Actually, these were almost certainly shot on Kodachrome color transparency film as that was the only color film magazines used then. And, Kodachrome film simply doesn't fade. Ektachrome was pretty new then and it might have been used because it was a faster film. But, Ektachrome shifts to the red over time and there is no evidence of that on these slides. The picture of the test pattern is still very balanced.

Because some of the pictures show decent color and some don't, my guess is it was either an issue with the receiver or the exposure setting for the film.

Ralph Morse is credited for these photos, and he was probably Life's best staff photographer at the time. Here is a wikipedia link about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Morse