A story of a well-heeled woman, whom insinuated herself into her in-laws lives to the point of distraction and alienation.
I found this television story lacking in depth and sincerity. It was like a badly thought-out episode of The Twilight Zone, in that the main character, a sophisticated, socially aware, Alice Pemberton (Joan Fontaine) was oblivious of the effects of her actions and behavior ...either to her husband, or to her family, until the end... except in this case, that didn't even happen.
Worse, none of the characters were sympathetic. They were all written as self-absorbed, self-centered and self-protective, to the point that I was ready to poison the whole cast myself ...just for their bad reactions to an otherwise well-intentioned busy-body.
John Pemberton, played by Gary Merrill, was a miscast, forgettable, vanilla-grade, albeit calculating villain with a small conscious.
After insisting that Alice stop interfering with the in-law's lives, he uttered an overly-veiled threat to kill Alice if she didn't. Later he apologized for his as-yet-to-be-revealed crime, all while allowing Alice to summarily misunderstand his meanings and dismiss them altogether.
Meanwhile Merrill's performances seemed unrehearsed and rather unconvincing.
The ending was a let-down and somewhat anti-climactic, insofar as we had already seen Alice's death hallucinations once already, during a recovery at her sister's house. Furthermore, John Pemberton's understated, if not mostly ambivalent reaction to his wife's death, added little to the suspense.
Finally, Alfred Hitchcock closed with commentary, and this just affirmed the weak ending to the story.
P.S. Joan Fontaine's flamboyant hairstyle defined her character, as much, or more than any dialogue, plot or performance.
I found this television story lacking in depth and sincerity. It was like a badly thought-out episode of The Twilight Zone, in that the main character, a sophisticated, socially aware, Alice Pemberton (Joan Fontaine) was oblivious of the effects of her actions and behavior ...either to her husband, or to her family, until the end... except in this case, that didn't even happen.
Worse, none of the characters were sympathetic. They were all written as self-absorbed, self-centered and self-protective, to the point that I was ready to poison the whole cast myself ...just for their bad reactions to an otherwise well-intentioned busy-body.
John Pemberton, played by Gary Merrill, was a miscast, forgettable, vanilla-grade, albeit calculating villain with a small conscious.
After insisting that Alice stop interfering with the in-law's lives, he uttered an overly-veiled threat to kill Alice if she didn't. Later he apologized for his as-yet-to-be-revealed crime, all while allowing Alice to summarily misunderstand his meanings and dismiss them altogether.
Meanwhile Merrill's performances seemed unrehearsed and rather unconvincing.
The ending was a let-down and somewhat anti-climactic, insofar as we had already seen Alice's death hallucinations once already, during a recovery at her sister's house. Furthermore, John Pemberton's understated, if not mostly ambivalent reaction to his wife's death, added little to the suspense.
Finally, Alfred Hitchcock closed with commentary, and this just affirmed the weak ending to the story.
P.S. Joan Fontaine's flamboyant hairstyle defined her character, as much, or more than any dialogue, plot or performance.