PLAYHOUSE 90: A SOUND OF DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

Essay written by Robert E. Tevis and Martin Grams, Jr. 

Henry David Thoreau wrote that: “If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away.”

 

Writer Robert Alan Aurthur applied that concept to a 90-minute teleplay he wrote entitled “A Sound of Different Drummers,” which aired on the evening of October 3, 1957 on the weekly CBS anthology series, Playhouse 90. The title seemed appropriate as it told the story of a man, Gordon Miller, who loses step with his compatriots when he hears the music of the world he has been persecuting and learns of the error of his ways. The concept may also apply in this case to the writer, however, who may have also been waylaid by what he saw or heard “however measured, or far away.”

 

In the teleplay, Gordon Miller (played by Sterling Hayden) lives in a totalitarian future world in which society controls all messages, and where it is forbidden to possess or read books – under the penalty of death. Miller is an enforcer who is tasked with suppressing the illegal intellectual activity. He is a member of a corps of stormtrooper-like “book men” who use electronic devices to find books, execute “readers,” and confiscate their books for eventual destruction. Miller takes the confiscated books to the “library,” where the books are destroyed. He is smitten when he meets the new librarian, Susan Ward (played by Diana Lynn). He becomes conflicted when he sees her save a book. Will he turn her in or will he hear the sounds of her different drum and follow a new path?

Original and memorable teleplays made Playhouse 90 the most respected anthology series during the “Golden Age of Television.” The series would deservedly dominate the majority of television awards (both wins and nominations) and leave behind a legacy that has never been forgotten. For four television seasons, the curtain rose for Playhouse 90 every week with a different production. The goal, which it regularly achieved, was to establish prestige for the network and develop a following among both critics and the everyman who met to discuss the most recent presentation at the watercooler at work. Some of the original Playhouse 90 productions would later go on to become established stage plays and motion pictures including The Miracle Worker, Days of Wine and Roses, Requiem for a Heavyweight and Judgement at Nuremberg.

 

But was Aurthur’s teleplay original, or was he influenced by the sounds of another drummer?

 

Four years prior to Aurthur’s production, Ray Bradbury had written a novel, Fahrenheit 451, which told the story of a nightmare future in which “firemen” were issued orders by the government to seek out books and burn them. The title derived from the temperature at which books burn. Aurthur insisted that his story for Playhouse 90 was original. But Ray Bradbury was not convinced and filed a lawsuit against CBS.

 

Columnist Hal Humphrey of The Los Angeles Mirror News was among the first to break the news – weeks after the initial telecast: “Author Ray Bradbury doesn’t believe TV writer Robert Alan Aurthur when he says he never read Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury has turned the matter over to his attorneys, who will decide if Aurthur borrowed too liberally from Fahrenheit 451 when writing ‘A Sound of Different Drummers’ which was produced on the CBS Playhouse 90 drama series recently. Bradbury says his agents were approached by Aurthur in the spring of 1955 and that he wanted to negotiate for a telecast of Fahrenheit 451 for The Philco-Goodyear Playhouse, for which Aurthur was then story editor.”

Aurthur went on the defensive by speaking to columnist Hal Humphrey, whose syndicated column ran in numerous papers across the country. “I never read Mr. Bradbury’s book,” Aurthur claimed, “but I understand that there were some similarities with my story. For example, in both, reading was against the law. But that is like saying that no two Western stories with a dishonest sheriff should be written.”

Indeed, in April of 1955, Bernard Wolfe, who wrote a few teleplays for The Philco Television Playhouse, approached Robert Alan Aurthur with a proposal to write an adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 for television, believing there was material in the novel for a superb television drama. During story discussions, Aurthur insisted that there were technical problems involved which prevented the program from producing such a story. There was, therefore, no reason to secure the television rights. Producer Gordon Duff, however, read the novel and disagreed with Aurthur. As a result, Aurthur addressed a letter to Don Congdon, Bradbury’s agent, with a proposal and an offer to adapt Fahrenheit 451 for television. An exchange of communications between Duff, Aurthur, and Congdon took place in May of 1955 for potential licensing of television rights.

