ELEVENTH HOUR, THE: WHAT DID SHE MEAN BY GOOD LUCK (TV)
Summary
One in this series of medical dramas about psychiatry as a means of treatment and as an aid in law-enforcement.
After suffering a verbal berating from her director, Marya Stone, a young theater actress, Hallie Lambert, runs offstage in a panic. Her co-star, Simon Cole, is concerned and tries to speak to her about her performance, but she is unwilling to listen to him. Hallie is concerned about her career due to a recent string of failed productions she was a part of, and fears that this is her last chance. She and Simon seem to be romantically involved, but that too is causing her distress. She visits Dr. Starke and tells him about the situation; she feels that Marya is specifically setting her up to fail and enjoys tormenting her. Dr. Starke helps Hallie recall that Marya somehow reminds her of Miss Aldrich, a teacher from her youth with whom she was very close, and reminisces about the happy memories she has of that time with her. Opening night of the play approaches and Simon speaks to Hallie in private again, meditating on loneliness. Marya catches them making out and breaks them up, once again belittling Hallie’s acting ability. She and another actress in the play, Rita, rehearse a scene together, but Hallie stumbles over her lines, clearly in distress. Rita tries to give her some advice about her relationship with Simon, but Hallie becomes so agitated that she physically assaults her. Horrified at what she’s done, she runs off again.
She consults Dr. Starke again, who helped her overcome her unfounded suspicions of conspiracy against her during her last play. However, this time she believes that Marya genuinely wishes her ill will, and that she is motivated by jealousy over her relationship with Simon. She also believes that Simon is genuinely in love with her. Later Hallie’s mother visits Dr. Starke, and expresses her outrage that Hallie refuses to speak to her. She also notes that Hallie is repeating the same pattern of behavior which led to a nervous breakdown during her last play, and asks Dr. Starke to advise her to drop out of the current play before it happens again. However, Dr. Starke notes that Hallie’s suspicions have somewhat more validity this time, and that she has made great progress. Mrs. Lambert is suspicious about Dr. Starke’s inquiries that Hallie might be a lesbian, and he notes that Hallie has shown “impulses” suggesting homosexual tendencies. He asks Mrs. Lambert about Miss Aldrich, but she claims not to know anything, and vehemently denies that Hallie is a lesbian before leaving.
Dr. Starke calls in informs Hallie of her mother’s visit, although she insists that everything is going well as they head into dress rehearsals for the play, and again insists that Simon is in love with her. The cast displays their costumes for Marya, and Hallie suffers another panic attack when Marya makes disparaging comments about her dress. She runs into her dressing room, only to find her mother waiting for her. She asks her about her sessions with Dr. Starke and wants to take Hallie out to dinner. Simon walks in on them and Hallie introduces him to her mother. He invites her out on a date and she accepts. Mrs. Lambert announces she’s leaving, and claims that visiting Hallie wasn’t worth her time, berating her for choosing to go out with “men like that.” During rehearsal, Marya tries to give Hallie more advice about her performance and about the importance of the scene. Hallie has another outburst and runs offstage again.
On opening night, Hallie is highly nervous as she prepares in her dressing room. Marya comes in to give the cast some last-minute notes, including some subtle changes to Hallie’s key scene. Hallie reacts strongly to this change and argues with Marya. Marya admits that she has been critical of Hallie’s performance for the purpose of getting her to work harder, but Hallie is still convinced that it is because Marya is jealous of her relationship with Simon. Marya doesn’t wish to argue with her and gives her the chance to play her scene unaltered for the opening night. She and the rest of the cast leave Hallie alone to compose herself. Simon speaks to her alone, shocked at Hallie’s accusations. He argues with her and tries to get her to apologize to Marya, concerned about how this will affect his performance. In a panic she calls Dr. Starke, asking him to come down to the theater.
Dr. Starke arrives and speaks with Hallie in her dressing room, trying to get her to talk about her feelings. His questions help her realize why Marya reminds her of Miss Aldrich: on one occasion Miss Aldrich slapped her in front of her class, and she realizes that Marya “terrifies” her in the same manner. However, she does not know the reason why Miss Aldrich slapped her, and she is highly confused and agitated. Dr. Starke tries to assure her that other people experience the same doubts and fears that she does, but it does little to calm Hallie. Marya enters and asks Dr. Starke if Hallie is fit to go onstage, and he leaves the decision up to her. Hallie decides to go on, and Dr. Starke advises her that she will be fine as long as she trusts herself. Dr. Starke and Dr. Graham attend the show, along with Mrs. Lambert, and watch as Hallie briefly freezes during her entrance before collecting herself and playing the scene. During Hallie’s pivotal scene with Simon is reached she seems to recoil from his touch and freezes again, but composes herself and manages to work her gaffe into the scene. After the curtain closes Marya comes onstage to confront Hallie, and she briefly hallucinates that her mother is coming backstage to attack her, but in truth Marya congratulates her on her performance, admitting that her only true jealousy was in regards to her acting talent.
The play ends and Dr. Starke, Dr. Graham, and Mrs. Lambert come backstage to congratulate Hallie. She asks to speak to Dr. Starke in private, and talks about Marya congratulating her earlier. She reveals that this incident cleared up her memory: it was not Miss Aldrich who slapped her, but it was actually her mother, who saw her giving Miss Aldrich a hug and feared that the two of them were in a relationship, then berated and slapped her. Dr. Starke notes that her “crush” on Miss Aldrich was perfectly natural, but that her family’s reaction prevented her from fully growing past it and sorting through her feelings. He notes that her feelings of being “persecuted” stem from a psychological defense mechanism against any unnatural feelings. Dr. Starke believes she has made considerable progress in overcoming her issues. Simon comes backstage to congratulate her and apologize for what he said to her before the show. She notes that she now no longer believes him when he professes his love to her, but doesn’t want to hurt his feelings so as not to ruin the show. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 13, 1963 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:53
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:78836
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical; LGBTQ+ Collection - Drama; Psychiatry
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1962-1964
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Norman Felton … Executive Producer
- Sam Rolfe … Producer
- Irving Elman … Associate Producer
- Don Medford … Director
- Harry Julian Fink … Created by
- Ellis Marcus … Writer
- Harry Sukman … Music by
- Ralph Bellamy … Cast, L. Richard Starke, M.D.
- Jack Ging … Cast, Paul Graham, Ph.D.
- Kathryn Hays … Cast, Hallie Lambert
- Beverly Garland … Cast, Marya Stone
- Paul Burke … Cast, Simon Cole
- Doris Dowling … Cast, Gerry Lambert
- Jerry Paris … Cast, Marty
- Majel Barrett … Cast, Rita
- Barry Brooks … Cast, Doug
- Cheryl Holdridge … Cast, Vicki Borne