This episode of "Chrysler Theatre" is a miniature classic, an unsung near-perfect tale of great originality. Writer-director Douglas Heyes hit this baby out of the park, and I was bowled over discovering it a full 60 years after broadcast.
Casting is the key success with these television anthology series, and authentic movie stars Eleanor Parker and Jeffrey Hunter fill the bill in what starts off disarmingly as a May/December potential romance. But Heyes has planted a series of plot twists that turn initially intriguing characters into an absorbing, even irresistible melodrama.
More than keeping pace with the leads, Neville Brand gives a brilliant performance as the small-town sheriff married to Parker, who readily abuses her in public in a way that would be unbelievable today. That part of the story has become dated, but in context what happens here in heightened fashion is utterly believable given the setting of rural, early '60s America in redneck country. Heyes introduces many serious issues without being heavy-handed in his depiction of lost souls, all failures carrying resentment. Sounds a bit like MAGA America, doesn't it.
James Anderson, a favorite character actor of mine ever since I saw him co-star in Arch Oboler's sci-fi classic "Five", is perfect as Brand's deputy, and Bernie Hamilton is endearing in a key role as the cook at Eleanor's town diner. This drama packs a wallop and works very well in a one-hour TV time slot rather than a feature that would run twice its length.
Casting is the key success with these television anthology series, and authentic movie stars Eleanor Parker and Jeffrey Hunter fill the bill in what starts off disarmingly as a May/December potential romance. But Heyes has planted a series of plot twists that turn initially intriguing characters into an absorbing, even irresistible melodrama.
More than keeping pace with the leads, Neville Brand gives a brilliant performance as the small-town sheriff married to Parker, who readily abuses her in public in a way that would be unbelievable today. That part of the story has become dated, but in context what happens here in heightened fashion is utterly believable given the setting of rural, early '60s America in redneck country. Heyes introduces many serious issues without being heavy-handed in his depiction of lost souls, all failures carrying resentment. Sounds a bit like MAGA America, doesn't it.
James Anderson, a favorite character actor of mine ever since I saw him co-star in Arch Oboler's sci-fi classic "Five", is perfect as Brand's deputy, and Bernie Hamilton is endearing in a key role as the cook at Eleanor's town diner. This drama packs a wallop and works very well in a one-hour TV time slot rather than a feature that would run twice its length.
