Original title
Playhouse 90
Released
10/4/1956
Origin country
US
Genre
Drama
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
4
Number of episodes
134
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were usually hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of hour-and-a-half dramas rather than 60-minute plays. Playhouse 90 began as a pitch by Frank Stanton—the formidable, forward-thinking right-hand man to CBS chairman William S. Paley—during a brainstorming session for program ideas. The project was ultimately developed by Hubbell Robinson, a CBS vice president who received no screen credit on Playhouse 90 but is often described as its creator.
Why are so many B-99 bombers from Hibiscus Air Base crashing or simply disappearing? Colonel Price comes up with a terrifying explanation, but will anyone believe him?
An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
The happy atmosphere in Mr. Sizeman's factory is disrupted by an argumentative newcomer - his son.
A woman is inexplicably killed on a street-corner. What has this to do with other deaths around the city?
After a near-death experience, a businessman starts to re-think his life, and wonders about leaving his wife.
A vaudeville comic becomes a silent film star.
A wealthy industrialist has trouble with his sons.
It's not so much that Eloise is a mischievous child, but the darnedest things do happen when she's around.
When a much-admired community leader dies, a journalist starts to investigate his life - and finds he was not the man he seemed.
When Zachary and Elsa separate, each seems tempted to start a new love affair.
A wealthy mill owner finances the education of a clever, but poor, young man.
A true story, it follows a pastor and his wife through forties beginning with one biological child, Donny. But the upheaval of the war years results in a number of mixed raced children that the Doss family adopt until they have 12 children.
An investigation into a massacre of Native Americans.
Some racetrack Johnnies are talking between races when one wonders if you can hypnotize a horse into thinking it's a champion. The idea sets in motion a series of hilarious events.
Events in the aftermath of World War Three.
Down on his luck, war hero Lionel Amblin contemplates committing a murder.
An inventor, pondering on how he might differently have arranged his life, invents a time machine and decides to make a few changes.
When a rich woman dies without signing her new will, all kinds of problems ensue.
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.
Sammy Hogarth, a vaudeville comedian who now has his own TV show, is a ruthless egomaniac who demands instant obedience from his staff and heaps abuse on those in lesser positions than his. His most vituperative behavior, however, is reserved for his weak-willed brother, Lester, whom Sammy has hired as his assistant but whom he really uses as his whipping boy.
A newly-widowed woman goes on a trip to Europe and meets a French artist.
In the 19th century, Elizabeth Blackwell determines to become a doctor.
A gunfighter is terrorizing a small western town. The townspeople finally pool their money to a hire another gunfighter to drive him out of town. The townsfolk thought they had it bad until they handed the reigns over to the new terror. Pooling their money again, this time to hire Jeffers to get rid of Dancer.
A movie producer is slowly working himself to death.
The story of Perle Mesta, who became, first, a renowned society hostess, and then an ambassadress.
Lord Fancourt Babberley is forced to disguise himself as a woman - his aunt from Brazil, "where the nuts come from".
A romance on the high seas revolving around the comely widow of a shipping magnate, and her growing love for a handsome young political prisoner who was scheduled to be put to death when the vessel reached its destination. Though unyielding at first, the ship's stern captain eventually helped the woman to make a clean getaway, with the condemned man in tow.
A meek salesman with an uncanny ability to pick horses is virtually kidnapped by a trio of gamblers.
Four nuns, led by Sister Teresa, begin a treacherous journey across the Arizona desert in 1870. Their faith enables them to deal with the challenges of nature and the hostility of their fellow mankind.
Just after World War Two ends, an American woman takes in a Polish war orphan boy, a concentration camp survivor. But conflict arises when her husband, a returning Air Force bomber pilot, hates the boy and his psychological baggage.
Broadway legend Helen Morgan 's life as told by her mother, from her early start in second rate speakeasies to star of top rated shows and owning her own club. Also seen is her poor choices, such as her affair with a married man, her short marriage to a much younger man, a court fight over an adopted baby and her fatal descent into booze addiction.
On her tenth wedding anniversary (which is also her daughter's birthday), a wife begins to suspect her husband of unfaithfulness.
Captain Russell Bidlack, commander of a U.S. Cavalry unit in 1870, determines to complete a rescue mission through dangerous Indian territory. In the course of the mission, he rescues the wives of two slain traders and captures the Indian chief accused of the murders. When he returns to the fort, he's faced with a revolt among his own men.
Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.
American soldiers must use stealth to take over a German command post in Normandy.
Romanticized life story of Robert Briscoe, the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Dublin.
The last hours in the life of Spain's most celebrated matador.
A drama set in 1956, during the unsuccessful Hungarian uprising against the Russians
A mild-mannered schoolteacher gradually abandons all his principles - and finds the success which has always hitherto eluded him.
