The Tenth Level (1976)

Interesting facts

The Tenth Level is a 1976 American made-for-television drama film movie, inspired by the Milgram experiment and starring William Shatner. It presents a social psychology professor's study to determine why people, such as the Nazis, were willing to "just follow orders" and do horrible things to others. Professor Stephen Turner leads students to believe that they are applying increasingly painful electric shocks to other subjects when they fail to perform a task correctly, and is alarmed to see how much pain the students can be convinced to inflict "in the name of science".

Production

According to writer George Bellack, when he first presented the idea of The Tenth Level to a group of TV executives, many were outraged by the idea. The president of ABC called it "godless" but it was ultimately shown in prime time on Playhouse 90. Although scheduled for showing in the Christmas season of 1975, the drama did not air until August 26, 1976, because it took that long to assemble a critical mass of sponsors.

Shatner gave up his divorce rights to see his children on Christmas Day to film the program.

Milgram was paid $5,000 as a consultant on the film. He had very little input in the film. He felt the movie was dull, with the "genuine drama underlying the obedience problem getting lost in the welter of video cliches".

The Tenth Level was shot directly on videotape at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and on location at Yale University where the original Milgram experiments had taken place, and presented as a teleplay reminiscent of the "Golden Age of Television".

The film has never been released on video or DVD.

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