Independent distributors Olive Films have added two more titles to their September slate: Daniel Mann's
Playing for Time (1980), starring Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Alexander, and Maud Adams, and Jerry Hopper's
The Atomic City (1952), starring Gene Barry, Lydia Clarke, and Michael Moore.
The Atomic City
Nuclear physicist Frank Addison (Gene Barry, The War of the Worlds) and his wife are living every parent's worst nightmare: their son Tommy (Lee Aaker, TV's The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin) has been kidnapped. The kidnapper's ransom demands are the secrets behind the H-bomb! The desperate scramble to rescue Tommy unfolds at a rapid pace in The Atomic City… from the streets of Los Angeles to cliff dwelling of Santa Fe; the real-life locations provide the vivid backdrops for this taut and suspenseful thriller. Director Jerry Hopper (Pony Express) makes his feature film debut.
Playing for Time
Vanessa Redgrave (Julia) stars as Fania Fenelon, a Jewish cabaret singer in Paris during the Nazi invasion. Fania and thousands of other Jewish and political prisoners are sent to the Auschwitz death camp. She and a group of other classical musicians are spared from death in exchange for performing music for their captors, headed by SS camp matron Shirley Knight (The Rain People). They are also ordered to play for the thousands being herded to the gas chambers – a "humane" means of easing the condemned into the next world.
Playing for Time was adapted for television by Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman) and directed by Daniel Mann (The Rose Tattoo). The stellar cast also includes Jane Alexander (Testament), Maud Adams (Octopussy), Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon), Christine Baranski (The Good Wife), Verna Bloom (The Hired Hand), and Viveca Lindfors (Dark City). Winner of 4 Emmy Awards including Best Drama, Best Actress (Redgrave), Best Supporting Actress (Alexander), Best Teleplay (Miller), and winner of the 1981 Christopher and Peabody Awards.