In a dystopian society, reading is forbidden.
When a mother wins an award, she finds out a few things about her three grown-up children.
October 17, 1957, the CBS Television Network diverted from its typical format of live dramatic presentations for "Playhouse 90" to cover Michael Todd's gigantic party commemorating the one-year anniversary of the release of his film "Around The World In 80 Days". Todd invited 18-thousand people to the gala in New York City's Madison Square Garden though the number probably was far greater because of party-crashers. Walter Cronkite hosted the coverage with future ABC Sports ace Jim McKay and news veteran Bill Leonard handling the interviewing of numerous celebrity party guests. During the broadcast, Garry Moore hosted occasional comedy vignettes of how Todd came to create his Academy award-winning movie.
The story of William Palmer, one of the most notorious poisoners in Victorian England - or was he?
A lawyer's new brother-in-law disapproves of his specialty of defending murderers. But when he finds himself accused of murder, he asks for his help.
Based on a case history in psychologist Dr. Robert Linder's book "The 50-Minute Hour." Unbeknownst to his friends and colleagues, the outwardly sane and secure atomic physicist Dr. Kirk Allen has for many years been embarking upon imaginary visits to another planet. At first this mental abnormality harms no one, but when Allen begins acting strangely on the job, the Pentagon begins to suspect that he is a security risk. Under psychological counseling, Allen reveals his "secret life" and provides surprisingly accurate extraterrestrial charts as "proof" that he is truly out of this world.
A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation determines that the reason a plane crashed, killing all aboard except one of the pilots, is that either the dead pilot or the survivor became panic-stricken and pushed the wrong button, but the investigators aren't sure which one was at fault.
In a Northern prisoner-of-war camp during the Civil War, a crippled Yankee commander has a rebellious Rebel executed. The dead man's brother, also a prisoner, vows vengeance. He volunteers to accompany the commander on a mission, planning to murder him along the way but changes his mind and escapes instead, deciding the commander is "already dead." The commander, a changed man, covers up for the escapees and himself faces court martial.
Middle-aged actress Victoria Maxwell comes to terms with her destructive lifestyle as she struggles with the lead role in a Broadway-bound play. Matters are complicated by the fact that she is co-starring opposite her estranged husband, Allen Grant, whom she never stopped loving.
A reunion party for old army buddies turns inexorably into something darker and more sinister.
Long ago, Christian made a run of 80 yards to make the winning touchdown in a football game. It was the greatest moment of his life. Or was it the beginning of his decline?
An innocent man, doomed to die for the murder of a cop that he didn't commit, is rushed from prison to the county hospital for an emergency operation. The surgeon becomes convinced of the man's innocence when he mumbles a girl's name under anesthesia. The surgeon seeks the help of a psychiatrist to penetrate his patient's subconscious.
Mr. Golden wonders if he has wasted his life; but the news that he is to become a grandfather cheers him.
Photographer Paul is invited to a French estate to take pictures but a romance develops with the lady of the house. A sudden death creates a suspicion of murder.
An airliner flying nonstop at night from Miami to New York fails to check in, then disappears from radar. We see how its disappearance affects people on the ground. The Episode was directed by David Swift, who also collaborated with Charles Einstein with the screenplay. Charles Einstein is also credited with writing the story. Guests include William Lundigan, Betsy Palmer, Jane Greer, Buster Keaton, Chico Marx, Frank Wilcox & Charles Bronson. The Production Company was CBS Television Network and was distributed in the USA by CBS.
Waiting to find out if he's obtained a valuable promotion, a banker returns to the small town he grew up in.
Based on a true story, Donald Bashor robs and bludgeons two women to their deaths. While committing the crimes he maintains a normal existence with his girlfriend Florry.
A veteran lawyer must defend his own son when the latter is threatened with disbarment.
The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class.
The story of a struggle for control of a Hollywood talent agency.
A murder trial is followed through different jurors and their reactions.
After the first atom bomb test, scientists realize the bomb was more powerful than they expected - which may have terrible results.
A hard-hearted Colonel loses many men in his group's bombing missions over World War II Germany, but keeps on going and won't tolerate a young lieutenant losing his nerve under the strain, who refuses to continue.
A Civil War veteran returns home to find his father has become a social pariah.
When a rich man marries a much younger wife and his ailing health gets rather worse, the housekeeper suspects a murder attempt is looming.
A weakling sheriff is unable to prevent a lynching. Can he redeem himself by preventing a second one?
A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his wealthy neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
The James boys, being framed for a bank heist, are saved by the banker's daughter.
In late 1952, an aging and increasingly paranoid Stalin puts in motion a purge against his doctors, with anti-Semitic overtones. His lackeys, including Khrushchev, Molotov and Beria, fear it will spread to the Politburo, and plan to strike first.
