No Time at All (Playhouse 90) explained

Series:Playhouse 90
Season:2
Episode:23
Runtime:90 minutes
Director:David Swift
Guests:
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"No Time at All" was an American television film broadcast on February 13, 1958, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the 23rd episode of the second season of Playhouse 90.

The film was based on Charles Einstein's 1957 novel and directed by David Swift. It featured a large cast that included William Lundigan, Betsy Palmer, Keenan Wynn, Sylvia Sidney, Buster Keaton, Chico Marx, Jack Haley, and Charles Bronson.

Plot

A stricken airliner disappears from radar on a flight from Miami to New York. The film follows the consequences for friends and relatives of the passengers.

Cast

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

Production

Jaime del Valle was the producer, and David Swift directed. David Swift and Charles Einstein wrote the teleplay as an adaptation of Einstein's 1957 novel, No Time at All.[1] [2] The production was presented on videotape.

The film's star, William Lundigan, was previously the host of the CBS television series, Climax!. No Time at All was Lundigan's first dramatic role in four years.[3]

Reception

In The New York Times, Jack Gould referred to the large cast as "half of Hollywood in search of a play." He panned the story as "utterly pedestrian nonsense, wildly implausible in detail and patched together with bits and pieces of second-hand emotionalism."[4]

Television critic Bill Fiset wrote that the story "was remarkably without any continuity, motivation, emotion or even common sense" and "fell with an awful thud." As for the overall production, Fiset opined that it "had all the merits of a Class D British movie."[5]

Notes and References

  1. Kinescope of "No Time at All", aired February 13, 1958.
  2. News: Stricken Airliner Drama Will Be On Playhouse 90. The Sacramento Bee. February 8, 1958. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: No Time at All Stark Drama of Stricken Plane. The Honolulu Advertiser. February 23, 1958. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Drab Evening Continues. The New York Times. Jack Gould. February 14, 1958. 47.
  5. News: These TV People. Oakland Tribune. February 14, 1958. Newspapers.com.