Turn Left at Mount Everest (Playhouse 90)

"**Turn Left at Mount Everest**"
"Turn Left at Mount Everest"
Playhouse 90 episode
Episode no.	Season 2; Episode 29
Written by	Del Reisman (adaptation), Lowell Barrington (stage play)
Original air date	April 3, 1958
Guest appearances
	Peter Lorre as Tenzing; Fess Parker as Pvt. Linus Powell; Patricia Cutts as Sally Gates;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Right Hand Man"	Next →; "The Dungeon"

"Turn Left at Mount Everest" was an American television play broadcast on April 3, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. Del Reisman wrote the teleplay, as an adaptation of a stage play by Lowell Barrington. Peter Lorre and Fess Parker starred.^[1]

Plot

A comedy in which Private Linus Powell (Fess Parker) stows away on a B-17 flying from China across the Himalayas at the end of World War II to reunite with his British girlfriend in Calcutta. While Powell sleeps, the crew bails out in a monsoon, and Powell is left behind with a half-loaded Asian man played by Peter Lorre, who tries to guide Powell over the Himalayas.^[2]

Reception

Television critic William Ewald described it as "a pretty peculiar stab" at light comedy. While he found some scenes that "almost made it", he concluded that the production "as a whole ... didn't have it. Its situation and characters were only mildly amusing and its dialogue lacked sustained spark."^[3]

Critic Hope Strong wrote that the production aspired to be "deliciously droll" but ended up with "drizzly drivel."^[4]

Another critic, Fred Remington, was amused by the production, writing that Fess Parker "just plays himself, and a very agreeable, entertaining self it is."^[5]

Cast

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

Peter Lorre - Tenzing
Fess Parker - Pvt. Linus Powell
Patricia Cutts - Sally Gates
Paul Ford - Colonel
Arnold Stang - Allencamp

References

^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
^ "TV Key Previews". The Sacramento Bee. April 3, 1958. p. D9 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "'Turn Left at Everest' Just Didn't Have it". The Press Democrat. April 4, 1958. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "A Citizen Views TV". The Lima Citizen. April 6, 1958. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fred Remington (April 4, 1958). "Fess Parker Provides Bright Comedy In Playhouse 90". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.

[CTVA-1] "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 26, 2021.

[2] "TV Key Previews". The Sacramento Bee. April 3, 1958. p. D9 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] "'Turn Left at Everest' Just Didn't Have it". The Press Democrat. April 4, 1958. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] "A Citizen Views TV". The Lima Citizen. April 6, 1958. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Fred Remington (April 4, 1958). "Fess Parker Provides Bright Comedy In Playhouse 90". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 27 – 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