Ross Martin plays Paul Marlin, who was just acquitted for the murder of his rich wife by a jury, though doubts still remain. Paul's lawyer advises him to get out of town to avoid a relentless press, and also to take a break. Paul arrives in a new town and stays in a quaint hotel, but his past soon catches up with him when he sees a recurrent vision of an unknown assassin bearing down on him in a mirror. Paul seeks solace in a nearby bar, but still sees the killer's reflection in that mirror! It turns out that his late wife's past and his deserved fate will finally catch up and overtake him quite soon...Ross Martin is excellent, and helps the obvious plot work.
7 Reviews
Creepy and well worth seeing.
planktonrules6 March 2014
As in other episodes of "One Step Beyond", the narrator (and director) John Newland claims that this story is based on a real crime, though I certainly have my doubts! The story begins with Mr. Marlow (Ross Martin) being acquitted of his wife's murder. However, the newspapers insist that he is guilty and his lawyer suggests he takes a vacation to get away from all this negative publicity. So he ends up in a small town and checks into a charming bed and breakfast. However, soon after he settles into this place, he sees something very strange—his own murder being played out in the mirror! Of course no one else sees it and he heads to the nearest bar to drink himself into oblivion. However, after a few drinks, the SAME murderer he saw in the mirror enters the bar! Marlow is naturally shocked and bolts from the place—and the stranger soon follows. What's up with this stranger and what will Marlow do now that he KNOWS the man is his killer? This is a very tense and exciting episode. It also had some very nice acting by Martin and it was nice to see him doing a role other than his one from "The Wild, Wild West". Worth your time and very well written.
"What do you think of people who see things that aren't there?"
classicsoncall29 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I'll second that vote of the reviewer before me who felt this episode would have been right at home in The Twilight Zone. It's got a perfectly ironic twist ending that even if you saw it coming, you probably wouldn't have been prepared for the letter that series host John Newland reads at the conclusion of the story. In it, the murdered wife of Paul Marlin (Ross Martin) describes her husband as the most wonderful person ever and invites her brother (Ed Kemmer) to the States in order to meet him. Too late, in a pique of guilt ridden hostility, Paul grabs a German luger from Roger Wiley's suitcase and reenacts the scene he observed in the mirror of his rented room. Only this time it's Marlin pulling the trigger in a seriously bad case of mistaken intentions. He won't make that error again.
By the way, what does the title have to do with the story?
By the way, what does the title have to do with the story?
And justice for all
sol-kay2 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** After a long and sensational murder trial the jury hands down is verdict: Not Guilty! You would think that Paul Marlin, Ross Martin, would feel both relived and vindicated in being acquitted in the cold blooded murder of his wife Julie but for some strange and unexplained reason he isn't!
Everyone in the courtroom, but the jury, are more then certain that Marlin had beaten the rap and gotten away with murder. It's later that you start to see that even Marlin has serious doubts about his own innocence in the murder of his wife!
Needing time to chill out Marlin goes to an ocean side hotel outside of his home in San Francisco for a well needed vacation only to find out that his dead wife's brother Roger Wiley, Ed Kemmer, by seeing him in his hotel room mirror is out to get him! It's not until he goes down to the local bar to get himself juiced up that Marlin realizes what he saw in his hotel room mirror was no hallucination but a omen of things to come!
As Marlin is drinking his troubles away in stepped Roger Wiley who traveled all the way there from New Zealand looking for his dead sister's husband Paul Marlin to, in Marlin'mind, pay him back for what he did to her! What Marlin was later to find out, when it was already too late for him, was that the pay back was a lot more different then what he expected it to be!
Rushing to his hotel room Marlin finds that Wiley was already staying there! And on top off all that he sees in Wiley's luggage a German Luger! The very same gun he saw Wiley blasting away at him in the mirror just a few hours earlier!
***SPOILERS*** What was soon to happen to or by Marlin by the time the evening was over was what ultimately sent his straight to the San Quentin gas chamber! And what Marlin was gassed for wasn't for his wife's Julie's murder that he in fact got away with!
Everyone in the courtroom, but the jury, are more then certain that Marlin had beaten the rap and gotten away with murder. It's later that you start to see that even Marlin has serious doubts about his own innocence in the murder of his wife!
Needing time to chill out Marlin goes to an ocean side hotel outside of his home in San Francisco for a well needed vacation only to find out that his dead wife's brother Roger Wiley, Ed Kemmer, by seeing him in his hotel room mirror is out to get him! It's not until he goes down to the local bar to get himself juiced up that Marlin realizes what he saw in his hotel room mirror was no hallucination but a omen of things to come!
As Marlin is drinking his troubles away in stepped Roger Wiley who traveled all the way there from New Zealand looking for his dead sister's husband Paul Marlin to, in Marlin'mind, pay him back for what he did to her! What Marlin was later to find out, when it was already too late for him, was that the pay back was a lot more different then what he expected it to be!
Rushing to his hotel room Marlin finds that Wiley was already staying there! And on top off all that he sees in Wiley's luggage a German Luger! The very same gun he saw Wiley blasting away at him in the mirror just a few hours earlier!
