Reviews & Ratings for
"Kraft Suspense Theatre" Their Own Executioners (1964)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Life: It's a wonderful choice, 21 November 2011

Author: sol from Brooklyn NY USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

***SPOILERS*** A bit shocking even now the 1964 "Kraft Suspense Theater" episode of murder and brainwashing touches a number of issues that never saw the light of day back then. Defense attorney Joe Monti, Herschel "The Bird" Bernardi, who's dying from leukemia is given the task of trying to get wife killer Martin Rosetti,Dean Stockwell, to withdraw his signed confession or else he'll end up losing his life by being strapped into the state's electric chair. What we soon find out is that Martin was brainwashed over the years by his now widowed mom Mrs. Lina Rosetti, Lilia Skala, to hate women like his wife Gladys who are loose around the edges by fooling around and drink, that's alcoholic beverages, too much.

As it soon comes out Joe back in his high school days had a hot and heavy romance with Lina while the two were in their teens and still unmarried! It's up to Joe to convince Martin that what his wife did to him, as despicable as it was, wasn't worth him taking her life and leaving his five year old son Danny, Danny Kulick,by getting himself executed an orphan. Trying to get Lina's permission to tell her son the truth about her and the affair she had with him has her throw a fit that leaves Joe understandably a bit confused. Lina won't let Joe tell Martin about her affair with him even if it ends up costing her son's life! In him realizing that what Gladys did wasn't as evil and worth taking her life as his righteous and beyond reproach mother made it out to be!

***SPOILERS*** It was a very hard thing for Joe to do after promising Lina he would keep his affair with her secret from Martin but in the end he had to do it in order to save Martin's life regardless what the truth would end up doing to him. Martin did a terrible thing in murdering Gladys but as Joe pointed out to him her "crime" wasn't any worse that what his mom committed some 30 years ago. In fact it was the guilt of what she did that got Lina to developer such a hatred of women more or less like herself that she,in brainwashing him, drove her son Martin not only to murder but even to willingly get himself executed for it. When in fact, due to the extenuating circumstances of the case, he didn't have to!

2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Appalling! ! ( * spoilers * ), 14 December 2009
Author: rfeinberg-2 from United States

A dying attorney defends a young man (a family friend) who kicked his wife to death. He wants to prove that it wasn't premeditated (as stated in the confession), that rather it's what is euphemistically called "an act of passion." This is a thoroughly appalling screenplay. There's no justification for the attorney's faith (even though his instincts are proved to be correct). He was gentle with his son, therefore he couldn't be a coldblooded wife killer? This script is like something from the Dark Ages. He keeps encouraging the killer to not give up, "I can have the charge reduced, you'll do 2 or 3 years, don't you believe that somewhere out there is another girl for you?" Yes! Put this guy back on the streets, he can find a new love, maybe Herschel Bernardi's character can give the bride away...how romantic! What a lucky girl she'll be! Just hope the Stockwell character's mommy issues don't resurface...and hope the woman never oversteps the line into what hubby considers to be trampish behavior...or is the script telling us that all women who are less than perfect mothers and who cheat on their psychopathic husbands deserve to die?

3 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Golden-Age TV, 6 January 2010

Author: gallitino from United States

A great example of the tail-end of the golden age of television. Terrific writing and acting and character development and storytelling that is more on par with feature film than TV, especially what passes for TV nowadays. If you're a fan of Roy Huggins and Alfred Hitchcock you'll love it. If you lament the demise of shows such as Route 66 and The Naked City you'll love it. If you're Catholic you'll love it. If you think we should remove "In God We Trust" from our money, if you are a man with highlights in your hair, if you think children shouldn't be allowed to pledge their allegiance to the U.S. during school, and, possibly, if you have never operated a phone with a rotary dial you'll likely not understand this film at all. In that case I suggest you change the channel to a reality show, pop some microwave popcorn, and play with your ferret.

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