Title: Playwrights '56 Films
Inclusive Dates: 1955-1956

Call Number: CA 744-CA 745; DC 970-DC 971; DC 979-DC 980; DC 992-DC 995; DD 128-DD 129; DD 132-DD 135; DD 171-DD 172; DD 194-DD 195; DD 207-DD 210; DD 216-DD 217; DD 236-DD 237; DD 242-DD 243; DD 313-DD 314; VBA 611

Quantity: 34 film reels and 1 videocassette

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Fourteen episodes of Playwrights '56, an hour-long dramatic anthology series that shared a time slot on NBC with Armstrong Circle Theatre from 1955 to 1956. All episodes are in black and white with sound. The films are 16 mm kinescopes. The videocassettes are 3/4-inch U-Matic viewing copies. All episodes include commercials for Pontiac cars.

Note:

There is a restriction on access to and use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-playwrights

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Access Restrictions

Film reels may be viewed on the Steenbeck only. One of the reels is unviewable in its current condition.

Use Restrictions

No duplication or public screening without consent of copyright holder.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Joyce Coe in 1979 as part of the Fred Coe Papers. Accession Number: MCHC79-078

DC 981-982	The Answer, 1955 October 4 Note: Director: Delbert Mann Script: David Davidson Cast: Paul Douglas, Nina Foch Scope and Content Note: A nuclear test in the Pacific results in the death of an angel. The philosophical questions regarding the angel's message are explored by an army general who witnesses and believes in the incident.
DD 132-135, VBA 611	The Heart's a Forgotten Hotel, 1955 October 25 Note: DD 132-133 is an archival kinescope, DD 134-135 is a kinescope print, VBA 611 is a videocassette viewing copy Director: Arthur Penn Script: Arnold Shulman Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Edmond O'Brien Scope and Content Note: A flashy, irresponsible widower tries to make ends meet running a seedy Florida hotel and raising his son. Problems arise when the boy's aunt and uncle want to take him away.
DD 128-129	Daisy! Daisy!, 1955 November 22 Note: Director: Arthur Penn Script: Sumner Locke Elliott Cast: Tom Ewell, Jane Wyatt Scope and Content Note: A minor novelist becomes a literary sensation when he pretends that the flimsy story he wrote in one night is really the diary of a simple Australian girl's first love.
DC 992-993	The Day the Trains Stopped Running, 1956 January 3 Note: Director: Vincent J. Donehue Script: Harry Ridgely Cast: Joseph Sweeney, Elizabeth Patterson Scope and Content Note: After fifty years of service to the railroad, Sam Rasher must come to grips with the fact that he is retired and that the railroad will go on without him.
DC 994-995, DD 313-314	Lost, 1956 January 17 Note: DC 994-995 is an archival kinescope; DD 313-314 is a kinescope print Director: Arthur Penn Script: Arnold Shulman Cast: Steven Hill, Sally Grace Scope and Content Note: The true story of a man who disappears from his South Boston home shortly after recovering from a nervous breakdown and wanders the streets of New York City as an amnesiac for several days. Access Restrictions: Restricted viewing: Film is unviewable in its current condition.
DD 209-210	This Business of Murder, 1956 January 31 Alternate Format: Digital access copy available. Note: Director: Vincent J. Donehue Script: David Swift Cast: James Whitmore, E.G. Marshall Scope and Content Note: A weekend trip among five businessmen is clouded by double dealing and mistrust. When one of the men is murdered, the extent of the deceit is revealed.
DD 236-237	Return to Cassino, 1956 February 14 Note: DD 236-237 is an archival kinescope. Director: Arthur Penn Script: Mann Rubin Cast: John Forsythe, Kurt Kraszner, Dina Merrill Scope and Content Note: While on vacation in Cassino, Italy, where he served in WW2, a man must confront the anger and hatred he still holds toward residents of the town.
DD 194-195	Flight, 1956 February 28 Note: Director: Vincent J. Donehue Script: Horton Foote Cast: Kim Stanley, Ruth Hussey, Albert Dekker Scope and Content Note: A woman, alienated from her parents, secretly marries a boy of whom they disapprove. The secret comes out, her husband deserts her, and she leaves her family to start a new life.
DD 242-243	The Undiscovered Country, 1956 March 27 Note: Director: Arthur Penn Script: J.P. Miller Cast: Cyril Ritchard, Nina Foch, Frederick O'Neal Scope and Content Note: Wealthy and powerful Royce Thurmond refuses to face the consequences of his past actions after his daughter and foreman turn against him and leave.
DC 979-980	You and Me and the Gatepost, 10 April 1956 Note: Director: Vincent J. Donehue Script: Sumner Locke Elliott Cast: Mary Astor, George Grizzard, John Emery Scope and Content Note: In this comedy of manners which spoofs the New York society crowd, a wealthy, aging socialite champions a play by an untalented but likeable boy from Utah. Includes a public service announcement for the American Cancer Society.
DD 171-172	The Center of the Maze, 1956 April 24 Note: Director: Vincent J. Donehue Script: Sam Hall Cast: Ann Harding, Dina Merrill, Mark Richman Scope and Content Note: A wealthy liberal is forced to confront the discrepancies between her political and domestic life when her daughter decides to marry the gardener and live on a farm.
DC 970-971, CA 744-745	The Keyhole, 1956 May 22 Note: DC 970-971 is a kinescope print; CA 744-745 is an archival kinescope Director: Fred Coe Script: Sumner Locke Elliott Cast: E.G. Marshall, Lee Grant, Meg Mundy Scope and Content Note: A reconstruction of an 1889 murder trial in which a woman is accused of killing her husband but, because of the laws of the time, cannot testify in her own defense.
DD 216-217	Nick and Letty, 1956 June 5 Note: Director: Arthur Penn Script: Nelson Goodman Cast: Nancy Walker, Norman Feld, Mary Fickett Scope and Content Note: A secret romance blossoms between a navy nurse and a sailor. They keep it a secret to avoid ridicule, but their secret is eventually revealed.
DD 207-208	Snow Job, 1956 November 8 Note: Director: Jack Smight Script: Richard Turner Cast: Joan Blondell, James Gregory Scope and Content Note: The son of working class parents gets in trouble at school for fighting. He's labeled a juvenile delinquent but is eventually proven innocent.