The Classic TV Archive - US Dramatic   Anthology Series

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###### PLAY OF THE WEEK #####

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Episode Guide
version 12.0 January 2008

(Guide Updated)
compiled by
The Classic TV Archive

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/

with contributions by:
Rina Fox
references:
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive
 

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PLAY OF THE WEEK

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Television Theatre Play of the Week

NTA Production in association with Talent Associates

Sponsored by Standard Oil of New Jersey
Produced in New York City
for
PBS and Syndication
Executive Producer David Susskind (mainly season 1)
Executive Producer Worthington Miner (mainly season 2)

US Dramatic Anthology Series  1959-61

Premise:
 Anthology series which relied heavily on talent from Broadway.

Robert Rafelson 34 adaptations for Play of the Week

This highly acclaimed, award winning series aired on various networks as specials.

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############ Play of the Week ###########

############ season 1 1959-60 ###########

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1.01 [--]Play of the Week: MEDEA

12Oct59

Producer David Susskind

Directed by Jose Quintero & Wes Kenney

Assistant director Keve Hjelm

Adapted from the 1920 Robinson Jeffers adaptation of the Euripides classic.

starring

Judith Anderson  ...... Medea
Henry Brandon ........ Jason
Colleen Dewhurst ..... Woman
Aline MacMahon ....... Nurse
Morris Carnovsky ..... Creon
Jacqueline Brooks .... Maiden
Betty Miller ......... Woman
Michael Wager ........ Slave
Rickey Sloane ........ Child
Mannie Sloane ........ Child

Synopsis 1:

Medea against the will of her father, aids Jason in capturing the Golden Fleece.

Fleeing with Jason, Medea murders her own brother to hinder her father's pursuit.

The lovers take refuge in Corinth. As the play opens Medea learns that Jason has

deserted her for the King of Corinth's daughter. In a rage, she plots a suitable vengeance. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

The story focuses on Medea's jealousy and revenge when she discovers

that her husband Jason plans to wed the daughter of the King of Creon.

A Robinson Jeffers version of the Euripides play about the young princess Medea,

who helped Jason steal the Golden Fleece was then rejected by her love. [RF]

1.02 [--]Play of the Week: THE POWER AND THE GLORY

19Oct59

Producer David Susskind
Directed by Carmen Capalbo

Adapted by Denis Cannan and Pierre Bost.

Based on the Graham Greene novel

starring

James Donald  ......... Priest
Peter Falk ........... Mestizo
Scotty McGregor ...... Maria
David J. Stewart ..... Governor's Cousin
Val Avery ............ Police Chief
John Alderson ........ Miguel
Ronald Long .......... Tench

Rudy Bond

Alfred Ryder

Synopsis:

The last priest is on the run. During an anti-clerical purge in one of the southern states

of Mexico, he is hunted like a hare. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom,

 the little worldly "whisky priest" is nevertheless impelled towards his squalid Calvary

as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers. [RF]

1.03 [--]Play of the Week: BURNING BRIGHT

26Oct59 (rerun 02Sep60)

Producers, Lewis Freedman, Henry Weinstein
Directed by Curt Conway

Adapted from the John Steinbeck 1950 play

Music by Will Holt

Announcer: Bob Brown
Introduction by Lewis Freedman
starring

Myron McCormick  ...... Joe Saul
Colleen Dewhurst ..... Mordeen
Donald Madden ........ Victor

Crahan Denton

Dana Elcar

Synopsis 1:

A wife who commits adultery out of the desire to give her sterile husband an heir.

Acting out of love for her husband, she becomes pregnant by the

third member of their acrobatic troupe. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Circus acrobats Joe and Mordeen Saul are married and deeply in love,

but are unable to have the child they both want. Out of love for her husband

Mordeen conceives the child of Victor, the third member of the troupe. [RF]

1.04 [--]Play of the Week: BACK TO BACK -- THE DOCK BRIEF and WHAT SHALL WE TELL CAROLINE?

02Nov59

Directed by Stuart Burge

Two original plays by John Mortimer

starring

Michael Hordern ...... Morganhall
George Rose .......... Fowle

Leueen McGrath

Jean Marsh

Synopsis:

The Dock Brief =  A seedy broken down barrister attempts to defend innocuous

murderer who is acquitted due to defense incompetence.

*

What Shall We Tell Caroline? =   Parent's resolve to teach their eighteen year

old daughter the facts of life - despite their own ignorance.  [RF]

1.05 [--]Play of the Week: A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY

09Nov59

Producer Lewis Freedman
Directed by Mark Daniels

Based on the 1850 play by Ivan Turgenev

Adapted and translated by Emlyn Williams

starring

Luther Adler  ......... Ignaty Illyich
Uta Hagen ............ Natalia Petrovna
Alexander Scourby .... Rakitin

Richard Easton ....... Beliaev
Tim O'Connor ......... Yslaev

Olga Bellin

Synopsis:

The tale of a bored wife living in the Russian countryside who falls in love with her

little boy’s handsome new tutor-just like all of the other women in the household.

The wife’s chief rival turns out to be her seventeen year-old ward giving viewers

a wonderful portrait of two different women in love. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A tutor from Moscow unwittingly upsets the life in a country household. [RF]

1.06 [--]Play of the Week: THE WALTZ OF THE TOREADORS

16Nov59 (rerun 17Mar61)

Producer David Susskind
Directed by Stuart Burge

Adapted from the 1951 Jean Anouilh play as translated by Lucienne Hill.

starring

Hugh Griffith  ........ General St. Pe
Beatrice Straight .... Mlle. Ghislaine de St. Euverte
Mildred Natwick ...... Mme. St. Pe
John Abbott .......... Dr. Bonfant
Mary Grace Canfield .. Sidonia
Jenny Egan ........... Estelle
Louise Kirtland ...... Mme. Dupont-Fredaine
James Valentine ...... Gaston

Synopsis 1:

A general who fancies himself to be a toreador with the ladies, but he is

 disgusted with himself and the hollowness of his triumphs. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Time: 1910, in France. Our hero, a retired general, writes his war memoirs in his study.

