"Playhouse 90"
Rod Taylor appeared in five productions of "Playhouse 90,"
which generally is regarded as the most ambitious of TV's dramatic anthology
series.
During its first three seasons, "Playhouse 90" presented a
90-minute drama each week -- many of them live and many of them considered
classics.
I've seen three of the five episodes that featured Rod Taylor, thanks
to the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City. The shows are indeed
quality productions -- tackling complex themes, employing first-rate acting,
writing and directing talent, and challenging viewers in a way that television
rarely does.
Taylor has a pivotal role in each production, playing the man of good
character who must wrestle with troubling circumstances and serve as the
audience's guide to sorting out right and wrong.
VERDICT OF THREE -- Episode 2.32 (April 24, 1958)
This installment of "Playhouse 90" is an adaptation of "Verdict of 12," a novel by Raymond Postgate in which a murder trial is followed through different jurors and their reactions.
Rod's castmates included Michael Wilding, Angela Lansbury
and Yvonne De Carlo.
It was directed by the highly respected Buzz Kulik, whose high-caliber TV movies include "Brian's Song" and many Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movies.
THE GREAT GATSBY -- Episode 2.40 (June 26, 1958)
Rod Taylor played Nick Carraway in this adaptation of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. Nick is the innocent bystander who gets drawn
into the complicated scandals of his wealthy neighbors for the summer:
his cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Jean Crain) and Jay Gatsby (Robert Ryan).
Of
the three episodes I've viewed, this is the one that feels most like a
stage production. Nevertheless, it features bold direction for the small
screen, and an engaging performance by Taylor.
THE LONG MARCH -- Episode 3.4 (Oct. 16, 1958)
Rod Taylor played Lt. Warren Culver, a Marine Corps reservist
called back for duty in Korea. Taylor gives a strong, smooth performance
in this live production, which was directed by Delbert Mann and based on
a William Styron novel.
Culver is established as a by-the-book, practical sort
of guy. On the personal side of his life, his girlfriend, Betty, wants
to get married, but he refuses, saying that he's been "in a war, out
of a war, into a job and out of a job, and back into another war."
That's not the type of foundation he wants to start a marriage upon.
In the Marines, Culver is the capable assistant to his
good friend, Capt. Al Mannix (Jack Carson), a fellow reservist and the
company commander. Mannix's commander -- and nemesis -- is Col. Rocky Templeton
(Sterling Hayden), who has ordered the Marine trainees on a rigorous battle
exercise that's to be followed by a 36-mile march back to the base.
For Mannix, a burly man softened by his civilian desk
job, the long march becomes a personal crusade. Ultimately, Mannix defies
a sensible order by Templeton, and his defiant action leads to loyal Marine
being mortally injured.
In the inquiry that follows, Culver's is placed in the
uncomfortable position of having to support the facts of the case while
realizing that the facts hurt his friend. His emotional struggle continues
as he must deliver the bad news to the dying Marine's new bride. In a final,
clarifying scene with Betty, Culver tries to sort out the meaning of what
happened, then grabs hold of one sure thing -- love (and marriage).
THE RAIDER -- Episode 3.20 (Feb. 19, 1959)
Rod Taylor played Bob Castillo, a member of the board
of directors of the Harman Corp., a company that's the target of a corporate
raider.
He's one of the players in a high-stakes game between
the raider, David Ringler (Paul Douglas) and the chairman of the board,
Arthur Hennicut (Frank Lovejoy). But Castillo is different from the other
businessmen on the board: He's also a brilliant engineer from the research
and development department. As the power struggle mounts, Castillo is pressured
to rush an experimental engine through to production -- a desperate move
by Hennicut to shore up the board's stockholder support.
Although it deals with corporate intrigue rather than
military action, the themes in "The Raider" are similar to "The
Long March" -- loyalty, hard work and men driven by circumstances
past the point of being able to tell who's right and who's wrong. Taylor,
as Castillo, helps the audience try to sort it all out. Castillo grows
in stature and awareness from the opening scene -- where he's considered
something of a yes-man -- to a climactic scene in Act 2 in which a virile,
angry (and open-shirted) Castillo challenges Hennicut over compromising
the integrity of the company and its employees.
The show concludes with the stockholders' vote unresolved,
but rather than being unsatisfying, the ending produces a jolt, leaving
the viewer with abundant material for discussion and deep appreciation
of the magnificent performances and well-crafted characters.
This episode and "The Great Gatsby" were directed
by Franklin J. Schaffner, whose later credits include "Papillon,"
"Planet of the Apes" and an Academy Award for "Patton."
MISALLIANCE -- Episode 4.3 (Oct. 29, 1959)
Rod Taylor played aviator Joey Percival in a cast that
featured Claire Bloome, Robert
Morley and Siobhan McKenna.
A reviewer noted that, with this adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's
play, "Playhouse 90 proved it could handle sophisticated
comedy with style and inventiveness in this free-wheeling version of Shaw's
play, directed by Robert Stevens."
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