filmed live including the entire first season.
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
367
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Richard Joy
    • Paul Lambert
    • Helen Kleeb
Top credits
  • Stars
    • Richard Joy
    • Paul Lambert
    • Helen Kleeb
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 9User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 13 Primetime Emmys
      • 19 wins & 36 nominations total

    Episodes134

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Photos95

    "Target For Three" (Playhouse 90') Ricardo Montalban,  Marisa Pavan, George C. Scott 1959 CBS
    Charlton Heston and Hope Lange in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    "Playhouse 90" (Episode: Bomber's Moon) Martin Balsam, Robert Cummings, Rip Torn
    "The Comedian" (Playhouse 90) Edmund O'Brien, ?, Mickey Rooney, Mel Torme, ?
    Kim Hunter at an event for Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Art Carney in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Hope Lange in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Richard Beymer in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Jack Palance and Lee Remick in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Jack Palance and Lee Remick in Playhouse 90 (1956)
    Jack Palance and Lee Remick in Playhouse 90 (1956)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Joy
    • Self - Announceras Self - Announcer…
    60 episodes60 eps • 1956–1960
    Paul Lambert
    Paul Lambert
    • Al Caponeas Al Capone…
    10 episodes10 eps • 1957–1959
    Helen Kleeb
    Helen Kleeb
    • Birdyas Birdy…
    9 episodes9 eps • 1956–1960
    Charles Bickford
    Charles Bickford
    • Captain Joel Kingdomas Captain Joel Kingdom…
    7 episodes7 eps • 1956–1960
    Kim Hunter
    Kim Hunter
    • Anna Rojasas Anna Rojas…
    8 episodes8 eps • 1956–1960
    Malcolm Atterbury
    Malcolm Atterbury
    • Col. Schwimmeras Col. Schwimmer…
    8 episodes8 eps • 1957–1959
    Tom Palmer
    Tom Palmer
    • Carruthersas Carruthers…
    7 episodes7 eps • 1956–1960
    Franchot Tone
    Franchot Tone
    • Allen Grantas Allen Grant…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1956–1960
    Peter Lorre
    Peter Lorre
    • Café Owneras Café Owner…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1956–1960
    Eddie Ryder
    • Joeas Joe…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1956–1959
    Nehemiah Persoff
    Nehemiah Persoff
    • Pabloas Pablo…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1957–1960
    Barry Sullivan
    Barry Sullivan
    • Self - Hostas Self - Host…
    2 episodes2 eps • 1957–1959
    H.M. Wynant
    H.M. Wynant
    • Marquezas Marquez…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1956–1959
    James Mason
    James Mason
    • Hans Frickas Hans Frick…
    5 episodes5 eps • 1957–1960
    Jason Wingreen
    Jason Wingreen
    • Bellboyas Bellboy…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1956–1959
    Mimi Gibson
    Mimi Gibson
    • Celeste D'Alenconas Celeste D'Alencon…
    6 episodes6 eps • 1957–1958
    Elizabeth Patterson
    Elizabeth Patterson
    • Aunt Idaas Aunt Ida…
    5 episodes5 eps • 1956–1960
    John Conwell
    • Court Interpreteras Court Interpreter…
    5 episodes5 eps • 1958–1959
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This show began in 1956 broadcasting all live ninety-minute plays, with only a sub-par kinescope film (film camera aimed at the live broadcast on the television monitor) as an archive. The second year, they began to film maybe every second or third episode (as a "made-for-television-movie"), then, in the last two years began videotaping many of the episodes. The tape technique was harder to spot because the broadcasts still appeared live, but there are at least partial tapes (of excellent, pristine quality) in the CBS vaults of episodes "Days of Wine and Roses", "The Old Man", "Judgment At Nuremberg", "Alas, Babylon", and "In The Prescence of Mine Enemies". Clips of these tapes were featured in the 2002 CBS special "50 Years of Television City in Hollywood".
    • Connections
      Featured in TV Guide: The First 25 Years (1979)
    • Soundtracks
      Song for a Summer Night
      by Robert Allen

    User reviews9

    Review
    Top review
    A script has turned to rubbish
    'Playhouse 90' was an exceptionally good anthology series, which consistently offered the most prestigious actors, directors and scriptwriters available in America at the time, combining their talents to create 90-minute dramas. (Hence the title of the series.) This posting is specifically about 'A Town Has Turned to Dust', an original drama by Rod Serling which aired as the 'Playhouse 90' episode for 19 June 1958.

