Portrait of a Murderer (Playhouse 90)

"Portrait of a Murderer"

Playhouse 90 episode

Geraldine Page and Tab Hunter in "Portrait of a Murderer"

Episode no.

Season 2
Episode 25

Directed by

Arthur Penn

Written by

Leslie Stevens (adaptation), Abby Mann (story)

Produced by

Martin Manulis

Original air date

February 27, 1958

Running time

90 minutes

Guest appearances

Tab Hunter as Donald Bashor
Geraldine Page as Florry

Episode chronology

← Previous
"Point of No Return"

Next →
"The Last Clear Chance"

"Portrait of a Murderer" was an American television play broadcast on February 27, 1958, as part of the second season of the CBS television series Playhouse 90. Leslie Stevens wrote the teleplay, as an adaptation of a story by Abby Mann. Arthur Penn directed, Martin Manulis produced, and Dominick Dunne was an assistant to the producer. Tab Hunter and Geraldine Page starred. Hunter received an Emmy nomination for his performance.^[1]

Tab Hunter played the killer Donald Bashor.^[2]

Plot

A respected man, Donald Bashor, commits a robbery and is suspected of two recent murders.

Cast

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

Tab Hunter – Donald Bashor
Geraldine Page – Florry
Rudy Bond – Eddie
Elizabeth Patterson – Mrs. Finch
Frank London – Jackie
Ned Glass – Charlie
Barbara Turner – Sandra
Sid Clute – Mr. Cooney
Richard Bisutti – Bobby
Donald Foster – Psychiatrist
Joe Perry – Records Officer
Almira Sessions – Murdered Woman
Edwin Jerome – Judge
Jules Maitland – Interviewer
Joe A. Mayo – Policeman
Glenn Turnbull – Policeman
Bill Boyett – Policeman
Gary Walberg – Policemen

Production

Leslie Stevens wrote the script with the assistance of a former cell mate of Bashor's; he also wrote while listening to interviews with Bashor and reading Bashor's letters.^[3]

Director Arthur Penn called Bashor "a perfect case of split personality and he knew it. He talked of his 'bad self' and his 'good self'. He wanted to die, he wanted to kill his 'bad self'."^[3]

The production used taped interviews with Bashor.

Penn reportedly said later when he read the script "I was wishing I hadn't signed as director. It was junk. The writer wasn't to blame. He couldn't really tell the story because of all the legal barriers."^[4]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times thought "I'm not sure the play was quite up to its material" but felt noentheless it was "extremely interesting TV study and well worth your time."^[5]

Variety said it "was made bearable by the superb acting of Tab Hunter."^[6]

The AV Club says the director Arthur Penn "makes extensive use of Bashor's actual statements and a first-person camera to create a faux-documentary style that was decades ahead of its time. Penn marveled at the improvisatory aspect of Tab Hunter's performance as Bashor, citing an unplanned moment in which Hunter stops to pick up a basket of spilled laundry just after his character has committed murder. It was a textbook case of how the immediacy of live television was meant to work."^[7]

Penn said "I think it’s one of Tab’s best performances. There was a kind of improvisatory aspect to it. You live ‘in the moment’... it liberated him from this rather rigid pretty boy thing."^[8]

Ray Stark wanted to make a film version directed by Stevens with Hunter reprising his role, but it was never made.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b "Playhouse 90, Season 2". Classic TV Archive. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
^ Hayes Finishes New Play 'Midnight Sun'. Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times 07 Feb 1958: A5.
^ ^a ^b 'THE TV SCENE---: Two Shows to Do Studies in Murder' Smith, Cecil Los Angeles Times 27 Feb 1958 p A10.
^ "Viewing TV with Hal Humphrey". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 10 March 1958. p. 16.
^ THE TV SCENE---: Tape Resurrects Playhouse Epic Smith, Cecil. Los Angeles Times 21 Aug 1958: A12
^ "Playhouse 90". Variety. 5 March 1958. p. 48.
^ Bowie, Stephen (March 17, 2014). "Playhouse 90 refined live TV—and then killed it". AVClub.
^ Segaloff, Nat (2011). Arthur Penn : American director. University Press of Kentucky. p. 54.
^ Glenn Ford Voted Exhibitor Favorite: Actor Heads List First Time; Liz Taylor, Bardot Among 10 Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 24 Dec 1958: A5.

External links

Portrait of a Murderer at IMDb

v t e Films directed by Arthur Penn
Feature films	The Left Handed Gun (1958) The Miracle Worker (1962) Mickey One (1965) The Chase (1966) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Alice's Restaurant (1969) Little Big Man (1970) Visions of Eight (1973) Night Moves (1975) The Missouri Breaks (1976) Four Friends (1981) Target (1985) Dead of Winter (1987) Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)
Television	Friday the 13th (1954) The King and Mrs. Candle (1955) Invitation to a Gunfighter (1957) Portrait of a Murderer (1958) Flesh and Blood (1968) The Portrait (1993) Inside (1996)

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" "So Soon To Die" "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

This page was last edited on 5 April 2024, at 14:55

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