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Cold War Dramas: Two by Rod Serling

Forbidden Area  /  The Dark Side of the Earth

Forbidden Area
October 1, 2016 - 7:30 pm
In-person: 
Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men.

Playhouse 90: “Forbidden Area”


CBS, 10/04/1956

Live from CBS Television City, a tuxedo-clad Jack Palance introduces this premiere installment of Playhouse 90 with a proclamation befitting of the occasion, "Tonight, television takes the giant step..."  For the series debut, Rod Serling's tense teleplay launches deep into the omnipresent anxieties of the day with a tale of Soviet saboteurs penetrating the U.S. military to facilitate an atomic attack.

Digital video (from 16mm Kinescope), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production.  Produced by: Martin Manulis.  Directed by John Frankenheimer.  Based on the novel by Pat Frank; Adapted for Playhouse 90 by Rod Serling.  With: Charlton Heston, Tab Hunter, Diana Lynn, Vincent Price, Victor Jory, Charles Bickford.  Program introduced by Jack Palance.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “Forbidden Area” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

Playhouse 90: “The Dark Side of the Earth”


CBS, 09/19/1957

The Hungarian Uprising of 1956 is the setting for Rod Serling's meditation on the extreme capacities of human cruelty and courage. Airing a year after the actual revolt, the daring character study concerns a Soviet commander (Heflin) struggling with his conscience amid the brutal tyranny that is his charge and the bravery of the Hungarian Freedom Fighters that include his son.  

Digital video (from 16mm Kinescope), b/w, 90 min.  A CBS Television Network production. Produced by: Martin Manulis. Directed by Arthur Penn. Written especially for Playhouse 90 by Rod Serling. With: Van Heflin, Earl Holliman, Dean Jagger, Kim Hunter. Program introduced by Ernie Kovacs.

Presented with original commercials.  Use of “The Dark Side of the Earth” episode from Playhouse 90 courtesy of CBS Broadcasting, Inc.