His invalid wife lies in her bed all day long, shrieking that her husband has

his mind on other women. [RF]

Synopsis 3:
Burdened by an invalid shrew of a wife, a retired general casts his eye on another woman. [RF]

1.07 [--]Play of the Week: THE WHITE STEED

23Nov59

Directed by Joseph Gistirak

Adapted from the 1938 Paul Vincent Carroll play

starring

Frank Conroy  ......... Canon Matt Lavelle
Dermot McNamara ...... Denis Dillon
Helena Carroll ....... Nora Fintry
Tim O'Connor ......... Father Shaughnessy
Roy Poole ............ Patrick Hearty
Pauline Flanagan ..... Sarah Hearty

Lester Rawlins ....... Toomey
Neil Fitzgerald ...... Fintry
Thomas Clancy ........ Shivers

Synopsis 1:

The alchemist Irish Priest, Father Shaughnessy, is an intolerant moralist who temporarily

replaces Canon Matt Lavelle, whose legs have been paralyzed by a stroke. Father

Shaughnessy forms a vigilance committee to stamp out sin, which in his view includes

drinking, courting, and interfaith marriages. Through his committee he breaks up the

engagement of schoolmaster Denis Dillon to a Protestant girl and discharges librarian

Nora Fintry because she has been seen with a man. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

Denis is intimidated, but Nora is determined to fight the priest. She and Denis fall in love,

and through her Denis finds the strength to stand up to the priest. Inspector Toomey, who

has tried to protect the secular rights of those oppressed by the vigilance committee,

threatens to arrest the priest, and a mob gathers to prevent him from doing so. Then Canon

 Lavelle appears, miraculously walking. He calms his parishioners, sends them home,

and rebukes Father Shaughnessy for his hot-headedness and "spiritual snobbery." [RF]

1.08 [--]Play of the Week: CRIME OF PASSION

30Nov59

Directed by Stuart Burge

Adapted from the Jean-Paul Sartre play

starring

Claude Dauphin  ....... Hoederer
Donald Harron ........ Hugo
Horace MacMahon ...... Georges
Betsy Von Furstenberg ... Jessica
Marian Seldes ........ Olga

Synopsis:

The mentality and morality of Communism in its story of a young

Party member assigned to shoot a "deviationist".

Hugo, a young Communist, must make a choice whether to

do the party's bidding or suffer the fate of a dissenter. [RF]

1.09 [--]Play of the Week: SIMPLY HEAVENLY

07Dec59 (rerun 04Jun61)

Directed by Joshua Shelley

Adapted from the 1957 play by David Martin

Novel by Langston Hughes "Simple Takes A Wife"

Composer David Martin

starring

Claudia McNeil ........ Mamie (also appeared in the Broadway version of Simply Heavenly.)

Melvin Stewart ....... Jesse B. Simple

Frederick O'Neal  ..... Boyd
Gail Fisher .......... Joyce Lane
Ethel Ayler .......... Zarita
Earle Hyman .......... Hopkins

Synopsis:

Jesse B Simple is a hardworking man, often down on his luck, with an expensive

divorce looming. He has a good woman to love but is tempted by the local siren

and even more so by the neighborhood bar. Life is very complicated! [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Black dockworker Jesse B. Simple has a wife, two girl friends and plenty of headaches. [RF]

1.10 [--]Play of the Week: THE WORLD OF SHOLOM ALEICHEM

14Dec59

Directed by Don Richardson

Written by Sholom Aleichem

Based on his stories by Y.L. Peretz

starring

Morris Carnovsky  ..... Aaron Katz/Presiding Angel
Sam Levene ........... Mendele
Lee Grant ............ Avenging Angel
Jack Gilford ......... Bontsche Shveig Angel

Gertrude Berg

Nancy Walker

Charlotte Rae

Zero Mostel

Frederick Rolf

Dora Weissman

Conrad Josephs
Henry Lascoe

Synopsis:

Famed Yiddish storyteller Sholom Aleichem as he tells three tales: "A Tale of Chelm,"

about a bookseller who tries to buy a goat in a town of fools; "Bontche Schweig,"

a tale of a poor man whose heavenly arrival coaxes tears from the angels; and "The High School,"

about a couple's attempts to send their son to a nonreligious school. [RF]

1.11 [--]Play of the Week: THIEVES CARNIVAL

21Dec59

Producer Lewis Freedman
Directed by Warren Enters
Assistant Director Richard Dunlap

Adapted from the 1938 Jean Anouilh play as translated by Lucienne Hill.

starring

Kurt Kasznar  ......... Peterbono
Larry Blyden ......... Hector
Cathleen Nesbitt ..... Lady Hurf
Robert Morse ......... Gustave
Frances Sternhagen ... Eva
Pat Stanley .......... Juliette
Tom Bosley ........... Dupont-Dufour Jr.
Howard Da Silva ...... Dupont-Dufour Sr.

Synopsis:

Two attractive young girls reside in a palatial home, when their residence is invaded

 by three affectionate thieves, a romance unexpectedly develops between one of the

girls and the youngest thief. Being too honest for his own good, he cannot in good

conscience accept her love, and instead turns back with a vengeance to his criminal life

 ... but she happens to be swifter and wilier than he is! [RF]

1.12 [--]Play of the Week: THE CHERRY ORCHARD

28Dec59

Executive Producer David Susskind
Producers, Jean Dalrymple, Lewis Freedman, Henry T. Weinstein
Directed by Daniel Petrie

Adapted from the 1904 Anton P. Chekhov play as translated by George Calderon.

starring

E.G. Marshall ........ Lopanim
Helen Hayes .......... Madame Ranevskaya
Susan Strasberg ...... Anya
Salome Jens .......... Dunyasha
John Abbott .......... Gayeff
Gerald Hiken ......... Trofimoff
Peggy McCay .......... Vary
Paula Laurence ....... Carlotta Ivanova
Woodrow Parfrey ...... Ephihodoff
Byron Russell ........ Fiers
Martin Wolfson ....... Semyonoff-Pishtchik

Synopsis:

Mme. Ranevskaya is brought home to her Russian estate after having fled to

France amidst family tragedy. Returning home in 1900 after the liberation of the Serfs,

 nothing seems to have changed. The mansion has been impeccably kept up

and the trees in the cherry orchard are in romantic bloom. The reality, however,

soon sets in: The family fortune has been squandered. Lyubov holds out for a

miracle to save her home, her past, and her beloved orchard. When wealthy friend

Lopakhin, who grew up as a servant on the property, recommends selling and

developing the orchard land in order to save the property, he is met with fierce

opposition from the family. With the mortgage date drawing nearer, Lyubov's hopes

become as empty as the leafless wintry appearance of the trees in the orchard. [RF]

1.13 [--]Play of the Week: THE CLOSING DOOR

04Jan60

Written & Directed by Alexander Knox
Adapted from the 1949 Alexander Knox play

starring

Kim Hunter

Dane Clark

George Segal

John Randolph

Kevin Coughlin

Arthur Hill

Elizabeth Eustis

Katherine Squire

Synopsis:

A once-great photographer who pretends to his family that he works at an office

but really gets his money elsewhere. Scarred by an unhappy childhood, he

harbors a bitter hatred towards his successful brother. [RF]

1.14 [--] Play of the Week: THE EMPEROR'S CLOTHES

11Jan60

Directed by Boris Sagal

Adapted from the 1953 George Tabori play

starring

George Voskovec  ...... Elek Odry
Viveca Lindfors ...... Belia Odry
Charles Saari ........ Ferike

Jules Munshin ........ Kossa
Sandor Szabo ......... Baron

Synopsis:

Christmas 1930 in Budapest isn't very festive for teacher Elek Odry,

his wife or his young son. Odry has been blacklisted by

 his country's totalitarian government. [RF]

1.15 [--]Play of the Week: LULLABY

18Jan60

Executive producer David Susskind
Producer Henry T. Weinstein
Directed by Don Richardson

Adapted from the 1954 Don Appell play

starring

Anne Jackson ......... Eadie Horton
Eli Wallach .......... Johnny Horton
Tom Carlin ........... Bellboy
Ruth White ........... Mother

Synopsis:

A 38-year-old truck driver who elopes with a cigarette girl, but problems arise

when they realize they don't know much about each other and his domineering

mother won't leave the couple alone. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A man escapes his dominating mother long enough to marry

 but not long enough to enjoy a quiet honeymoon. [RF]

1.16 [--]Play of the Week: STRINDBERG ON LOVE

25Jan60

Executive producer David Susskind
Producer Lewis Freedman
Directed by Henry Kaplan

Both plays translated from the plays by August Strindberg by Arvid Paulson

Adapted and dramatized by George Tabori.

