(TV Series)

(1958)

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10/10
Art imitating life? Not quite...
planktonrules11 February 2024
Chris Shade is a very bitter man who seems like he's losing his marbles. He's very tense and bitter...and it seems to be destroying his life. Why is he so upset? Well, Shade used to be a child star and as an adult he seems to get nothing but negative reviews. In his latest play, the theater critic who reviewed it said the show was wonderful...except for Shade! What's next for this angry and possibly psychotic man? Well, it sure ain't good!!!

This is a very good episode...one that has a few clever twists. I won't say more about it...because it might expose these twists. Suffice to say, I really enjoyed this one.

It is funny that Jackie Cooper accepted this role as Chris Shade, as Cooper was a HUGELY successful child actor...though in reality he was able to eventually make a good transition to adult roles.

By the way, about 18 minutes into the show, there are two psychiatrists with Chris Shade. One looks almost exactly like Sigmund Freud about age 40. I assume this must have been intentional.
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A wonderful drama
searchanddestroy-11 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I recommend this TV episode to any one. It could have been made for the big screen, with a larger budget and for a proper running time.

Jackie Cooper plays here a former child actor - who he was in actual life, as every one knows - who, in his adult life, can't get rid of his juvenile characters. He suffers the hell that no one may consider his real talent. The audiences laugh at him because of this awful situation. During a violent argue about this with a friend, he kills him with a gun. So he is arrested, placed in custody and jailed.

That's here the story becomes really interesting. Cooper argues about the fact that he is insane, so that he can be considered not guilty of what he is accused of. He meets a psychiatrist, who decides to study his case, finding if, yes or not, Cooper is sane. If he is actually aware of the severity of what he did.

A powerful performance from Cooper, who deserved an Emmy Award for this delightful piece of work.

Watch out for the twist ending. We could have found it in Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode;

Worth watching.
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