Her suspicions challenge Christine to look into her own past, and she learns not only that she was adopted, but also that her biological mother was a ruthless serial killer.

Staged by Reginald Denham, the play opened on Broadway on December 8, 1954, at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City.

[1] The production starred Nancy Kelly (who won the 1955 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in the role of Christine Penmark), Patty McCormack (as Rhoda Penmark), Henry Jones (as Leroy), Evelyn Varden (as Monica Breedlove), Joseph Holland (as Emory Wages), Lloyd Gough (as Reginald Takser), Thomas Chalmers (as Richard Bravo), Joan Croydon as (Miss Fern), John O'Hare (as Col. Kenneth Penmark), Wells Richardson as Mr. Daigle, and Eileen Heckart (as Mrs. Daigle).

Interest in the play was strong enough that Life magazine ran an extensive story on the production a week before it opened.

[3] The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin into an Academy Award-nominated 1956 film of the same name, directed by Mervyn Leroy.