AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE: CONCEALED ENEMIES, PART 3: INVESTIGATION (TV)
Summary
Continued from T88:0239. Part three of four. One in this dramatic anthology series. This docudrama deals with the actual events of the Alger Hiss spy case and examines the role played by Whittaker Chambers, the man whose accusations brought Hiss down. Set in the Cold War era, this drama also provides an incisive portrait of the times that produced the House Committee on Un-American Activities and vaulted the young Richard Nixon to national attention. After scenes from the previous episodes are shown, this part opens with both the defense and the prosecution preparing for the trial. A search for the old Hiss typewriter yields unsatisfactory results and conflicting evidence. Rosenwald, friend and counsel to Hiss, considers information regarding Chambers's homosexual past as vital to the defense, arguing that it provides a motive for his vindictive accusations. Hiss resists, fearing that his stepson Timothy, a known homosexual, will be harassed by the prosecution. Stryker, an attorney with a dramatic flair, is chosen to lead the defense. Despite Stryker's attempts to discredit Chambers, and a judge who is friendly to the defense, the trial ends with a hung jury. The strain of these proceedings begins to wear on Mrs. Hiss, whom some suspect of aiding her husband in the alleged spy ring. Continues with T88:0241.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: May 8, 1984 Tuesday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:13
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T88:0240
- GENRE: Docudrama; Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; Drama, historical; Espionage, Communism; U S House Committee on Un-American Activities
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1982-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Elstein … Executive Producer
- Lindsay Law … Executive Producer
- Peter B. Cook … Producer
- Penelope Pigott … Associate Producer
- Jeff Bleckner … Director
- Hugh Whitemore … Writer
- Jonathan Tunick … Music by
- James Spruill … Cast, Bill
- Mart Hulswit … Cast, Charles Dollard
- William Prince … Cast, John W. Davis
- Herrmann, Edward (See also: Herrmann, Ed) … Cast, Alger Hiss
- Joe Ponazecki … Cast, Leon Herald
- Charles Kimbrough … Cast, Edward McLean
- Michael Tucker … Cast, Harold Rosenwald
- John Harkins … Cast, Whittaker Chambers
- Earl Hindman … Cast, Lombardo, FBI
- Evan Bell … Cast, Sam Noisette
- Raymond Serra … Cast, J. Edgar Hoover
- Roger Curtis … Cast, Young FBI Agent
- Bill L. McDonald … Cast, Cab Driver
- Paul Bates … Cast, Mike Catlett
- Theresa Merritt … Cast, Clytie Catlett
- William E. Kennedy … Cast, Pat Catlett
- Regina Taylor … Cast, Burnetta
- Mel Winkler … Cast, Mr. Marlow
- Frank Adu … Cast, Vernon
- Peter Gerety … Cast, Edwin H. Fearon
- Maria Tucci … Cast, Priscilla Hiss
- Ralph Byers … Cast, Clyde Tolson
- Richard Dysart … Cast, Lloyd Paul Stryker
- Saul Rubinek … Cast, Harold Shapero
- Linda Peterson … Cast, Stryker's Secretary
- Walter Covell … Cast, Court Clerk
- Frederick Coffin … Cast, Thomas Murphy
- Richard Grusin … Cast, Theo Becker
- Sam Gray … Cast, Judge Samuel Kaufman
- Remak Ramsay … Cast, Dr. Carl Binger
- Leonard Zola … Cast, Jury Foreman
- Peter Riegert … Cast, Richard Nixon
- Frank Maraden … Cast, Julian Wadleigh
- Jean de Baer … Cast, Edythe Wadleigh
- Marcia Jean Kurtz … Cast, Esther Chambers
- Sloane Shelton … Cast, Psychoanalyst