Eloise (Playhouse 90)

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"Eloise"
Playhouse 90 episode
Evelyn Rudie as Eloise.jpeg
Evelyn Rudie as Eloise
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by Leonard Spigelgass
Original air dateNovember 22, 1956 (1956-11-22)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"Eloise" was an American television play broadcast on November 22, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90 . It was the eighth episode of the series.

Contents

Plot

Eloise is a lonesome six-year-old girl who lives with her nanny at the Plaza Hotel.

Cast

The cast included performances by: [1] [2]

June Lockhart hosted the broadcast.

Production

The play was based on Kay Thompson's children's book Eloise . The book was released in June 1955. Leonard Spigelgass wrote the teleplay based on Thompson's book. John Frankenheimer was the director and Martin Manulis the producer. The play was staged at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

Reception

In The New York Times, Jack Gould panned the production "totally preposterous television", "sophomoric chaos", "a ludicrous hodgepodge", "agony", "childish" (as opposed to "childlike"), "idiotic and contrived, wholly farcical without being funny." [3]

In the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, John Lester credited Rudie with a "technically remarkable" performance given her age, but opined that the selection of the material "indicates a weakness of basic judgment that could -- and probably will -- result in other offerings, equally superficial and nonsensical." [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Playhouse 90</i> American television series

Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s usually were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual: a weekly series of hour-and-a-half-long dramas rather than 60-minute plays.

Eloise may refer to:

<i>Eloise</i> (books) American childrens book series by Kay Thompson

Eloise is a series of children's books written in the 1950s by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight. The series consists of Eloise (1955) and four sequels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kay Thompson</span> American author, singer, dancer, actress, and choreographer (1909–1998)

Kay Thompson was an American author, singer, vocal arranger, vocal coach, composer, musician, dancer, actress, and choreographer. She became famous for creating the Eloise children's books and for her role in the movie Funny Face.

Evelyn Rudie is an American playwright, director, songwriter, film and television actress, and teacher. Since 1973, she has been the co-artistic director of the Santa Monica Playhouse. As a costume designer, she uses the pseudonym Ashley Hayes.

<i>Eloise</i> (1955 book) 1995 book by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight

Eloise is the first of the Eloise book series written and drawn by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight, respectively. It was published in 1955. In 1969, the adult-oriented book was re-released as a children's book, without change. An audiobook version of Eloise, narrated by Bernadette Peters, was released in October 2015 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the series. The title character was inspired by an alter ego of Thompson.

Hilary Knight is an American writer and artist. He is the illustrator of more than 50 books and the author of nine books. He is best known as the illustrator and co-creator of Kay Thompson's Eloise (1955) and others in the Eloise series.

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References

  1. Charles Mercer (November 15, 1956). "'Eloise' Is Being Born in Television's 'Playhouse 90'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 49 via Newspapers.com.
  2. Kinescope of Eloise aired November 22, 1956.
  3. Jack Gould (November 23, 1956). "TV Review: 'Playhouse 90' Offers Hodgepodge 'Eloise'". The New York Times. p. 55.
  4. John Lester (November 26, 1956). "'Eloise' Was Thanksgiving TV Turkey". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 25 via Newspapers.com.