"Keyhole" is a 1956 American television play written by

Sumner Locke Elliott Sumner Locke Elliott (17 October 191724 June 1991) was an Australian (later American) novelist and playwright. Biography Elliott was born in Sydney to the writer Sumner Locke and the journalist Henry Logan Elliott. His mother died of eclampsi ...

. It was an episode of '' Playwrights '56'' and was directed by

Fred Coe Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe (December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1979) was an American television producer and director most famous for '' The Goodyear Television Playhouse''/'' The Philco Television Playhouse'' in 1948-1955 and ''Playhouse 90'' from ...

better known as a producer. The play was more experimental than usual, using a narrator device who would address the audience. The story was based on a real 1889 British trial.

Premise

Helen Cartwright is accused of murdering her husband.

Cast

*Norman Barrs as Mr. White *

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. In a career spanning over seven decades, she won an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Directors Guil ...

as Helen Cartwright *Maureen Hurley as Ivy Rumble *John Mackwood as Ernest Parker * E.G. Marshall *John Suttong

Reception

''Variety'' called it "nothing if not a vigorous vehicle for displaying a director’s approach to staging a live show in a manner that compared favorably with the “liquid assets” of the motion, picture." The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' said "the whole thing seemed like a one set stage play."

References

External links

* {{Sumner Locke Elliott 1956 television plays Works by Sumner Locke Elliott