The Great Gatsby (Playhouse 90)

"**The Great Gatsby**"
"The Great Gatsby"
Playhouse 90 episodes
	Robert Ryan and Jeanne Crain in The Great Gatsby
Episode nos.	Season 2; Episodes 39
Directed by	Franklin Schaffner
Written by	David Shaw (adaptation), F. Scott Fitzgerald (novel)
Original air date	June 26, 1958
Running time	1:28:27
Guest appearances
	Jeanne Crain as Daisy Buchanan; Robert Ryan as Jay Gatsby; Rod Taylor as Nick Carraway;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "A Town Has Turned to Dust"	Next →; "A Bitter Heritage"

"The Great Gatsby" is an American television play broadcast live on June 26, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. David Shaw wrote the teleplay, adapted from the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Franklin Schaffner directed. Jeanne Crain, Robert Ryan, and Rod Taylor starred, and Rod Serling was the host.

Plot

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel about a talented young man from a poor background who strives to win the unattainable rich girl. Set on Long Island, the wealthy Daisy Buchanan falls in love with Jay Gatsby, an Army captain. While Gatsby fights in the war, Daisy is pressured by her family to marry Tom Buchanan, a man of their social set. Five years pass, and Gatsby now owns a huge estate on Long Island. Daisy's cousin, Nick Carraway, rents Gatsby's gate house for the summer. Gatsby hosts lavish parties and seeks to reconnect with Daisy.^[1]^[2]

Cast

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

Robert Ryan - Jay Gatsby
Jeanne Crain - Daisy Buchanan
Virginia Grey - Myrtle Wilson
Rod Taylor - Nick Carraway
Patricia Barry - Jordan Baker
Phillip Reed - Tom Buchanan
Barry Atwater - George Wilson
Val Avery - Joe
Eugenia Paul - Lucille
Doris Lloyd - Mrs. Fay
Nelson Welch - Gordon

Rod Serling hosted the show, and Dick Joyce was the announcer.^[2]

Production

Martin Manulis was the producer, and Franklin Schaffner directed. David Shaw wrote the teleplay as an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel.^[2] The production was broadcast live on June 26, 1958, from Television City in Los Angeles.^[2]^[1] It was part of the second season of Playhouse 90, an anthology television series that was voted "the greatest television series of all time" in a 1970 poll of television editors.^[3]

The program's sponsors were Ban roll-on deodorant, Ipana toothpaste, Kleenex, Camel cigarettes, and Pillsbury.^[2]

Reception

UPI television critic William Ewald called it "a muddler". He found that it "had very little to do with Scott Fitzgerald's story." Although the plot and the relationships of the major characters were "pretty true", it lacked Fitzgerald's bite in depiction of wealth and drained the irony from the story. Ewald wrote that the television adaptation was "not bad in its own way -- it had a swift, logical plot, the sets had the sumptuous smell of Long Island in the 1920s, and Robert Ryan and Jeanne Crain ... turned in jobs that suited the script."^[4] One headline for Ewald's review proclaimed: "TV 'Gatsby' Fraud, Not Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'".^[5] Another said: "Great Gatsby' Neither 'Great' Nor 'Gatsby'".^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Playhouse 90: The Great Gatsby". The Paley Center. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ Martin, Douglas (October 2, 2007). "Martin Manulis, TV Pioneer, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b William Ewald (June 27, 1958). "'Great Gatsby' Neither 'Great' Nor 'Gatsby'". The Latrobe Bulletin. UPI. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "TV 'Gatsby' Fraud, Not Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'". Brownwood Bulletin. June 27, 1958. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.

[CTVA-1] "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 21, 2021.

[Paley-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Playhouse 90: The Great Gatsby". The Paley Center. Retrieved February 21, 2021.

[3] Martin, Douglas (October 2, 2007). "Martin Manulis, TV Pioneer, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2009.

[Ewald-4] William Ewald (June 27, 1958). "'Great Gatsby' Neither 'Great' Nor 'Gatsby'". The Latrobe Bulletin. UPI. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "TV 'Gatsby' Fraud, Not Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'". Brownwood Bulletin. June 27, 1958. p. 2 – 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