    In August 1955, a 14-year-old boy named Emmett Till, from a black working-class neighbourhood in Chicago, went to visit relatives in a deeply segregated small town in Mississippi. He made the mistake of speaking disrespectfully to a white townswoman. Two days later, Till was abducted by white men. His mutilated corpse was later found in the Tallahatchie River. This lynching attracted national attention. Two men were arrested and charged with Till's murder, but were acquitted at trial after the defence attorney explicitly urged the all-white jury to be faithful to their Anglo-Saxon heritage.

    'A Town Has Turned to Dust', written by Rod Serling, was intended to be an indictment of the entire Emmett Till affair. Serling's original script followed the facts closely, only changing the name of the town in the Deep South, and the names of key individuals. A few fictional details were added. In the real-life case, Emmett Till's abductors made no attempt to conceal their identities; in Serling's script, the men are described as wearing hoods over their heads. Unfortunately, the TV network's censors had conniption fits when they read this script. The network became afraid of 'offending' their sponsors or viewers. One after another, all the most salient details of Serling's script were changed in order to make the material 'safe' and inoffensive.

    To avoid offending Southerners, the town in Serling's script was relocated to New England. (So it's all right to offend New Englanders, then.) The reference to 'hooded' abductors was taken out of the script, for fear of offending the Ku Klux Klan. (Heaven forbid we should offend the Klan.) Serling was required to alter the dialogue so that references to 'hoods' became 'homemade masks'. (How many grown men wear homemade masks?) Worst of all, the victim of the abduction -- originally a black teenage boy -- was changed to a white boy with a speech impediment. The script that had been an indictment of racism and lynch law was now a character study about bigots who killed a boy merely because he stammered! These changes sound laughable, but Serling was (understandably) outraged. At very nearly the last minute, the script was altered even more ... relocating the action to a southwestern border town, and changing the victim and a few other characters to stereotypical Mexicans.

    'A Town Has Turned to Dust' does feature an excellent cast, including Rod Steiger in the lead role, and a supporting performance by William Shatner: this at a time when Shatner was still considered a respected actor rather than an outrageous ham. Shatner gives a reasonably restrained performance here, although he does seem to spend rather much time flexing his immense biceps in a short-sleeved shirt. Less impressive is the shrill Fay Spain as the wife of the lynch mob's leader.

    In later years, Rod Serling gave many interviews in which he spoke bitterly about network censorship of his scripts. Although he never (to my knowledge) specifically cited 'A Town Has Turned to Dust', nevertheless this script received more corporate interference than any of Serling's other projects. Serling's ordeal on this project was directly responsible for his decision to create a TV series devoted to science fiction and fantasy: Serling believed that teleplays which took place in the far future, on distant planets, would be less likely to incur interference than scripts which took place in the here and now. Although we might resent the decisions of the censors who bowdlerised Serling's script about the Emmett Till incident, the fact remains that -- were it not for the interference of those censors -- Serling might never have been provoked into creating his wonderful series 'The Twilight Zone'.
    helpful•24
    3
    • F Gwynplaine MacIntyre
    • Dec 24, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 4, 1956 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Judgment at Nuremberg
    • Filming locations
      • CBS Television City - 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • CBS
      • Filmaster Productions
      • Screen Gems Television
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

    Related news

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    "Eighty Yard Run, The" (Playhouse 90) Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. 1957 CBS
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