If the Bartels' dog were a Doberman Pinscher or a pit bull, I could see why it was named Brutus. But a spaniel? It sure didn't look like a Brutus to me. That Barney Bartel intentionally fed it the altrapeine poison didn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless he wanted to see just how effective it was. But he should have known that by his conversations with Peter Harding (Howard Duff) and the drug store guy (Stan Jones). He wasted the poor mutt for nothing.
Besides that little aside starting out, I thought this was a pretty effective and convincing episode, EXCEPT - right at the very end! Harding had to blurt out the fact that he and Lorna (Bettye Ackerman) were going away for a week or two. As Bugs Bunny would say - 'What a maroon!'. Bartel may have had his suspicions, but there's no way Harding should have been coaxed into admitting that he was having his own fling on the side with Lorna (Bettye Ackerman). As for Lorna, I can understand a woman going for an older guy, but neither Barney nor Peter looked like a catch for the lovely woman. Who in real life, the actress portraying Lorna was only three years younger than Jan Sterling, playing Barney's wife. And actress Ackerman was actually thirty eight, not twenty eight!
In any event, the twist at the end was perhaps one of the better Hitchcock finales, except of course Hitch's own epilog which diluted the effect of the unwelcome surprise for Harding. Not that you'd want to see Harding get away with anything, but the effect it leaves on the viewer is a bit of a letdown from the impact of the resolution. I wish he'd just let dead dogs lie.
Besides that little aside starting out, I thought this was a pretty effective and convincing episode, EXCEPT - right at the very end! Harding had to blurt out the fact that he and Lorna (Bettye Ackerman) were going away for a week or two. As Bugs Bunny would say - 'What a maroon!'. Bartel may have had his suspicions, but there's no way Harding should have been coaxed into admitting that he was having his own fling on the side with Lorna (Bettye Ackerman). As for Lorna, I can understand a woman going for an older guy, but neither Barney nor Peter looked like a catch for the lovely woman. Who in real life, the actress portraying Lorna was only three years younger than Jan Sterling, playing Barney's wife. And actress Ackerman was actually thirty eight, not twenty eight!
In any event, the twist at the end was perhaps one of the better Hitchcock finales, except of course Hitch's own epilog which diluted the effect of the unwelcome surprise for Harding. Not that you'd want to see Harding get away with anything, but the effect it leaves on the viewer is a bit of a letdown from the impact of the resolution. I wish he'd just let dead dogs lie.