Query: TV film

From: Nelson, Stephen <[email protected]>

To whom may have information:

I write in an attempt to learn information about a t.v. film that aired in
the mid-1950s. It was part of one of those Saturday evening series with a
different drama (maybe an hour to two hours long) each week. Maybe Hallmark
or . . . ? The plot summary is as follows.

Five (maybe six) individuals are trapped in a missile silo well below
ground due to some type of power outage or other. They are in communication
with the ground. The calculation is that there is not enough air to support
them all for the length of time it will take for them to be rescued. There
is enough air for one less than the trapped party. They have one gun. The
group decides that one of them must die. The question then is how that
decision will be put into action. They decide that they will draw slips of
paper, all but one with an image of a regular ball, the last an eight ball.
There are separate bedroom cubicles for each person. They will draw the
lots and the person with the eight ball has two choices. Kill one of the
others or commit suicide. They draw the lots, put the gun on a table in the
main room, and retreat to their separate rooms. Time passes, time of the
essence because of the air supply problem. One guy who does not have the
black chit believes he knows who does have it, someone he thinks is a
coward and is frozen, unable to act. This actor goes to the main room to
get the gun. I cannot remember how this ends, i.e., whether he follows
through to shoot the "coward" or something else happens.

I want to get a hold of this film to use in courses that I teach on
leadership, organizational behavior and culture. Any tips about its title,
where it might be located, other "experts" with whom I might correspond,
and the like would be deeply appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Stephen J. Nelson
Associate Professor
Educational Leadership
Bridgewater State College