Double Door

Summary

1947 BBC live studio production of Elizabeth McFadden’s Gothic melodrama Double Door.

Theatre play

Double Door by Elizabeth McFadden [more information]

Play synopsis

A Gothic melodrama set in a house on New York’s Fifth Avenue where the formidable Victoria Van Bret rules over a family. Both her timid sister Caroline and her half-brother Rip, along with the servants, are subject to Victoria’s tyranny. Enter the beautiful and innocent Anne who intends to marry Rip. But Victoria’s jealousy develops to such a point that she eventually locks Anne is an airless, soundproof family vault. There is a last-minute rescue after a great deal of suspense.

Production history

First performed at New York’s Ritz Theatre on 21 September 1933.

Date of transmission

Sunday 17 August 1947

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Joel O’Brien

Playwright

Elizabeth McFadden

Sets / Settings

James Bould

Cast

Pamela Alan	Anne Darrow
William Collins	Mr Chase
William Kemp	Dr John Sully
Ann Lancaster	Louise
Harry Lane	Lambert
Ellen Pollock	Victoria Van Bret
Guy Kingsley Poynter	Rip Van Bret
Gerald Pring	Telson
Christine Silver	Caroline Van Bret
Barbara Trevor	Avery
Stanley Van Beers	Mortimer Neff

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

America, as theme or setting; American drama; melodrama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 15 August 1947 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 31; article, pp. 29-30