"Heart of Darkness" was an American television play broadcast on November 6, 1958, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the seventh episode of the third season of Playhouse 90. The play was adapted from Joseph Conrad's novella, Heart of Darkness.
Plot
Charles Marlow travels from England to Africa to reunite with Mr. Kurtz, the man who raised him. The two are reunited, and Kurtz seeks to brand Marlow as one of his slaves. Kurtz later dies in Marlow's arms.
Cast
The following performers received screen credit for their performances:[1][2]
In The New York Times, John P. Shanley wrote that called it "among the more pretentious mistakes of the season." He added the actors "were involved in a numbing exercise in dramatic mumbo-jumbo that was without merit or reason."[3]
UPI television critic William Ewald wrote that Stern had so padded and twisted Conrad's story that it might be called "Variations on a Theme by Joseph Conrad." His overall reaction was that "it was a little like watching the lecture of a talented lunatic through the bottom of two martini glasses." As for the acting, he wrote that McDowall's performance "packed fits and starts of excellence" while Kitt was, "to put it kindly, inadequate", and Karloff was just "there."[4]
In the Oakland Tribune, Bill Fiset wrote that the teleplay "led viewers a little too far off into fantasyland."[5]
References
^ abKinescope of "Heart of Darkness", aired May 16, 1957.