The Last Clear Chance (Playhouse 90)

"**The Last Clear Chance**"
"The Last Clear Chance"
Playhouse 90 episode
	Paul Muni in "The Last Clear Chance"
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 26
Directed by	George Roy Hill
Written by	A. E. Hotchner
Original air date	March 6, 1958
Running time	90 minutes
Guest appearances
	Paul Muni as Sam Arlen; Luther Adler as D.A. Forrest Garvin; Dick York as Scott Arlen;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Portrait of a Murderer"	Next →; "The Male Animal"

"The Last Clear Chance" was an American television film broadcast on March 6, 1958, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. A courtroom drama, it features a strong performance by Paul Muni as an attorney defending his son in disbarment proceedings. Muni was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Sylvania Award for his performance.

Plot

An attorney, Scott Arlen, represents a girl, Peggy Maylin, accused of murder trial. She gives him a gun, and he decides not to turn it over to the court or the prosecutor. After winning the girl's acquittal, Arlen turns over the gun and faces disbarment. Sam Arlen is an aging lawyer who comes out of retirement to defend his son in the disbarment proceeding.

Cast

Paul Muni as Sam Arlen
Luther Adler as D.A. Forrest Garvin
Dick York as Scott Arlen
Lee Remick as Peggy Maylin
Eithne Dunne as Mrs. Matson
John Hoyt as Ross Melnichor
Carl Benton Reid as Judge

Production

George Roy Hill was the director. The script was written by A. E. Hotchner.

Paul Muni received nominations as best actor at both the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards and the 1958 Sylvania Television Awards.

Reception

In The New York Times, Jack Gould praised Paul Muni's for a "commanding" and "extremely powerful" performance. However, he found the production to be "rambling and disorganized."^[1]

United Press television critic William Ewald was effusive in his praise for Muni's performance, calling it intelligent, authoritative, excessive but "all very right", a "calisthenic grab bag," and "a performance with salt and bite that dripped with brine."^[2]

References

^ Jack Gould (March 7, 1958). "TV: Muni as Lawyer: Stars in 'Playhouse 90' Presentation of A. E. Hotchner's 'Last Clear Chance'". The New York Times. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "'Last Clear Chance' Called TV Playground For Actor Paul Muni". Appeal-Democrat. March 7, 1958.

[1] Jack Gould (March 7, 1958). "TV: Muni as Lawyer: Stars in 'Playhouse 90' Presentation of A. E. Hotchner's 'Last Clear Chance'". The New York Times. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] "'Last Clear Chance' Called TV Playground For Actor Paul Muni". Appeal-Democrat. March 7, 1958.

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v t e Playhouse 90
People	John Frankenheimer Martin Manulis Franklin J. Schaffner Rod Serling
Season 1	"Forbidden Area" "Requiem for a Heavyweight" "Sizeman and Son" "Rendezvous in Black" "The Country Husband" "The Big Slide" "Heritage of Anger" "Eloise" "Confession" "Made in Heaven" "Sincerely, Willis Wade" "The Family Nobody Wanted" "Massacre at Sand Creek" "Snowshoes: A Comedy of People and Horses" "The Ninth Day" "So Soon to Die" "The Star Wagon" "The Greer Case" "The Miracle Worker" "The Comedian" "The Coat of White" "The Blackwell Story" "Invitation to a Gunfighter" "The Last Tycoon" "The Hostess with the Mostes'" "Charley's Aunt" "Clipper Ship" "If You Know Elizabeth" "Three Men on a Horse" "Four Women in Black" "Child of Trouble" "Homeward Borne" "Helen Morgan" "Winter Dreams" "Circle of the Day" "Without Incident" "Clash by Night" "Ain't No Time for Glory" "The Fabulous Irishman"
Season 2	"The Death of Manolete" "The Dark Side of the Earth" "Topaze" "A Sound of Different Drummers" "The Playroom" "Around the World in 90 Minutes" "The Mystery of Thirteen" "The Edge of Innocence" "The Clouded Image" "The Jet Propelled Couch" "The Troublemakers" "Panic Button" "Galvanized Yankee" "The Thundering Wave" "For I Have Loved Strangers" "The Lone Woman" "Reunion" "The Last Man" "The 80 Yard Run" "Before I Die" "The Gentleman From Seventh Avenue" "The Violent Heart" "No Time at All" "Point of No Return" "Portrait of a Murderer" "The Last Clear Chance" "The Male Animal" "The Right Hand Man" "Turn Left at Mount Everest" "The Dungeon" "Verdict of Three" "Rumors of Evening" "Not the Glory" "Nightmare at Ground Zero" "Bomber's Moon" "Natchez" "The Innocent Sleep" "A Town Has Turned to Dust" "The Great Gatsby" "A Bitter Heritage"
Season 3	"The Plot to Kill Stalin" "Days of Wine and Roses" "The Time of Your Life" "The Long March" "Shadows Tremble" "Word From a Sealed-Off Box" "Heart of Darkness" "Old Man" "The Return of Ansel Gibbs" "Free Weekend" "Seven Against the Wall" "The Nutcracker" "Face of a Hero" "The Wings of the Dove" "The Blue Men" "The Velvet Alley" "A Quiet Game of Cards" "Child of Our Time" "The Second Man" "The Raider" "The Dingaling Girl" "Made in Japan" "For Whom the Bell Tolls" "A Trip to Paradise" "In Lonely Expectation" "The Day Before Atlanta" "Judgment at Nuremberg" "A Corner of the Garden" "Dark December" "Diary of a Nurse" "A Marriage of Strangers" "Out of Dust" "The Rank and File" "The Killers of Mussolini" "Project Immortality" "Dark as the Night" "The Second Happiest Day"
Season 4	"Target for Three" "The Sounds of Eden" "Misalliance" "The Hidden Image" "The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" "The Tunnel" "The Silver Whistle" "A Dream of Treason" "To the Sound of Trumpets" "The Cruel Day" "Tomorrow" "The Hiding Place" "Alas, Babylon" "Journey to the Day" "The Shape of the River" "In the Presence of Mine Enemies"
Revivals	CBS Playhouse CBS Playhouse 90