Confession (Playhouse 90)

"**Confession**"
"Confession"
Playhouse 90 episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 9
Directed by	Anton M. Leader
Written by	Devery Freeman
Cinematography by	Gert Andersen
Original air date	November 29, 1956
Guest appearances
	Dennis O'Keefe as Ben Birch; June Lockhart as Amy Mathewson; Paul Stewart as Martin Hoeffer;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Eloise"	Next →; "Made in Heaven"

"Confession" is an American television play broadcast on November 29, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the ninth episode of the first season of Playhouse 90.

Plot

A reporter, Ben Birch, is assigned to write about the life a recently-deceased civic leader. He ends up uncovering a major public fraud perpetrated by the deceased man and wins the hand of the man's daughter, Amy Mathewson.^[1]^[2]

Cast

The cast of Confession included the following:^[3]

Dennis O'Keefe as Ben Birch
June Lockhart as Amy Mathewson
Paul Stewart as Martin Hoeffer
Romney Brent as Toby Mathewson
Henry Daniell as Hubbel
Ivan Triesault as Carl Kersch
Charles Watts as Emerson Fricke
John Crawford as Gunman
Chet Stratton as Bergstrom
Jason Johnson as Watchman

Robert Preston hosted the broadcast.

Production

The film was produced by Screen Gems. It was the second film that Screen Gems made for Playhouse 90 (the first being The Country Husband).^[4]

Eva Wolas was the producer and Anton M. Leader the director. Devery Freeman wrote the script.^[1]^[4] Gert Andersen was the director of photography and Henry Batista the editor.^[3]

The film was broadcast on Thursday, November 29, 1956, from 9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.^[4]

Reception

In The New York Times, Richard F. Shepard wrote that it "displayed activity enough to avoid being characterized as a familiar complete bore. But it surely was familiar."^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "'Playhouse 90' Features Story of Investigation". Post-Tribune. November 29, 1956. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Richard F. Shepard (November 30, 1956). "TV Review: 'Confession' Is Rehash of Familiar Yarn". The New York Times. p. 35.
^ ^a ^b ""Playhouse 90", Season 1". The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "O'Keefe, Lockhart On 'Playhouse 90'". The Cochocton Tribune. November 24, 1956. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.

[P90-1] "'Playhouse 90' Features Story of Investigation". Post-Tribune. November 29, 1956. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.

[NYT-2] Richard F. Shepard (November 30, 1956). "TV Review: 'Confession' Is Rehash of Familiar Yarn". The New York Times. p. 35.

[CTVA-3] ""Playhouse 90", Season 1". The Classic TV Archive. Retrieved September 23, 2020.

[OLOP-4] "O'Keefe, Lockhart On 'Playhouse 90'". The Cochocton Tribune. November 24, 1956. p. 4 – 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