Radio: The Biggest Playhouse

To TV's already heavy schedule of drama came a promising addition: CBS's Playhouse 90, the first hour-and-a-half drama factory in TV history. For eight months Playhouse Producer Martin (Climax!) Manulis has skirted the globe to corral top properties; he signed Keenan Wynn in Tokyo, Phyllis Kirk in London, Louis Jourdan in Paris. Of his upcoming teleplays—31 live and eight on film—most are being penned by big-time talents, e.g., H. Allen Smith, Gore Vidal. Each will cost some $100,000 to produce. Currently, four Playhouse directors are alternating assignments so that at least three complete units are in rehearsal on the big Hollywood...