An alcoholic falls in love with and gets married to a young woman, whom he systematically addicts to booze so they can share his "passion" together.
William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939. Lonely, lovelorn, weary or cynical, the characters drift in and out of the bar and each other's lives, giving voice to Saroyan's philosophies as they randomly comment about the impending world war, the beauty of art, and traditional notions of good and evil.
An elderly immigrant tries to buy an old house in New England and is opposed by snobbish locals.
A courier for the Dutch Resistance is captured by the Nazis.
A trading company manager travels up an African river to find a missing outpost head and discovers the depth of evil in humanity's soul.
To fight a Mississippi flood in 1927, a prison farm releases some convicts.
After years in retirement, Ansel Gibbs is asked to return to government service.
The story of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929.
This telecast of George Balanchine's famous production was broadcast only four years after it was premiered by the New York City Ballet. This was the only episode of the series televised in color.
An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.
Ernie Pandish has tried to be a writer for years and has never made much money out of it. But now he seems likely to hit the big-time.
A few friends meet each weekend for a quiet game of cards. But they're bored with poker and, in trying to find another diversion, gradually find themselves plotting a hypothetical murder. It is hypothetical, isn't it?
War deprives Tanguy of his childhood. When his mother returns to Spain to oppose the Franco regime, he is left in Nazi-occupied Marseilles, France.
A corporate raider plans a hostile takeover. To stall him, pressure is put on a scientist to rush through a new type of engine before all necessary tests have been completed.
A housewife is offered a Hollywood contract. She'd rather stay home, but her husband has ambitions for her.
A young soldier in occupied Japan after World War II falls in love with a lovely Japanese girl, but is horrified about what his prejudiced family in Philadelphia will think if he takes her home with him.
During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.
The completion of the mission has tragic consequences.
In the later stages of the Nuremberg Trials, four German judges are accused of perverting the course of justice.
During World War II, an army doctor struggles to convert a Franciscan monastery into a field hospital.
The daily emergencies and stresses of a major city's hospital ward as seen through the eyes of nurse Gail Lucas.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure? Well, maybe.
On a cattle drive across the prairie, the sons of a wealthy cattle baron plot his death.
A powerful union leader is interrogated by a Senate committee. Testifying before a Senate, William Kilcoyne tells the story of his career. He began as a factory worker and his shrewdness and ambition carried him up through the ranks to his present position as head of a large union.
As the Salo Republic crumbles around him, Mussolini, along with his mistress and several of his ministers flee with retreating Nazi soldiers, but are caught at the town of Dongo by red partisans. All are brutally executed without trial.
Key defense scientist Doner has cancer. Schramm is assigned to code Doner's thinking into a computer. He gets to know him as a friend, a husband and father. The project is successful, but he now knows identity is not programmable.
A British politician finds himself open to blackmail because of the indiscretion of his American wife.
A man about to be married recalls the day his life changed permanently.
Three conspirators plan the death of a South American head of state.
Three different viewpoints of the same story - a kidnapping and its aftermath.
A group of people gathered at a wealthy man's country home on a summer weekend engage in an exploration of their varied romantic entanglements.
A journalist out to expose political corruption finds his family is in danger.
In Australia, a landowner is arrested for murder - but where's the body?
In the Civil War, a tunnel is dug under Confederate lines, and filled with explosives.
The old people's home is a pretty miserable place - until the arrival of the mysterious Mr. Erwenter.
The story of abolitionist John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.
A State Department official is required to leak a confidential document - which may have terrible repercussions.
In Paris, a former soldier is alarmed when the girl he has fallen in love with demonstrates a rather naïve and romanticized attitude to war.
Violence and brutality greet a French Army captain when he arrives in Algeria to assume command of a remote outpost. He is appalled by the savage massacre of an Algerian family by the Rebels. When the French take a prisoner who knows the names of Rebel leaders, the captain is told that torture is the only way to make him talk. Then the captain meets the prisoner - a handsome, intelligent teenage boy.
Slow witted, and tired, Fentry leads a lonely life of grinding poverty in his sharecropper's shack until a sick, pregnant woman escaping her abusive husband comes there. He takes her in and cares for her, eventually falling in love with her.
In the last days of World War II, two English airmen are captured by an ordinary German citizen, who, instead of handing them over to the authorities, keeps them prisoner in his cellar, neglecting to tell them when the war ends.
Americans try to cope with the aftermath of a nuclear catastrophe.
Patients at a mental hospital meet for a group therapy session.
Determined to pay off his debts, Mark Twain sets off on a lecture tour.
In the Warsaw ghetto, a Jewish man seeks revenge for the rape of his sister by a German soldier.
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