SCHLITZ PLAYHOUSE OF STARS: THE UNLIGHTED ROAD (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic anthology series. This production features James Dean's final television performance. Dean portrays a young drifter named Jeff who unwittingly becomes involved in racketeering and murder. After a day of hitchhiking, Jeff, a Korean War veteran, wanders into a roadside diner in a small town and immediately hits it off with the owner, Mike Deegan. When Jeff helps him repair a coffee maker, Deegan is impressed and hires him on the spot. Jeff proves to be hard worker, becomes close friends with Mike, and begins to date a young local named Ann. He confides in Ann that for the first time since the war he's found a place to call home, adding that he has serious feelings for her. However, life quickly takes a dark turn when Mike asks Jeff to run a paid errand for a regular customer named Schreiber. Though Jeff is suspicious of Schreiber and the errand -- which involves picking up envelopes from various local garage owners -- Mike assures him that Schreiber is not involved in any illegal activity. On the way back from his task, Jeff is suddenly shot at from a state trooper car. He panics and keeps driving as the trooper chases him, hits a tree, and goes off the road. He rushes back to the diner to tell Mike and Schreiber what happened and the two men go to examine the scene of the accident. They return and tell a shocked Jeff that the trooper is dead. Jeff is overwhelmed with guilt and anger when he learns the truth about Schreiber's business dealings and Mike's involvement with him. Matters come to a head when Schreiber begins to blackmail Jeff over the death of a policeman. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: May 6, 1955 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:25:38
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T85:0950
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1951-1959
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- William Self … Producer
- Justus Addiss … Director
- Walter C. Brown … Writer
- Melvyn Lenard … Music by
- James Dean … Cast, Jeff Latham
- Murvyn Vye … Cast, Mike Deegan
- Edgar Stehli … Cast, Matt Schreiber
- Pat Hardy … Cast, Ann Burnett
- Voltaire Perkins … Cast, the Captain
- Charles Wagenheim … Cast, Roy Montana