*

(1) Miss Julie

starring

Lois Smith ........... Julie
Robert Loggia ........ Gene
Madeleine Sherwood ... Kristin

Synopsis:

A poignant study of the ill-fated sexual encounter between

an ambitious footman and a neurotic count's daughter. [RF]

*
(2) The Stronger

starring

Patricia Neal  ........ Amelia/Miss Y (the Mistress)
Nancy Wickwire ....... Mrs. X (the Wife)

Synopsis:

Two women, one of whom silently listens to the other's compulsive confession. [RF]

1.17 [--]Play of the Week: JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK

02Feb60 (rerun 29Jul60)

Executive producer David Susskind

Directed by Paul Shyre

Adapted from the 1924 Sean O'Casey play

James Elson, camera planner
starring

Hume Cronyn

Walter Matthau

Pauline Flanagan

Liam Clancy

Evans Evans

Luella Gear

James Kenny

Thomas A. Carlin

Synopsis 1:

Captain Boyle is "Captain" by virtue of a single trip made as a seaman on a

collier bound from London to Liverpool. He is usually known to his neighbors, however,

 as the "paycock" on account of his strutting, consequential gait. He and his crony, Joxer,

spend most of their time drinking in "pubs" or playing cards in the Boyle flat, where Joxer

 flatters him to his face and steals from him behind his back. Boyle has nicknamed his

wife "Juno" because she "was born and christened in June. I met her in June; we were

 married in June and Johnny was born in June."

Throughout all the trouble and turmoil, Captain and his crony remain blissfully

 drunk and obtuse to their problems. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

"Struttin' about the town like a paycock," Juno Boyle says of her husband,

shiftless blusterer who prefers spending his time in the snugs of Dublin to working.

Son Johnny stays home, wounded in the 1922 fighting and fearing violence from his

enemies. Daughter Mary, bored with tenement life, learns from Charlie Bentham that the

Boyles have come into a whopping inheritance. [RF]

1.18 [--]Play of the Week: TIGER AT THE GATES

08Feb60

Producer Henry T. Weinstein
Associate Producer Robert L. Joseph
Directed by Harold Clurman

Based on the 1935 Christopher Fry play

Adapted from Jean Giraudoux's The Trojan War shall not take place.

starring

Donald Davis  ......... Hector
Patricia Cutts ....... Helen
Nina Foch ............ Andromache

Martin Gabel ......... Ulysses
Arthur Treacher ...... Busiris
Patrick Horgan ....... Paris

Leueen McGrath ....... Cassandra

Mike Kellin .......... Ajax

Cathleen Nesbitt

Bramwell Fletcher

David Hurst
Milton Selzer

Synopsis:

Set in Troy, a city doomed to betrayal and destruction. The story is of Hector's struggle

 to preserve peace in the face of patriotic sentimentality and mob hysteria.

Hector returns to Troy, victorious in his recent war but sick to death of war itself. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Sick of fighting, Trojan prince Hector tries to prevent a war with

Greece but no one wants to send Helen back to her home. [RF]

1.19 [--]Play of the Week: DON JUAN IN HELL

15Feb60

Directed by Don Richardson

Adapted from the George Bernard Shaw 1905 play Man and Superman, Act III.

starring

Hurd Hatfield  ........ Don Juan
George C. Scott ...... The Devil
Siobhan McKenna ...... Dona Ana
Dennis King .......... The Statue of the Commander
Marc Connelly ........ The Stage Manager

Synopsis 1:

The Devil is at a loss to explain why anyone would want to be in that

"most angelically dull place," heaven.

The Statue, who has been there, agrees, comparing heaven to a classical music concert:

Most people don't really appreciate it--they just think they ought to, he says.

The hero who is being pursued by a determined woman falls asleep in the mountains

of Spain and dreams himself as the legendary lover Don Juan, who is locked in a sprawling

debate with three other denizens of Darkness: the Devil who has more charm and wit

than fire and brimstone, a Soldier once felled by Don Juan in an earthly duel, and

that man's daughter, Ana, whom Don Juan had seduced. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Don Juan, a long-time resident in Hell, assures the newly arrived Dona Ana that the

wicked are really quite comfortable in Hell. Indignant at being there, the lady is further

shocked when her father drops in from Heaven and chats with Juan. The father, now a

statue since adopting the form of his earthly memorial, is welcomed by his friend Lucifer,

and they commiserate over the problems in the heavenly and hellish existences. [RF]

1.20 [--]Play of the Week: A VERY SPECIAL BABY

22Feb60

Producer David Susskind

Directed by Marc Daniels

Adapted from the 1956 Robert Alan Aurthur play

starring

Oscar Homolka ........ Mr. Casale
Larry Blyden ......... Joey Casale
Marion Winters ....... Anna Casale

Synopsis:

Joey Casale is 34 years old, the youngest of a family of six children; except for a brief

period of glory during the War, he has stayed at home all his life, never held a steady job,

and lived on the allowance his father has given him. His father is a self-made man,

generous with all his children, outwardly very fond of Joey and of Anna, the eldest

daughter who lives at home and keeps house for her father and brother. The two older

sons are successful professional men, and his father teases Joey about his lack of achievement. [RF]

1.21 [--]Play of the Week: CLIMATE OF EDEN

29Feb60

Based on the 1952 Moss Hart play

Adapted from Edgar Mittelholzer's "Shadows Move Them Away."

starring

Donald Harron ........ Gregory Hawke
Kevin Coughlin ....... Berton
Diana Hyland ......... Mabel
Roland Culver ........ Harmston
Lynn Loring .......... Olivia
Chuck Gordone ........ Logan

Synopsis:

A family of missionaries live in the jungles of British Guiana, where they have worked

 out an unconventional philosophy of life based on a practical compromise with civilization.

 Religion and morality are tempered with humor and tolerance. To this happy household

 comes Gregory Hawke, a young man who suffers from various complexes and neuroses.

