| "Alas, Babylon" | |
|---|---|
| Playhouse 90 episode | |
 Don Murray and Barbara Rush in CBS publicity still for "Alas, Babylon" | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Robert Stevens |
| Written by | David Shaw |
| Original air date | April 3, 1960 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Alas, Babylon" was an American television play broadcast on April 3, 1960, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90 . It was the 13th episode of the fourth season of Playhouse 90.
A nuclear war is triggered when a young Navy pilot accidentally blows up a port in a foreign country during a time of heightened tensions, and the Soviet Union fires its missiles. The missiles destroy the American Midwest and most of the eastern United States.
The story follows residents of a small Florida town and how they react after learning of a massive nuclear attack that has killed 92% of the world's population.
Peter Kortner was the producer. Robert Stevens was the director. David Shaw wrote the teleplay, based on the novel, Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank. [1]
The cast included Don Murray as Randy Bragg, Barbara Rush as Liz, Kim Hunter as Helen Bragg, Dana Andrews as Mark Bragg, Everett Sloane as Dr. Gunn, Rita Moreno as Rita Herndon, and Burt Reynolds as Ace. [1]
A copy of Alas, Babylon is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. It was transferred from the original 2-inch master tape at the CBS Media Exchange and was shown on March 28, 2015 as part of the 17th Annual Festival of Preservation. [2]
In The New York Times, John P. Shanley praised the "dramatic efficiency" and "technically excellent presentation," but questioned the judgment of presenting the "unwarranted horror" of a Soviet nuclear attack, all depicted "in chilling detail." [3]
John Crosby of the New York Herald Tribune called it "an excellent production" with " splendid cast." [4]
TV critic Charlie Wadsworth called it "a very shattering and forceful presentation". [5]
Alas, Babylon is a 1959 novel by American writer Pat Frank. It is an early example of post-nuclear apocalyptic fiction and has an entry in David Pringle's book Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. The novel deals with the effects of a nuclear war on the fictional small town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is based upon the actual city of Mount Dora, Florida, approximately 35 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida. The novel's title is derived from the Book of Revelation: "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come." The cover art for the Bantam paperback edition was made by Robert Hunt.
Harry Hart "Pat" Frank was an American newspaperman, writer, and government consultant. Perhaps the “first of the post-Hiroshima doomsday authors,” his best known work is his post-apocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon (1959), which depicted the outbreak of a nuclear war and the struggles of its survivors in a small, central Florida town.
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