The Great Gatsby (Playhouse 90)

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"The Great Gatsby"
Playhouse 90 episodes
Robert Ryan and Jeanne Crain in The Great Gatsby.jpg
Robert Ryan and Jeanne Crain in The Great Gatsby
Episode nos.Season 2
Episodes 39 [1]
Directed by Franklin Schaffner [1]
Written byDavid Shaw (adaptation), F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Original air dateJune 26, 1958 (1958-06-26) [1]
Running time1:28:27 [2]
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"A Town Has Turned to Dust"
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"A Bitter Heritage"

"The Great Gatsby" is an American television play broadcast live on June 26, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90 . David Shaw wrote the teleplay, adapted from the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Franklin Schaffner directed. Jeanne Crain, Robert Ryan, and Rod Taylor starred, and Rod Serling was the host.

Contents

Plot

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel about a talented young man from a poor background who strives to win the unattainable rich girl. Set on Long Island, the wealthy Daisy Buchanan falls in love with Jay Gatsby, an Army captain. While Gatsby fights in the war, Daisy is pressured by her family to marry Tom Buchanan, a man of their social set. Five years pass, and Gatsby now owns a huge estate on Long Island. Daisy's cousin, Nick Carraway, rents Gatsby's gate house for the summer. Gatsby hosts lavish parties and seeks to reconnect with Daisy. [1] [2]

Cast

The following performers received screen credit for their performances: [2]

Rod Serling hosted the show, and Dick Joyce was the announcer. [2]

Production

Martin Manulis was the producer, and Franklin Schaffner directed. David Shaw wrote the teleplay as an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel. [2] The production was broadcast live on June 26, 1958, from Television City in Los Angeles. [2] [1] It was part of the second season of Playhouse 90 , an anthology television series that was voted "the greatest television series of all time" in a 1970 poll of television editors. [3]

The program's sponsors were Ban roll-on deodorant, Ipana toothpaste, Kleenex, Camel cigarettes, and Pillsbury. [2]

Reception

UPI television critic William Ewald called it "a muddler". He found that it "had very little to do with Scott Fitzgerald's story." Although the plot and the relationships of the major characters were "pretty true", it lacked Fitzgerald's bite in depiction of wealth and drained the irony from the story. Ewald wrote that the television adaptation was "not bad in its own way -- it had a swift, logical plot, the sets had the sumptuous smell of Long Island in the 1920s, and Robert Ryan and Jeanne Crain ... turned in jobs that suited the script." [4] One headline for Ewald's review proclaimed: "TV 'Gatsby' Fraud, Not Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'". [5] Another said: "Great Gatsby' Neither 'Great' Nor 'Gatsby'". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Great Gatsby</i> 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Gatsby</span> Character in the novel The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is the titular fictional character of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is an enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion on Long Island where he often hosts extravagant parties and who allegedly gained his fortune by illicit bootlegging during prohibition in the United States. Fitzgerald based many details about the fictional character on Max Gerlach, a mysterious neighbor and World War I veteran whom the author met in New York City during the raucous Jazz Age. Like Gatsby, Gerlach threw lavish parties, never wore the same shirt twice, used the phrase "old sport", claimed to be educated at Oxford University, and fostered myths about himself, including that he was a relation of the German Kaiser.

<i>The Great Gatsby</i> (1974 film) 1974 film directed by Jack Clayton

The Great Gatsby is a 1974 American historical romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was directed by Jack Clayton, produced by David Merrick, and written by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Bruce Dern, and Karen Black. The plot concerns the interactions of writer Nick Carraway with enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby (Redford) and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan (Farrow), amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age on Long Island near New York City.

<i>The Great Gatsby</i> (1926 film) 1926 film directed by Herbert Brenon

The Great Gatsby is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Herbert Brenon. It was the first film adaptation of the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Warner Baxter portrayed Jay Gatsby and Lois Wilson portrayed Daisy Buchanan. The film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The Great Gatsby is now considered lost. A vintage movie trailer displaying short clips of the film still exists.

<i>The Great Gatsby</i> (1949 film) 1950 film directed by Elliott Nugent

The Great Gatsby is a 1949 American historical romance drama film directed by Elliott Nugent, and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. The film stars Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, and Barry Sullivan, and features Shelley Winters and Howard Da Silva, the latter of whom later returned in the 1974 version. It is based on the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set during the raucous Jazz Age on Long Island near New York City, the plot follows the exploits of enigmatic millionaire and bootlegger Jay Gatsby who attempts to win back the affections of his former lover Daisy Buchanan with the aid of her second cousin Nick Carraway.

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The Great Gatsby is a 2000 British-American historical romantic drama television film, based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was directed by Robert Markowitz, written by John J. McLaughlin, and stars Toby Stephens in the title role of Jay Gatsby, Mira Sorvino as Daisy Buchanan, Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway, Martin Donovan as Tom Buchanan, Francie Swift as Jordan Baker, Heather Goldenhersh as Myrtle Wilson, and Matt Malloy as Klipspringer. The film aired on March 29, 2000 in the United Kingdom on BBC, and on January 14, 2001 in the United States on A&E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daisy Buchanan</span> Character in The Great Gatsby

Daisy Fay Buchanan is a fictional character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is a wealthy socialite from Louisville, Kentucky who resides in the fashionable town of East Egg on Long Island during the Jazz Age. She is narrator Nick Carraway's second cousin, once removed, and the wife of polo player Tom Buchanan, with whom she has a daughter. Before marrying Tom, Daisy had a romantic relationship with Jay Gatsby. Her choice between Gatsby and Tom is one of the novel's central conflicts. She was described by Fitzgerald as a "golden girl".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Carraway</span> Fictional character in the novel The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway is a fictional character and narrator in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is a Yale University alumnus from the American Midwest, a World War I veteran, and a newly arrived resident of West Egg on Long Island, near New York City. He is a bond salesman and the neighbor of enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby. He facilitates a sexual affair between Gatsby and his second cousin, once removed, Daisy Buchanan which becomes one of the novel's central conflicts. Carraway is easy-going and optimistic, although this latter quality fades as the novel progresses. After witnessing the callous indifference and hedonism of the idle rich during the riotous Jazz Age, he ultimately chooses to leave the eastern United States forever and returns to the Midwest.

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The Great Gatsby is a 2013 American historical romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars an ensemble cast consisting of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Amitabh Bachchan, and Elizabeth Debicki. Filming took place from September to December 2011 in Australia, with a $105 million net production budget. The film follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby (DiCaprio) and his neighbor Nick Carraway (Maguire) who recounts his interactions with Gatsby amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age on Long Island in New York.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Playhouse 90: The Great Gatsby". The Paley Center. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  3. Martin, Douglas (October 2, 2007). "Martin Manulis, TV Pioneer, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
  4. 1 2 William Ewald (June 27, 1958). "'Great Gatsby' Neither 'Great' Nor 'Gatsby'". The Latrobe Bulletin. UPI. p. 8 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "TV 'Gatsby' Fraud, Not Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'". Brownwood Bulletin. June 27, 1958. p. 2 via Newspapers.com.