Eloise (Playhouse 90)

"**Eloise**"
"Eloise"
Playhouse 90 episode
	Evelyn Rudie as Eloise
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 8
Directed by	John Frankenheimer
Written by	Leonard Spigelgass
Original air date	November 22, 1956
Guest appearances
	Evelyn Rudie as Eloise; Ethel Barrymore as herself; Louis Jourdan as himself; Kay Thompson as herself;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Heritage of Anger"	Next →; "Confession"

"Eloise" was an American television play broadcast on November 22, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the eighth episode of the series.

Plot

Eloise is a lonesome six-year-old girl who lives with her nanny at the Plaza Hotel.

Cast

The cast included performances by:^[1]^[2]

Evelyn Rudie as Eloise
Ethel Barrymore as herself
Louis Jourdan as himself
Kay Thompson as herself
Hans Conried as Rene the French Waiter
Charlie Ruggles as Murphy
Mildred Natwick as Nanny
Jack Mullaney as Eloise's Tutor
Conrad Hilton as himself
Maxie Rosenbloom as himself
Monty Woolley as himself
William Roerick as Manager of the Plaza
Inger Stevens as Joanna
Bartlett Robinson as Eloise's Lawyer

June Lockhart hosted the broadcast.

Production

The play was based on Kay Thompson's children's book Eloise. The book was released in June 1955. Leonard Spigelgass wrote the teleplay based on Thompson's book. John Frankenheimer was the director and Martin Manulis the producer. The play was staged at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

Reception

In The New York Times, Jack Gould panned the production "totally preposterous television", "sophomoric chaos", "a ludicrous hodgepodge", "agony", "childish" (as opposed to "childlike"), "idiotic and contrived, wholly farcical without being funny."^[3]

In the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, John Lester credited Rudie with a "technically remarkable" performance given her age, but opined that the selection of the material "indicates a weakness of basic judgment that could -- and probably will -- result in other offerings, equally superficial and nonsensical."^[4]

References

^ Charles Mercer (November 15, 1956). "'Eloise' Is Being Born in Television's 'Playhouse 90'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Kinescope of Eloise aired November 22, 1956.
^ Jack Gould (November 23, 1956). "TV Review: 'Playhouse 90' Offers Hodgepodge 'Eloise'". The New York Times. p. 55.
^ John Lester (November 26, 1956). "'Eloise' Was Thanksgiving TV Turkey". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.

[1] Charles Mercer (November 15, 1956). "'Eloise' Is Being Born in Television's 'Playhouse 90'". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 49 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Kinescope of Eloise aired November 22, 1956.

[3] Jack Gould (November 23, 1956). "TV Review: 'Playhouse 90' Offers Hodgepodge 'Eloise'". The New York Times. p. 55.

[4] John Lester (November 26, 1956). "'Eloise' Was Thanksgiving TV Turkey". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.

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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