Coming Home is a gritty, tightly-written drama that features superb acting and directing. Even the simple, seedy-looking sets add to the drama.
Veteran actors Crahan Denton and Jeanette Nolan carry the story as two torn, lost souls whose lives are going nowhere. Denton, as Harry Beggs, is released from a long prison sentence, and yearns to return home to his wife even though has never contacted him during his 20 years in prison. Beggs stops at a bar on the way home, which is the source of his new problems.
Clearly being set-up, he loses all of his hard-earned money in the bar to a young seductive woman, played by the exceptionally good-looking Susan Silo, who is clearly working with the bartender. Stunned and despondent, Beggs returns to his tiny, run-down apartment to confess all to his wife. This long scene, with just the two of them, is filled with pathos and the two veterans carry it off beautifully. It comprises the heart of the story.
There is the classic Henry Slesar twist at the end, which is somewhat predictable and not quite up to some of Slesar's other episodes, but it still works, ending the story on a note of despair.
Overall, another Alfred Hitchcock Presents winner featuring exceptional acting, writing and directing.
Veteran actors Crahan Denton and Jeanette Nolan carry the story as two torn, lost souls whose lives are going nowhere. Denton, as Harry Beggs, is released from a long prison sentence, and yearns to return home to his wife even though has never contacted him during his 20 years in prison. Beggs stops at a bar on the way home, which is the source of his new problems.
Clearly being set-up, he loses all of his hard-earned money in the bar to a young seductive woman, played by the exceptionally good-looking Susan Silo, who is clearly working with the bartender. Stunned and despondent, Beggs returns to his tiny, run-down apartment to confess all to his wife. This long scene, with just the two of them, is filled with pathos and the two veterans carry it off beautifully. It comprises the heart of the story.
There is the classic Henry Slesar twist at the end, which is somewhat predictable and not quite up to some of Slesar's other episodes, but it still works, ending the story on a note of despair.
Overall, another Alfred Hitchcock Presents winner featuring exceptional acting, writing and directing.