No Time at All (Playhouse 90)

"**No Time at All**"
"No Time at All"
Playhouse 90 episode
	Television advertisement for "No Time At All"
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 23
Directed by	David Swift
Written by	David Swift and Charles Einstein
Original air date	February 13, 1958
Running time	90 minutes
Guest appearances
	William Lundigan as Ben Gammon; Betsy Palmer as Emmy Verdon; Jane Greer as Karen; Keenan Wynn as Marshall Keats;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Violent Heart"	Next →; "Point of No Return"

"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]

William Lundigan as Ben Gammon
Betsy Palmer as Emmy Verdon
Jane Greer as Karen
Keenan Wynn as Marshall Keats
Cliff Edwards as Webber's Manager
Harry Einstein as Mr. Laurie
Jay C. Flippen as Happy Gallant
Reginald Gardiner as Felix Allardyce
James Gleason as Dolph Grimes
Jack Haley as Stanley Leeds
Florence Halop as Mrs. Laurie
Buster Keaton as Harrison
Chico Marx as Mr. Kramer
Sylvia Sidney as Mrs. Kramer
Shepperd Strudwick as Reagan
Regis Toomey as Joe Donaldson
Frank Wilcox
Ron Hargrave
Sam Gillman
Charles Bronson

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]

References

^ ^a ^b Kinescope of "No Time at All", aired February 13, 1958.
^ "Stricken Airliner Drama Will Be On Playhouse 90". The Sacramento Bee. February 8, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "No Time at All Stark Drama of Stricken Plane". The Honolulu Advertiser. February 23, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Jack Gould (February 14, 1958). "Drab Evening Continues". The New York Times. p. 47.
^ "These TV People". Oakland Tribune. February 14, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.

[Kine-1] Kinescope of "No Time at All", aired February 13, 1958.

[2] "Stricken Airliner Drama Will Be On Playhouse 90". The Sacramento Bee. February 8, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "No Time at All Stark Drama of Stricken Plane". The Honolulu Advertiser. February 23, 1958 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] Jack Gould (February 14, 1958). "Drab Evening Continues". The New York Times. p. 47.

[5] "These TV People". Oakland Tribune. February 14, 1958 – 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"
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