The Tunnel (Playhouse 90)

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"The Tunnel"

Playhouse 90 episode

Episode no.

Season 4
Episode 6

Directed by

Delbert Mann

Written by

David Shaw

Featured music

Jerry Goldsmith

Original air date

December 10, 1959

Running time

83 minutes

Episode chronology

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"The Grey Nurse Said Nothing"

Next →
"The Silver Whistle"

"The Tunnel" was a pre-recorded American television play first broadcast on December 10, 1959, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the sixth episode of the fourth season of Playhouse 90 and the 123rd episode overall.

Plot

The play is set in the Civil War and depicts the plan by a Union officer (Henry Pleasants) to end a stalemate by digging a tunnel under Confederate forces and then exploding the enemy with dynamite. The story was based on the Battle of the Crater that occurred in July 1864 near Petersburg, Virginia.^[1]

Production

Fred Coe was the producer. Delbert Mann was the director, and David Shaw wrote the teleplay. Eddie Albert, the star of the next production, "The Silver Whistle", hosted the broadcast.^[2]

The cast included Richard Boone as Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants, Rip Torn as Lt. Jacob Douty, Onslow Stevens as Gen. Ambrose Burnside, Jack Weston as Wocziki, Ken Lynch as Sgt. Reese, Robert Carson as Major Gen. George Meade, Sandy Kenyon as Martinson, and Bartlett Robinson as Captain Handley.^[2]

Reception

The climactic scenes of the crater formed by exclusion, with wounded and maimed soldiers dead, dying, and screaming, was described by Associated Press writer Cynthia Lowry as "a grisly editorial against human slaughter."^[3] The UPI described these scenes as "television triumphs."^[4]

In The New York Times, Richard F. Shepard found the production to be realistic with impressive staging of busy and loud battle scenes.^[5]

References

^ "Boone Will Star in 'The Tunnel'". The St. Louis Globe-Democrat. December 10, 1959 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90: The Tunnel". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
^ "Television-Radio News". Wausau Daily Herald (AP story). December 11, 1959. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Television in Review: Technical TV Triumphs In 'The Tunnel'". Pottsville Republican (UPI story). December 11, 1959. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Richard F. Shepard (December 11, 1959). "'Playhouse 90' Offers Civil War Story". The New York Times. p. 67.

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

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