Bed of Roses (22 May 1964)

A married man finds his beautiful mistress murdered and leaves her, only to become the victim of blackmail.

Director:

Philip Leacock

Writers:

James Bridges (teleplay), Emily Neff (story)

Stars:

Alfred Hitchcock, Patrick O'Neal, Kathie Browne

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Himself - Host
Patrick O'Neal	...	George Maxwell
Kathie Browne	...	Mavis Maxwell
Torin Thatcher	...	Alva Hardwicke
George Lindsey	...	Sam Kirby
Alice Backes	...	Martha Hinchley
Alice Frost	...	Eda Faye Hardwicke
Bill Walker	...	William
Paulene Myers	...	Celeste
Robert Reiner	...	Pedro, the Bartender
Ethel Griffies	...	Lulu

Storyline

George Maxwell takes a cab for a late-night meeting with his old girlfriend, showgirl Adele Beaumont, only to discover that she is dead. The next morning her murder is front-page news. The cab driver, Sam Kirby, remembers Maxwell, because he couldn't break a $20 bill. Kirby comes to his office, and makes a blackmail demand. He tells his wife Mavis about the threat, and she tells him to set up a meeting with Kirby at the house. When she offers Kirby a molasses cookie, she pulls a pistol from the plate, and kills Kirby. George and Mavis plant Kirby's body in a new rose tree bed. Then Mavis reveals that she killed Adele. Next morning in his office, his secretary, Ms. Hinchley, asks for a raise, and for more personal attention. She has a tape recording of Maxwell's conversation with Kirby, because Mavis' father, company president Alva Hardwicke, put a bug in the office. Maxwell immediately calls his wife, and tells her to prepare the garden for another bed of roses.

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Plot Keywords:

showgirl | cookie | secretary | blackmail | tape recording | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 May 1964 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, Shamley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Sam Kirby: I like Covington better than Slidell, for fishing, but it is more expensive.
Sam Kirby: One thousand dollars a month will be enough, to start.

User Reviews

one of the best of a fine series

Patrick O'Neal stars as a newlywed husband who,leaving his sleeping wife and a stubborn garage door behind,is forced to take a taxicab to a midnight rendezvous with a former lover who intends to blackmail him.The cab driver is played by George Lindsey(from "The Andy Griffith Show"),who becomes indignant at the twenty dollar bill offered by O'Neal as payment since he doesn't have the proper change.The impatient passenger tells him to keep the change and also leaves behind a rose in the back seat.Once the cabby departs,O'Neal rings the doorbell but gets no answer.Finding the occupant apparently dozing on the couch,he tries to awaken her,only to discover her dead,so he carefully removes any trace of his presence and quietly departs.The next morning,he's reading of the murder on the newspaper's front page when he's joined by his young bride,a talkative,slightly ditsy blonde played by Kathie Browne,whose father(Torin Thatcher)commands great power in the local community(which happens to be New Orleans.)Now employed by his father-in-law,O'Neal is shaken by an unexpected visit from the cab driver,bearing the rose and ideas about blackmail.That is the terrific setup but I shall not reveal any more,wanting to mention that scriptwriter James Bridges seems to have written damn near every episode I've seen lately.He proved to be a fine director as well("Urban Cowboy" in 1980.)Patrick O'Neal was a solid actor who never quite reached the upper status (he died in 1994) while Kathie Browne was a ubiquitous presence on television during the sixties and seventies perhaps best known for her eye-catching turn as the desirable queen of a dying race on the Star Trek episode "Wink of an Eye" in 1968.At about this time,she lamented playing mostly goody-two-shoes-type characters in westerns such as BONANZA and HONDO, becoming the wife of actor Darren McGavin,later appearing as a tough police lieutenant in the very last episode of KOLCHAK:THE NIGHT STALKER.She died in 2003 at the age of 64.