"Friday the 13th" is a 1954 American television play by Sumner Locke Elliott. It originally aired as an episode of The Philco Television Playhouse produced by Fred Coe and directed by Arthur Penn.[1]
| "Friday the 13th" | |
|---|---|
| The Philco Television Playhouse episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | Arthur Penn |
| Written by | Sumner Locke Elliott |
| Original air date | June 27, 1954 |
| Running time | 60 mins |
Elliott originally wrote the script for television but then adapted it for radio and sent it back to Harry Dearthin Australia. He arranged a broadcast of the play on Australian radio in 1955 as an episode of Harry Dearth's Playhouse starring Gordon Glenwright and Charles Tingwell.[2]
The script was filmed again for television for NBC Matinee Theater in 1956.
Premise
editAccording to a description of the radio adaptation it is "The tense and dramatic story of three women involved in a car accident-a skillful combination of suspense and human interest-it is, in fact, an omnibus play for it tells three stories in one."[3]
A longer description was provided by ABC Weekly which said "When the car containing Trilby Harris, Barbara Mack and Elaine Prescott skids off a wet road, crashes through a fence and careers over a cliff edge, one of the occupants is killed. But the husbands of the three women are not told which one. As they wait at the cliff top a single question drums in the mind of each man: “Was it my wife?”"[2]
References
edit- ^ "Friday the 13th on Playhouse". The Times-Mail. 26 June 1954. p. 10.
- ^ a b "Commercial", ABC Weekly, vol. 17, no. 6, Sydney: ABC, 5 February 1955, nla.obj-1698497561, retrieved 20 November 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "WEDNESDAY, FEB. 9". The Sunday Times. No. 2931. Western Australia. 6 February 1955. p. 19. Retrieved 20 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.