He joins the family, hoping that their simple way of life will cure him. He falls in love with

one of the daughters and ultimately takes her with him after his recovery. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A young man visits his family in British Guiana,

hoping to conquer a horrible memory of his past. [RF]

1.22 [--]Play of the Week: VOLPONE

07Mar60

Directed by Gene Frankel & J. Robert Blum

Adapted by Stefan Sweig

Based on the 1606 Ben Jonson classic.

starring

Kurt Kasznar ......... Volpone
Alfred Drake ......... Mosca
Jo Van Fleet ......... Canina
Art Smith ............ Voltore
Michael Tolan ........ Leone
Lou Jacobi ........... Corvino
Ludwig Donath ........ Corbaccio
Evans Evans .......... Colomba

Synopsis:

Three English tourists in Venice and their refusal to succumb to the allure of Italian

decadence embarks on a journey of human acceptance and frailties. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A miser and his servant stage an illness to fool his heirs into giving him presents. [RF]

1.23 [--]Play of the Week: THE ROPE DANCERS

14Mar60

Adapted from the 1957 play by Morton Wishengrad.

starring

Walter Matthau  ....... James Hyland
Siobhan McKenna ...... Margaret Hyland
Jacob Ben-Ami ........ Dr. Jacobson
Judy Sanford ......... Lizzie Hyland
Audrey Christie ...... Mrs. Farrow
Frances Myers ........ Clementine

Joseph Boland ........ Cop

Synopsis 1:

Margaret his oppressive, overbearing and quarrelsome wife has failed to come to

terms with her guilt-ridden past. She makes life hell for her aspiring writer husband

James Hyland and her daughter Lizzie is pale from being kept home and away

from school and friends. In trying to cope with her mother's tempestuous outbursts,

she succumbs to an incurable nervous disorder. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

In a bleak tenement apartment, Margaret Hyland prevents her sickly

young daughter from leading a normal life. [RF]

1.24 [--]Play of the Week: THE MASTER BUILDER

21Mar60

Producer Lewis Freedman

Directed by John Stix

Adapted from the 1907 Henrik Ibsen play "Byggmester Solness"

as translated by Eva LeGallienne

starring

E.G. Marshall ...... Halvard Solness
Lois Smith ......... Hilde Wangel
Phyllis Love ....... Kaja
James Patterson .... Ragnar Brovik
Fred J. Stewart .... Dr. Herdal
Joanna Roos ........ Aline
Victor Kilian

Synopsis:

Halvard Solness is a well known builder, a master builder, who has driven many of his

rivals out of business in the course of his long career. He is currently building a house

 for himself and his wife, Aline, to be a home to properly replace Aline's family house

which burnt down some years ago killing his twin baby sons. [RF]

1.25 [--]Play of the Week: THE GRASS HARP

28Mar60

Producer Jack Kuney

Directed by Word Baker

Written by Truman Capote

Adapted from the 1952 play by Truman Capote and Virgil Thomson

starring

Lillian Gish  ......... Dolly Talbo
Carmen Mathews ....... Verena Talbo
Georgia Burke ........ Catherine Creek
Nick Hyams ........... Collin Talbo
Russell Collins ...... Morris Ritz
Jonathan Harris ...... Amos Legrand
Synopsis 1:
A band of sweet misfits who defect from materialistic society and set up

 their own ideal civilization in a tree house. An orphaned boy sent to live with

his two eccentric spinster aunts who helped shape the lad's way of

looking at and listening to the world. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
Verena Talbo is an embittered spinster who owns most of her native

Southern town and dominates her household. The household consists of

Verena's sister Dolly, a timid, good-natured woman; Catherine Creek, a servant

who makes wry comments about Verena and Collin, Verena's teenaged nephew.

These three perform the household chores and in their spare time hunt herbs

from which Dolly prepares a remarkable dropsy cure praised by faithful customers.  [RF]

1.26 [--]Play of the Week: A PALM TREE IN A ROSE GARDEN

04Apr60

Adapted from the 1957 play by Meade Roberts.

starring

Glenda Farrell ....... Rose Frobisher

Barbara Barrie ....... Lila

Robert Webber

Barbara Baxley

Synopsis:

Rose Frobisher once won a beauty contest and on the strength of that came to Hollywood.

After years of frustration she settled down to keep an apartment-rooming house which

 she called the Rose Garden. For a while she pinned her hopes on her daughter,

but Lila was not interested in getting into the movies so Rose turned to a succession

of roomers, young, beautiful and all with a burning desire to be a movie star. [RF]

1.27 [--]Play of the Week: THE ENCHANTED

11Apr60

Adapted from 1958 Maurice Valency adaptation of the Jean Giraudoux play

starring

Nydia Westman  ........ Armande Mangebois
Mary Finney .......... Leonide Mangebois
Rosemary Harris ...... Isabel
Tom Poston ........... Supervisor
Walter Abel .......... Inspector
Arthur Treacher ...... Mayor
Cyril Cusack ......... Doctor
James Mitchell ....... Ghost
Joan Terrace ......... Lucy
Frances Lorrain Myers ..... Gilberte
Joseph Buloff ........ Executioner
Frederick Rolf ....... Executioner

Synopsis:

A small French town is thrown off its equilibrium by a drowning and subsequent

reports of a haunting ghost. A young schoolteacher, Isabel, is enchanted by the

spirit and visits him nightly. An officious inspector comes from Paris to disprove

this affront to rational society -- death is bones and worms, she argues -- and

 to return the town to order. [RF]

1.28 [--]Play of the Week: THE GIRLS IN ROOM 509

18Apr60

Adapted from the 1958 Howard Teichmann play.

starring

Margalo Gillmore

Nancy Walker

Larry Blyden ......... Pusey

Paul Ford ............ Allen/Nella

Parker Fennelly

Synopsis:

Two ladies live like hermits as a result of the Democrat victory in the 1932

presidential election. Their humorous tribulations are compounded because

 the hotel they live in is scheduled for demolition and one of the ladies is out to trap a

man--literally. Their story and reputed wealth attract a motley group of reporters and politicians. [RF]

1.29 [--]Play of the Week: MORNINGS AT SEVEN

25Apr60

Adapted from the 1939 Paul Osborn play;

restaged from The Alcoa hour of November 4, 1956

starring

Beulah Bondi ......... Mother
Hiram Sherman ........ Homer Bolton
Ann Harding .......... Cora
Ruth White ........... Ida
Chester Morris ....... Swanson
Dorothy Gish ......... Aaronetta
Eileen Heckart ....... Myrtle
Russell Collins ...... Carl

Synopsis:

The lives of the four Gibbs sisters stir up a lifetime of familial affection and resentment,

 the joys with spurts of darker emotions sends us into a plot with the arrival of a stranger. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Nervous relatives anxiously await the arrival of Homer Bolton's

 intended, a girl he has been dating for 12 years. [RF]

1.30 [--]Play of the Week: NIGHT OF THE AUK

02May60

Executive producer Tony Miner

Producer Lewis Freedman

Directed by Nikos Psacharopoulos

Adapted from the 1956 verse play by Arch Oboler

Director of photography Mel London

starring

William Shatner  ...... Lewis Rohnen
Warner Anderson ...... Col. Tom Russell
James MacArthur ...... Lt. Max Hartman
Shepperd Strudwick ... Dr. Bruner
Alan Mixon ........... Lt. Jan Kephart

Synopsis:

Arrogant millionaire industrialist Rohnen has financed the first manned lunar

expedition and has come along for the ride.

