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Two by John Frankenheimer

Old Man  /  Journey to the Day

Old Man
October 2, 2016 - 7:00 pm
In-person: 
Robert Butler, recipient of the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Television Direction.

Playhouse 90: “Old Man”


CBS, 09/05/1961 (re-broadcast of a program originally aired on 11/20/1958)

John Frankenheimer and crew miraculously transformed CBS Television City into an angry Mississippi River and pioneered nascent videotape editing to bring Horton Foote's moving adaptation of William Faulkner's literary masterpiece to the small screen.  As an unlikely pair bound together against immovable forces of nature and society, Sterling Hayden and Geraldine Page deliver transcendent performances on par with the program's technological heights.

Digital video (from 2" videotape master), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production.  Produced by Fred Coe.  Directed by John Frankenheimer.  Television play by Horton Foote.  From the novel by William Faulkner.  With: Sterling Hayden; Geraldine Page, Milton Selzer, James Westerfield. Program introduced by Richard Boone.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “Old Man” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Playhouse 90: “Journey to the Day”


CBS, 04/22/1960

Best known for bringing visual and technological virtuosity to Playhouse 90, here John Frankenheimer tackles a confined character piece that includes a rare dramatic television performance by legendary comedian, and (future) stage and film director Mike Nichols (The Graduate).  Set in a state mental hospital, the progressive ensemble play concerns the then emerging and still controversial practice of group therapy. 

Digital video (from 16mm Kinescope), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production. Produced by Fred Coe. Directed by John Frankenheimer.  Written especially for Playhouse 90 by Roger O. Hirson.  With: Mary Astor, Mike Nichols, Steven Hill, James Gregory, Janice Rule, James Dunn. Program introduced by Agnes Moorehead.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “Journey to the Day” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.