PLAYHOUSE 90: THE CRUEL DAY (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic anthology series. This play concerns the moral dilemma that a French captain faces in colonial Algeria. In Act One, the captain arrives at his new post with his wife Nicole and teenage son Michel. In response to his arrival, Algerian rebel forces bomb a house, leaving several dead. Deeply upset by the carnage, the captain feels unprepared to handle guerrilla warfare, having always operated under strict military procedures. Lt. Carvet and Sgt. Meras explain that the unit has always been harsh with the Algerians, and that he should respond to the bombing with force. At home, the captain takes out his frustrations on Nicole and Michel, who are eager to please him. Neglected, Michel tries to gain his father's approval by mastering the use of weapons. The captain returns to the military base to question a captured rebel messenger, but he is shocked to find a boy his son's age, and he chastises Lt. Carvet for using physical force on the boy. He tries to question the boy himself, until another rebel bombing destroys the local marketplace and kills more innocent people.
In Act Two, Lt. Carnet encourages the captain to torture the rebel boy in order to get information. Horrified by this notion, the captain asks the prisoner's parents to get the information from their son. But no amount of begging or threatening can force the boy to waver from his loyalty to the rebels. The captain greatly admires the young rebel -- a fact which further wounds his own neglected son -- and envies the prisoner's absolute belief in a cause. Ultimately, the captain is immobilized when confronted with a life or death decision for which there is no military protocol. In Act Three, the captain seeks advice, uncertain of whether torturing the boy in order to stop the rebels' destruction is morally acceptable. Surprisingly, the captain finds the answer in his own home and after talking to a woman who lost her family to rebel bombing. But even the captain is just one expendable player in a larger power struggle. The program ends with a scenes from the next episode of "Playhouse 90," with Richard Boone, Kim Stanley, Chill Wills, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, and Charles Bickford. Includes commercials and promos. Commercials include Julia Meade for the American Gas Association.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 24, 1960 Wednesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:28:05
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:43673
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; France - Foreign relations - Algeria
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1956-1961
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Allstate Insurance Company
- TV - Commercials - American Gas Association
- TV - Commercials - Camel cigarettes
- TV - Promos - The Revlon Revue
CREDITS
- Herbert Brodkin … Producer
- Franklin Schaffner … Director
- Reginald Rose … Writer
- Jerry Goldsmith … Music by
- Van Heflin … Cast, the Captain
- Cliff Robertson … Cast, Lt. Carvet
- Phyllis Thaxter … Cast, Nicole
- Charles Bronson … Cast, Sgt. Meras
- Nehemiah Persoff … Cast, the Algerian Father
- Raymond Massey … Cast, Father Ruquoi
- Peter Lorre … Cast, the Cafe Owner
- Miko Oscard … Cast, Michel
- Thano Rama … Cast, Yazid Boussena
- Reynolds, Adeline de Walt … Cast, the Old Woman
- Michael Pataki … Cast, the Soldier
- Joe Ruskin … Cast, the Doctor
- Bea Silvern … Cast, the Mother
- Bill Dyer … Cast, the Guard
- Arlette Clark … Cast, the Woman in the Cafe
- Charles Bickford
- Richard Boone
- Beulah Bondi
- Elizabeth Patterson
- Kim Stanley
- Chill Wills