Having reached the moon and now heading back to Earth. The mission was not a

complete success: one member of the six-man expedition died on the moon,

and his shipmates left him there. Now, on the way home, the five remaining

spacemen make a terrible discovery: the ship has only enough oxygen left for

TWO crewmen to reach Earth alive. Three of the men must stop breathing very soon,

 or else all five will run out of air long before the ship reaches Earth. Unless three

men are willing to do the gentlemanly thing and commit suicide for the sake of their

shipmates, someone will have to commit multiple murder to ensure his own survival.

However, while the ship was on the moon, a nuclear war has broken out on Earth.

Now, while the crewmen are arguing over which three of them should sacrifice themselves

to save the other two, they also hear transmissions from their Earth base, describing

events back home. An all-out nuclear holocaust has already begun, and the entire

human race has been doomed by the radioactive fallout.

*Note: Narrated by Raymond Edward Johnson intones, "The deed is done.

The Lover rushes from the place of assignation. Was it touch or deep, thrusting consummation?

 The answer awaits covered by the webbed hand of Night. Yet in this full-chested singing,

surely there is triumph, exultation, mastery of She who nightly beckoned in pale

mockery across space no longer endless."

1.31 [--]Play of the Week: A PIECE OF BLUE SKY

09May60

Written & Directed by Frank Corsaro
Original play by Frank Corsaro

starring

Shelley Winters ...... Rose
Nancy Marchand ....... Margaret
Marian Seldes ........ Antonette
Sudie Bond ........... Miserable
Morgan Sterne ........ Verga

Roland Winters

Synopsis:

Unhappiness and disappointment send Rose back to her roots,

to find what was before her all along. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
An intimate view of life in the Bronx during the Depression. [RF]

1.32 [--]Play of the Week: ARCHIE AND MEHITABEL

16May60 (rerun 12May61)

Executive Producer Worthington Miner
Producer Jack Kuney
Written by Joe Darion and Mel Brooks

Adapted from the stories of Don Marquis on "The Cockroach and the Cat."

Music by George Kleinsinger

Lyrics by Joe Darion
Narrator: Quentin Reynolds.
starring

Eddie Bracken  ........  Archie

Tammy Grimes  ........  Mehitabel

Jules Munshin  ........  Tyrone T. Tattersall

Michael Kermoyan
Sondra Lee
Joan Kruger
Barbara Newman
Kelly Brown
George Martin
John Smolko
Synopsis 1:

He is very sardonic and romantic attitude towards her. He disapproves

of her wanton behavior but is also fascinated by her. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A pensive cockroach with a flair for free verse tries to reform his flamboyant friend,

a cat with a penchant for free love. [RF]

1.33 [--]Play of the Week: MARY STUART

23May60

Directed by Dennis Vance

Based on the 1957 Jean Stock Goldstone play

Adaptation of the Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller 1800 play.

starring

Eva LeGallienne ...... Queen Elizabeth
Signe Hasso .......... Mary Stuart
Muriel Kirkland ...... Hannah
Staats Cotsworth ..... Burleigh
John Colicos ......... Mortimer
Philip Bourneuf ...... Paulet
Patrick Waddington ... Leicester
Paul Ballantyn ....... Shrewsbury
David C. Jones ....... L'Aubespine

John Tolitos

Synopsis:

The tale of two queens separated by historic identity but joined in their dramatic

isolation' Observer. Mary Queen of Scots has been held prisoner for nineteen years

by her cousin, Elizabeth I, who has condemned her to death, but is reluctant to

be seen to carry out the sentence. Leicester, Elizabeth's favourite and Mary's ex-lover,

 engineers a meeting of the two Queens - an encounter which never took place in

historical fact - from which Mary emerges triumphant but doomed.  [RF]

1.34 [--]Play of the Week: THE GRAND TOUR

30May60

Written by William A. Graham

Based on the 1951 Elmer Rice play

starring

Scott McKay ............ Ray Brinton

Audrey Meadows .......... Nell Valentine

Synopsis:

Nell Valentine is a no longer young, school teacher, who for the first time in her

sheltered life falls desperately in love during the course of a summer tour through

 Europe. Nell has planned this trip as a climax to long years of hope and preparation.

 But Ray Brinton, who has fallen in love with her and hopes to marry her, must tell

her that not only he is already married but he is a fugitive from justice, having stolen

money from his own bank. Nell is ready to marry him in spite of everything, until

Ray's wife appears on the scene and shows she is still deeply attached to him. [RF]

1.35 [--]Play of the Week: THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA

06Jun60

Adapted from the 1936 play by Federico Garcia Lorca,

as translated by J. Graham-Lujan

starring

Cathleen Nesbitt

Ann Revere

Eileen Heckart

Lee Grant

Nancy Marchand

Suzanne Pleshette

Synopsis:

Bernarda Alba is a widow, and her five daughters are incarcerated in mourning along with her.

 One by one they make a bid for freedom, with tragic consequences. Lorca's tale depicts

 the repression of women within Catholic Spain in the years before the war. [RF]

#####################################

############ Play of the Week ###########

############ season 2 1960-61 ###########

####################################

2.01 [36] Play of the Week: HENRY IV

26Sep60

Executive producer, Worthington Miner ;

Producer, David Susskind

Shakespeare classic

starring

Donald Davis .......... Henry
Eric Berry ............ Falstaff
Donald Madden ......... Hotspur
Stephen Joyce ......... Hal
Nan Martin ............ Lady Percy
J.D. Cannon ........... Poins
Gerry Jedd ............ Mistress Quickly

Dran Seitz

Synopsis:

The story of a young man's elevation from immature prince to responsible king. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Shakespeare's droll portrayal of the friendship between the

 crown prince of England and the fat knight Falstaff. [RF]

2.02 [37] Play of the Week: THE DYBBUK

03Oct60

Executive producer David Susskind
Directed by Sidney Lumet

Written by Joseph Liss

Adapted from the 1920 S. Ansky play

Settings by Jack Venza
original music by John Green
starring

Michael Tolan  ......... Channon
Carol Lawrence ........ Leah
Eli Mintz ............. Nachmon
Ludwig Donath ......... Rabbi Azrael
Michael Shille ........ Rabbi Samson
Theodore Bikel ........ Sender
Vincent Gardenia ...... Nissen
Milton Selzer ......... Messenger
Gene Saks ............. Hassidim #2
Stefan Gierasch ....... Hassidim #1
Jerry Rockwood ........ Hassidim #3
Theo Goetz ............ Meyer
Sylvia Davis .......... Frade

Synopsis 1:

A haunting tale about ill-fated love, possession, and exorcism

in a small Jewish town in Eastern Europe.

