Around the World in 90 Minutes (Playhouse 90)

"**Around the World in 90 Minutes**"
"Around the World in 90 Minutes"
Playhouse 90 episodes
	Newspaper ad for the production
Episode nos.	Season 2; Episodes 6
Directed by	Byron Paul
Featured music	Arthur Fiedler
Original air date	October 17, 1957
Guest appearances
	Elizabeth Taylor; Frank Sinatra;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Playroom"	Next →; "The Mystery of Thirteen"

"Around the World in 90 Minutes" was an American television special that was broadcast on October 17, 1957, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90.

Production

The event was held at Madison Square Garden and hosted by Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Todd, and Garry Moore. Art Cohn was the producer and Byron Paul the director. Arthur Fiedler conducted the Symphony of the Air. Walter Cronkite, Jim McKay, and Bill Leonard served as reporters during the event.^[1]^[2]

The event was attended by 18,000 persons and shared live with a national television audience. The event was a celebration of the first anniversary of Mike Todd's film, Around the World in 80 Days. Todd reportedly paid nothing for the party, as CBS provided a production budget of $125,000, and numerous sponsors provided gifts and displays. When asked how much CBS had given him for the party, Todd said: "I wouldn't know. I'm an artist — I don't think in terms of money."^[3]

During the broadcast, Mike Todd's wife Elizabeth Taylor was given the responsibility to cut the first piece from a 30 by 14 foot birthday cake.^[4]

Guests appearing at the special included Frank Sinatra, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Boyer, Hubert Humphrey, Elsa Maxwell, Ginger Rogers, George Jessel, Hedda Hopper, Tony Curtis, Cedric Hardwicke, James Mason, Joe E. Lewis, Fernandel, and Janet Leigh.^[1]^[2]

Reception

The program was aired at the same time as Hallmark Hall of Fame's acclaimed presentation of The Green Pastures on the NBC network. Around the World in Ninety Minutes received a Trendex rating of 34.5, trouncing The Green Pastures which received a rating of 12.5.^[5]

Variety wrote that the event was filled with contagious disorganization, though the mishaps provided "a welcome relief from the myriad of dancers, parading extras, bagpipers, horses, elephants, horses, dancers and horses."^[6] Time magazine called it "mass gaucherie".^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90: Around the World in 90 Minutes". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^ "18,000 at Garden for Todd's Party". The New York Times. October 18, 1957. p. 18.
^ "Mike's Party Is Big, Dull". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. October 18, 1957. p. 14.
^ ^a ^b "Television: Review". Time. October 28, 1957.
^ Variety, October 18, 1957.

[CTVA-1] "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 24, 2021.

[Paley-2] "Playhouse 90: Around the World in 90 Minutes". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

[NYT-3] "18,000 at Garden for Todd's Party". The New York Times. October 18, 1957. p. 18.

[4] "Mike's Party Is Big, Dull". The Daily Times. Davenport, Iowa. October 18, 1957. p. 14.

[Time-5] "Television: Review". Time. October 28, 1957.

[6] Variety, October 18, 1957.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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