Playing for Time
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Daniel Mann
Viveca Lindfors
Christine Baranski
Donna Haley
Elaine Bromka
Clarence Felder
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Multi-award winning dramatization based on the memoirs of Fania Fenelon, a French Jew who became a member of a women's orchestra inside Auschwitz, playing music for their Nazi captors as well as for fellow inmates marching to their deaths. The controversial casting of Vanessa Redgrave, making her American TV acting debut and winning an Emmy Award as Outstanding Actress, and the occasion for playwright Arthur Miller, who also won an Emmy for his script, to participate in a TV movie, gave this film added distinction.
It was chosen Outstanding Drama Special for the 1980-81 TV season at the Emmy Award ceremonies, and another Emmy went to Jane Alexander as Outstanding Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Alma Rose, the orchestra's cold, officious leader. Shirley Knight also received a Supporting Actress nomination for her role as the malevolent camp matron, and art director Robert Gundlach got the last of the movie's six nominations. Initially, it was to have been directed by Tony Richardson, Redgrave's former husband, but he left over "artistic differences," and was replaced by Joseph Sargent, who in turn was replaced by Daniel Mann, the director of record. Fania Fenelon herself, vociferous against Redgrave's casting, died in 1983.
Director
Daniel Mann
Cast
Viveca Lindfors
Christine Baranski
Donna Haley
Elaine Bromka
Clarence Felder
Will Lee
Shirley Knight
Marcell Rosenblatt
Lenore Harris
Marisa Berenson
Vanessa Redgrave
Anna Thompson
Mady Kaplan
Jane Alexander
Rick Washburn
Verna Bloom
Maud Adams
Robin Bartlett
Melanie Mayron
Marta Heflin
Max Wright
Faith Catlin
Martha Schlamme
Crew
Gabriel Borgo
Fania Fenelon
Brad Fiedel
Jay Freund
Norman Gold
Norman Gold
Robert Gundlach
Gary Jones
Ron Kalish
Michael Maggi
Arthur Miller
Arthur J. Ornitz
Arthur J. Ornitz
John E Quill
Louise Ramsay
Linda Yellen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Aired in United States September 30, 1980
Released in United States on Video June 26, 1988
