Philco Television Playhouse
Torch for a Dark Journey
TV Flash files “Torch for a Dark Journey” as hour 102 of 256 in the TV Flash guide — Philco Television Playhouse (1948–1955) on NBC, season 3, episode 12, aired 1950-11-26, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E12: listed hour 102 of 256 in the Philco Television Playhouse guide, hour 12 of 56 in season 3. It aired 1950-11-26 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “I'm Still Alive” (S03E11). Next is “Wacky, the Small Boy” (S03E13).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A Czech scientist escapes from Prague with the aid of an American industrialist, who wants to hire him for his personal benefit. The scientist is followed by a former student, now a fanatic Communist, who insists that the scientist must return to his own country to work for the People's Republic. The scientist must decide whether to return or abandon his countrymen and accept personal freedom in America.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Torch for a Dark Journey sit in the Philco Television Playhouse guide?
S03E12 is listed hour 102 of 256 — hour 12 of 56 in season 3, season 3 episode 12.
When did Philco Television Playhouse S03E12 air?
Torch for a Dark Journey aired 1950-11-26 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Marty (May 24, 1953, Rod Steiger) — the teleplay that became the anthology-to-Oscar dream — then sample other surviving Coe/Mann hours.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Philco Television Playhouse is Chayefsky's kitchen-sink live plays: ordinary lives, extraordinary telecasts, Marty with Rod Steiger before the Oscar film. Watch it now as the rise of intimate realist TV drama — Fred Coe's shop, Delbert Mann, and the anthology-to-Hollywood dream in one sponsor's title.
The close-up is a butcher's loneliness, not a gown — kitchen-sink light, live cameras, ordinary lives getting extraordinary writing. NBC's *Philco Television Playhouse* (1948–1955), 256 episodes across seven seasons, Fred Coe's shop, directors like Delbert Mann, Paddy Chayefsky's *Marty* telecast May 24, 1953 with Rod Steiger. A kitchen sink as an Oscar machine. The Philco/Goodyear tandem nights made anthology drama a dual-sponsor prestige ritual. The timeline can call domestic realism mid. The silhouette was a…