***SPOILERS*** What was soon to happen to or by Marlin by the time the evening was over was what ultimately sent his straight to the San Quentin gas chamber! And what Marlin was gassed for wasn't for his wife's Julie's murder that he in fact got away with!
Episode most like Rod Serling's Twilight Zone
Dejael12 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
* Warning! This review may contain spoilers! *
This episode starring Ross Martin is the one episode out of this series which most resembles a typical episode of Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE in style and substance.
From the beginning to the fadeout, we almost expect to see Rod Serling narrating the story at opening and end.
Ross Martin gives a gripping, outstanding performance of a man possessed by fear, dread and anxiety, wondering if it is really true - did he really kill his wife?
The course of events unfolds in Rod Serling fashion with scenes in a bus station, on a street, and in a hotel room while he waits for his dead wife's brother (played by Ed Kemmer, SPACE PATROL's Commander Buzz Corey) to arrive from Australia to testify at a hearing about him.
The weird, eerie and bizarre vision in a mirror of someone trying to kill him finally proves to be his undoing, as he goes over the edge and into the abyss of evil.
From a dramatic point of view, this is one of the best episodes in the series, with an excellent script, acting, and direction, and realistic settings. Highly recommended viewing!
This episode starring Ross Martin is the one episode out of this series which most resembles a typical episode of Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE in style and substance.
From the beginning to the fadeout, we almost expect to see Rod Serling narrating the story at opening and end.
Ross Martin gives a gripping, outstanding performance of a man possessed by fear, dread and anxiety, wondering if it is really true - did he really kill his wife?
The course of events unfolds in Rod Serling fashion with scenes in a bus station, on a street, and in a hotel room while he waits for his dead wife's brother (played by Ed Kemmer, SPACE PATROL's Commander Buzz Corey) to arrive from Australia to testify at a hearing about him.
The weird, eerie and bizarre vision in a mirror of someone trying to kill him finally proves to be his undoing, as he goes over the edge and into the abyss of evil.
From a dramatic point of view, this is one of the best episodes in the series, with an excellent script, acting, and direction, and realistic settings. Highly recommended viewing!
Echo
Prismark1028 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Guilt seems to have taken over Ross Martin. With the help of a smart lawyer, he was found not guilty for murdering his much older and wealthier wife.
The newspapers think that Martin got away with murder.
His lawyer tells Martin to take a holiday. While staying at a guest house. Martin sees a vision in the mirror. A stranger shoots Martin dead.
A confused and frightened Martin goes to a bar and gets drunk. Later in walks the stranger and he recognises Martin.
It turns out that the stranger is his wife's brother who lived in New Zealand. He has been trying to track Martin down.
Martin believes that his brother in law might be following him to murder him. Just like he saw it done in the mirror.
An effective and creepy story. Racked with guilt, Martin tells the truth to the stranger.
Although you have to buy that Martin's wife never showed him a picture of her brother.
The newspapers think that Martin got away with murder.
His lawyer tells Martin to take a holiday. While staying at a guest house. Martin sees a vision in the mirror. A stranger shoots Martin dead.
A confused and frightened Martin goes to a bar and gets drunk. Later in walks the stranger and he recognises Martin.
It turns out that the stranger is his wife's brother who lived in New Zealand. He has been trying to track Martin down.
Martin believes that his brother in law might be following him to murder him. Just like he saw it done in the mirror.
An effective and creepy story. Racked with guilt, Martin tells the truth to the stranger.
Although you have to buy that Martin's wife never showed him a picture of her brother.
The Mirror Is Two-Faced
wes-connors4 July 2009
A sensational San Francisco murder trial comes to an end with the acquittal of Ross Martin (as Paul Marlin) for the murder of his wife. Still, citizens think Mr. Martin killed his older, wealthy wife for her money. Martin's attorney, Leslie Barrett (as Daniel Cascomb), advises his tired client to get out of town for a vacation. Martin finds trouble follows him, in the form of mysterious Ed Kemmer (as Roger Wiley), his dead wife's young brother. Martin thinks Mr. Kemmer is out to kill him, due to a vision he sees in his mirror.
It's always nice to see Martin, so good as Artemus Gordon in "The Wild Wild West" (1965-1969), in other roles; he was a versatile actor. Martin and the supporting actors play their scenes very well, from handsome Kemmer (the model for Sleeping Beauty's prince), to lawyer Barrett (who found Victoria Winters guilty of witchcraft), to craggy bartender Rusty Lane. The recycled "One Step Beyond" sets are still terrific, although the story is ultimately unsatisfying. With an obtrusive ending narration, it's all for naught.
**** Echo (6/2/59) John Newland ~ Ross Martin, Ed Kemmer, Leslie Barrett
It's always nice to see Martin, so good as Artemus Gordon in "The Wild Wild West" (1965-1969), in other roles; he was a versatile actor. Martin and the supporting actors play their scenes very well, from handsome Kemmer (the model for Sleeping Beauty's prince), to lawyer Barrett (who found Victoria Winters guilty of witchcraft), to craggy bartender Rusty Lane. The recycled "One Step Beyond" sets are still terrific, although the story is ultimately unsatisfying. With an obtrusive ending narration, it's all for naught.
**** Echo (6/2/59) John Newland ~ Ross Martin, Ed Kemmer, Leslie Barrett
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