ALCOA PRESENTS: ONE STEP BEYOND: THE BRIDE POSSESSED {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this anthology series hosted by John Newland, which presents dramatized case histories of supernatural phenomena. In this episode, a young couple celebrates their marriage, and the young bride, a Southern belle named Sally, dances with her husband Matt’s friends. When they leave the reception, Sally falls asleep in the car, and when she awakens, she begins behaving strangely and tells Matt, in a differently-accented voice, to drive up a certain hill. He is surprised at her familiarity with the landscape, as she is new to the area, and when she gets out to explore the hill, she suddenly does not know him. He thinks she is joking, but she quickly jumps into the car and leaves him there and he is stunned, as Sally said that she did not know how to drive. Later, Matt calls a cab and finds his car parked at a strange house, and the cabbie tells him that the young woman who lived there recently committed suicide. Hearing this, Sally frantically tells them that she did not kill herself, but was murdered. She is taken to a mental hospital, where she repeatedly protests that her name is Karen Wharton, and Dr. Slawson tells Matt that they have never seen a case like it. Sally/Karen then addresses the doctor as “Alex” and gives all the details of her life, adding that he himself knew her and once proposed to her. She says that she was murdered by Dan Stapler, a man whom she wed in secret and loved despite the fact that he only wanted her family’s money. Rattled, Dr. Slawson tells Matt that everything she is saying is accurate, but refuses to confirm any “psychic hocus-pocus.”
Sally/Karen then describes how she was murdered by Stapler when he demanded a divorce and she refused, laughing at his petulant reaction. She claims that he killed her and made it look like a suicide, and hysterically states that she can prove it. She asks to see her mother, but Dr. Slawson opts for a “drastic” measure and shows her a mirror, but she sees only her face as it once was when she was alive. She phones her mother, who is understandably shocked to receive a call from her late daughter, but when she arrives and sees a stranger she becomes upset, although confesses to the doctor that the woman seemed like Karen in some ways. Sally/Karen escapes the hospital and runs to the hill where her body was found, and when the others locate her, they find the murder weapon there as well. Dr. Slawson vows to show the evidence to the police and Matt asks about Sally’s wellbeing, but when she awakens from a doze, Sally is herself again, having no memory of having been Karen. Newland closes the program by stating that Stapler confessed when confronted with the evidence, and explains that the phenomenon of possession has been recorded many times throughout history, though without a satisfactory explanation. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: January 20, 1959 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:15429
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1959-1961
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Collier Young … Producer
- Merwin Gerard … Created by, Associate Producer
- Larry Marcus … Writer
- John Newland … Director, Host
- Harry Lubin … Music by
- Virginia Leith … Cast, Sally Conroy
- Harry Townes … Cast, Dr. Alexander Slawson
- Skip Homeier … Cast, Matt Conroy
- Ann Morrison … Cast, Mrs. Wharton
- Janet Hughes … Cast, Nurse
- John Shay … Cast, Policeman
- Frank Richards … Cast, George
- Duncan McLeod … Cast, Reception Guest