Synopsis 2:

According to Yiddish folklore, a Dybbuk is the disturbed spirit of a dead man or woman

which can inhabit the body of a living person. This story takes place in an Old Country

village where such mystical matters can become reality. [RF]

2.03 [38] Play of the Week: LEGEND OF LOVERS

10Oct60

Producer Jack Kuney

Directed by Ralph Nelson

Adapted from the 1951 Jean Anouilh play as translated by Kitty Black,

a modern version of the Orpheus and Eurydice legend

starring

Piper Laurie ......... Eurydice
Robert Loggia ........ Orpheus

Sam Jaffe

Michael Constantine

Polly Rowles

Synopsis 1:

When they meet in a railroad station and fall in love and escape by themselves to

a shabby hotel room, it is the rest of the world that seems unreal.  Their lovers' avowals

 are their center of the universe.  Everything that goes on around them

seems mean and contrived. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

In the Greek legend, Eurydice dies; Orpheus persuades death to restore her to him. 

But death extracts one condition: Orpheus must never look at her.  M. Anouilh has

restated the legend in terms of a romantic street musician and the soubrette of

a provincial theatre troupe. [RF]

2.04 [39] Play of the Week: THE VELVET GLOVE

17Oct60

Adapted from the 1949 Rosemary Casey play

starring

Helen Hayes ........... Mother Hildebrand
Larry Gates ........... Bishop
Robert Morse .......... Pearson
Jean Dixon ............ Monica
Collin Wilcox ......... Mary

Arthur Shields

Synopsis:

When beloved Mother Hildebrand returns from a tour of her many convents,

 she is upset to learn that the bishop intends to dismiss young Professor Pearson

 from the college staff. She reluctantly agrees to the bishop's order, but in her

heart she has other plans. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
The shrewd woman president of a parochial college sides

 with a young teacher against a powerful bishop. [RF]

2.05 [40] Play of the Week: DUET FOR TWO HANDS

24Oct60

Adapted from the 1947 play by Mary Hayley Bell

starring

Signe Hasso ........ Herda Sarclet

Eric Portman ........ Dr. Edward Sarclet

Lois Nettleton ........ Abigail Sarclet

Patrick Horgan ........ Stephen Cass

Synopsis:

Abigail Sarclet gets word from her father that he's returning to their castle on the

Orkney Islands with a celebrated poet.

A macabre tale of ghostly revenge in a castle in the Orkneys. [RF]

2.06 [41] Play of the Week: SEVEN TIMES MONDAY

31Oct60

Directed by Wes Kenney

Written by Ernest Pendrell

starring

Ruby Dee ........ Lila

Ossie Davis ........ Will

William Windom ........ Bob

Warren Berlinger ........ Salvatore Mantini

Judson Laire ........ John Cliff

Milt Kamen ........ Harold

Rosetta Le Noire ...... Belle
Earl Syndor ........... Miller
Billie Allen .......... Ruthir

Synopsis:

The problems of a factory worker who dreams of becoming a "cop," of replacing the

drudgery of the machine shop with the thrill of riding along on a motorcycle.

But there are family responsibilities to meet, and the problems of prejudice to be

dealt with - which they are, in a most heart-warming and honest way. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Willie Harris endures the drudgery of everyday life sustained by his dreams:

an apartment for his family and a policeman's badge for himself. [RF]

2.07 [42] Play of the Week: TWO BY SAROYAN

07Nov60

Adapted from the 1950 and 1937 William Saroyan plays.

** 2 plays **

(1) Once Around the Block

starring

Walter Matthau

Orson Bean

Larry Hagman

Nina Wilcox

Synopsis 1:

A screenwriter with a reputation as a ladies

man offers advice to a young writer on how he too can be highly appealing to the

opposite sex, yielding some rather surprising results. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

In ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK, a playboy screenwriter gives advice to a young

writer on how to appeal to the opposite sex. [RF]

*

(2) My Heart's in the Highlands

starring

Walter Matthau

Kevin Coughlin

Myron McCormick

Eddie Hodges

Synopsis 1:

An aspiring poet and his young son-financially impoverished, but rich in dreams

 and generous of spirit-struggle to survive while never "ceasing to care for the

 wellbeing of their fellow man. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

 In MY HEART'S IN THE HIGHLANDS,

a poet and his son, poor in funds but rich in spirit live their day to day existence. [RF]

2.08 [43] Play of the Week: THE ICEMAN COMETH, PART 1

14Nov60

Executive Producer Worthington Miner

Producer Lewis Freedman

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Assistant director Ed Waglin

Adapted from the Eugene O'Neill 1946 play

Set Designer Bob Markell
Costumes Gene Coffin
On-screen Introduction Brooks Atkinson

starring

Jason Robards Jr. ..... Theodore 'Hickey' Hickman
Myron McCormick ....... Larry Slade
Roland Winters ........ Piet Wetjoen, the General
Robert Redford ........ Don Parritt
Farrell Pelly ......... Harry Hope
Tom Pedi .............. Rocky
James Broderick ....... Willie Oban
Ronald Radd ........... Cecil Lewis, the Captain
Harrison Dowd ......... Jimmy Tomorrow
Michael Strong ........ Chuck
Sorrell Booke ......... Hugo
Maxwell Glanville ..... Joe Mott
Charles White ......... Pat
Walter Klavun ......... Ed Mosher
Hilda Brawner ......... Margie
Herb Voland ........... Moran
Joan Copeland ......... Cora
Julie Bovasso ......... Pearl

Synopsis 1:

The spotlight is on the failed lives, empty hopes, and perpetual pipe dreams of

an assortment of down-and-out denizens of a seedy saloon, set in New York in 1912.

 Their sad, but complacent existences are rattled when Hickey arrives for his annual

bender a changed man - forswearing alcohol and preaching a deliverance from

"the lie of the pipe dream."  [RF]

Synopsis 2:

The dreams and failures of the denizens of a seedy New York saloon circa 1912.

2.09 [44] Play of the Week: THE ICEMAN COMETH, PART 2

21Nov60

(Same as above)

2.10 [45] Play of the Week: HIGHLIGHTS OF NEW FACES

28Nov60

Sketches and musical numbers from the 1952 and

1956 versions of the Leonard Sillman Broadway productions

starring

Alice Ghostley

Ronny Graham

Robert Clary

Paul Lynde

June Carroll

Virginia DeLuce

Inga Swenson

Summary:
Songs and sketches from the "New Faces" revues of 1952 and 1956.

Recreating their original successes are Ronny Graham, Alice Ghostley,

Paul Lynde, June Carroll, Robert Clary and Inga Swenson. [RF]

2.11 [46] Play of the Week: UNCLE HARRY

05Dec60

Adapted from the 1942 Thomas Job play.

starring

Ray Walston .......... Uncle Harry
Betty Field .......... Hester
Jeff Donnell ......... Lucy
Ruth Ford ............ Lettie
Sylvia Miles ......... Miss Phipps
John Zacherle ........ Mr. Jenkins

Synopsis:

A fabric designer who is henpecked by his spinster twin sisters with whom he lives,

become enraged when he meets and falls in love. His jealous sister, drives him to a

murder plot. The wrong sister gets the poison, but he gets the torment. [RF]

2.12 [47] Play of the Week: RASHOMON

12Dec60

Executive producer Worthington Miner

Producer Lewis Freedman

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Written by Fay & Michael Kanin

Adapted from the 1959 Fay and Michael Kanin

Based on the stories of Akutagawa.

starring

Ricardo Montalban ....... Bandit

Carol Lawrence ........ Wife

James Mitchell ....... Husband

Oscar Homolka

Michael Higgins ....... Priest
Michael Shillo ........ Woodcutter
Aida Loy .............. Medium

Harry Davis

Osceola Archer

Synopsis 1:

In the heat of the afternoon, a bandit sees a husband and wife moving along a path.