 

According to Aurthur, when giving testimony in court, his story arose out of an incident told him of a member of one of Hitler’s elite SS, who suddenly discovered that he was married to a non-Aryan, and was therefore confronted with the conflict between his duty to her and to that of his elite corps. Bradbury, however, offered a list of 22 claimed similarities including book burners called “firemen” in Bradbury’s novel, although, Aurthur referred to his enforcers as “book men.”

 

Ray Bradbury’s suit sought $50,000 in damages for the perceived plagiarism. The court heard from both sides and then had to decide whether there was too much similarity between the Ray Bradbury novel and the Playhouse 90 telecast. Thrown into evidence was Aurthur’s seven-page plot synopsis for Playhouse 90 titled “Plague of Darkness,” dated March 27, 1957, and the second draft of the teleplay dated September 5, 1957. 

 

On the afternoon of June 15, 1959, Federal Judge Leon R. Yankwich found that Aurthur’s play did not infringe, in whole or in part, on Bradbury’s works and that no plagiarism was shown. The case was subsequently brought for hearing before an appeals court.

 

On January 20, 1961, the appeals court reversed Judge Yankwich’s decision, holding CBS and Aurthur guilty of copyright infringement on Bradbury’s novel. CBS attorneys then petitioned for a re-hearing. On March 22, 1961, the San Francisco Court of Appeals denied CBS’ petition for a re-hearing of the January 20 ruling. After litigating through three courts to the highest tribunal, writer Ray Bradbury won his case. According to a court of law, Aurthur had indeed been unduly influenced by the Bradbury novel.

 

In early August 1961, the matter was settled for an undisclosed amount in an out of court agreement. 

NOTE: It should be noted that an out-of-court settlement is an agreement between two parties that resolves a dispute and does not include the court’s involvement, except to ratify the agreement and end the proceedings. Out-of-court settlements can have no merit of innocence or guilt, based on the written agreement, but are merely financial transactions to resolve a dispute.

 

BEFORE LYNDA CARTER: WHO’S AFRAID OF DIANA PRINCE?

Following the splashy premiere of 20th Century Fox TV’s Batman on ABC-TV, many Hollywood producers began hunting for comic book vehicles which might be converted to weekly programs. However, a degree of uncertainty was apparent at the top echelon of studios also, with some biding their time on comic books for series, and a few flatly closing the door on them, in the belief that Batman would not develop a trend. 

 

At Fox, which with Bill Dozier’s Greenway Productions initiated the most talked about show of the time, production chief William Self commissioned Dozier to commence negotiations for other comics properties such as Wonder Woman and Dick Tracy. ABC-TV quickly optioned Wonder Woman for a potential series for and a television pilot was made. To keep the budget down, however, a full 25-minute episode was not filmed. Instead, only a five-minute preview of what the series would look like was produced… with Ellie Wood Walker in the lead.

 

Walker grew up in Kentucky, attended Maysville High School, played clarinet in the MHS band and was crowned prom queen her senior year in 1953. Ironically, this would not be the last time we would see her in a tiara. After graduating, Walker left Maysville to attend Northwestern University in Chicago. She went on to leap tall dreams in a single bound and landed a career in show business as one of the June Taylor dancers.

 

In 1962, she married actor, Robert Walker, Jr., who is perhaps best remembered for his role as Charles Evans in the original Star Trek series episode, “Charlie X.”

 

Along with her work as a dancer, Walker acted in summer stock productions and would eventually land roles in films such as the cult classics, Targets and Easy Rider.

 

Meanwhile, beneath stately Wayne Manor, Batman producer William Dozier decided it was time to bring another comic book hero to the small screen. This looks like a job for… Ellie Wood Walker! And history was in the making. Even though the pilot was never televised, she won the coveted role of the world’s first Wonder Woman for the screen!

