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"**The Big Slide**"
"The Big Slide"
Playhouse 90 episode
Episode no.	Season 1; Episode 6
Directed by	Ralph Nelson
Written by	Edmund Beloin and Dean Riesner
Original air date	November 8, 1956
Episode chronology
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"The Big Slide" was an American television play broadcast on November 8, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the sixth episode of the first season of Playhouse 90. Red Skelton and Shirley Jones starred in the play about a silent movie star. Skelton was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for best performance by an actor. Martin Manulis was the producer, and Ralph Nelson was the director.

Plot

A down-and-out vaudeville comedian, Buddy McCoy, becomes a successful silent movie star, but experiences tragedy in his personal life. May Marley is an alcoholic friend who Buddy tries to help.

Cast

Red Skelton as Buddy McCoy
Shirley Jones as May Marley
Murray Hamilton as Chick Tolliver
Eddie Firestone as Steve Madden
Jack Albertson as Al St. George
Jack Mulhall as Joe Ashley
Fay Spain as Crystal Vail
Victor Sutherland as L. K. Zimmer
Ralph Bellamy - host

Production

Martin Manulis was the producer, and Ralph Nelson directed. Edmund Beloin and Dean Riesner wrote the teleplay.^[1]

Skelton was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for best performance by an actor.^[2] The Emmy was awarded to Jack Palance for another Playhouse 90 production, Requiem for a Heavyweight.^[3]

Reception

Television writer Eve Starr called Skelton's performance "one of the most moving, powerful and completely believable dramatic performances I have seen in seven-odd years of watching television. Or any other medium, for that matter."^[4]

Another television critic, Mary Cremmen, wrote that even those who do not care for Skelton's comedy "could not deny his greatness as a dramatic actor in 'The Big Slide.'"^[5]

In The New York Times, J.P. Shanley wrote that "there was something uncomfortably familiar" in the production and "little in the way of an original story."^[6]

Critic Charles H. Sanders wrote that "the plot dragged, and even Skelton failed to liven matters up, though he emoted much better than expected."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Charles H. Sanders (November 10, 1956). "Channel Chatter". The Rock Island Argus. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The Big Slide (Playhouse 90)". Television Academy. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
^ Wesley Hyatt (2015). A Critical History of Television's The Red Skelton Show, 1951-1971. McFarland. p. 48. ISBN 9781476608754.
^ "Inside TV: Skelton Stars in TV Dramatic Role". The Statesman. November 16, 1956. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Mary Cremmen (November 9, 1956). "TV Notebook". The Boston Globe. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "TV Review: 'Big Slide' Is Offered on 'Playhouse 90'". The New York Times. November 9, 1956. p. 59.