Heart of Darkness (Playhouse 90)

"**Heart of Darkness**"
"Heart of Darkness"
Playhouse 90 episode
Episode no.	Season 3; Episode 7
Directed by	Ronald Winston
Written by	Stewart Stern
Featured music	Robert Drasnin
Original air date	November 6, 1958
Running time	1:29:07
Guest appearances
	Roddy McDowall as Charles Marlow; Eartha Kitt as The Queen; Oscar Homolka as The Doctor;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Word From a Sealed-Off Box"	Next →; "Old Man"

"Heart of Darkness" was an American television play broadcast on November 6, 1958, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the seventh episode of the third season of Playhouse 90. The play was adapted from Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness.

Plot

Charles Marlow travels from England to Africa to reunite with Mr. Kurtz, the man who raised him. The two are reunited, and Kurtz seeks to brand Marlow as one of his slaves. Kurtz later dies in Marlow's arms.

Cast

The following performers received screen credit for their performances:^[1]^[2]

Roddy McDowall as Charles Marlow
Eartha Kitt as The Queen
Oscar Homolka as The Doctor
Cathleen Nesbitt as The Crone
Richard Haydn as The Accountant
Inga Swenson as Maria
Boris Karloff as Mr. Kurtz
Willard Sage as The Chaplain
Fintan Meyler as The Woman
Rusty Lane as Griggs
Tom Palmer as The District Officer
Nora O'Mahoney as Abbey

Sterling Hayden hosted the broadcast.

Production

The play was directed by Ronald Winston and produced by Fred Coe. The teleplay was written by Stewart Stern based on the story by Joseph Conrad. Robert Tyler Lee was the art director.^[2] Robert Drasnin, who is best known for his albums in the exotica genre, composed and directed the music.^[1]

Reception

In The New York Times, John P. Shanley wrote that called it "among the more pretentious mistakes of the season." He added the actors "were involved in a numbing exercise in dramatic mumbo-jumbo that was without merit or reason."^[3]

UPI television critic William Ewald wrote that Stern had so padded and twisted Conrad's story that it might be called "Variations on a Theme by Joseph Conrad." His overall reaction was that "it was a little like watching the lecture of a talented lunatic through the bottom of two martini glasses." As for the acting, he wrote that McDowall's performance "packed fits and starts of excellence" while Kitt was, "to put it kindly, inadequate", and Karloff was just "there."^[4]

In the Oakland Tribune, Bill Fiset wrote that the teleplay "led viewers a little too far off into fantasyland."^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Kinescope of "Heart of Darkness", aired May 16, 1957.
^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90: Heart of Darkness". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
^ Shanley, John P. (November 7, 1958). "Story by Conrad". The New York Times. p. 54.
^ Ewald, William (November 7, 1958). "'Heart of Darkness' Labeled Almost Impossible TV Piece". Springfield Leader-Press. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fiset, Bill (November 7, 1958). "These TV People". Oakland Tribune. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.

[Kine-1] Kinescope of "Heart of Darkness", aired May 16, 1957.

[Paley-2] "Playhouse 90: Heart of Darkness". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved September 20, 2020.

[3] Shanley, John P. (November 7, 1958). "Story by Conrad". The New York Times. p. 54.

[4] Ewald, William (November 7, 1958). "'Heart of Darkness' Labeled Almost Impossible TV Piece". Springfield Leader-Press. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Fiset, Bill (November 7, 1958). "These TV People". Oakland Tribune. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.

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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