 

“At the time, I thought it was an audition, but we ended up filming immediately,” Walker recalled. “My step-father-in-law, David Selznick, promoted me, having seen me in an off-Broadway show. He was a fan and friend of William Dozier, the producer of Wonder Woman.” On a casting trivia note: the scene in which Wonder Woman admires herself in the mirror is not a mirror. A double was used for that shot: Linda Harrison, also dressed as Wonder Woman, who would soon go on to play the iconic role of Nova in Planet of the Apes (1968).

 

Filming of the five-minute TV pilot took place at Greenway Studios in 1967. Unlike the sophisticated camp of the successful Batman series, the tone of the Wonder Woman pilot was downright goofy. Despite the brief film, a 14-page story was written by Mad magazine writers Stan Hart and Larry Siegel, to ensure the proposed series would be different from other television programs. Stanley Ralph Ross then wrote a 45-page teleplay, “Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince?” Had executives at ABC-TV given a green light, this teleplay would have become a two-part adventure to serve as the premiere episodes of the weekly series.

 

A second attempt to bring Wonder Woman to television was through an animation studio, Filmation, where executives considered making an animated series based on Wonder Woman. They licensed the rights in 1968 but, sadly, the only thing to come of it was an appearance by Wonder Woman – voiced by Jane Webb – in a 1972 episode of the animated series, The Brady Kids. 

 

Proving the third time was the charm, an animated version of Wonder Woman finally made it in a regular television series as a founding member of Super Friends, in 1973, produced by Hanna-Barbera. Shannon Farnon voiced the female superhero not just in this incarnation, but all other animated renditions from this point until 1983. Farnon got her television break (uncredited) in an episode of Burke’s Law in 1965, followed by roles as a stewardess, a nurse, an island girl, and a neighbor girl on such programs as My Favorite Martian, I Dream of Jeannie, and Bonanza.  

 

A second live-action pilot, simply called Wonder Woman, was filmed in late 1973 and televised as a made-for-TV movie in March of 1974. Actress and tennis pro Cathy Lee Crosby played the title role. The movie served as a proposed pilot but executives at ABC-TV would not agree to a weekly series. The movie does contain a pop-cultural oddity in that it’s based partly on the brief five-year period of the comic book when Diana Prince temporarily lost her super powers, as well as her classic costume, and she was re-imagined as a non-super-powered, mod-dressing Emma Peel-esque adventurer. This pilot is also partly a precursor of the direction that the later TV series would eventually take during seasons two and three: Diana Prince being revamped into a James Bond-like ace operative of a top-secret spy organization.

 

A year and a half after the Cathy Lee Crosby movie aired on television, ABC-TV televised another made-for-TV movie, aptly titled The New Original Wonder Woman. While the title might appear an oxymoron, the movie lived up to the title with a new rendition… based on the original concept. After a dogfight with a Nazi plane, U.S. Air Force Steve Trevor crash lands on an uncharted island in the Bermuda Triangle. Paradise Island is inhabited only by women, and their existence has been kept a secret for thousands of years. Learning of the Nazi threat to humanity, the Amazon princess, Diana, is chosen to accompany Trevor back to the United States to battle the Third Reich. Garbed in a skimpy red, white & blue costume and armed with a magic lasso that forces anyone within its grasp to tell the truth, Diana uses her powers as Wonder Woman to battle the forces of evil. Lynda Carter played the role and this time the pilot movie sold and the resulting series would ultimately bring Wonder Woman to the small screen for three consecutive seasons.

 

A Summary of HAVE GUN - WILL TRAVEL

Considered one of the best television westerns ever made, Have Gun–Will Travel stands the test of time for two major reasons: superb scripts and the casting of Richard Boone. The weekly television western ran six seasons, from 1957 to 1963, and was critically acclaimed as superior to Gunsmoke, another popular (and high-rated) western airing over CBS. The series focused on the adventures of a hired gun named Paladin, who offered his stock in trade for a hefty fee. Living a life of lavish luxury as a bon vivant after taking up permanent residency at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, Paladin would ride out when clients sent him a telegram requesting his services. With black suit and gun holster, Paladin would visit his employers and accept almost any position ranging from professional bodyguard to performing sheriff-like duties for a town desperate for law and order. Along the way, Paladin would brush alongside his conscience and side with the moral right – even if the ends meant betraying his employer and someone would be buried on boot hill. The name of the program originated from Paladin’s business card, “Have Gun, Will Travel,” which he dispensed often on the program to prospective clients.

