- The technical notes say that this television drama was in black and white. But I remember its being broadcast in color, one of the very few broadcasts in color at that time. I remember because my father was trying out, on loan, a new color television set, and we saw this broadcast as a test of the color quality of the broadcast and of the set. The quality was good for this broadcast, as I recall, but not for all broadcasts.—Wynne Johnson
- As the play begins, we see a young woman married to a much older wealthy man. They live in a large house of at least two stories. To all appearances, the marriage is happy, but the man is not in good health. He has a sudden health crisis -- a stroke or a heart attack. A physician is called. Bed rest is ordered. It is decided that the man will move into the red room (so called because it is decorated in red) so that a hired nurse can take of him. He is thought to be near death. As soon as he is installed in the red room, however, his health starts to improve. About this time, we learn that the marriage is not what it seems. His young wife and her lover are eager for the old man to die, but do not want to resort to murder. His miraculous recovery perplexes the physician. It seems that the nurse can be dismissed. In fact, he actually seems to be growing younger. Then it is discovered that whenever he leaves the red room, he starts to age and falls ill. Soon it seems likely that he can live many years more in good health provided he remains always in the red room. His wife does not like this. She researches the history of the family and the house and discovers that a charm is hidden in a wall of the red room. She finds it and has to decide whether throwing it away will be tantamount to murder.
(March 3, 2014) I would love to hear from anybody knowing how to get or see a copy of this teleplay. I vaguely remember its being broadcast in color at a time when color television was still experimental. The word "red" in the title has that special significance. Viewers with a color television set could see that the red room was indeed decorated in red.
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