PLAYHOUSE 90: THE INNOCENT SLEEP (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic anthology series. This drama stars Hope Lange as Alex Winter, the young bride of a very rich invalid many years her senior. Loving and cheerful, Alex has had a very positive effect on her adoring husband -- Clyde Winter -- whose illness seems more the result of depression and lack of purpose than any physical affliction. However, Winter's longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Downey, remains suspicious of the young woman's motives. One morning, the formidable Mrs. Downey introduces Alex to "Chas." Blackburn, a strange homeless man whom she regularly invites in for meals. Chas., she explains, was once tried for murdering his father with a cake knife. In the possible act of a higher justice, he was struck deaf and mute the moment the verdict of "innocent" was read at the close of his trial. He now collects knives and spends the nights in the graveyard at his father's headstone. Mrs. Downey then informs Alex that a young man who would not identify himself visited the house earlier in the morning and left a note for Alex. Mrs. Downey is skeptical when Alex denies knowing whom the man might be, and indeed she seems to deny having any sort of past at all. Alex later meets the man -- who turns out to be her former fiancé Leo West -- at the local tap room. Worried over Alex, he has deserted his Navy post to track her down. He entreats her to tell him why she suddenly dropped out of his life after her father died. Alex insists she is happy with her husband, but later finds herself torn between her feelings of duty towards her increasingly vigorous husband, and Leo. After Alex returns from an emotional meeting with Leo, she finds Clyde in her bedroom, nervously prepared to consummate their marriage. Alex loses control of her emotions and tells Clyde the truth about the death of her invalid father, about Leo, and about the crippling guilt that led her to marry Winter. In the devastating aftermath of her revelation, Alex feels herself judged by Mrs. Downey and scrutinized by Chas. Blackburn, who seems to silently mirror her soul. Includes commercials and promos.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: June 5, 1958 Thursday 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:28:15
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:43625
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Marriage
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1956-1961
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Allstate automobile insurance
- TV - Commercials - Allstate fire insurance
- TV - Commercials - Camel cigarettes
- TV - Commercials - Gas appliances (American Gas Association)
- TV - Commercials - Ipana toothpaste
- TV - Commercials - Kleenex tissues
- TV - Promos - "DuPont Show of the Month: The Member of the Wedding" (voice-over only)
- TV - Promos - "Playhouse 90: A Town Has Turned to Dust" (voice-over only)
- TV - Promos - "The Ed Sullivan Show" (voice-over only)
CREDITS
- Martin Manulis … Producer
- Peter Kortner … Associate Producer
- Franklin Schaffner … Director
- Tad Mosel … Writer
- Milton Anderson … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Supervisor
- Raymond Burr … Host
- Dick Joyce … Announcer
- Hope Lange … Cast, Alex Winter
- John Ericson … Cast, Leo West
- Buster Keaton … Cast, Chas. Blackburn
- Hope Emerson … Cast, Mrs. Downey
- Dennis King … Cast, Clyde Winter
- Peg Hillias … Cast, Mrs. Mowle