PLAYHOUSE 90: JOURNEY TO THE DAY (TV)

Summary

One in this dramatic anthology series. This drama chronicles a series of experimental group therapy sessions led by Dr. Gutera at an institution for the mentally ill. Dr. Gutera, a native of Brazil, appears to be marking time at the asylum while he waits to get his American citizenship and a subsequent residency in a narcotics study, and is a bit taken aback by being assigned to lead the experiment. The six patients chosen for the group include Katherine, a schizophrenic young woman with an extremely high I.Q.; Arthur, a loquacious manic-depressive actor; Martha, a schizophrenic catatonic; Mr. Cooper, a con artist committed by the court for "moral irresponsibility"; Billy, a teenager who suffers from mild paranoia and has delusions about his mother who committed him; and Helen, a middle-aged housewife who suffers from severe menopausal depression. During the course of the drama, several successive sessions are observed in which alliances and hostilities develop among the patients; the group members slowly begin to trust the doctor; and some patients start to show small signs of improvement and some, dramatic breakthroughs. Meanwhile Dr. Gutera makes his own journey of discovery: at first somewhat hostile towards and frustrated with this assigned project -- and with the subjective nature of psychiatry in general -- he eventually becomes dedicated to the group, and begins to believe that real progress can be made in curing mental illness through methods both scientific and intuitive. Includes commercials and promos.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: April 22, 1960 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:26:32
• COLOR/B&W: B&W
• CATALOG ID: T:31111
• GENRE: Drama, medical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical; Mentally handicapped persons - Drama
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1956-1961
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - "Your Gas Company" appliances
  • TV - Commercials - Allstate insurance
  • TV - Commercials - Camel cigarettes
  • TV - Promos - "Playhouse 90: The Shape of the River" (voice-over only)
  • TV - Promos - "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show" (voice-over only)
  • TV - Promos - "The Twilight Zone" (voice-over only)

CREDITS

• Fred Coe … Producer
• Robert Goldman … Associate Producer
• Russell Stoneham … Associate Producer
• John Frankenheimer … Director
• Roger O. Hirson … Writer
• John Bartlow Martin … Based on the book by
• Jerry Goldsmith … Music by
• Dick Joy … Announcer
• Mary Astor … Cast, Helen
• James Dunn … Cast, Mr. Cooper
• James Gregory … Cast, Dr. Endicott
• Steven Hill … Cast, Dr. Gutera
• Vivian Nathan … Cast, Martha
• Mike Nichols … Cast, Arthur Millman
• Janice Rule … Cast, Katherine
• David J. Stewart … Cast, Dr. Sobik
• Peter Votrian … Cast, Billy
• Helen Kleeb … Cast, the Nurse