He decides he must have the woman, even if he has to kill the man. [RF]

Synopsis 2:

Rashomon is a Japanese murder mystery set in the 16th century. It tells the story of

a samurai and his wife who are attacked and savaged by a bandit. [RF]

2.13 [48] Play of the Week: EMMANUEL

19Dec60

Directed by Kirk Browning

Adapted from the 1960 Christmas play on the birth of Jesus.

starring

Peter Mark Richman ........ Joseph

Lois Nettleton ....... Mary

Earle Hyman

Albert Dekker

Synopsis:

The story of the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

[--] Play of the Week: BOGUS GREEN

26Dec60 (unaired or postponed)

2.14 [49] Play of the Week: A CLEARING IN THE WOODS

02Jan61

Adapted from the 1957 Arthur Laurents play

starring

Celeste Holm ............. Virginia

Arthur Hill .............. Barney
Barbara Dana ............. Nora
J.D. Cannon .............. George
Nancy Malone ............. Ginna
Candance Culkin .......... Jigee
James Olson .............. Pete

Gerald S. O'Loughlin ..... Andy

Synopsis:

A young woman seeking asylum from an urban world where she is in crisis,

caught between madness and reason. In her search for solace in the woods, she

 is propelled into a world far more disorienting - where time is turned upside down

 and the phantoms of her past meet the realities of her present in a storm

of illusion and desire. [RF]

2.15 [50] Play of the Week: THE POTTING SHED

09Jan61

Written by Graham Greene

starring

Fritz Weaver........... James Callifer
Ann Harding ........... Mrs. Callifer
Nancy Wickwire ........ Sara
Frank Conroy .......... Callifer
Zina Bethune .......... Anne
Ludwig Donath ......... Kreuzer

Synopsis 1:

The story concerns the son of a famous atheist who seeks to uncover a childhood

mystery in his past. He eventually discovers that he committed suicide in the

eponymous potting shed at the age of 14, but was revived when his uncle,

a priest, entered into a strange bargain with God.

Synopsis 2:

James Callifer, long estranged from his family, returns home to his dying father.

He learns there that as a boy he had hanged himself in the potting shed, but had

been cut down and 'resurrected'. It transpires his father had lost his agnosticism

and as a result James's mother had disowned her son - who was a living proof that

a 'miracle' had occurred in his past. [RF]

2.16 [51] Play of the Week: BLACK MONDAY

16Jan61

Executive producer, Worthington Miner
Producer, David Susskind
Directed by Ralph Nelson

Adapted from the Reginald Rose play

starring

Myron McCormick  ....... Dennison
Robert Redford ........ George
Pat Hingle ............ Arthur McGill
Ruby Dee .............. Jane
Juano Hernandez ....... James
Nancy Coleman ......... Betty
Marc Connelly ......... Porter
Hilda Sims ............ Lily

William Prince

House Jameson

Frances Fuller
Joey Trent
Edward Asner
Arthur Tell
Roy Johnson
Luke Halpin
James Caan
Andrew Prine
Joanna Roos
Dan Morgan
Claudia Crawford
Ivan Dixon
Charles Grodin
Lincoln Kilpatrick
Jerry Wimberley
Glynn Turman
Ossie Davis
Richard Ward

Synopsis:

A Negro girl is about to enter a white school for the first time. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A black child's first day at a white school in the deep South. [RF]

2.17 [52] Play of the Week: NEW YORK SCRAPBOOK

23Jan61

Written by Tom Whedon

Story by Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt

starring

Kaye Ballard

Orson Bean

Jane Connell

Maureen Bailey

Synopsis:

Humorous musical revues of life in New York City.

Songs:

Mister Off-Broadway (M: Harvey Schmidt, L: Tom Jones)

Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring (M: Harvey Schmidt, L: Tom Jones)

2.18 [53] Play of the Week: HE WHO GETS SLAPPED

30Jan61

Adapted from the 1915 play by Leonid N. Andreev

starring

Richard Basehart ...... Stranger
Julie Harris ..........
David Opatoshu ........ Manchini
Loring Smith .......... Brique

Carroll O'Connor

Synopsis:

A clown becomes disenchanted with life as the drama unfolds.

Synopsis 2:
A nameless stranger falls in love with a circus performer. [RF]

2.19 [54] Play of the Week: FOUR BY TENNESSEE

06Feb61

Adapted from four plays by Tennessee Williams

starring

Jo Van Fleet

Eileen Heckart

Ann Revere

Maureen Stapleton

Mike Kellin

Alfred Ryder

Vivian Nathan

Leueen McGrath

Thomas Chalmers

Synopsis:

Play #1 "I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix" 1959 based on the last few days

and death of DH Lawrence.

Play #2 "Hello from Bertha." 1954 A disturbed drunk prostitute named Bertha wallows

around while her two housemates try in vain to help her.

Play #3 "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion." 1949

Sedlachek, the owner of a fleabag hotel, who wants to evict her deadbeat tenant.

She is a faded Southern belle who, despite being reduced to prostitution, tries

gamely to maintain a facade of gentility. What she refers to as lotion is actually hooch.

Her castle in the air is a plantation in Brazil, and the man of her dreams a "rubber king";

but the knight who rides to her rescue turns out to be the alcoholic blocked

writer who lives down the hall. [RF]

Play #4 "The Purification" 1959.

"The Lady of Larkspur Lotion," is a study of an early Blanche DuBois, maintaining

hauteur in a world environment.  Miss Van Fleet again performs with distinction." 

Shanley, John P.  'Four by Tennessee'.   New York Times.  February 7,1961.

2.20 [55] Play of the Week: THE SOUND OF MURDER

13Feb61

Adapted from the British mystery by William Fairchild.

starring

Kim Hunter

Felicia Montealegre

Donald Davis

Synopsis:

A murder plot is accidentally recorded and the victims

secretary holds the tape, the lovers tiff develops. [RF]

2.21 [56] Play of the Week: THE MAGIC AND THE LOSS
20Feb61
Executive Producer David Susskind
Producer Lewis Freedman
Written by Julian Funt based on his 1954 play
Directed by Richard Dunlap
Set Designer William Bohnert
Art Director Myron Bleam
Costumes Michael Travis
Makeup Inez Lopardo
Music Ronnie Noll
Production Supervisor Buddy Wilds
starring
Patricia Neal ......... Grace Wilson
Jeffrey Lynn .......... George Wilson
Vicki Cummings ........ Anita Harmon
Patrick O'Neal ........ Larry Graves
Frederick Clarke ...... Nicki Wilson
Synopsis:
Grace Wilson, a divorced career woman wants a higher position at the advertising agency.

