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BUICK ELECTRA PLAYHOUSE: THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramatic specials. This adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's story stars Robert Ryan as Harry Walters, a writer who recalls his life as he lies dying of gangrene in a campsite near Mount Kilimanjaro. Harry is alternately cruel and kind to his wife Helen, who attends to him as they wait for a rescue party on the isolated mountaintop. In a series of flashbacks, Harry remembers his first love, a young Parisian dancer who eventually left him; his early literary successes; his first marriage, which self-destructed in a series of bitter fights and accusations; his introduction to Helen, a wealthy widow who longed for passion and excitement; his editor's attempts to get him to write more honestly about his inner feelings; his own fears that he was destroying his talent with drinking, laziness, and insecurity; and the events leading to his and Helen's desperate flight to Africa, where Harry had planned to "burn the fat off his soul." Includes commercials and promos.

Details

  • NETWORK: CBS
  • DATE: March 25, 1960 Friday 8:30 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:27:29
  • COLOR/B&W: B&W
  • CATALOG ID: T:30823
  • GENRE: Drama
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Literature - Adaptations
  • SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1959-1960
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - Buick automobiles
    • TV - Promos - "Mr. Lucky"
    • TV - Promos - "The Twilight Zone"
    • TV - Promos - "The Westinghouse Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show"

CREDITS

  • A. E. Hotchner … Executive Producer, Adapted by
  • Gordon Duff … Producer
  • Joe Scully … Associate Producer
  • John Frankenheimer … Director
  • Ernest Hemingway … Based on a short story by
  • Laurence Rosenthal … Theme Music by
  • Fred Steiner … Music by
  • Robert Ryan … Cast, Harry Walters
  • Ann Todd … Cast, Helen Walters
  • James Gregory … Cast, Jim
  • Janice Rule … Cast, Marjorie
  • Norma Crane … Cast, Rhoda
  • Mary Astor … Cast, Mrs. Leslie
  • Frank Puglia … Cast, Signore Capelli
  • Brock Peters … Cast, Molo
  • Liliane Montevecchi … Cast, "Princess"
  • Clancy Cooper … Cast, the British soldier
  • Clegg Hoyt … Cast, the Desk Sergeant
  • Albert Paulson … Cast, Albert