ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR, THE: MURDER CASE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of macabre dramas presided over by the "master of suspense," film director Alfred Hitchcock.
In this episode, at a London theater, leading lady Diana Justin and her elderly husband, "angel investor" Charles Justin, attend auditions for a new production of "The Count of Ten." Diana tries to hide her annoyance when actor Lee Griffin, her secret former lover, arrives and immediately nails the lead role of an American prizefighter, in part thanks to their convincing chemistry. Angry that she left him for an older and wealthier man, Lee privately informs Diana that she "can't get away from him," and he demonstrates his passion as he gets "carried away" rehearsing some violent scenes from the play. Despite her initial anger with him, Diana soon resumes her affair with Lee, and he "jokingly" suggests that their lives might be significantly improved by Charles' convenient demise.
The play is a success on opening night, though Diana grows jealous when she spots Lee flirting with another woman, and he angrily points out that it's "not his fault she's trapped" in a disappointing marriage. Diana then invites Lee to their country home, and Lee, noting that a divorce would be financially disadvantageous to them both, comments on the "tricky" winding roads near the house. Lee tampers with the brakes of Charles's car and later phones him from the Manhattan theater, asking him to hurry into the city to retrieve Diana, supposedly shaken from a minor accident. Lee's plan seems to have worked when Diana receives word of a car accident – but Charles turns out to be alive, having suffered only moderate injuries.
Diana realizes the extent of Charles's growing jealousy when he announces that he is shutting down the play to take her on a "second honeymoon" to Monte Carlo. She frets to Lee that there's now "no other way" for them but murder. Lee obtains a fake passport in Charles's name, and Diana is taken aback when Charles, sending her off for a few days in Paris without him, surprises her with a giant diamond ring. He listens in on the telephone as Lee assures Diana that he has come up with a plan. Lee says that he will meet her in Paris himself; when Charles boards an ocean liner to Holland, Lee will greet Charles and then take advantage of the ship's loud whistle to shoot him dead and toss him out of the porthole to a watery grave. However, upon arriving in Holland, "Charles" is annoyed to be given a "special customs check"; when he is instructed to open the trunk of his car, he finds Diana dead within it, implying that the real Charles murdered her and framed Lee as his final act of revenge. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 6, 1964 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:53
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:82957
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Actors and actresses; Infidelity; Murder
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1962-1964; NBC, 1964-1965
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Norman Lloyd … Executive Producer
- Robert Douglas … Producer
- Gordon Hessler … Associate Producer
- John Brahm … Director
- James Bridges … Writer
- William Link … Writer
- Richard Levinson … Writer
- Max Marquis … From the story by
- Alfred Hitchcock … Host
- John Cassavetes … Cast, Lee Griffin
- Gena Rowlands … Cast, Diana Justin
- Murray Matheson … Cast, Charles Justin
- Ben Wright … Cast, Tony Niles
- Brendan Dillon … Cast, Collins
- David Frankham … Cast, Peter
- John Banner … Cast, The Dutch Customs Man
- Richard Lupino … Cast, The Author
- Richard Peel … Cast, Sergeant Elliott
- Ina Victor … Cast, The Young Ingenue
- Noel Drayton … Cast, The Bar Steward
- Hedley Mattingly … Cast, Blackie