Dialogues with Death (4 Dec. 1961)

Director:

Herschel Daugherty

Writers:

Robert Arthur (adaptation), Robert Arthur (stories)

Stars:

Boris Karloff, Norma Crane, Ed Nelson

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Boris Karloff	...	Himself / Pop Jenkins / Col. Jackson Beauregard Finchess
Norma Crane	...	Nell Le Jean ('Welcome Home')
Ed Nelson	...	Tom Ellison / Daniel Le Jean
Estelle Winwood	...	Aunt Emily Finchess ('Welcome Home')
William Schallert	...	Prof. John A. MacFarland ('Friend of the Dead')
George Kane	...	Harry Jervis ('Friend of the Dead')
Jimmy Joyce	...	The Ambulance Attendant, Burt ('Friend of the Dead')

Storyline

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 1961 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hubbell Robinson Productions, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the second story, there is mention of poison in the elderberry wine. This is the central plot device in the play "Arsenic and Old Lace", which famously starred Boris Karloff on Broadway.

User Reviews

Karloff stars in two separate stories(no. 48)

After 25 "Trio of Terror," and before 66 "The Lethal Ladies," this would be the second of three multi-story episodes,with your host Boris Karloff starring in both,as does the busy Ed Nelson,previously seen in 11 "The Fatal Impulse," 15 "The Cheaters," and 31 "A Good Imagination." In "Friend of the Dead," Karloff plays Pop Jenkins,a morgue attendant who carries on conversations with his deceased charges,in a sense providing comfort for those in the after-life.Reporter Tom Ellison(Nelson)sees a big story when a recent murder victim reveals the identity of his killer,and foolishly goes to confront the suspect,to his everlasting regret.An intriguing premise with a predictable conclusion.In "Welcome Home," Nelson plays Daniel Le Jean,a murderer on the run,who figures he can hide from the authorities at the decaying Southern plantation owned by his uncle,Colonel Jackson Beauregard Finchess(Karloff),who lives there alone with his sister Emily(Estelle Winwood).Daniel and his wife Nell(Norma Crane)also returned for another reason: the money his late father left behind.The Colonel states that Daniel's father suffered from catalepsy,installing a telephone in the family crypt in case he was buried alive.Believing that both his nephew and wife were reported dead,the Colonel also made certain to bury Daniel's coffin as well down in the vault.Another shock ending,but an improvement on the first.Pop Jenkins remains a sympathetic character,while the Colonel offers Karloff a chance to do some scenery chewing.Estelle Winwood works with Boris Karloff nearly 40 years after starring on Broadway with Bela Lugosi in 1922's "The Red Poppy."(she died in 1984 at the age of 101).While hosting all 67 episodes,Boris would appear as a featured actor in just five: 10 "The Prediction," 40 "The Premature Burial," 44 "The Last of the Sommervilles," 48 and 59 "The Incredible Doktor Markesan," the last being notable as the very last horror role the actor would essay on television.One of Ed Nelson's later villains came opposite Olivia de Havilland in the 1971 TV movie "The Screaming Woman," for which the actor himself provides his own comment on IMDb.