She has an affair with one of the executives and is caught by her 14-year-old son,

 complicating things is the return of her ex who wants to reconnect with his son.
 

2.22 [57] Play of the Week: NO EXIT; THE INDIFFERENT LOVER

27Feb61

Directed by Silvio Narizzano

No Exit adapted from the 1936 play by Jean-Paul Sartre as translated by Paul Bowles;

The Indifferent Lover adapted from the Jean Cocteau monologue

(1) No Exit:

starring

Colleen Dewhurst ...... Inez
Dane Clark ............ Cradeau
Diana Hyland .......... Estelle
Jim Oyster ............ Bellboy

Synopsis:

Three people are stuck in hell without the convenience of a torturer on whom

to focus their fear and hatred. Naturally being resourceful humans, they find infinite

ways to torment each other. Best line Sartre wrote is "Hell is other people".

(2) The Indifferent Lover

starring

Miriam Hopkins

2.23 [58] Play of the Week: THE OLD FOOLISHNESS

06Mar61

Adapted from the 1940 Paul Vincent Carroll play.

starring

Fred Gwynne

Albert Salmi

Synopsis:

A family feud set in Bromley, Kent when their religious

 beliefs overtake their reasoning. [RF]

2.24 [59] Play of the Week: THERESE RAQUIN

13Mar61

Executive producer, Worthington Miner

Producer, Jack Kuney

Directed by Bill Penn

From the 1873 play by Emile Zola, as translated by Kathleen Boutall

starring

Eva Le Gallienne

Peter Mark Richman .... Laurent
Anne Meacham .......... Therese
Philip Coolidge ....... Grivet
Donald McKee .......... Michaud
Joyce Bulifant ........ Suzanne

Alvin Epstein

Synopsis:

A sinister tale of adultery and murder among the

 lower orders in nineteenth-century Paris. [RF]

2.25 [60] Play of the Week: THE WOODEN DISH

20Mar61

Adapted from the 1954 Edmund Morris play

starring

Martha Scott ....... Clara

Henry Hull ............ Pop
Lonny Chapman ......... Ed
Joseph Warren ......... Glenn
Ellen Geer ............ Susan
George Mathews ........ Floyd
Charlotte A. Jones .... Bessie
Roland Wood ........... Sam

Synopsis:

Clara and the father-in-law she has been trying to dislodge ever since she married

who is a tough, asthmatic old wreck combining all the pride and cunning of his age

 with the simplicity of a baby. His son, Glenn, is tossed helplessly from one loyalty

to another, and Clara has grown desperate enough for anything, even an attempted

love affair with another man, anything to release her from this burden. When Pop

finally gives up the fight to remain in his son's home, it is left to his granddaughter, Susan,

 to see with the compassion that only youth can feel for age, the true tragedy of his going. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A woman with her own problems to face decides to put

her troublesome father in an old-age home. [RF]

2.26 [61] Play of the Week: A COOL WIND OVER THE LIVING

27Mar61

Written by Joseph LeSueur

starring

Diana Hyland

Carmen Mathews

J.D. Cannon

James Patterson

Synopsis:

Torn by love between two men, and overcoming a

crippling illness, she decides to remain alone. [RF]

2.28 [--] Play of the Week: WAITING FOR GODOT

03-April-1961

Executive producer Worthington Miner

Producer Jack Kuney

Directed by Alan Schneider

Written by Samuel Beckett

starring

Burgess Meredith   ...... Vladimir
Zero Mostel ........... Estragon
Kurt Kasznar .......... Pozzo
Alvin Epstein ......... Lucky
Luke Halpin ........... The Boy
Barney Rosset ......... Publisher of the Grove Press
Milo O'Shea ........... Presenter

Synopsis:

Two tramps are waiting by a sickly looking tree for the arrival of M. Godot.

They quarrel, make up, contemplate suicide, try to sleep, eat a carrot and gnaw

on some chicken bones. Two other characters appear, a master and a slave,

 who perform a grotesque scene in the middle of the play. A young boy arrives

to say that M. Godot will not come today, but that he will come tomorrow.

He does not come and the two tramps resume their vigil by the tree, which between

 the first and second day has sprouted a few leaves, the only symbol of a possible

order in a thoroughly alienated world. [RF]

2.28 [63] Play of the Week: IN A GARDEN

10Apr61

Adapted from the 1925 Philip Barry play

starring

Roddy McDowall ........ Adrian Terry
George Grizzard ....... Bliss
Barbara Cook .......... Lissa
Christopher Hewitt .... Frederic
Laurie Main ........... Compton

Synopsis:

The story of Adrian Terry, a wealthy, fortyish playwright who has decided to

retire from writing plays. His jealous hack-writer friend Roger Compton insists that

Terry keep on writing, telling him he is a dramatist to the soles of his shoes. When

Terry demurs, Compton attempts to provoke him with an idea: he states that every

 man's wife is another man's mistress. Compton then tells Terry that he has information

that Terry's young wife Lissa had a dalliance when she was a debutante with dashing

Ivy Leaguer Norrie Bliss, in a garden in Katonah. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
A great playwright wants to retire until a suspicion of his wife's

 infidelity becomes a superb idea for a new play. [RF]

2.29 [64] Play of the Week: THE WINGLESS VICTORY

17Apr61

Adapted from the 1936 Maxwell Anderson play

starring

Hugh O'Brian .......... Nathaniel
Eartha Kitt ........... Oparre
Michael Tolan ......... Ruel
Cathleen Nesbitt ...... Mrs. McQueston
Tim O'Connor .......... Phineas
Gene Wilder ........... Happy

Jane Wyatt

Synopsis:

Set in 1800 Indian princess, rejected form white society, commits suicide

with her children after losing her husband's love.

Synopsis 2:
In 1800, a man returns to Massachusetts with a cargo of spices,

a fortune and a native wife and their children. [RF]

2.30 [65] Play of the Week: CLOSE QUARTERS

24Apr61

Adapted from the 1937 Gilbert Lennox

adaptation of the W.O. Simins play "Attentat"

starring

Richard Kiley

Patricia Jessel

Synopsis:

One apartment and two possible renters,

solves these unusual problem. [RF]

2.31 [66] Play of the Week: ALL SUMMER LONG

01May61

Adapted from the 1954 Robert Anderson play

Adapted from the Donald Wetzel novel, "A Wreath and A Curse"

starring

Philip Fox ............ Willie
Keir Dullea ........... Don
Betty Field ........... Mother
Henderson Forsythe .... Dad
Nina Wilcox ........... Ruth
James Olson ........... Harry

Synopsis:

Portrait of a complacent Midwestern family. Blustering father, bumbling mother,

brainless daughter, whose river bank house is threatened by erosion. Two brothers

work together to make retaining wall  to save their home form the rising river. They fail,

the house crumbles, and the family has to flee for its life. [RF]

Synopsis 2:
Young Willie's problems include parents he can't talk to

and a home he thinks will be swept away by flood waters. [RF]

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############ Play of the Week ###########

############### the end ###############

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