 

The series was co-created by Herb Meadow and Sam Rolfe. The former was a radio scriptwriter of soap operas and crime thrillers; the latter a screenwriter who received an Oscar nomination for The Naked Spur (1953). Rolfe would later go on to co-create The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but that is another story for another time. Rolfe acted as story editor for the western, insisting that Paladin’s real name remain elusive, never to be given on the program. It was clear “Paladin” was an alias, and when the premiere episode for the series’ final season offered us a flashback tale that provided us with a superb origin for “Paladin,” his real name remained a mystery.

 

Paladin was played by Richard Boone, an actor who started out doing supporting roles in motion pictures and television (including Jack Webb’s Dragnet). Having played the lead of a doctor on Medic, which ran two seasons over NBC, Boone received an Emmy nomination for his performance. When western movie icon Randolph Scott (the first choice for the role) was unavailable, the producers turned to Richard Boone who, they were overjoyed to find, could ride a horse. Boone's intimidating growl, prominent nose and pock-marked visage physically distanced him from the standard fresh-faced cowboy hero in the same way that his character's cultured background distinguished him from those prairie-tutored rustics. After watching Paladin muse about Pliny and Aristotle, one television critic marveled, “Where else can you see a gunfight and absorb a classical education at the same time?”

 

Have Gun – Will Travel made Boone a television celebrity overnight. Boone’s five-year contract with the network made him a wealthy man, and a one-year extension ensured he wouldn’t have to work again for many years. It was the television series that led to other career possibilities: Boone accepted a part in John Wayne’s The Alamo (1960), and, in 1963, he launched his own repertory group for a weekly television anthology series, The Richard Boone Show. 

 

As for the Have Gun – Will Travel scripts, written by such stalwarts as Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible), Sam Peckinpah (1969’s The Wild Bunch), Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone), and Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek), quality took center stage. Roddenberry would ultimately write a total of 24 scripts for the television series and receive a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Script for the episode “Helen of Abajinian.”

 

In various episodes, Paladin went up against a crooked sheriff that could only be stopped by his murder, participated in a race across the desert on a camel, and was forced to kill a young man who needed schooling in the art of self-defense. In the series’ only two-parter, Paladin was witness to a gang of juveniles who, drunk from alcohol, committed a cold-blooded murder. Following the death, Paladin tracked down each of the killers responsible and gave them a chance to put on a pair of handcuffs and be turned over to the law. Paladin, however, believed justice was better suited with a bullet and despite his offer to turn them over to the law, he coaxed each of the boys into drawing on him instead of reaching for the chains just so he could gun them down.

 

In one episode, Paladin helps a woman doctor (played by June Lockhart) gain acceptance from a religious fanatic who convinced the community to reject the doctor because of her gender. In another, he assists with the election of a woman mayor. This progressive attitude influenced the show’s take on minorities, race and ethnics. When Paladin’s close friend, Hey Boy, asked the gunman to help his brother, who, like other Chinese, is being abused by the railroad company where he works, Paladin swung into action for no fee. The western took on the subject of anti-Semitism when Boone spoke in Hebrew and engaged in a discussion of the Torah. In another episode, Paladin witnessed the hanging of an African American who was guilty of a crime but stood up against mob injustice when the townsfolk would not grant the body to his widow.

 

To ensure the series had lavish production, many of the episodes were shot on location in northern California, New Mexico and the scenic beauty of Bend, Oregon. Despite its high ratings and being tops in the popularity polls, the program lasted a mere six seasons. Still, this was a mark of pride when you consider the fact that the series aired during a time the networks were saturated with six-guns, even prompting comedian Milton Berle to remark, “Here I am back at NBC. You know what NBC refers to, don’t you? Nothing But Cowboys.” 

 

If you have never seen Have Gun – Will Travel before, here is your chance to get acquainted.